Another Afghan Block Bites the Dust!

I had a pretty busy week last week, so on Sunday I decided to sit back, relax, and spend my Sunday afternoon crocheting another block for my afghan.  Pineapple Blossom was written by April Moreland and is one of the February blocks for the CAL.  It was pretty easy as these blocks which was a good choice since my brain was so fried from the shenanigans of the week :-)

In addition to making the two different 12" blocks per month that are selected for the CAL, I'm going to also make another 6" block that is optional.  I figure that way the afghan will be more interesting to look at rather than being just made up of blocks of one size.  That way I can also choose to do a smaller block one day, rather than putting in the time to make a big one, which can take me the better part of an afternoon without any major interruptions. The real question is, which block will I start next?  I think I've managed to do both the easy ones first, so I may just be destined for failure or at least frustration until I can sit down with one of the awesome crocheting FiberKnots in a couple weeks.  Waaaaah!

A Crocheted Afghan for 2011

I finally have a project I can share with the webiverse... My first ever crocheted afghan block.  I've been wanting to make an afghan for quite a while now and just got the nerve to get started.  To keep me on track and completing this afghan in a reasonable amount of time I am taking part in the 2011 Block-A-Month Crochet-Along which is hosted on Ravelry.   I'll be making at least two blocks a month and then by the end of December I will have 24 blocks (or more) to assemble the afghan.  

So, without further ado, here is my first block, one of the crochet along January blocks, Maggie's Square by The Crochet Dude. It was a good starting block and fairly simple in construction.  Even a relative newbie like me didn't have too much trouble making it.

In order to match almost anything in my bedroom, I've selected 7 colors from Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice yarn in greens, blues, purples and a pink.  That grouping should just about cover everything in a muted color palette quite nicely.  The yarn is worsted weight,and acrylic so it should work up fast, wear well and wash easily.  Next on my list to crochet is Enough Love to Go Around by Penny Davidson.  I think this square is really going to challenge me.  Thank goodness there are some very talented crocheters in the Fiberknots to save me when the inevitable "what the hell" moment occurs! 

My Summer Knitting, Crochet and Spinning Plans

So, I have lofty goals for this summer when it comes to my fiber related hobbies.  During July and August I planning to take part in three different social fiber groups.

The Tour de Fleece Spin-Along

I've only been spinning for a couple months and only a couple weeks on my wheel, but I want a challenge so I have an excuse to earn more (geek).  This spin-along is run in conjunction with the Tour de France, so while the cyclists are spinning their wheels, so will I.  I won't go into it too much now, but I had planned on spinning enough yarn to make myself a sweater.  It looks like that might be out since I can't find a soft enough fiber that I can afford in the large quantity I need.  Instead, I am going to just buy some neat fiber at my LYS/LSS and just try to spin every day during the tour.  Now ever that goal is pretty lofty since the tour lasts from July 3rd through the 25th with two days of rest on the 12th and 21st.  So, I'm excited even though I've had a tough time selecting my fiber.  I still have a lot to learn, so just trying out new things is probably a better goal than a sweater's worth of yarn anyway.  Oh, and I am spinning for team Sasquatch which is a team of fiber podcast listeners.  You can learn more about this spin-along by going to the Tour de Fleece group on Ravelry.

The Planet June Summer Crochet-Along

You might remember the really cute little whale I made back in May and the pretty daffodil I started but... cough cough.... didn't quite finish?   Well, the first CAL was such fun that June Gilbank is hosting another one with two more of her wonderful patterns.  I can choose between her Alpaca and African Violets and she even gives a 20% discount on the patterns to CAL participants, which is very thoughtful.  I'm going to do the alpaca this time, but since the CAL is going on for two months, I might just be able to do both.  You can learn more about this crochet-along by going to the Planet June Summer CAL thread on Ravelry.

The Appalachian Yarns Summer Mystery Wrap Knit-Along

Talitha who ran the mystery bag knit-along back in May is back again and this time she has us making a mystery wrap for the summer.  This time we are working with a very interesting yarn by Louet called Kidlin.  It is comprised of three strands of mohair, linen and nylon.  It is very neat looking, but I need really good light to take a picture of it, so I will have to do that later.  We also have the option of adding beads to our wrap.  I'm undecided at this point, although I have never added beads to my knitting, so it would definitely be interesting and informative.  Like the previous mystery knit-along, Talitha will send out the clues weekly (perhaps early if we provide enough poetic bribery) and the KAL will start on July 13th and will go for 3-4 weeks depending on how Talitha breaks up the instructions.  I can't wait!   You can learn more about this knit-along by going to the Mystery Summer Wrap thread on Ravelry.

Spring CAL - Tiny Whale Finished!

When I first started Planet June's Spring CAL, I decided I was going to make one of each of the patterns so that I could try them both out.  My little daffodil is well underway with 4 of its six petals done, but it has been languishing a bit as I have other projects I'm working on.   Also it is a bit too complex to be a quick sit down for a few hours and get it done kind of project.  

Instead, yesterday I started making the second pattern, the Tiny Whale.  Shockingly, I actually finished it up in one evening!   He's a pretty small little guy (maybe 4 inches long) but I'm surprised I was able to make him that quickly mostly because I'm still fairly slow at crochet, especially when I have to really pay attention to the pattern.   But, he's all done and looking very cute!  June suggested that these little guys make good cats toys, so I might make a few more and load them up with some catnip for the feline family members when I have a moment.  Emerson, our friends' cat, sure seemed like him after some catnip persuasion anyway.

Spring CAL - Daffodils and Tiny Whales

So, I'm doing my first ever crochet along (CAL) and I'm so very excited!  The two projects included in the Spring CAL are Tiny Whale and Daffodils by June Gilbank of PlanetJune.com.  She designs absolutely amazing amigurumi animals and sells those patterns along with the accessories to make them (such as eyes, noses and a stuffing tool for filling up tiny body parts).  I also read her blog and follow her on twitter and believe me, she does a lot!

The CAL started on April 19th and will run until the end of May.  So if you want to try one or both of these lovely crochet patterns out there is plenty of time left.  To join the CAL you need to have a Ravelry.com account (which is free) and then you can introduce yourself and post on the Spring CAL Message Board to chat and share photos with the rest of us. 

June was even nice enough to make us a CAL button for those of us with a bit of a blog addiction.  Isn't it cute?

I decided to start with the daffodils because... well, we don't have any and the concept of pretty spring flowers appealed to me.  I was very fortunate in that I had most of the colors for this project already.  Back in December I had picked up a couple skeins of yellow and cream Cascade 220 Wool and my mom had gotten me a heathery orange of the same yarn the previous summer.  All I had to do was head out and pick up some green for the stems.  Easy peasy! 

After winding up the cream and orange yarns, I didn't really get started on the crochet tonight until around 11pm and it took me a few tries to learn and recreate the magic circle method of starting the project.  After a few bumps in the road things started going a bit more smoothly. So, here is the first part of my first daffodil.  One petal.  It's not much, but I already know I'm going to loooooove making these.