A Preview of My Blanket

Hey all!

So Sandy insisted that I pack out the squares I've crocheted so people can get an idea of what it'll look like.

Here they are.

It's a bit monotonous still with too many pinks and oranges, but I still have MANY squares left to do. The idea is that I'm going to work the squares tightly together, so there won't really be a back-ground color.

This is how many I have done, but I want the blanket to touch the floor on both sides of the double bed.

I just really like the flower motif on them and interestingly enough, they're quite easy to make. And since I'm working along a vaguely autumn theme here, I get to go through quite a bit of left-over wool from my mother and grandmother's projects.

Thoughts? Color suggestions?

Stretching My Wings

For those of you wondering about the photos, I'll have them up on Wednesday. The reason why this isn't done is explained below. 

See, I've been feeling stuck in a rut lately. It's been incredibly frustrating, and my one release, writing, felt on the verge of burning out on me. 

So. Now I'm back to that old method I have for sprucing up my life. I'm learning something new. Usually, I'd flee to the oil paints and canvas, but I might move soon. Which meant I needed to pick up something cleaner to do. 

An that, to me, is needle point. At the moment, I'm sewing a tapestry like a fiend. And on Wednesday, I'm taking lessons in quilting. The former is super comforting because it's lots and lots of repetitive motion. The latter is something I've always wanted to learn how to do properly. 

So yeah, I'm adding to my artistic repetoire. Which is great, but it takes time. Which is why I'm very close to bed time with very little time left to write. Also why I haven't searched out the photos I wanted to post again. 

I promise I'll be better about it by Wednesday! 

Have you ever picked up an interesting craft in order to escape from your life's stresses? 

Finished by the eleventh hour

Sorry I missed yesterday's post. Things went a bit hectic after we got an unexpected guest, but after a busy few days, I finally managed to finish my Christmas present.

Due to the fact that my brother got a new car from my uncle (and that the above mentioned guest is a Muslim), I decided to give the men key-chains instead. Still, some of the bookmarks still made it to the tree. As promised, my hand-made presents: 

Our Guest's

My Uncle's

My Brother's

My Brother's (He asked really nicely)

My Mom's

My Uncle's Birthday Present

My Gran's

So there you have it. I managed to make gifts for all of my house-guests without blinding, maiming or otherwise impaling myself. 

The branches in the background is our Christmas tree, but if you really want to see what's going on, you better go check out my other blog. 

Then, I also want to ask you to please pray for a friend of mine. She lost her husband yesterday and is currently fighting a condition that flared up again as a result of the car accident that took his life. 

May you have a Blessed Christmas and a wonderful time with your loved ones.  

Christmas Presents...

In the end, I decided to move away from the jewelry idea for now, since I never tried something like that before.

Instead, I decided to crochet bookmarks, since all the people who get presents from me either read or read the Bible. 

Clever yes. 

I'm even doing more than one pattern to keep things interesting for me. 

There's only one problem, though... 

I have very neat, tidy and tiny crochet stitches. To say that this is a pain in the backside when using yarn that's thin enough to fit between pages of a book is the understatement of the millennium. 

For one thing, I've crocheted for seven hours and managed to finish one bookmark. 

On my right hand, I can't feel my thumb and my fore and middle fingers are red. My left hand is cramping for some inexplicable reason. 

I may or may not be going cross-eyed. 

I REALLY hope that people appreciate my presents...

What about you? Anyone else making presents this year? Have you finished them/finished buying them? 

P.S. I'll show pictures with links to the patterns soon, in case anyone is interested. :-)