Crochet a Zoo Playmat - WIP

Did you see it? The Crochet a Zoo Playmat. The book, Crochet a Zoo by Megan Kreiner, has been on my wishlist since it came out. You can find all the details on the Ravelry page, including the link to the FREE pattern. There was a sale on Cascade 220 at the craft store, so I stocked up and got out my hooks. I don't think got the contrast right for the greens, but so far so good don't you think? This is about a third of the way on the main portion. Then there is a border of single and double crochet. It's going faster than I though it would. I probably start weaving some of those ends in and not leave it ALL until the end.

Curious Collective Shawl - DONE!

Guess I didn't tell you about my knitting project. I joined a KAL by Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade. The shawl is called the Curious Collective Shawl. It is an amazing design that was created with knitters' input on the Curious Handmade blog.

I used Knit Picks Capretta in Fairy Tale and Caviar. The yarn was a dream to knit. Yup, these are pictures of the same project, I just can't get the camera to capture the colors correctly.



I love how the patterned was presented, line by line with the number of stitches for each line and a completion percentage. You could feel the progress. I will admit to needed practice with bobbles. Definitely NOT my favorite. Luckily the bobbles were limited.




I'll post this project as DONE, but it still needs a few end woven in an a nice blocking to make the design pop. Just waiting for the weather to cooperate. :)

 

Summer stitch club - DONE

Hexagons, hexagons, and more hexagons are finally stitched and assembled. I'm so excited to be done, I didn't even press it.
      

Instructions were provided to finish this into a mini quilt or wall hanging, but I'm not sure what I will be doing with this so I left off the corners.

I'm signed up for the Autumn stitch club... better get stitching!

Sweet Tea anyone?

I randomly enter online contests and promptly forget about it. I mean really, what are the chances that my name will get picked out of the hundreds, maybe thousands of entries. It is much easier these days to enter contests, just fill out a form with your name, address and email. Lo and behold, I received an email not long ago to confirm my mailing address, as I was the winner of a Pure Leaf Basket. What? They got the info right and I didn't have to respond if the information was correct, so once again I promptly forgot about it. Imagine my surprise when a good sized box showed up on my door step. Nope I don't remember ordering anything from that return address. Let's see what it is...
Well what do you know? It is a prize from the monthly drawings sponsored by All You Magazine. It is a collapsible picnic basket filled with a variety of flavors of Lipton Pure Leaf Tea, ranging from unsweetened to Peach. The tea is delicious, not to sweet and very refreshing. I love it. Thank you All You!

More cotton for an Everlasting Bagstopper

There's a lot of cotton on a cone of Sugar and Cream, 706 yards according to the label. I used quite a bit of it on the Eastern Market Bag, but there was still a lot left on the cone. So I found another bag pattern and cast on for the Everlasting Bagstopper by Amy Singer. You can find the pattern in Knitty, Summer 2007.
 
I added a couple extra knit rows before starting the lace pattern and used the modifications from PKJewelry on Ravelry.


I love the shape and it looks to expand quite a bit. I need to test it out for strength and handle length.
There's still a lot more left on the cone. Another bag perhaps?

July Colorwork MAL

Almost forgot about the July MAL by Colorworks by Debi. I had so much fun in the June MAL making the needle case, I quickly jumped in the July MAL. Blue and white, a great combination. I cast on some Knit Picks Palette in Jay and Oyster Heather and learned something right from the start - corrugated rib. I love the effect and it was fairly simple to accomplish. However this hat was a chore. My tension kept tightening and the stitches were sinking in. I didn't want the hat to be too small so there were many rows done over and over again. I am happy to say that I finished the MAL before the end of the month and while the hat is still waiting to be blocked in to a tam shape, I will call it complete!

Black and white socks

While taking diving in my stash for yarn for the colorwork KAL, I found two skeins of Pattons Stretch Sock. Black and white, so practical, but not the easiest colors to work with. But in my quest to use up stash, I cast on a pair of Fretful. I loved the simplicity of the pattern and the results were so comfy (or so I am told by the one who wears the socks). Not quite as soft as Happy Feet yarn, I thought this would make a serviceable pair. I'm going to work a few inches before deciding if the yarn color works with the stitch pattern.