Under Color Crochet

  And here we have two more examples of granny squares that I'm taking to Genghis Con. 🤩 Another granny square experiment! These two pieces are chunky chunks of luscious, and this experiment is all about bulky. I bought six skeins of yarn at my favorite local shop, Stitcher's Garden . (Love that delightful place! Highly recommended for all things colorful and crafty. Unfortunately, the checkout gal told me that they are phasing out carrying yarn, and only going to have sewing items in the future. Ah, well, I'll still meander in there and marvel at the colors and patterns.) With those six lovely skeins I made two supersized granny squares. One has four colors in it (dark blue, light blue, red, and pink), and the other has two colors in it (purple and blue). Here's a whole folder of way too many pics, showing that I had way too much fun 😎 posing these pieces:   Chunky Chunks I started with the quad-color plan: dark blue, light blue, pink, and red. I turned those four sk...

  I love it when I get free yarn! 😎 A colleague texted me one evening, asking if I would like some yarn that she didn't want anymore. Well, obviously, of course, definitely, yes. If it's one thing I really, really need, it's more yarn. 😁 The next day at work, she gave me two new skeins, plus a box of odds'n'ends. I was absolutely delighted! The colors are not something I would normally buy for myself, but once I had it all for free, I knew immediately what I wanted to do. Experiments with granny squares. 🤩 I wanted to see how this color scheme worked up, as a simple dc granny square. These earthy colors, with rust and smokey blue, are gorgeous together! And they don't exactly work out properly in the rows of a granny square, but it doesn't matter. Still looks beautiful, and I actually kind of like how the pattern of changing colors gets muddled up at every turn. It's a lovely muddle. 😁 The other experiment I've been wanting to try is taking the s...

    The Plan! 🤩 Make a baby blanket, that the Dean of Extended Studies will like. 😎  It has to be soft and sweet, for a baby. But it can't be too baby'ish. 😁 And it has to be ready in time for the baby shower. 🎉 I worked on it pretty much every evening for about a month, never rushed, but always focused on getting it done. I enjoyed every colorful minute of this labor of love project.  I absolutely loved making this baby shower gift. 😍 A giant granny square, with a double ruffle around the whole edge = perfect baby blanket. Six skeins of yarn for the granny square, and another two skeins of white for the double ruffle. Wow! Big blankie. Big, big, baby blankie. 😎    Here's a video of my boss and her husband, opening the gift:  Baby Shower Potluck Party, opening gifts I started with white in the center, and kept going around with the colors, eight times. Six times eight is forty-eight, yes! Forty-eight rounds! This baby is a beast. 😍 My fave thi...

  These sixteen granny squares came out of one skein of specialty yarn that has automatic color changes. I have a love-hate relationship with this Yarnspirations All-In-One Granny Square yarn. The love is because it is a gorgeous, earthy, cocoa and cream color scheme. (And ooo-laa-laa, I do have a long term love affair going on with earth tones: Caramel Mocha , Sand Sparkle,   Comfy Cozy .) Plus, there's more love for this all-in-one yarn, because it looks and feels excellent, sturdy but also smooth and soft. But, oh dear, then there is the hate because, well, I shouldn't say hate. There is too much hate in this world. I will not say I hate this yarn. But I will say that I have as much dislike for it as I have love, because it is so frustrating to make it actually work as all-in-one. So, that is a weird and warped relationship, that just makes me feel grouchy. So, Grouchy Granny it is.  Below is a picture of why I feel the dislike. This yarn is supposed to move along with...

Happy New Year! My goal is to be more colorful. 🤩 So, my New Year's resolution starts right here, right now. Plus, I plan on celebrating ruffle'y fun and fringe'y festiveness all year long. 😎 Also, my other goal is to create more crochet items, with more colorful ruffles, and bigger bundles of fun fringe. 😁 So, these two gorgeous gals are kicking it off perfectly, with their blues'y blue'ness. I love how they both turned out, so different, yet paired so well. There is a lot going on here, with three different yarns, so let's unpack it. 🎁 On the left (above) is a simple mesh pattern with fringe on the ends, and on the right is a simple dc repeating, with ruffles on the edges and ends. The seven basic steps are explained  here , and this is nuthin' new, nuthin' fancy. It's the same old easy'peasy rectangular pattern I love doing, and it's not even really a pattern. It's just fun and simple, to go back and forth across the rows, and watc...

These cuties are all wrapped up like a Christmas present! They are just little ruffles, gently twisted - wound up to be twirlie-whirlies. And, when I say, "just ruffles," I don't actually mean JUST ruffles. 😁 I mean they are just too cute, and way too much ruffle'y fun. Like a little Christmas toy for crochet geeks. 😎 Twisted super tight, and then folded into a circle, these little twirly toys turn into wreaths! How cute is that?! 😍 This is the perfect way to use up yarn leftovers and scrappy bits of random colors. Twisted together like this, anything goes, and everything works.  Peachy, pink, and orange? Yes, please!  Ruffles look so magical in any color, they're perfect for holiday decorations. Even in non-traditional colors, these twirly toys just feel like cute Christmas curls. This video (below) shows a three toned ruffle, with a peach-colored base of starting chain and one row of dc, then the ruffle in pink (I did three and four stitches of trc into each ...