Red Granny Square Throw

A dear friend of ours had her bridal shower on March 25. As a gift, I made a Giant Granny Square Afghan in her favorite color, red. Yet another pattern using Lion Homespun! 2 strands held together. Pattern calls for a Q hook, but I used a P to get gauge, and because I didn't want it to be too holey. Here are some pictures.





I am so happy with the way it turned out. It's warm and cuddly and pretty. The bride-to-be and her fiance really like it. Hooray!!!

Here it is all packaged up for the shower, in its huge gift bag:



It was fun to have such a big gift to give! It was saved for last, and everyone "oohed" and "ahhed" and passed it around, and of course I felt really good. :)

This was not a complicated project. I mean, come on, it's a giant granny square. Once you know how to make a basic granny square, you're all set. It took quite a while to make, but it was easy and fun. I really enjoyed seeing it grow! I plan to make another as a wedding gift for another friend, and eventually make one for us as well.

Before I forget...

Two groups on Flickr I wanted to post about.

Free Knit and Crochet Patterns - pictures of people's FOs made from free patterns, with links to the patterns! What a great idea.

Yarn Bouquet - pictures of how people have decorated their living spaces with yarn! Lots of fun. I'm still trying to think of something clever to do and post. It would have to be some kind of wall hanging, since it's not like I have any free surface space in my li'l studio. (Though I do have some ideas for temporary yarny decorations that I could post. Heheh...)

Lion Suede and more Lion Suede

Lion Suede shawl
Originally uploaded by saintlex.

I'm making this shawl from the pattern on the Lion Suede yarn label. It's very nice, but won't quite lie flat. Will have to look into blocking it when I'm done--I haven't had to block anything yet, so I know very little about the process, especially when it doesn't involve an iron (the label says not to iron the yarn). We'll see if I can actually get myself to wear a shawl. ;) I've always thought they were for old ladies, but I guess that's not so if one is into crochet? Anyway, it's pretty! And soft. Yum.

I also purchased some Lion Suede a while back that I'm going to use to make a pillow. It matches the rug in my living room perfectly. (I live in a studio, so it's really the only room...heheh...)

Check this out!




Not bad, eh?

WIPs (WsIP?)

This weekend's been very low-key, since I've been sick and want to make sure I get enough rest. I spent yesterday at home doing various things (nothing the least bit strenuous!), and today looks like it will be much the same.

Last night, I started working on an oven mitt (got the pattern for free from the Bernat web site). I messed it up a few times, but now it's coming along nicely.

Took a break from that today and decided to start working on a Pilloghan, since the "easy" ripple afghan I'd started earlier wasn't so easy! I ripped up the ripple 'ghan and started the Pilloghan. It took me a few hours just to master the basic granny square in the pattern. D'oh. I've got it now, though. :) (And now that I know what to do, it's really easy!) I'm excited about the Pilloghan--I need more pillows, and I need an afghan, so this works well! And I love the geometric pattern. I'm only doing it in 3 colors--light blue, orangey red, and mustard. (I have a great multicolored rug in my living room, and this will match nicely.)

I'm using Caron One Pound yarn for it, which is proving to be a little annoying. I had never worked with it before, but it was such a good deal that I figured I should use it for this afghan. Well, talk about a yarn with no give. I mean, I was working with cotton yarn all day yesterday for potholders and the oven mitt, and the Caron One Pound seems to be even less stretchy! Weird. I had to switch the Pilloghan pattern from a G hook to an I hook, but now I think it'll be fine.

I was all excited to watch the episode of "Bridezillas" that my DVR recorded for me early this morning...when I turned it on, it was the same ep I'd seen last weekend. :( I am addicted to that show. It makes me feel sane in the midst of my wedding-planning frenzy. If I think about it too much, the show offends my feminist sensibilities--so I try not to think about it and just laugh at the crazy ladies. ;)