Making Progress

 

 

I am making progress! I have reached squared status. You know, the point when it is equal in length and width... and now with every next square it is closer to becoming an afghan that is long enough to cover your toes!

xoxo,

Nicky

Busy Busy Busy!

Boy, oh boy, have I been a slacker!

I haven't picked up a crochet hook in like 2 weeks. Life sometimes gets in the way of relaxing down time, and I feel that I haven't had any of that in quite some time. Above is a progress-picture of The Granny 2.0. At this rate I hope to be done with it before school starts up again.

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Last weekend we celebrated America's Independence on the 4th of July.
The kids loved it! We went to the Sandwich Fairgrounds and watched fireworks.

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And we went camping...

Camping sounds like it would be relaxing... and it was at some points... but it was really a lot of work. You'd think I would have a lot of time to get in some hookin' action, but I just couldn't fit it in between the bicycle parade and the greased watermelon relay race!

We had so much fun that when we got home I had to take a nap :)

Hopefully this week will be back to normal...
xoxo
Nicky

Thrift store shopping

I found some treasure!

It was a rainy day here in the Midwest, so no Wednesday Swim-day. Instead Bean and I went pickin'. We have these stores called Goodwill, and they are donation drop-off centers. Reduce,Reuse, Recycle is their motto. Their mission is to provide "supportive services to people with disabilities or disadvantages who seek greater independence." We call shopping there pickin ' because you have to pick through a lot of trash to find your treasure... and some days there just isn't any treasure to be found...but today was a good day.

I love tote bags. I'm not much of a purse girl, but I can never have too many tote bags! Above is a treasure I found at Goodwill... among other things... a mini tote from The Gap. It's a little on the small side, but I couldn't resist the shape. It is lined with Lime green... one of my favorite colors... and has pockets all the way around the inside. The fabric was unusual, almost like a heavy parachute, besides, black goes with everything, so how could I go wrong! The price was definitely right - $5.

What will you put in it you ask??

Yarn, of course!

This is my Granny-on-the-Go bag.
It has every color I need to finish the Granny 2.0 no matter where I'm at. I tell you, it's tough to be organized!

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Lately, I've been reading the blog Crochet with Raymond... I'm a blog stalker, I'll admit it! I find a writer that I like, and then I go back to their beginning to read their blog from start to finish. At this particular blog, Alice is the writer/crocheter and Raymond is her adorable kitty companion. Not only does Alice create some of the most beautiful hooky goodness, but she is also a yoga practitioner, Reiki Master, and a student. The student thing I can relate to, but spiritual stuff, not-so-much. However, while I was pickin', I found these interesting little cards. Did she send them to me all the way from New Zealand? Maybe, maybe not, but I couldn't pass them up.... a good find at $1.

It's hard to read, but the intro says...

"We hope The Yoga Deck helps you progress along your path of physical well-being, emotional balance, and spiritual growth."

I don't know about you, but I welcome any help in those departments!
Can you learn to practice yoga from a deck of cards? I don't know, but I'm baby stepping.

I'm off for a little hooky love before the kiddles wake up.

xoxo
Nicky

The Granny - version 2.0

The humble beginnings of my new and improved Granny Square.

Remember... I'm fairly new to crochet creations, and last post I admitted that I had very little concept of color arrangement. I know that I like lots of color, and I know that I like some color combinations, and others I do not...however, I now realize there must be some kind of organization to my color chaos.

I only have six squares done, but I all ready love love love it!


I started the Granny 2.0 this morning while sitting on my deck havin' some coffee. It was the most gorgeous day here in the Midwest. The sun was shining, the birds were singing to back and forth (my favorite are the Orioles), and there was an oh-so-slight breeze...just enough to make the leaves on the trees dance. It was perfect.

I sat out on the deck for a time, enjoying the peacefulness and watching the Heron fly up and down the river. This is my favorite time of the day...very early morning. Everyone else is still sleeping as I steal away a few moments to reflect without interruption.
Enjoy.

Value organization in a Granny Square

Ahhh... The Granny Square.
There's more to it than meets the eye!

I thought that if I just picked out random colors to crochet together, I would magically turn out a afghan that would be the cat's ass... boy was I wrong. It takes planning to make the colors work. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why I like some blocks and others I just didn't??

Then I realized...

Following a pattern of value makes a BIG difference. Instead of throwing together color combinations, I started with a plan: the lightest value in the center, then introduce a medium value for the middle color, and finish with a dark value on the outer edges, like this...
And for some reason, after I made this square it clicked.

Here's another square that works.
Notice the light blue, then medium purple, then a darker purple.Below is one that is not so good...
Even thought I like all the colors in the square below, I felt that it just didn't work.There wasn't enough differentiation between the values of the colors.

Yeah for me that I figured out the importance of value, but boo that I have to start my Granny all over :(