and you're just there to kick it

Last night, at about 11pm, I wove in the last end of my Caylix blanket. And then I cried with joy, invented a few new combinations of curses to hurl at it, and fell asleep with it wrapped cozily around me. That pretty much sums up making this afghan.

This was the first real crocheted thing I had ever attempted to make. Now I'm pretty good at it, but it still isn't as natural/addictive/soothing as knitting.

There's not a ton for me to say about this that isn't super technical. I think it's really pretty, but a little smaller than I had hoped...mine turned out to be about 40 x 49" at its widest points (my original gauge = accurate, hexagons are 4.5" across). It's also not super-warm because it's full of (intentional) holes. I guess this is a summer-y afghan?

Notes, changes, corrections (Ravelry project page, for comparison):

1. You actually need 98 hexagons. :( This was kind of a bummer for me to find out, since I had previously celebrated finishing all the &$%*# things. 24 each of hexagons A and B, and 25 each of hexagons C and D.

2. I decided that I didn't really like the star motif that was in the original pattern. (You can see a picture of it on the Ravelry page above, there isn't a detail picture in the published pattern book. :( ) Since I hadn't been able to anticipate this, I tried a few of them (chalking the oddness up to my crochet inexperience). I still hated them, so I opted to use the center section of the hexagon instead. To do this, follow the instructions for rounds 1 and 2 of the hexagons, using Barley/your substitution for Barley. After the first TR in the petal, slip a stitch on one side of the seam (on picots) between hexagons. Work the next two TRs, then slip a stitch on the other side of your seam. Repeat, and fasten off with a slip stitch. The purpose is twofold...it keeps the flower motif nice and flat, plus it reinforces the seam joining the picot edges. Each petal should attach on either side of each joined picot, a total of four times...which is a perfect fit!

2a. I did the same thing for the edge motif, you just won't join two of your TRs because there won't be anything to attach them to (yet).

3. Finally, I did two rounds of single crochet to edge the sucker. The one row looked a little feeble, and I wanted an extra reinforcement for the gap-filling. The second time around I worked three SCs in each picot point to preserve the wavy edginess.

3a. When you get to the space where your flowers are partially unattached, you're going to chain two, SC in the TR where you would normally slip a stitch, chain two, SC in the TR where you'd normally slip a stitch, chain 2, continue SC-ing until you get to another space. Repeat.

There! It's done. I will never make another one again, but if you want to I wish you all kinds of luck. Too many ends, too many pieces! It's really gorgeous though.

Finally, detail of my modified center motif. Enjoy your weekend, and happy summer!!

when you wake in the morning you'll be satisfied

96!!!!

That's how many crochet octagon flowers there are in that pile. It's actually a disappointingly small pile, considering how long it took to make 96 of them...and how big that number seemed in my head. Oh well.

Here's the beginning of assembly, when the pile is arranged into neat, orderly rows. There are four different color schemes (B, D, C, A above, from L to R), and the schematic to assemble the whole thing is a bit daunting. You have to sew them all together, then fill in the open spaces with a new crochet pattern (I dread this a bit, considering how long it took me to get the octagons right), and finally you finish the whole thing off with a nice crochet edging. This is ridiculous.

I'm still hoping the final result is as amazing as I've built it up to be in my mind...

watch out for the paraphrase

A split post, mostly a quick check-in with a couple works-in-progress! Above is a new sock, now in its second version...I started the first one and wasn't happy with how the ribbing flowed into the cabling. This pattern stitch is adapted from the book Alt Fiber by Shannon Okey. I'm going to wing the rest of the sock, but needed a good example of a cabled sock. (It's a cool book, you should check it out!) The yarn is Cascade Heritage Sock, color chosen by my father (who will be the recipient once I get my act together and get these done). I love working with the yarn- the colors are just phenomenal. Very subtle! One of the Yay!Knitters just bought another color of the same yarn, so it'll be interesting to see how hers works out.

And finally, an update on my crochet blanket odyssey...it's coming! This picture was taken at an early stage, Bob Cat making a guest appearance. These are the first 24 centers (out of 96, each octagon with 3 tiers), some of which have their second tier crocheted...there are so many to be done! More progress to come. Crocheting (now that I've figured it out) is fun!

every day's a different warning

Moderate success! It's still not right, but it's an improvement. I ended up using a more appropriately sized hook and yarn that didn't split so much, so yay progress! Next step is to actually pick the yarn and colors I'll end up using, find a new crochet hook, and start assembling the 96 pieces this blanket requires. I might be crazy...

Now if I can only figure out how to end up with 8 picot edges instead of 4 on the last round, I'll know I'm golden.

and i know what a fake looks like

Please take a close look at the picture above, then click here. I am a bad crocheter.

It was not a good idea to make a swatch before finishing my morning coffee...now I'm just frustrated.

Also, Berroco Comfort, the yarn I used above, is not really crochet-friendly (at least, in my opinion). It's a bunch of tiny little strands spun together...which is really great if you want a garment that won't pill when it's washed/worn/etc. However, for my novice crochet purposes, its splitting causes lots of anger, foul language, and wonky looking crochet.

Grr. Tonight I'll try another swatch, and hopefully it'll go better. This was a surprisingly negative post...but isn't that blanket gorgeous? If I can crochet like a maniac, I could have it on my bed for winter. (We won't consider the fact that classes start in about 3 weeks, thus consuming my life and eliminating knitting altogether.)

i am all in a ball in your front yard

A very much belated post!!!

It's November, something I am desperately trying to comprehend. How does time fly by so quickly? Here's an appropriate post for chilly November evenings: a fluffy, warm, only-slightly-itchy mohair blanket.

This blanket was one of those never-ending projects. First of all, a blanket (or afghan- whichever you prefer- afghan is maybe more appropriate here) is a large project. It can also be a very tedious project, especially with a pattern as simple as this. It requires a certain tenacity to finish...which I didn't have, apparently...this took me two years!

But now that it's done, I adore it. Absolutely adore it. Mohair is a wonder fiber- soft, luxurious, and warm. This took two enormous hanks of mohair (500 yards each), made by Interlacements Yarns. I can't find the particular yarn I used on the website, though!! I used two colorways of mohair, alternating pairs of rows with each color. This made a beautiful colorway that reminds me a bit of a Monet painting. Every 14 rows, I threw in 6 rows of contrast yarn (in this case, a discontinued Noro yarn). The blanket was all garter stitch, and here's how you do it: cast on 3 stitches. Knitting every row, increase at the end of each row until you're a) half as far as you'd like to go or b) halfway through your yarn supply. If you want fringe, make sure you save some yarn aside OR cut it before you start. You will need lots of fringe...more than you would expect. Once you get to your decided halfway point (size or material-wise), start decreasing at the end of every row. Add your fringe on and you're done! World's easiest blanket.

I alternated skeins of yarn because the colors suited each other and I didn't want to wait to order the yarn. You could do this with scrap yarn, you could do random stripes, you could do an eyelet pattern....just follow the basic square shape (increase halfway, decrease halfway). You'll never want to wrap up in anything else!!