Aloha!

I can't tell you how good it feels to get back to blogging.  I will briefly try to sum up what has been happening in my life since my last blog entry.  After 4 months of not knowing whether we were staying in Germany or moving to Hawaii we got our orders for Hawaii the first week of January.  Within two weeks, we got all our items shipped and everything else in order and then flew home to visit our families in Illinois.  Yes, you read that right.  Two weeks to get everything in order to move.  Surprisingly, it went fairly smoothly.  Or I should say everything went smoothly that my husband's unit had no control over.  Any type of paperwork they were in charge of, not so much.  Although that isn't a shock considering it was their mistake that led to the whole mess to begin with. 

So we had a wonderful 3 week visit with our families.  Although I could have done without catching a horrible cold for a week.  We moved to Hawaii the beginning of February, bought a car, found a place to live and moved in by the end of the month.  Our household items arrived from Germany a few weeks ago.  If anyone is wondering how long it takes to move your stuff halfway across the world, the answer is almost 3 months.  Yesterday we finally got our computer set up so I'm back to blogging.  I give people credit that manage to blog on their phones, I just don't have the patience for it which is part of the reason I haven't posted an entry in months.  And you know, the fact that I moved thousands of miles to a beautiful island which has kept me busy as well.

Sightseeing and getting familiar with our new surroundings has taken up a bit of my time but I still always manage to get in a few moments of crochet here and there.   Right before we left Germany I started making a bunch of teeny, tiny squares. After spending hours and hours making these two round squares, I am now close to being able to put together the Penguin Cuddle Quilt.  I'm very excited to get this finished although I still have quite a few things to do around the house before we are truly settled in.

Again, it feels great to be back in the blogging world.  Can't wait to catch up on comments and get to reading all my favorite blogs.

Teeny, Tiny Squares

Have you ever started a project and you don't know why?  That's pretty much the place I am in right now in making squares for the Penguin Cuddle Quilt.  Now don't get me wrong, I've had my eye on this pattern for awhile but logically it just doesn't make much sense to get started on this at the moment.  

First of all, I don't even have enough yarn to complete it.  And since our move date is still up in the air I can't even place a yarn order at Joanns because it usually takes a month to get here.  Although this whole mess with our moving orders has been an over 3 month process to get fixed, who knows I could probably order yarn and it would still get here before we leave.  And of course there is still the possibility of us having to live here for another year.  But without knowing anything for sure, it still means no yarn orders for now.

Second,  I don't even have anyone to give the afghan to when I finish it.  I would have to add some more rows and columns so it would be large enough to donate to Bridge and Beyond.  

So even with knowing I won't be able to complete this anytime soon and I still need to figure out what to do with it when it is completed, I'm still going to go ahead and make as many squares as I can.  The whole moving issue coupled with the stress my husband is under at work has really taken a toll.  Like I have said before sometimes I need to do a little mindless crochet to keep me sane. 

Candy Cane Bobble Square Pattern

CANDY CANE BOBBLE SQUARE


Pattern by: Katie B
Finished Size: 8x8 inches
Hook: Recommended an I hook or any hook that will give you a finished square instead of uneven sides
Yarn: Color A Caron One Pound in the Claret Color
         Color B Caron One Pound in the Off-White Color

 Special Notes:  This is my first attempt at writing a pattern so I apologize if there are any mistakes.  If you have any questions, let me know and I will do my best to answer them. Please do not sell this pattern or post the full pattern on the internet. You may however sell any items made with this pattern.  I just don't want anyone to pass off this pattern as their own work.  Please include a link to this pattern if you talk about on your blog.

Abbreviations: sc is single crochet

Special Stitch:

bobble

1. work 4dc in same st leaving 5 loops on the hook by omitting the last step in each dc (pulling yarn through last two loops)
2. yo and draw yarn through all 5 loops

Ch 28

Row 1    : Sc in 2nd ch from hook. Sc in each stitch across (27 sc), Turn

Row 2-8 : Ch 1. Sc in each stitch across (27 sc), Turn

Row 9    : Ch 1. Sc in each of the first 18 stitches, with Color B make a bobble in the 19th stitch, with Color A sc in each of the remaining stitches in row, Turn

Row 10  : Ch 1. Sc in each stitch across row (27 sc), Turn

Row 11  : Ch 1. Sc in each of the first 17 stitches, make a bobble in 18th stitch, sc in each of the remaining stitches in row, Turn

Row 12  : Ch 1. Sc in each stitch across row (27 sc), Turn

Row 13  : Ch 1. Sc in each of the first 16 stitches, with Color B make a bobble in the 17th stitch, with Color A sc in each of the remaining stitches in row, Turn

Row 14  : Ch 1. Sc in each stitch across row (27 sc), Turn

Row 15  : Ch 1. Sc in each of the first 15 stitches, make a bobble in 16th stitch, sc in each of the remaining stitches in row, Turn

Row 16  : Ch 1. Sc in each stitch across row (27 sc), Turn

Row 17  : Ch 1. Sc in each of the first 14 stitches, with Color B make a bobble in the 15th stitch, with Color A sc in each of the remaining stitches in row, Turn

Row 18  : Ch 1. Sc in each stitch across row (27 sc), Turn

Row 19  : Ch 1. Sc in each of the first 8 stitches, make a bobble in 9th stitch, sc in next 4 stitches, make a bobble (in 14th stitch), sc in each of the remaining stitches in row, Turn

Row 20  : Ch 1. Sc in each stitch across row (27 sc), Turn

Row 21  : Sc in each of the first 8 stitches, with Color B make a bobble in 9th stitch, with Color A sc in next 3 stitches, with Color B make a bobble in the next stitch (13th stitch), with Color A sc in each of the remaining stitches in row, Turn.

Row 22  : Ch 1. Sc in each stitch across row (27 sc), Turn

Row 23  : Ch 1. Sc in each of the first 10 stitches, make a bobble in 11th stitch, sc in each of the remaining stitches, Turn

Row 24  : Ch 1. Sc in each stitch (27 sc), Turn

Rows 25- 31 :  Repeat Row 24

Fasten off yarn and weave in all ends.

 

 Here's how I worked out the square on paper before I started crocheting.  Maybe seeing it on paper will make more sense than my written instructions. The red bobble in Row 23 should be in the 11th stitch instead of the 10th stitch that is shown in the photo.

Candy Cane Bobble Square

I mentioned in my previous post that crocheting bobbles inspired me to come up with some new ideas of my own.  Since I am surrounded by Christmas decorations all over the place, it is no surprise that I came up with a holiday related square.  I am pretty proud of my Candy Cane Bobble Square because I don't normally have enough creativity to come up with patterns.  I didn't have any graph paper so I had to improvise and plan it out on notebook paper before I started.  Of course I did not take into account that the bobbles end up facing the other side of the square so I had to redo my drawing once I started crocheting and realized my mistake.  I didn't think the candy cane would look as good if it was pointing to the right.

I would love to share my pattern but I'm slightly nervous that while my instructions make sense to me, they might be confusing to anyone else.  I'm going to give it a shot though and hopefully post the pattern within the next few days.

Full Heart Bobble Square

This weekend while it was snowing outside I completed the Full Heart Bobble Square.  Although mine turned out more like a rectangle than a square.  I will probably continue to play around with it until it is more square.  This is my first attempt at making bobbles and overall I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  Working on this square also inspired me to come up some ideas of my own.  I hope to show off what I came up with a little bit later in the week! Oh and in case anyone is wondering the yarn I used was Caron One Pound in Soft Sage.

Child's Play Square

Today I completed the Child's Play Square.  I thought the look of this square was interesting enough to make a square of my own even though I don't have a project in mind for it.  I love the way it turned out and it wasn't that complicated to complete.  The author of the pattern included written instructions and a pictorial tutorial.  Although you wouldn't know it by looking at the photo, the colors I used were Dark Orchid and Spring Green in Red Heart Super Saver.

I also want to share a photo of one of the German smokers that my husband and I have purchased since we have been living here in Germany.  Most people use incense in them but we  use the smokers for decoration only.  If you shop around at the different Christmas markets you can usually find ones that aren't super expensive.  I will definitely miss shopping at the Christmas markets here when we move to Hawaii.  I guess I will have to comfort myself next December by lounging around on the beach!

Front Burner

First of all, welcome to all of the new followers of my blog!  I have a fun time reading everyone's blogs and am thrilled that you like to read mine as well.  

For some reason I have been on a roll lately with getting my behind in gear and finishing things I have started.  In my Back Burner post I mentioned how I had crocheted all of these squares and rectangles for a charity but the charity would no longer be accepting these items.  And since things have been kinda hectic lately I didn't know when I would have the time to make use of these items.  Luckily, over the course of two days I found the time to whip stitch the pieces together and make a small afghan. I then single crocheted around the outside and then did a reverse single crochet after that. I don't know why I had avoided learning how to do the reverse single crochet stitch, it is much easier than I thought.

Now the only things that can be considered on the back burner about this project are it needs to be blocked and eventually mailed to a charity.  But on the bright side, at least it is all in one piece now, and not arranged piece by piece on my spare bed.

Completed Scrap Afghan

I am finally done putting together my Scrap Afghan.  Not 100% satisfied with the end result but I am pleased for branching out and doing something different.   Some of the squares bunched up a bit so it has a puffy kind of look to it and the border is slightly wonky looking.  Maybe someone with more crochet experience could weigh in with why this happened.  I'm guessing my tension wasn't even throughout and plus all the different yarns I used probably didn't help.  I still need to wash it and I'll try blocking it, which is something new to me.  I always thought you block with cotton yarn but I read all the time people do it with acrylic afghans so I will give it a shot.  Any tips or suggestions?

While my Scrap Afghan may not be perfect, I sure hope when I donate this to a charity (most likely Bridge and Beyond ) that the effort I put into this blanket is appreciated.  Even with the imperfections I still think it's a neat looking blanket. 

And on a final note, sometimes it's hard not to be frustrated when you are going through a rough patch.  In the last month, the military messed up our orders so we will probably not be making it home for Christmas this year.  It was something I was looking forward to since I haven't been in the States to celebrate since 2008.  I normally understand and accept that your plans can change at the drop of a hat with the military but this was the one thing I was really looking forward to and now it most likely won't happen due to a mistake by someone else.  But at the end of the day if this and having to shell out money to get a new computer and fix our car are my biggest problems, then life is pretty good. 

Back burner

The last few months I've been making 5 inch and 10 inch squares and 5 x 10 inch and 5 x 15 inch rectangles.  I was going to donate them to a charity that provides afghans to a military hospital.  However, the need for blankets isn't as strong ( Yay!  That's a good thing!)  as it has been in the past few years so it looks like this particular charity group is winding down.  So,  it looks like I have a couple of options.  I can  stitch up this blanket and send the completed afghan to Bridge and Beyond.  Or I can continue looking for some type of military charity that would accept completed afghans.  Ideally, I would love to donate to a military hospital in my area but with us moving to Hawaii I'm guessing warm afghans aren't a necessity. Either way I have a few other projects that need my attention right now this will be put on the back burner.

Scrap Afghan Part 5

I finally got enough squares finished to start putting together my Scrap yarn afghan.  Normally I just whip stitch squares together but I thought I would try something new this time and am using this method which I found on the Attic 24 blog.  I have completed the horizontal rows and am about halfway thru the vertical columns.  Then I just need to add a border and sew in all of those pesky ends.  At least it is mindless work which I'm pretty sure is all my brain can handle these days.  Can't wait to finish this afghan!

Scrap Afghan Part 4

I was hoping that I had enough squares for my Scrap Afghan but after putting the first two rows together it looks like I will need to make about 50 more squares.  Not sure if I have enough scrap yarn right now so this project might be put on hold for awhile.  Part of the problem is I'm trying to avoid putting the same exact color in the same row or column so it limits where I can put squares and I can only make so many of each color.   Since this is the way I want it done, this project will remain in our spare bedroom because it took forever to lay out all those squares in the correct order.  Good thing we won't have any more visitors staying with us this year.

Scrap Afghan Part 3

With all the crocheting I've been doing I've managed to gain more squares for the scrap afghan I want to make.  Not really sure how many more squares I need before I can start putting it together.  Maybe 100?  Since I want this to truly be an afghan of scrap squares, I have to finish projects and then use the leftover yarn.  I have more than enough yarn in different colors to finish making squares right now but I kinda feel like that would be cheating.  So hopefully in the next few months I can get some more hats done for Bridge and Beyond and have enough leftover yarn to finally start joining the squares.

Hats and Squares

Finished off some more hats last week.  These will all be donated to Bridge and Beyond 

And I made a few more squares for my scrap afghan.  I appreciate everyone leaving me comments and suggestions about my crochet projects.  I like blogging anyway but it's even more fun when you see that other people are interested in your blog.  Also, a big thank you to everyone that is a follower on my blog.

Part 2 of the Scrap Afghan

I've been having way too much fun making the 2 round squares using up my scrap yarn. I haven't bothered to start attaching them together because there are still a few colors I want to add.  I have to wait though until I make about 4 hats from each of the Caron One Pounders I have so I can add more colors.  I really only want this afghan to be yarn that I can't really use for any other project.  So I will get back to making hats so I can get to that small ball of leftover yarn.

I will probably end up making the afghan for a child or teen and donate it.  Each square is about two inches so now I just need to figure out how big I want the blanket to be and then I can decide how many squares I will need. I also need to figure out what color I want for the outside border.  I was thinking black but my husband suggested something bright like yellow.  The other thing I was wondering about is should I only use the color for the border or should I also use that same color as some of the squares?  Decisions, decisions. Any suggestions?

Beginning of a Scrap Yarn Afghan

So I'm feeling burned out on hats so I need a distraction for awhile.  I would like to make an afghan using up my scrap yarn.  I would make the first 2 rounds of a square.  Then I would either join 4 squares together and add a border like I did with this square:

And keep joining 4 squares and adding a border until I have enough to join all the bordered squares together.

Or I could just skip the border and join all the squares together like this:

Please ignore the quality of the joining.  This was my first attempt at joining using a hook and not a needle.  This picture is more to illustrate that I will just be joining all squares together like this so the final afghan will be comprised of squares all the same size.  The only border there will be would be around the entire afghan.

Anyway, I was undecided on which method to go with so I asked my husband.  He chose the second option which means I will have to make more squares than had I chosen the first option.  I would like to only use the scrap yarn I have laying around to make the squares and not use any skeins that have enough yarn to make a hat or something.  This will be an ongoing project.  Something that I can work on when I'm bored with another project.

 

Off the top of my head Square

I have a ton of small balls of yarn that have been accumulating so I decided yesterday to take a break from making hats and try to figure out some purpose for the scrap yarn.  I did 2 rounds of a square in 4 different colors and sewed them together.  I then crocheted a border around them to make a bigger square.  I think I will continue to play around with my scrap yarn and come up with some more squares that I can eventually use for an afghan.

Favorite Square Pattern

Awhile back I posted a photo of what I call the Polka Dot Afghan.  I got the free pattern at Deb's Crafts.  It makes a nice looking square and you can easily adjust the size by using a different hook or by adding more rows.  It's such an easy pattern that once you make a couple, you will have it memorized.