See that afghan on the cover?  That’s the one I did!  Well, I did the squares – MBT assembled it and did the border.  Can I tell you what a neat feeling that is?

It’s a great booklet – crocheted afghans based on quilt square patterns!  And lest you think all crocheted afghans are in acrylic, the one I worked on was done in Cascade 220.  It’s got to be awesomely snuggly now that it’s assembled.  The book has 8 different patterns, plus a bunch of stitch pattern and block ideas, and a cd so you can design your own.  Congrats, Mary Beth, on a great booklet!

Oh, and I decided to go with the two-ply, since that was pretty much the overwhelming response.  I plyed it up last night while Kris was stuck at work (until midnight – ugh) to a soundtrack ot two old favorite movies – The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Girls Just Want to Have Fun.  (Why yes, I DO have a stash of “Movies for nights when Kris isn’t here”. )  I now have a very full bobbin.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, especially because I wasn’t paying attention when I started and was plying my two S-twist singles with MORE S-twist.  Not so good.

I hadn’t gotten TOO far when I caught that, so I pulled it back off the bobbin and respun it going the right way, so it’s all fixed.

And yeah, you guys are probably right about the pattern.  I’m going to work on getting the pictures done and writing it up.  Of course, the earliest I can submit it is for the winter issue, so it’s going to be quite a while before you see it.  Thanks for pushing me not to chicken out. 

I finally dug out my Boteh Scarf once again.  It’s been forever since I worked on it, partly because, um, I lost it for a while.  I’ve gotten several more motifs done in the last week, though – it’s like, scarf-size!

The pattern calls for an edging, but I decided not to put it on this one – I like the way it looks right now, and this way I can just keep working until I run out of yarn.

So, since I’m making progress on a WIP, what else was there for me to do but start two new ones, right?  (::facepalm::)

Kris and I were watching Bones a couple of weeks ago, and in one scene Brennan was wearing this really cute hat.  I decided to try to recreate it.  I’ve been working on it since, and have been fighting with the decreases for the last two weeks.  I just wasn’t happy with them, in spite of ripping them back a couple of times.  I’m trying again after making an adjustment to the design.

The original plan was this (same thing on both sides of the hat):

Which has now been modified to this:

I dropped back the small cable and made it a 12-stitch cable bordered by 2 purls on either side instead of a 6-stitch cable bordered by 5 purls on either side.  If I can get the decreases to work the way I think I can, it should be better.  And maybe even finished soon-ish.

The other new project is a hat (yes, I’m hat-obsessive lately…) that I’ve been thinking about for a while.  See, Carrie has this really cute slouchy grey beret that I’ve been wanting to recreate.  So, last night at dinner, I grabbed my notebook and charted out the lace pattern.  Of course, she told me that she thought it was the same pattern as Wooly Wormhead used on the Meret (Mystery Beret).  And yeah, it mostly is.  But that pattern wasn’t quite what I wanted mine to be, so I am using the lace stitch in my own pattern – tubular cast-on, ribbing, and then the lace.  I think I’ve got it mostly planned out.

If it keeps moving this quickly (I’m on the third repeat of the lace already), it should be done soon, too.  Might make a cowl or mitts or something to go with it, since I’ve got three skeins of this color.

I’ve decreased from 72 to 58 stitches on the first sleeve, and I need to get to 30 before I start the ribbing.  I finished up the hem at the bottom a couple of days ago, and I’m very happy with how it came out.  I think it will lay better after blocking, too.

Since the sweater has gotten a bit unwieldy for taking to rehearsal, I decided to start the Boteh scarf as a more portable option.

It’s fantastic yarn to work with, and I love the way the colors are working – I think it’s going to be awesome when it’s done.  I just need to look at the yardage on the original pattern and see if I can lengthen it at all.  I like my scarves long. 

As you may remember, there was some debate on which yarn to use, but in the interest of durability, I opted to go with the Allhemp6 in “Brick”:

This is an interesting yarn to work with, I must say.  It was a lot like working with twine while I was crocheting it (although it was still easier on my hands than Manos.  I CANNOT use Manos.)

Once I finished it, it looked like this:

Typical lace.  Crumpled and rumpled and less than fabulous. After a trip through the washer and dryer, though…

Ta da!

OMG I love hemp. It’s SO soft and flowy, but heavy enough to lay really nicely.

I made a simple cotton a-line skirt to wear under it, since crochet is a bit… sheer for everyday wear. (And Amby – check out what I used as an impromptu purse. )

And here we have Irene, me, and Carrie at the Renn Faire (And no, we really weren’t posing.  Kris got us while we were chatting about something):

I LOVE this skirt, and I see more crocheted skirts like it in my future, especially since I have a pretty simple way to make the skirts to go with it.  Plus, they are just fun to wear!

So current status of the shawl is…

52 of 82 motifs complete. Progress has slowed a bit, obviously. I’m thinking I might take a break from it and start the skirt, just to break the monotony. Plus, carrying around 4 different colors of yarn and changing them all the time is a little cumbersome. And with Trivia Bowl, erm 20? on Sunday, portable = good.

Oh, and you might remember the February Lady sweater. I haven’t worked on it since pre-Olympics, but I also hadn’t posted a recent status picture, so here we are:

One more sleeve to go!

And do you see a little something on there? No? Let’s zoom in.

Buttons! Kickass dragonfly buttons that Carrie brought me from her recent trip to see her brother and sister-in-law.

See – aren’t they cute?

(Obviously, they aren’t actually sewn on just yet) They are TOTALLY perfect, and just what I was looking for.

Speaking of really nifty gifts from people… I lent a couple of my Knit Picks color cards to a friend on the Knittyboards recently so that she could pick some colors for a sweater, and check out what Arsinoe Selene made for me as a thank you:

Aren’t they fabulous? They are TOO cute. And there are exactly two pair in the world – mine and the ones she made for herself.

OK, not by much – that’s 45/82 motifs done, but I’m still on a good pace.  By the way, that dark red flower-shaped motif up on the right corner is the upper right point, and the one with the blue marker is the bottom point.  That should give you an idea of the size when this is done.And yes, we have a new background for the picture tonight. I’m hiding out in the bedroom watching the Olympics, because Kris has taken over the downstairs tv. He’s been sucked in to playing Halo 3 on the XBox with Carrie‘s boyfriend and some of his buddies. It’s ok, though – I think he needs that boy-centric stuff sometimes.

So, yes, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying watching the swimming again, and I’m even considering looking into finding someplace around here to start swimming again myself. It’s been a really long time, but I really did enjoy it. (And no matter what me-Nikk says, I really wasn’t very good. She’s just too sweet to say that.)  And in watching beach volleyball earlier, I think I’ve got a total girl-crush on Kerri Walsh.  She’s just adorable.  Plus, I totally want her hair. 

See, what you probably don’t know about me is that when I was a kid (erm… junior high-ish), I swam. I won’t say competetively, because I was never very good. I had pretty decent form, but I was just not very fast. I LOVED meets. I love watching and screaming and cheering for my teammates. It was all I could do last night not to bounce up and down and cheer while I was watching, but since I was in bed and Kris was asleep, I opted to stay quiet. Jason Lezak was AMAZING. I swear, it was like watching someone hit a turbo boost button in that last 25-30 meters.

ETA:  Broadcasters, please.  “Alain” is prounounced Al-ahn, not Al-ayne.  It’s French.  Sheesh.

My heart did break a bit for Katie Hoff, though. She swam such a beautiful race, and then just to be out-touched at the end. Gah.

In other news, thank you all for your smart thoughts yesterday! We are going to finals next week! It was a pretty good game until the final question. We were tied for second after the first half, and were in second before the final question, but we missed the last one and ended up in 5th. They take the top 5 from each of the two semifinal rounds, so we did still make it in. And I got two more motifs done while we were there, so I’m up to 32 of the 82 done. Today should be a bit more productive, so I’m hoping to be well past the halfway point by tonight.

That’s 19 motifs completed out of 82, with ends all woven in.

As of a few minutes ago, I am here:

30 motifs complete, so about 35%. And you will notice, no dangly ends. I decided after weaving in all the ends on Friday night that it was WAAAAAY less annoying to weave them in as I go, so, I complete a motif and weave in the ends before moving on.

It’s definitely coming along, although not quite as fast as it did on Friday because I’ve actually had a few things to do. Well, that, and I had to let my hand un-cramp from Friday. I may have pushed it a little bit.   Still enjoying it, and I think it’s going to be so pretty when it’s done.  I’m VERY happy with the colors that Kris helped me pick, and it will be nice to have something that’s not blue or green, since those tend to be my default colors when I plan shawls.

Today is the semi-finals for our trivia team, so think smart thoughts at me around 4 this afternoon.  If we move on, we have a chance to win actual cash. 

I grabbed my hook and yarn, and the Santa Fe Shawl began!

As of 11:02 am, I had 7 motifs complete, out of 82 for the whole shawl.

I love the join-as-you-go method of this pattern. I’ve got lots of ends to weave, but I’m thinking I’ll tackle that each night, sort of as a wind-down.
Off to grab lunch, and then back to the hook!

ETA: As promised/threatened, here are the stash yarns I am thinking of for the skirt.

First, the SWTC Bamboo I mentioned – the color is “Bougainvillea”. It’s a nice variegated pink/purple.

Not my usual, but nice. (Anyone? Anyone?)

Second, Paton’s Brilliant in “Beautiful Burgundy” (And yes, it has silver sparkly bits through it):

Third, also Paton’s Brilliant, this time in “Prettiest Plum”:

Fourth, Hemp for Knitting Allhemp6 in “Brick”:

And finally, Karabella Manipur (100% silk) in #20177 (Would it kill them to give it a name? It’s a red-coral color, brighter and a little lighter than the hemp, although they look similar in the pictures.):

I have enough of any of the these (just enough of the burgundy, plenty on the rest), but I’m torn on the variegated vs. not debate. Also, trying to determine the wisdom of putting something sparkly on my not-exactly-tiny butt. I think the hemp will work nicely, and the silk would be just neat, assuming it’s not going to get all weird.

So, thoughts?  Opinions?  Ohpleasegoddon’tdothats?  Seriously, folks.  Me = not capable of making decisions on my own.

Oh, and since I’ve had a few people have problems with the spam thingy, I’m disabling it.  If anyone knows a WP plugin that has a word recognition or something, let me know!