Overlay Crochet: Mandala CAL

Look what I'm going to try...






This is a 2013 Crochet Overlay Mandala CAL. Isn't it gorgeous? I'm so excited to try the overlay technique. There is a Ravelry group set up and also a flickr group to show off every ones completed mandalas. I'm so excited to try this. If you want to get the pattern and more details visit Winkie Flash over at her blog A Creative Being. It's not too late to join, (I just signed up last night).


Happy Crocheting!!

Baby Cat Hat Crochet

Hi All. Another snow day here in Kansas. That's three in the last week! I am getting spoiled not going to work. 

 Below is a little Cat Hat that my daughter requested I make for her friend who is expecting a little baby girl in March. It looks blue but it is really purple and white. They are BIG K-State fans so it is a Wildcat. I took this picture before I added the braided ties. I used the basic Owl Hat pattern and customized it to be a cat instead.

Almost finished with the first of several baby hats I am making for some friends of my daughter. They are all having girls and so did my daughter back in August. Also, there is a girl at work that is having a girl too.

Happy Crocheting!

Stash Busting Update-Little Crochet Grannies with White

Stash Busting...or am I?

These little grannies are coming along. I used up all the stash I had left and put them together with white. I didn't have much of the white so of course I had to order some. So I went to the Deramore's online store where I purchased all these lovely colors in the first place and ordered the white. And since I was ordering I thought I better order more of the Lucy Pack because it is so darn reasonable, (priced cheaply) and the colors are gorgeous! So I have managed to totally defeat my purpose! Oh well, I would hate to run out of yarn. Now that would be scary.



I'm not sure that I am in love with the white although I love doing the join as you go. I am going to try to join them by adding another row on each so I can join as I go since...I ordered the Lucy Pack again! I know! It's a sickness. I just love these colors and I know I won't be happy with this cute little blanket until I get them joined the way I want to. No sense in spending all the time on the blanket it I'm not in love with it right??!!




By the way, they are calling for a huge snow storm in our neck of the woods starting with ice and rain tomorrow night, turning to snow and then accumulations of 6"-10". Now I know you east coast people just had a lot more than that and my heart goes out to all of you but...there might be up to 1/4" of ice on our power lines and tree limbs. It brings back nightmares from the ice storm we had back in 2002. I never want to go through that again. Anyway, if the weather guys are right, (sometimes when we have all these warnings and hype we don't get anything but...they got the east coast storm right) so watch out mid-westerners! So I have lots to work on and it would be so nice to just stay inside where its warm, (hopefully if the ice doesn't pull down all the power lines.) No...I am trying to stay positive here so...I will stay inside where it is warm and crochet the day away and not have to scrape the car or the sidewalk until Friday.
Getting back on track here, I am hoping that they will cancel everything on Thursday so I can stay home and crochet. I am also making the first of many Owl Hats for my daughter's friend. Her baby is due in March. 

Happy Crocheting everyone!

Pinterest Crochet Inspiration: Freeform Crochet

Freeform Crochet...

all I can say is WOW! I need to learn how to do this...

Source: visual-arts-forge-foundry.buzzsugar.com via Eileen on Pinterest

Source: lillarogers.com via Eileen on Pinterest

Source: sophiegelfi.over-blog.com via Eileen on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Eileen on Pinterest

Source: mypicot.com via Eileen on Pinterest

Source: freeformcrochet.com via Eileen on Pinterest

Stash Busting Already!

Luckily I started stash busting last year but didn't get very far so I have a little bit of a jump start. I started making these little granny squares with a "G" hook with the leftover yarn from my Rainbow Ripple.

So I was going to do the join-as-you-go method but I did it backwards, or so I was told, and I didn't like the way the join looked, (see here), because usually when I join granny squares they all have the same color in the last row. It just really bothered me to look at the one color overlapping the other color. 

So, I decided to just go ahead and make the squares between projects and use up the stash. So now I have all these lovely little squares and only a little bit of stash left. Now I have to decide how to join them together since I obviously can't do the as-you-go method. So now I will probably have to buy some yarn for the joining of the squares. This always happens to me when I am trying to use up some stash, I end up buying more yarn to finish something! Ugggh! Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Oh well, buying yarn is one of my favorite past times so not really a problem at all!

So I'm almost finished using up the stash of yarn but...I still have to finish the little granny square blanket or I just moved the yarn from stash to a UFO (unfinished object).  I have enough of those already. 

Any ideas on the color to use for joining them? I guess I could add one more round with a new color and join-as-you-go that way with all the same color. I'm thinking white or black.  What do you think?

Happy Crocheting!

Stash-buster Challenge 2013

I have joined the 

Stash-buster Challenge 2013 at Linda's Crafty Corner.

Below are the rules from Linda's blog...

Rules

       
  Leave a comment on here or on Ana’s blog if you want to join in. 
       

Copy the challenge photo to your side bar and link it back to this or Ana's post.
        

Show a picture of your stash or part of the stash you want to use up next.
  
Once it's all used up show us the stash busting project/projects you have managed to make with it,    (tell us about them and add a pattern link if you like)

Reveal the next bit of stash you want to use next and so on… see so easy.

I will write a summary at the end of each month to say how each of us has done and may show your pictures on here (please let me know if you would prefer me not to do this)

We can encourage each other and make suggestions along the way as to how we can use our stash and what to do with the things we make.

Remember this is just for fun and there is absolutely no pressure whatsoever, if however you want to do a bit of serious stash busting why not weigh your projects, I can keep a count of all totals and reveal just how many grams of yarn you have managed to use each month and you will have a grand total by the end of the year.

If you decide to join the challenge we will visit your blog, follow, and then add you to the side bar of our blog, we can then see what you have posted about the challenge.
By following our blog and adding us to your side bar you will be able to see all the latest posts about the challenge as they happen.

Visit back often to see what fellow stash-busters are up to.

 

 

So I better get busy stash-busting, I have quite a lot of stash to "Bust".

Have a great week and Happy Crocheting!

 

My Crochet Attic Blog is Two Years Old...

Wow! I can't believe I have been blogging here for two years! Where does the time go? So much has happened since I started my blog and I've made so many friends here in blog land along the way.  Another milestone, today I have reached 400 followers! Wow! This calls for a BIG celebration don't you think? I will have to come up with a giveaway. I'm not sure what it will be but I will make sure it is something special for YOU for your loyalty.

Also, I am excited to show you a "nearly" finished project.  I still have to work in the ends and put a border on it but I just love how it has turned out considering I had no plan when I started it way back when and it turned out so totally different from what I was originally thinking it would be. Are you curious yet?

Well, it is something that I have shown here on my blog many times either as a post or as a background image for another project.  Are you ready to see what I've secretly been working on? I've been keeping it a secret because I wasn't sure I like it!:) But now that it is nearly finished I have grown to love it as it has grown into a full size afghan.  This was one of those projects that just came on a whim from yarn in my stash.  I just wasn't sure about the colors...that is until I added the white.  Wow, what a difference a little white can do.  I'm in love with it now.  I can't wait to finish it, hopefully by Friday for a big Tah Dah!!

Okay, here are some sneak peaks...

Remember these? This is how it all started a year ago for the Granny a Day Cal in January 2012...I didn't use the squares that weren't regular grannies...but I liked the moss with it but wasn't sure how to use it with what I already had...

I wasn't sure about the colors but you all encouraged me to continue...

Personally I love the brick and mustard color together but it needed another color...

So I added the moss...and then the white just made it a beautiful color combination...

So I started putting it together and planning the arrangement...

The entire year I worked on it between projects.  It was always handy to work on when I wanted to work on a "no-brainer" project...

And here it is today...

Almost finished and oh so fun.  

The moral of the story... don't give up! You will be surprised when you end up with an original creation that was not planned...it just happened! So I have named it my "Accidental Granny Afghan"

Happy Crocheting