Weekly Update - Morning Glory Afghan Finished

This week I decided to concentrate on the Morning Glory afghan and finally get it done, so I didn't work on any of my other projects.

So, after a week of frantic crocheting (and straining my elbow), here's the Morning Glory afghan, designed by Michele Maks and crocheted by me!

 

 

And now we are so happy, we do the dance of joy!

That makes one project completed toward my goal of using up all of my acrylic yarn.

Since the big box that this project was in is now available, I've gathered all of my leftover acrylic yarn into one place.

While I was going through my stash I discovered that I still had some bulky and novelty acrylic yarn. This got put in the laundry room for my neighbors to take if they want it.

Then there's this mess:

Unfortunately, one of the colors I used in Morning Glory happened to be a bad dye lot and I didn't realize it until I was well into the project. That pile of scraps is what was left after I cut the bad spots out of the yarn and wound the usable bits into balls. This crap got thrown away because life is too short to fight with bad yarn.

So, next week will be back to what passes for normal around here, although I'll probably do more cross stitching and less knitting and crocheting so that I can rest my elbow.

Weekly Update

I've finished Parts 5 & 6 of Forget Me Not, a sew-along by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts.

I started sewing a couple of sections together on Around the Town by Dawna Baker.

 

I also did a little bit on the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

 

Weekly Update

Quilting:

I finished sewing row 8 of Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs to the rest the top, pressed it, and made a good start on row 9.

Swedish Weaving:

I made some more progress on the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

Weekly Update

Sorry about the awful pictures and the lateness of the post, but I haven't been feeling well lately. Anyway, here's what I had done on Wednesday.

Quilting:

I did another row on on Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs and almost finished sewing it to the rest of the quilt. That makes 8 rows now.

Swedish Weaving:

I got some more work done on the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

Weekly Update

It's been a hectic week, so this post is a bit late, but here's what I had done on Wednesday.

Quilting:

Deanne Eisnenman of Snuggles Quilts posted the July installment of her Block of the Month (BOTM) series, so I've been working on that. It's a Broken Dishes block, a Kansas City Star block originally published in the newspaper in the 1930s.

I'm surprised at how fast it went. I'd figured that with all those pieces it would take me much longer than it did. I'll post the finished block today or tomorrow.

Swedish Weaving:

More progress on the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly:

Weekly Update

Quilting:

I did 2 more rows on Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs. I now have 7 rows completed: a little over halfway done.

Swedish Weaving:

I did a little more on the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly. I'm finding that it's a good project to work on while watching videos.

Weekly Update

I felt better this week. I finally got to the store and bought supplies, and I worked on each of my projects.

Crochet:
It was hot when I went to the store and I really missed having a hat (the one I have is ugly and has to be washed by hand, so it's sitting at the bottom of the clothes hamper), so I bought some yarn to make the crocheted sunhat I keep promising myself. I'm putting aside the afghan just long enough to get the hat done, then I'll get back to it.

I'm a fast crocheter, and I got this done just while listening to Creative Mojo yesterday. I'll probably have the hat done tomorrow or the next day.

I'm using a trick I learned from Carol Wolf's blog, Wolf Crochet: I'm crocheting the brim with 2 strands of yarn to make it stiff rather than floppy. I used one strand in the crown to keep it lightweight.

Quilting:
I've sewn 7 squares of the 4th row together on Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs.

Blackwork:
For my blackwork project, I pulled out the Blackwork Chessboard by Anne MacGregor. I plan to make it into a wall hanging and display it as a sampler rather than use it as a chessboard.

Here's what I already had done. The design calls for metallic gold thread, but I decided to substitute a dusty aqua rayon floss. The rayon floss is difficult to work with, but nowhere near as bad as metallics are.

Detail of 1 of the squares:

And here's what I'd got done yesterday:

Details of the 2 squares I finished this week:

Cross Stitch:
I made good progress again on Brilliant Butterfly Celebration from The Gold Collection by
Dimensions.

Swedish Weaving:
I got one whole row done on the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

Knitting:
For my knitting project, I pulled out yet another UFO: the adorable Octopus Garden Blanket by Georgia Vincent. The best link I could find for her was this writeup of her winning entry in a Patternworks contest. Apparently this talented lady enters -- and wins -- all the contests. The Octopus Garden Blanket was a winner in a 2006 Patternworks contest.

This afghan is made up of many knitted panels which are embroidered and then joined together. The octopi are knit separately and then appliqued.

I had finished knitting the center panel and started the embroidery.

This is one of two sides. It's a bit hard to see since I apparently stopped in the middle of a row.

This week I got a bit more of the embroidery on the center panel done. I also discovered a mistake and had to frog a few stitches.

I also did some more knitting on the side.

I haven't started my finishing project yet, other than opening a few of the supplies. Hopefully I'll have done some work on it by next week.

Weekly Update

Swedish Weaving:

I finally got the last motif done on the first half of the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly. Now I'm ready to turn it around and work on the second half.

Quilting:

I sewed the first 3 squares of the 4th row together on Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs.

Cross Stitch:

I made quite a bit of progress this week on Brilliant Butterfly Celebration from The Gold Collection by Dimensions.

Crochet:

For my crochet project, I pulled out the Morning Glory afghan designed by Michele Maks again. You can see what I'd got done last time here.  This week I finished one of the blue flowers, so I now have 12 blue flowers out of the 28 needed, 2 of which have been sewn to the 1st panel, and 2 of which still need the ends woven in.

I also crocheted the first square for the 3rd panel and started a second.

I didn't get my knitting and blackwork projects out yet. I had planned to, but illness and jury duty got in the way. Hopefully I can get started on them this week. Also, I hope to be able to get to the store this week to buy supplies for the finishing project I have in mind.

Weekly Update

I'm getting bored working on the same one or two projects all the time, so I've decided to try something new.  Since I do so many different types of needlework, I figure that if I keep one project for each type of needlework out I should have enough variety to keep from getting bored and still actually finish things occasionally. It should make the blog a bit more interesting to look at as well. So, I plan to have one each of the following types of projects going at all times: crochet, cross stitch, knitting, blackwork, Swedish weaving, quilting, and finishing.

For my Swedish weaving project, I'm still working on the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly. I got a little bit done on it this week.

My current quilting project is still Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs.  I got the 3rd row done and sewn to the first 2 rows.

For my cross stitch project, I pulled out Brilliant Butterfly Celebration from The Gold Collection by Dimensions again. You can see how far I'd gotten on it last time here. The first square section is completely done now, backstitching and all.

I haven't pulled out any crochet, knitting, or blackwork projects yet, but I have plenty of UFOs to choose from. I have a finishing project in mind, but I have to wait for next payday before I can buy supplies.

Weekly Update - Feathers To And Fro Afghan & Batik Cascade

I got the first 2 rows sewn together on Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs.

I'm still working on the last big motif on this half of the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

Weekly Update - Feathers To And Fro Afghan & Batik Cascade

I've finished the first 2 rows of Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs.

Speaking of Karen Combs, she was travelling recently and someone stole several of her quilts out of her car.  Please visit her blog, keep an eye out for her quilts, and spread the word. If we can get the whole internet looking for her quilts, they'll be found.


On a happier note, I only have one more motif to go on this half of the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly. When I'm finished with this large motif I'll be able to turn it around and start the second half.

Weekly Update - Feathers To And Fro Afghan & New Project - Batik Cascade

I made a little more progress on the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

My quilting has been calling me, so on Friday I started Batik Cascade by Karen Combs.  At least that's what she was calling it when it was published in the Oct./Nov. 2009 issue of Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home.  It's now for sale on her website under the name Batik Go-Round.

I've already finished the 1st row and part of the 2nd. I've also got a bunch of patches cut and marked.

I'm keeping Feathers To And Fro out since I know there will be days -- like the last two -- when I just won't feel like messing with the iron.

Weekly Update - Feathers To And Fro Afghan

I'm nearly halfway done with the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly. It's getting harder and harder to get the whole thing into the picture at a distance from which my camera is willing to focus on it.