Colour Bay Blanket - scenes of great progress!

Progress on my Colour Bay blanket has been much speedier than I expected!  These granny squares aren't so bad - three simple rounds in a nice variety of colours of easy-to-use double-knit yarn.  I've been racing through.

What with finishing up the day job and all that palava though I haven't had a change to get any photos until now...

There are ten colours in the blanket and I've done 9 squares of each so far.  Now I need to to decide the layout of my colours and work up more squares in each of the more dominant colours I choose.

I had a little helper on my photoshoot who didn't like things looking quite so neat and tidy...

She had a lot of fun messing them up!  Who would have thought granny squares could be so entertaining?

I'm loving the mix of colours.

It's half term this week so I'm not sure how much time I will have for sitting down and crocheting but I shall be trying to squeeze it in as much as possible.  With the weather turning much colder recently I am looking forward to snuggling up warm under my new blanket very soon :)

Gloomy side...Bright side...and crochet...

Gloomy side...

Early mornings leaving at just gone 6am whilst my little family still snores.  Long drives stuck in traffic.  Popping pills that do no good.  Limping towards maternity leave slowly.

Steoids and me have a long thorny history but they are the only available option whilst I am pregnant (aside from homeopathy and yoga, which I am already doing).  I am not responsive to them, I have just taken too many over the years - pills, more pills, intravenous...any way they get them into me in large doses, in a constant battle to avoid the surgeon's knife.  They've brought me back from the brink a couple of times though, I have to give them that.

Bright side...

The darned pills might just work, given more time, so there's always that hope.  My last work day is next Friday then I am free of early starts, London traffic, work stress and bother.  Most importantly the pregnancy is going brilliantly well with no issues or complications despite my illness.

Aaaaaand, I am at the beginning of the next big crochet project!  Always a fabulous feeling.  Want to know what the Happy Hooker Backwards Project no.38 is?

The Colour Bay Blanket by Cat Mazza!  A nice big simple blanket, and this one is definitely for us grown-ups!  There are ten colours to choose for this blanket.  I am not using the colours suggested in the book as I want the blanket to match our bedroom, which is more muted browns and greens than rainbow brights.

Lots of fun to be had with this one!  Best get started....

Happy Hooker Backwards Project 39 - Li'l Monkey

Well after a slight setback whilst I waited for a further supply of grey Wendy Serenity yarn I have finally managed to finish my second Happy Hooker Backwards project!  And I have to say I am delighted.  I love the yarn, I love the colours, I love the look of the whole thing. 

Here it is...

The original pattern called for the traditional sock monkey colours of red, tan and cream - a combination I love - but I wanted a much girlier version.

This yarn is super soft - it's a mix of wool, alpaca and acrylic, so very washable too.  In fact I am not going to bother with blocking as I suspect this blanket, which is destined for use as a kind of floor blanket for the new addition to roll about on, faces a lot of washing in its future!  Plenty of time for shaping and drying flat and straight then :)

Those monkey faces were quite a challenge though, more on those below.  But first lets sum up Project 39:

• Cost - about £35.00 - I used about 10 balls in total, more than double what the pattern recommends.  But I did use a different yarn as I couldn't get the required Bernat Softeee Chunkee here in the UK.
• Yarn - Wendy Serenity Super Chunky in grey, pink and cream.  I used more grey than any other colour and ended up having to track down more having made the classic mistake of not buying enough in the first place!
• Hook - 9mm and 5mm
• Difficulty - Easy!  The granny squares are easy to do and the special stitiches are really well explained in the pattern.  The hat was really quick and simple.  The monkey faces were a total pain though!  In fact I totally gave up on the pattern instructions and worked it out myself, I have written my alterations below.
• Overall happiness with finished object - absolutely delighted! It is soft, it is chunky, it is unusual, fun and girly.  There's not a member of the household who hasn't happily buried their toes into it :)

 

Now onto those darned monkey faces.  I got pretty stuck on these and looking at Ravelry I see I'm not the only one.  So here's my revisions to the pattern - basically a list of what I did to more or less make it work ok for me.  These are just me notes, I am no pattern writer!  But if they help another frustrated Happy Hooker somewhere in the world then it's worth posting them:

Rounds 1 and 2 - work to pattern

Round 3 - with colour D
Ch1, sc in same st
2 sc in nxt sc
1 sc in nxt 6 sc
2 sc in next 3 sc
1 sc in nxt 8 sc
2 sc in last sc
Sl st in first sc to join

Round 4
Ch1, sc in same st
2 sc in nxt sc
1 sc in nxt 11 sc
2 sc in nxt 3 sc
1 sc in nxt 9 sc
2 sc in last sc
Sl st in first sc to join

Round 5
Ch 1, 2 sc in same st
2 sc in next sc
1 sc in next 10 sc
2 sc in next 2 sc

Then return to pattern for the ears.

  

Two down, just 38 to go!  Next project is another blanket but this time a big one for us grown ups!  Perfect for the coming winter, more soon!

x

A spot of crochet

Just dropping by very quickly to say that some crafting activity has been resumed! 

In the last couple of weeks I have been able to pick up a crochet hook and start hooking away again, something I have been just too queasy to do before.

Granny squares are always a good easy start aren't they?  I cna happily hook away at these without feeling too sickly. 

And also a little thrifting has been happening!  Oh yes, this little cupboard was an eBay bargain at, wait for it, £6!!

It won't be staying dark and woody of course, it is destined for sanding and white paint and pretty drawer liners!  I am hoping this won't take me two years to get round to doing, I'll keep you posted!

Hope everyone is enjoying a sunny crafty Friday!

x