Ta da! Finished just in time!

This is the sixth blanket I've completed this year and the second rainbow ripple. Like the darker, rainbow coloured one, this is to be a Christmas present. I have to admit that I'm really not a big fan of pink, but our little granddaughter (almost 7 years old) is mad on it, so it should match her room.

I started this blanket back in July, but more urgent projects kept bumping it down the To Make List and then there was a hiatus when I ran out of the lilac and couldn't find more yarn of exactly the same colour. I never did find the absolutely perfect match, but I finally found one that was near enough and as it was only for the narrow lilac band at the point where the dark purple starts, I think it looks fine.

Anyway, the pink rainbow ripple finally reached the status of Most Urgent Project and I've been spending all my crocheting time on it. I finished it yesterday and just have the last few ends to weave in today, ready to wrap it and take it with me when I go to meet our son and daughter tomorrow.

This is all the purple yarn I had left! I was afraid I was going to run out, because though I do have plenty of purple, it's not quite the same purple, but I made it with just a metre or two to spare.

With all the urgent projects completed, I can take stock and see what to work on next. There are a couple more WIPs to finish and a few experimental things to either complete or abandon, but in the new year I want to start some new projects, in particular some sweaters and cardigans for me. Oh, and a couple of Happypotamuses and a Fatty Lumpkin. And what about... and there's always... (wanders off muttering and scheming what yarn to buy next)...

Ta da! And now the rainbow ripple is completed

Because of unexpectedly getting a teaching job in September, after more or less deciding to consider myself retired, my crocheting time has been much more limited. In the summer, thinking that I had plenty of time to fill with useful activities, I optimistically started a number of projects, but though progress obviously slowed right down, it hasn't halted. In fact I'm finding that crocheting while listening to radio programmes is a great way of relaxing my brain after working on something intensely intellectual, like learning up new stuff for my courses or putting together teaching materials and lesson plans.

This is the latest project to reach completion. It's a rainbow ripple blanket and will be a Christmas present for our grandson. I hope he likes it. His sister already has her own blanket that I finished earlier this year.

The other things that I had hoped to make for Christmas will have to be crocheted through next year and given as birthday and un-birthday presents, though I have another rainbow ripple in pink, purple and white that almost complete and which is intended for our granddaughter. It's not a colour scheme I would like for myself, but she is at the Everything Must Be Pink stage at the moment. :)

Ta da! The mitred granny square blanket is complete

I finished the border and so I can now post a photo of the completed mitred granny square blanket. I'm really pleased with how it's come out and it's lovely and warm around my knees when I settle down in the evening to watch TV. :)

And now this is finished, I just have to crack on with the two rainbow ripples that are for Christmas presents and then I can take stock and decide what my next WIP will be. I still want to make a corner-to-corner blanket for myself, but I also want to try making a cardigan. Ooooh... Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Meanwhile, here is the completed blanket.

Another blanket nearly finished

I intended this blanket as part of the decor for staging my Dad's bungalow for sale. It looks like it won't be needed for that after all, so it will be my blanket sooner than I thought.

Anyway, all the squares are joined together, most of the ends have been woven in and I'm busy crocheting the border.

I used a join as you go method of attaching the squares together which is similar to this one. I actually did it as part of the final granny cluster border, rather than as a separate joining round, but I think it makes a really firm join with no gaps. As the blanket is going to be an every day snuggling on the sofa blanket, I wanted something robust. It does create a slight ridge, but I decided that I liked the effect -- a feature rather than a bug. :) I would definitely use this method again as it's less tedious than sewing. The only downside is that you need to know the arrangement of the squares in advance. It won't work with the sort of project where you want to find the best arrangement for the squares once they're all complete.

Something I'll be making for me!

I have made several small blankets for other people recently, so I thought it was about time I made one for me. I've unravelled a couple of items that I made with a view to selling, but which no one bought. I also visited my lovely local wool shop to add a few more colours to the mix.

I plan to start crocheting a corner-to-corner blanket some time this week using this James C. Brett Marble Chunky. It's acrylic, so it will be very practical for an everyday snuggling blanket, but it's very soft too and comes in a variety of wonderful colours.

I seem to have another WIP!

I am trying not to start new projects willy nilly and instead have a strict, 'one out, one in' policy, but I did finish the gloves and quite a few of my other big projects are at the 90% completion point, so I thought I could sneak in another smaller and quicker one.

I'm making this pattern up, based on an idea inspired by a photo posted to the Facebook crochet group I belong to. Basically, it will be a border of Japanese flower motifs around a rectangle of filet crochet. I've never done filet crochet before, so I hope it turns out easy to do.

So far I have just one completed flower (to make sure they looked OK) and six centres. The yarn is James C Brett's Cotton On, which is nice to work with and comes in many pretty colours.

This will be a table runner for Dad’s dining room table while the bungalow is being viewed by potential buyers. After that, I’ll find a home for it in our house, perhaps on the TV table?

Ta da! Fingerless gloves are finished

Even with my limited crochet time, these simple fingerless gloves only took a few days. They made a nice little project that was both easy to do and quick to finish. It gave me a sense of achievement in the midst of several big projects. It used up some yarn left over from making a couple of blankets and they should keep my hands nice and warm too. A big win all round. :) And now I must toddle into town to the Spar to buy milk, a jar of curry sauce and some sort of cake or pie for desert. I didn't feel like doing a proper shop today and I had some beef in the freezer which will work nicely in a curry. Another working week starts tomorrow. I've still not quite got used to being constrained to a fixed schedule after 5 years of being able to work more or less as and when suited me, but it's beginning to feel more natural. After all, I've worked outside the home for long enough in the past.