The Sea Shore

When I was young I had a book that had been my Dad's favorite as a child, Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. I loved the rhythm of that poetry; though many today feel poetry that rhythms isn't as "cool" or as "brainy" as say a Haiku....but I confess I still enjoy the rhythm of his poems. It was an old book, and I memorizes several of his poems. Then because I liked it, bought a newer book when my Darling Daughter was young. She too seemed to like the rhythm created when I read aloud to her over and over and over. She memorized some of those poems also.

I've started this simple cotton washcloth multiple times, not liking the first pattern, royally having issues with the 2nd pattern...apparently I can't count well, when talking, watching tv, and sipping wine..........go figure.

So, switched gears...and I'm loving how much more I see the colors in this cotton with this simplier pattern.

This isn't the only thing I'm working on, but the only thing I managed to take a photo of.

What are you all working on for this Wednesday's Work in Progress? Badges and links in side bars, please join us.

It reminds me of the ocean; the sea. And that got me remembering
At The Sea Side by Robert Louis Stevenson

When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
To dig the sandy shore.
My holes were empty like a cup.
In every hole the sea came up,
Till it could come no more.

It's all about Blue

Blue Feather and Fan Knitted Scarf is growing. Not yet used the first cake of yarn. Will have to see how big/long it is when I finish using the first cake to decide whether or not to continue with the 2nd one. It might actually be large enough. Dress scarves I tend to like a bit shorter, might not want to double up around the neck since it's lighter weight and dressier?
A quick no think'em project. Straight garter stitch, continuing the blue theme. Knitting a nice wide scarf for Bridge and Beyond from donated yarn.
Blue-ish cotton (Lilly's) will be a washcloth. Pattern is a scallop...really haven't done more then cast on, work a few rows, frog, switched to different needles for row 1 again....Might have to purchase another pair of needles, different size, believe I need size 7 vs 8 in above picture.
And yes, my bike is a work in progress. This Blue Schwinn Breeze dates from 1968-1972, according to the Schwinn website. In fact, this particular blue bike was made in June of 1971, according to the chart I found using it's serial number. I've not had the bike that long, bought it when my DD was in grade school in a garage sale. We used to ride alot. In fact, I even packed the basket with my Welcome Wagon goodies and my rounds using this very bike. Yes, I am dating myself....I was a Welcome Wagon Lady for several years. The bikes been in the garage and or the shed. We pulled it out, I washed it and used chrome cleaner and it looks pretty darn good, considering. Peals are rusty, as it the chain area. Hubby says he'll get around to cleaning and oiling that part.......sometime. I wanted a more cushy seat and hand gripes so we purchased those new and they are installed.
Then I decided it would be fun to have a spedometer and ordered one of the cheaper ones on line through Amazon. Gotta love Amazon. This baby tells how far I went, how fast I was going, time of day and average speed etc. How fun. Gotta get in shape and so had just gotten back from a ride when I took this picture. Road to the grocery store 3.5 miles and hit 11.6 miles an hour, lol. The work in progress is me getting in shape, and hubby oiling it to make it work better. Stay tuned.

Work in progress Badges and links in left sidebar.

Knitting and Crocheting Projects on Wednesday

Beach Ball in the works. I added a row of dc to all squares except the bright pinks, as those squares were larger. Then added a row of sc winter white to all squares. Currently my method for crocheting together in one continuous strip (vs crocheting 2 squares together, crocheting a strip, crocheting stripes together) is to tie the corners with left offer strips of yarn. The yarn ties can be removed as I crochet...giving me the ability to have the ghan in my lap or on a table to crochet continuously across the full width and length. Once joined, I'll decide how much and what type of a border is needed for this afghan. This like the previous one (A Day at the Beach), will be donated and be size and color appropriate for a little girl as a full afghan and or a female teen/adult as a lapghan. I'm needing to check my stash to see if I might have some of the shocking pink or aqua/turquoise to use in the border.
















This knitted Feather and Fan Scarf is actually for me! Obviously it will be for next year. I'll work on it only here and there, in-between other projects since there's no rush. It's a nice take and go project as it's currently small, and the pattern isn't too terrible to keep track of without complete concentration. It's a cast on of 22 on size 8's. I considered using 9's to make it a bit more lacy, wondering how different it might look if I had. But, I'm not going to frog and start over. Love the yarn, both the color and texture. This is Ultra Alpaca (Berroco) 215 yds 50% Alpaca and 50% Laine Wool. It's quite soft, and light weight. Was having some trouble with the k2tog'ers until someone suggested pulling down a bit on the stitches (as if to purl). That's been a good tip. I don't knit tightly, but apparently from what I read on RAV and a few blogs....the k2tog'ers tent to get tight when you a series of them together. Someone else suggest lace needles with better points would be helpful too..........as the moment, I'd rather not buy more knitting needles.

What are you working on this Work in Progress Wed? Badge and links in the left sidebar. Please join us.

A Day at the Beach

A Day at the Beach is the name I've chosen for this afghan. A bigger name then usual, particularly for a smaller afghan, lol. I love these colors together, bright and cheery. The gold makes me think hot sun, the shades of aqua make me think water, and the variegated colors make me think beach and bathing suits. There are only 16 squares here, just under 7 inches prior to the edging. Edging added about 2 inches a square. Once joined, my plan is to do a few rows of boarder to increase a bit more. I rarely use white in afghans, for the dirt factor; but this white seemed to work. It's not white white, and it's not ivory/offwhite. It's called Winter White. Some one donated it awhile back. I reviewed by stash and felt I had enough of this...on my second 8 oz skein. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remember doing a afghan that had this variegated yarn. I'm hoping I have enough left in my stash to do at least a row in the border. Playing through. As always, this afghan will be donated through Bridge and Beyond for Project, "Welcome Home."

Many thanks for the help in the comments of the previous post (year of project post) regarding my substituting yarn. I appreciate the brain power. I've gone back to the drawing board on that project....I really like the yarn I bought, and am going to look a bit more for patterns that use the DK weight, and or review the original pattern to see if it makes more sense the 2nd or 3rd time I read it.

**Question, would like to have a page with thumbnails of all the afghans, either here or on Bridge and Beyond, or both...how does one go about posting thumbnails on the blog that can be clicked to enlarge/and or go to the blog post regarding said item?**

Work in Progress Badges and Links in left sidebar. Join us and have fun looking at everyone's projects.

Blue Jazz

Jazz - an American art form and an international phenomenon! Jazz is not the result of choosing a tune, but an ideal that is created first in the mind, inspired by ones passion and willed next in playing music. Jazz music is a language, sometimes intimate, often boisterous, but always layered with experience and life profoundly lived. Jazz is not found in websites or books or even written down in sheet music. It is in the act of creating the form itself, that we truly find Jazz.
I thought, that partial definition I found on the web made perfect sense when viewing this afghan design. Rather I should say, that definition seems to be a good description for this afghan design. It's free flowing...it's changed over time, it mixes things up, it was an idea in the mind, and brings together many hands and thus many life experiences. Inspired by ones passions....that surely hits things squarely on the head. Those who knit and crochet squares show their passion for wanting to help, and my passion is orchestrating their wishes into realities. If you've not read about Project, "Welcome Home", please pop over to Bridge and Beyond, my charity blog. This afghan was designed some time ago and has been waiting in que...step #1Step #2, removed a few squares--think I might now have enough red, white and blue in bins to do a Patriotic Ghan so removed that one, plus wanted to diminish the whites some; so removed those and added a few additional squares to enlarge the size with squares that have come in since it's first design. Have begun edging and joining as you see, it's in the works on this Work in Progress Wednesday.

I've also been scouting out shrug patterns....I actually might get around to making myself a shrug.......though am not holding my breath. lol Check back, partially trying to decide how warm I want it...do I want it more summery or using a nice wool for cooler weather?

Happy Wednesday, please click WIPW badges and links in sidebars to see some cool projects, and please feel free to join us and link up in the one or more of the linky parties.

Afghan Needs a Name

This afghan needs a name. When I first laid out these donated squares (Liz from Bridge and Beyond), fall foliage hit my brain; later as I began to work on it, I thought perhaps Garden Patch....and now not so sure. They are fall colors, but something about the squares made me think garden. This isn't a very good picture, I'm not edging it in white though it looks like it, it's off white/ivory. The squares had nice long tails and so I used the green Liz had edge them all with to sew them together, then decided to increase a bit by edging the strip in the off white. Current plan is to join the strips then with the off white, and find dark green in my stash to do a couple of rows around the whole ghan, then maybe a row of orange and finish it in green?

Thoughts on a name? This is another of afghans made to be donated to Bridge and Beyond.

I've promised myself I will work on a scarf I started long ago this week..., but am close to finishing this ghan, so ....we'll see.

What are you working on for Work in Progress Wednesday? Badges and links in the sidebar. Asking everyone using on of the linky's to please get rid of your captcha's. The filters for blogspot work great, you really don't need them. Having captcha's and approving all your comments is doubly un-necessary. The new captcha's are even harder to see then they used to be. Some have seen post this request before...I did for our Sunday YOP. Try it without for 2 wks, I'd be surprised if you'll have any trouble without it.

A yarn a then Some

In Memory of Hannah Chisolm, born Augst 15, 1865, died June 19, 1944. This is a work in progress. I've spent about 10 hours researching this small, hand carved stone. This stone and others are in a very small cemetery I spotted from my bike on a recent vacation on Hilton Head Island. The brief story is, the cemetery is that of slaves and descendants of slaves. About half the stones were like this, hand carved, others a bit rougher, and a few more modern. Only several families of names, Williams, Chisolm the most prevalent. I assumed it was a slave, and or someone very indigent since the stone was hand made. You could easily pass this little unmarked graveyard by, the stones are small and covered with thick pine needles and low hanging branches of trees. It's in the backyard, so to speak of a large very upscale condo building which faces the 18th green on the famous Harbour Town Links Golf Course. I knew enough of the history of the Island to know it had been inhabited by Union forces early in The Civil War, that the rich plantation owners had fled when The Confederates lost control of the Island. I knew other slaves flocked here for protection The Union Forces offered, and remained after the war,when the Island was virtually abandoned. There was no bridge or electric to the area until 1950-1956. The Slaves and their descendants had meager lives with little involvement of the outside world. The Bridge, Electric, and interest in lumber then vacations ended that.

This stone has the earliest birth date visible/readable; plus there are probably many buried souls unaccounted for under the layers of pine needles, where wooden markers have gone by the wayside through the years. Was Hannah a slave? Was she born free? I couldn't help but wonder. My research so far into whom this woman was is inconclusive. One fellow researcher believes he's found her on census with husband and children; I'm not so sure of his findings, as I find information about several large plantations in the area with listings of a slave named Hannah. I question her last name, is it hers, or did it belong to her owner? A work in progress that puzzles me. I've blogged a great deal about this trip and 2 others to Hilton Head, pop over to my travel blog if your interested. Traveling Suitcase.
I would truly love to find the whole yarn/story of Hannah
Meanwhile.......Mother Earth Afghan is slightly over half put together and work on it continues. I assemble many afghans for Project, "Welcome Home", you can read all it on my charity blog, Bridge and Beyond.
A basket type stitch here on this cotton washcloth, though I believe it's difficult to see with the pretty variegated Easter Colors. The stitch/pattern would probably show up better with a solid color. Even so, I think it's pretty. This is March's cloth, the 12th cloth in my Cotton Cloth Calendar Challenge.

Not pictured but on the needles is a bulky red/black scarf. Size 15 needles if that gives you any idea of the bulkiness of the yarn.

Work in Progress Wed Badges and links in sidebar. Hope you're all keeping busy.

I'm in Red Mode

LOL. Just realized I'm really in Red Mode. Some of you have probably seen the red afghan (Red Brick) I've been working on, and heard me talk about The Red Cotton Cloth I've been working (which has since been frogged for a different pattern (stay turned); and now......drum roll. A red scarf!

This scarf is made from The Marble Yarn I used on a gray scarf recently knitted for Bridge and Beyond. It's nice yarn and works up quickly since it's chunky. Think this will be a good piece to take on an up-coming car ride. Mindless things are good for that.

Plan on taking the red cotton and new pattern with me on the trip with the hopes of getting it done. It's February's cloth after all. The pattern calls for lots of counting, a good quiet time project.



WIPW badges and links are in the sidebar if you'd like to join us, please do.

Working on Royalty

Half the squares have been edged, and about 1/3 of the squares have been joined. These squares were donated on Bridge and Beyond and when I'm done assembling them will be donated as a house warming gift through Project Welcome Home. Love these colors together. They do look royal to me. Making good headway this wip.

Working on both Dec and Jan cotton washcloths for DD. Here's December's in the works.
Liberty scarf is still in works, though I've not worked on it in a couple of weeks. Awesome Green Scarf (for DD) is coming along; but no progress from last post.

Hope you're all doing well this Wednesday, look forward to seeing all your WIP. See links and badges in sidebar.

Did you see the previous post? Please scroll down, I'm very excited that my charity blog, Bridge and Beyond was featured in the winter issue of Crochet Magazine!!

Knitting the End of the Month

Colors in this Cotton Cloth Calendar Challenge photo aren't exact. The orange is brighter, as is the green in real life, I think. Hoping to have this done by days end and should be able to manage that. This is November's cloth for DD in my Cotton Cloth Calendar Challenge, it's the last day of month...so time to move to the next cloth...........but will finish this one first. She loves using cotton washcloths and I meant to have this one finished to give her when she was home for Thanksgiving; but was working really hard on finishing Pink Petuna which you'll see on Friday, for Finished Object Friday. Please check back. Need to make Dec, Jan, Feb, and March for this challenge (and item on my YOP list) will be complete. 8 down and 4 to go.
Barely a start, but a start. The blue represents Blueberries on this Oddball Baby Blanket called "Fruit Salad". They come up with cute and fun names and each knitter in turn interpets the theme and knits their section. I lost track how many I had committed to and so initially only had 1 on my list of to do's. Boy was I off, this is #4. When DD was home for Thanksgiving she wanted to work a bit on something and so started this so I'll continue and finish it up SOON.

Still working on The awesome Green Scarf for DD, and by the time you read this scheduled post will probably be working on another afghan from donated squares through Bridge and Beyond's Project Welcome Home and Give a Square.

Hope you're all doing well and enjoyed Thanksgiving. You can find all Work in Progress Wednesday's Badges and Links in the left sidebar.

Traveling with Works in Progress

This was suppose to be last Wednesday's post, but I was traveling and hubby's computer was self imploding, so very limited computer time was available which meant no blogging. Above crocheted squares were donated from a high school friend over on Bridge and Beyond. The one pink row after the circles makes the squares about 6 inches. She had started this for her daughter years ago and found it while cleaning out a closet. I've added a row of purple and or green as you can see with 2 additional rows of pink to extend the squares. Those with purple centers have no green so they get the green row, and those with pink centers have no purple so they get the purple row. These squares went traveling with me. Once joined they will be donated for Project "Welcome Home", through my other blog, Bridge and Beyond to The Homeless Families Foundation. Hopefully this will put on smile on some girls face, as well as warm her up. Some of you may know, some may not; this month focuses on another classmate of mine from school who sadly died homeless. It's Jack Otis Memorial Month. How fitting that my friend Connie also a classmate of Jack's made this donation. I'm naming this ghan, Pink Petuna.
Barely a start here, but this is/will be a knitted cotton cloth for DD. A continuation of The Cotton Cloth Calendar Challenge, this is November's cloth. Had plan to work on this on the recent trip as well, but didn't make it that far. Need to push to get this done so I can pass it along to her over The Thanksgiving Holiday. Looking forward to coming home for a couple of days to visit. Don't remember what the pattern is called, or if has a name? When I jotted it down on the note card I didn't make a note...........dang it. I know I found the pattern/stitch some time back, as the note card was bent so has been around awhile.
This counts as less then barely a start. But, I wanted to at least cast on this yummy Liberty wool. It feels wonderful. I'm in need of a new scarf.........the last 2 I made for myself ended up being passed along to someone else. LOL, I do that often and know many of you do too, from reading your blogs. This though, looks to be funky colors and many of those I pass things along to aren't into the funky as much as I am, soooooooooooo it may indeed end up being mine. I selected a limited straight forward lace stitch for this, knit 1, yo, k2tog across. I'm hoping it will still be warm since this is 100% wool, and won't be too open given the DK weight of the yarn.

Hoping to get back to more regular blogging and blog visiting, Happy Work in Progress Wednesday to you all. All badges and links in the side bar.

Wedding Ghan, Scarf round 3, and Easter Cloth

Work in Progress Wed Post (links in sidebar)
This is the start, barely perhaps of the cotton cloth for March (Easter). Several problems right from the get go. The stitch/pattern is called basket rib. Well basket certainly seems appropriate for Easter and the colors sure look like Easter Eggs and Jelly Beans so that part works. However, started this with my Denise Needles which is how I discovered cotton and Denise needles don't play well together. There's no sliding, and do you see a pattern? No sure I do. Sometimes patterns don't show up well with variegated yarns; but perhaps the needle size is to large? Perhaps frogging and starting over with a smaller and metal needle (like I used with the other 6 cloths) is the way to go? This cloth is part of the Cotton Cloth Calendar Challenge for DD.
TaDah! Well yes I know that expression and a drum roll is usually reserved for when a project is completed. However, I feel whew.......finished the knitting the last strip (far right), and am joining using the mattress stitch. Well, this is a scheduled post, so perhaps thats done as you now read this? Anyway...the very last brown square on the last strip gave me fits. I frogged it 4 times. Had issues with right and wrong side, not seeing the brown well etc. So, to actually have the last strip done really thrills me. Once joined will crochet edge/border and laundry and block! Stay tuned. Am thus far pleased, this is the largest knitting project I've done, and I learned several new stitches/patterns in the process so this was a challenge for me.

Anxious to see how much larger it will be after joined, border, and blocked. Currently it measures 43 x 53.
This scarf, started out HERE, as an early start for The Red Scarf Project. For some unknown reason I've gotten bad at not noting what pattern I'm using and or where in the pattern I am when I lay something aside. Needed to put this aside to work on wedding ghan. So, frogged it and started over. Decided I would use the pattern from the faded summer cotton cloth, but after several rows decided it was to open and adjusted. Mentioned here. Well.........as things progressed I could see I wasn't going to have enough yarn. I purchased this red yarn several years ago, and so didn't even attempt to match; but was sick and tired of frogging.......so my new idea....see above. I knitted until I ran out of red and joined purple to do the 2nd half. As you wrap scarf you'll see both colors. Jury's out on how I'll like it or not on completion. I do love the colors together, but no...it's not a gift for a lady in The Red Hat Society. lol The other day I read guidelines for The Red Scarf Project have become more restrictive regarding red, which was not an issue before. I need to read and see if this scarf will work for them or not. If not, will go to another charity.

Cotton Cloth Calendar Challenge

Today's Work in Progress Wednesday (badges with links in the left sidebar) focuses on my Cotton Cloth Calendar Challenge. I've listed it as one of my YOP (year of projects). I want a cloth to represent each month. This stemmed from all the beautiful cotton washcloths that were collected during the month of June's focus on Bridge and Beyond, and my wanting to get some of the awesome colors I saw, and my DD seeing them and stating how much she LOVED cotton washcloths and wanted a mound of them. After making 2 shopping trips, one to JoAnne, and a 2nd one to Hobby Lobby and Michaels, I think I finally have colors that will work for my calendar idea.

January, cold, snowy. Blue and White is my current idea
February, naturally one thinks red; but I may do this combo? Thoughts vs plain red?
March is Easter, so thought this looked like an Easter Basket of pretty eggs and jelly beans.
April tends to be a rainy month, things here in the Midwest start turning green...........unless there's still lots of snow on the ground.

In normal conditions those April Showers bring on May Flowers (though again snow can get in the way of seeing many of them). I used a cast on of 33 and a double eyelet pattern, one of the stitches I used in the wedding ghan you've been seeing...HERE

June makes me think of summer vacation, swimming pools, kids out of school, beach vacations, laying around in the grass getting a sun tan. This is the famous Grandma's favorite washcloth knitted corner to corner. Everyone's go to pattern.

July is 4th of July, the celebration of our Nations Birthday, Patriotic, Red, White and Blue and family picnics. This is using a cast on of 33 and a pattern stitch called Little Blocks that's also one of the stitches being used in the wedding ghan. HERE
August, the dog days of summer......hot scorching sun, bright orange and yellow. Another cast on of 33, with straight knitting side to side.

September...well, not totally sold on it yet; but thus far I'm looking at this. Though it seems like pastels...I'm thinking fading summer? September is still colorful, but less so. Some flowers gone, but too early for pretty leaf color? Thoughts? I also thought of just stripes of primary colors, thinking back to school, crayon colors; but since I'm using all those colors elsewhere...didn't want to be repetitive???

October of course is Halloween, and Candy Corn.
November makes me think of the end of fall leaves, Thanksgiving on the horizon.
And naturally for December we think Christmas and Red, Green and White.

I'm feeling like I'm a bit over 1/3rd done with this project, even though 12 divided by 4 equals 3, and my 4th cloth isn't yet done. After all, the time to shop, to think and plan...that counts right? And now to lock in some patterns for above colors and months. Thoughts, suggestion? Happy to check them out.

For those who've been following my progress on the wedding ghan...it continues, as of the writing of this scheduled post I'm on block 4 (6 in a strip) of the 5th (I think final) strip. Fingers crossed when I get the 5th strip done and attached I'll feel like it's large enough. I know it will grow a bit when blocked, and again a bit more with a nice border. Running out of time to make a 6th strip, and am pretty sure doing so would be very tight on yarn....don't want to run out and not have enough for a nice border. Have you ever knitted a border? Thus far, I've only crocheted them, but...have a few knitted patterns? How hard is it to pick up stitches? I haven't done this before. This is quite a learning process for me, in that, aside from corner to corner's this is my first knitted vs crocheted ghan, and I did learn new stitches in the process.

Wedding Ghan, and May Flowers

Work in Progress Wednesday (see sidebar for links)

Almost done with the last block on the 4th strip of the wedding ghan. One more strip to go. I have managed to assemble the 3 previous strips HERE in case you didn't already see them. To finish I need to complete strip 4, knit strip 5, attach the 4th and 5th strip (using mattress stitch), tuck in all the tails (worst part of any project), and do a border...probably will crochet the border. I was rushed and didn't lay this strip out nicely so it looks very uneven here, but thankfully isn't in reality, so I don't think the wedding ghan will require more then gentle blocking when completed.
Pretty pink, this makes me think of May Flowers and so is the 3rd cotton washcloth in the Cotton Cloth Calendar Challenge. Hopefully this will be appear again Friday for FO Friday along with August. June's complete cloth is HERE, August in the works is HERE.

Wedding Ghan, and Work in Progress Wednesday

A small beginning to a standard corner to corner cotton washcloth. I love the color combination. This is the first cloth made from The Cotton Stash I showed you HERE. My thought is a cloth a month, calendar cloth project I think I'll call it. I think this combination works best for June? It's summery, blue for water, green for grass, and the colors remind me of swimming pools and beaches. But, with my idea now of calendar cloth some of the months aren't represented in my current stash, and some of those colors in the stash don't jump out as a particular month. Might have to give this more thought, and or go shopping again? Primarily trying to focus on the wedding ghan, but need quick little items to toss in purse for on the go knitting. ( I should mention I'm using the lightest color for the joining, the color from the eyelet block, and you don't see it even on the dark brown blocks).
This shows the back of the wedding ghan and the mattress stitch. I had planned to whip stitch, but someone...good friend Sandie in Louisiana suggested mattress stitch. I discounted it as too tedious, good stitch for hats and sweaters, which is the only time I've used it previously. Then I watched a video of it to refresh myself. She talked about how easy it was, how fast etc. Sooooooooo, I thought...ridge on the front from whip stitch and seeing it differnt color yarn, vs ridge on the back using mattress stitch join, and not seeing, or barely seeing different color yarn?
Soooo, decided to give it go. Three rows joined. Two more to knit. Plenty of tails to tuck which I find you can't really do at the same time as doing the mattress stitch. I do like how smooth the top is, but...it seems far more tedious to me and not quick like the lady in the video. Naturally the ghan will need to be blocked, but the monochromatic colors in the traditional diagonal blocks are coming together.
This in Mardi Gras Oddball Baby Blanket. I'm tasked with being the border patrol for this. I'm currently in staring mode. lol I always stare awhile to decide what I want to do with the edge. What color, what type of crocheted border. I have some purple variegated that might work?

All WIPW badges on side bar with links if you care to join in.

If you missed reading yesterday's post, or if you like flowers just CLICK HERE.

Storing Yarn Stash and Donations

Work in progress, Wednesday
Right to left, you see large metal shelves with wheels. The shelves are awesome. They are sturdy and can be put together in a variety of ways. With the wheels they can easily be moved around. You see the first shelf unit with a variety of tote bags, large zip lock bags, and rubbermaid plastic boxes. They're filled with yarn/ and projects. Some for my personal use, but most of it related to my charity, Bridge and Beyond. The tote bags tend to have projects in them. Needed more storage, hubby bought and put together the 2nd unit where you see more of the same. The smaller white bags are squares separated for already designed ghans for our folks at Faith Mission/and other places in need.

Drum roll please. See the table beside the empty shelves? That has boxes and bags of yarn, mostly donated yarn, squares, and recent donations next up for delivery. AND on a work table not in the picture are several trash bags of other donated yarn. Hubby wants his work space back, and he needs the white table....thus he purchased and put together the 3rd shelf unit.
Look! Almost 4 full shelves already in use. He now has his white table and work table back.

Bridge and Beyond provides hats, scarves, mittens, and slippers for men, women and children who are homeless, spend a night or two in a shelter, or who live in a variety of temporary housing. Donations are delivered to multiple locations with need. Additionally personal care items, knit/crocheted washcloths, and squares are collected. Each month a different item needed is highlighted. If you'd like to read more about what we do, and the fabulous crafters who make it all happen....Please check out the blog Bridge and Beyond. We'd love to have you join us.

A bit of a different post for WIPW, as this work is always in progress. Additionally, work continues on The Wedding Ghan and The Poddle Ghan.

Wedding Ghan, opinions needed Please and Thanks

Work in Progress, Wed.

I have two strips for the wedding ghan currently done and am working on the 3rd (of 5 ?). My question for you all is this (click to enlarge)

How do I want to put this together? That is whip stitch vs crocheting an edge around each strip and then either crocheting together or whip stitching it together. If I had done all the separate squares, I would have edge them all in one color and joined them in the same color, probably whip stitch, which would have looked window pane like. However, by doing the strips I've eliminating the extra time for casting on and binding off over and over and over. The edges are a bit curled, but not badly as often happens with knitting vs crocheting. The pattern you now can see is the traditionally diagonal. So, crocheting an edge will flatten the curled edge which is good, but then does it detract from the diagonal pattern? Whip stitching the strips together and blocking will also take care of the slight curl. Or at least I think it should. Adding a crocheted edge increasing the size, but then which color? And that probably means I need to go buy more yarn (which would be the 3rd time I've purchased yarn for this ghan...the disadvantage of not going with a "real" pattern and guesstimating how much yarn is needed.

Then again, I might have enough yarn to make 6 strips if after doing 5 it looks like it needs to be larger? Sometimes when ghans are too large they're awkward, so I'm really thinking.

Would love some thoughts on over all design regarding edging or not. Please weight in. Thanks!

Groupon a work in progress also. lol, seriously I just purchased my 2nd groupon a short while ago and am therefore still learning how to do things on the webpage etc. Looking forward to saving more money, and trying out new places. My first groupon is for a historical homes tour which I'm really excited about. The 2nd one is for an Italian Restaurant nearby, that I didn't even know existed for 50% off! How cool is that? Do you Groupon? Give it a try by clicking here
**it's not just for young cool hip folks, old farts like me can have fun and save money with it too!

Pink Poddle Ghan

Been awhile since I posted an update to show you progress on this diagonal striped afghan. It reminds me of back in the day, poodle skirts for those of ya as old as me. Thus it's name. When I started this ghan I had several charities in mind, one of which was my very own Bridge and Beyond for the gals at Nancy Place through Faith Mission. Then I heard about the need in Joplin, Missouri and believe if I can get it done anytime in the near future; that's where it's headed. Those folks lost so much, perhaps some young girl will enjoy curling up with this and find some comfort. Perhaps too, someone as old as me who remembers poodle skirts? I've laid this aside though for awhile in order to work on The Wedding Ghan, the wedding is after all Aug 13th...

I find when I'm tired I work on the poodle ghan, as I don't have to count or do different stitches, like I do for the wedding ghan. Don't like working on it when I'm tired, I've already frogged and made changes/corrections too many times.

Normally I have lots of projects going, but for now am just working back and forth between these 2. I do have plenty of other wip (work in progress) pieces, but I've put them all away for the time being.

Wedding Ghan

Got the idea from this from doing the butterfly dishcloth you may have seen HERE. My DD's best friend is getting married in a few months and I wanted to make her a ghan. I've been after my daughter now for several months to find out her colors, and she's failed to do so. She tells me she's not a bright colors person; but beyond that....argh. So, I decided something subtle was the way to go. The plan is to use the lighter solid tan for the design squares and alternate that with the sorta tweedy darker tan for a subtle color contrast. The darker squares will basic garter stitch so that should also provide a texture contrast square to square. My hope is that will also help the designs pop out a bit more.

Using nice washable wool, Plymouth Encore Chunky, size 10 needles. The yarn is 75% acrylic and 25% wool. That should give it nice body, a good soft feel, be warm, and several steps above A Red Heart type yarn. The skeins have 143 yards; which surprised me when I got home ...as I thought it was 200 yards. I know some fleck Plymouth I was looking at was 200 yards, hope I have enough yarn, as I got all they had of the darker tweed.

**Question, notice the graph I've recently added from Rav? It's not showing as many projects as it did when I first added it yesterday. Why is that? AND, how do you get it to show more recent projects? Those listed above are super old projects.**