2019 Temperature Blanket Complete

Last night as I waited for midnight I put the final stitches into my 2019 temperature blanket. When I woke up under it this morning, I already started to miss working on it every day. It had become a form of daily meditation as I spent about a half hour every morning recording the previous day.

The colors symbolize the high temperature each day in 2019 in my town. I used 14 colors, each one representing a four degree range of temperature. The yarns ranged from dark pink (the coldest) to the lightest pink, and then light purple to dark purple (the hottest).

The pattern can be found around the internet with various racist titles. I will point you to the Ravelry page with the free pattern that calls it "Retro Remake" here.

I have made temperature blankets two years in a row now, so I'm taking a break this year. I hope to put all those hours into other projects!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year! I would love it if you leave a comment.

Finished for Friday: Autumn Afghan

Whenever I binge a tv show, I create a crochet blanket. I can't just sit and stare at the television without doing something with my hands. This Autumn afghan was a lot of fun to make and used some specialty stitches and some fall-ish variegated yarn. It was a perfect project that didn't take a lot of time or attention. I love these colors and it goes on my stack of blankets that somehow gets smaller every time the kids come to visit. 

If you're wondering which show - it was Lucifer. Not very deep plots but plenty of eye candy!

Thanks for stopping by.

Finished for Friday: May weather

This is my current temperature blanket project, complete up through yesterday. I crochet a row each morning while I drink my coffee. January 1, 2019 is the first dark pink row on the left. May 30 is on the far right.

I have a different color for each 4 degree increment, for a total of 16 possible colors. White rows are snow days, and you can't see it well in this picture but I've added a silver thread for rainy days.

I thought it would be longer at this point. When it's done it's going to be a little bigger than a square I think. I'll trim up the fringe so it's even.

I did a temperature blanket last year and had a lot of fun. It's nice to remember that winter doesn't actually last forever, even if it seems it does at the time.

Slow Sunday Stitching: Fans and Pansies Afghan

I've started a new crochet blanket.  I found the free pattern on Ravelry. I'm using Patons metallic yarn and it has a pretty sheen to it.

This one is definitely going to take a while.  The pattern requires my full attention so I can't do it (yet) while I'm watching television.  So much counting and double-checking.  At least at this point, it's easy for me to see if I make a mistake.

The first few rows took hours and hours because they made no sense at first.  There is definitely a payoff in sticking with a difficult pattern though.

Linking up today with Kathy at Slow Stitching Sunday.

Needlework Tuesday: Crochet Owl

Isn't this little guy cute?  He was a quick little project while I was watching a movie one evening.  I think it took me longer to find matching buttons for the eyes than it did to create the rest of him.

You can find the pattern at The Original Bizzy Crochet.  Instructions include two different sizes and they work up fast.  Great way to use up leftover yarn.

He's hanging out right now next to my one of my Halloween cross stitch pieces.  The kids got this awful toy rat that runs around the floor and scares the cats. I put it on the shelf so I don't keep stepping on it.

Linking up today with Needlework Tuesday at Books and Quilts.

The Harry Potter block I'm sharing today is for the fans of the books.  It's the jar that holds Hermione's blue flame.

I liked the jar pattern, and I had extra room in the block, so I added a jar that's holding a bug - Rita Skeeter.  I also found fabric in my stash that has radishes on it so that became a book spine in honor of Luna Lovegood, who wore handmade radish earrings.

Spiderweb Table Mat

I've already confessed that I'm fidgety when I watch television.  It's hard for me to just sit, so I do a lot of crochet.  This was another simple project that I did this week.  It worked up pretty quickly.  For now, It's at the center of the table holding my napkins (which have their own spiderweb holder) and my mummy salt and pepper.  I was never going to be one of those people who bought silly salt and pepper shakers, but these were on sale after one Halloween and my resistance was low.  When I throw my big Halloween party at the end of the month this table mat will work well under a big bowl of something.

If you want to make your own - I promise it's a quick project! - you can find the free pattern at Red Heart Yarn.  A smaller version would make a cute potholder.

Next up for the Project of Doom blocks for October: Butterbeer!  Another one that was a lot of fun to make.

Of course, Drama Girl was concerned that the frothy beer would damage the books.  I'm sure there's some spell to clean that up.

Linking up today with Heather at Books and Quilts for Needlework Tuesday.

Needlework Tuesday: Monster Movie blanket

This is one of my current works in progress.  I made a small version of this for a friend's baby that's on the way and as soon as I finished I started this one.  It's a great mindless project to work on while I watch something on television after dinner.  It's also helping me reduce my big box of scraps yarn.

October is the month I like to watch old monster movies.  And just lighter movies with a Halloweenish theme.  One of my favorites is Blithe Spirit from 1945.

Rex Harrison is charming in this Noel Coward ghost story.

Of course, The Fly from 1958 features an undeniably sexy Vincent Price.  Few men can pull off a dressing gown in this wild color, but he does.

Day 6 of my Harry Potter Project of Doom quilt.  This is one of my favorite blocks - a venomous tentacula.

I like the way this one turned out. 

Linking up today with Heather at Books and Quilts.

Finished for Friday: Drama Girl's Afghan

Drama Girl sent me this selfie after she received the afghan I made for her.  I think she likes it. 

She wanted maroon and black.  Maroon is a difficult color to find in the yarn section of the store. While I was spending forever trying to decide if this was really maroon, an old friend showed up.  We both started looking all over.  When you have two people who work with colors all the time you have conversations like this:

"Is this maroon?"

"No, that's garnet.  How about this one?"

"No, definitely too burgundy.  What do you think of this one?"

"Absolutely not, that's definitely cranberry!"

I'm not even sure I know what maroon is any more.  I googled it when I got home and there really is a whole range of color that's called maroon.

It doesn't matter.  All that matters is that my daughter is happy with something to cuddle up with when she's in her little chair in her dorm.

The free pattern for this afghan can be found here.

Serial Hooking

I don't watch a lot of television.  When I do, I tend to have something in my hands to work on at the same time.  It's hard for me to just sit still and watch and do nothing else.

Like a lot of people, I binge watch an entire series sometimes.   I guess I rationalize that if I'm crocheting at the same time, I'm not wasting time.

We now have a whole stack of crochet afghans in the house.  The top one was about four seasons of The Walking Dead.  The pink and gray ripple was the entire series of Gilmore Girls.  Jungle Boy has one in his room that I made while watching all the Harry Potter movies.

I keep giving them away.  One is en route to Drama Girl at college and I'm kicking myself for not remembering to take a picture of it before I mailed it.  It was made while watching Parks and Recreation.

Yet no matter how much I try to use up scraps, it seems my supply of balls of yarn is never-ending.  I don't even remember buying all this yarn. 

As soon as I finished the one for Drama Girl I had to start another one.  Just one simple square that I'm going to keep adding to.

This one is Portlandia.

I'll stop hooking if Netflix stops offering shows I like.

My new crochet obsession: Catherine Wheel blanket

This is my newest crochet project.  The pattern is called "Catherine Wheel."  I found a really useful video with instructions here.   The basic stitch isn't difficult at all, but it took me a few repeats to figure out how to finish and start each row.  They're all a little different.

I'm making it on a big hook so it's coming together fast.  When Wasabi Girl saw it she asked if it's for Christmas.  I was hoping to just add it to my stack of blankets by the couch.  Is it too Christmassy?  Isn't red and white sort of classic?  If I have to pack it away with my Christmas decor than I'm going to start another one in different colors.

I keep all the yarn for this project in a big bag.  Hestia loves to burrow in with the yarn.

Here she is, all cozy watching me work. 

I usually work on this in the evenings while I watch something on TV.  I heard that The X-Files will be getting a reboot.  I used to love that show so now I'm working my way through all the old episodes on Netflix.  There are 202 in total.  I don't think I even watched all of them the first time they aired.  I think I sort of lost steam with the whole series when the movie came out.  But for the time being, it's fun to watch the early episodes.