Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Good, the Bad and the Happy

So far I've crocheted 31 granny squares since last Thursday or Friday. I can't remember the exact day I started this afghan. Below are my six favorite blocks of the 31:


Here is a Rainbow square. I was listening to Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol while working on this(and trying not to stick a fork in my eye from the awfulness of the story) and decided that since I'm from a Masonic family(and no my view of awful has nothing to do with me thinking Dan Brown did anything horrible to the Masons with this tale, other than not writing a better story.) and I was a Rainbow Girl(it's the teenage girl version of being a Mason) so I thought in honor of what I was listening to and praying for all the characters to die so the story could just end, I would stitch a rainbow block. I like it so much I might have to crochet a few more.



These are blocks that aren't bad but aren't necessarily great:



And these below are just WRONG:


The dark red doesn't work in any way and the dark hunter green is a bit too much.
I'm crocheting this from stash yarn. My 18 yr old wants to paint his room and yellow and orange are colors he wants to use so I'm using them in each block. I like the royal blue edging better than black, I think it makes it a little more happy. I've only purchased one skein of yarn and that was an extra of the royal blue because I thought I might need it but now I'm thinking I didn't need to buy it at all. I'm resisting the urge to rush out and buy all new yarn because 1) it's not in the budget and 2) this is for an 18 yr old who will hopefully want to take it with him when he leaves home and I'm reasonably sure he would never handwash anything or even think to ask about something like that. Acrylic is the way to go. Maybe one day I'll make him an afghan out of better stuff but for now this will work just fine. Red Heart softens up a lot after a few washings. And 3) did I mention this is all yarn from the stash? Except for that one purchased skein of royal blue, of course. How scary is that? I had this much Red Heart yarn in a Rubbermaid bucket in the garage. When this is done I am planning to start an afghan for the 21 yr old. I may or may not have to buy some more yarn since his colors are blue, green and yellow. He wants the green to be the main color. Then the youngest wants blue, green and white. I'm trying hard not to purchase any yarn unless necessary because I'd love to crochet up all this Red Heart and kiss it good bye, not that I have any problem with Red Heart, it's just I've been acquiring Knit Pick's worsted here and there to eventually make a granny square afghan and ripple afghan, not to mention a log cabin afghan(knitted) and a Babette( babette - Flickr: Search) for myself(I know how to hand wash a blanket) but I do worry about that whole moth thing. If you have a wool blanket laying around on the couch or the bed and there are moths(this is Florida and I love leaving the doors and windows open when I can and those little boogers get in the house) will the moths just chow down on the blanket while it's on the back of the couch? I'm just thinking wool might not be the way to go and maybe there is something to be said for a good old acrylic blend.
Is it obvious that I grew up in a mostly synthetic household? My mother would throw a fit if I bought anything that had to be handwashed or drycleaned or ironed. Everything in our house was moth proof trust me.


Here they are, 31 going on 80(see above). Keep your fingers crossed I keep up my momentum and keep cranking out at least a five a day. I've been stitching a bit today on Simply Live. I want to get that finished so I can start Lisa's Near Halloween. And speaking of Primitive Needle--any recommendations for fabric if Lakeside Linen's 40ct Vintage Pear isn't readily available? Right now I'm thinking WDWs Dill would work. I open to any an all suggestions.



4 comments:

staci said...

Those Red Heart afghans will last till the next millenium...I've still got the ones my grandma crocheted. And they're tough as nails through abuse and the washer and dryer :) But I do love wool, and wool blends are great for machine washability.

It's not the moths you have to worry about, it's the moth larvae. And once you get those they are super duper difficult to get rid of (a simple washing won't do.)

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

Great job! Yep, I've got an old afghan from my MIL - very 70's colors and it is done in horrible colors and my kids love it. Go figure.

Your son will love this one and it will be a bright and cheery reminder of the love you have for him. What's better than that?

Missy Ann said...

Yellow & orange? Does he wear sunglasses indoors? Ah well, you're only young once and paint can always be changed.

Love the squares, I think they look good.

Kathy said...

I love the granny squares. This afghan will last forever.