Closet Clean-Out

Cleaned out my closet this weekend. I don't know how I managed to stick so many things into one closet but what a trip down memory lane it was! Thought I would share a few of the things I found covering 3 decades of my life.
From the 1970's is this afghan made by my Aunt E. If you didn't live thru the 1970's, particularly the year 1976, then you can't possibly understand the excitement that gripped the USA as the bicentennial year drew closer and closer. Everything was colored red, white, and blue. And this little afghan was given to me. I love it and, God willing, I will still own it when I die.

From the 1980's, is something else that I can't bring myself to give up. My genuine Levi 501 button-fly jeans. Never again will I be small enough to fit into these, which is okay because I almost wore this pair out. These jeans were HOT! I happened to be in Atlanta, GA when they hit the market and I immediately bought a pair. The pants came with instructions sewn to the waistband, because you had to "shrink to fit" for a personal fit. I remember spending a whole afternoon in a laundermat washing, drying, and putting on my new jeans until they were just right.





And my crochet habit started in the 1990's. That's when I made this broomstick lace cardigan. I found the original pattern dated 1993. I thought that the border with all the little roses was so cute. I still do but the cardigan no longer fits. This may well be the first wearable that I ever made. I washed it and hung it back up. Some things just can't be given up.

In other news, I finished two things! (Boy, I've been busy this week!!) Pictures will be coming soon, but hubby's socks are done and I've finished the bell-sleeved pullover.

Works In Progess

WIP No. 1 - The bell-sleeved pullover is coming coming along. This was a great project to start after the afghan. The pattern is well-written and the cotton yarn is so smooth. I'm really enjoying it and it is looking good (if I do say so myself). I do need to find a little top to wear under it because nothing in my closet will do.

WIP No. 2 - I've got a good friend who is having a baby. Now she already has 2 boys, so on the off chance that this one is a girl, I want to be prepared! I pulled out this half-finished baby blanket that I put down because I got tired of doing all those flowers. (Have I ever mentioned that I have lots of unfinished projects stuck all around the house?) I do plan to finish this up before the middle of June. It's a cute pattern with the pink center and a border of pastel flowers.

WIP No. 3 - No picture, but I'm still working on hubby's socks. It's become almost a never-ending project because I messed up on the heel of one sock and didn't notice until I finished both socks. The horror and frustation that I felt upon noticing the mistake, and it was a Big Boo-Boo, almost made me chunk both socks. And, if they had been socks for me I would have. But in the end I got to practice on frogging my knitting, putting the live stitches back on my needles and now I'm just trying to finish.

Future WIP - The Baroque Jacket from HH. This pattern was the reason I bought the book. I had planned to get it from the Stitch Diva's website anyway. The yarn came in this week but I'm not starting on it until I finish one of the three projects above.

So I've got plenty to keep me busy.

Oops...

So I laid the afghan on the floor, turned around for one minute to grab the camera, pointed the camera at the afghan, and suddenly, there was The Cat all nice and comfy-like, perfectly content to lie there and have her picture took. Now why do cats do that?

But the real oops is that there is a mistake in the Sunflower Afghan!I laid this blanket out many, many times as I was working out and I've spread the finished blanket out a few times to show off, and it always looked fine. It wasn't until I was reading thru my thread at Crochetville that I happened to look at the pic I had posted and noticed a dreadful error! One of the 8 sunflower blocks is upside down! How in the world did I miss that? The dark green front-post double crochet stitches, which should be framing the front of the flower are on the back. I've double-checked on the actual blanket and, yep, it's upside down.
One rainy day when I'm bored and looking for something different to do, I'll pull out the border, cut the seams, and turn that block over.

FO: Sunflower Afghan

Project: Sunflower Afghan designed by Irena Janiashvili

From: Kit purchased from Mary Maxim
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver

Measures: 50.5 inches wide, 72 inches long




Notes: This was a bear of a project from the get-go. The kit was on back-order for a couple of months, and I had given up on actually receiving it when it showed up at my door. The yarn included was Red Heart Super Saver instead of Mary Maxim's Starlette. I've never used any of the Mary Maxim yarns so I don't know if this was an upgrade or not. (I did get a $5 gift certificate for having to wait so long and I've got several full skeins of yarn left over.)
The pattern has several errors and was a bit difficult to figure out at times. I ended up completely changing the last row of the border. The pattern featured crocheted tassel-things, which I thought looked just awful, and I ended up finishing the ends with a row of shells instead.
All in all, I'm really pleased with the way this turned out. It was a challenging project with lots of different stitches. And The Cat seems to think it is all comfy.

Next Project: The Bell-Sleeved Pullover from Tahki Stacy Charles Crochet book. I'm also still working on a pair of socks for hubby and I want to finish a baby blanket I started a while back.

Elegant Poncho

Pattern: Poncho from the Fall/Winter 2005 issue of Family Circle Easy Crochet

Yarn: Paton's Divine, 3 balls Soft Earth

Notes: The pattern calls for the knitting to be done in rows and the crocheting to be done in rounds. Nowhere does the pattern mention anything about seams, which I try to avoid anyway. So I got a circular knitting needle and did the knitting in the round too.
This is currently the favorite item I have made. I've worn it several times and it wears well and looks good! (A great combination for wearables.)
And it was fun to make. The top half is knit ribbing while the bottom is crocheted shells.

Remaining soft, fuzzy yarn went towards a kitty blanket (which The Cat refuses to actually lie on).