Knitting Sandwich

squares of the (every other) month

since my last double v square of the month post we've unintentionally moved to a "squares of the every other month" format.

march:

 may:

 july:

 i'm still moving forward with this project, just at a slower pace.  and these days i consider any forward progress, no matter how small, something to celebrate!  

 7 of 9 squares done!  please don't think my slow pace indicates a lack of interest - i'm loving this project especially when i get to lay them out and the squares meet up and all those right angles come together.

 speaking of celebrating forward progress (at a not so slow pace...) someone turned one year old at the beginning of the month!!

 she's got places to go and things to do, this one... the world had just better look out!

 -melissa

all i want to do is crochet blankets

it's true... i've been gone from blogland for a while now, and all i've been doing is crocheting blankets.  i can't stop.  i don't want to stop, so i'm just gonna roll with it until i decide to make something else.  

so let me catch up... back in ahem february/march i made this granny stripe blanket for kathy's new baby:

 i also made this random granny square blanket with some leftover acrylic yarn to send to bundles of joy:

 i believe it was at some point in march or maybe april that i finished the 2015 weather blanket... 

 i have to say, this was a pretty momentous occasion... i really loved making this blanket, and i love how it turned out!  the edging reminds me of kneesocks someone would wear at the roller rink in the 1980's.  

 ever since i discovered lucy of attic24's blog i've wanted to make one of her afghans for my family to snuggle under.  for two years i had a big pile of vanna's choice yarn set aside for this very project.  well this spring/early summer i brought that dream to reality!

 it's her cosy stripe pattern and it's already seen it's fair share of family snuggle time:

and then, (i told you i have a problem) i used some of the leftovers from the cosy stripe to crochet some solid granny squares to make a blanket for bundles of joy:

 there you go!  pretty much all caught up!  i've started a new blanket project, but i think that can wait for another post ;) 

i hope that all of you have been well, i look forward to visiting your blogs and seeing what you've been up to!

-melissa

squares of joy - february edition

my february double v block has been completed!  i can now finally match up the four mitered corners... (i was tempted to cheat and do it when i had the first corner of the block competed, but i want you to know i waited until today. )

 yay!!  totally worth the wait!  i'm really enjoying watching this project slowly come together, all the sismple geometric shapes and right angles juxtaposed with those diagonal lines from the mitered squares... it's very rewarding to watch an idea you had in your head come together right before your very eyes.

already looking forward to seeing what next month will bring!

-melissa

squares of joy - january edition

it's been a good five months since i've made a square of the month block... coincidence that thora is also 5mo old?  i think not!  

 i'm back on the bandwagon now though!  

three finished squares!  ooooh that meeting up of the mitered square corners has me so excited for next month!

 all those right angles coming together in perfect garter stitch glory!  it's like a neurotic crafting dream come true!

-melissa

baby knows best

while in tennessee for christmas i finished the zen circle i was making for bundles of joy with the leftovers from rachel's log cabin blanket.

 while i was taking photos yesterday i thought to myself, "wait!  i have a baby!"  said baby had just woken up from her nap and was promptly placed upon the blanket.

 she wasn't quite sure this was what she wanted to be doing...

 she rolled over and decided, nope.  this was definitely not what she wanted to be doing!  so i scooped up the baby and we went back to photographs sans model...

 because around these parts, baby is the boss!

 -melissa

yarn along 12.16.15

joining with ginny at small things for this week's yarn along:

 reading: lily and i are on to book two of the redwall series, mossflower by brian jacques.   they're still sweet books, fun little adventures...  i think i like this one better than the first, but i'll wait until we're finished to render final judgement.  we're close... just a few more chapters.  we read a little bit each night before lily goes to bed.

crocheting: i'm making a zen circle blanket for bundles of joy.  i love this pattern for when i'm just wanting to enjoy crocheting and not have to think very hard, just zone out and crochet.  all it is is a giant flat circle from the tutorial by lucy of attic24.  

as you can see i'm not really challenging myself in either category right now.  but with a four month old baby somedays all the challenge i can handle is getting us both dressed in time to pick lily up from school!  so we're taking things nice and easy for now.  

now it's your turn - what are y'all reading and knitting/crocheting right now?

-melissa

squares of joy - july edition

since i was on a bit of a hiatus from blogland last month i need to quick post about july before we're too far into august!  here's my july block for my double v blanket for bundles of joy:

 right now my plan is to use up all the berocco comfort i have left over from making a ripple afghan for my friends' wedding a couple years ago.  i'm not sure how many squares i can get out of the remaining yarn, but at least for now it's producing blocks that are somewhat color coordinated.

 i'm pretty jazzed about how the blocks are going to match up.  i'm looking forward to having four squares finished so they'll make a big square out of the miters in the corners...

 have i mentioned how excited i am about this project?!?  very excited!  and the best part - it's already august, so i can start on the next square right away!!

-melissa

new square a month - knitted quilt blocks

two unrelated thoughts have been swirling around in my head as of late.  first, a general guilt that i've been lax on my bundles of joy knitting and second, taking a quilt block pattern and knitting it.  i've been obsessed with log cabin knitting ever since i first cracked open the mason dixon knitting book.  but over the past few months i've been thinking about taking other quilting patterns and translating them into knitted blocks.  so much so that i made a pinterest board for potential patterns.

i didn't want anything fussy - no triangles or complications, just some basic quilt blocks.  i settled on the double v block for my first attempt.

 as i was knitting this up i felt the calm come over me of scratching a creative itch that had been percolating for quite some time.  i also found myself asking, "well *now* what am i going to do with this block?"  a bundles of joy square-a-month project seemed the only logical answer.  

 this will serve as my june square.  it also reminded me how much i like doing the square a month projects, very little pressure since it's just one block per month, and i always look forward to getting to make the next block.  

my mind is already swirling with other quilts-into-knits ideas, just from the few pins i put on that board.  don't expect this to be the last you hear of this idea.  

does this ever happen to y'all?  you can't get a crafty idea out of your head and it builds and grows until you can't ignore it and have to act - sooner than later?!?  

-melissa

you'll never guess what i've been up to...

surprise!  i've been crocheting a zen circle baby blanket for bundles of joy!

you can roll your eyes at me... i'm predictable, i know.  

 after finishing up kaia's blanket i still had enough yarn to squeek out a zen circle for the sweet sweet babies at pine ridge.  this is the third blanket i've made with this color combo (hattie's (rav link) and kaia's (rav link)) and i am still in love with it so i may have to take a trip to the store for more of the same...

 this is another of my favorite zen circle blankets, using lucy of attic24's flat circle tutorial (rav link) and my go-to picot edging.   like i said, i'm nothing if not predictable... but sometimes in the midst of the end of the school year whirlwind it extremely comforting to have something extremely predictable to turn to at the end of each day.

be forewarned, i've already cast on for another crochet afghan... this may just turn into the summer of the crochet afghan... i've got all kinds of plans!

-melissa 

blue zen circle of joy

 the blue zen circle for bundles of joy is complete!

it's my standard flat circle from lucy at attic24...

with my standard picot edging...

the fact that it is, as it were, just a plain blue circle, made it not the most interesting thing to photograph.  i did not mind so much when the kitties came snooping around...

 they were very polite and did not actually get *on* the blanket.  such thoughtful cats... (in hindsight i'm not sure what's wrong with them!)

-melissa