Having fun with edgings

Here are some photos of the finished edge of my purple patchwork afghan. Of course I can never follow anything without adjusting it in one way or another...the book calls for a dc base and I did hdc and the picots were ch5 and ch9 - I didn't like how loopy they were, so I trimmed them down to ch3 and ch5 picots. They are more nubby, but I like them that way.

Have a wonderful week!

Scrappy purple patchwork

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I've been so busy these days finishing up some large orders for Christmas, I haven't had much time to spend on new designs or posts to this little blog. I did however get Tillie's costume done for Halloween as well as finish up some works-in-progress including this one:

I started it this past summer! I used mainly end-of-skeins that I pack into little Zip Lock bags I always keep handy (I also use baggies for my snipped tails to stuff projects!) These poor little purple squares were sitting around for too long.

Instead of using my usual go-to edgings - sc/dc or scalloped edge - I've decided to use one of the lovely edges from a new book I purchased: Around the Corner Crochet Borders. Once again, Edie Eckman does not disappoint! I'm so pleased. I've got plenty of border books, but not many that address the corners!

There were so many to choose from, but here's the one I picked.

Stay tuned to see how it turns out...

Tillie the mermaid princess

Halloween has come and gone, but I'm finally getting around to posting a photo of Tillie's finished costume. I started a couple of months ago with a crocodile stitch skirt. I wanted her to be able to walk, so I only went to her knees with the pattern and then created a dc "tail" in the front and back - open at the sides. I thought it was cute enough (to be honest, I ran out of time, so I kept it simple!). I made a little bandeau top and was going to crochet some seashells, but ran out of time, so I put a simple flower on one side. The colors were all chosen by Tillie. I just tried to coordinate for a little consistency! She was so excited to wear it, and that's all that mattered.

Back from the beach

Tillie greeting the Atlantic...

I feel like I've been away forever, but it was only a week. We had a very nice trip out to the coast. The kids really enjoyed the beach. I always leave feeling renewed. How could you not after staring at water like this?

I can't tell where the sky ends and the water begins.

EtsyMom Color Challenge 2012

I was so excited about this color challenge, that I stayed up to post pictures of my finished blanket. It's a simple granny square pattern using colors from the palette I selected. I also added some other shades of the same colors to give it a little depth and interest. Then I finished it off with a sc of the vibrant blue and a picot edge of the medium blue. I don't expect to win anything, but it was a nice diversion, and the challenge helped inspire me to try new color combinations.

I didn't want to leave the girls out, so I did one in pink as well (this one is not part of the challenge). I thought it came out with a "woodland-y" feel to it. I'm picturing little fairies, mushroom houses and woodland animals.

This was a lot of fun.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!

EtsyMom Color Palette Challenge

I am on a team called EtsyMoms over at Etsy. They are having a challenge for anyone on the team to come up with a creation using one of the three color combinations below.

You must enter your product on October 8. I like all of these color palettes, however, I've decided to go with the first one - I really like the blue, chocolate and lime - and I think it would make a lovely granny blanket? I'll be sure to post my entry when I come up with something. What a fun idea!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday!

Daisies and mermaids

I'm almost finished with my first daisies on purple afghan for my Etsy customer, Angela. I really like how the purples make the daisy pop. Two more rows of squares and then onto the edging...

(I used Caron One Pound lilac, lavender blue, jonquil, white and off white)

If you are new to the site, you can find the daisy pattern here.

My daughter, Tillie, said she would like to be a "princess mermaid" for Halloween. I had never done the "crocodile" stitch before, but I knew that I had to use it for her mermaid tail. I've decided to make a straight skirt with some kind of pleated fin (so she can walk!) I'm still working on mastering this stitch - so I'll figure out the fin when I get there...

I found this pattern at Bernat.com. You must sign up to gain access, but they have some really lovely free patterns at their site. The Mermaid Tears Purse was the exact size I needed for Tillie's skirt, so I did not need to figure out how to alter the pattern before beginning. 

By the way, this is a fun stitch to do. The only difficult part is manipulating your work for the first "5dc down..." It's such a great scaly looking pattern though!