June 2007 Archives

(That's my Cleo on the back of the couch in the second photo - her bed was moved to the floor so I could keep the 17 different color skeins of yarn near me while working on Babette squares.)
After thinking about it more, I decided that Copper Kettle is too much of a warm color for my mainly cool-tone Babette Blanket. So, instead of Copper Kettle, I've settled on Bone. The "less blue" color change is working very well too!

Last Sunday, I crocheted 26 4-round squares and began another 2 4-round squares! Due to clothes shopping after work throughout the week (mostly for something appropriate to wear at my stepson's wedding on the beach in Maui), I haven't had time to work more on the blanket - until last night and today! As of this moment, there are 49 4-round and 2 12-round squares done (photographed above in a random pile) and awaiting their 10-, 8-, 6-, and 2-round companions. I've sketched a design for an additional panel of squares to make my Babette more rectangular than the pattern's basically square blanket.

Complete color chart with final change...

• Size: 50 inches x 70 inches


• Colors: New White (Caron Simply Soft)


• Pattern: Playful Pinapples


• Book: Pineapple Afghans for Baby - Leaflet 3440 - Designs by Anne Halliday - Copyright 2003 - Leisure Arts


• Hook: G


• Date: start June 2; finish June 23

My stepson lives in Maui, Hawaii, with his fiance. For their wedding in early July, I had in my mind a completely white, airy, non-scratchy, washable blanket they could use on cool evenings. (Yes, there are cool evenings in Hawaii.) A "pineapple" pattern was perfect! I originally started with a different pattern and different yarn, but the results weren't quite right. I switched to the Playful Pineapples pattern with different yarn and that didn't work either. The silvery tone of the New White color was perfect! So, here it is!

The leaflet contains afghans for babies, but with adjustments they are easily made into full-size afghans. The Playful Pineapples baby blanket pattern uses sport weight yarn, an F hook, and produces a 34-inch x 44-inch afghan. With adjustments of using worsted weight yarn, a G hook, and a longer starting chain (the repeat pattern is 36 stitches, so the starting chain is 36 + 19 stitches), this finished blanket is 50 inches x 70 inches.

Oh my! I love this website! Cats Who Quilt which boasts the "World's Biggest Cat Quilt Pattern Database"! There is even a listing of Free Cat Quilt Patterns, Cat Embroidery Patterns, and Sewing Room Safety Tips for Cats - and Dogs.

I haven't been able to find many Hawaiian-related charts or graphs on the web that can be used for crochet, cross-stitch, or knitting. Here's one: Kukui Hawaiian Quilt Crochet Afghan.

I've changed my mind on some of the colors (yes, for the third time!). There were too many blues - a color I generally dislike. See chart of changes below.

Changes to Caron Simply Soft yarn colors for my Babette Blanket

Koigu color	(Dark / Medium / Light) Color description	Caron Simply Soft color
French Blue	(D) medium-dark blue (not bright)	Rose Violet	changed from: Country Blue
Baby Blue	(L) light blue	Soft Green	changed from: Soft Blue

Complete color chart with above changes...

[Updated June 23, 2007 - Changed my mind ... again.]

For about 3 weeks now, I've been working on a white full-size pineapple-style afghan as a wedding gift for my stepson and his fiance. But the Babette Blanket - with all her glorious colors - has still been on my mind! I wasn't satisfied with the colors I had, so I did more online hunting and purchased a bunch of different colors from Caron and JoAnn Fabrics.

These are the colors I've decided to use for Babette (for now at least). They are close to the colors used in the photos of the Babette Blanket in the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Crochet. I discovered during my research into the Koigu yarn colors that images of those colors on various websites didn't match what is shown in the magazine photos. I decided to go with the vibrant colors shown in the magazine!

Complete color chart...

I'm de-stashing! I have way too many patterns in my stash/collection and cannot possibly make even one item from each. I've decided to not continue listing items with Etsy since Etsy is really meant for selling hand-made items.

So, I spent a majority of today creating a listing of all items, including photos and a description. Go to the list of crochet patterns, leaflets, books I am de-stashing [UPDATED March 5, 2008!]. For now, items that had been listed in my Etsy shop are still there - they are also included in the new For Sale list.

These hard to find and/or out of print patterns are now available:

• SOLD Annie's Award-Winning Afghans, including the Cathedral Rose Window Afghan
• Flower Garden
• Indian Snow afghan
• SOLD Kountry Kittens - set of 7!
• Native American Afghan & Pillows
• Tiny Turtle and Anchors Aweigh Baby Booties
• SOLD Window Critters (Stick 'em Up Pals)

If you have questions about any of these items, please leave a comment on this post - thank you!

[Latest update about what I'm de-stashing!, 7:45pm, June 16, 2007]

These crochet patterns were added Monday evening to my shop at Etsy - check the shop listings to see what's now available: http://cheryltmm.etsy.com/.

• Thoroughly Modern Grannies
• Baby Afghans 3 to Knit and Crochet
• Serape Sweater
• Springtime Mobile - Sunny Kitchen Designs
• Annies Mile A Minute Baby Afghans, Annies Attic

[Latest update about what I'm de-stashing!, 7:45pm, June 16, 2007]

I'm de-stashing! I decided to sell some of the crochet patterns and crochet pattern books I have in my collection! See my listings at: http://cheryltmm.etsy.com/

There are more items to be listed - here's what's there right now (check the shop to see what's still available):

• Award-Winning Afghans, Annies Attic - I made the Cathedral Rose Window Afghan and love how it turned out!
• Piano Afghan
• Native American Afghan and Pillows
• Kountry Kittens - set of 7
• Indian Snow Afghan
• New Crochet Basics with Round Ripple Baby Afghan
• Playtime Puppets

At first I was going to create a blog to list the items and link to PayPal, then I was going to use eBay. Etsy was recommended by someone over PayPal while I was blog surfing, so I gave it a try - and it is MUCH more straightforward (easier!) to use than eBay!

Please checkout the listings in my Etsy Shop to see if there's something you want to buy! Leave a comment here if you have questions! THANK YOU!

In April, I could tell it was coming... No excuses, though. I just haven't done 30 minutes of walking every day. In fact, I managed only 2 days (non-consecutive) in the 6-week period since my last walking day: April 25. My Health Tracker hasn't gotten use lately.

I allowed myself to fall into my old habit of getting comfy, being lazy - instead of taking the time to walk. I did continue the eating part of my "Life Plan", but without much loss of inches or weight.

A week or so ago, began to feel "heavy" again, short of breath, low energy. On my way home from work today, I successfully talked myself into walking: no excuses. And I did. And I feel good, have more energy, feel awake. Good for me!

To help with incentive, I ordered a Sony DNS313F S2 Sports MP3/CD Walkman with AM/FM Tuner today! It'll be here in a few business days!

"Cats chase their tails for exercise. What do you do?" - CatAge.

Babette has lots of colors - 17 to be exact! And she's been on my mind...I want to make her for myself! I love granny squares! A blanket of grannies using a bunch of different size squares in lots of colors is just my thing!

Of course, I could have created this type of blanket on my own (Cherylette? Cherette?), but all the work of charting the colors and placement of squares has been done for the Babette Blanket pattern, so I recently acquired via eBay the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Crochet in which the Babette Blanket pattern is detailed. [UPDATE January 2008: Interweave Press is offering the Babette Blanket pattern on their website!] Wool yarn can be itchy, so I won't be using the Koigu Premium Merino wool yarn called for by the pattern. Besides, not all the colors of Koigu are available (at least from the online searches I've done) - and I'm not willing to spend $12.95 per skein for 21 (more to make the blanket larger than 43 inches x 40 inches) skeins for an afghan, regardless of how lovely the finished product is.

Caron Simply Soft is available in a variety of colors - and it is on sale starting today at Michaels Craft Store! I told Bill I could heard Michaels calling me to come buy some yarn...he laughed as he waved goodbye.

These are the colors I've (probably) decided to use for the Babette Blanket. They don't exactly match the colors used for Babette, but it's a granny blanket with lots of colors so that's what I have: lots of colors.

This week, Leisure Arts launched a new website: Leisure Arts Library (http://www.leisureartslibrary.com):

Great designs never go out of style, but they do sometimes go out of print. After more than 35 years of publishing needlework and craft patterns, Leisure Arts has an archive full of great designs that have become unavailable to the public. But now LeisureArtsLibrary.com is here to change all that. We're opening our vault of treasures by converting our best designs from the past into digital files that you can download to your home computer.

One popular but difficult-to-find pattern is the Rainbow Afghan baby blanket by Helen Passey from Baby's Best to Knit and Crochet, leaflet #191. Leisure Arts has made the Baby's Best Rainbow Afghan pattern with the coordinating baby jacket and booties patterns available on Leisure Arts Library. The price for the Rainbow Set (baby blanket, jacket, booties) is $2.99 - which is reasonable considering the leaflet was selling for more in eBay auctions!

Take the Leisure Arts "Library Survey" to let them know what out-of-print patterns you'd like them to make available!