my granny's afghan

Yay!  Finally finished up this design-- a little later than I had hoped, but here it is.

Yarn and crochet being my other addiction, this piece was a lot of fun for me. I love granny squares, and so stitching them instead was engaging. The frequent color changes kept it interesting. 

Finished stitched size, 144w x 108h. My model was stitched over two threads on Wichelt Imports Denim Blue 28ct. jobelan with DMC threads.

I designed it using a lot of smaller bits of embroidery thread that I had, and any stitcher picking up this design to work through could do the same, or, they could work all the blocks the same which might lend itself to a really cool look as well.

All of the crochet granny squares I have done have always been with scraps of yarn, kind of a crazy quilt effect, and I think I managed to capture that with the stitched interpretation.

And something else I started today...

Remember all those orts I've been playing with? Well, I stitched a bunch of them down on batik, a random bit of stitching with my machine. Now, I'm trying to decide what I want to do with it from here. Have a few ideas. Tomorrow I think I'll dig in.

Now I'm off to figure out what to start on next, 

fill up my coffee cup and maybe sketch for an hour or three!

home stretch.

*Almost* done with the model of Granny's Afghan.  I had hoped to finish this up while working tonight, but discovered I left half of my embroidery thread at home in a tidy little ziplock bag on the dining room table. I did have the browns for edging with me, so that was my focus tonight and into the wee hours. 

I am really happy with the way this is turning out. While stitching I was also sketching because I had a few 'ahh haa!' moments-- some design ideas as spin-offs of this one.  

After a few hours of sleep this morning, I'll get to it again, and hopefully have a finished model by tonight!  

my granny's afghan

The one thing that I like about working the overnights at the group home is the amount of stitching I can get done most nights.  I'm still working on the model for My Granny's Afghan, and I hope to have it completed by the end of the weekend or early next week.

While I have been finding a lot of joy in stitching the models of my latest designs, this one has really been fun for me. I *love* granny squares for one, crocheting is so relaxing for me and I have always found it satisfying to create something from scraps, which is usually what I use when I make granny squares.  The colors I picked for this cross stitched version are very random, quite literally scraps of my cotton embroidery threads, partial skeins of this and that. Also, this design would lend itself to just about any color combination if a stitcher wanted to change it up. 

I've also charting new designs, including a couple Easter-themed pieces. It's a departure for me, as I don't think i have ever done anything specifically for Easter! 

Needless to say, 2014 has started off with more than a bang!

my granny's afghan

My Granny's Afghan 

I have been working this week on the model for my newest design, My Granny's Afghan. I've been a little hung up on granny squares lately, using up scraps of yarn to make blankets for Christmas gifts, and thus came the inspiration for this design.  I am having a lot of fun with it.  The colors picked are even based on what I had for "scrap" embroidery floss, kind of a 'blanket of many colors' thing. 

My brother and his family were home for the holiday which was wonderful, and I found myself with some 'crochet time' while we sat around drinking coffee and sharing memories.  So I started working on an embellishment order for a customer on Etsy, and then crocheted these--

Flowers for Sharon

I have a friend that is battling cancer, and I sent her a crochet "hug" a few months back, a lap throw for her to wrap up in whenever she needed a little warm and fuzzy comfort.  I made these flowers now, and they'll go on stems tomorrow. Will package them up and they'll be on their way to her on Monday. 

Now I think I will go and warm up my tea that I have somehow neglected and see about finishing a few more odds and ends before work this afternoon.

finally made one to keep for myself...

Finally made a Super-Granny-Square-Blanket and kept it for myself. It's made with a bulky yarn, Loops & Threads Charisma and it's just yummy. I used only the variegated yarns, and just let them work as they would giving me this hodge-podge mix of colors that work perfectly in my hodge-podge bedroom.  

 

Working on a few new cross stitch designs now, although it has been slow going as I am working way too many hours at the two outside places of employment. Has cut seriously into my creative time, something I am going to have to remedy after the holidays.  But for now, head down, power through, get some financial things in order so that I can play around guilt free!