Strips and Stripes

Hiya from a.,
I have two things to share with you today.  The first isn't  finished project yet, but I like the looks of it already and thought that I would share.  If you've been reading the blog for awhile you know that I started to experiment with quilting.  You also know that I (as always) just dove in and started a little too big.  I since have scaled back, done more reading and thought pieces through.  I also discovered that one of the evil big box store corporations sells really cheap fabric.  It is cheap in terms of price and quality (a pack that was 4 fat quarters was under 6 bucks and a jelly roll is under 15).  We don't have joanns up here where you can get those types of prices on sale.  We have fabricland and I can get cheap up, but not in packs, only individual fabrics.  What this cheap fabric allows is for me to experiment and learn a technique of pattern, without breaking into my good stash.  I was able to cut up this fabric and make my first log cabin square:

Since I had four colours/patterns to work with each new row I shifted the colour over so that each side has a strip of each pattern.  In the end I'll probably back this and just have it as a little successful sampler.  I am just pleased that when I scale back and take my time, this quilting thing might actually work for me (also at this point a HUGE shout out to my friend Amy who for my birthday a couple years ago gave me a quilting rule that just makes life so much easier, I couldn't be doing this without that ruler.  And the litter fairy thread scissors she gave me as well - lifesavers both).
So a log cabin block is a pretty traditional thing to show you our readers.  This second item I have is just as traditional.  I made yet another blanket, but this time it is a big one.  You know from other blankets I've shown you that I like bold colours and this is no different.  What I did do though is a zig-zag or chevron stripe - one of the most common things for crocheted blankets.  For me though a lot of these patterns use small stripes and lots of colours which I find doesn't suit my tastes and this is what I end up with instead:

The colours stick to a pattern but as I worked to the one side I let the width get bigger, because I figured why not - I feel that it adds some fun (r. calls the blanket the wave length).  It's the biggest blanket I've made to date, and I like the drama of it.  Plus the damp and cold are starting to seep in and lots of cozy blankets is a nice thing to have.

see you space cowboy....

Of Course I Made Another Scarf

Hiya from a,
It is difficult to top the awesome that was the last r post and I'm not even going to try.  Instead I just have a scarf to show you.  I bought a yarn at the Patons outlet for dirt cheap and it was a striping sock yarn.  The problem was that with crochet I just couldn't get the stripes to go how I would like.  Thus I decided to use the yarn just as yarn and not worry about striping.  On ravelry the designer Quince Tart wrote a pattern called the Sweet Eleanor Scarf.  This is a free pattern and she did an amazing job and everyone who crochets should make this scarf - it comes out beautifully.  Here is the finished project:

I actually love how swimmy and dreamy the colours worked out in the pattern.  I did actually block the scarf a bit (which with the natural curve took a little work) but I just wanted to smooth out the ripples in the fabric a little - just to show off the open work better.  I like it.
See you space cowboy...