Two more squares - with bobbles!

The bottom purple bobble is nothing special. In fact, I am so non-plussed with it may just use it as the middle of a small baby afghan and give it to the hospital rather than send it to a friend as an exchange. For this swap it doesn't really spin my heart....ya know?

BUT - I really do like the blue and green square. I did not do the changes in color called for in the pattern which is called Framed Flower. I have one that LindaH sent to me in a swap and she did the color changes called for which turned out quite beautiful. I, however, only wanted the two colors so did the bobbles and edging with the Seaspray. The square looks so very different in the two colors - see LindaH's in the white/grey/blue below the top photo. Quite a difference color changing makes!

Square #82 in Misty

I finished this square yesterday...it is one of my favorite.  The middle is a swirl of front post stitches, so I thought it would be cool to carry out the theme on the last few rows. I sc on the row and then made the front post stitches every sixth or seventh stitch.

It does seem to give it a very spiffy look, I think!  This is Square #82 in 101 Crochet Squares, and I think I'll make another one!

FREE PATTERNS!!!

I found the Garnstudio site a few years back accidentally, but fell in love right off the bat. I made some of the baby things and they were absolutely outstanding and very well received as gifts.  See! These two are from Drops, and the booties are made up in their alpaca yarn which is virtually WONDERFUL!

I just received the link to their new line of patterns and as usual they are all FREE.  Most are knit patterns, and gorgeous they are. However, they do have crochet patterns written in the American translation so easy to follow. Right now they have a flag under those patterns that are available. They will be brighter flags if they are ready, dim if the pattern isn't up. This is the first time I have seen so many waist coats and vests in crochet that are wonderfully designed in crochet!

If you are blessed by the hand of our Lord, and can knit, then I envy you the joy you will find amongst these pages of luscious patterns.  If you, like I, are a crocheter then you will enjoy looking and calculating how to translate some of these into our type of craft - but you will also find enough to satisfy your cravings for something new and different!

Seaspray Mist Square

This square is called Puffs and Posts which is in the "50 Fabulous Crochet Squares" book. It is one of the few post-stitch squares I have made that doesn't pull in the middle/sides. I think it is because she uses longer post stitches than I have seen in other patterns.

Can't remember what the edge/border was like in the pattern, but I did a hc in the back loop only to give it a little texture at the end. I't a pretty square, and easy to do! My kind of square! Made in Vanna's Choice in Seaspray!

Artsy Fartsy

The contest in Vanna's Choice Fan Club is for the square. Not just for the craftsmanship, but also for the nifty neat way you take a photo of the square! ;o) So, I'm posting these - and then will steal these photos and put on Ravelry. Easier than trying to upload them.

The bobble is from Jan Eaton's book 200 Crochet Blocks called Zigzag Bobbles. To bring it up to 12" I added a row in each Tangerine Misty stripe, and on the middle block I added another row of bobbles making it into a arrow. I changed the top row to go in the opposite direction of the bottom row so that all bobbles were pointing in one direction.

The square with the blue in it is just a conglomeration of several squares - not one in particular. The cross stitches come from Jean Leinhauser's Hot Pepper square. I was looking for texture as well as something a little solid.

CROCHET DAD'S WHEEL STITCH

I met a gentleman, Gene, on Ravelry who lives very close to where I use to live in California. He crochets to stay calm!  He does some marvelous work, and has patterns and hats galore. Even has an Etsy shop, and has been honing his skills regularly.

On his web site, CrochetDad's Blog, he has a tutorial for what he calls the Wheel Stitch Block.  It is an awesome block and I am going to make one for the Misty Swap.  I love it, and it looks pretty easy, yet very artful!

Check it out!  Wheel Stitch Tutorial