Charlotte's Universe - Parts 2 - 4

 Hello again,

I have been furiously working on my Charlotte's Universe afghan.  

The last I shared was only the first two rows. Here is what I've done so far.

This is the central flower - part of part 1

The pattern mentions that this inside flower tends to cup a bit due to the chain stitches being too small, so I went ahead and added 1 extra chain in those areas.  I really liked how this turned out.  I didn't take a picture of the back, but it sure is interesting, and I don't think I've ever done a motif quite like this before.

This is part 1 complete.

This one was fun too.  I decided to continue with the light green as the background, bringing in the dark purple again so that those back post stitches really pop with the outline of the light green.  I can see this being a square all on its own.

This is part 2 - where it got interesting!

In part 2  - the instructions have you add triangles to the sides of your square.  I used primarily one yarn, so I didn't have to cut and weave in ends every row.  I added only one row of the dark brown to bring that color out from the center as an accent.  These triangles also have bobbles, which I don't particularly like to make, but I powered through and I have to admit they do create an interest in this piece.  I'm loving how the colors are playing together.

This is part 3. squaring it up again.

On the first row of this part, I used the same pink variegated yarn from part 2, but then added another dark purple row before continuing with the background light green color.  I had to redo sections of this, as I kept forgetting to do the ch8 loop to make the little flowers ... so I had to tear back almost an entire round *sigh*.  However, had I not done that, it would not have looked right, so I am glad I tore back and fixed my mistakes (there were multiple!).  

This is Part 4 finished !  

I again added a round of the dark purple and some light green.  There won't be much light green after this, as I am running low, but I then added the medium green (leaf green is what it's called on the label) before doing the two rows of flowers in the hot pink.  I was really scared I would run out of the hot pink before finishing the second round for the flowers (it's a two round repeat, 1/2 flower the first round, then the other 1/2 of the flower the 2nd round).  I actually only have about 5grams of the hot pink left !  I started with 105 grams !! So a full skein for those two rounds alone.

Here are some of the usage stats that I am starting to keep.

Round 41 & 42 together = 101 grams.

Round 41 = 54 grams and Round 42 = 46 grams.

Round 40 = 22 grams (Leaf Green)

Round 39 = 17 grams

Round 38 = 42 grams 

I am not sure why the big difference in grams in rounds 38 - 40 .... maybe because some rounds have dc and some have more chains or hdc or sc??  I will continue to keep track so that I can estimate if I have enough of a single color to complete the next round. This should help me in determining what color to use next.

Right now - after part 4 - this weighs 509 grams.  

It's starting to get pretty big - about 35 inches square.

I don't think I mentioned, although I showed you the pictures - I am using old Red Heart and Sayelle Acrylic Worsted yarn.

A little bit of Sewing

 In between my crochet and knitting, I've also been trying to straighten out my front room, which I use for sewing and paper crafts.  It had gotten pretty messy, and I need to clear some space so that I can work on the Christmas Cards for this year.  As I was cleaning, there was fabric laid out for cutting to make a bag, so I went ahead and made it! 

I had made several of these drawstring bags earlier this year, and I had it down pat, but I had to start thinking again about what sizes I needed to cut!  I cut the main portions out, and then cut two strips for the drawstring and the casing that holds the drawstring, and I ended up cutting those the wrong size, so I had to look for another scrap to do the drawstring.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty well.

Charlotte's Universe CAL Project

 So I have decided to start the Charlotte's Universe CAL.  You can view the pattern here.

I have started this because my mom, who was named Charlotte, passed away this May and this CAL has her name (no affiliation, just a coincidence).  The other reason is that I inherited her yarn stash, and there are tubs of Worsted Acrylic yarn.  This will be a good way to use up her stash, in a blanket that has her name.  I figured it would be a good way for me to remember her as we head into the Holiday season.  The first holiday without her.

My main colors are purple, green, white, with brown and pink also thrown in for good measure. :)

I am starting with dark brown and dark purple, then light green.  I figure the browns and purples will go dark to light from the center outward, and the green will go light to dark from the center outward.  In my head, this may work.

Here is the stash I am starting with.

After looking at this selection, and again trying to estimate how much I will need, I added a couple more skeins on top.

I think that will be enough.  I hope so.

This morning I got started on this CAL.  I completed 4 rounds.  Here is a photo of the first two.

I haven't taken a photo of rows 3 and 4 yet.  

I'll try to keep this blog updated on my progress.  

Have you ever completed this CAL or any other of this type?  It has many many rounds, and many many pages of patterns to print out.

Spin de Fleece 2021

 Tour de France is coming up June 26th, and that means that Spin de Fleece is also coming up!

Spin de Fleece is an event on Fiberkind.com that follows the same dates as the Tour de France.  When they are 'spinning' we try to spin too!  

Please come check it out. 

You can find it here. https://fiberkind.com/forum/spinning/spin-a-longs

Merry Christmas!

 Hello all, :)

I thought I would share with you a papercraft project that I did (with some help from dh -'dear husband').

We created handmade Christmas cards this year, using an owl cutout I had on Cricut.  We enjoyed spending the time together making them.  They were made using some fresh cardstock, but also a lot of recycled cards from Christmases past. 

Which is your favorite?

The results of Spin de Fleece

Sorry I haven't posted since September. I figured I would show you the results of my Spin de Fleece.  I was able to get two spinning projects done.  Here is the first.  I think it turned out pretty nice.

I then started a second project. This one with two different fibers.  Here are the two fibers on their individual bobbins.

I then spun them together to create two skeins, plus the one bobbin had a little extra, so that was spun on itself to create the mini skein.

So I think that was a productive spin de fleece!  I look forward to spinning more in the future.  Hopefully before the next Tour de France!

Day 10 - Tour de Fleece / Spin de Fleece Update

So I haven't been able to spin every day, but I have finished my first bag of fiber!   Here is the plied yarn still on the bobbin.  I will let it rest before skeining and measuring it.