I finally figured it out!

We've been working on a sampler afghan in our crochet guild chapter, and there was one block that was giving us fits. Another member rewrote the pattern, and that made it a little easier, but I still struggled with it for a few hours before I figured it out. Woohoo! it really is a cool pattern (it has a bargello look to it), just hard to read and not see. I got it when I had the pattern and a sample block in front of me. I have posted a couple of pictures below as it was in progress.
I really like the way the square turned out, and I will post a picture of the completed square when I have a picture of it. The afghan will actually be mostly single color squares of the red and blue, with two squares that are red, white and blue. I think I will place those two in near the center of the afghan (it will be 4x5 squares) corner to corner, but I am going to have to lay it out and see how it looks. I still have 4 squares to make, and when I get them all done, I will lay it out and take some pictures of it. I'm looking forward to getting it done, and still trying to decide how to border it. The pattern is just three rows of single crochet (one of each color), but I think I want to try something else.

I promise I'll get a picture of my so cute little bug posted soon too. It has to quit raining long enough that I can go outside and take one without getting soaked! We haven't seen the sun in almost a week, and we had the wettest swim meet (for the spectators) that I think I have ever experienced. It's been cold and wet, wet, wet! My house is starting to feel like waterfront property, unfortunately, the waterfront is what used to be my lawn!

And summer goes along...

The kids have been out of school for a full month now, and I think they are starting to get bored. We have swim practice every morning, and we are halfway through the summer swim season. Three more dual meets, then league finals. Oh, what peace I will feel when the season is over. It's been a pretty good season so far, and we only lost one half of one meet to weather (lightning). Overall, I must say I think it's been good and the boys have enjoyed themselves (even having to get up before 7 am for practice!).

I am teaching a writing class starting next week at Wichita State University, and I have yet to get my act (read: syllabus) together. That and I have to make sure I have assignments to use. It is a 4-week class, and the core for students in the major. Basically, it means tons of papers to grade! And knowing this, I am getting as much time crocheting in as possible.

I have been working on a sampler afghan, and the pattern is not very well written, so I am doing some deciphering along the way. I have 15 of the 20 squares made, and would like to have it finished. I am excited about starting a couple of other projects soon, too. Ah, not really enough hours in the day to do everything I want!

More projects complete and a new car, too!

Well, once again it's been a long time since I have posted anything here. I have been busy taking care of lots of things, and getting a new car after the accident, and now looking for a new job.







First things first, though:
I have completed several crochet projects and am getting ready to start a few more. I am not nearly as talented as my incredible younger sister whose blog can be found here
She knits incredibly wonderful stuff and spins her own yarns, too. I love to check out her latest projects and see what she has on her needles. I don't knit, just crochet, but she has inspired me to pick up my hooks again and dive into the yarn. The latest creations are a couple of rugs. I got the first from my mom because she just couldn't hold the three strands of yarn comfortably. It was about 1/2 done, so I brought it home and finished it. You can see the whole thing at the right, and a couple of detail shots. I finished it in about three hours. It went so fast, I had to make another one, so I did!









I am thinking I want to re-do my kitchen in sunflowers, so I went ahead and made this rug up in black, gold and off-white. It is a modified granny-square pattern, and also worked up super fast. The main blocks are hexagons and the fillers are triangles. My daughter liked it so much she wants me to make her one inNebraska red and black to take with her to college for her dorm room. The yarn for that one is in the bag, and ready to go. The pattern she chose is a little smaller (the white rug is about 4 feet across and the yellow/black one is just a little smaller), so she can fit it under her loft bed.







That's it for crochet news today, but in other news, I got a great little car to replace my poor little squashed bug. It's another little bug, a '99 this time, with fewer miles that my '01 had, and it's yellow with a black leather interior, heated seats, and turbo-charged. It is clean, clean, clean, and in great shape. It is so fun to drive! I'll post pictures of it when I get some taken.