Go beyond the granny square

Now here is a great story. Some fourth graders in New York picked up crochet hooks this winter to make blankets for those less fortunate. They spent their recess time learning to crochet. They made granny squares that were stitched together to make blankets for the project called ‘warm hands, warm hearts.’

Parents volunteered to teach the boys and girls how to crochet. Local businesses donated yarn and hooks.

Kudos to these kids for giving their free time to help those in need. It’s great to see younger kids interested in crochet. Crochet is a great medium to make creative clothing, afghans, and toys.  These kids have learned something that they will enjoy for years to come.

Currently I’m taking part in a knit/crochet swap. The theme is the awesome TV show ‘The Office.’ We have to crochet/knit two items and include little goodies in our package to our swap partner. Since I finished the baby blanket this weekend, I immediately got busy on my first project for the swap.

I’m just a few rows into it and think it’s going to be super awesome. It’s a lapghan made with a filet crochet pattern of a bat. There is an episode that has Dwight battling a bat that is inhabiting the office.  I’m using a cotton yarn and think I’m two stitches off but will just have to adjust. One side of the decorative work might be slightly different than the other but as long as the bat turns out alright I will be happy.

My other project is to make a knitting needles holder. I bought some nylon yesterday and can’t wait to get started. I’ve always wanted to try the nylon thread and now I have the perfect project for it.

I need to double check the send out date even though I plan to be finished with the lapghan in about a week. I’d be nice to send out early for once.

One down, two more to go. Baby blankets that is. I had to scrap the one I had started because the corners just weren’t right. It was bunching up too much. So I finished this one this afternoon - an hour before the baby shower.

I used different stitches like single crochet, extended single crochet, and double crochet. I used a shell stitch to make the border. I was glad to finish it before the shower since I started it only five days ago.

Now I can start on the next baby blanket. It’s from a pattern and should be really pretty if it turns out as well as the magazine picture.

I like to crochet gifts for people. It’s a personal gift that takes time and should let the person know that I think they are worth my time. My niece has a birthday this month, so I whipped her up a fun fur scarf that I posted that pattern on my other blog. It was simple and easy. I hope she likes it.

I’m still working on a baby blanket and have another one I will begin next week. Or as soon as I finish the current baby blanket. I still have a purse I need to finish for a friend whose birthday is in May. I started it way back in January when I had plenty of time. Now it’s coming down to the wire especially with baby blankets, swaps, and the toddler’s sun dress. Looks like I have plenty to do while watching TV. Let’s just hope I can get everything done in time.

I heart yarn. I love buying it so that helps to explain my huge stash of yarn that I have built up in less than a year. I had been on a yarn buying freeze until I used up some of my stash but I have very little baby yarn. I need baby yarn to make a few gifts, so I’ve been buying yarn again. It feels great.

I think that’s my favorite part of a new project is picking out and buying the yarn.  That may be one reason I have so many projects ready to start.

One of the great aspects of crocheting that I love is that people love to share their projects with the world. Blogs make that so easy to do, so I’m going to start a weekly look at some of crochet blogs that I’ve recently discovered.

Crooked Crocheter has the cutest amigurumi that I’ve ever seen, I’m envious that she can do yarn eyes as this technique is something that I haven’t even come close to conquering yet,

Crochet Spot has some wonderful posts about crochet. This is a great resource for learning about hooks, yarn, stitches, and more.

That’s just a few of my crochet blog finds this week. I love hunting down crochet blogs to visit as it’s fun to see what fellow crocheters have on their hooks.

One cute current commercial is for Orville Redenbacher popcorn. It features a mom pouring her daughter a bowl. The daughter is having a tea party with her stuffed animals when her dad and brother smell the popcorn. But to eat the popcorn, they must take part in the tea party. It’s really cute and I’ve seen is several times.

Tonight I noticed that on the table is a cute amigurmi bird. It’s white and is very similar to the Lion Brand love bird pattern. It’s adorable and so fun to see cute crochet ‘featured’ in a commercial.

The Italy earthquake that rocked L’Aquila Monday trapped many residents in their home for hours and injured 1500 people.

A 98 year old woman who was trapped for 30 hours said that she spent her time crocheting and knitting while waiting to be rescused. The woman also said that she had survived a 1915 earthquake when she was four years old. Our hearts go out to all of the victims of the earthquake.

In California, The district attorney of Salinas is expected to release a report next week into the shooting death of a woman last summer by police. Apparently she got out of her minivan and police believe she was waving a knife or some other weapon at them. Later it was determined that it was a crochet hook or so say the police. The family says she didn’t have anything in her hand and they had called for an ambulance since she was having a seizure.

In Phoenix, a crochet exhibit opened last week. It’s a hyperbolic coral reef crochet. The exhibit runs until July 11, 2009 and is being put on by the Institute of Figuring. Apparently before it comes to a town they have workshops about doing coral crochet and seek help from the community to create the exhibit.

My yarn stash is taking over. Seriously I really need to use some of it up to gain back some space. It’s hard to donate since it’s one skein of this and one skein of that, so I’ve been  looking for crochet projects that would look good with several different colors of yarn.

Since I’ve been wanting to make a crochet rug for some time, I am going to make one using my yarn stash. This vintage crochet round rug is colorful and might be a good project. The pattern is straightforward and I’ve been wanting to make a rug for my little girl’s room for quite some time. I might adjust it some because I want to make a bigger rug so instead of one circle, I may do several that are different sizes then join them together.

A rug should take up at least a few skeins since you use two strands together. Hopefully this will give me the rug I’ve been looking for and help me cull my yarn stash.

This weekend should be a fun one between the eggs hunts and Easter celebration. There are a few other things on the to do list. Most involve crocheting.

On top of my list is making my daughter and Easter bunny. I’ve decided to craft a few small ones and use one piece for the body and head. Then have the ears and small feet attached to it.  I may even use a small, plastic egg as filling.

Next I need to continue to work on the baby blanket. I’ve done a few more rounds and hope to be halfway finished with it by Monday.

Also I’m doing another swap. It’s another round of The Office - one of my favorite TV shows. So I’m hoping to formulate some ideas tailored around my swap partner.

So between the parties and other commitments my crafting time will probably be limited but hope to make the most of it.