Archives for April 2013

Knitting & Crocheting Blog Week….

April 22, 2013 By Beatrice Ryan Designs Leave a Comment

This is the 4th Annual Knit & Crochet Blog Week… This week all participants will be posting daily according to the guidelines to celebrate our blogging communities and our art… To get more details you can follow along at Eskimimi Makes.

The challenge starts today by choosing the style of our craft and the “House” it fits into… Obviously I am an avid crocheter and I would say my style is useful and cozy crochet items…

After looking over the Houses to choose from,,, It was a bit hard to decide… I think I lean towards the House of Bee’s… The House of Bee: Bees are busy and industrious, but can flit from one interesting project to the next as bright and shiny things capture their interest…… But a close second is the House of Monkey’s… The House of Monkey: Intelligent and with a fun-loving side, Monkeys like to be challenged with every project presenting them with something new and interesting.

The House of Bee’s… I have several projects going… And, I always seem to be thinking of the next one… Since the beginning of the year, I have completed well over 50 crochet projects, including 4 Afghans,,, I have written 4 patterns and have been posting on this blog at least twice a week…

The House of Monkey’s… I have really challenged myself this year by publishing my first 2 patterns – Available on Ravelry or Here,,, Starting a Crochet-A-Long and Blogging… All of these have been really fun and pushed new areas in my crochet life… I also have been creating dozens of new items for Alpine Originals, where I sell my creations… I love to create and start something new… Each new project is a fun challenge and keeps me wanting to create more… Here are a few of my past favorites…

Lots of fun stuff going on this week… Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post and Knit & Crochet Blog Week!

Elena

Filed Under: Patterns and Projects Tagged With: 4KCBWDAY1, Afghans, Crochet, Crochet-a-Long, Pattern, Project, Ravelry

River-Rock… Flower Power… Paperweight….

April 17, 2013 By Beatrice Ryan Designs 1 Comment

I had the spring bug to crochet something colorful… It has been blowing snow here the last couple days and although it is spring,,, It sure hasn’t felt like it! So,,, An African Flower something was my thought… A Potholder, Pincushion,, or …. A Paperweight! Yes, a paperweight will be great… I have a collection of Mt. Shasta River Rocks I collected up above the lake last summer to crochet doily style paperweights… So with hook in hand once again, the experiment began!

River-Rock, Flower-Power Paperweight…

I think they turned out so cute! I will have to make more and at least one for my desk at work where the papers get blown every time they guys crack a window… Of course,,, this one is for Alpine Originals and will be up for sale later today!

Here is just a peek of the blowing snow yesterday… it didn’t stick,,, but it was wet and windy… No fun to be outside…

A Snowy Spring Day from my window at work…

So here is to Snowy Spring Days, African Flower, River-Rocks and Paperweights…

And a little fun news… I received the most clicks on Busting Stitches Link Party last week for my Hobo Granny Bag.

Elena

Filed Under: Life of a small town girl!, Patterns and Projects Tagged With: Alpine, Crochet, Doily, Flower, Mt. Shasta, Potholder, Snow

Joining A Crochet-A-Long….

April 15, 2013 By Beatrice Ryan Designs Leave a Comment

I’ve never done a Crochet-A-Long before,,, But recently I have been searching for one to join. Alot of the other bloggers I follow have been doing them and it seems like a fun idea! But, if I am going to make something for the family it has to be something we will use… I bumped into the perfect one for me, well my daughter actually… She has been asking for an afghan, and at 17 I think it is cool that she wants me to make her something… I don’t think she realize it may be a keepsake someday! I have several keepsakes my grandmothers made me,,, I will share them all in a post soon! It is amazing to have a treasure from someone who would have been over 100 years old, made just for me!

Ok, so a Crochet-A-Long,,, Some of you may not really know what that is… So a quick word on the subject,,, Some one comes up with a great pattern and sets up a pace that we all follow to complete at the same time. Some are a block a month,,, done over 1 year and you end up with a great afghan,,, Some are a project like a hat, scarf or bag and each week they give a clue and no one knows what it is until it’s done…

The one I chose is a Afghan-A-Month Group (not sure I will do one every month), The pattern is give out and we all work at our own pace,,, finishing at the set date… Then when done,,, we post our pictures in the group gallery and are entered in a drawing for a Red Heart Yarn Give-Away… The Afghans must be complete by the set date and to the minimum specs they have given to qualify, it can be larger if wanted… Sounded like a great idea,,, And who wouldn’t want a chance for some free yarn! If you are interested to follow along with me… It’s not too late… Check out The Crochet Crowd by clicking HERE…

Today is the first day to begin the Afghan,, The end date is May 15th… Perfect,,, My daughter turns 17 just a few days later… So, like I said in my last post,,, we went yarn shopping and she picked out her colors… That was a blast!! She did a great job…

What do you think??? Hue’s of green, tan and cream…

So, when I thought of only 1 month to complete an afghan,,, I was a little nervous… The pattern is Ocean Waves,,,, I divided it up and figured out how many rows I would have to complete per night to get it done in the size I have chosen to make.. A full size blanket instead of a throw is what she wanted,,, so it’s a little bigger than the minimum specs… Not to bad… It will only take 2-3 rows per evening,,, very do-able! So off I went with my hook in hand and finished 10 rows already in just a couple of hours… So far, I am ahead, and that will be a good idea since I have other projects to work on too!

Ocean Waves Afghan, 10 rows, 5 color repeat…

My daughter chose a unique choice to repeat the colors,,, I will reveal that in my next post… She is a future crafter/artist! As we speak she is in her room macraming a key faub… Love it! The Pansy Garden Bag I was working on last post is almost done… Just a few more rows, strap and lining and it will be all set! That big reveal coming soon too!

So here is to Crochet-A-Longs, Keepsake’s and projects in the works!

Elena