Kate's Ripple

Well, finals week is over and I'm back from vacation; hopefully I will now have plenty of time to update. Also, I got my computer hooked up to the apartment building's wireless network today, so it will be much more convenient for me to update everything now.

Let's see... after graduation, my roommate and I took off for Colorado to visit her sister. My plan for the extremely long car rides was to work on a ripple lapghan for my cousin, Kate, who graduated from high school last weekend. Of course, I realized an hour into the trip that I hadn't brought an essential ball of dye lot yarn with me, so I couldn't finish the afghan. Instead, I decided to start another, as we were stopping by her party on the way back from CO.

I ended up making a lapghan out of Caron Simply Soft Brites, using two strands of yarn throughout on a P hook. She has an affinity for early punk, so I picked unusual and bright colors that looked, well, let's say unusual while I was purchasing them but worked up nicely; here's a pic:



It worked up super quickly thanks to the big hook and multiple yarn strands; I like the texture and thickness so much that I think I'll work up something similar for the back of my futon. Because really, a home isn't complete until every possible thing is covered with crochet.

Photos of Charity Items

Woo hoo, I finally got some pictures to put up here! First up is a shot of the lapghan I made for a charity auction....



The afghan is lying on a double sized bed, for perspective and all that. My dad ended up winning it at the auction, and he plans to give it to my sister, for whom it was originally intended anyway.

Also, here is the shawl I adapted from a Stitch Diva pattern:



I don't know who got that one at the auction, but Daddy said they were both taken.

I'm really glad I got to donate some stuff; I was super busy when I was working on them, but it was really nice to be able to contribute. Daddy said he thinks they got about $18,000 total for Jerry; in addition to the auction, there was a dinner, a bowling tournament, and a golf tournament. That money will obviously help out a lot with all of Jerry's medical bills and travel expenses.

In other news, it's finals week, and this is about the only break I get until Thursday. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Afghan Update

I finished up the afghan and, well, semi-finished the shawl earlier this week. I decided that it was taking waaaaay to long to crochet the shawl (which is beautiful, by the way), so I modified the pattern and made it more of a trapezoidal wrap with no fringe. I've got pictures, and I'll post them when I get the chance.

My dad got them yesterday and mentioned to my mom that he thought they were really beautiful. I thought that was really sweet, since Dad's not the most complimentary guy. Also, the afghan was originally intended to go to my sister, who is expecting; well, Dad decided that he likes it so much that he's going to bid on it at the auction to give to Erin, to whom it was originally intended to go! I told him I could easily make another, especially since I overestimated the amount of yarn I would need for it and still have enough left over for another baby afghan, but I think he wants to bid on it anyway.

Have I mentioned yet that I'm not very good at figuring out how much yarn I will need?

Also this week I've been working on some pencil bags (now that the semester is over I really need one, right?). They're bright colors of Lion Brand Microspun, and I like them so far. If they bags work out, I'll post some pictures.

Thanks go to everyone at Crochetville for making me feel so welcome!