16 Octagons

I didn't have anything scheduled this morning so I started the 16th octagon. I finished it early this afternoon. The last one is in the bottom row, second from the right - mustard edge.

Just for a change of pace, I'm going to start doing the triangles except for the bottom ones because I'm definitely going to add 4 more octagons to the bottom. 

This is the order Lucia Dunn used in her colourway. I love the randomness of it. Kinda reminds me of how my mind works. It would probably drive crazy any folks that crave order or who want to use a colour palette suiting their décor. I think a turquoise or more purple would look cool, too.

This would be such a great design for using up lots of colours in the same weight. The centre part is usually one of the 'fans'. All octagons use the same colour for the 'x' rounds and the round two rounds below - Buttermilk in this case. The last 5 rounds alternate with that colour and whatever colour will be on the outermost round. 

I'm going to weigh each colour of the remaining yarn after I do the triangles and will use the 'heaviest' ones for much of the next 4 octagons. 

I haven't really looked at what the border is like but will investigate and also take a look at what variations other people have done. If I have to buy more Astra yarn for the border, I'm OK with that. 

Very Close to Perfection

Today was the first day of school for many folks who either work in or attend an educational setting. It also marked the beginning of my 19th (!) year of retirement. I had put in 30 years and was close to the 85 factor (age plus number of years of service). I decided to retire 4 months early rather than start a new school year and bail part way through. Also, Skip had already been retired for 8 years and I didn’t want him to have to wait any more for me. 

This morning I slept in. Then posted this sassy photo on Facebook whilst still in my pyjamas.

I then puttered around a bit, had a coffee, did a couple of crossword puzzles and prepared myself to go out for a ‘To Hell With The Bell’ lunch with former colleague and fellow retiree, Cindy. Two of the other invitees were away on holiday.

Back at home after lunch I got set up out on the deck and finished up Octagon #14.

It was so pleasant sitting out on the deck. I treasure these days because it was so hot so much of the time this summer and soon it will be too cool.

There are still lots of bees enjoying the flowers.

With supper finished I’m getting ready to head out for my Tuesday night crafty group. I’m taking my crocheting and some pencil roving for one of our participants who is learning to spin. 

All it all it has been almost a perfect day.

 

12 Down, 4 To Go

I finished #12 a little while ago and did a half-assed photo shoot on the kitchen floor.

I filled in with a few of the granny squares. 

The little tags correspond to the numbers in the pattern. I erroneously started an octagon and got as far as the fans only to realize I was following the colours of one of the grannies and there were no fans, or any other rounds. I'm keeping that erroneous one and will finish it as one of the 4 extras once I'm done the original 16 octagons. There will be more than enough yarn to do more tiles. I might even be able to crank out 8 more as I'm just finishing the first ball (of 3) of Buttermilk.

I don't have a deadline in mind - they're just so addicting to crochet. I finish one colour and have to start the next colour right away.

At stitching on Monday I hauled out the long-neglected Newcastle Bouquet which I abandoned back in  2022. I did a bit on it at my last Elim retreat last fall. I had taken several UFOs and on the Friday spent an hour on each one. I plan to do that again at this fall's retreat.

One thing that held me up was the transition from one page of the chart to the one below. This was printed before Teresa used a three-row shaded area to align pages. So today I made working copies and taped each page to the one below. That should help with finishing the basket and lower motifs.

One big modification I did was doing the letters in Algerian eyelets rather than clusters of four cross stitches.

I only had to modify a couple of letters - K and R - from the original pattern. 

I'm motivated to do more work on this project. 

Jeanette has an ambitions plan to fully finish one project a week. Finishing takes a long time and includes locating all the necessary materials, deciding on what and where to cut, whether to pad with batting or not, what trims will be used, etc. I have a stack of projects I've finished stitching that need to be fully finished as well. I'm setting my goal at finishing one every month.

Although I enjoy the stitching and am OK with not finishing things right away, I do have some cute projects that really should get fully finished.

Hard to believe September starts tomorrow. 

Snow Friends, More Octagons, and a Very Cool Google Feature

I cleaned out a basket in my office and unearthed this piece I stitched and abandoned possibly 25+ years ago.

It's 'Snow Friends' by Imaginating of Crossed Wing Designs. I think I still have the chart which is a good thing because when I did a photo search on Google Chrome, there are a bunch of little birds feeding on seeds on the ground and a LOT of snow.

There was a lot of detail - backstiching and French knots. I like the sunflowers, mittens, and little birds. Maybe I'll finish and frame it. I could do the snow with half cross stitches which would make the task a bit easier. 

I finished the ninth octagon today and started the 10th. I took the finished ones outside for a photoshoot on the glass table on the deck.

They're in no particular order. I weighed the remaining Buttermilk skein after having completed the 9th octagon and still had 20+ grams left with almost half the afghan finished. There are two more full 100g balls so I might have enough as is to add 4 more octagons and the corresponding triangles and squares. That would make the final size approximately 120cm x 150cm or 46" x 57". There is more than 50g left in each of the other colours. 

I have discovered an excellent photo search tool already on my iPhone. It's through Google Chrome. Basically you open a new Chrome page and on the top right there's a squarish icon.

Tap on it and it opens Google Lens. You can either take a photo of what you want to identify or if you already have a photo, tap on the picture icon on the bottom left and it will take you to your photo library on your device.

Tap on the photo in your library and within seconds it will tell you what the photo depicts.

That's how I got the details of my unfinished project after all these years.

Try it! I think you'll be as impressed as I was.

Octagon #7

Last night I completed the seventh octagon. The colours are Fondant, Mustard, Spice, Pistachio, Duck egg, Storm blue, and Buttermilk. This one didn't have too many mistakes - possibly only a couple of counting errors on single crochets which would get corrected on the next round.

I took the first six outside yesterday for a photoshoot on the glass patio table.

Filling in with some of the granny squares.

When the stitchers were here on Tuesday, I remembered I had crocheted this afghan YEARS ago using acrylic yarn (probably worsted weight) I bought at the now defunct Zellers. It's pretty big. All the centres were done with yellow yarn. I whip stitched the hexies together and didn't leave a ridge. That worked well because all the hexies had the cream colour as the outer round. However all my octagons have different outer colours so I'm even further convinced I'll seam them together invisibly - using a type of ladder stitch.

I remember making it and then deciding to enlarge it. Because I hadn't added a border, it was easy to just add more hexagons. It's been folded up in a closet all this time. 

I have nothing on my calendar for today so will probably crochet another octagon. I might even do some stitching. 

I hauled out a UFO on Monday at stitching - Teresa Kogut's 'Newcastle Bouquet'. There isn't a 3 row shaded area to easily stitch from one page to another so I need to make a working copy of the pattern and tape some of the pages together. Photos will follow...

A Stitch Day, Garden Walk and More Octagons

Yesterday I had Jeanette, Marilyn, and Barb over for some stitching. We had a very pleasant time talking about our projects, future plans, and life events. We're looking forward to our guild's retreat at the end of September.

I mostly filed away a bunch of random floss from projects I've finished stitching and have emptied the project bags. Then I worked a bit on the Bees in the Greenhouse project. I finished the flowers in the second panel which were supposed to be echinacea. However the called-for colour was coral and not to my liking. I made them Black-eye Susans instead. 

The pattern called those bees, Sweat Bees - not as chubby as the bee in the first panel. They have green legs.

Later that afternoon I took a couple of photos in the garden. I love the bright colours of the zinnias.

If I get around to it next spring, I'll plant more resplendent ones - with more and denser petals.

I love the sunny 'faces' of these guys - a type of Coreopsis.

I finished another octagon yesterday 

and one today. I did a big boo boo on one of them and didn't discover it until a couple of rounds later so didn't frog back. I compensated for it so it's not really obvious and certainly I can live with that. 

6 down, 10 to go. 

I haven't done anything about getting more of the pale yellow 'buttermilk' yarn. It's used for at least 2 rounds of each octagon and granny square including the 'x' rounds. The pattern calls for 3 - 100g balls for the 16-octagon blanket I may do another 4 plus corresponding granny squares and triangles. To conserve this colour I could just use it on rounds 11 and 13 (the 'x' round). I plan to use invisible seaming so and use any colour for that. 

Will start Octagon #7 tonight.

• Have been watching 'Dept Q' on Netflix - kinda creepy but good.

Tearing Myself Away...

I have been obsessively crocheting octagons. I finished the second one this morning and spent most of the day doing another. 

Each one is 11" from side to side. 

I love the seeming randomness of the colours. Most normally wouldn't go together  but the overall effect will be wonderful.

There are a couple of options for borders once the elements are pieced together. More rounds would yield an even wider afghan. Being acrylic, blocking won't be that effective for pulling it wider and longer. However, I am really liking the feel of this acrylic yarn - not 'crunchy' at all.

I'm getting the hang of reading what I've crocheted and correcting any counting errors I may have done. The third octagon has even fewer errors from the first two. I'm also learning to check for mistakes in the round just completed before I cut the yarn. It's easy to miss crocheting through the long chains or not doing the right number of treble crochets in a cluster. I know this because I've had to splice the yarn a couple of times after correcting something.

I've also been trimming the ends as I go. Most of them get worked over a new colour so are well buried and only a small tail needs to be trimmed off.

This project is not difficult. The videos helped a lot, although Janie skipped over some of the rounds she thought were very straight forward that I found not to be the case. However, I persevered and figured out the issues. Accurate stitch count is important. 

Oh, and this is what I'm hoping it will look like when I'm done. I've done the first 3 octagons on the top row.

3 down 13 to go. 

Octagon #1

Yesterday I finished the ninth granny square.

I really love all the random colours! 

I then started the first octagon. I made a couple of mistakes but I defy you to find them. The overall artistic impression is a 10 out of 10, though.

I'm really getting the hang of accurate stitch counts. I realize if one wanted to make the afghan bigger, a neutral colour could be picked and then crocheted around all the triangles, squares, and octagons, then used for the border. Alternatively, extra octagons, grannies, and triangles could be created. From what I've read, there is enough yarn to do this except for the 'buttermilk' colour. I looked into seeing if there was a Canadian source for the Stylecraft yarn and there isn't so I'm definitely on the hunt for a substitute with similar colour and weight (light DK). Otherwise I'll just order from Love Crafts and pay the $14 shipping. 

It's hot again today and the A/C went on yesterday. I ventured out into the garden and caught a bee enjoying the bachelor buttons. (click the triangle twice)

Today's yellow flowers:

California Poppy

Golden Tickweed aka Coreopsis

Yesterday was our fifth and final Zen Stitching installment. It involved doing a running stitch around the design, 1/4" out, then weaving the thread through the stitches on the front. I'm trying to decide if I'll do that or some other appropriate stitchery for the border.

I have nothing scheduled for today and got the shopping done yesterday so I guess I'll do more crocheting. 

Sashiko Stitching Complete

Today was the fourth day of our Zen Stitching online class. I did today's stitching during the live Zoom meeting. The diagonals crossed the crosses.

Front:

Back:

Tomorrow the instructions will be to wash and press the finished item. I still need to do the backstitching all around 1/4" away from the stitching; shown by the white drawn line on the front.

My range hood finally got installed and the two tiles grouted. That completes my kitchen renovation. I was too involved in my crafting to wipe the fingerprints off the range hood and tidy up the kitchen to take some photos. Perhaps tomorrow.

What I did work on most of the day was 4 more granny squares on the Persian Tiles project. 6 down, 3 to go.

I should be able to finish the last four tonight and tomorrow and start in on the octagons. I did a practice one and got as far as the fans before abandoning it when the actual yarn arrived. Once the crocheting is done, sewing everything together will be a herculean task. I'm thinking of doing a hidden join - kinda like the mattress stitch or ladder stitch which will pull the edges together but not make a ridge. 

Reposting from Yesterday...

 After drawing the grid lines yesterday, we began stitching our sashiko piece. First we did the dashes in one direction

then in the other direction, creating little boxes.

Because we stitch through both layers of fabric (except when changing rows) the back looks like this:

The email with the instructions in .pdf format comes in the morning accompanied by the corresponding video. Later on in the day, there is a live Zoom event for folks to ask questions. I mostly do stitching and listen during these Zoom sessions. Tomorrow we'll start the diagonal stuff I think or maybe the crosses. So I'm all caught up with the over 1000 people from around the world who are working on this project.

I send Poppy frequent texts with comments from the instructions or videos and photos of my progress. She's working so I hope it doesn't interfere with what she's doing for her job.

This evening I finished Clovis' shoes and the dots on their dress. That completes the stitching. 

I emptied out a few project bags and have a bunch of floss to re-integrate with the rest of the stash. One of the bags I emptied had this finished project in it.

It was my second time doing this one - the first went to my awesome neighbour who minds my house and garden when I am away. The finishing will be easy; it's just a matter of doing it.

Today I tackled a clutter project in my laundry room that had sat and mocked me for over a year. Garbage day is this week so I wanted to organize the mess and throw a bunch of stuff out before Thursday. I am such a procrastinator - having trouble tackling jobs like that, in spite of how good it feels and looks when the job is done.

Also this Thursday, my range hood may finally get installed and my two floor tiles grouted. That should be the end of my kitchen renovation that started at the end of April. It's going to be a while before I contract another job, though. I need a new back door to my garage and would like to get the broadloom in the living/dining rooms replaced with hardwood. Now that the heavy piano is out of there, it will make moving the stuff much easier.

I checked the tracking for my Persian Tiles yarn and it's supposedly getting delivered tomorrow. It will be fun to get started on that project. So many pretty colours...

Exciting Mail Today

The LoveCrafts yarn for the Persian Tiles project arrived from England today - only a week after I ordered it.

First peek into the parcel:

The scrumptious colours stacked up. These are all 100g balls. The only one missing is Vintage Peach which didn't show in their inventory. Still need to pick up a couple of Patons Astra in a peach colour.

I started crocheting the first granny square with the Lucia Dunn colourway.

It's not perfect but I have made a couple of improvements in my technique for future ones.

The pattern has a hook change for the last few rounds. This one went a little better but for one of the rounds, I grabbed the wrong size hook. 

There are even more changes of hook size on the octagons. I am going between Janie Crow's pattern, Lucia Dunn's colour changes, and the chart. The only place the hook changes are indicated are on the written pattern. I have circled those spot and hope I'll remember to switch at the right time.

Today was also Day 3 of the online Sashiko Challenge. I didn't have time to watch the whole video this morning (I hurkle-durkled to a ridiculous hour). But I got caught up during the live Zoom chat this afternoon.

The crosses are between the boxes on the front,

and over most of the boxes on the back. 

Perfection was not attained but I'm not a perfectionist so all is good. In some areas we need to wiggle the needle between the two layers but I see I caught the lower layer in one spot. Oh well.
I think tomorrow we do the diagonals. 

Something unusual happened yesterday. I got a notification from Blogger that my post was put behind a warning:

This post was put behind a warning for readers because it contains sensitive content as outlined in Blogger’s Community Guidelines.

I have no idea why this post was flagged as no specific reason was given. I assumed it was for using the Japanese term for the project - a flower cloth. The the second word in the term kinda looks like the f-word. I removed the term and updated but the warning still appears. I have no idea what could be the sensitive content. Any ideas?

I'm hoping subsequent posts will appear as normal. I tried to find out more details or appeal their decision but haven't figured out how to do that. Perplexing...

Starting a Couple of New Projects

In preparation for the arrival of my yarn for the Persian Tiles project, I thought I'd practice crocheting a granny square with scrap yarn just to get the hang of the stitches. 

It turned out OK. Much easier than when I'll have to change yarn colours every round and work in the ends so I don't have thousands to weave in when I'm done. I do need to improve my transition from the centre 4 sets of double crochets to the next round.

This light DK yarn worked well with the recommended hook size. There is a whole set of videos on the techniques for this project which were very helpful. I found this other video that shows how to weave in the tails as you go so will probably use it as Janie Crow's leaves the tails loose to be woven in at the end - hundreds of them.

Barb and Poppy are almost as giddy as I am about starting this project. I was able to make the one granny square in over an hour. Of course, changing colours every round will take longer. 

I also started practicing to make one of the octagons and I got as far as round eight.

Janie's photo

My challenge for the octagons will be to remember to change hook sizes when required. I'm going to be crocheting from the pattern and then referring to Lucia Dunn's colour changes for every row. I may have to do a spreadsheet to keep it all straight.

The other project I'm starting today is a sashiko project/stitch along. Poppy is also going to do it. I happened upon a video this morning before heading off to stitching and got as far as preparing the fabric for drawing the grid. The live lesson will take place in about an hour via Zoom. There are over 500 of us participating this afternoon and about that many this morning in those time zones.

I'm more of a holistic thinker so am not that comfortable being fed steps without seeing the end product but I think it will be very similar to the stitching I did for the triangular needlebook. 

Today at stitching at Judy's, I took some pics of her lovely stitched pieces hanging in her kitchen.

I love these two. I have done the top one (Hello from Liz Mathews' 'Token of Fall')  myself and I was Teresa Kogut's model stitcher for the bottom one, Kindred Spirits.

I may do Home of a Needleworker at some point. I have a spot in the kitchen that would be perfect for it.

This photo of Teresa Kogut's 'Come to the Garden' does not do it justice. The frame is just perfect for it.

In consultation with Google Lens, this is called 'Beloved' by Running with Needles & Scissors. 

Google also tells me this is 'Egyptian Tower' from the Vickery Collection.

Judy has some other stunning, framed stitchery pieces in other areas of her home. I'll get some shots of them sometime.

Also at stitching this morning, I got more done on Clovis the Badger. 

I have the legs and feet to do and all the dots on the dress. I'd like to do them (not sure if Clovis is a he or a she or non-binary) as a standup and have Miss Hazel 

still to do that way plus the Autumn Cat I stitched after last year's Pastime Pieces retreat. 

I have a vast number of projects that need fully finishing. I will probably never get them all done but will commit to finishing one per month - if only to show at the guild's Show and Share segment of their monthly meetings.

A little later...

I just sat in on the Zoom meeting with the designer of the sashiko project. Most of the information was sent as .pdfs in emails so the Zoom meeting was just an opportunity for folks to ask questions. Many folks hadn't seen the setup video linked in the earlier email so there was quite a bit of confusion. Also the stating of the dimensions wasn't consistent. Some folks were confused about what the final product of today's work would look like. Fortunately I have a wee bit of previous experience so I was able to extrapolate the salient details from all the kerfuffle. 

I had cut and seamed the fabric and turned it inside out so during the Zoom meeting I drew the reference lines:

This is what the front will look like when we're done:

Because we're stitching through two layers of fabric, this is what the back will look like:

These embroidered cloths are found in traditional Japanese households and can be used as placemats, covering teacups, drying vegetables and storing them in the fridge, extending freshness. Our project is a mini Japanese flower cloth.

I'm glad I had all the required materials on hand and was able to get started right away. Hopefully tomorrow we'll start stitching - my guess will be the horizontal and vertical dashes creating boxes.