Big, Snuggly, Colorful Blanket

Helloooooo, how are you, my friends??  Life is so busy here.  We are seeking to put our house on the market due to some difficulties with a huge landscaping company that moved in behind the house.  I hate to leave my lovely home, and gosh, new housing is so expensive.  Scary times, we are in our 50's, don't want a big mortgage now :-(

But on some brighter notes, I shall be attending Celebration of Needlework this week.  A great friend is taking Niky Farruto's class with me, and we will enjoy the shopping, food and fun with another great friend as well.

Also, I stitched up this big, snuggly, colorful blanket in late winter.  The weather was beautiful yesterday, and I managed to bring it outside for some quick photos.  I used DROPS Designs free Seaside Blues pattern.  I decided to grab my big box of Stylecraft Special DK yarn and a few balls of white for this project.  I interspersed the flower squares with traditional grannies.  I copied this idea from a stitcher on Ravelry.... sadly, her name escapes me....maryfairy, maybe??  I finished off with the border from Cypress Textiles Vibrant Vintage CAL... ta da!  Super colorful, and I love it!!

OK, I lied...

I really thought my next post would be about cross stitch. Life is fluid, things change. Am still stitching, but have crochet aplenty to share now, so please forgive me.

Last night I finished Hopeful Honey's  Sunflower Hat and Booties for a certain special someone.  This was a special request from her mom.  Quick and fun!  Hope we can coordinate to deliver it soon.

And, of course, this does lead to a gratuitous pic of Miss Amelia herself, a recent pic texted to me by her mom.  Getting big!!

In other projects, my niece Erin is graduating from college in May.  I think this is the start of a gift for her.  This will be a good sized afghan, using Drops Designs Seaside Blues free pattern.  I am following the example of another stitcher on Ravelry and am alternating flower squares with traditional grannies.  It does break it up a bit.  

I recently finished Emma Varnam's  Garden Route Blanket (free on Ravelry).  I love, love, love this.  I have renamed it "My Girlie Blanket" due to its colors of Aspen, Fondant, Apricot, Lavender, Spring Green, Sherbet and Empire in Parchment, all in Stylecraft Special DK yarn.

And, at last, I finished my Make-For-Anyone Blanket in an older issue of Mollie Makes magazine.  This was put aside for some time now, and the recent (very) snowy weather has given me a chance to finish.  It is super snuggly, uses several shades of Sirdar Crofter yarn - Greenock, Flora, Seagrass, Jessamy, Orkney, Glen and Fairisle.  The join is Cypress Textiles Junior Celtic Lace Join in James C. Brett Top Value DK in Black.  The border is from Edie Eckman's  Around the Corner Crochet Borders book in King Cole Big Value DK in Mid Grey.

Seems to be impossible for me to get a good pic of this blanket.  This is a close look of the solid grannies in the various Sirdar Crofter variegated yarns...  hope it is better...