Saturday, September 19, 2015

The Fantastic Flamingo, Part One

When my boss transitioned out of her presidential position last semester, I made it my goal to create a special gift for her. Unfortunately, I did not manage to finish it before she left and the incoming ASP took her position.

Over summer, I have barely done any crafting. This poor 5x7, adorable flamingo has been sitting in in the trunk of my car along with my cross stitch supplies for months. My world has been changing so much that this poor little guy has just been ignored, and that's not right.

 My goal is to complete this flamingo and present it to my old boss on Boss Day which is on October 16th. That way, I can frame Little Flamingo, wrap him up, and hide him in my old boss's mailbox for her to find.  I have no clue if I'll get it done in time, but fingers crossed!

Pattern by Birdie Stitching.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Home Sweet Yoshi WIP 055 & 056

It seems like my posts for Home Sweet Home Yoshi are finally catching up to my actual progress. It seems somewhat impossible since I've been playing catch up for so long, but here are WIPs 055 and 056 in all their glory. My goal is to finish posting older WIP pictures for this project and then begin working on this project again, finishing it before the end of the year.

As of September 18, 2014, this project is OFFICIALLY over halfway done with the addition of over 600 stitches added between September 17th and 18th.

WIP 055

WIP 056
Total Stitches as of September 18, 2014: 10,854/21,600
Total Time as of September 18, 2014: 3 Days 10 Hours 54 Minutes

Monday, April 13, 2015

Home Sweet Home Yoshi WIP 054

Happy Monday, everyone! I give you Home Sweet Home Yoshi WIP 054 for the day. Unfortunately, we're still all the way back on September 16, 2014, but progress is progress! A total of 165 stitches and 76 minutes were added to the grand total.


Total Completion: 45.59%

Friday, April 10, 2015

I'm Sick!

Hi, all! I have been super duper sick this last week, so BCCD is a bit behind (and under the weather) at the moment! I expect to have it back up in running within the week, though. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Bob

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

10,000 Memories: A WIP Update

My 10,000 Memories blanket is by far my favorite blanket that I've ever worked on, but has relied heavily on other projects' leftover yarn to be completed. With the completion of SO's Giant Granny Square Blanket, though, I finally have some more yarn to crochet up into "granny's daughters" or one-round granny squares. This is what I have so far since starting work back up on this afghan. Hopefully there will be plenty more to come in upcoming days, too. Because these are such small pieces to work up, I can often bring them along to classes and work when I have down time.
I know that it doesn't look like much, but these squares mark progress toward my goal of eventually finishing 10,000 Memories, the blanket that I hope to keep as my heirloom piece for future generations. And the closer I get to finishing it, the closer I am to working on other projects in the future!

A few dozen squares ready to have their tails tied in!


To date, I am over thirty rows into this afghan. The pattern may be found here (or on the Patterns page) and is free to use for non-commercial purposes only. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Home Sweet Home Yoshi WIP 053

It's hard to believe that WIP 053 is from all the way back on September , but the progress from this day is pretty remarkable in comparison to WIP 051 and earlier. I got a little bit more of the second tree trunk filled in and even though there's a bit of a mistake at the top, I think I've done a really good job in hiding it.

Stitches Added on September 15, 2014: 14
Time Added on September 15, 2014: 5 minutes

Total Stitches Since December 18, 2013: 9,663/21,600 (44.74%)
Total Time Since December 18, 2013: 3 Days 2 Hours 33 Minutes



Friday, April 3, 2015

SO's Blanket: Complete!

As you may know, SO and I have been together for over five years. When we first started dating, I was only a crocheter and spent countless hours on his couch crocheting blankets for others. When I finally got around to starting his blanket around Thanksgiving 2011, I think the blanket went through four froggings and a plethora of pattern ideas before I finally settled on just a simple giant granny square like the one I had been working on for myself.

It's funny because I distinctly remember dragging this blanket around with me on a regular basis for the first few months that I worked on it and once it got too big, my progress on it really began to come to a standstill because I was rarely home between work and school. In total it took me almost four years to get SO's Blanket done, but he absolutely loves it, so it was worth all the time, all the yarn (almost four miles of it!), all the carpal tunnel issues were worth it. It now lovingly lives on SO's Queen Size bed as shown below and I just got word that he "had the best night's rest he's had in months" because of it!


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Pattern: 10,000 Memories Afghan

10,000 Memories
Pattern by Bob Crochets

Materials Required
  • Crochet Hook (I use a 4.0mm G Hook)
  • Yarn for motifs (<2m per motif)
  • Yarn for joining and border

Motif Instructions
If you are familiar with granny squares, this is just a one-round version--very simple. Ch 5, sl st tog. Ch 3 (this counts as your first dc), in loop 2dc, ch 2, *3 dc, ch 2* 3 times. Join at top of Ch 3. Weave in ends.
A whole lot of motifs ready to be joined.


Joining Your Afghan
A few notes before starting:
  • I find it quite helpful to look at each square as having four sides of a "1-3-1 pattern." There's 1 chain, 3 double crochets, and 1 more chain on each side of the motif.
  • You'll be joining this blanket in a step pattern from right to left as you move upward. I find that it helps to keep this in mind as you read through the directions and join your work.
Step One
Take two motifs, right sides facing eachother. Put hook through both loops of motifs' first chain stitches in the 1-3-1 pattern [Image 1]. Attach joining color [Image 2].
Image 1: Hook in first two loops of motifs.
Image 2: Attach joining color to motifs.

Step Two
Slip stitch  in first chain space of 1-3-1 pattern. (When starting a new row, this will be the same stitch where you attach your joining color to your work.)

Step Three
In back loops only, slip stitch in the side's three double crochets [Image 3].
Image 3: Hook in back loops of DC only.

Image 3: Hook in back loops of DC only.

Step Four 
In both loops of next Ch 1 stitch, slip stitch [Image 4].
Image 4: Hook in both loops of chain stitch.


Step Five
Pick up another motif and place it right-side facing down/in where the next "step" of the stairs should be [Image 5]. To join, repeat Steps 1-4 [Image 6].
Image 5: Placement of next motif.
Image 6: Step One demonstrated on next motif.


Step Six
Repeat Steps 1-5 until you reach the end of the row. You will be joining up the right side of a square, then across the top of it, then up the right side of the next square, and then over the top of it, always moving from bottom right to top left until you reach the end of the row. You'll be performing Steps 2-5 twice for each square--once going up and once going across--except for when you join to the first and last squares of each row. See Step Nine for more detailed photographs.

Step Seven
When you reach the end of a row, chain 1, cut joining color, and pull end through loop [Image 7].
Image 7: Chain 1 before cutting and pulling joining color through.
Step Eight
Optional: I like to begin crocheting my borders as I go. I find that it helps me manage all the yarn tails and allows me for the blanket to have much more strength as I work. If you decide to do this, single crochet up the straight (left) side of the blanket--five stitches per square--as you work each row. This process goes slowly, but I find it to be quite worthwhile.

Step Nine
Repeat Steps 1-8 until your blanket has reached your desired length. You will have a staircase of stairs instead of a square afghan. To square everything off, continue adding rows to the afghan via Steps 1-8, but make sure to start on top of the previous row's rightmost square instead of to its right. Also make sure to only crochet up to the desired height of your afghan or it will keep getting taller. See photographs below for additional information.
Front Side of afghan before "squaring up."
Back Side of afghan before "squaring up."

Close-up image of afghan's back side. It has an amazing texture!


Squaring Off Your Afghan
Below you will find more information about squaring off and completing your afghan. Each image below will walk you through the process, but if you need further information, please ask!

Placement of all squares before "squaring off":
 

Step 4 on third row, second square of afghan as you join over the top of last row's squares.

Step 2 on third row, second square of afghan as you join over the left-hand side of your square.

Step 1 on "Row 4," square one. Note that this row begins the "squaring off" process by starting on the top of the last row completed instead of to the right.

A finished piece that has been completely squared and tied off.

Step Ten
If you did not follow Step Eight, single crochet around the afghan. Add desired edging and you're done! (I prefer to use a simple double crochet border as shown below, but there are a lot of edging options that would look nice.)
Finished piece with a single crochet border.
My preferred edging method, as noted above.


Contact Information
If you have any questions about this pattern, find errors, or would simply like to contact me, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Goals for April 2015

I find it pretty amazing that it's already April 2015. SO and I are currently in the process of saving up for a house and I've got less than two months left of university before I graduate. It's been an incredible last few months and I am so grateful to be in the position that I'm currently in.

Unfortunately, because things are going well, there's also a lot going on with school, work, athletics, and other assorted areas of life, so I've kept my goals for April pretty quiet: catch up on my Sprite Stitch charity square and my take-along project is to continue making granny's daughters for my 10,000 Memories afghan that I've begun working on again.

Look out for posts on my charity square within the next week!

Monday, March 30, 2015

Home Sweet Home Yoshi WIP 052

As part of an effort to get BCCD back on it's regularly scheduled Monday/Wednesday/Friday post schedule, I bring you HSHY Work in Progress Post 052! While WIP 052 is from all the way back from September 14, 2014.


According to my calendar, we actually went to the theater on September 14th, so I must have been over at SO's house working on Yoshi while we were getting ready for date night. It has not been uncommon in our relationship for me to take projects along with us, either, so I would not be shocked if some of the day's stitches occurred in the car or while we were at Balboa Park waiting for the doors to open for Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Stitches Added on September 14, 2014: 222
Time Added on September 14, 2014: 2 hours 8 minutes

Total Stitches Since December 18, 2013: 9,649/21,600 (44.67%)
Total Time Since December 18, 2013: 3 Days 2 Hours 19 Minutes

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Crochet the Month Away: March Recap

Poor BCCD has taken a hit since last year. I'm behind on everything and I won't lie, I'm feeling pretty guilty about it. I graduate from Uni on May 16th and true to form, I have turned my life over to crafting in order to cope with all the stress.

I have always upheld my belief that I can juggle and be good at only three things at a time. Right now, I'm juggling work, school, crafting, half marathon training, and now graduation party planning. We're entering the "group project" phase of the semester next week, too. I don't know how I'm going to cope, but I seriously look forward to being a full-time employee again instead of a student, and employee, and a consistently nervous wreck.

Luckily, my work campus had last week off and this week my Uni is on break, so I have intentions of getting BCCD up to date as much as possible. (My current list of drafts is over 30 posts.) Even if I'm still behind, I'll be able to share progress on work's like Home Sweet Home Yoshi, SO's Blanket (which I will be finishing today) and my 10,000 Memories afghan which has been on hiatus for the last year or so. There's been a lot going on, and I can't wait to share it with you!

Hope that your March was as wonderful as mine!


Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Home Sweet Home Yoshi WIP 051

Sometimes I wonder if my issues with my eyes (I'm legally blind without my glasses in case you didn't know) are the reason that my Work In Progress images end up so blurry sometimes...or maybe I'm drunk when I take them. I don't know, but I'm sorry that today's WIP image is so blurry. This is the best one out of the three that I took. The rest we just disasters.


This is my progress through September 11, 2014. I managed to get the entire right-side tree trunk done! And as I begin to fill up the entire bottom section of this piece I think that it will really start to take on some character. For now, I'm just happy to have gotten some progress done!

Day's Stitches: 105
Day's Time: 45 minutes

Total Stitches: 9,427/21,600 (43.64%)
Total Time: 3 days 0 hours 11 minutes

Monday, February 2, 2015

Home Sweet Home Yoshi WIP 050



Looking back at my notes and WIP 049, I got a lot done on September 6th. I mean, I managed to get the YOSHI sign lined in and I was even able to start filling in one of the tree trunks that had previously been just outlined in black. Yoshi is still a little sickly looking, but I'm sure that he'll get some color in the future. Hope everyone is well!

Day's Stitches: 311
Day's Time: 2 hours 16 minutes

Total Stitches to Date: 9,322/21,600 (43.16%)
Total Time To Date: 2 days 23 hours 26 minutes

Friday, January 30, 2015

Home Sweet Home Yoshi WIP 049

As you can tell from last my last post on December 10th, last year was not a good year for my family to say the least. I cannot even begin to articulate in words how grateful I am to be in 2015 with all of my family members alive and well and I managed to pass all of my classes with flying colors.

Currently, SO is playing Civilization V theme songs in the background while I write this post and it seems like everything is back to normal. Well... almost normal. He's no longer a student and he's officially teaching two classes at his Alma mater. I've got sixteen weeks' worth of classes before I graduate with my baccalaureate, but SO is making it really hard to focus. He has so much time on his hands now!

Onto Yoshi, though! It's been months since this poor project made an appearance on this blog.Work In Progess #049 is actually from September 5th. (Yeah, I know that's almost five months ago. Shame on me...)

So, yeah... The entire right side of it is done at this point. I'm super excited. I managed to get the last bits of the background done and even filled in the M and E of HOME. It isn't the most work that I've ever completed in a day, but because this section is entirely done now, it feels like a huge chunk of HSHY is done now.

Day' Stitches: 361
Day's Time: 2 hours 31 minutes

Total Time: 2 days 21 hours 10 minutes
Total Stitches: 9,011/21,600 (41.72%)