This is the practice blanket that I’d been working on. I was using this to make sure my tension was good and that I was able to make a big swatch of something without dropping or picking up stitches.

Here it is “finished”. Technically it didn’t really have an end because I was just stitching to use up the yarn I had purchased. In fact, you can’t see it in this picture, but I literally ended in the middle of a row. Also, One side has a TON more double crocheted rows than the other because I got tired of trying to balance it out. I just wanted to use up the yarn that I had purchased. Besides, Bob doesn’t care if his blanket is even or not.

You can see that I was practicing different stitches. It starts on the right with double crochet and transitions into treble crochet. In the middle you have a patch of dense half-double crochet. Then it goes back to treble and ends on double.

I was very happy with how even my edges turned out, too.

After completing this project I felt confident enough to start on my shawl.

This is the class that I had purchased on Craftsy last fall.

My mom has made me a ton of crocheted afghans, so I didn’t want to make another one. I thought, though, that I might actually wear a shawl.

On Black Friday I bought these skeins at a really good price for the shawl. They have enough of the colors that I typically wear, so I figure I would be able to wear the shawl with quite a few of my skirts.

I started it last week and this is how far I’d gotten as of Saturday. It doesn’t look like much, does it?

Here’s a better shot of the details. It doesn’t have the same look as the shawl in the Craftsy picture, but I think that’s because I’m using a variegated yarn instead of a solid one. Also, once I block it the pattern should show up a little better. This is a three row pattern and I have to repeat it until the bottom edge of the triangle measures 60″. I didn’t check my gauge on this, but after looking at the picture I think that I probably should have used a slightly larger hook than the one called out by the pattern. My stitching just doesn’t look as loose as the one in the picture for the class. Oh well.

The great thing is that this yarn is so smooth! It’s got a silkiness to it that I love, especially after having done all of the stitching with the cheaper acrylic stuff.

I made one other purchase last week, too. You see, I was trying to figure out how to crochet stuff without just doing it to make things. I don’t need a lot of shawls or blankets or anything else, yet I decided to learn how to crochet so that I could keep my hands busy while watching TV with Jay. That’s when I hit upon the idea of crocheted edgings on blankets for the Dresses for Missions ministry that I’m involved in.

My mom has some patterns for crocheted edges for fleece baby blankets. I found the rotary blade above that is supposed to put the holes evenly around the edge for you without causing the edge to be cut off due to the perforations. When my mom made the ones on the right I think that she had to punch a sharper hook through first, and then she could stitch it. I’m too lazy to do that, but the blade should be a big help. At least this way I won’t feel like I’m just crocheting to keep busy. I will be helping out babies at the same time!