The crochet hook hasn’t been flying as often as I would like it to, but I’ve been fairly productive. First, let me give you an update on something you haven’t seen in a while.

Remember this rug? Well, I put a pretty good hurting on my wrist while working on it. Due to my wrist issues I haven’t even looked it it in a while. A few weeks ago I decided to pull this out again because it’s the perfect project to work on when sitting in Jay’s workshop with him. However, I was having problems seeing my stitches. It was a series of double and single crochets in the same stitch, then another double and single crochet in the next stitch. I think that was part of what was causing my wrist issue.

Needless to say, I wasn’t happy with it. So I frogged it (rip-it, rip-it) down to the starting chain. I then found another pattern that I liked and was trying that, except I wasn’t happy with that one either. Apparently I’m very hard to please. I frogged that one, too. Then the thought hit me, “Keep It Simple Stupid (K.I.S.S.).” So I added to the chain until the rug was the width that I wanted and decided to just double crochet.

I don’t care how the colors pool on this so I’m not going to worry about what color yarn I’m using next or where it ends up starting. I just reach into my bag and pull out the next ball. I’m not quite sure where I’m going to use it, but it’s going to get dirty and I’m not going to care. It’s as simple as that.

Look at all of those pretty double crochets!

Even though I don’t think this stitch will cause my wrist issues, I’ve decided that when I work on the rug I will wear my wrist brace that I use to immobilize my wrist when I sleep. If I’ve over-used my wrist this brace helps a lot.

I can’t use it when I’m working on any other crochet project because I do need my wrist for those. This rug is big and the yarn a bit tough, so I end up using my arm more than my wrist. That’s how I’m able to wear it while crocheting.

In other projects, here’s a peek at the next Project Linus blanket:

And a peek at the Project Linus baby blanket I’ve got in progress:

I need to take a moment to rave about the yarn that I’m using for this baby blanket:

It is 100% acrylic, but it’s WONDERFUL! I’ve never crocheted with silk so I can only imagine what it would feel like sliding across my hook… and this is close! I am being horribly spoiled by this yarn. It’s so delicious! The silkiness allows it to glide over your hook like butter. It’s silky to the touch and feels so luxurious. I believe that the ‘fanfare’ designates that this is a variegated yarn. I have another Storybook yarn, but this one is Lullaby:

How gorgeous is that??!! It’s shiny, silky, 100% acrylic and 100% deliciousness! From what I can tell, ‘Lullaby’ designates that it’s a solid color.

The Nicole brand of yarn is found at A.C. Moore and even their regular acrylic yarn is wonderful. It’s much softer and puffier than Red Heart’s regular acrylic. The Storybook yarn is a bit pricey ($3.99 per 4.9 oz skein), but if you can get it on sale it’s definitely worth it. I think that I got these 5 for $10. It was worth it! Plus, I had a coupon that took off an additional amount on your yarn purchase (including sale yarn). So keep a look out for coupons and watch the ads for good sales.