Saturday, August 31, 2019

Wrapped In Jamie CAL

I am definitely going to participate in this CAL! The designer has really gone above and beyond providing lots of LOTS of resources for us. I can't believe this CAL is free!

I love that this it is a long-term project and so I can definitely fit it into my crochet schedule. Second, I LOVE the Outlander series and the story of Jamie and Claire, so I think that having this blanket in my home will be a great reminder of how love endures all.

I have chosen my colors based on the colors chosen by the designer. The large blanket contains 20 squares plus the large Claire square and I have chosen my colors using my stash of Caron Simply Soft based on her palette here and her colorways chosen here.


I will make this layout for my blanket, so will use the white for the Claire Square, and the Bone color will be my border for all of my squares. The 20 squares will come from the other colors. My triangles will be made from 14 of the colors and I will decide on those colors once I have my layout decided. My border will be in the Bone color.


I cannot wait to see the end result ... it is going to be beautiful!

Friday, August 30, 2019

Some updates - CALs, yarn, discounts and FREE patterns

I've finished updating the CAL listing in the left sidebar. Several of them now have dates and I've added a couple. I'm still trying to decide which ones I want to participate in, but my interest is denotated by a ** in front of the CAL listing.

- Red Heart yarns can now be found at Yarnspirations.com. I have also noticed that there are several new Red Heart and Lion Brand yarns now available at Hobby Lobby, so check out your local store!

Deramores is having a 15% off sale on most yarns. I have purchased from them multiple times and recommend them.

- Wool Warehouse is having a Birthday giveaway. To celebrate, they are giving away a £50 gift voucher, to one lucky customer, every day for the next 7 days! For a chance to win, all you need to do is place an order over £25 on their website between Midnight 00:00 (BST) on 29th August 2019 and 23:59 (BST) on 5th September 2019. Each day, an order will be selected at random and a golden envelope containing a £50 gift voucher will be posted out with that order! This giveaway is open to everyone worldwide.

Would you like to get discounts on paid patterns or even FREE patterns? I have found that the easiest way to do this is to sign up for newsletters from your favorite designers! ... find them on Instagram and check their profile for links to their newsletter sign-ups or check out their blogs for sign-up information. I have saved a TON of money by doing this!

New patterns that I purchased today (both with a discount, too!)

Southern Pullover - discount posted on her IG post

Metropolis Cardigan - discounted through 9/3

New FREE patterns:

Idlewood dress (CAL starts 9/13)

Briar Pocket Cardigan

Honeycomb Cowl (free on blog)

Ocean Breeze Cover-up (I received a code in my email to get this for FREE!)

Stained Glass Slouch Beanie

That is all I had on my mind to share today ... I'm fighting the urge to buy all the new pretty yarn I keep finding. I already have an entire bedroom full of yarn, but we always want more, don't we!? LOL!

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

New patterns on Ravelry

Here are my favorite FREE patterns on Ravelry so far this week!

Twinkle Little Stars pillow


Dream Weaver blanket



Happily Ever After Shawl (tapestry crochet)


The "1, 2, 3, 4" Blanket (mosaic crochet)









New additions

I've been working on adding links that I want to have available to me quickly. In the left hand column, I have added several lists that I thought might also be helpful to my fellow online crochet sisters! I've participated in several CALs this year and it has helped me get some projects done that I wouldn't have started otherwise. I do hope to join in several of the CALs I have shared here ... some of the projects are beautiful!

Like most crafters, I have my list of favorite designers. I have multiple patterns from these artists and am always watching for their next creation to be released, so I decided to list them here for easy reference! I have also added a list of unfinished projects (WIPS) that I will finish by the end of the year. I always like to start the year without anything left undone. This week, I am finishing up a test project and then I'll get to tackling this list as well as participating in several of the CALs.

Finally, I check out all of the new patterns added to Ravelry daily and so I am thinking of posting several lists weekly of gorgeous FREE patterns that others might be interested in. These will include blankets, squares, tops and shawls/scarves/wraps as well as some home decor items. I know there are lots of other crochet items (amigurumi, children's items, kitchen projects, etc.) listed daily, but I can't look at all of them and so will focus on sharing items that I would consider making myself.

I do hope that you will find these lists and shared info helpful!

Monday, August 26, 2019

I'm back!

I can't believe it has been almost 18 months since I've last blogged. I'm still at home enjoying my "retirement" and crocheting as much as I can. I've decided to pick this blog back up as a way for me to record lots of crochet links, keep up with CALs and share information when I adapt a pattern to suit me better. This blog will be a bit like a journal of what is going on in my life. I turned 50 in January and it's been a bit of a rough year as I've come to grips with getting older and what that has meant for my health and psyche. I know most blogs are picture heavy because it is a way to grab people's attention, but I am not going to make myself adhere to this requirement. I will add pictures when necessary and helpful to the post, but some days, my post may contain only thoughts and links! I need to keep this fun for me and not worry about all of the rules for a successful blog. Since I am not following the desire of many bloggers to turn this into an income-producing blog, I am going to do my own thing!

I do hope that my crochet friends will find helpful information here as that will probably be my main focus on many days. So, here we go! Welcome - I hope you find something useful here!