Mystery Afghan - Solved!

I finished the Bernat Mystery Afghan I began in September in time to send it to Father-in-Law for Christmas. The beginning of my project doesn't give any clues as to the finished afghan AT ALL! And, like all the other crocheters, I had a problem with the corner squares - because they didn't work up square. Bernat invited us to submit photos of our completed projects, and you can see mine here and the other participants' afghans in Bernat's crochet-along Flickr set.

What I learned:

• When divided into weekly tasks, the finished project was easily achievable; having a goal of completion before Christmas helped, too.
• Even do-it-yourself afghans are not cheap.
• I really enjoyed working on this, and re-discovered my love of crochet after several years of knitting smaller projects.
• I now know how to work at the required gauge in order to make the squares the same size.
• One of the colors in my project yarns was much skinnier than the others, even though they were all Bernat's "Softee Chunky" - something to be aware of, if I use several colors of yarn in a future project.
• The other participants' comments were helpful in answering some of my questions. Their friendly and encouraging responses each week helped keep me on track. This is a great way to keep the momentum going when working on a big project.

Crocheting Along

Bernat, the yarn company is in week 3 of its first "crochet-along". The final product is a sampler "Mystery Afghan", and Bernat is releasing a clue a week for 12 weeks, from September 22 through December 7. The ultimate design of the afghan won't be revealed until the very end.

I'm finding it very doable - the squares work up really fast, and I can usually complete 2 during the nightly TV news. I have 9 squares finished - 3 more in the 3rd pattern to do this week, and the 4th pattern will be ready to download on Wednesday. So by Christmas, I should have a brand-new, cocoa-colored afghan to snuggle under!

Day After Thanksgiving

Grumble, grumble ... I filled the crock pot with good home-made turkey broth, vegetables, seasonings and a handful of barley, turned the dial to "high", and went out with Husband to the gym and my favorite yarn shop, Rumpelstiltskin. I was SO looking forward to the aroma of dinner upon our return, but ... the darn pot wasn't plugged in! Dang! So, now it has to go on the stove instead, in order to be ready by dinnertime.

It was supposed to rain this morning, but it didn't come in till late afternoon. I was crocheting and listening to the rain, remarking that it sure sounded loud for the amount of rain coming down. I looked up to find that it was hailing! Here's what it looked like:

Hail usually lasts for only a minute, and it melts quickly - so to be available at the time it occurred was special!

Knitting for Those in Need

Here's an idea for the holidays: The folks at Central Library and the branches of Sacramento Public Library are participating in a project to create and distribute knitted and crocheted blankets and afghans to families in need this winter. This is perfect! The pieces are small, great for bus or train busywork, and work up quickly so you can't get bored or stuck, like you can when you begin a bigger project. Here's Central's blog post, which contains a link to the Warm Up America Foundation and instructions for the piecework. I'm starting mine tomorrow!