Tag Archives: Stripes and Squares Blanket

Squares & Stripes

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….is all finished and now I’m continuing my mission to finish my ripple. I’m thinking of taking it to the pub meet up tomorrow night, though I’ll probably swelter beneath it! I’ll see what the weather’s like, as today it’s gone up to a very mild 11 degrees.


As for reading: after a long patient wait the audio version of The Hanging Tree was finally released. This is the sixth book in the series by Ben Aaronovitch. What I really like is that real London buildings and streets are settings for the stories. This one features a building in Knightsbridge that I’ve had my eye on for spending some of my (future, massive) lottery win.

Joining with Ginny and the other Yarn Alongers again. 

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Probable game of yarn chicken ahead

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I’ll crochet some more border for a proper edging, as much as I can before the grey runs out, and I’m done. This is a warm and cosy lap blanket as the double crochet makes a thick fabric. Someone, somewhere will hopefully appreciate this quality. I joined the blocks with a combination join. This is WS together, 1 dc, ch 2, miss 2 st and 1dc into both loops of the stitches. If you dislike the raised line you can hold the RS together, so it’s on the back.

This week I’m reading Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay by William Boyd. It’s a fictional biography of a woman who lived through the great events of the 20th century. I’m rather perturbed by the blurb which describes the book as ‘his greatest achievement to date.’ Having loved Any Human Heart (and enjoyed lots of Boyd’s other books) I’m not yet convinced of this, but am enjoying the read.

I’m joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along, as usual.

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Gradually 

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Only five more squares to edge, then I’ll join them and edge the piece. I don’t think a blanket is finished unless it’s got a border of some kind, even a narrow one. I took a bag of woolly stuff away with me last week, but didn’t touch it. Instead I was glued to my last paperback. 

Now I’m reading Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, the free Kindle version (it’s free! Hurrah!) Every so often I feel the need to read an old book; in a kind of palate cleansing way. The archaic language gives a real flavour to the story and 19th century rural setting. I’m two thirds of the way through my audio book The Memory Game. I have no idea how it’s going to end. I have a feeling that there’s going to be a big twist revealed, in fact I’ll be disappointed if it’s the obvious! 

I’m joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along once again.

Stripes & Squares

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I darned the rest of the numerous ends on my ‘I don’t have a plan’ blocks yesterday. After a lot of walking at the weekend, aqua zumba and swimming lengths on Monday my knee feels sore, unusually since that’s a normal level of activity, but it was a good to sit yesterday resting it to sew and listen to my current audio book The Memory Game by Nicci French. They’re husband and wife writing duo. How do they agree on the direction of the story? Organise who writes what? You’d never guess it’s written by two different writers.

I really wanted to read One Small Act of Kindness after I’d listened to the superb A Hundred Pieces of Me by Lucy Dillon, as you’ll know if you saw this. But didn’t see it in my local charity shops, the Kindle edition is currently £4.99 and so I decided £1 would be well spent to reserve it from the library. The story is about Libby and Jason who have just moved to the countryside from London, one day a young woman is knocked down by a car outside and has lost her memory, no one comes looking for her and so Libby takes her in. This act of kindness sets in motion a chain of events…. It’s a nicer read after the violence and gore of the Jack Reacher I read last week!

I’m joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along again. And now I’m off to pack my case as I’m meeting a friend for a few days by the sea. Woo hoo cider, chocolate and seaside wandering!

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Ends

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At the moment it’s all about the ends, or so I could say but it would actually be a whopping lie. I haven’t touched a needle or hook for at least a week! We’ve been away, I’ve been busy and the evenings have been full of the sofa tv combo, or early nights curled up reading up in bed. I’ll get back to the blocks soon.

As for books, I’m gradually reading Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. This is only my third although I now have a small stack of them. I’m collecting them when I see them in charity shops and at markets. This one – urgh! – it gave me bad dreams the other night about a wooden box and being trapped. I think I’m going to have to read it during daylight hours and have something nicer to read at bedtime!

If you do want a nice book recommendation I’d suggest A Hundred Pieces of Me by Lucy Dillon. I just listened to this audio version and loved it. I’ve ordered the next book from the library, so I can look out for mentions of Gina…I have to know….

I’m Yarning Along with Ginny again this week.

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Playing 

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These unruly piles of crochet blocks have grown without a real plan. I selected a bag of leftover balls of Stylecraft DK and started to play with stripes and blocks of colours. I would love to buy a few of these colours again, to carry on with a proper plan in mind but this would be against the rules. I have full balls of DK, chunky, sock and 4 ply yarns of various quality yarns, after they’re used up I want to go back to only buying specific yarn,for specific projects. I didn’t go to any wool shows or festivals this year, because simply put: I don’t need anymore yarn.

This week I’m listening to A Hundred Pieces of Me by Lucy Dillon. I’m enjoying the concept of keeping only one hundred personal items and discarding the rest. It’s an interesting way of structuring the story, while revealing more about the main characters, as Gina sorts through boxes of her possessions following a life changing event.

I’m joining Ginny’s Yarn Along once again.

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Doubles 

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Stash busting is fun especially to begin with when there’s no plan. I just started out making a four colour double crochet block, then another. Doubles are pretty greedy stitches though, so I can imagine I might want to go to restock the claret and raspberry yarn (my two current favourite shades) which kind of defeats the object of a stash buster make. Still, Stylecraft is cheap. Lucky isn’t it?

For years my cousin and I have been reading the alphabet series by Sue Grafton, sharing the books after hunting them all down in charity shops. Latterly we’ve been waiting a few years at a time for the next one to be published. X is the 24th in the series. I worry that Sue Grafton might not get to the end sometimes. 

I’m only 3 or 4 chapters in, but Kinsey’s already eaten a grilled cheese sandwich and bought peanut butter, so all is well!  These books always make me crave egg and cucumber or pnb sandwiches without fail…

I’m joining in with Ginny and all the other yarn alongers again. It’s my fave post of the week and I love to see what others are reading and making. Looking up the #yarnalong tag on Instagram is good too.