That’s the Spirit!

More warm days with clear blue skies. Sky Blue comes in so many different shades, and recently they have been cloudless with the occasional high vapour trail. The moon is in evidence during the day too. Have you seen it? It hasn’t been crochet weather, but days have been filled with other things.

We were given the chance to observe our granddaughter’s swimming lessons. I was amused to see that her fast and energetic progress in the water couldn’t escape the proximity of electronics as all details are recorded on iPads!

Crochet has been limited to very early morning or late at night. Consequently the Spirit of Summer blanket has made some progress. This morning I began to join some strips together, but it will be a while before it’s final reveal. This season has many and varied colours, but, if memory serves me correctly, nothing below 12 degrees – and that was back in June.

This is just a random selection of recent squares. The Temperature Blanket is now fully up to date, thankfully.

I’d love to know what you are all up to. Let me know in the comments. I have an inclination that there may be some bedside crochet happening soon. My dear other half is about to have some tests.

Too hot? Yes! Still too hot!

It’s a joy to look out of the window and see the lightest of rain fall! Mid May was the last time it fell here, and the gardens are parched. We had a heavyish fall overnight, so there is no watering can duty today. Today should have been the last cricket match of the season for our grandson, but it’s rained off! It’s a shame as they have won the County Championship, and it would have been good for them to play that last game – especially when you are only 10.

The odd crocheted square has continued to materialise. Did you read the  previous ‘hot’ post? My project is still on hold, but single small squares haven’t been too much of a problem at times (albeit, not much more than one a day!) You may also have missed the end of Project 100.

As you can imagine, the Temperature Blanket has been interesting! I’m currently playing catchup as I’ve been unexpectedly away (see below). The hot colours have made more than an occasional appearance, as you can see below.

I’m looking forward to seeing them all together – I’ll update you with a few pictures when it’s up to date.

Yes, we’ve been away for a few days. It was a spur of a moment decision to go and stay with family. The weather was perfect for the trip, and we even managed a visit or two to the sea.

We walked along the cliffs, and also visited the surrounding towns. We discovered an amazing bus service and also made a couple of trips by train! Such excitement…! We have promised ourselves another trip soon.

Project 100

Did you take part? There were many posts on Instagram covering a wide range of media and techniques. I chose the challenge as an ideal opportunity to use my scraps, and here is the project so far:

A square a day was the decision. Not too large, it couldn’t interfere with other projects which had priority, so I decided on four rounds. As the squares grew in quantity a plan for their use became apparent and I realised that I actually needed a few extra, so here they all are, laid out and ready for the next stage.

Next comes the best bit. I’ll sit back with a large cup of coffee and weave in the remaining loose ends. It’s very difficult to undo a round once a square is finished off, so I left some in case a colour needed changing.

It will be a while before joining happens, but it occurred to me that it will be an ideal holiday project! First, however, I need to book one 😉

Too HOT to crochet!

Are you revelling in temperatures in the late 20 to early 30s degrees C? (That’s 85+ to those of you that still use Fahrenheit, by the way.) I’ll be honest. It’s too hot for me and I’m suffering. A word of warning .. there is crochet below but also some medical stuff, so go away now or scroll down if you don’t want to read ..

For many years I’ve been treated fo Hypothyroidism. One of the many symptoms is inability to control body temperature. This doesn’t happen to everyone but to a ‘select’ few it’s very often far too cold or far too hot.

Long before I was finally diagnosed I was taking extreme precautions. For instance, a summer holiday in hot August would ensure that the first things to pack would be a pair of good quality gloves! There is nothing worse than hands too cold to move on a hot summer day! Of course, I was young then, and I had never experienced (or even heard of) Hot Flashes! These became a constant companion after an early hysterectomy, but soon became a thing of the past.

About five years ago they returned, at least I thought they had. However, temperatures swinging high are just the other side of the hypothyroid coin. So on days when most people are experiencing 31 deg C I’m flailing around shivering in -2C or melting in 45degC. It isn’t funny 😦

The irony is that my actual body temperature rarely goes above 35C!

Anyway. On to crochet.

It’s hard to crochet in gloves! But it’s equally hard to crochet with hands that are too hot, and as for working on a blanket ….

Which is frustrating as that’s what I should be doing.

This is square number 7 and I have 5 more to complete. There’s a deadline, of course, but hot hands, or cold hands come to that, have a way of making their own crochet tension. I can’t afford to spoil what’s already complete, so this project is on hold. HELP!

Fortunately I can work on random small squares. They aren’t precious so are a life saver. More about them next time. Enjoy your July wherever you are.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find my gloves!

It’s a secret!

I know you’ve heard me say it before, but yes, my current project IS a secret. So much of the work I do is, until it’s been delivered. I currently have 4 secrets under wraps, but there’s no harm in me showing you the odd glimpse.

Is there?

I adore working in colour. Planning colour schemes is so much fun, and that was the case with all of the above. These blocks are from a variety of soon to be completed blankets – but holding them in my hand, I can see that they would also go well together in a new one!

That orange really zings, doesn’t it. It’s a HOT combination.

The colours aren’t as exact as I would like – blame it on an iPhone and brilliant sunshine.

But there are no complaints about the sunshine……

Summer is here!

Other parts of the country have had periods of appalling weather, here, however, it’s been almost perfect. Apparently we are about to enter into a small heatwave – and that isn’t good news for crochet! The last thing that’s needed is snuggling under a blanket in hot temperatures!

It should, however, make interesting and vibrant colour combinations for the Temperature blanket, and also for the Spirit of Summer blanket which is now underway.

Here’s a glimpse of four squares, I’m hoping for some red soon 😉

If you want to follow its progress you can click the link above.

On the way to 100

Once a year there is an online challenge to make something each day for 100 days. This year it began on April 3, and is due to end early next month. I have joined in for a number of years because I actually work in elements of 100 as a personal challenge during the whole year. Previously the object of my creativity has been some form of stitching or art, but this year I’ve concentrated on crochet.

Other projects have continued, but each day I’ve made a simple granny square. So far I’ve used simple short scraps to make them, and it’s proving a wonderful way of using up those little pieces that are too long to throw away, but too short to use on a larger project. Here’s a small selection of those I’ve completed so far.

I’m looking forward to completing the 100, we are on the ‘downhill’ now! You can see a few more here. I’ll join them all with a single colour and I’m just off to order that from Deramores while the yarn is on Special Offer!

What are you all up to? Is it too hot to crochet? I’d love to know what you are doing.