Most of the folk in the office are back at work this week, so we were able to distribute the last of our holiday gifts - and publish the photos without fear of being sprung!

The first one was a christmas present for Jack - he's been a wonderful friend to us both, and a fellow classic Mustang restorer to boot during the year. We found this pattern featuring nautical signal flags, just the thing to go with the view to the coast from his apartment window! Also had fun trying to find just the right fringe pattern to suit the design - Andy helped with the alignment and the knot tying, must have been something he learned with the Army cadets in high school .

The second one was a late baby shower gift for Nathan and Jo, expecting their second bub in a couple of weeks. We missed the baby shower due to work, but still managed to beat the baby! They've been keeping quiet about whether it's a boy or a girl, so I had to go for a 'unisex' design - they're not really 'pastel' people anyway . Really enjoyed this one - much smaller than a full size afghan so it works up really quickly, plus I've finally got the hang of this 'intarsia' technique. No more cutting the yarn at each colour change ... and lots less ends to darn in at the end!

Phew! Think I achieved some sort of record this year for finished projects ... at least for me. Might not be quite so ambitious next Christmas - or I need to start much earlier in the year!!

I was asked a little while ago to a blanket with an American-flag theme, as a Christmas present for one of our friends to take home at the end of the year. He was a bit surprised on the weekend on the weekend and I was steaming the already-finished piece on the table!

Here's a piccie of the blanket drying out ... after the Fall Leaves pattern, this one was much easier - not so many ends to weave in!! The Wool-ease yarn also came out a bit softer after the steaming, more so than I expected for a wool-acrylic blend - so I'm quite pleased with the result.

I've been getting inspired by reading a few crochet and knit blogs on the net - so thought I should put up a few piccies of the other projects I've finished. I don't think Andy will let me turn this into a crochet blog, so I'll just have to make do with the occasional post here and there .

First, my McRae tartan afghan - probably more of a 'lapghan' as it's not quite so big. This is one we brought with us, I actually finished this while we were in the UK (has it been five years already?!). The tartan pattern is pretty standard, so I modified it to come up with the McRae 'modern' hunting tartan. Even though it's a pretty simple pattern, I love the effect. Might get around to doing one for the dress tartan one day.

Next - Andy's blankie. A Vanna White pattern, I'm actually onto my third from that particular book so I'm getting my money's worth! This one is done in a chenille yarn, so it's big and warm ... although the ends keep working themselves out after I've woven them in! This one lives on the back of the couch, within arm's reach for snoozing in front of the telly ... just right for the end of a long day spent arguing with the contractors .

Another ripple pattern - my second place winning entry  from last month's Puyallup Fair. This one really sold me on blocking the finished piece, it really brought out the stitch pattern and it now drapes beautifully! Unfortunately I didn't get much in the way of feedback from the judge, just 'looks and feels great' ... with a score of 98% I was hoping to find out what element pipped me into second place!

My most recent project is an autumn leaves pattern - from the Vanna White book again. Hadn't tried on of these tapestry style ones before, but I know now that i don't like changing colour every other stitch ... there are so many ends to weave in!! I'm only about halfway done on finishing this so far - still have to finish all the yarn ends, then block it out to size.

Currently working on an American-flag inspired afghan (another Vanna White pattern) for a friend at work to give as a Christmas present. Not quite so many colour changes as the autumn one, so I'm enjoying this one a lot more!

Another crochet demo today, this time in Redmond so it was a little closer to home. Hadn't volunteered for this one originally at the guild meeting, but Steve popped around to help Andy work on the Mustang for the afternoon ... that's my cue to do something else!

This one looked a little more 'commercial' - there were a few tents set up in the carpark outside the shop, with sample yarn and a few hooks donated by the store. We even had a few learners! The knitting side of the tent was much busier, but I think they had a few more instructors ... I think there was a mixup with the guild volunteer list, as we ended up with only three - myself, Lester and Heidi.

I managed to help out a couple of learners, even to the point where one was producing a basic granny square - but it made me realise, how do you really teach someone something you've been doing for 20-odd years?! (20 years? Has it really been that long?!) I think I'll need to do a proper crochet-teaching course if I want to do any more of these!

The controversy  for the afternoon came in the form of the 'fastest crocheter' competition. All the entrants were given a 'control' ball of yarn and a hook so everyone was on equal footing, and we had ten minutes to work up a small swatch in single crochet (or double crochet as I'm used to calling it!). My hands were shaking like a leaf and I kept dropping stitches all over the place, but when the timer called 'hooks down!' I'd won by about a row and a half! Yay for me. We got to keep our yarn and hook from the competition, and I also received a wrap for my hooks, a 'wild knitting woman' badge and a pair of 'yarn goddess' felt slippers. Well ... at least I got to keep the ball of yarn and a new hook .

Where did the controversy come in? Miss Second Place retired to the knitting side of the tent after the competition, and was heard accusing me of misreporting my rows ("thirteen rows, she must have been lying!!"). Not to my face, of course . Perhaps she was just upset at missing out on the cheapie 'yarn goddess' slippers? Crocheted mittens at twenty paces ... where's Andy to defend my honour when I need him??

Got home at about 4.30 and Andy was finishing up in the garage - Steve had retired home about an hour previously. They'd discovered some rust in the floorpans which was not spotted on the pre-purchase inspections, so there's some more fibreglassing to do now. Still, it's not in too bad shape for ~40 years old!

After tidying up some bits and pieces at home, we headed south for the afternoon to 'Do The Puyallup'. The Puyallup Fair is reputedly the sixth-largest fair in the US - large enough to have its own theme song!

First stop was the Home Arts pavillion, to see whether my afghan made an impression with the judges - very pleased to see a red second place ribbon!  The winning entry for the 'one piece' afghan category was a woven tartan design, which also scored Reserve Grand Champion. Grand Champion was a lovely aran pattern afghan ... I had thought about doing an aran design, but in the end settled on my ripple pattern instead. Lots more ideas for entries for next year! I also have a much better idea of the standard required in the different categories.

Grabbed a couple of obligatory corn dogs for lunch, and wandered around a lot of the food stalls, displays, rides and sideshows. Reminded us both of the Easter Show in Sydney or the Royal Melbourne Show at home - but without all the showbags!! I think we'll be back again next year

After joining the Crochet Guild of Puget Sound a few weeks ago, I volunteered to help demo and teach at a promotional afternoon in Bothell. The 'knit-out & crochet-out' is held each year around the US to promote knitting and crochet to the masses.

The drive up to Bothell was an adventure in itself - after carefully plotting the route in Mapquest and on our Navman navigation computer, I ended up completely lost and in the middle of suburbia. I ended up having to ring home to get Andy to find the phone number for the store, then ringing the store to try and get better directions. Ah, they're on the Bothell-Everett Highway! That helped a bit. Only about 90mins late . Felt much better after a couple of rows and a bit of a chat with everyone around the table.

The event was hosted by Carol from 'Spin Knitters', which used to be 'Columbine Yarns'. There were quite a few knitters and crocheters in the shop working on various projects, but not much in the way of students - I don't think we had one the entire afternoon! So I didn't get to try out my teaching skills - or demonstrate my lack thereof .

I'd brought in my latest project to work on, another design from one of my Vanna White books with some autumn leaves scattered on a beige background. Nearly finished, apart from stitching all the ends in from the colour changes ... that's going to take some time . Throughout the afternoon we also had a couple of door prize draws and a fashion show, and someone had brought a cake to share - yummo! So after a shaky start, I ended up really enjoying the afternoon!

Now that we've got this blocking thing down pat, I decided to have a go at my old green merino afghan I made up about five years ago while we were in the UK. The wool is lovely and soft, but is showing a little pilling after five years of service. I must have stuffed up the tension when I made it, because the sides are wildly uneven - so when I fold it up, the edges are all crooked.

After the success we had with the blue ripple afghan on the weekend, we ruled some more lines on the cardboard and pinned out the green one. It was a bit of a stretch initially to make all the edges square, but with a bit of steam the stitches eased up a bit and everything fell into place. Mmmmm ... there's that wet wool smell again!! Just magic - the old green thing has a bit of life in it yet! Absolutely converted with this blocking idea now .

A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to enter something in the Puyallup Fair, which is held next month. I didn't realise, however, that the competitive entries were due to be submitted this weekend ... leaving myself only about two weeks to decide on a design and complete it. Nothing like setting yourself a challenge...

Found a wonderful yarn shop in Seattle that stocks a wide range of different wools, yarns and ribbons ... the sort of place I could wander around for ages, and spend a lot of money in . I found a nice brand of pure wool that felt wonderful to the touch. So for the last two weeks I've been spending about 15mins a row, 4 1/2 hours a skein to finish this thing in time. Today I finished - and the last day to submit entries is tomorrow!

The last thing we had to do was block the finished piece, to take all the wrinkles and curls out of the design. Andy chopped a large bit of cardboard from our collection in the garage waiting for recycling, and we trawled the craft stores looking for some blocking wires - no luck there, so settle on some florist wire as a substitute. Then came the process of weaving the wires around the edge of the piece, and pinning it into place ...

After pinning it out, Andy made a few passes with a steam cleaner I'd bought several months ago. Not much good as a bathroom cleaner, but it definitely did the trick on the afghan! Apart from the smell of wet wool in the kitchen, I'm very happy with the result - just like a bought one. We'll drive down to Puyallup tomorrow to drop it off, then I'll have to wait until the end of the month before I can pick it up again. Phew!

A little while ago I was surfing around on the web and found a website for the Crochet Guild of Puget Sound ... and I thought to myself, "Self, you've never been a Guild member before!". Even better, the monthly meetings are held in a shopping centre only a couple of miles away so I didn't have an excuse not to go .

I got in touch with the website administrator, and I attended my first meeting tonight. Everyone loved my 'accent'! Tonight's meeting was a workshop, Justine demonstrated a quilted square made in four colours but all done in one piece - rather tricky, but it helps when you know the secret!

I brought my golf club covers and my tartan afghan along for 'show and tell' and as a way of introducing myself. Both items were well received, and a few tried to get me to demonstrate the tartan effect at a future workshop. I also volunteered to help out at a crochet demonstration and teaching session in Bothell next month ... should be interesting. I've only ever tried to teach Mum how to crochet, and the jury's still out on whether that was a success or not! 

(dig a hole, grab some more ... )

Finally got around to finishing my latest project - an American Flag afghan. I had started this one back in May when Mark & Mary were here, but lost interest when it got to the finishing off part - whaddaya mean, I've got to change colours in the whipstiching?! So much for having it done by Independence Day .

Anyway, I found some motivation in the last couple of weekends, and managed to finish the last of the tails tonight ... the finished handiwork is displayed in the gallery!! Now I just have to figure out how to block something that big ...