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!