Saturday, December 31, 2011

End of a year

     December is upon us and HN&S' first calendar year now comes to a close.  Despite all its hiccups and interruptions it would be impossible to look back on the past year negatively as so much has been learned and the ups, by far, outweigh the downs.  This year saw the birth of Hook, Needle and Spindle and that in itself is a wonderful thing. We learned how to blog, make up a facebook page and run an etsy online shop (all of which are still works in progress).  We worked on a New Line (which is still in the works) and worked on some other media outlet projects. So many projects have been started and are relying on the new year to come to fruition.

     This year has been absolutely fantastic for HN&S and I know that the coming year will be even better!  Stay tuned for a look at some of the projects HN&S will be working on in the new year.

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you had a crafty year and that you Keep Crafty in the new one!


Monday, December 5, 2011

Update on the Relocation

     Despite having made it to Ottawa safe and sound, the relocation has been quite bluntly a mess.  The new local has proven to be much more of a challenge than anticipated and with the holiday season now upon us HN&S is far from prepared.  After much deliberation, it has been decided that for the time being, HN&S operations will be running at minimal capacity with the Etsy shop still online and the occasional posts on this blog and the facebook page (here).  Hopefully over the course of the next few months HN&S will be able to find a location and the circumstances within which to resume it's full operations.  For now, HN&S will be working hard at bouncing back from this jumble and getting back to sewing, designing and creating!

Keep Crafty Everyone! HN&S will be back soon!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Sneak Peek 6

     Here is another sneak peek at the New Line; sorry I missed last week, relocation is monopolizing my time.  This one should sufficiently confuse you :).


Thursday, October 27, 2011

Quick Update

      The past couple weeks have been pretty hectic but there is an end in sight.  The relocation is slowly coming together; packing is coming along, slowly but surely.  All my business operations seem to have ground to a halt, including the New Line and the Craft Sale.  Hopefully today I can dedicate most of my time to crafting and squeeze in just a little packing.  I've only got a few days left with my fantastic sewing room so I may as well get in as much quality time with it as possible!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

New Line Update

     With everything that's been going on lately (coming craft sale, relocation) and the jumble that came from the demo which I was apparently seriously under prepared for, the New Line release dates are gonna need a little "tweaking".  Today was to be the fan release date, but unfortunately, sad to say but I don't even have the demo where I want it yet so I'm gonna need to sort that out first.  I was really hoping to have the New Line out for this Christmas but things don't always go the way we want them to, despite one's thoughts of having it all set up :P.  So here is the new plan..... for now....

     I'm going to keep the demo going for another month at least, then in December I will open sales and release the New Line to fans for purchase and custom orders.  Then early in the new year I should be ready to release the New Line to the rest of the world. Of course, this is very tentative.  I can only hope that the relocation goes smoothly and that once there I have an optimal environment within which to unleash my creativity upon unsuspecting materials to make up sufficient amounts of product.

     I still have several products from the New Line available for demo, so if you are interested, send me your e-mail and I'll fill you in on what's been going on.  Be sure to stop by HN&S' facebook page and *like*, or visit our Etsy shop.

Keep Crafty everyone!!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Relocation

     One of the main reasons the New Line has taken a hit and been put on the back burner (aside from the demo jumble) is a new and exciting development: HN&S will be relocating to Ottawa next month!  Although it has not yet been determined if this relocation is of a permanent nature it will certainly open up more doors and opportunities for HN&S this holiday season and in the new year. This was a very abrupt happening so the planning and working out of details has taken up much of my time.  That coupled with the up coming craft sale has left little to no time for the New Line, though I would still like to have some of the New Line available to fans on the fan release date and for the craft sale; we'll have to see just how much I can fit into a day.

     HN&S will be staying in Fort Frances for the craft sale on November 5th but then leaving the next day for Ottawa.  Unfortunately this means there will be a small interruption in operations though hopefully it will be minimal and won't cause any inconveniences.  This interruption, if all goes according to plan, will be only for a few days during the travel time and while I set up.  I will have more details and exact dates as we approach the big day, so stay tuned and I'll keep you posted! 

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Sneak Peek 5

    So here is the last Sneak Peek before the hopeful fan release date next week! I know it's a day late, but I have a good excuse I promise!


   Unfortunately it looks like I'm gonna need to review the release dates for the New Line.  With so many things on the go, the time I had allotted to the New Line has taken quite a hit.  I'm hoping to keep the fan release date the same, but change the public release date to some time in the new year perhaps (unless by some miracle I can manage to find the time, energy and materials to pump out a large amount of quality product in a short amount of time).  I will keep you all posted with the New Line changes and the other exciting happenings going on this month and the next (including the main reason the New Line has taken such a hit : next blog post).

So Keep Crafty and Stay Tuned!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Sneak Peek 4

     Another Friday, another sneak peek! Just under 2 weeks left till the fan release date, and good thing, cause I'm running out of ideas for sneak peeks.


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

HN&S' First Craft Sale

     Although the title mostly diminishes the effect of a drumroll, I'm going to selfishly do one anyway:
     *drum roll please* .................... HN&S will be doing it's very first craft sale next month! How exciting is that? (Answer: very). In case you haven't noticed, I am personally very excited about this.  My childhood is speckled with memories of small craft sales and I'm both excited and nervous to be handling my own booth.  The craft sale will be held on November 5th at a local church (more details to come in a later blog entry).  It's is just a small one, as of last week 16 tables had registered, and the sale will only be on for one day.  I still haven't decided which products to stock up on though rest assure I will bring all my totes. Since the craft sale is so close to the New Line release date I've decided to feature it at the craft sale and see how many I can sell before releasing the product to the rest of the world. I'm also considering a nice little stack of slippers, scarves, shawls, cowls and possibly an afghan if I can find the time.  I'm also most likely going to be selling items from HN&S' sister shop "DoulaMonica" which features baby items such as cribquilts/sets, booties, plush lamb teddy bears and mobiles.  However, this is all conditional on how much time I have to dedicate to each item.  With exactly one month to go, and still playing catch up on the demo for the new line I'm skeptical of how well this will all go down.  But, with a good plan in place and lasting energy and motivation I can hopefully reach a nice and modest goal for the craft sale without turning into this:

Sleepy Mangled Kitty


     On a side note another exciting happening: I now have my business cards!! And they are fantastic!  A big thanks goes out to my friend Dave J for all his help!

My new awesome business cards!

     

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Demo Letters

     After a frustratingly long day of arguing with the internet I've finally managed to get the demo letters/e-mails out to those who've signed up for it! It's slightly overdue, but at least I found a good secure way to share the photos of the products and their making. (and my internet finally decided to be nice long enough for me to upload the photos).

     Unfortunately the line in general isn't progressing as quickly as I hoped it would.  At the moment the line is about 1-2 weeks behind schedule though there is much potential for it to be caught up.  Without going into too much detail before the public release date: I'm getting pretty sick of the monotony that the 2nd step provides.  It's VERY time consuming and VERY tedious.  I'm gonna be really happy when I'm done that part and get on to the much more fun steps in making more of the product.  I'm in a position now where I have a lot of the raw materials I need to create the product and so the "x" factor so to speak is me.  As long as my sewing machine and ironing board keep up as well as my motivation I should be back on track by the fan release date on October 20th 2011.  Just 19 days away before I start selling them and taking custom orders from fans.  Very exciting, though today was also a very quick awakening at how much more preparation I still need to do electronically before the release date.  The sites still need a lot of work before I can hit that "publish" button.

     All that being said, I'm still very excited about the line and hopefully this excitement will keep me full of steam as I plow through the coming week.  September went by so quickly, before we know it, it'll be November and NaNoWriMo will be upon me as well as the craft show (which I will talk about in a later post).  But for now, time to wind down after a long day of computer aggravations.

     Keep Crafty Everyone! And have a great night!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Sneak Peek 3

     Today is Friday and time for another sneak peek at the new line.  For those of you who are on the demo list, this is the last sneak peek before your demo letters!  Very exciting!!


     I've been working really hard on this line and I'm looking forward to sharing it with the world.  I'm hoping to have the new line demo welcome letter sent out tonight (midnight) or tomorrow at the latest.  Remember that the demos will be sent out on a first come first serve basis. If you aren't signed up for the demo, there's still time! Just  *like* HN&S's facebook page (link below) then add your name to the "free demo" discussion.




     Here is a quick review (with adjustments) of the new line's schedule:

September 2011
     Send out demo letters
     Ship out demos

October 2011
     Improve (based on feedback) and create more product
     Build up stock for release dates

Release dates:
     Fans ---------------> October 20th 2011
     Fort Frances* ----> November 5th 2011
     Public and Etsy --> November 7th 2011

*The new line will be available at a local craft sale Nov. 5th 2011

Friday, September 23, 2011

Sneak Peek 2

     Well it's Friday and time for another sneak peek at the new series:


     There's still several spots open for the free demo. Just visit HN&S's facebook page and leave your name in the discussion "demos" to sigh up for it.  Demo letters go out next week!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Lakers Afghan

     For the past year and a bit I had been really wanting to make an afghan to donate to the Fort Frances Lakers in order to help them raise money, and finally, after completing my brother's birthday blanket I decided to dive right into it.  Having completed my brother's afghan in record time I felt confident I could keep the streak going and finish up the Lakers Afghan in no time, and though I may not have finished this one in record time, it is completed and I'm glad to see how wonderful it turned out.

I started out with the lettering for the logo

Then worked on the afghan background.... Of course Zija was all over it.

And more work on the lettering

Background finished, lettering almost done

Lettering finished! (no easy task)

Ready to scope out how big to make out the rest of the logo

Kitten just waiting for me to turn my back so she can pounce on a fresh afghan

This is how it starts.... two paws at a time 

Kitten caught!!

Logo placement, still needs to be sewn on
Friday the 16th, in the morning, sewing on the logo

And the afghan makes it to the first pre-season game!

      The Lakers Afghan is part of a Lakers raffle to be drawn on December 19th 2011 at the last Lakers home game before the holidays.  The draw will be for the Afghan and 2 chairs (seen in the above photo).  Tickets are 5$ each and ALL proceeds go directly to the Fort Frances Lakers.  The blanket was 100% donated :)  I am planning on having the Afghan available for custom order sales, however since it took up so much time to make, the price will be adjusted accordingly plus part of the proceeds will go to the Lakers.  Once I've crunched up all those numbers it will be up on my Etsy site and this one as well as the Facebook page.
     When it comes to labours of love, they are always long and arduous but ALWAYS well worth it in the end. :)

Friday, September 16, 2011

Updates

This is what HN&S has been up to this week,    
  
Crochet

    Lakers Afghan
     I've been hard at work focusing mostly on this project for the past week as it needed to be done for today.  The Fort Frances Lakers are the local Junior A hockey team.  They are part of the SIJHL and judging by the exhibition games we've recently had I think they are gonna kick some ass this year! :D.  I'm very glad I finally decided to dedicate myself to making up this blanket to donate in order to raise money for the team.  After over a year of "wanting" to do it, I finally got to it and set a date: it *MUST* be done for the first pre-season game.  Tonight is the first pre-season game and I'm finally done! If you are in the Fort Frances area, stop on by at the Ice For Kids arena to watch a good game of hockey and come see the beautiful afghan! The raffle will be going on until December, the fund-raising comity has decided to do the draw for Christmas.

     I have to say, I am INSANELY happy to be done with this afghan... I was really getting sick of working on it lol, but the satisfaction of seeing it completed and knowing it will raise money to help support our hockey team is well worth the effort.  Tomorrow I will have full post on the Lakers afghan and how it went at it's debut tonight at the arena.


Knitting

     New Slippers
     I haven't done much knitting this week. The past couple days I needed brief distractions from the Lakers Aghan so I started working on some slippers.  I've been 'tweaking' an old slipper pattern to make it more comfy and better fitted.  I haven't assembled them yet so I'm not sure how it'll will turn out.  I should know by this weekend and the slippers might be up on my site by the end of next week (assuming the 'tweaking' of the pattern worked).


Sewing

     New Series.
     I've not done too much sewing this week as I was more focused on my crochet project though I did do a little work on my new series and did TONS of computer work for it.  I've set release dates for the new series here, made up the free demo letters and made up the page that will be posted on the public release date.  I never realized just how much work needs to go into launching a new line!  But like the Lakers Afghan, I'm sure it'll be well worth it in the end.

     Now, for those of you who are waiting on the new series: here is a sneak peek! Every week until the public release date I'll post one random pic here in the weekly updates! They may be close ups of an actual product or just of the materials used. Hopefully they won't be too obvious.... or too confusing :) Enjoy!


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

New Series!

     Here is the scoop! Over the past few weeks I have been brewing up something special: a new series! And it's big one!  I'm hoping to have it up and ready for public sales by early November.

     What is this series? Well rest assured it's lovingly handmade by yours truly.  Does it have a name? It sure does but that's secret until the release date. Of course everything will be described and detailed on the official site once we reach the public release date (and on the demo letters sent out to the fans who request the demo) but in the mean time, here is a little peek at what's going on in my workshop: 

     The nature of this product requires much effort and creativity.  It is an eco-friendly product and contributes to several ethically sound practices along its creation process.  Each product is unique, different and has a story; a story that can be told.  As for the functionality of the product, it is very practical and can be used either on a daily basis or for a specific purpose. Either way, it is quite useful and durable.

So far, here is the plan:

September 2011
  •   Finding and buying up a stock of materials
  •   Creating products
  •   Send out the free demo letter to selected fans (see below for details)
  •   Ship out the free demos
  •   Hopefully, receive feedback

October 2011
  •  Work like mad at improving and creating more product
  •  Continue working on site to be ready for release date

October 20th 2011
  •   Fan Release Date!!

November 7th 2011
  • Public and Etsy Release Date!

     Here is what you need to know if you'd like to be on the demo list.  First, find HN&S' facebook page (here) and show some love by *liking* the page.  Then in discussions, you'll find a thread titled: "New product demos". Join the conversation! Leave your name and e-mail and you're all set to receive info on new demos!  From there, if you like what you see and want the demo, you send me your mailing address and I send you some awesome goodness in the form of a free demo! Sounds good, yes? If you are only interested in the new series demo, just write "new series demo" next to your name/info and you will get only the new series information and demo.

     On October 20th 2011, the fan release date, the new series will be available only through the facebook page and only to those who've *liked* the page (effectively making them "a fan") and the main page (on the blog) will not be functional until the public release date on November 7th 2011.

     On November 7th 2011 the full series goes public! So exciting! On this day the main page for the series will be up, the product name is released, the new products will be up for sale on the Etsy site and anyone will be able to make custom orders of the product.

     So that's the D-L on the new series I'm cooking up.  I hope I've got your attention.  I also hope you'll join me and the other fans that have requested the free demo and be part of the .... oops, almost slipped there ... part of the "new series" family :D

Keep crafty everyone! And mark your calendars!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Totes!


         For the past month I have been sewing totes like it's nobody's business!! ... Well, it's MY business, but you get the idea.  I must say I've become a pro at this pattern, though I really need to start making something different.  20 thousand totes from the same pattern isn't very good for business. But they are pretty sweet totes! 



Gurr is Keeper of the Totes!
     I've just started experimenting with linings and matching clutches (making my own patterns).  The clutches are still very much in the "trial and error" phase and have a couple kinks to work out but I hope to have a working product out and ready to sell within a few weeks to a month.

First attempt at lining and matching clutch

Turned out pretty good
     These totes are available for purchase on my Etsy site here or you can send me an e-mail at HookNeedleSpindle@hotmail.com.  Keep crafty!



Thursday, September 1, 2011

It's Fall!

     Sure officially we are still 20 days away, but to me, in my mind September 1st has always signified fall!  And today is the perfect example: overcast, windy and chilly, leaves scattered all over my yard... It's a typical fall day.  This means a wonderful thing: Fall Projects Time!! Fall has beautiful brilliant colours and inspiration is everywhere! Be it for crochet, quilting or even painting! Though I do have a current fall crochet project on the go, it has proven very difficult and time consuming.  I started it 2 falls ago and have worked sporadically on it ever since.  Being a combination wool-eater and babette, this blanket I fear will take many more falls to complete.  That being said, my mind is vivid and excited to start new fall projects that can be completed in mere weeks or even days! Going through various online sites (including Google search "fall afghans") I've found a few projects that caught my eye and I may attempt in the next couple months.  Most of the ones I've found so far were from Etsy (searching handmade "fall afghans"), the links are in the captions.

I can no longer find the link for this one, I believe I had found it on Google search.
A quick and easy project for sure!

The seller on Etsy is selling the pattern here

This is one of my favs.  The Etsy seller labeled it "A Dash of Fall and a Splash of Christmas".

Again, the seller is selling the pattern here.

I really like the textured stitch on this one. Found here.

A cute and quick granny square afghan.  Found on Etsy, here.

I absolutely *LOVE* this one! Though it might be difficult without the pattern.  Item found here.
     Now the difficult part will be deciding which one to do :).  For the time being, the weather is too threatening to venture out to the yarn store when I could be comfy and cozy with tea in my mug and soup in my crock pot in my home.  Besides, I really should be working on some of my current dresser projects! :)

Saturday, August 20, 2011

6am sewing adventure

     As of late my health has been questionable which has confined me to my crochet chair or bed, leaving me ample time to get crafty. So this morning when I awoke at 6 am feeling like I was hit by a truck the natural thing for me to do was make some tea and get sewing.  Of course, being that early, Gurr, my affectionate kitty, was wide awake and ready to play.  By 7am we were having an adorable sewing adventure!

     First he was good and just lay on the opposite side of the sewing machine and glared at me through the hole of the machine, then he decided that wasn't getting enough of my attention so he decided to continually flop on what ever fabric made it onto his side!  This was quite challenging as he was far too adorable to move; I know, I'm a cat-loving wuss.
     Luckily he soon decided that wasn't good enough and needed to lay on my lap, and as awkward as it was, I did still manage to get some work done.  

     Not long after that he became super hyper and decided to cause mischief (or at the very least what he considered to be mischief).  He sat on a chair and stared at me, then when I got sewing he started picking scraps off the table and batting them to the floor. Then, grabbing them in his mouth like prey, he quickly ran to another room to play with his seemingly sneaky kill. This was far too adorable. He would then return several minutes later to hunt another scrap.  Before long there were no more scraps to be found on the table.... they were scattered all over the house!  So he came back up onto the chair, laid down and attempted to grab the handles off the bag I was sewing.  Then he rolled around on the chair being all cute like, jumped back up on my lap, ran a couple more laps around the house then, tuckered out climbed back onto the table and contented himself to lazily napping and gazing outside at traffic.

Laying on fabric that is clearly on HIS side of the sewing machine

Playing with scraps

"No mommy, this isn't one of your scraps at my feet!"


     On second thought, having gotten up early and feeling rotten doesn't seem so bad... at least not when you have a sewing partner who's so adorable and makes you smile the whole time :).  For more pics of this morning's sewing adventure, click here.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Peter's Birthday Blanket

     A couple years back when I was living in Ottawa, I asked my brother, Peter, if he'd like me to make him a blanket.  He flipped through my pattern books and picked out one he liked.  I marked it and waited for a time when I had enough money to buy new materials to make it.  Well things always tend to happen and the project fell to the side.

     Several months ago I had remembered the project and had some extra cash to put towards it so I bought the needed materials.  Unfortunately I just didn't have the time to dedicate to it.  So it sat in the corner in a bag waiting for me to find the time to pick it up and make it.  Well on Aug 6th 2011 I said to myself enough is enough and I got to it hoping to have it done by his birthday on the 17th.  So I got started that day and a miraculous thing happened: I finished a project!! Start to finished I touched only that blanket (aside for some occasional bag sewing), I worked tirelessly on it, early in the morning, throughout the afternoon and late at night. I finished the blanket in one week flat! That's right! I finished it on Friday the 12th.  Needless to say here, I'm quite proud of myself.  Even though it's wasn't one of my older dresser projects being finished off or even one that I get to keep and put in my pile, I'm still happy I got a project started and finished. (Not to mention AMAZED that I got it done THAT quickly!)

     The original pattern to this afghan is found in "(Leisure Arts Presents) Vanna's Favorite Crochet Gifts" on page 19 : Ebony & Ivory.  For more pics of the blanket click here. This blanket is now available to order (custom made to order in any desired colours) on my etsy site here.



     So Happy Birthday Peter!  I hope you enjoy the blueberry muffins and your new afghan!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Weekend in Sudbury

     Last weekend a most wonderful thing happened: my good friends Becky and Jake got married!!  Both being from Sudbury, they had a fantastic outdoor backyard ceremony in Sudbury on a beautiful sunny day.  Of course this meant I got the opportunity to travel out of Fort Frances for a bit of a vacation and spend some time with my crafty friend. And despite it being her wedding weekend, she found ample time to get crafty!

     I got to see some of her more recent projects, one of them being a nifty handbag and another some heavy duty slippers, and help out with a new one;  all on the day before her wedding.  One of the great things about spending time with a Becky, or any crafting buddy, is all the new ideas that come up.  Of course with Becky's energy level, and all the projects she's done the ideas are 10 fold!  Needless to say I came back right full of motivation and teeming to the brim with new ideas!


Becky's lap blankets
     One of the neat projects I got to see was a some really cute little lap blankets Becky put together as gifts for family.  She made them by sewing a layer of linen to a layer of fleece.  They turned out quite nice.

Helping Becky out with a new bathing suit
  Becky's project that day was a new bathing suit.  Since she couldn't find the pattern she had previously purchased she decided to just put something together and see how it would turn out.  The great thing about creating this way (without a pattern) is that you almost always stumble upon something new and great!  The resulting design was very cute, though the seems were off and there was no time to fix them, the bathing suit did not get to make it's debut that weekend.  After all, it was the day before her wedding, and as much as crafting is awesome, there were other duties to tend to. :) (For more photos of crafting in Sudbury and a the wedding click here)

Becky's kitchen sewing mess
          So my weekend in Sudbury was really great!  I got to spend time with good friends, make new ones, get crafty and be part of a wonderful and beautiful wedding.  What more could one ask for?

     

Sunday, July 24, 2011

So many projects!!!

     When you love crochet/knitting you want to try out all kinds of patterns.  Unfortunately, if you are like me and get easily distracted, you end up with a couple dressers full of unfinished projects waiting for the day my interest in it is rekindled.  Now I do eventually open up the drawers and pick one to work on but when it comes to the larger projects, like full king or queen sized blankets, it goes in and out of the drawers many times before it gets completed.  I have blankets in those dressers that have been slowly worked on for years!  I'll take it out, work diligently on it for a month, then put it back as my interest wanes and moves on to another project, sometimes it's a new project, sometimes it's another project from the drawers.

     The other day I realized that it's been well over a couple years since I've had a new blanket to put on my bed or fold up on the couch despite the fact I've been crocheting and working on blankets the whole time!  I decided it was time to correct this.  It was time to pick a project and stick to it until finish..... Easier said than done...

These are just a few of my unfinished projects, mostly blankets

Pink hexes, knitted blue squares and green pinwheels
Aran Patchwork: green one and off-white one

Pink baby blankets


Soft ripple afghan and green afghan (started but then taken appart)

      Then there are my 3 large blankets that I work on more than the others:

One piece blue wool-eater

   This is the one I'm currently endeavoring to focus on.  I started it about a year or two ago when I first discovered the wool-eater pattern.  I wanted to make one piece blanket with the pattern which of course would mean it would be square and so decided it would be for a king-sized bed.  Besides, big blankets always seem so much cozier. I'm now at the point where one big skein of yarn doesn't always make it to the end of the round so I need to buy two skeins per round.  This pattern takes up A LOT of yarn (I can only assume that's why it's called the "wool-eater" pattern) but I think it will pay off big time on chilly fall and winter nights when you need nice heavy weight blankets to curl up under to stay warm :D


Solid blue bedspread
     I found this pattern in a really old crochet booklet from a second hand shop.  The original pattern called for just one solid colour and I liked the idea so I went with it.  I had 4 1000g skeins of yarn stored away in 4 different colours: pink, green (aran patchwork see above), off white (aran patchwork see above) and blue.  The plan when I originally bought them (on sale :D) was to have 4 solid colour blankets. Lately I've had to restrain myself from starting on the pink one (I've had patterns in mind for all 4 colours the day I bought them over 5 years ago, just never finished any of them and in the case of the pink, never even started it). I can only restrain myself for so long.... I foresee that pink blanket being started very soon despite friends' and family's encouragement to FINISH A PROJECT!! :)

Fall babette-wooleater
     Now this one is my pride and joy!  I'm quite proud of it, though it's taking FOREVER to complete. I took the wool-eater pattern and "tweaked" it, then used it in a babette style placement. I've been assembling bit-by-bit as I go which is very time consuming.  I'm not following any set out configuration, just putting squares together and seeing how it looks.  Once the blanket is complete I will compile a pattern which will be available to buy, but that is in the very distant future.  I love the oranges, reds and browns, and I think this will one day be a perfect fall blanket.  I'm very excited to get it finished, but I can only handle so much frustration at how long it takes to sew them all together and weave in all the ends :s.

     Oh and let's not forget the partially done Christmas projects.  I suspect these to grow this year as I have several new Christmas projects I want to start and attempt to finish for the Christmas season.

Christmas afghan and Christmas stocking
     Now of course I still have several other projects, but that's enough photographing for today; I need to do some actual crochet too :).