WIP Wednesday – Grannies and the Dirty Little Secret
Grannies…
I have been going granny square crazy since last week. I got inspired when working on my post for I Love Yarn Day to go through my scrap stash and get started on some charity projects. And, I’ve been eyeing the amazing work of three of my favorite bloggers…
- Keri at Yarn Dharma – Crochet is My Sanity, who recently completed an amazing blanket for a friend using many of her block a day crochet squares,
- Adaiha at things to make and do, who frequently posts pictures of her crochet squares as part of her granny-a-day project, and
- Leslie at CrochetBug, whose version of the Granny Squares Sampler Afghan by Jackie H. Curry inspired me to find a copy of Better Homes and Gardens Crocheting and Knitting
on Paperbackswap.com,
…so I decided to work with some grannies. They are so portable and fun! I decided to use join-as-you-go for each row, and I wanted each row to have squares of the same size, so I had to make some adjustments to each pattern as I went along.
Here are the pictures of my first row of blocks. I should say here that I took these after work on my commute, trying to find a relatively clean surface in New York City (hah!) and ended up holding my phone (camera) so high above to take pictures that I couldn’t actually see what I was doing. Hence some un-photo-styled flowers 
.
Block 1: Square 42 by Maria Nagy from Cafe Au Lait Beaded Poncho from 101 Granny Squares
Block 2: Jeannine Square by Margaret Hubert from The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet
Block 3: #48 by Tammy Kreimeyer from 99 Granny Squares to Crochet
Block 4 – 6: From the Sampler Pillows in 101 Granny Squares. African Violet by Betty Jones, Impatiens & Emeralds by Diana Sippel, and Yellow Petals by Roberta Maier.
I did another row with 4 larger squares using a variation of the Star motif from the Granny Squares Sampler Afghan in Better Homes and Gardens Crocheting and Knitting, but I don’t have pictures to share today.
Since the motifs I’ve picked aren’t particularly infant friendly (there are overlay stitches, for example), I will need to make this project large enough for an older child. This is definitely one of those projects that I will pick up for a week at a time over the course of a year or so, and then will have it ready when I next package up my crafty donations to mail out.
…and a dirty little secret
If you’ve been buying luxury yarns, or yarns from independent dyers, you have probably found that the yarn is in hanks and hasn’t been wound. This creates quite a conundrum, because you may buy yarn but it isn’t immediately available for use. How many of us have stacks of yarn hanks that we haven’t yet wound? This is the dirty little secret of yarn lovers, I think.
One of my other works in progress this week is to wind up all the hanks I’ve accumulated in the last few months that have been waiting patiently to be used. This includes yarn I picked up at the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival, at the NYC Yarn Crawl, the lovely skein of yarn I won, and all of the yarn for my design to be published in Cooperative Press‘s Fresh Designs Crochet (Kids). No pictures, but all of this winding is almost more of an undertaking than actually making something!
For more WIP Wednesday posts, check out Tami’s Amis.
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Your granny squares are lovely. My favorite is the one with the pink flower:)
Thanks Karen! I had the most fun making that one, since it is so simple!
Your squares look great!
I’m with you… I love winding my yarn every couple months or so… looks so pretty on my shelf!
Thanks, Stacey. I thought it would get easier with my own swift and winder, but I still have to clear off a spot and wind early so the electric winder sound doesn’t drive MC batty.
I love those squares. Number 4 is my mom’s favorite.
Thanks, Vanessa! The African Violets are so much fun to make, and they are pretty cute. I was just experimenting with the other ones and have yet to commit to a favorite.
I have been winding 1 hank of ribbon since Saturday! It is so tangled up and knotted that by the time I’m done I won’t even want to use it. (maybe next year) I can appreciate the idea of winding a bunch at once, before you want/plan to use it.
Hahaha, Gwendolyn! I don’t mean to laugh at you, but at the situation! I have grown to hate some yarns just from winding them, and then have to put them away until I can like them again!
Thanks for the link love AND the complement on the blanket! It was truly a labor of love for my dear friend.
You also mentioned two of my very favorite granny square makers and inspirations!
Your squares are great! I cannot wait to see the finished product! Your colors are bright and beautiful and the squares are terrific. I have to dig my books and yarn out and get back to work! (as soon as I get this second sweater finished…
) There is NEVER enough time to finish all of the crochet I want to do!
It’s so true, Keri! If I crocheted 18 hours a day, there would still be projects left that I didn’t have time for! Thanks for being such an inspiration!
Thank you for visiting today
))) I love your squares specially the 4th one with the pink flower! delicious!
Have a wonderful eve!
Angie
Welcome to my blog, Angie/Sucrette! That is a great compliment, coming from a motif queen such as yourself, so thank you!
Wow! What fab squares!! I really want to get my granny square blanket done but I have fallen out with the colours and am feeling the urge to start all over again.
Thanks Nic! Falling out of love with colors is a real bummer. Starting over is a possibility, or maybe you can add some other colors that are more to your liking?
OMG, I love those granny squares!!!!
I also love the idea of winding skeins/hanks as a WIP. I could probably stand to do that, myself.
It is a major undertaking, isn’t it, Contessa? Thanks for your compliments on my grannies!
I adore the variety of grannies you created!!! (I’m such a novice crocheter–I’m lucky to just get some “wheels” going!) Colors are wonderful, too!!!
I know what you mean about being in for the long haul! But, before you know it–ta-dah!!
Welcome Steph! Thanks for your compliments! You will get there eventually in terms of your crochet skills – just keep practicing
.
Ooh so many grannies in so many different patterns! Very cool
Thanks sillylittlelady! I figure this is as good a way as any to make a granny sampler.
i’m loving your squares. Wish I had the skills to make them and cant wait to see them all sewn together! x
Welcome Rachael, and thanks for the kind words!
Those are lovely squares, and well done for making them all the same size! I love crafting for charity, I’m actually running a warkshop at uni in a few weeks for people to make preemie baby clothes and squares to make into blankets for the homeless
What a great idea, Emma! It is hard to find organizations in my area that accept handmade donations for adults, so I mostly make charity projects for kids and pets.
Love all your grannies! Lots of cool details.
Thanks, Heather!
I’ve always been too embarassed to take pictures on the train! Plus my phone does that camera clicky noise that cant be turned off.
Lovely colour choices, I recently made a yellow and pink shawl, they’re such happy colours together!
Thanks, Tanya. I think my fellow commuters must think I’m insane when I’m taking camera (phone) pictures, but that’s ok – it’s New York City and there are a lot of wacky people on the subway.
Very pretty granny squares. I like to sit and hand wind my yarn.
Thanks, Denise. I find yarn winding a bit of a chore, but worth it in the long run.
The granny squares are gorgeous! I love the ones you’ve chosen. I’ve had to wind three hanks into balls this week, two of them were 400yrds of fingering, which took about an hour each! It’s just as well I had a plan ready for it or I’d have been tempted to put it off!
Yikes, Liz! You sound like you are in a worse winding situation than me, lol.
I love the granny-a-day idea ….even I might be able to manage that
I have definitely been inspired by the bloggers who do granny-a-day projects, too, Vivianne.
Lovely!!
Thanks, Ana!