Tag: granny square

Knit and Crochet Away!, Special Events, Sunflowers!

Update on Sunflower Blanket and Picking Knitting a Hat Back Up

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Sunflower Granny Square Blanket

Update on the post 48 Granny Squares Now Connected – I now have 84 sunflower granny squares joined together vertically! I am plugging along 🙂

So 7 out of the 11 rows of 12 granny square each, are done and just 4 more rows (48 granny squares) to go.

Then I am of course going to single crochet them together horizontally and add a single crochet border all the way around to anchor everything. After that I will decide if I want to make a fancy border, etc.

Revisiting a Hat I Started Last Winter

I made 137 sunflower granny squares while riding in cars, planes, trains and sitting at events beginning May 2024. Now that the making of the individual sunflower granny squares is done (and the blanket is finally being assembled) I needed another portable project.

So I pulled out at hat project that I last posted about in December 2024 – The Purple/Violet has Returned!

I used a variegated ball of yarn I found thrifting with little idea of what the different colors would be since it was already rolled into a ball and I could only see a little of the color changes!

It was my leap of faith hat!

So on Friday John’s son Z was visiting and we took him to the Denver Film Festival and saw the premiere of the film Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, starring Danile Craig, I brought my hat and worked on it in the car on the way to the event and at the event before the film showing began (we arrived early to get good seats and had a bit of a wait before the movie started).

Here’s some additional images from the festival including the lovely Chihuly chandelier that hangs in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House where the film was premiering.

The film was really fun and I recommend it when it premieres on Netflix in December.

A Crafter's Life, Knit and Crochet Away!

48 Granny Squares Now Connected

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I was so inspired by your awesome comments on my post 137 Sunflower Granny Squares Completed that I decided to make a big push yesterday to start getting the blanket assembled from a year’s+ of granny squares made while on the road (as a passenger of course, it’s difficult to crochet while driving, ha!).

“Fantastic! A truly graphic representation of the miles spent on the road”

“All those little squares of sunshine!”

“It will be so beautiful to sleep in a field of flowers!”

“Miles of travel and happy memories, a field of flowers to keep you warm.”

“A certain amount of serendipity seems to fit in with the carefree sunflower theme.”

I searched YouTube for the best method to put them together and decided to go with single crochet. I looked at a bunch of videos and went with this simple one:

So here are 48 of the blocks joined into 4 rows and laid upon the “Design Carpet”.

I have 137 as I mentioned in the previous post on this project, and I am thinking instead of using 120 for a 10 by 12 block layout, I should use 132 for a 11 by 12 block layout.

In case you are curious of what my plan is, first I am crocheting vertical rows and once all those are together, then I was connect the horizontal rows with single crochet. So it will be a bit unwieldy until that part but it will make less ends to weave in.

It was actually very relaxing once I got my rhythm to join the granny squares together. While joining them I fell into some sort of strange YouTube rabbit hole and ended up binge watching Barry Manilow performance videos.

Okay so I shared a little about this back in 2016 in this post Shameless “Thrifting” (wow I have been blogging so long) but when I was 12 or so I was OBSESSED with Barry Manilow.

While other kids of my demographic were obsessed with the Jackson 5/Michael Jackson, I was totally in love with Barry Manilow. I remember having a giant poster of him in my room (not sure where I got it) and my father walking into my room and being appalled (my parents were more traditional R&B and Jazz music people).

So I remember when I was around 12, Barry Manilow had his first TV special. It was like 1977 and there were no VCR, TiVo, etc. recording options and most things were not replayed from live telecasts. My parents made my sister (my brother wasn’t born yet) and I go to a party with them on the night on the Barry Manilow Special.

I had a complete meltdown and thought my world was ending because I had to miss the Barry Manilow Special. My parents were not understanding and I was made to go to the party.

Not me but image from web

(Note this is not me but image from web)

While working on the blanket last evening and falling into the “Barry Manilow Rabbit Hole”, I did search YouTube for any videos/clips from that special I missed back in 1977 (which Barry Manilow ended up winning at Grammy for so it must have been good!) and I found a couple but could not find the full special. That would have been fun to sit back all these years later and finally watch it.

My musical tastes have changed quite a bit over the years but whenever I hear Barry Manilow I get nostalgic for that innocence of a 12 year old girl who thought his songs were all that love and relationships were about.

Well I am sure that is more about me than you wanted to know but occasionally we overshare while blogging, ha!

Knit and Crochet Away!, Sunflowers!

137 Sunflower Granny Squares Completed

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here’s an update on this post from September 2025 What’s on the “Design Carpet”: Update on Sunflower Granny Square Blanket.

After lots of time on the road during various roadtrips in 2025 I’ve exhausted my supply of “center flower” yarn for the Sunflower themed Granny Square blanket I’ve been crocheting while riding in the car.

So it is time to make it into a blanket!

There are a total of 137 granny squares!

This might seem tedious but I counted and photographed how many of each different mix of yarns squares (21 different versions of the square*) of the 137 squares I made (the count of each type in lower right hand corner):

I’m not using all 137 squares in the blanket. I figure I will make a 10 square by 12 square blanket and use 120 squares and save the rest (17) for a couple small projects like a pillow or something like that.

I decided not to use the “design carpet” to lay out the sunflower granny squares. Instead I separated them into VERY ARBITRARY “light” and “dark” piles, trying to make the piles as even as possible:

So I’ll post my progress as I crochet together alternating “light” and “dark” squares to make the blanket!

*(Why so many different versions for the granny squares? Well I was using up miscellaneous yarn I had thrifted over the years)

Knit and Crochet Away!, Sunflowers!

What’s on the “Design Carpet”: Progress on Sunflower GS Blanket

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here’s a follow up on my post from August 2024 Update on Sunflower Granny Square Blanket and Cool Community Garden.

It might seem like progress is slow but I now have 39 completed blocks on the sunflower themed granny square blanket I work on whenever I am in the car, traveling on a plane or train, or just hanging out somewhere.

Here’s what August 2024 looked like:

And here we are in January 2025:

39 blocks done! I would have more done but there are 4 time consuming rows to each block (which I work on in batches “production style”).

I have a stash of 23 more blocks completed through row 3 to finish up that will bring me to 62 blocks:

Then I will decide when I have 62 blocks done just how big I want to make the blanket.

For now I’ll keep taking my zipper bag with my blocks in progress and yarn around with me!

Knit and Crochet Away!, Sunflowers!

Update on Sunflower Granny Square Blanket and Cool Community Garden

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post is an update on the June 27th post Update on Sunflower Granny Squares and an Agriculture Report, and I wanted to share a cool community garden I stumbled across.

Sunflower Granny Square Blanket Progress

I’ve completed 21 blocks for the sunflower themed crochet blanket I am working on. Here they are on the “design carpet”.

Here is a close up of one of the blocks:

I am using 6 different yarns: a variegated brown for the center of each flower; 3 different yarns for the petals in oranges and yellows; a green for the “partially opened flowers”; and an oatmeal for the background.

It’s been fun coming up with different color combinations (but making sure they still sort of resemble sunflowers) as I work on it. I might add a 4th petal yarn if I find another one in my stash that works.

I think I will make 100 granny squares and I’ve already started 20 more centers to make my next round of 20 or so.

Cool Community Garden

I was killing time before my dentist appointment last week and went for a little walk in the area near the dentist office, and discovered a cool community garden at an apartment complex.

I am not sure how it works and how the apartment community residents split up the harvest but here are some photos from my walk around of the garden (and I was smiling the whole time).

Agriculture Report, Knit and Crochet Away!, Sunflowers!

Update on Sunflower Granny Squares and an Agriculture Report

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here is an update to the post Another Hat, Sunflower GS, “Agriculture Report”, and some Pickles.

I’ve made some progress on the sunflower inspired granny square blocks (which someday will be a blanket) that I’ve been working on, primarily while riding in the car as a passenger.

Here is what my first one looked like that I shared in the post I linked:

I decided to add some green to represent newly opening sunflowers and with the rust, yellow and green yarn in play here is how the blocks are progressing:

A couple close up of the various blocks in progress:

I am making the centers to the first 20 – 21 blocks and then I will be adding the oatmeal colored border yarn to complete the granny square blocks. I’ll share an update when I get the first 20 – 21 done.

I also thought I would share an “Agriculture Report” (inspired by  @quiteayarnblog‘s ongoing series of posts titled “Agriculture Report”) and the tomatoes on my upper deck keep getting taller and taller and will end up taller plants than previous years by the time they fruit:

We were also able to harvest ONE strawberry so far (we shared it and savored each bite) from the first strawberry plant I am growing in Colorado:

Also the FREE seeds I planted courtesy of the local library (see post Explored a new library, tried a new group) are doing really well in the new raised bed John built from leftovers from our rebuild of the back deck (see posts John gets “ScrapHappy” too – new raised bed and Guest Blogger Post: Managing Humans Demolishing and Rebuilding a Deck):

We put netting on the raised bed to try to prevent the naughty squirrels and other critters feasting on our growing vegetables.

Okay now I need to start catching up on my blogging buddies’ posts, I’ve fallen behind again as it’s been a busy summer so far 🙂

A Crafter Needs to Eat, Knit and Crochet Away!, Sunflowers!

Another Hat, Sunflower GS, “Agriculture Report”, and some Pickles

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

ANOTHER HAT

So I finished knitting another hat (same pattern as I always make), even though I can’t wear it until it gets cold again.

Yummy purple and blue variegated yarn from who knows where…

I need to be distracted when I am a passenger in the front seat a car (or I get anxious) so I always have some handwork with me:

Riding in the car is better with a project!

If you’ve followed my blog for a while and seen the endless hats I’ve made in this same “Rolled Hat” pattern, then you know I had to take my photo with the double pointed needles in the hat as it nears completion (it’s tradition!) – ha!

Where is Tierney?

SUNFLOWER GS

I’ve been working through random balls of yarn I find in my stash, some of them left over from making other people gift hats.

With the hat complete and the weather getting warmer (into the 70s F and next week into the 80s F) I wasn’t in the mood to start knitting another hat. I have some crochet granny squares to work on using recycled yarn (see post Plastic Yarn?) but wasn’t in the mood for that standard pattern after already making 3 granny square blankets with it.

So I decided to challenge myself and learn a new granny square pattern – Sunburst Square. Here is the YouTub video I used to teach myself:

The YouTuber does a great job teaching you how to make this granny square

Here is my first Sunburst Square in progress:

In the center photo I am in the car as a passenger working on it!

I love Sunflowers and I just had to make my flowers look like Sunflowers! I will share more progress as I work on them while in the car. We have a couple road trips to explore Colorado coming up this summer so I hope to make lots of blocks then!

“AGRICULTURE REPORT”

What is an “Agriculture Report”? Well I was inspired by  @quiteayarnblog‘s ongoing series of posts titled “Agriculture Report” (and this title always cracks me up) that are actually updates of what is going on in her garden. I just had to adopt this same title for updates on what is going on in my garden/my “garden report“…

With the new upstairs patio deck nearly complete (see post Guest Blogger Post: Managing Humans Demolishing and Rebuilding a Deck) it was time to restart my upstairs patio container garden.

It’s pretty much the same as last year – several varieties of tomatoes, hot peppers, herbs and some marigolds to help with pest management.

Oh look I caught the Sunflower block trying to sneak into the container garden…

Those squares are so sneaky…

PICKLES

I’ll just close this post with a pretty giant jar of spicy pickles that John recently made which is sitting on our kitchen counter.

Guest Blogger, Knit and Crochet Away!, Miniature Schnauzer Adventures

Guest Blogger Post: Finally the Latest Granny Square Blanket is Done!

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hello everyone, this is Mike the Miniature Schnauzer guest posting on the tierneycreates blog. This is a follow up to my post from February 2024 – Guest Blogger Post: The Granny Square Blanket SHOULD Be Done…

I do a great job typing without opposable thumbs…

FINALLY in April 2024, Tierney has finish the blanket and has put it on the upstairs guest bed as the warmer weather season covering (though she appears to be confused as it is not officially “warmer weather”, we are just getting warm days here and there):

I know, I know, you were hoping to see me stretched out on this bed relaxing like you did in other posts, however I am boycotting this blanket as I wanted it to only be for ME as she led me to believe while she was making it!

Happier times when the blanket was in a configuration that worked for ME…

Oh Tierney has come in the room and bugged me while I am writing…

Don’t bug me while I am writing! A lot of concentration is required when you don’t have opposable thumbs!

Oh, Tierney stopped by to ask me to tell you she got a cute new radio while thrifting last year during her trip to Florida with her sister (see the post Sisters’ Trip to Englewood, Florida) that she placed next to the bed in this room:

She says it is a “Tivoli Radio” and she got it for only $5 when normally it would retail for over $100 and it has a wonderful sound. This means nothing to me as a dog, but I am passing this along at her request (why doesn’t she just write her own darn posts if she wants to share something??!?).

Okay I have to go find somewhere to nap now after all this typing and I can’t just go lay down on the bed behind me as I am boycotting it…

(Oh and I am not going to even address that weird post Tierney had yesterday – Imagining Mike Playing Sports  – I am going to learn how to use that app and write a guest blog post with images of Tierney playing sports!)

Guest Blogger, Knit and Crochet Away!, Miniature Schnauzer Adventures

Guest Blogger Post: The Granny Square Blanket SHOULD Be Done…

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is Mike, the Miniature Schnauzer that lives with Tierney and John. If you are new to this blog I guest blog post time to time. I want to update you on the gray granny square blanket (MY BLANKET) that Tierney has been working on as I am a little annoyed.

(Here I am working on the blog post)

(And here I am slightly irritated that Tierney is disturbing me while I write)

Tierney should have finished by now the gray granny square blanket by now – she has joined all the 80 granny squares together by whatever strange human magic she uses to join them.

But now she’s decided she wants to make the blanket large enough to be a summer bedspread in the upstairs guest room so she is doing something called “adding a large border” while requires her to use that weird needle (she calls it a “crochet needle”) and go around and around on my blanket so it will get bigger.

Here is the blanket after she put all those squares together and started doing some weird bordering of the blanket.

The good thing is while she’s been doing her bordering, I’ve been able to get some naps under the blanket even if she occasionally disturbs me when she spins the blanket while bordering.

Yes, I am a “Napping Professional”.

I want her to stop this silliness and just set the blanket down somewhere that I can just private enjoy it.

Just wanted to update you all on my struggle,

Mike

Guest Blogger, Knit and Crochet Away!, Miniature Schnauzer Adventures

Guest Blog Post: Progress on “My Blanket”

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is Mike, the Miniature Schnauzer that lives with Tierney and John. If you are new to this blog I guest blog post time to time.

Tierney has been doing something weird the past month or so and only posting to this blog once a week. I am trying to work with her to increase her frequency. She went from torturing you all to daily posts in the month of October, this blog’s 10th anniversary, to BOOM once a week posts.

So I had to step in and blog about the progress on “my blanket”.

My writing station at “my blanket” in progress

Tierney previous posted her progress on this blanket these post Update on Various Projects and 2023 Recap: A Year in “Makes” and WIPs Going Forward, but she has made quite a bit of progress since these posts – she now has 5 rows of 8 granny squares joined:

Look at all the progress I’ve encouraged her to make!

In case you are wondering why I refer to it as “my blanket” – isn’t it obvious she is making it for me when it coordinates with my fur so wonderfully?

Try not to become overwhelmed with my cuteness

She has 5 more rows of 8 blocks to join to it to make it an 8 by 10, 80 block blanket. But at this point it is sufficient enough for me to snuggle under. For some reason she wants to keep working on it.

I’ve caught her cuddling under it while working on it and she even wrangled it into the car when John is driving to work on.

Here she is working on it while in the back seat when we had a holiday visitor; and I am trying to snuggle in it too:

It should be covering me but she said that won’t work while she is crocheting

Well hopefully it will be done soon.

That’s the end of my guest post and I am going to return to guarding the house from my sunny guard post on the upstairs guest bed surrounded by my natural habitats: blankets (fleece!) and quilts.

Fabric Scraps Obsession, Knit and Crochet Away!, Miniature Schnauzer Adventures, Quiltfolk Issue 28, What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the Design Wall, Design Carpet, and the wall…

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve been taking a break from blogging after my push to do a daily blog post for the 31 days of October, my 10th anniversary month of blogging. Additionally recently I had a wonderful visit with out of town family that of course kept me from sitting down and blogging.

Here are some updates on my current adventures in creativity.

THE DESIGN WALL

Here is a follow up to the post ScrapHappy October 2023 – Recycled Jeans and Home Decor Fabric Scraps.

I now have 66 blocks completed and 15 more to go to make 81 blocks for a 9 by 9 layout:

This is not even close to the final layout, just blocks put up on the design wall to track my progress. I have a lot of cleaning to do on my sewing machine after all that lint from sewing denim and home decor fabrics!

THE DESIGN CARPET

This is a follow up to the post What’s on the “Design Carpet”.

I’ve completed the 80 crocheted granny square blocks for the next granny square blanket I am making. I am doing a 8 by 10 layout of the blocks and will set them in dark gray yarn as the lattice.

Mike the Miniature Schnauzer couldn’t wait to lay on the laid out blocks as soon as I moved away from them!

This also is not the final layout, just a general layout to show all the blocks (and a Miniature Schnauzer, ha!).

THE WALL

This is a follow up to the posts Quiltfolk Issue #28 Colorado Released (and I am in it!), Magazine in Hand, and Magazine in Hand, Addendum…. One of the other quilters featured in Issue 28: Colorado of Quiltfolk Magazine, reached out to me and shared pages from an extra copy of the magazine she had purchased in order to take it apart and put the pages featuring her in her portfolio.

I used the pages she sent me to make a display in my studio of the article I am in using these cool 11 inch by 17 inch frames I found. John did a great job helping me hang them.

I’ll close this post with a cute meme my sister sent me the other day as we all struggle with Daylight Savings Time (setting the clocks back 1 hour in the Fall and 1 hour forward in the Spring); that is US states that agree to play along with it (Hawaii and Arizona do not participate).

Knit and Crochet Away!, What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the “Design Carpet”

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am continuing on my challenge to post to my blog every day in celebration of October 2023 being my 10th anniversary of blogging month. And if you all can’t keep up no worries, this is WAY too much posting – ha! I think once October is over I will go to a once a week posting schedule (or perhaps a little more frequent than that…we’ll see…).

For today’s post, here is an update on this post from July 2023 – What’s On the “Design Carpet” – Road Trip Granny Squares.

I continue to crochet granny squares for a distraction while traveling as a passenger in a car or while traveling in general. I am currently working on an 80 square blanket (8 by 10) and I’ve progressed from this in July 2023:

To this (only 7 more granny squares to complete to make 80):

I don’t have them in their final order before they are joined together, I just semi randomly put them together for this update photo.

I store them in this bucket bag I made a couple years ago, as I complete them:

I have mixed feelings of getting near the end as it will be 1) time to work on joining them (a sort of pain in the booty) and 2) I’ll have to start work on a new one (and I am sort of attached to this one, ha) when I am a passenger in a car/traveling.

Luckily I have a couple blocks of this one already started (see post Plastic Yarn?) so this will be my next “road trip blanket” to work on!

Knit and Crochet Away!

What’s On the “Design Carpet” – Road Trip Granny Squares

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I hate being behind on reading my blogging buddies posts, so I wasn’t going to post again until I caught up. I haven’t caught up yet but I am only like 3 – 4 days behind now so I am allowing myself to do this quick post!

As I mentioned in the February 6, 2023 post  What’s On the “Design Carpet”, I am a nervous front seat passenger in a car. My best bet is to do something to distract me while I am a front seat passenger (especially when my partner John is driving, ha!). So I’ve been taking a granny square crochet project on the road whenever I am a passenger and I’ve made a bit of progress.

Instead of the “Design Wall” in my studio, I thought I’d show you my progress on the “Design Carpet” in my living room – ha!

Here is what the granny squares looked like in the beginning of the project:

I decided to add to more rows in a different color gray to float the centers:

And now 5 month later, I have 50 granny squares completed:

You might notice one very dark gray bordered granny square in the image above:

Well I have 30 more granny squares to complete and I plan to make a lot of them with that darker gray yarn (Currently I plan to make an 8 by 10 granny square blanket, so I need 80 blocks to complete it).

If you haven’t guessed it, I’ve been using up my collection of random gray acrylic and acrylic/wool blend yarn, including two different variegated grays/blacks yarns from my stash. So it will be another “scrappy” granny square blanket like these two I made previously:

I seem to have a thing about gray yarn as I notice there is a lot of gray in that blanket above!

I’d love to someday make a super “scrappy” granny square afghan like the one I came across in the blog post Scrappy July by View From Our Hill. She has like 16 different yarns in each granny square block – check out the link!

Knit and Crochet Away!, What's on the Design Wall

What’s On the “Design Carpet”

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am a nervous front seat passenger in a car. My best bet is to do something to distract me while I am a front seat passenger (especially when my partner John is driving, ha!)

So I started carrying around either a little knitting to work on in the car or a crochet project (usually granny squares) in this bag:

Last year, after I finished making the granny squares for the granny square blanket I share my finish of this in this – First Finish of 2023 – Granny Square Crochet Blanket Done, I began a new set of granny squares for a future blanket to have something to work on in the car. Here is what I have completed so far, laid out on the “design carpet”:

I am using black and gray acrylic yarn I got from the thrift store, including a variegated yarn of grays and black. So far I have 34 done and I think I will eventually make 100 granny squares to someday join into a blanket.

I am working very casually on this project (only when a passenger in the car with John and only if I am not working on knitting a hat) so who knows when it will be done!

Knit and Crochet Away!

Update on Autumn Colors Granny Square Afghan

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I was going to write a post about my 2022 travel next (my excuse for the lack of completed projects in 2022 as I discovered when I wrote my previous post 2022 in Review: Crafting Projects Completed) but I decided to write about a project I am working on completing – a granny square afghan in Autumn colors.

Previous posts on this blanket are:

Update on Latest Granny Square Blanket

Update on the Latest Granny Square Blanket

What’s on the “Design Carpet”: Update on Granny Square Blanket

Granny Squaring Again!

Those are a lot of posts for a blanket that is still not completed. Luckily some of the previous posts included cute photos of Mike the Miniature Schnauzer with the blanket in progress to distract you – ha!

Searched through those posts to see when I started working on it – and the answer is January 2022 (whew it is barely a year old, ha!)

Part of my New Years Resolutions are to complete the projects I have uncompleted. I want 2023 to be a “Year of Completions”. So a couple of days ago I pulled out this dusty project and made a lot of progress (seven out of ten rows now done!!!):

I was laughing to myself as my original plan was to have this afghan completed by Autumn since it has Autumnal colors but then I realize the colors are all season as far as my house as they coordinate with my living room decor:

I have 7 rows completed and 3 more rows to go and then the border.

In previous posts about this blanket I discussed putting several rows of borders on using several of the colors in the individual granny squares.

I thought more about that and I think that will be too busy. I am just going to border it with one row of the brown I am using to attach the granny squares together.

Plan = focus on completing this project, work on it every evening while watching TV and get it done!

Knit and Crochet Away!

Update on Latest Granny Square Blanket

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I was hoping to be further along, but at least I am progressing a little with crocheting together the 100 granny squares I made for my second granny square blanket.

Last time I updated you on my progress was on April 12, 2022 in the post Update on the Latest Granny Square Blanket, where Mike the Miniature Schnauzer was wearing one of the granny squares on his head:

Well now he can actually nap under the blanket as I’ve finished 4 of the 10 rows (and two additional squares – I am now 42% of the way done):

Here is the basket I use to house the rest of the squares for the remaining rows awaiting to be added; and the blanket in progress:

Here is my living room crafting area, where slowly I work on putting the blanket together (it is also where I am writing this blog post right now) while watching TV in the evening:

And to close this post, here is Mike napping under the partially completed blanket:

Knit and Crochet Away!

What’s on the “Design Carpet”: Update on Granny Square Blanket

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here is an update on the second granny square blanket I am working on (the first post on it was in January – Granny Squaring Again!).

The weather has been weird in the Denver Metro area. We get teased with Spring with 60 degree Celsius days, and then the next day it is 20 degrees Celsius and a blizzard! I’ve been spending some of those blizzard days staying warm with a cup of tea and crocheting granny squares for my second granny square blanket.

Notice artificial sunflower in the background reminding me warm weather will return someday
Stack of granny square blocks on the blocking board John made me

I completed 63 granny square squares so it was time to lay out what I’ve made so far on the “Design Carpet” so I could decide how many more I need to make for a decent sized blanket:

Getting ready to lay out on the “Design Carpet”…
On the “Design Carpet”

I decided to make the blanket 10 x 10, which is a 100 blocks, so I needed 37 more blocks.

I also realized I need some additional combinations to keep the blanket visually interesting. It is made from thrifted acrylic yarn (I paid one dollar or less for each skein) and I worked with what I had so it is very “scrappy”.

Here are the combinations I have so far:

Since taking these photos, I’ve started working on new combinations and here are some of the centers I’ve made:

Making centers (lower middle of image) for 37 additional blocks..

I still haven’t decided what color I am going to set the blocks in (like a sashing crocheted between them) but I am still leaning towards brown. I made sure not to make the outer color of any blocks brown so they will not blend into the setting yarn color and look smaller than the other blocks.

I just love working on these little crochet squares and it is mindless perfect crafting for in front of the TV in the evening or even sitting around visiting with friends.

Knit and Crochet Away!

Attack of the Giant Granny Square Blanket

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

It’s done!

Well sort of – I still have to weave in the ends from joining the squares.

“Tierney, what are you talking about?”

Well I am following up on the guest blogger post from earlier this month by my impatient miniature schnauzer Mike: The Inpatient Schnauzer: Update on the Granny Square Afghan (Guest Blogger).

Mike looking impatient

Yes, of course my miniature schnauzer knows how to write blog posts, why are you asking?

Well Mike no longer has to be impatient as I’ve finished my first granny square blanket. I used the word “finished” loosely as I have many yarn strands hanging about it waiting to be woven in.

I wove in the ends as I finished each block but I got lazy when I was joining the 90 blocks into ten (10) rows of nine (9) blocks.

It measures approximately 70 inches by 74 inches (178 cm x 188 cm) and it is much bigger than I thought it would be.

Here is Mike stretched out on it as I tried to photograph it for this post:

Here it is once I removed the miniature schnauzer from it:

After joining the blocks with a dark grey yarn, I added a single border around the whole piece.

I am pretty pleased with myself now that I’ve taught myself via YouTube videos how to crochet granny square blocks and to join them into a blanket. Here are all the posts if you really need something to fill your day (smile, wink) of my first granny square blanket journey. Some of these posts include links to the YouTube videos I used to learn.

Making My Own Granny Square Afghan

Granny Square Madness 

Update on the “Granny Square Madness” 

The Inpatient Schnauzer: Update on the Granny Square Afghan (Guest Blogger) 

Now that I’ve finished the blanket (except for the weeks and weeks of weaving in ends..ha..ahead of me), it is time to finish up hand sewing my quilt Seattle Scrappy (see most recent post on this scrappy quilt – An Update on “Seattle Scrappy” – Haphazard Stitching… ).

Seattle Scrappy waiting to be finished…

I notice a pattern – I seem to be really into grey lately (or is it “gray” I can never decided which one to use).

I want to start my next granny square blanket (I’ve been watching more granny square YouTube videos) but I should not start a new project when there are old ones awaiting some love!

Postscript

How about that pandemic thing going around. Oh yes it still sucks and I have complete “pandemic fatigue” at this point (I know you are thinking: “join the club”).

A couple of my friends were recently diagnosed with COVID (I was not exposed) and have been on quarantine for a couple weeks. I did drop someone homemade chocolate chip cookies on their porch. They are doing okay and their worse symptom was not being able to smell.

Chocolate Chip cookies have special healing properties

But I will keep on crafting my way through and I might have some news in the next couple of weeks.

Oh and Mike the miniature schnauzer has been concerned that since he’s been a guest blogger on this blog a couple times (The Inpatient Schnauzer: Update on the Granny Square Afghan (Guest Blogger) and Guest Blog Post: A Whole Lot of Remodeling Going On) he might be recognized by his growing fan base, so he’s asked to start wearing sunglasses when he goes out to keep a low profile:

Trying to avoid paparazzi…
Guest Blogger, Knit and Crochet Away!, Miniature Schnauzer Adventures

The Inpatient Schnauzer: Update on the Granny Square Afghan (Guest Blogger)

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

My Human is Too Slow!

This is Mike the Miniature Schnauzer who lives with Tierney of tierneycreates. I am guest blogging on this post as you may have noticed Tierney has not blogged in a while and someone has to keep you updated…at least on my frustration.

If you saw this post like 3 weeks ago (maybe less, Schnauzers are not great with their perception of time) Update on the “Granny Square Madness”, she has been working on (like forever…or “fur-ever” as we say in canine) on a granny square afghan after teaching herself to make one via videos on YouTube.

Well I’ve been waiting a long time for it to be finished and I am getting very impatient!

(First I need to tell you that afghans and other cozy blankets are the “natural habitat” of Miniature Schnauzers)

I first fell in love with the afghan when it was just a couple of square she had made:

2020-09-04_12-50-53_047

Then she made more squares and my love of this afghan kept growing and I would sneak in to lay on them whenever I could:

2020-10-12_14-08-10_919

A Partial Afghan Will Do…I Guess…

Now that she finished 90 granny square blocks, she is SLOWLY (at least in the Schnauzer-Time-Space-Continuum perception) putting the afghan together.

And I cannot wait.

I’ve begun nesting in it, while it is in assembly, any time she steps away from it:

2020-10-29_21-24-52_2502020-11-01_16-59-22_192

I’ve even begun nesting in it while she is working on attaching the blocks together (note the crochet hook on the lower left):

2020-10-29_23-08-30_131

She’s tried to appease me by wrapping me in it, but I am not fooled:

2020-11-02_11-56-55_620

Do I look “appeased”?!?!? Nope. I want a finished afghan.

Unfortunately she only has 3 rows together and has 7 more rows to add:

2020-11-02_11-57-42_123

Unacceptable.

She has a system on the guest room bed where she has stacked the individual blocks for each granny square row (so I won’t topple over the rows and mess up her order like I was doing when they were laid out on the living room floor):

2020-11-02_09-45-17_480

She says she is working on it as fast as she can but has this full-time job thing going on and other life activities (poor excuses).

Absolutely Not Appeased

I know I mentioned somewhere in this post that a partial afghan might do but on further thought it does not. I want to nap in the full completed thing!

Here are some photos of me “not appeased” to close out this post: 

2020-11-02_11-56-32_0322020-11-02_11-56-35_0162020-11-02_11-56-36_875

Now get to work Human!

Knit and Crochet Away!

Update on the “Granny Square Madness”

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I thought I would share an update to this post from a couple weeks ago Granny Square Madness, and let you where I am on making my first granny square afghan.

At the previous update I was here in my progress – 46 blocks completed:

And here is where I am as of today – 63 blocks done:

Since I am making the afghan 9 x 10 (90 blocks), I have 27 more to go!

After laying out the completed blocks, I checked my remaining blocks in various stages of progress to make sure I had 27:

And yay – I have 27 in progress! This was important to check as I am getting low on yarn. I’ve already exhausted the magenta and most recently the oatmeal colored yarn; and now I only have 1 skein each of the dark gray and of the light gray.

So I really need to conserve my remaining yarn to complete the rest of the blocks. That was once a full basket of yarn! It does feel good to use up 15 – 20 year old yarn I’ve had in my stash.

I did find a YouTube tutorial that I think I am going to use to attached my blocks:

Courtesy of YouTube

I like the join in this one. I have not made my final decision yet and plan to check out some more videos before deciding.

But as I mentioned earlier in this post I am running low on yarn, so what yarn will I use to join the blocks? Well – a couple weeks ago I found a giant skein of dark gray yarn (darker than the gray I am already using) at a thrift shop that I think I will use to join the blocks. Today I auditioned it with a couple blocks:

I plan to try joining a couple blocks as a test with the dark. dark gray yarn and see how I like it. I did take a look around the yarn department of Joann’s Fabrics, the same national chain where I bought the original Lions Brand yarn in Seattle, Washington in the early 2000s, and they did not carry any of the exact yarns I am using. Too bad I think it would have been cool to join the blocks with the magenta color!

Once again Mike the Mini Schnauzer tried out the afghan after I laid it out on the carpet:

He continues to grow impatient with me as he wants to snuggle in and fall asleep in the finished afghan.

When he got up from lying on the blocks one of the block got stuck on his foot and he “rearranged” the blocks a little…

Well that is an update for now, back to working on finishing the last 27 blocks!

Postscript

I am already thinking about my next granny square afghan (not sure when my first one is complete that I can stop the “madness”) and I realized a couple weeks ago I do not have much acrylic or wool-acrylic blend yarn in my stash. I mainly have wool yarns for knitting. 

So on my visits to thrift stores to build my home library (future blog post), I’ve also been on the look out for yarn that will work for granny square afghans (acrylic and blends) and slowly building my stash (quite inexpensively):

2020-10-12_09-05-43_062

Knit and Crochet Away!

Granny Square Madness

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is a follow up to my blog post Making My Own Granny Square Afghan, in which I discuss how I taught myself via YouTube videos to crochet granny square blocks.

Recently I’ve took a little hiatus from blogging and social media as I was struggling with an intense bout of grief related to widowhood and things going on in the world (grief sucks as a hobby, I do not recommend it).

One thing I did to distract myself from spiraling into the pit of despair was to keep crafting, specifically working on making granny square blocks for an eventual granny square blanket.

I became a little obsessed with crocheting these blocks and my living room became “Granny Square Central”:

Note – the granny square blankets you see on my sofa above were “rescued” from thrift shops and are part of my “Rescued Granny Square Afghan” collection I mentioned in the previous post (see the Postscript section of this post for my exciting latest acquisition in my “rescue” activities…)

I also began taking a little kit with me when I left the home so I could work on granny squares while riding in the car (while someone else was driving), when waiting at an appointment, when traveling, etc. I did not want to be away from my yarn and crochet hook!

Working on granny squares has been a wonderful distraction and feels very peaceful and grounding. Thank goodness for handwork!

I used a stash of old Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn I’ve had for 20 years in grays, magenta and oatmeal, which is blended wool and acrylic yarns:

And with all this granny square crocheting my collection of completed squares began to build. In the image below I have my completed blocks in a large plastic bag:

At first I designed a block with 4 rows but then added a 5th row to make it bigger, which looked like this:

Then I decided to experiment with a variety of other combinations and below is a slide show of many of the different type of blocks I’ve made (47 to date):

I’ve completed 47 blocks and after laying them out I’ve decided to make the blanket 9 blocks by 10 blocks (90 blocks), so I have another 43 blocks to make.

Here is my latest version of laying out my completed blocks (I had 46 done at the time I took this image):

And here is an image from the first time I laid out the blocks to see what they looked like (I had 15 blocks completed). Mike my Miniature Schnauzer thought the blanket was ready for him to use!

I am currently making 43 centers for the next round of blocks and I decided to have less color changes (a lot of color changes means a lot of weaving in ends) so I am only doing three colors for the rest of the blocks.

Limiting the rest of the blocks to three color combinations works well as I am nearly out of the magenta and the oatmeal but I have lots of the light and dark gray (which will also be the lattice and border when I join the blocks together). So most of the remaining blocks will have a magenta or oatmeal center and then the light gray and dark gray for the remaining color combinations.

I think the centers are so cute, it always pleases me when I finish a center and get the ends weaved in:

I’ve begun working on other projects besides obsessively making granny squares but that is for another post. Now I have to find some YouTube videos on options for joining together my granny squares.

Postscript

As I mentioned earlier in my post, recently I “rescued” another granny square afghan from the thrift store – a very lovely one. I cannot believe the amount of work that went into this blanket – it must have taken many months to finish. I know the cost of the yarn/materials and then time and effort were more than the $7 that it cost me to buy it from the thrift shop!

This new afghan has given me a lot of comfort. When I was feeling particularly sad I would wrap myself up in it as I knew a lot of love went into making it. I felt I could feel that love when I was snuggled in it and it comforted and calmed me.

I nicknamed it the “full of love afghan”. I do not know how it ended up in a thrift shop but I send a thank you out into the Universe to whoever made it whether they are still living or have passed.

Knit and Crochet Away!

Making My Own Granny Square Afghan

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Experienced crocheters – try not to roll your eyes too much while reading this post, ha!

I love Granny Square Afghans. I know how to do basic crochet (I’ve made simple crocheted afghans and scarves in the past) but I always thought Granny Square Afghans were something extremely magical and way beyond my skill level.

I’ve collected them over the years from thrift shops and garage sales. Here are examples of those in my collection:

2020-08-15_07-39-14_4692020-08-15_07-39-28_5712020-08-15_07-40-09_965And here is the link to a post I wrote in 2015 called Granny Square Rescue! about my obsession and an image of my collection circa 2015.

Rescued Granny Square Afghans - all safe and loved in my homeA couple days ago I randomly decided that it was time I learned how to make Granny Squares and a Granny Square afghan.

I’ve looked at patterns in the past but quickly grew intimidated since I am not that experienced a crocheter. Then I remembered my trusty friend YouTube and found a whole bunch of videos on making Granny Squares!

First I followed this video by Jayda InStitches 

And made this block!

2020-08-15_07-35-16_5262020-08-15_17-33-02_767I cannot tell you how pleased and excited I was to have completed my first Granny Square!

I did not feel like my stitches were not tight enough and so I looked for another instructional video just to get a different perspective on how to make a Granny Square.

So then I watched this video by Hooked by Robin:

The pattern/instruction was slightly different and she used a smaller crochet hook (the first video used an “I”/5.5 mm needle and the second video used a “G”/4 mm) and that seemed to make the difference for tighter stitches.

In the image below, the square on the left is the first one I made with slightly looser stitches (size I crochet hook) and the one of the right is the second one I made with the size G crochet hook.

2020-08-15_17-32-56_112Now I plan to make up a bunch of centers and get started on “production line” crochet.

I want to be more efficient with the color changes (work on one color of yarn at once instead of constant color changes) as I create enough blocks to make a GRANNY SQUARE AFGHAN!!!

2020-08-16_12-31-20_605This is going to be a lot of work but I am so excited to make my very own!

I will update you on my progress…

Postscript

Speaking of making things for the first time, my partner John recently made his first piece of actual furniture in his new workshop in our daylight basement. In the previous post on my blog, Guest Blog Post: A Whole Lot of Remodeling Going On , Mike the dog (giggle) shared that we recently turned part of the basement into his craft room.

Well this weekend he put the room to use and made two redwood side tables for our front porch which matched the style of the existing coffee table on the porch:

2020-08-15_14-46-33_8352020-08-15_16-35-17_7922020-08-16_12-32-30_5402020-08-16_12-32-52_530So we were both pretty proud of ourselves!

A Crafter's Life, Thrift Shop Adventures

Granny Square Rescue!

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

It all began 6 years ago when I attended a neighborhood garage sale and spotted a granny square afghan for $2. I picked it up and studied the amount of work, effort and love that went into making that crocheted blanket. Before I could stop myself, I exclaimed to the seller “Wow, someone put a lot of work into this and you are selling it for only $2? I hope someone does not sell a quilt I made for them for $2!”

The seller/home owner looked at me like I had lost my mind and replied “Well you can pay me more for it if it makes you feel better!”  I gave her the $2 and quickly left the garage sale (before my foot reentered my mouth), but this began my obsession with “rescuing” granny square afghans.

I only daydream someday of making a granny square afghan. I have several craft books about making them (does that count?) but I have yet to make one. I so appreciate the work and craft that goes into making one.

The ones in the photo below are from garage sales and thrift stores. My most recent one (in the upper right hand corner) was a gift from a friend that got it for $1 at a thrift store.

Rescued Granny Square Afghans - all safe and loved in my home
Rescued Granny Square Afghans – all safe and loved in my home
I shudder at the thought that maybe one day one of my quilts that I spent months making (as I am sure these granny square afghans took to make) will be on sale for $1 – $2 at a thrift store or garage sale. Of course all crafters have to remember: Once you give someone a handmade item as a gift, you have to let it release it emotionally – you have no control over what happens to it next.  (It took me awhile to learn this lesson).

As long as they do not become clutter in my home (just how many granny square afghans would be considered “clutter”?), I will keep “rescuing” beautiful granny square afghans and giving them the love and appreciation they deserve!