Tada!

 Y'all, the blanket is blocking. It is done!

via GIPHY

I finished knitting on January 5th, and only because I had a little headache at the end. The pattern calls for you to knit 16 sets of the 20-row repeat, and then an additional 9 rows of the pattern before doing 11 rows of garter and the bind-off. This was weird to me, because of full set of one of the rows of blocks was actually 10 rows, and the cast-on edge included the cast-on, and then 12 rows of garter. I wanted them to be even (ha), so I knit the 10 rows of the pattern repeat, and started on my garter rows--and realized after my 12 garter rows that I would not have enough yarn for the bind-off. Grr.

So I made the hard decision to insert a lifeline and pull back to row 10 of the garter. This worked pretty well, and its not super noticeable, thank heavens. I think my 2-year old nephew will be pretty satisfied.

BUT I HAVE MORE NEWS.  I finished another project!

Pierre the Penguin, from the Woobles! I asked for a kit as a Christmas present since they're pretty pricey, and was delighted to receive one.  The videos are SUPER helpful, and he even manages to look cute. Is he perfect? Heck no--I sewed his belly on off-center and under-stuffed him, but dang if I don't love him anyway. 

I have now fallen down a rabbit hole of amigurumi and other crochet projects and stitches, which is throwing a little hiccup into my decision about what to make next...

Precious!

I've been wanting to learn to crochet for awhile, partly because I feel I should master (in some form) all of the needle/yarn/string arts (I already cross-stitch, and I used to embroider.  I feel so old-timey!)

I have to admit, though, that my main reason for wanting to learn to crochet is amigurumi.  They are so stinkin' cute.  I mean, look:

 From Lion Brand Yarns

 From Lion Brand Yarns

From Lion Brand Yarns

ADORABLE! And there are way more than that out there in the world.  I MUST MAKE THEM.

At a Knit Night several months ago, one of the lovely ladies showed me how to chain and then turn and go back across (single crochet), so I can pretty much make a sqaure.  Obviously it's not perfectly even or anything, but hey, at least I can do it.

Last night, I got sucked into watching videos about crochet, and then amigurumi, on YouTube, and it doesn't seem terribly hard.  I even practiced starting a round and increasing, which made me feel super awesome.  I predict that an amigurumi kitty is in my near future.

For anyone else out there who's into cutesy crochet projects, here are some of the videos I consulted in my adventures last night:

• mikeyssmail: Lesson 1-How to Crochet.  This gentleman has a whole bunch of videos, and this is one of six lessons which show you how to single, double, half double and triple crochet (you should check them all out).  His instructions are super helpful, and the video is very clear.

• WireMySoul: Creating Amigurumi 1- Magic Loop and Double Ring.  A great tutorial on how to start in the round without creating a giant hole.  I tried both of these methods and I think I prefer the Double Ring method.

• WireMySoul: Creating Amigurumi Episode #2.  Another tutorial from WireMySoul that shows how to increase in the round. Brilliant.

• tjw1963 (Crochet Geek): Crochet Beat Ogeechee-Amigurumi.  This video.  I can't even.  She goes through the whole process of putting a cute bear together, even showing how to attach the different parts and sew them together!  Invaluable.