Another Afghan

I thought I'd show off the afghan I made for the Ravelry Afghan Swap 2012.  I had a lot of fun making this and am really pleased with the way it turned out.

In Progress

More Progress

Finished and Stretched Out

The dark green border added a nice finishing touch.  And fortunately it was also well-liked by Laura and her family.

Close-up of the stitches.

Afghan Swap

As I've posted a couple of times before, I participated in an Afghan swap through Ravelry last year.  It was a lot of fun and I made a new friend along the way. I think it's high time I post some pictures of the lovely afghan Laura made for me - along with the other fun stuff that came in the box.

We love the afghan.  It is so soft and warm to snuggle up with.

Miss B and I think the stitches look like bouquets of flowers.

Some fun curly yarn for a future crafty endeavor.

A few other things.  There was another box of chocolates but my husband and kids tore into that before I could get a photo of it.

Laura, thank you again for a great year of swapping.  As I've said before, I'm so glad I was paired with you!

A Shawl becomes a Shrug

Last month I received a wonderful package from Laura - who is my Afghan Swap 2012 partner.  The package contained several skeins of Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn.  One of the skeins is called Summer Happens and I love it.  I almost immediately set out to make a triangle shawl with it.  I finished the shawl today but it is too small for me or any other adult.  Luckily, my daughters loved the shawl.  Since it's the perfect size for them - I gave it to them.  And yes, I know I could have simply purchased another skein of the yarn and made the shawl bigger but my girls really wanted this one.

Of course, as they are little girls, the concept of a shawl just does not work.  They quickly got irritated with the fact that the shawl kept falling off of their shoulders as they were playing.  So, I made a few single crochet stitches up each side of the shawl in order to make armholes.  A shrug was born and my girls are thrilled.  So am I.

Laura, thank you once again for the awesome package and yarn.  I've put a couple of the other skeins to use making more teacher appreciation gifts - to be revealed soon.

A Wonderful Package

I received a great box of exciting crochet yumminess the other day.  I am part of a group on Ravelry called Afghan Swap 2012.  The idea (and it's a great one, in my opinion) is to get to really know one person through the year and share three swap packages with one another - the last containing, you guessed it, an afghan.  Well, I feel very lucky with the person I was paired up with and do believe we are becoming friends.  We both sent off our first packages last weekend and received them on Tuesday.  I'm happy to say that both were quite the success.

Here are some photos of my wonderful package:

In the box were: A beautiful purse for me, Hello Kitty purses for my daughters, five skeins of I Love This Yarn (which I'd never tried but now definitely do love) in shades of my favorite color green, 'Crovheted by' labels, yarn sleeves, a crochet hook with a bamboo handle (which is very comfortable to use), a book with different Granny square patterns, an adorable card and chocolate bars - yum.  I feel very fortunate and quite spoiled.  I've already said thank you to her but I'm going to say it once again - THANKS! 

A close up of the Hello Kitty bag (of which there were two).  My girls absolutely love them!

My beautiful purse - in shades of blue, also a favorite color.

Close up.  I think the pattern may be African flowers but I'm not positive.  I need to find out because I love them and want to give it a try.

The YARN! It's fabulous, really! I've already started making something out of the ombre one (which is called Summer -something, I can't find the label) and it is quite pretty.

Another close up!

Thank you, thank you! I feel so very blessed and yes, spoiled.