A Good Start

Happy Day after Thanksgiving! I hope you all realize all the things/people for which you/we are thankful. I won't get too maudlin and list all that I am thankful for, but I am grateful for the ability to crochet, the means by which to do it, and cats who don't get into my yarn basket.

I thought about how to make that lovely afghan and decided that for me, the only way to do it was to take it a section at a time. I looked at the middle section and guesstimated it to be about 24 inches square. It may not be, but that's my story and I'm sticking too it!

The middle area is made of 3 inch grannies, which is great, but I wanted a statement center, so I went with a 12 inch middle that will be surrounded by 6 inch squares. One of the hardest tasks, and one of the funnest, is picking the pattern and the colors. Colors! Oh my gosh. The original must have a billion colors, or at least a lot. I'd say the original has an overall red theme and that gives it that Oriental rug look. I chose more greens and browns. I hope to get the Oriental rug look; keeping my fingers crossed. So what do I have so far? Here is the 12 inch middle piece.

After I made it, I decided to add a round of brown (oh...look...I'm a poet) to all the squares that are going to make up the entire center. This pattern is called Raindrop Block by Donna Kay Lacey. I changed the last couple of rounds. The blue in my square is more of a country blue and what looks white is soft taupe. This gives you the idea. The yarns I used were all a worsted weight (#4), but from different manufacturers. Some have a sheen and some are matte, which gives the whole piece a bit more character. In this piece you will find:

Mary Maxim Starlette in Chocolate
Mary Maxim Starlette in Medium Taupe
Mary Maxim Starlette in Soft Taupe 
Mary Maxim Starlette in Green
Mary Maxim Starlette in Caramel
Caron Simply Soft in Country Blue
Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Red

Green? Green? Where are the greens? Coming chickadees. Peace.