Blanket Statement

I first learned to crochet when I was 12.  My mom would make those funky ("funky" in a good way) ripple afghans and they were remarkably cozy and practical.  I watched her and picked up on the double stitch ripple groove and made about 10 afghans one year.  Sadly, after compulsive coverlet creating, I kind of fizzled out and focused on smaller projects for the next few decades.

"Citrus Rose"

Several weeks ago, our younger daughter asked me to crochet a blanket for her.  I thought, "why not?" We looked over some ideas on Ravelry and we always love the beautiful designs and ideas from Lucy of Attic 24.  We went with the Granny Stripe Blanket.  After the initial 2 starting rows, which are mostly just long and a bit boring, the rest is a breeze!  There are so many options here.  You can go crazy with color or keep it refined.  You can crochet lengthwise or widthwise, depending on how you want your stripes to run.  I went with assorted colors from my cotton Sugar N' Cream stash, we call the finished product "Citrus Rose."  For the edging, I used a basic shell stitch.  

"Violet Bluebell"

Of course, our older daughter wanted one immediately after feeling the airy, yet cozy softness of the triple-crocheted granny stripe stitch. Since she loves blues, I went with a cooler-hued stash to create "Violet Bluebell."  I used a different edging here, I'm not sure what the appropriate name for it is.  Basically, I start with a shell stitch and add a picot stitch to the middle of the shell.  

These blankets are perfect for this time of year, especially when they are made of cotton yarn.  You could also use a double stitch as opposed to triple, to create a slightly tighter feel to the blanket.  Thicker, woolier yarn would also add warmth, if you need that.  

Lions, Tigers, and a Bear of a Project!

My latest painting was a big one!  9' x 24' to be exact.  I painted a jungle/forest background for my little one's first grade play titled "Welcome to the Jungle."  I know what you are thinking.  At first, I was wondering who would get the role of Axl Rose but as it turned out, they used an entirely different "Welcome to the Jungle."  In spite of being a "bear of a project," I enjoyed every minute of it.  Painting for kids is the greatest honor.

I used approximately 10 cans of spray paint to create the background.  Since the kids were going to be dressed in warm colors such as monkey brown, giraffe gold, and lion bronze, I thought lots of cool blues and purples interspersed with sunrise colors would make the setting "pop."  2 heavy duty drop cloths from Home Depot served as the medium for this sizable project.  I cannot even begin to count the bottles of paint that went into the trees and assorted flora... let's just say I have a lot of bottles to recycle.

The biggest challenges involved space.  Ideally, I would have a huge wall with clamps for this type of project.  Alas, I do not.  I have a small table with clamps.  So, I did the best I could and took the canvas out after each painting session to get a true perspective of it in the driveway.

It took a few weeks to do this and the weather certainly did not help.  We had an unusual amount of snow for central Virginia, so it was often too wet to take the canvas out.  The play was also bumped back a couple of times because of all the snow days.  The music teacher in charge of this production has the patience of a saint, not to mention the energy of a hummingbird!

In the meantime, a handful of crafty, devoted moms were cutting felt, stitching lion manes, gluing feathers, and attaching monkey ears for dozens and dozens of little creatures.  The kids looked amazing and had no trouble getting into character with these adorable costumes.

Given the theme and the ages of the performers, the look I went for was kind of a "whimsical storybook edge-of-the-jungle" look.  The result was lots of very happy first graders who were proud to be "in the jungle!"  I would love to include a photo of the actual children dressed up for the play, but I have this weird thing about using children's images (other than my own) on my blog.  Trust me, it looks better with all the hippos, monkeys, and adorable faces in the foreground!

More images from the process...

painting the background on the first "dry" day

Hues of Blues

My kids often ask me the burning question, "Mommy, what is your favorite color?"  Of course, I never have a simple answer.  It usually goes something like... "Well, it depends on the setting and the situation.  I love green trees, periwinkle skies, to wear I prefer blacks, dark plums, ... " and it continues.  If I had to choose just one color, I would probably say green.  When I look at my Etsy shop, however, there are a lot of blues.

I did a little statistical observation and examined the first 6 pages of my Etsy shop.  I calculated the percentage of items in certain colors and the results were, well, not remotely shocking or exciting.

Blue won, with 34% of the listings being predominantly blue.

First runner up was green, with 31%.

I was a little surprised that only 16% was purple (with some lavender/pink hues).

I intentionally made my 2nd page predominately warm colors.  Red/orange is still only 14%.

Anyone preferring yellows and golds would probably not be that excited about my shop.  Only 5% of the items are in those hues.  I did not count the brass finish on some of my jewelry items, mostly I looked at the images featured.

I only have a trivial amount of white/grey listings.  This means I am rarely a candidate for Etsy's front page!

This item actually made it to the front page. 

What does this all mean?  It probably means it wouldn't hurt for me to get crazy and paint a few yellow/golden tree and forest scenes.