summer crochet

The Maeve shrug is still coming along — only about 4 more inches of the band to go and I can bind off.  Unfortunately for productivity the shrug is big, wool, & warm, so I wanted to start some smaller, quicker, cooler projects.

Say hello to my little barrel cactus!

Isn’t he cute?  The free crochet pattern is here (although I doubled the stitches per row and the number of rows), and the free crochet pattern for the pink flower I put on top is here.

I want to name him something adorable.  There’s also a mini agave plant and a mini saguaro cactus in the works; the trio will help decorate my sad window-less office and make it sorta-kinda seem like there are living things in there… sorta.

Speaking of decorating my office, I’ve also started a doily for my very large wooden desk!  The crochet pattern is called “Debbie” and it can be found for $3.99 USD here.

It’s worth noting that I’m using my new Clover Amour hooks and I swear I couldn’t get so much done at once if it wasn’t for those awesome handles.  However, I DID have to do the first bit 3 times before getting even close to gauge with different hooks; it calls for a steel 1.75 mm hook but I’m using a 2.75 mm hook instead.  I wonder if the author had a problem with their gauge (which is not very likely), if I have a problem with mine, or if the tapered hooks (instead of my usual inline) are making a difference.  I’ll have to remember to do gauge swatches when using these hooks in the future, just in case.  It’s a fun pattern so far anyhow, with interesting stitches but nothing too hard (at least not yet).

As far as other life stuff goes, I dyed my hair purple & got a side cut, which I love.  Work has been crazy busy but we just passed inspection for the renewal of our accreditation so I’m hoping things will get a bit easier, at least for a little bit.  I think we all need a break, because we’ve all got a bunch of other life junk going on too and we need to practice some self care.

Well, that’s all for today I suppose.  I’ll update with more cacti soon, hopefully, and progress on the doily and the Maeve!  Thanks so much for stopping by, see you soon!