The two crochet projects I showed you last time are done. The pompom hat counts as an OUT from the stash:

Yarn was Caron Cupcakes and in fact I only used about half a cake. I was surprised. Not sure what I will do with the rest of it.

The unicorn lovey is now on display at the fabric store where I work (I forgot to take a photo at home, so this is it on it’s little pole – we try to pin things down so they don’t go walkabout with customers). This yarn is our own brand, Spindle Yarns Cuddle Buddy Crochet Kit. The pattern is on the ball band.

It comes in these other variations:

Did I tell you about my new Counter Ring from CritSuccess? I saw some people talking about these on Ravelry and I just loved the rainbow one. My co-worker wanted one too so I ordered two to save shipping. The funny thing is that I ordered a size 11 and she ordered a 10, but I felt like mine was too big and she found hers a bit small so we swapped and everyone was happy! It fits well on my left index finger and I can track things while crocheting or knitting. Rows, increases, decreases, whatever. It’s meant to be for gamers, dice players, D&D types, but it works perfectly for anything you want to keep a count of.

We are having a bit of a CAL/KAL in the Vegan Knitters and Crocheters group on Ravelry. The vegan groups tend to be a bit quiet, but one of the other members has been livening things up lately and suggested a #vegancraftalong for September. It took me a while to figure out what to make. Finally I decided on Christa’s design, the Party Cardi: her YouTube channel is The Secret Yarnery.

It’s a cardigan which is started by making two granny hexagons, and when the folded hexagons are large enough for your arms you start to add length on certain sections, back and forth, for the back and chest. There are a few designs out there that are constructed similarly. The Campfire Cardigan is a larger version. But I wanted a fairly fitted cardigan that wasn’t too kitschy, I wanted to use stash yarn, and I couldn’t be bothered to knit it. I have three cakes of Lion Brand Mandala Baby in the Echo Caves colourway, which has lovely shades of blues and greens in it, and I’m using my 5.5mm Addi Swing crochet hook. I’m hoping those three cakes will be sufficient, but if not I am willing to buy an extra cake or two online. Christa’s cardigan is made with wildly coloured yarn and an eyelash edging – mine will be considerably more sedate!

And finally, I won a prize in a Makealong (MAL) ages ago, and I missed hearing the announcement of my name. Ali of the Little Drops of Wonderful podcast had a cosy makealong, where people were making cosies for all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff. One of my entries into the Ravelry thread was drawn but I didn’t see that podcast and missed it, and Ali kindly got hold of me to let me know. I gave her my address and she mailed it and it arrived today, all the way from England.

The Merry Christmas bag is gorgeous and squishy and will fit a medium sized project-in-progress, and she also sent a postcard (which I can colour), a Reese’s peanut butter cup (gave that to my non-vegan son), a mini skein of yarn and a teabag (which I have just brewed up to drink now).

I think Ali was the person who coined the phrase “dodgy bags” because she was sewing bags and they weren’t perfect. Well, this little skein of yarn has the cutest little tag on it that says, “Dodgy Yarn, All pooling, bleeding and splodges included free of charge, Dyed Inexpertly in Kent, UK.” Fun!

As my friend Jeanette would say, I think we’re all caught up now. I think that tonight I shall have to watch another episode or two of the series I started watching on Netflix last night. Sex Education! It’s hilarious.