Granny 183 and 184; bye bye old Ford.

183

184

After #183 and #184 I am not only officially caught up on this year long project, I have finished all the red white and blue squares for the July 4th afghan.  I think it's reasonable to assume I won't be completely done by July 4th, since it is tomorrow.  But, just think of the huge jump I have on getting it done by Labor Day!

So tomorrow, it is back to the land of color!  Not that red, white and blue are not colors...but they are somewhat limiting to one who leans toward the saturated and even better, gaudy.

I have a plan for how the blanket should go together.  Crossing fingers that it looks as good in reality as it does in my mind :)  Wait did I say that yesterday?  Oh well.

Speaking of yesterday...spent a large part of it taking Ramona to the gynecologist for a consult.  Poor girl has many problems there and it looks like she is in for some surgery.  The doctor needs to talk to my geneticist (to see how far we should go), and to Ramona's cardiologist to see if it's ok for her to have surgery at all right now.  Sigh.

Just had a knock on the door, and it's time for me to go down with my neighbors to the department of motor vehicles.  I'm signing over my old Ford to them as a gift, and I'm happy that someone who has skills to fix it will be using it.  I had been thinking that I would donate it to one of the organizations that takes old cars, so donating it directly to someone that is in need is even better.

Granny 180, 181 and 182; Welcome to Mauritius and El Salvador

180

181

182

With another day's worth of square production, I'll be ready to start putting this afghan together.  I visited JoAnn Fabrics today and purchased Caron One Pound in red, white and blue, so I am ready and supplied.  I have ideas about the eventual design, and I really hope it turns out the way I see it in my mind's eye.

Red and white squares are from '99 Squares to Crochet'.  I particularly like this popcorn design, and I think solid squares should have some architectural interest.  The blue square is from 200 Squares, and to be honest I am not completely happy with it.  I may pull it out and use the yarn some other way.

Welcome today Mauritius and El Salvador!  To be honest, they arrived a few days ago...I just wanted to spread the welcomes out a little bit so I'm keeping a list.

Have a great Monday, everyone ~

Granny 177, 178, 179; Welcome China and Croatia; Southbound

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178

First things first:  Sorry about the dentally inspired whining the other day.  I'll figure it out :)  Earlier today I was musing:  If I could get 20,000 people to send me $1 each, my dental woes would be over, LOL.

Anyhow...

All three of these squares are obviously all the same design, which came from the ubiquitous 200 Crochet Blocks.  These three and the last three represent the fact that I need some solid squares to balance out the tri-colors.

I do believe I've caught up, and it didn't take me all year.  Since I really need to go for it if I'm going to finish this afghan before the 4th, I'll be pulling ahead very soon.  Only briefly, however...I'll need a squares break to finish the afghan :)

179

The band "Southbound' performing at the Freedom Festival at Everett Naval Station today.  Fantastic Southern style rock!

Lastly, welcome to China and Croatia, from opposite sides of the globe.

Grannies 173, 174, 175, 176; Welcome Bulgaria and Malta

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174

175

176

These squares came from 200 crochet Blocks.

I'd have more to say about it all, but I have serious dental pain and no possible way to pay for the work I need.  I'm sure I'll figure it out, but right now I just want to beat my head against the wall.

Right now I can't even get a dentist to see me, because although I could pay to have it pulled 'You too young to lose that tooth.  You need root canal.  You can't afford root canal, I will not treat you".  Exact words spoken as I sat in the chair.  And then charged me $40.00 for the time I took.

I'm going to have to the emergency room route, and I HATE that.

If I didn't have crochet to keep my hands busy, I'd have chewed my cuticles off.

Oh, and by the way, all the yarn came from a giant bag I got for $1.00 at a garage sale.  So I'm not spending money I should have saved for the dental work.

Rant over.


Oh...and welcome to Bulgaria and Malta.  Please come back!  I'm sure I'll get my nice back once I feel better :)

Granny 169,170,171,172

169

170

171

172

All four squares today are from 200 Crochet Blocks, as they have been all week.

#170 is a square that I skipped over when I looked through the book some time ago, because I thought it looked too complicated.  Well, it's not complicated, it is a pain!  There are 8, count them, EIGHT yarn changes, with the accompanying ends to weave in.  While I really like the look, I don't know that I have to patience to use this square again.

2 1/2 squares were done last night, and the remainder done today, a few stitches at a time.  I woke up at 5:00 am with the mother of all migraines.  I have not had one like this for a while, and it actually might turn out to be a toothache...it's a little hard to tell sometimes.  But, because I was going to do four per day until I have enough for the blanket, I just plain was going to get it done.

I'm not planning to make a huge blanket, but since they are all 8" squares, I think 20 should do it.  I have some great plans for putting them together and making a border.  I sure hope it works out the way it looks in my mind's eye :)

Grannies 167 and 168; welcome Nicaragua and Cyprus

167

168

122

 The first two squares are from 200 Crochet Blocks and were made today.

The following four squares were originally posted HERE.  I'm reposting them again today just to have them all together on one page.

Welcome to Nicaragua and Cyprus, my two newest visitor countries.  I wonder how long we can keep up this pace?  There are 257 countries in the world, and 80 of them have visited so far.

123

124

125

164, 165, 166; Grow Your Blog Party; Welcome Sri Lanka and Switzerland

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165

166

I started this blog as a way to chart my progress as I keep working at my 366 granny squares in a year.  I find that posting each square challenges me to learn new techniques, research relentlessly, and try yarns that might be new to me (you never know what you will get at a garage sale ).

Along the way, this means that I've picked up the camera more frequently, and am seldom without it as I ramble around.  Each week I try to find a couple of parks or just very cool places to go and explore with the camera.  While the economy has turned down for us (although we're getting along), this keeps me looking for the beauty around me, and having this space to put up photos makes me happy, as well as stretching myself in a new way.

My biggest Photographic problem is that I prefer to take pictures in natural light...but I live in Seattle where we have had very little sun so far.  Oh, the transit of Venus, or a partial eclipse?  Good thing we have websites from which to view these marvels, because we were clouded over here.  I'd rather not have to invest in more gear (must not exceed the budget), but I'd love to take better indoor photos of the grannies and of course, other things.  Any advice?

You know what I love?  Visiting all the blogs around the world and see how much alike we all are, regardless of our differences.  I've picked up bits and pieces of Portuguese, Spanish (ok I already knew some Spanish), French (ok, I took French in High School so many years ago), Dutch and German.  It's another thing that stretches the mind.  I've read that learning a new language, or to play a musical instrument stimulates the growth of new dendrites in the brain, and speaking as a person of a certain age, this is a very good thing.  Blogging has provided opportunities in many and varied ways.

With that in mind, Vicki, in her blog Two Bags Full, is hosting a 'Grow Your Blog Party, and we are all invited to get involved.  Go on over to her blog and sign up!  Who doesn't want more readers?  I know I value the followers that come to my blog, and follow quite a few myself.  We'll all grow together!

Today's squares are all from 200 Crochet Blocks.  Starting tomorrow, bring out the red white and blue!  My goal is to have enough squares for an afghan, by July Fourth, the US Independence Day.  Who thinks I can do it?

And last, welcome to Switzerland and Sri Lanka, recent first time visitors.  I look forward to your return, and hope to learn more about your countries and cultures.