Vacation Crochet

My road trip has ended after six wonderful weeks.  We arrived home just in time for the tail end of fall, and as the winter season settles upon me, I have a whole new stack of crochet projects to work on.  But first, let me share the remainder of the 6″ crochet-along squares from the Block-a-Month Crochet Along group on Ravelry that was my vacation crochet. 

Box Fan Crochet Square

The six-inch squares were the first ones that I got out of the way, because they were stretching back a few months.  And there’s something fulfilling about starting and finishing a square the same day.  The first ones that I started were for August’s BAMCAL, and it’s Donna Kay Lacey’s Box Fan Square.  While the link to the pattern on Ravelry seems to not be working, there is a pattern on the free wordpress version of Donna’s, and it can be found here.  My Ravelry project page is here.  I really liked the look of the pattern, but I wanted to do it in two colors rather than one; I think it emphasizes the front posts and makes a stunning look.  In order to do that, I carried the unused yarn for each behind the stitches, and then finished with a basic single crochet border. 

Sweet Sixteen Crochet Squares

Going back even further to July, here are the Sweet Sixteen Crochet Squares that I finished.  This pattern is by Melinda Miller, who makes very easy to follow patterns that turn out beautiful.  Unlike so many others, I used only two colors, and I really like the way the pale pink plays off of the dark olive green color.  This is a free Ravelry download that can be found here, and my Ravelry project page for this project is here. 

Pinwheel Afghan Square

The last group of 6″ squares that I made was the Pinwheel Afghan Square from May.  This one perplexed me a little bit, as I had a vision of what I wanted which conflicted with the single-color premise of the pattern.  I ended up, just like the Box Fan squares, carrying the yarn through to form the persimmon flowers while alternating with the pistachio green.  It was definitely a bit time consuming, but by the time I was finished, they were one of my favorite squares.  The free pattern can be found here on Crochet Kim, and my project page on Ravelry is here. 

There have been so many wonderful memories over the past couple of months, and even though I miss the warmer air in the south and the green trees, it’s good to be home again, even with the chilly rain and almost empty trees.  There’s something about the late fall and winter that makes me just want to curl up with hot coffee and a soft blanket and crochet the hours away.  And this blanket, with all the BAMCAL squares, is almost done and ready to fill that job. 

~Mellie ★