Keeping Up With Blossom & Buds

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! I'm out on my deck right now enjoying the beautiful weather under my new Rapid Shelter. Loving the shelter, but they were definitely right when they said that you should have two people to put it up! It wasn't easy, but I got it up by myself!! I had to get some sort of shelter because my big tree that provides shade to my deck came down in our recent storms. My deck is south-facing and gets a LOT of sunshine in the summer so you need some sort of shade in order to enjoy it. We're not expecting any big winds in the next couple of days so I should be able to leave the shelter up for a while rather than taking it down after each use. Phew! I put cinderblocks around each leg and have ordered some long straps so I can strap them to the top corner supports for more security in smaller winds. Hopefully I've covered all of my bases!

I've continued to work on my Blossom & Buds crochet blanket designed by Lindsey Newns. I've finished this week's pattern and am ready for the next part tomorrow:

Blossom & Buds

We just have two more "logs" and then some borders, so I'm guessing we'll be done in a couple of weeks. I've really liked timing of the pattern parts and am really enjoying the different stitches and the bright colors!

I've also made some more progress on my Summer Blossom Mandala designed by Rohn Strong:

Summer Blossom Mandala

It's hard to see my progress when comparing with my previous photo, but I have added five or six more rounds to the blanket. The rounds are getting longer (up to 272 stitches now), so they take a bit more time. But at least it means fewer ends to weave in! The most difficult part of this blanket for me is the pattern. It's a bit sloppy so there are some details left out. Part of that is because this pattern is meant for intermediate crocheters and some of it is just sloppiness. For example, in several places I've come across where it says to "repeat from *", but the * is missing. This type of mistake isn't a big deal, but there are others that require a bit more thought on my part to figure out what is really meant. But now that I know there are omissions and mistakes, I can figure out what I'm expected to do because I know the problem might be the pattern rather than me.

Finally, I fixed the problem with my Festival of Stitches shawl designed by Lisa Hannes:

Festival of Stitches

I figured out why I made the mistake in the first place. The pattern has you carrying the caramel yarn up the edge as you make the stripes in the first section. I assumed you would carry it up to the next section as well so assumed the pattern would continue on that side. But, instead, the designer went to the other side after the center section, expecting you to cut the yarn and restart it with this section. So I switched the order of the sections in the pattern and used the correct chart for this side so I wouldn't have to make those extra unneeded ends to weave in. So I'm back on track now!

That's all for now. I hope everyone is continuing to enjoy the spring weather!

Nancy