Works in Progress – introducing “Follow-up Friday”

A big decision has been made here at “maRRose – CCC-headquarters” ;) …….
The inspiration for it comes from one of my favorite crocheters/bloggers, the crochetastic and very lovely Janneke (her blog: JipbyJan).
Janneke is about to embark on a tremendous adventure – she’s following her heart and is going to write a book!
In order to clear her mind, so that she can fully concentrate on writing this book, she made a point of finishing all her crochet wip’s beforehand.
Smartly, she shared this on social media, to make us all her partners in crime and this worked really well – her list is pretty much done!

And I plan on doing the exact same thing, finish all my wip’s that is (and share the progress – or should I say process – on social media, scary)!
Not helping is the fact that I’ve been asked to crochet three shawls since I made the decision to do this ……. but let’s just count these in and add them to the wip-list.

Every Friday I’ll give you an update here on the blog – that should keep me out of trouble and focused, right? – keep an eye out for “Follow-up Friday”!
So …. to get to the bottom of this – these are my wip’s:

1. Crochet Mood Blanket 2014
Started on January 1, 2014, diary kept until October 2, 2014, squares crocheted until June 12, 2014 – lastly joined in February, 2014. I’ve counted: there’s 104 rectangular squares that still need to be joined….. 2. Bétaille Blanket
Started during last year’s Yoga Retreat in Les Tourettes, worked on during the 2014 Summer – these tiny squares (pattern: “Springtime Throw” by Nicki Trench) have been sitting in this box for months ….. 3. Blue Socks
Instagram tells me I worked on them for the last time 15 weeks ago – since they’re my third pair ever, I’m anxious to see if I still know how to knit them ……. 4. Harlequin Blanket
I started crocheting these colorful diamonds when I began my “Tulip Blanket” – the latter has been finished for quite some time now – the colorful diamonds must feel a bit neglected. Since there’s only 16 of them, I doubt they can be considered a serious wip….. 5. Rustic Lace Blanket
This is actually the second wip, that’s not really part of this list and I’m not kidding.
Right at the start of this project, I decided that this would my on-the-side-long-term-blanket – just saying, haha….. I’ve recently done the math and at this stage I’ve made 24 squares and “only” need another 86 for this blanket to be big enough to live on our kingsize bed.
A tutorial on how to join these squares as you go can be found here, btw. 6. The Simply Crochet Granny Squares
Started at the end of May, 2014 when the Simply Crochet Granny Square App was issued, I diligently made one square a week. “Bessie” and “Myrtle” were the last ones I made. Four more squares were issued under the app and apparently that was it as far as Simply Crochet Magazine was concerned. No updates in the app since November, 2014 – too bad.
Anyway, I have 29 squares so far and have to decide what to do with them. Any ideas? Cushion cover? Baby blanket? 7. Triangle Cushion Cover
I love making these cushion covers (as you can see here) and right after I had finished my third (fourth?) one, I had an idea to simplify joining the triangles and loved these colors so much, that I started a next one. Now this one is a long way off the finish line ….. 8. Summer shawl
This summer shawl has been finished for quite some time now and I’ve actually worn it a few times already (and love it). I just need to write down the pattern of the square I came up with, take some pretty pictures and blog about it …… 9. Potholders for my mom
One of the presents I got my mother for her birthday was a gift certificate, saying I would crochet her some potholders and she were to pick out the design and colors. Now her birthday was April 19th, so it’s about time I get these done! 10. The No-Name-Yet Shawl
When I last visited “Wolplein”, I picked out this lovely “Lanagrossa – 365 Cotone”. I’m crocheting a shawl in a pretty basic stitch and have some exciting plans to spruce it up, once the body of the shawl is done. 11. Bridal Shawl no. 1
One of my very dear friends is getting married in August and she has asked me to crochet her not one, but two shawls to go with the two dresses she’ll be wearing during this special and festive day. I feel very honored and happy to have been given this unique assignment, and I’ll make sure to stich a whole lot of love into these shawls!
One of the dresses is an off-white / beige, the fabric looking like it’s a very fine knit – a thin golden thread woven into it.

We quickly agreed that this King Kole Shiny DK Earthy was the perfect yarn for this dress and my friend loved the “Summer Shawl”-pattern from the “Puur Haken”-book by Maaike van Koert. She asked me to adjust the triangle shape of the design and liked the “Two Tone”-shawl‘s shape, a wonderful design by Saskia Laan / “Haken bij Saar en Mien”. I’m one skein into this one and (after trying 3 different hook sizes) am finally happy with the way it looks – waiting for more yarn to arrive!

12. Bridal Shawl no. 2
The second shawl will be the one to go with the beautiful bright red dress my friend will be wearing during the big party in the evening. It has a few vaguely shaped flowers on the front in two more bordeaux-red colors.
Last week we went to “Echtstudio” to pick out exactly these colors and to have them make a “Colortwist” for us. Visiting “Echtstudio” is always a real treat, this time no exception!                    

Thanks to Kim and Christa for helping us in the excellent way they did (Kim even gave my friend a quick “learn-to-crochet” workshop!).
The pattern that Natja picked out is this one – a free Redheart-pattern, link here – and I’m happy with the test swatch I made (cotton, unblocked). I can’t wait to start this one! 13. Special Shawl no. 3
I’ve been asked by another dear friend and crochet-buddy to crochet a shawl in a pattern that she recently designed for a particular kind of yarn. Both pattern and yarn are to die for! Will definitely share as soon as I can!

I’m trying very hard to not feel totally overwhelmed and disheartened at the end of this post – it’s a long list, isn’t it?
Well, I’m just going to work my way through it, one step (or should I say stitch) at a time, hoping for some cheering on from you lovely people …..

Love,
Marianne xx