John Lennon : Imagine Afghan

I worked on this all week. I still need to weave in all the ends of yarn in back, but I thought it was a good idea to get pictures of it before the weaving so you could actually see what-all it takes to crochet one of these. LOTS of yarn color changes!!!! (As usual, all images should be clickable to enlarge).

And here's the back with the loose threads which I need to weave in still...











I think it turned out great. The tunisian stitch does distort the actual picture just a bit. His face looks a bit longer in the photo I used, and his autograph too. But I think, overall, it still worked. Hope you like it!

Dylan Radical Bag

I've been depressed this week.
I have been working this out through my crochet.
Hope you don't mind my expressing myself here.
I love Bob Dylan and his lyrics. I feel the bag speaks for itself. And me.




This is the front, (done in tunisian crochet). Click on the picture for a larger view.




Here's the back of the tote. (In case you are feeling less....verbose....LOL!!!!)




Here it is propped up to a standing position.




And the back; standing.




Here's a close-up of the handle. It is red suede. I got it after Christmas one year in a clearance aisle at Michael's store for a buck. (Woo hooo for me!) I had to cut it in three equal pieces, use a hand leather punch to go around each piece, (my hands are still killing me from this). Then, I used a black and red size 3 thread to crochet the pieces together. Then, I went around the whole thing with a combo of a black Carmen thread and the red Fun Fur. (My hubby says the red Fun Fur is a bit much but I always seem to go way overboard beyond what really is needed. Oh well, at least it grabs the attention and gets you to notice it. LOL!!)

I used a peace graph I found at this site...
http://knitting.about.com/library/blpeace2.htm?terms=peace+symbol





I pulled it inside-out to show you-all I actually lined it. I almost never line things because I have to sew it all by hand and I'm terrible at measuring and all. But for this, I wanted to do it. (You may recognize the fabric as that of the Hogwart's castle walls. I still have a lot left).




Here I'm showing the bottom on the inside. I sewed in a strip of the gridded plastic canvas to give the bottom of the tote extra strength. I wonder if it would hold a laptop. Not sure about that.








Two more last shots. I wanted a nice big close-up so you could really read it good. I had my son read it and he didn't follow where you're supposed to go, (but I don't think he knows the song.)
I hope all of you can make it out. I did it free-hand and that is always difficult.

I wanted to do more lyrics to it, (I feel every line is so important), but I could only fit in so much. I chose the final line as it was the most important to me..
If you are unfamiliar with the song, just google "Bob Dylan lyrics Blowin' In The Wind.
(I joked to my hubby that I could have called this the "Wind Bag" instead of the "Radical Bag". LOL!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, Peace!

Purple Squishy Afghan

Did you have a happy 4th?
It was a long ride to visit our old neighbors back in Illinois and so I worked on this afghan both ways. (Images are clickable for enlargement).





It's made from that really soft yarn from TLC Amore (Sandstone and Black), and Red Heart Plush yarn (Dark Purple). It feels like a terry cloth beach towel when crocheted.





I had an idea to make a purple sleeping bag but that would have taken much too much yarn and time. This is very warm and cushy just the same.










I did it in three panels using the graphs, then did the basketweave stitch around the whole thing several times. The VS. ,(versus), panel in the middle must have gotten a few extra rows squished in there as it looks a bit puffy, but oh well.

For the graph designs I used the cross stitch patterns which are found in that French Harry Potter book which looks like this...


So you'll just have to buy that book if you like the graphs. (I got mine on e-bay.)








Here's the ugly back.
Hope you like the afghan!