Summer fun! Off to Wyoming

What are you all doing for the summer? Big trips?  Projects?

We have a lot going on this summer. Over the 4th of July we are going up to see my inlaws in historic Fort Laramie

    

Although you may have seen it like this:



At the fort, we walk around and look at all the historic re-enacters, the Calvary, they cook bread in this giant stone oven that you can taste and you can go to the bar to get old timey drinks like Sarsaparilla and Root Beer and stick candy.

On the fourth, they have games for kids including a greased pole climb (hilarious to watch), a potato sack race for all ages (also hilarious), and a penny find where they dump a bunch of pennies on the ground and all the little kids run around like hooligans looking for pennies. Its a good time. The first time I went three or so years ago, I was majorly pregnant with my son (like 37 weeks) and it was HOT.



Then last two years it has been COLD! (yes we were roasting marshmallows on the 4th of July)

And stormy!



This year we are extending our stay and are going to bop up to Yellowstone National Park for some camping.  I have my sights set on a campground near Mammoth in Yellowstone:



Isn't it beautiful?  So needless to say, I will be in the car a lot. It is about 10 hours to the inlaws, and then maybe another 6-8 hours to Yellowstone.  I will be doing a lot of knitting and crocheting. I am going to start with a scrapghan for my new niece or nephew coming at the very beginning of August. If I get that done... I have some other things in mind that I will share in a new post :)

The scrapghan I'm thinking of doing is a ripple afghan like this http://crochetme.com/media/p/89937.aspx



But I will rotate offwhite with other colors in my stash. It is the time of year that I need to stash bust in preparation for my busy season this fall!

Sooo what are your plans for the summer?

Ugliest Afghan!

Most crocheters and knitters know that when you take part in this sort of hobby, you will have LOTS of leftover yarn and nothing to do with it. You can do many things with your leftover scraps like granny squares like on the back of Roseanne's couch:

The granny square is quite easy and is actually the first thing I learned how to do at age 9! They are worked in the round in almost a checkerboard pattern. There are really easy patterns all over online for free!

Another thing you can do with your scraps is to make amigurumi animals:

Another afghan or scrapghan that many people make is a ripple afghan:

These LOOK difficult, but are actually quite simple. It is a matter of strategically skipping stitches and doubling stitches. I made a ripple scarf last winter, but maybe I'm the only one that loves it, because it has not sold!

All of these ideas are great ways to get rid of scraps; however, I did not go any of these routes 5 years ago. Yes, 5 years ago I decided to destash and started double crocheting with 3 strands held together using a J hook. I have been adding to this blanket for 5 years now. It is currently around 8 feet wide and 4 feet long and getting longer all the way! I added about 6 inches yesterday. Now...this could have been done probably in a more pretty fashion...but I really love the random mixing of the colors! Sorry the pictures are so terrible, but I have camera issues at the moment. BOO!