BAWJ2019 - Weeks 15, 16 and 17!

Hi everyone!

It's been a rollercoaster couple of weeks here at Casa del Westlund - we had a week's holiday at Lake Macquarie over Easter, I've been crocheting up a storm of cardigans for Allie since it seems like we might actually have winter this year (yay!) and she has decided all of a sudden that three naps in a day is for chumps, and breastfeeding is super slow and irritating and could we please just already have bottles!? Argh! 

Before we get to the BAWJ squares from the last few weeks, here's a photo of Allie's favourite holiday activity: DUCKS.

Ducks go KAK KAK KAK, and you feed them and pat them and even crunch on a bit of their seed. Now all birds are greeted with KAK KAK KAK, duck or not 😂

I'll tell you all about the cardigan collection next week hopefully - it depends when Allie feels like stretching her modelling and cooperation muscles. Cross your fingers for me! She is a very determined and independent little miss. 

On to the BAWJ2019! All three of these squares were very well written patterns!

If you want to join in on BAWJ2019, check out Julie's Facebookgroup, blog and Ravelry Board for more information.

WEEK 15 - LEMON ZINGER SQUARE by MARY BETH TEMPLE

Pattern: https://hookedforlifepublishing.com/2019/04/lemon-zinger-square/ 


Yarn colours: Pistachio, Coral, Silver, Graphite

It was interesting starting with a five pointed star in the middle - I'm not a huge fan of how wonky the circle is to get it back to a square, but the central flower is just so cute.

I also got to learn how to do a different kind of surface crochet! The wibbliness appeals to me :P 

WEEK 16 - FINDING BALANCE by RHONDDA MOL

Pattern: https://oombawkadesigncrochet.com/2019/04/finding-balance-afghan-square-pattern.html 

Yarn colours: Pistachio, Heather, Raspberry, Sage and Bismuth 

So much texture! I learned a new stitch, and was very grateful that there were photos of each round as after a bit I found the pattern very wordy and somewhat challenging to keep track of where I was up to. 

So bumpy and petally and deliciously squishy. A cushion cover in this stitch would be so lovely. 

Even the back looks really cool, with the spiked trebles down behind the petals!

WEEK 17 - FANTASTIC! AFGHAN SQUARE by JULIE YEAGER

Pattern: http://julieyeagerdesigns.com/fantastic-afghan-square-clue-7/

Yarn colours: Iron, Cream

You might recall - I've made this square before! It was Julie Yeager's Mystery CAL Afghan Square from 2015, which I made in rainbow colours of Special DK. It was fun to follow Julie's lead and make this version in only two colours - Iron Elements and Cream. 

Again, doesn't it have lovely texture? Those front post stitches... 

Phew, that brings me all up to date! Back soon with cardigan photos.. oh, here's a sneak peek ;) Don't forget to cross your fingers that we can get her to hold still for photos! 

BAWJ2019 - Weeks 13 & 14!

Hi everyone!

I got a bit behind in the BAWJ2019 this fortnight - Kiah has been working lots of night shifts, and Allie has had a chest infection which has made the nights very long and the days very busy... zzzz... Fortunately Allie is on the mend now, so I'm starting to get a bit more sleep again. 

I think these two squares are some of my favourites so far - clearly written patterns, nice designs and not overly fussy or complicated :)

If you want to join in on BAWJ2019, check out Julie's Facebookgroup, blog and Ravelry Board for more information.

WEEK 13 - MY APRIL FOOL by MELINDA MILLER

Pattern: http://mocrochet.blogspot.com/2019/04/my-april-fool.html

Yarn colours: Storm, Cream & Mercury

Lots of popcorns again in this one! It was very interesting the way the shape of this square transformed with each row - very well thought out. 

The whole square has a lot of texture going on, but mostly focussed in the central part. Back post stitches, working in the back loop and of course the popcorns do the magic. 

One slight downside of such heavily textured squares is that they aren't really reversible. The back just isn't very nice to look at, and in an afghan I kinda prefer it when the back is at least almost as pretty as the front.  

WEEK 14 - ARIANE by DIANA KRENZ

Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ariane-7


Yarn colours: Coral, Old Gold, Violet, Sage, Graphite

I think this is my favourite square so far :) Straightforward pattern but still interesting, and the look would change endlessly just by playing with the colours. 

I love the little row of tulips in the border! 

The square does have a little bit of texture in the front post stitches, but you can see on the next picture that it is still very nice to look at on the back.

Overall I'm really enjoying the BAWJ2019 - meeting lots of new designers, and having a crochet goal for each week which helps keep me sane when it would be so easy for crochet to just fall by the wayside!