Both sides of Mystery Stitch

I think we're getting closer to figuring this one out! While I'm trying out a sample, here's the promised pictures.

Side 1:

Side 2:

The sample will be coming soon!

Sneak Peek

I've taken scads of pictures of a necklace I made in May, but it won't seem to work in the lighting despite all my best efforts. So here's a sneak peek until I can get a good picture.

In other news, I'm still working on that Mystery Afghan--thanks for all the ideas you're sending!!! I hope to update soon!

Yarn Deal

While I wait to get a picture of both sides of the afghan with the Mystery Stitch, I have to show you my loot from a week ago:

It's hard to see all the colors here, but it's a great variety! There's some black with flecks Vanna's Choice yarn, some bright pink no-name yarn, some shiny silver Simply Soft, 3 balls of cotton I forgot to put back in, green and blue Loops & Thread Impeccable yarn, a very thick cream with a brown strand, and some soft pink and gold no-name yarn! At the bottom right, there are some "Comfort Grip" things to slide onto the hook. I've never tried it before, so I might have to give them a try.

See that little spot of turquoise-blue between the pink and package of Comfort Grips? I'm pretty sure that skein was rolled onto a paintbrush. =D Ha!!

All this amazing-ness for the low LOW price of...

$5 Yes, just 5 smack-a-roos!!! How fantastic is that?

Time to get out my ball-winder again for some great fun! Then I have to decide how to use these.

Mystery Stitch Close-up

Aside from taking it apart (please don't let it come to that!), here is a last-ditch effort to see if my brilliant crochet friends can help me out with identifying this stitch.

I stuck my fingers in and sort of spread it out to make each individual stitch a little clearer (hopefully). Also, hubby took the picture for me which means that it's a better quality camera and better resolution. Click the picture to see it even bigger.

Any insights? I really hope it's some ridiculously common stitch that I'm just not familiar with for some reason. =)

Recipe Feature

There was a lot of good feedback on our Reuben Pizza recipe (probably because if you like Reubens, you'll like the pizza, and if you don't, you didn't look at it ;-), it's true, right?!).

Lyuba at Will Cook for Smiles did a "Copycat Feature" of the recipe! It looks really good as a thin crust variety, too!

Go check out all her amazing recipes!!! Seriously good stuff over there--you'll thank me later. =)

Baby Girl Blanket

Glancing through old pictures, I came across a baby blanket I made for a friend a few years ago. It was a fun project and sort of a mystery. There wasn't a picture, so I just blindly followed a pattern. Very unusual way for me to pick a project, but I loved the finished product!

Notice that little pile of yarn? Yep, that's the extent of my leftover yarn when I finished. Wow! Cutting it close!

I really loved the edging for it, too.

With a niece on the way soon (YEAH!!!), little girl projects are on the brain. Do you have any favorites?

Still no luck on that stitch yet... I'll keep you posted.

A Closer Look

Does this help at all?

Or closer:

You can click on it to make even larger. It looks like half-double-crochets in the top photo with some sc rows, but when touching it and moving the stitches around, it doesn't seem to be. Is it just the two colors throwing me off?

A New Stitch

Back in April, I showed you a very special afghan that was crocheted for my hubby by his great-grandmother when he was just a boy.

He told me that his mom had asked him for his favorite colors knowing that Great-Grandma would be using them to crochet him a blanket. When he said blue and black, she tried to talk him out of it. =) It's perfect and great for any boy, right?!

A while back, we put it on our boy's bed for him to use. One day, he decided to pull off a bunch of the tassels. I was heartbroken to have to break the news to hubby, but also a little intimidated to be the one to have to fix the beautiful work of this dear and wonderful lady. Tassels fixed, it now stays out of his room.

For years, I've looked at this afghan, and I've admired the stitches on it. It looks very simple but sturdy and warm. I've never been able to figure out how she did it. I'm certainly not a pro-crocheter, but I would (humbly) say I know a few things about some different stitches. This one had me flummoxed.

This weekend, we were camping, and my mother-in-law gave us an extra blanket. It was another gorgeous light blue and white one made by Great-Grandma. I commented on how much I love her afghans but haven't figured out the stitch yet. She told me, "Yeah, I wish I remember how she did it! All I know is it's called a broomstick stitch."

OK, duh. Why did I never ask her if she knew the name of the stitch?!

Have any of you ever done the Broomstick Stitch? Was it used a lot in those years or was it just a special stitch Great-Grandma happened to like? Anyway, I guess I'm off to check the internet to hopefully learn a new stitch! I'll keep you posted with what I find. I have a long way to go if I'm ever going to be as great as she was!

EDIT: Everything I've found so far is definitely not the same stitch... Any advice? Should I take a macro pic?

Confession Time

Life is always busy in the summer, isn't it?! No relaxing yet.

We were gone for a week (last week), and I'm still trying to catch up!

First step I took: I finally threw away that little bottle of Visine from the medicine cabinet that expired in ...mdffmngmgnvffhfhf.

OK, fine...it was 2006.

Sadly, it's probably not the most expired thing in our house. Have you ever cooked with rancid Crisco before realizing it was rancid? *shudder*

Anyway, next step is piling up a (hopefully) HUGE pile of items to get out of our house for a big garage sale in a few weeks.

Your big plans? Your confessions to make me feel better?

It's a Boy!

We've found a recipient for one of my finished baby blankets!

Our dear friends had baby boy #4 on Wednesday, and hubby picked this blanket for him (it's a lighter and more summery color than the other option). It's plenty hot this week for him to NOT need it, but hopefully it keeps him toasty come winter!