Hooked by the Hook

This week I've mostly been crocheting.

Way back when I discovered the world of fibre on the internet (last April) one of the patterns that caught my eye was the Babette Blanket from Interweave Crochet. (It's now available to buy as a single pattern.) I loved the burst of colour and it immediately reminded me of crocheting granny squares out of Phentex(!) when I was 11. (Now Phentex you will recall was the most artificial of all yarns and unpleasant to touch-- but it did come in every colour imagineable and I had a vast supply of leftovers due to my mother's Phentex slipper obsession.)

I got distracted by lace knitting but almost a year later it seems the right time to tackle the Babette.

I toyed with the idea of carefully selecting colours and creating a blanket in muted (or at least related) tones. But somehow - the idea of a blanket in haphazard rainbow colours kept calling me back.

The end result won't be an elegant throw casually thrown onto my sofa, I expect it will live in my blanket box most of the time. But I imagine that when I'm a little under the weather, or need a bit of cheering up it will be what I curl up with on the sofa.

Being me I couldn't face deciding what colours to use in each square so I (geek alert) created a little randomiser spreadsheet that mapped them out for me. Some of the squares are surprisingly pleasant combinations of odd colours - others - not so much! But I'm hoping the overall effect will work.

In Other Business
A few people have very kindly nominated me for a Make My Day award. The rules say that I now need to pass that award on to 10 others. After careful consideration I've decided that I'd like to pass the award on to the lovely people who comment on this blog. It amazes me that people take time out of their busy day to see what I'm up to -- and even more so when they add a few words on what they've read! So thanks -you all Make My Day!

And I've been tagged by a 3 or 4 people -- one requires me to divulge 5 facts, the others 7. And in doing so I am tagging all of you readers/commenters to do the same on your blog! (By the way - for really interesting 7 facts check out Fleegle's responses to this tag!)

Soo Facts
1. I come from a big family. 2 brothers, 2 sisters, 5 nieces, 1 nephew, 62 Aunts and Uncles (31 by blood, 31 by marriage), and 65-75 first cousins. I should know how many cousins I have but I can never really remember how many kids my mom's oldest brother had (I never really knew him).

2. My father's mother (I called her Mamie) is my hero. She was very poor, married incredibly young and had 18 children. She was funny and feisty (you have to be I guess to keep all those children in line) and she had an amazing capacity to love. She died 19 years ago and I miss her still.

3. I love humous (and indeed hummus).

4. I make big decisions (moving country, changing jobs) quickly and based on gut feeling. However, ask me what I want for lunch and I can be paralysed for ages by the options.

5. I play the piano and sing. I do neither well but that doesn't stop me.

6. I can be sort of obsessive about things (bet that's a surprise to those of you who watched Lyra take over my life) and I can be very single minded. But oddly, I am also easily distracted. And once I'm distracted, whatever it is that I was obsessed with is forgotten and it's unlikely I'll ever get back to it.

7. I hate fruitcake.