Little Squares

 

I've spent a lot of hours at the local park during this past week. And I mean a LOT. The Little People have insisted on it. It's their favourite place to be, and on a sunny afternoon it's hard to argue against it, because in truth it's no hardship for me these days. Quite enjoyable in fact.

This summer, with the LP now aged 5 and 6 (almost 7), they have reached a very satisfactory level of parky-independence. They can tackle all the play equipment now without needing me to lift, push, help or supervise much. So I no longer sit and watch them closely, no longer wait to spring off my seat at the first sign of difficulty, no longer spend my time pushing swings or catching bodies as they fly off the end of the slide. In fact, I no longer sit in the playground enclosure at all :: rather I choose to spread a blanket out on the grass just outside the perimeter fence. Near enough to see and hear and keep my beady eye on goings on, but far enough to discourage my participation. Being on The Other Side of The Fence has proven very satisfactory indeed.

These photographs were taken on Saturday afternoon, when we were at the park for most the afternoon. I spread my knitted blanket out on the grass and settled down to read my magazine and eat strawberries in the afternoon sun.

There were little breaks in my solitude when the Little People came to flop on the blanket next to me for a breather and a cold drink. A little bit of creative buttercup and daisy chain making.  But on the whole, I was left to my own devices. And oh I did enjoy it!

Of course, it doesn't take all afternoon to read a magazine.

Yes, there was plenty of time for some hooky goings on in the park on Saturday afternoon.

I do love taking my crochet al fresco. Love that when I am outside working on a particular project, that the memories of my surroundings sort of get woven in to the stitches. So that this Little Squares cushion cover will remind me of warm August summer afternoons at the park, of eating strawberries and listening to the sounds of children playing. It will forever be a Summer Park cushion.

I continued the outdoor theme a little closer to home on Sunday, sitting in my small back yard and working at my outdoor table. Surrounded by my flowers the same colours as my yarn.

I have really, really enjoyed making these Little Squares. Such fun to play with the colours in this way, and a great use of the extra left over yarn after the completion of BB. I think the technical term for this project would be a "Stash Buster".

Yeah, al-fresco-stash-busting!!!

Love that!

So I finally finished all 81 Little Squares on Monday evening. 

Was SOOOOOooooo glad that they were joined-on-the-go and therefore were not all sitting in a teetering pile waiting to be joined. SO very glad of that.

This method of joining does make the squares a little sort of "bunched up" next to each other and so stretching and blocking is essential to pull them back out to shape.

Very satisfying, the process of blocking.

Love doing it.

Love the results.

Wanna see?

Shall we have a sneaky Little Squares ta-dah moment????

Yeah?

Go on then.....take a peek....

 

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rather fabulous isn't it, if i DO say so myself, haha!!!

And here is it look, next to the Big Square.

Still needing to find a suitable jumper or two to make the backings for these, so they are not yet in cushiony form.

But I'm enjoying playing with them as they are, draping them around the place and just loving their hooky good looks.

Oh my goodness, I do so adore Granny Squares.

Big time.

They make my heart go flutter-flutter.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Comments

[fairyglade]

Hi Lucy, truly beautiful squares, tiny coloured jewels. Devx

[Lucy]

Wow! that was a quick second project. How about backing one with the other?

[julia hackett]

As ever another great entry to your fabby blog. l just love seeing your crochet in progress and wonder what you will come up with next. What are your next projects l wonder?

[Merry Susan]

Lovely Lucy! Ah I so remember that time.... Alas mine are now 9 and 11 and it's not the same...The 11 is off with her mates preferable with no parent in sight and the 9 year old is inseparable from IPOD/Laptop/TV....but then she DOES crochet! I love your tiny grannies!I crocheted with a pot of tea at Bolton Abbey while they paddled in the Swale. Thanks to you that they agreed to go there! It was the photos of your money trees on the blog! THANK YOU. Lucy the puppy also loved it there!

[Ita]

So nice!! I love the colors!

[manuela]

Wow i've bought yestarday country home & interiors ... Very nice yours granny squares.
Bye
manuela

[Anna-Karin, Sweden]

Oh it looks beautiful! And I know what you mean by the kids at that age. You sit on your own, just looking at them, reading and, of course, crocheting, and they just play on their own.

The small squares are so cute!!! Really love it!

Instead of blocking "the traditionell way", I "steam-ironed" my last blanket. It was so much easier, and the result just as good. It saves a lot of work and I like that... (But it must, of course, be wool or cotton yarn.) Anna-Karinxxxxxxxxx

[Nat]

Gorgeous as always! Your projects are all so lovely, Lucy. Can't wait to see the next one..

[Jackie]

Love those little squares Lucy ~ they are wonderful. It is lovely when the LP get big enough to play in the park by themselves and it certainly looks like you made good use of your time in the park. If you have the time to look I have a little picture of Attic 24 flowers on my blog that I would love you to see :O)

[Ingrid Peters]

Hi Lucy, Really nice cushion front! I have the same feeling about crocheting or knitting a project in a special place, the project holds the memories. That's why I like to look at very old handmade things, embroidery for example of blankets made by hand. What have they see and heard? Who made them? What was she like? Mmm... nice thinking...
I will show you my crocheting scarf in process some day. And thank you for the extra info by the recipe in you e-mail! Nice day and till the next post!
Ingrid Peters (Netherlands)

[Jody]

I love your granny cushion covers, especially the little squares. I know what you mean about the time in the park. Mine are mostly teenagaers now and my 10 year old is happier on the playstation. I'd look odd sitting in the park on my own but I did make a baby's granny blanket in the back garden this summer, inspired by your blog of course!

[Louise]

Gosh that was quick!! It looks so nice too! Makes me want to go home now and start knitting!! (Crochet is not on my list of skills yet!)

[Quiltefia]

Hi!Very nice work as always!! I have found a internett shop in Sweden, and ordered a lot of the Rowan wool DK that you use. Exspensiv, yes, but hopefully is it worth it!?So I can`t wait. We do have a lot of nice yarn in Norway too, but I wanted to try it. Anne

[Gill]

I love the mosaic quality of the little squares lucy. I have been working on a blanket that combines lots of little squares, similar to your own, on a snowy white background and it's got me to dreaming about future little square projects. Like yourself, I think a few cushions are in order but I should concentrate on the blanket first.

You can take a peek at the beginnings of my blanket at www.littlehillbigsea.typepad.com/little_hill_big_sea/2009/08/my-entry-2.html

Gill
xxx

[Samantha Terry]

Hi Lucy, this is gorgeous as ever. I agree with poster number 2 - I think they would look wonderful joined together as one cushion. They look like they belong together. I sent you an email the other day & not sure whether you've received it or not. Anyway, it was about a Your Home magazine from May 2009 I've got that has an article/interview with Nicky Fraser, aka The Vintage Magpie, that I thought you might like to see. Well, I've found another one from Your Home June 2009 - an article/interview with Sara Mahon, of Girls Own Store. If you're interested let me know and I'll pop them in the post to you. Love your blog. Sam Terry x

[sherri]

Bravo I love the little squares. Im maling a afghan for my sister right now cant blog about it because she reads my blog but it is so cute!
Have a blessed crochet week

[CM]

Fantabulous! I love the colours. Thanks for brightening up my morning (and making me a tad envious...)

[sarah taylor]

Love the new square cushion Luce!

Sarahx

[Emma]

Ohhhh Lucy, it looks absolutely fabulous!!!!
The Ta-dah looks great and promises a great TA-DAH cushion moment!

XXX

[Alison]

love the little squares:-)

[marigold jam]

Love the pretty squares. Your sense of colour is just amazing. Thought of you on Saturday in John Lewis Oxford Street as I stood transfixed in front of the Rown yarn stand!

Jane

[Siobhan]

Hi, beautiful inspiring work as always! 2 is better than 1 though, so do go ahead and make 2 beautiful cushions rather than putting the big square with the grannies; as one side will always be hidden in that case which would be a shame. That way you will have quality AND quantity! I'm very interested to see what you will do next - just like everyone else is. Your sense of colour is second to none and totally works. Thanks for sharing.

[Jacqueline]

I love the little squares cushion. The colours are so wonderful. Isn't crochet so versatile? The same stitches used in both squares, to give completely different results.

[agnes]

einfach
wunderwunderschön....

liebe Grüße
agnes

[Alex]

beautiful...
Has your egg cosy arrived yet?

x Alex