The origins of the Afghan

Ever wondered about the humble afghan or granny squares...well wonder no more, this was taken off a list that I belong to.

From Crochet Kitty:

Origin of the Afghan (and an explanation for Granny Squares)

According to a crochet pattern published by the Spool Cotton Company
in 1941, "the thrifty womenfolk of our early American days carefully
saved odds and ends of yarn, leftover colors, ravellings from
sweaters and socks — all to be made into a robe for the family's
general use.

As fast as the yarn accumulated, it was crocheted into small squares —
the colors tastefully combined from whatever yarn was available at
the time. When sufficient squares were completed, they were sewed
together to make a colorful blanket useful for many purposes — as a
bedspread, for a shawl, as a leg and lap covering, for sleighing,
for "bundling," as a throw over a rocking chair, and a colorful
decoration around the house.

Because grandmother played the major role in its making, the robe was
affectionately called the "Granny."

Because granny's robe originally was made of many colors, it
resembled a particular type of colorful rug brought from Afghanistan
to this country by the gallant sailing ships of colonial times. So
the nickname, "Afghan," came into popular use!

Today, "Afghan" is used to describe various kinds of robes and
blankets which are crocheted or knitted of soft wool yarns in the
beautiful shades suggested by style and made available by modern
thread and yarn manufacturers."

Making patterns bigger/smaller

I got this from an email group that I am part of and thought that it would be great to share with all of you. I hope that you find it helpful.

One easy, no math, fool-proof way to start your foundation for any
pattern is to:
1. Chain to the width that you want.
2. Place a safety pin in the last chain stitch made.
3. Using a second skein or the other end of the same
skein of yarn, join yarn in the first stitch of the
foundation chain and work the first row of the
pattern.
4. Work the pattern until your piece is as wide as you
want it to be.(*Be sure to end with a complete
pattern repeat as called for in your directions.)
Now, for the safety pin. If you find you have chain stitches you
don't need, then simply take out the pin and pull out the extra chain
stitches until you get to your last stitch worked in the first row
and fasten off the chain stitches. On the other hand, if you need
more foundation stitches, just insert your hook and make as many as
you need before fastening off.
This is especially useful when you are chaining 200-300 stitches for
afghans. This works for me.

*Please, since I do not know how to design, I hope those who do will
help me make this clearer to the members. It really does work.

what lesser character am I from the HP series....

...and which lesser Harry Potter character are you?

Yep Im Firenze!!!!

Edging items - some useful information

I came across this on another list that I belong to, and thought that it was so good that I just had to pass it on to you all...
It is about adding edging to FOs ...

If you made the square in the round, you just use the last row's stitches as a guide, adding extra stitches in the corner for ease. For sc, that is 3 sc in the corners. For dc, you will add 5 dc in the corners.

If you worked the square in rows, you will need to figure a little differently. If the square is a true square, the stitches added on the sides should be the same number as the ones on the
ends.

Generally speaking, you go by the heighth of the stitches on the sides of the rows.
For example,
sc = 1 stitch,
hdc = 2 sts,
dc = 3 sts,
tc = 4 st, etc.

However, sometimes that will cause work to ruffle so I may do 5 sts. across 2 dc instead of 6 sts.

Hilary also added the following...Is it truly a square?

If so, you'll want the exact same # stitches on the side as across
the top and bottom. This will usually be the same as your foundation
chain minus the turning stitches, or # stitches in the first row.
(depends on the pattern stitches used)

Sometimes the stitches along the side may be every row, every second
row, 3 stitches every 2 rows, or even 2 stitches every 3 rows. All
depends on what stitches you're using. This method will make it
easier to figure:

Take a box of straigt pins. On the foundation row edge, count the #
of stitches. Put a pin in the center stitch, then divide each half
into quarters, mark with a pin.

Now fold the square in 1/2 along the side. Mark the center with a
pin. Divide each half into quarters, mark with a pin.

On the foundation row, count how many stitches between pins. Make
that same # of stitches between pins on the sides as well.

And don't forget the 3 stitches in every corner. :D

hanabi vs sakura

Yesterday I sat my exam for Japanese. I know for sure that I got one part incorrect, I should have written さくら instead of はなび in the test. But I am confident that I did well in all other sections of the exam. I am expecting to get another Distinction with this terms work. I think I might have missed out on a High Distinction but I am happy with anything that I might have gotten. I will find out my results in a couple of weeks, after the examing period.

updates
I lost all of my baby budgies, as another hen got in there and killed the babies. I was pretty sad but that is life. I am getting some breeding cabinets (hopefully on Sunday) and I will place both hen and cock into a breeding cabinet. Hopefully I will be able to breed successful this time around.
I brought a runner budgie and have him at home with a 3 toed quail that I got for free at the markets. When I got the quail home I noticed that there was some string wrapped around his foot, and that could also explain the missing toes. We managed to get that off and he seems to be enjoying himself with the budgie. We have called the budgie Darling and the quail Chalky (Miles chose that name, and he loves Chalky a lot).
I also picked up another cock budgie from the market, he is 3 years old and a very vibrant green and he is a larger budgie, I have him paired up with the albino hen at the moment, and once the breeding cabinets are here, I will be putting the two of them there and hopefully we will get some pretty babies out of them. Once they start laying and hatching the babies, I will be sure to post pictures of them. I still need to build the flying/nursery area and the bigger aviary but I should be able to get that done soonish. I have the main buildings already, all that is left is just adding on the extensions and adding some homely touches to the areas.

crocheting
Now that the exam and study is out of the way for now, I can go and get some crocheting done. I have to do a few doilies and bookmarks and coasters for Blue Care, before the market day on the 7th of December. I have a few done already but there are so many patterns out there that I want to make. On top of that I have a few projects that I want to do for my family. I am still working a beret for my husband, it is about 50% done, and then there is a gift I want to make for my son.