Finished Square Two

After a few hours work on Saturday and Sunday (and the last few rows tonight) I completed my second full square and first house crest. I am really very pleased with the way the color blocking is turning out, even with a more complex pattern and more colors. It gives me hope that the most complex pieces will turn out just fine. I'm fairly happy with the crest shape, but less excited about how chubby the badger looks compared to the pattern. If you crochet, I would love any hints or tips with color blocking you might have!

The colors I used were Mustard, Black, Snow, and Heather.

Counting stitches, or how the first official square turned out.

Steve and I spent a few hours the other night planning my Harry Potter themed afghan and creating some more solid patterns. I also spent a good chunk of change on yarns to get me started. The last two nights I have spent crocheting my first full-sized usable square (while watching The Vampire Diaries and Doctor Who). Here are the results:

I am using a size G hook with readily available worsted weight yarn. The colors for this square are Antique Teal and Black. The square is 48 stitches long and 48 rows. I can see some tiny imperfections that I didn't catch while doing the work, but it's a definite improvement from my test square. I'm really quite pleased. Can you guess the subject of my next square?

One of my favorite cool-weather activities:

Even if it still was 88 degrees in Austin today. I digress. About 20 years ago, my MamMam Arbogast taught me to crochet. I unfortunately allowed the skill to go by the wayside for the last 18 years; however, I picked it up again recently and have enjoyed making a variety of things for myself and others. Up until this weekend, I've been a strictly "by the book" crocheter (*wondering if that's a real word*). I wanted to branch out: stretch my creative muscles. I trolled the internet in hopes of finding just the right next project. I came up... Dry... Dry as a bone. So a put in a new google search for "creating crochet patterns." I found that if I utilize my creative power and my husband's skill with the Adobe Suite, I, too, can create my own Color Block Pattern. The theme and project, you ask? Harry Potter Afghan. Duh.

I decided to start simply to test my skills.
Admittedly, it's not my best work, but I have high hopes that my skills will continue to increase. I have some ideas for the rest of the pieces, but let me know what your thoughts are!