Moody Mondays - the set up

Everyone is a little bit "moody" on a Monday, right?  Well, I typically am knowing that I have 5 full work days ahead of me.  This also seems like the perfect 2014 tie-in for an update post on my Mood Blanket!

As I mentioned last week, I had been really looking forward to picking out colors for my Mood Blanket.  Then I joined the Facebook Group and rapidly became overwhelmed with the number of options I had in regards to colors, yarn choice, pattern, design, frequently of completed square, etc etc.  By Friday morning I thought I had made my yarn choice (Caron Simply Soft) and I'd picked out my HEXAGON pattern from Lucy at Attic 24.

So, after work on Friday night I stopped by Walmart to pick up my yarn...only to find their yarn stock had not been replenished since Christmastime!  I left, and headed to Michaels, thinking to myself how much easier it is to bounce from one store with craft items to the next in a small town vs. Maryland.  During my 3 min drive from the Walmart parking lot to Michaels, I had a thought of using a shade of Vanna's Choice for the days that Grannie's presence is extra strong, or I just can't stop thinking about her* (I made her this lapghan with matching slippers in the same pink for Christmas back in 2010 and since then the "Rose Mist" shade has made me think of her).  Anyway, as I walk through Michaels I find their supply as pitiful as Walmarts; so I leave.  As I make a quick side stop to Petsmart for kitty food (since it's in the same plaza) I start sputtering to myself about how ANNOYING it is to live in such a small town where my yarn options are this limited!  I wanted to wiggle my nose, blink my eyes, or click my heels 3 times to find myself back in Maryland where I would have many more options for yarn!!!  Instead, I drove across the street to JoAnn Fabrics and HOORAY! they had [almost all] the yarn shades I was looking for in Vanna's Choice!  I left happy, with a big bag of yarn, hoping that I could supplement in yarn from my stash where needed.

Exhausting, right?

The weekend was spent working around the house so it wasn't until last night that I was finally able to line up all these beautiful colors of yarn, pluck out the ones that totally clashed, and worked with my color consultant (a.k.a. Jonathan) to assign moods and feelings to the colors I was unsure about.  Here's what we came up with (and yes, I had final say when I didn't agree with him LOL):

 

I do have to take just one side moment to mention our window framing that Jonathan and my Dad installed in our Master bedroom.  It's AMAZING, right?  One of these days you'll get the full breakdown on the 7 months to finish the room and a full picture tour!

All yarn colors are Vanna's Choice, except where noted:

Dreaming of Disney - mid-blue (Red Heart With Love)

Thinking of Grannie - speckle pink

Stressed / Angry - green

Angry / Irritated - dark purple (if I hadn't spent so much of Friday thinking about Grannie, green and dark purple should have definitely been my colors for Friday's square after my yarn shopping adventure debockle!) 

Love - light pink

Special Holiday - kelly green (Loops & Threads Impeccable)

Happy / Excited - speckle purple

Tired - dark grey

Sunny Day - yellow

Feeling Productive - royal blue

Feeling Crafty - berry pink

Rainy Day - navy blue

Special Holiday - red

Sick / Not Feeling Well - speckle green

Sad / Lonely - brown

Dreaming of the beach - aqua blue

Special Holiday - hot pink (Deborah Norville Everyday)

BORDER - cream

If anyone is interested in more details regarding the specific name to a shade of yarn listed above, leave me a comment and I'll be sure to check at home and get back to you!

Now, it's just to get started with my hexagon pattern right?  Well, as I read through Lucy's pattern I started to feel like it may be a bit too complicated; especially when I have so much catching up to do while the pattern is new....so I got on Ravelry and did some searching for free patterns and I've narrowed it down to these three:

Granny-Style Hexagon - I like that with 3 rounds before my border, I would have the option to "mix-up" colors if I'm having a extra moody day of extra strong feelings, or if I just want to express something with more than one color (sunrise/sunset, the beach, seasons, holidays, etc)

Hexagon Pattern - Once narrowed down to 3 options, I'd totally planned to use this one as it's 3 rounds, nice and quick and at approx 3.5" across, I will get a nice size afghan by New Year's Eve.

'Granny Stitch' Hexagon - of course, I was immediately down to the "Granny" title, but a 7" hexagon times 360ish of them?  yikes, that's a BIG BLANKET!

I'm still completely torn, and unless someone would like to point in my the right direction, and make a suggestion I can't refuse, I'm probably going to mock up one of each pattern tonight and see which one I like best....anyone interested in making my crafty-life a little easier??!? anyone?

So for now, I've made a few decisions and still have some to make.  Plus it's the 20th of January already and I have LOTS of catching up to do:

Happy Moody Monday to you all!  Here's hoping for some actual crocheting to share my next Monday!

* On October 12, 2013 we lost my Grannie.  Shirley Louise Raymond was the most outstanding woman I've ever known, and as you can see, she has influenced my passion for crafting more than anyone else in my life.  To call her family is an honor.  She was also the toughest woman I've ever met.  After an inconclusive diagnosis in the spring where the doctors were not comfortable performing necessary testing due to her age, she took things into her own hands.  My Mom moved in with her full time, and she all but killed herself during PT and OT to make herself stronger again after spending almost 2 weeks in the hospital in May.  She got so strong that Medicare would no longer pay for her to have therapists come to the house.  She truly was amazing in her desire to live her life to it's fullest, even when things hurt, and were hard, and what lay ahead was totally unknown.  This summer she was walking again unassisted, with no cane or walker (except maybe in the middle of the night, etc), was back to cooking and baking and doing what gardening she could from her patio.  Things were so good, my Mom had returned to work in August and was ready to move home.  Due to long standing issues with her stomach, her potassium level was a struggle to  keep up, and in September she passed out in the bathroom.  Thankfully my Mom was walking with her, and she was wearing her medical alert.  There was concern that her heart was weak at first, but after much testing the doctors said "no way" and that her heart was great for her age (would have been 90 this past December) - turns out the entire episode was due to her potassium level being too low and after about 5 days in the hospital, she returned home, thankfully no broken bones either, but weak.  I started my new job on Monday, October 7th and I went to see her and Mom, every night that week before rehearsal.  She'd been very tired that week, and really didn't get off the couch too much but we attributed it to a recent procedure having made her weak, and the September hospital stay.  On Friday, October 11th I got a call from Mom around 11 a.m. that Grannie had pushed her Medical Alert while home alone and they were taking her to the hospital.  I spent most of the afternoon and evening in the ER, and eventually ICU with her, my Mom and Aunt as we waited for answers.  Turns out the recent procedure (biliary drain replacement) had nicked her gall bladder causing an infection, which was causing her all the pain she was in.  They gave her some pretty heavy pain meds once she was in the ICU, we met the overnight nurse who was extremely kind in giving us her phone number if we wanted to call during the night, or the next day (my Mom had planned to go into work at least half of Saturday at this point as they felt we were really just waiting for the antibiotics to kick in).  Saturday morning Mom got the call from the ICU nurse that we needed to gather family as her kidney (she only had one) had shut down.  We all spent the day at her bedside, and while she never fully woke again due to all the pain medication in her system, she seemed to no longer be in pain, and I pray that she went in peace.  Her death certificate listed Pancreatic Cancer as cause of death (though the biopsy was the testing they never did due to risk of bleeding).  She's now with my Grandpa Freddie and Uncle Warren, out walking the beach or on the lake on ECHO, traveling the world and doing all the things she always loved.

I continue to miss her terribly every day.  Each time the sun peaks out, I watch a beautiful sunrise on my way to work, or a see a full moon shining, I KNOW that she is watching over me.  Grannie I hope that I continue to make you proud, and I'll be sure to pass along all the crafty wisdom you taught me to my children and grandchildren one day.

Sorry for the long winded story - I have a hard time just telling a small portion of this one.  I almost deleted in all before posting, but for now, I'm going to leave it as she was and still is very important to me, and LOVED reading my blog!