Hooks and Stitches

So I've been steadily getting through this diagonal box stitch afghan.  I still love the stitch and the yarn, I just don't think I'm loving the color combination.  Oh well, it's a stash buster blanket, so can't be too picky, I guess.  And it's been great to learn the pattern and get a feel for it.

About halfway done or so.

The texture is so cool.  I love the greens/cream section.  I kind of want to do a whole afghan with those colors.

In other news, I saw Attic24's latest pattern and tutorial for her Blooming Flower Cushion.  I'm totally going to have to try that.  What also caught my interest, as well as a bunch of other peoples' interest, was the red polka-dot handled crochet hook.  A woman with a shop on Etsy makes them at a pretty good price.  I want one (or three!  no, five!) but I also wanted to know how they're done.

After following a basic YouTube tutorial, I bought a small package of white Sculpey oven-bake polymer clay at Wal-Mart and scrounged under my sofa cushions for extra hooks.  I made a set in the basic shape as the polka-dot handle.  Before ordering through Etsy, I wanted to make sure that I would use them, that I wouldn't just be buying them for the pretty and then not be able to make myself use them instead of the plain hooks my hand is used to.

I took one to work with my box stitch afghan and made myself get used to the feel of it.  Success!  Not only will I have pretty hooks, but they actually do help with my wrist and hand!  Yet another thing Lucy's blog at Attic24 has introduced me to.