timmba, Welcome to the addictions! Eastern OR climate and growing conditions will be very similar to mine except you may have more rainfall (??) and milder lows in winter. I've driven through Pendleton many times of year on my way between WA & CO. I'm from Western WA originally- that's a very different ball game growing anything. As someone mentioned, they have difficulty in the cool marine zones with flowers opening properly. I'm in Eastern CO where the Rockies create a dryzone so it is high altitude grassland desert. I'm totally hooked on both iris and daylilies. Just bought a display garden of both and with somewhere over 500+ large clumps that I'm moving to a community garden closer to me while I look for land to start a commercial garden on. As you begin your collecting it will be important to check that the varieties you get are hardy and perform well in a similar climate to your own. Though many do well in every climate, some just don't thrive outside of the climate type where they were hybridized. Iris are the same, especially now that many of the commercial hybridizers have moved to more temperate climates.

Thanks Linda, but when you are doing the squares, you start with a tail, then start your granny, then finish and leave a tail. My other question is what do you do with the tails so they will not come loose or out of the afghan. I talked to one of the other ladies on here, mamalo3, and she said she sews them with color co-ordinating thread so they dont come loose. I figure that there has to be a better way, I just havent found one. That was her solution, which is a terrific idea, but I just finished an afghan for a baby 176 squares, and that seems like alot of sewing and to be honest with you I sew horrible...the squares were challenging enough for me. Now I saw some really cute ones on this site that is posted, and I am thinking that I just sew horrible, so i can crochet them together, but the tails are still there, and grrrrrrr!!! Thanks Linda for the help and advice, any at this point is well taken and appreciated.Mamalo3 had a great solution for her work, but she must love to sew, :( these old eyes are looking for an easier way....

Wow -- thanks, everyone, for responding! It's fun reading about what you're working on. Mscsippy -- I don't have photos of any of the stuff I've made; and none of the stuff that's currently in progress is at a point where a photo would make much sense, because my camera just doesn't seem to take decent closeups (they always manage to end up out of focus or blurred in some way - I guess I need a tripod!). But, I'll try to get photos of all of these things as I finish them. Taigen -- my paternal grandmother tatted. I have many beautiful things that she tatted. I tried, but failed, to learn to crochet, so I don't think I'd be able to master tatting, either. Cherbo -- you're much more sane than I am! Moni -- your secrets are safe with me. ;-) Donna37 -- I haven't done any embroidery in sooo long! I'd like to start up again with embroidery and also counted cross stitch. I've got a counted cross stitch Christmas sampler that I started soooooo many years ago! The horrid thing, too, is that there's not that much more to do to finish it. I have completed many, many counted cross stitch projects, I just don't know why I've never gotten around to finishing this one. One of these days... Dances -- my sister wants some fingerless gloves/mitts, so that's a project that is on my "to do" list. I'm sure this Winter will be long gone by the time she gets them. LOL! But I, too, have vastly different yarns on each of my projects-in-progress, and I'm certain that must be why I have so many going at once. Eliza Ann -- knitting is supposed to be very good for relaxation and stress relief. Maybe you should spend 15 or 20 minutes knitting each evening to help relieve the stress of getting your house ready for sale. :-) Linda -- that is a really cute poncho, and I love the color! I also think it would make a cute skirt (not without a slip/petticoat of some sort, though!). But, as I've said, I can't crochet at all, not even one stitch or chain or whatever it's called... :-( Donna Loomis -- you're my hero! Keep adding to your list of projects so I won't feel so bad, ok? :-) Zipper -- I'll be sure to pay attention to what I'm doing when I finally get around to the Baby Surprise Jacket. My niece isn't due until mid-July, and since it's her first, it could easily be late July or early August by the time she delivers, so I'm counting on having enough time to finish the two baby blankets that I'm working on (I've already given her one, and all three are totally different from each other); and I also want to get some booties and caps done, too. Janie -- I haven't experienced the "knot on the wrist," but I HAVE suffered from cramps in my left thumb from gripping the left needle too tightly when it's a small size needle and lace weight yarn. Another reason why I like to have a bunch of projects going with different yarns -- so I can relieve that stress on my thumb. Socks -- I keep each project in a separate bag, and I always have paper and a pencil (mechanical pencil, so I can retract the lead) with each project so that I can make notes as to where I am when I stop. And I try to always stop after I've finished an odd-numbered row, which somehow helps (like a placebo, I'm sure!). Susanjf -- yarn outlet??? WHERE??? Ivamae -- what color poncho are you going to make? Jannie -- your project will turn up when you least expect it! What size bamboo needles were you using? I use bamboo needles for everything that I knit that is knitted on straight needles. I also have the Bamboo Sister interchangeable circular needles set from Plymouth Yarn Company, and some fixed circular bamboo needles. One of the baby blankets is being done with the Plymouth interchangeable bamboo circulars, but for the other I'm using the Options Harmony Wood Interchangeable Needles from Knit Picks. I love those needles because the points are much "pointier" than on the bamboos, so it makes it easier to knit lace weight and fingering weight yarns. I've also got an afghan going on another size of the Harmony needles and the varigated-color yarn is nearly the exact same colors as the needles, so it's a challenge! Sheila Joyce -- what a great thing you're doing! I'm a tight knitter, so I certainly hope that no one ever has to attempt to finish anything I've started... Would using a smaller hook (than the one called for in the pattern) help at all? Have you tried taking the partial cloth into a yarn store to see what they can recommend to match the thread?

I think I would discourage you for a few reasons. First of all, chenille sheds badly and here and there a stitch can be hard to rip out when you make a mistake. Ripping out makes it shed even more and you risk bald spots in the yarn if it knots up or has to be ripped out a few times. Chenille cannot be washed. I am also surprised at the cost of the yarn listed with the pattern. This is an expensive project. But you could make it or any other pattern using another yarn. If you really want to make this afghan, I might suggest a chunky yarn or using two strands of a nice worsted yarn. Wool is warm and cozy, and acrylic will be machine washable and dryable as well as moth proof. Be sure you have a big enough crochet hook too. I also discourage beginners from making afghans with strips or squares until they have really practiced lots or made a couple of other items so they have a consistent size to their stitches. Gauge is very important when you make pieces that have to be exact matches with each other when they are sewed together in assembling. If you have not crocheted enough so as to develop even stitches, you will discover that your squares are all sorts of sizes when you try to sew them together, and that the first square is totally different from the 20th or 30th square you crocheted. I highly recommend the Basketweave Throw pattern on the same site. I have made a few of them and it looks especially nice in a deep color. I like to add an edge by stitching single crochet around the edge for 2 to 4 rows, making the 3rd of those edging rows in another color. Are you aware of No Dye Lot yarns? I like to use acrylic No Dye Lot yarns for big projects. That way, if I need to buy more, the new purchase will match the other yarn I bought previously. I have used No Dye Lot yarns I had bought years earlier to make something and then have been able to buy additional matching yarn to finish it up and had no problem. I don't think wool comes in No Dye Lot.