Changing Directions

Do you want to know how to kill a genre for yourself? Read three hundred books in it. I kid you not, I clocked in at over three hundred books this year and most of them were YA. Sure, I can blame health problems for having way too much time on my hands. But the truth is that I love a good book and I’m more than happy to read one. Which is why when I decided to get serious about getting published I started reading YA like crazy. They’re fast, they’re fun, and they matched what I was trying to write. Over the course of three years I averaged 16 a month. That’s a lot of books.



I learned a lot about YA in specific and books in general. My writing got a thousand times better. But there is no way I could have read that many books in the same genre and not see the problems. More then that, there’s no way I could read that many books in the same genre and not seen how my style just doesn’t fit.



I looked like I belonged in YA because the three books I’d finished had all been written in my teens. My sensibilities and style were young because I was young. It wasn’t a preference but a default. While I still think YA is awesome, I’ve come to recognize it’s just not the place for me right now. The book I’m working on right now is adult. This doesn’t mean I’m planning on leaving YA forever. I just don’t think it’s right for me now.



This wasn’t an easy transition. Even though I’ve known for a while that YA wasn’t working for me I couldn’t give it up. Part of it was that I’ve spent so much time working on it. Another part was stubbornness. I want to believe that I can do anything I set my mind too. If that means squeezing my style into a genre that it doesn’t really fit then I was going to do it. Except that means working three times as hard for the same thing. Lastly I've built an online community for myself centered around how awesome YA is and I really don't want to leave it.



Even I can get a clue. I’m no longer volunteering with teens like I used to in my real life. Other things have meant that I needed to grow up a lot. So it looks like that for both real life and fictional life I’ll be making some changes.

Crafty Stuff: The Baby Edition

Well, I’ve had plenty of time to make new things so it’s time to tell you all about them. The past six months seem to have been all baby. A lot of my friends have had kids so it’s been fun to make things for them. I love how small everything is!

The baby blankets fly thick and fast. I made two pink versions of the flower blanket that I showed you last time. I like them both, although I think I like the light color on the last ring of squares better. Sadly that’s the one I gave away! Oh well, baby Lynlee is enjoying it. I also have been brushing up on my knitting skills by making a garter stitch baby blanket. I came across one when I visited my sister in-law last Christmas. She absolutely swears by it! I knew I had to come up with my own version. After a lot of experimenting I made the one I’m the proudest of that I’m including here (check out the free pattern here).

As much as I love baby blankets they’re very time consuming. I have too many friends with babies on the way to keep up! As a compromise I made these booties. I love them! They’re so cute. The great thing is that as long as I use a neutral color I can customize them with the buttons afterwards and be ready for any gender of baby that might show up! I have a pair in my closet waiting to go.

That’s it for this round. I’m sure it will be back!

P.S.  Since I figured out the pattern on my own I want to put it down somewhere in case I need it again. Here is as good a place as any! Here’s the pattern to the baby blankets.

Blanket Pattern:

2 large balls of baby yarn (I picked them up from walmart)

Color A: I used variegated pink

Color B: Purple

(Any other color works just fine)

Crotchet needle (for correct size check the wrapper of yarn)

Blunt Nose Tapestry Needle (for ends)

I’ve got two patterns here. I personally liked Pattern B better, but both are good. Pattern A is significantly smaller then Pattern B.

Pattern A

17 squares of Color A

32 squares of Color B

Color A for edging

Pattern B

52 squares of Color A

29 squares of Color B

Color B for edging

To make the squares:

Chain 3. Join with slip stitch to beginning of chain

Round 1: Chain three. *single crotchet, chain 1* 7 times, or until you can count 8 ‘stems’. Chain one then join with second of chain three by slip stitch.

Round 2: Chain three. *In between the chain three and first sc in previous round do first half of double crotchet. With two loops on your needle repeat previous action (do first half of double crotchet). Do this 8 more times or until there are ten loops on the needle. Pull yarn through all ten loops then chain one. Repeat from star 7 more times, or until there are eight ‘petals’. Join last ‘petal’ to original chain three with a slip stitch.

Round 3: Chain three. Double crotchet twice in next chain one space. Chain 1. Do three double crotchet in same space. Chain one. *Do three double crotchet in next chain one space. Chain one. Do three double crotchet in next chain one space, chain one, and then do three double crotchet in the same space*. Repeat text between *stars* 3 times. Chain one, then do 3 double crotchet in last chain one space. Chain one. Join to top of chain 3 from the beginning with a slip stitch.

Round 4: Chain 3. Double crotchet twice in next chain one space, chain one, double crotchet in same space three times (this should be a corner now). *Chain one, three double crotchet in next chain one space, chain one, three double crotchet in next chain one space, chain one, [3 double crotchet in next chain one space, chain one, 3 double crotchet in same chain one space] *. Repeat between *stars* 3 times. *Chain one, 3 double crotchet in next chain one space* twice. Chain one, join with top of chain three with slip stitch. Tie off.

I joined the squares together using the single crotchet method found here, except I had it in the back instead of the front so that it’s not as obvious.

Pattern A:

B	B	B	B	B	B	B
B	A	A	A	A	A	B
B	A	B	B	B	A	B
B	A	B	A	B	A	B
B	A	B	B	B	A	B
B	A	A	A	A	A	B
B	B	B	B	B	B	B

Pattern B:

B	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	B
A	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	A
A	B	A	A	A	A	A	B	A
A	B	A	A	A	A	A	B	A
A	B	A	A	B	A	A	B	A
A	B	A	A	A	A	A	B	A
A	B	A	A	A	A	A	B	A
A	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	A
B	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	B

Edging: This is all going to be double crotchet. It’s pretty simple but still looks really pretty.

Find a corner. In the chain one of one of the corner squares in between two double crotchet slip stitch to join. Chain three. In between same two double crotchet double crotchet two. *In between each double crotchet of square double crotchet three. In each chain one space double crotchet six* over entire edge of blanket. When you’ve reached originally chain  three slip stitch in third chain then finish off.

*For finishing remember to use a blunt edged tapestry needle to tuck in all the ends.