Crocheting lately

It's been a while since I've done a crochet post! Here are a few things I've been working on lately:

This cactus was whipped together on a craft night with friends, and holds my rings in the kitchen! It's just a tube of alternating front-loop-only single crochet tied up at the ends and stuffed. It only took about 30 minutes to hook together even while chatting...I love small projects!

I made a set of these coasters from a vintage pattern posted here. They're quite lovely, work like a charm to protect our furniture, and can be made much bigger just by using a bigger hook! It's also an easy pattern to memorize and fits nicely in any bag, unlike this next project...

This is a work-in-progress...a belated birthday shawl for Zabrina. I had been working on one previously using this pattern for a lover's knot blanket as a guideline, but there was something wrong with my turn...the edges of the shawl/blanket were far too tight compared to the rest. I was already far overdue on her birthday gift and was so frustrated with the project that I just asked her to pick something, and she chose this pattern for a stunning Celtic knot shawl. I took an evening to frog all my previous work (all 4 balls of yarn), re-rolled the yarn into center-pull balls, and started on this. It's only been a couple of days with me working on it on-and-off in the evening watching TV, but I'm really enjoying the pattern! I can't wait until I'm far enough along to see the design start to really pop. 

It's also my first time working with filet, which I had only seen previously in antique white doilies and table runners with very small yarn or even thread. It takes a little getting used to, but I love that I'm getting to try it in this life-sized pattern before I ever attempted the old-fashioned microscopic versions. It's been an easy introduction to the technique and I can't wait to try other patterns!

The last thing I'm working on right now is a bit of a secret. It's taken quite a bit more work than I originally thought, but after pretty much making up my own pattern, I'm nearly finished! I'm trying to remember to take process pictures and will post all of them when it's complete!

What have you been working on lately?