Half-way!

I've met a goal of sorts today. Well, really I've met half a goal today. I've been taking part in the NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month. Which means, I blog every day for the month of November. Since today is the 15th, I have made it thru half the month and posted each day! Yeah for me!!

Loop-d-Loop Yarn

My yarn has arrived!! Nine balls of Moss Loop-d-Loop yarn. This will become the Shell Lace Jacket from the fall 2007 issue of Vogue Knitting. (At least, that is what I planning right now.)

The yarn is 85% extra fine merino wool and 15% nylon. It's soft and a little bit fuzzy. And the first thing I thought when I grabbed a ball from the bag was slippers.

I want a pair of moss Loop-d-Loop slippers. I know I've seen a pattern for knitted ballet-type slippers somewhere on the 'net. I'm hoping there will be enough left over from the jacket. If not, well, I'll just have to buy more.

Chained Up!

HELP!! The duckies and I are trapped behind this huge woolen net. I'm not sure if we will ever get free. The net just keeps growing larger.

As you tell, work is continuing on the Waffle Lattice Shawl. Even though at times it seems that I'm doing battle with a giant red octopus, I am enjoying this project. I like to do new and challenging things occasionally.

I'm really torn between projects now because my yarn for the knitted jacket came in the mail today. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see it but the yarn is really nice.

Amazing Crochet Lace by Doris Chan

I love Doris Chan's patterns! I'll thumb through a magazine, find a pattern I like, look for the designer's name, and, of course, it will be -- Doris Chan. This happens quite often. She just seems to design things exactly the way I like them.

That's why when this book showed up in my local Border's, I didn't have to think twice about buying it. I knew I would like the patterns and I was right.

Now I haven't actually had a chance to make anything from Amazing Crochet Lace yet, but it is one of my frequently browsed-thru books.

A.C.L. contains 19 patterns. There are dresses, vests, shawls, jackets, and shrugs. The Rissa Robe made with Microfiber Ribbon is one that I do hope to make sometime next year.

The book is geared towards crocheters with a bit of experience. But a determined beginner should have no problems working through the patterns. And as a bonus, the patterns seem to be correct. The published errata, which is found here, is very short.

Chains & Video

These are the 40 base chains for the Waffle Lattice Shawl I'm making. They almost completely cover a full size bed. And I thought I would finish this project today!! I didn't.

I'm usually pretty good at reading a pattern and visualizing the work involved. But I totally underestimated the size of the shawl before felting. And is going to be big, big. I have started on the cross chains and I do think I'll be happy with the finished project. But it's a lot of chains.
And tonight at church we made videos. Here I am in the back of the closet, in front of the green screen (which was very, very green) and surrounded by lights (which were very, very hot). We talked about the ministry we are involved in - I'm a leader in the Celebrate Recovery program - and about the changes that God has made in our lives. I had never sat down before a camera like that before, but it was a lot of fun.

I tried to find some volunteers for the video project later. I was surprised at how many people really seriously don't want to sit down in front of a camera and talk.

New Yarn! New Stitch!

I currently have six projects going. One, a butterfly blanket, almost finished, that will probably be put aside until after Christmas. Two, a knitted shawl, half done, that is also probably going to wait. Three, a shawl I started today. Four, a jacket that I'm waiting for the yarn to get here. Five, a Christmas tree skirt that I have some of the yarn for. And Six, an afghan that I haven't started and don't have the yarn for and would like to give my husband for Christmas. I think I'm going to be very, very busy over the next couple of months.


This is six balls of Cascade 220 and they are not quite as bright as in this picture. I've actually started this project today. I'm making the Waffle Lattice Shawl in the Fall 2007 issue of Interweave Crochet. It's coming along pretty good and I have high hopes of finishing it tomorrow.
The fall 2007 issue of Vogue Knitting includes a pattern for a Shell Lace Jacket which I have absolutely fallen in love with. The VK jacket is red but I'm going to make it in green. I've got the yarn on order and I'm having to endure the hardship of waiting for it to be delivered. But since I do own a pretty hefty yarn and needle stash, I did some practicing on the cockleshell lace pattern today. This includes a purl 15-stitches together maneuver! Not something I do very often, so I figured the practice would be good. You can see that my second try came out much better than my first.

Geometrics by Ruthie Marks

This is a neat book. Ruthie Marks uses geometry principles to create some really interesting patterns.The book focuses on three geometric principles, dragon curves, golden ratio, and fibonacci sequence. And if, like me, your comprehension of these principles is a little rusty, there's an understandable explanation of each one.

But I have to admit that it was the star afghan on the cover that caught my eye. It is an example of the golden ration and is worked entirely in front post double crochet which gives the blanket a very smooth appearance.

Geometrics includes a wide range of patterns - scarfs, rugs, afghans, wall-hangings and pillows. There's one shawl pattern in the section of dragon curves.

I plan to adapt one of the rug patterns to a blanket for my hubby as soon as I can buy the yarn.

Rock City Waterfall

Hubby and I took a trip back in September to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We had a wonderful time. I'll post a few pics as time goes by cause one must have a break occasionally from books.

Chattanooga is really a beautiful city. And there are lots of things to do there. There's Ruby Falls, an Inclined Railway, the Chattanooga Aquarium and Imax, dinner cruises on the river and lots of beautiful scenery. And of course we had to See Rock City. I had been there once as a child and it was neat to go back as an adult.

This is the waterfall near Lover's Leap at Rock City.

Scarf Style

This book of knit and crochet patterns is one of my books that I just love to browse through. Scarf Style has 31 patterns, mostly knit, although there are four crochet patterns included.

Some of the scarfs are more shawl than scarf and two of the patterns are really shrugs. But there are some beautiful patterns in here.

Some of the earliest printings have errors. There's a list of corrections at here.

I do wish that knit and crochet books would make more of an effort to even up the mix of knit and crochet. Twenty-seven knit patterns and four crochet patterns is really not fair to the crocheters who buy this book.

And as long as I'm on this soapbox, I also wish that publishers would note on the Contents Page exactly which patterns are knit and which are crocheted.

Home Again!

Hubby keeps mentioning that I haven't put a picture of our new dog on my blog, so here she is! This is Pepper Doodle, a medium-sized, mutt-type dog.

We acquired Pepper when she showed up outside hubby's office looking for a new place to stay. He scooped her up and brought to our home (after a brief detour to the vet's office).

She's a young dog, still full of all that happy peppy puppy excitement. And she is incredibly friendly. I really don't think she was homeless for very long.

She has managed disappear once by creating a hole in the wood fence in the back yard, leaving a puppy sized hole in said fence. She stayed gone all that night, and the next morning crawled back through the hole and showed up at the back door like nothing at all had happened. (And we were so worried about her being all lost and all alone.) Hubby has since covered the hole with some plywood and there have been no more escape attempts.

She's also a thief and loves to grab things and take them outside. She steals shoes, towels, CDs, and coffee cups. She even managed to steal hubby's power drill and take it out back. We are looking for ways to discourage this thievery thing she has going on.

But I think we will keep her. She is slowly starting to settle down and become part of the family.

Jean Kinmond's Crochet Patterns

Just to prove that my obsession with collecting pattern books is not a recent thing, here's a book from 1969.

(Note: I did not actually purchase this book in 1969. I was only 6 years old and my prized possession at that time was a green plastic Disney Jungle Book bag that I proudly carried to school each day.)

I picked up this slightly used copy somewhere and it's not a bad book although the print is really tiny. And it still has the original dust jacket!!

Crochet Patterns was written for the more refined lady of the sixties. There's no groovy hippie-type patterns here. The thread color used falls mainly in the white/ecru family. And each pattern starts with the charming phrase "Commence with xx ch".

There are patterns for tablecloths, mats, runners, and chairbacks along with a few wearables. Actually, there is one pattern for a tailored blouse that I hope to try one day.

The patterns are all for thread crochet. Obviously, Jean Kinmond designed for Coats because each pattern calls for Coats Mercer-Crochet thread in various sizes. And a quick google of her name brings up several different books for Coats.

Toilet Roll Covers

Yes, I own this book. What else can I say? I thought the cover was very cute and even my husband laughed when I showed off my new purchase.

It's a real book - with patterns - of toilet roll covers. And it's English, as in East Sussex, from way across the Atlantic ocean.

Now I don't have anything against English people or products, but they just don't use the english language in the same way that we Americans do. So reading the book is slightly odd - what with the mentions of colours, stocking stitches and double crochet that isn't a dc stitch at all.

But, all in all, it is a cute book and I may actually make a piggy TP cover one day. The book has patterns for 30 different toilet roll covers, there's sweaters, polar bears, keyboards, and drums just to name a few. Nine crochet patterns and the rest are knitted.

And now for something a little different...
Over on Crochetville, some of us in Mississippi have been talking about meeting up, for real, in person. And we actually did it!!
Meet Craftytoo, CD Bear, and me! We spent the day in downtown Columbus, MS (a very lovely spot). We talked, we ate lunch, CD Bear taught a class, and we played with yarn. The afternoon just seemed to fly by. It was lots of fun and I made new friends!

Did I mention there was yarn? We met at Yarns Downtown. And there was lots of yarn to pet, and comfy chairs to relax in. If you are ever in Columbus, be sure to drop by.

And you know I came home with a bag of yarn and another book (of course).

Vogue Knitting Crocheted Shawls

Now I absolutely love shawls, so this book was a must-have. It is from Vogue Knitting's On The Go! series and is a small book packed with some wonderful shawl patterns.

Although there is a small how-to-crochet section, this book is best for crocheters with some of experience crocheting and reading patterns.

I like this book and several of the patterns are very high on my to-do list. Crocheted Shawls has 21 patterns from mohair to ribbon, spiral to box, mesh to snowflake, triangles to rectangles. Honestly there's only 1 pattern in this book that doesn't appeal to me and I've already figured out a way to "tweak" that pattern to my liking.

Crochet Flowers

So it is National Blog Posting Month. And there's a contest, which I've joined for two reasons. One, I would really like to get back in the habit of blogging. And, two, I've thought of a theme. I've been wanting to get some form of organization to all my crocheting books and this is a perfect excuse to catalog the books that I have.


I'll start with a brand new book that I just got today - Nicky Epstein's Crochet Flowers. It's a beautiful book that I'll be browsing thru for quite a while. The book contains patterns for over 40 different flowers. There's also several project patterns including a felted purse, a hat and a bridal bouquet. And there's a great shawl that I hope to get around to soon.

Directions are given as both written patterns and symbol patterns. (Yea for the symbols - that's my favorite way to read a pattern!!) The only negative thing I've found is that the measurements of each flower are not given. And it would be really useful to know just how wide that pansy is before I started.

But I do like the book. And since flowers don't use much yarn, it is a great excuse to buy one skein of some truely wonderful yarn!!

Half-way!!

I've been miserably stuck at home for the past 4 days coughing and sniffling. I've had nothing but time on my hands and I've done some crocheting and some knitting.

I alternate between crocheting and knitting. I'm a much better (and faster) crocheter, but I'm determined to learn to knit. I've been (slowly) working on A Beginner Triangle from A Gathering of Lace.

And I hit the half-way point this weekend. I'm just thrilled with this tiny little point!! It's taken forever to get this far.


(Not the best of pictures, but I'm sickly...)

Published, Ravelry, & Purchased

I've heard that good things come in threes and it must be true.

Good Thing #1 - On a whim, I submitted the pie picture below to allrecipes. The recipe didn't have a photo and I figured mine was pretty good, even though it is a tiny bit fuzzy. So I checked today and, well, the picture you see here was taken by me. That makes me a published photographer, doesn't it? It's a small thrill for me.

Good Thing #2 - I finally got my Ravelry invite. I picked the user name "Duckie" over there. (Just 'cause I think ducks are cute.) Haven't done anything more than lurk around the site, really haven't had time to do much more. But it looks interesting and I'm sure I'll post a few things there later on.

Good Thing #3 - I got a package in the mail. Amazon may well be my downfall. It's a whole website full of books and other neat stuff, gold box specials, and the ability to pre-order crochet books that haven't yet been released! I check Amazon every day. And the package was one of the books I had pre-ordered.

What can be cuter (and more useless) than a toilet roll cover shaped like a pink pig? Yes, I bought this book because I thought the cover was just too cute. So, I've got my late-night reading covered for tonight.


Gotta Go - Have a good one!

Puddin' & Pie

I cleaned out one of the kitchen drawers yesterday. Does anyone else stick miscellaneous items in kitchen drawers? We do - strange little doo-dads, notes to remember, and hubby saves wire nuts.

I don't know why he saves wire nuts. But he's like a squirrel hiding acorns when it comes to wire nuts. Little piles turn up here and there around the house. It's one of the strangest things about him. He's an addiction counselor - why does he need so many wire nuts?

Anyway, one of the kitchen drawers had become so full that it no longer opened smoothly. We were having to grab the handle and JERK to get it opened. So I dumped the whole thing!

And amongst the wire nuts, doo-dads, rolling pins and cloth napkins, I found a recipe all folded up. A recipe for which I just happened to have all the ingredients. So we now have one well-organized clean kitchen drawer and we had pie last night. And it was all very good.

The recipe is Grandma's Butterscotch Pie from allrecipes.com. I even made the crust from scratch! And served it up with a lite dusting of nutmeg!

Boteh Scarf

Finally finished, blocked and photographed my Boteh scarf. The pattern, designed by Kathy Merrick, is in the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Crochet. I used Lorna's Laces Shephard Sock yarn in the color Gold Hill. I thought the variegated colors would make this a nice fall scarf.

And it did turn out very nicely I think. I made it just a good bit shorter than the pattern so it is a bit more wearable for me. There's a closer shot below of the pattern repeat. This was a fun and quick project.

Baroque Jacket

Pattern: Baroque Jacket

Designer: Stitch Diva

Yarn: Brown Sheep's Cotton Fine

I bought the Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet book because it contained this pattern, although it is also available from Stitch Diva's website. Picked up some yarn and I finished this several months ago. But it looked so bad that I tossed it in a drawer and left it there. Now I am trying to finish all the unfinished projects around here, so I pulled this back out and blocked it. Wow! What a difference blocking made (and I apologize for the lack of a "before" picture). It is really a nice jacket and I've already worn it.

The original pattern calls for ribbons to be woven through the lace and tied in front. But I opted instead for raiding my button stash and adding some loops for button holes.

The yarn is a 80% cotton/20% wool mix and looks great but it was a pain to work with. It just kept splitting and I almost gave up. But I think this project was well worth it.