Ah...finally back

Wow, I've finally made it back to my blog. It's been so long I almost don't know where to start catching up.

I managed to get an invitation to my daughter's wedding despite our estrangement. I thought I'd post pictures of the wedding on here so you can all see my lovely daughter. She wore black (go figure). A beautiful crocheted halter and skirt (not crocheted by me of course). It was rather unusual, they had been planning a larger formal wedding then decided last minute to just tie the knot before he entered the army. They chose a beautiful historic location out in the woods and even though it was the dead heat of August they looked great. I on the other hand almost wilted before it was all over.
The bride and groom.
Here they are with the pastor, receiving their marriage certificate. You can see a little more of the dress. Doesn't she look happy?

The rings.


I've been busy crocheting baby things all summer and fall. I don't have pictures to post yet but rest assured I will post them as soon as I go recover them from my friend's computer.

A good friend of the family was having a little boy in October. The shower was beautiful and I swear I've got pictures, just have to get them loaded onto my computer so I can show them off.

Since then I have been busy making baby things for my brother's first grandchild, due at the end of January. I've got lots of things made, but no pictures taken as of yet. They will follow though, I promise you.

Outside of that, little else has been of noteworthy interest. I got moved back in and almost have everything where I want it. My sister has since moved in with me, been a bit over a week now. It's a huge adjustment for me and I'm sure for her as well. She works nights and sleeps during the day so things are going pretty well so far. Ah, the honeymoon period! :)

Ok folks, I will return with pictures in hand (or on computer as the case may be). Till then, take care.

Popping In

Well, how to recap the past few months? Hectic? Oh yes! I'm still not back in, but the house is almost ready. It's time to start comparison shopping and I have no idea how I'll accomplish that and still move what items I've salvaged from the inferno back in as well. But, I'm grateful it'll be happening soon. I've missed my space, my peace and my routine.

On a good note, I've been keeping busy lately crocheting baby items for a shower. Once I get settled back into the house you just might get a peek at all of them.

I also had a great time experimenting with mobius wraps. I made two of the same color lacette yarn and they exquisite.

Soon (hopefully) I'll be back to regular blogging, until then people, take care.

Update

I thought I should let people know why my blog page has sat idle for so long, and why it will probably be the condition it remains in for a time. On January 29th I had a house fire which put me out of my home for at least three months. The dogs are fine; they as well as myself were unharmed but the fire destroyed most of the interior and a whole lot of contents. I've spent the last month trying to sift through the wreckage, talking to insurance agents, talking to contractors and trying to be "at home" outside my own home. Funny, you never realize how comfortable you've become in a place until you can't go back. At least that has been my experience. I am hoping the restoration/remodeling people will be finished with the place by the end of April and then I can start refurnishing my home. I was told that I could get most of my personal information off the hard drive of my computer and so will have to attempt something like that once I get another computer. For now I'm staying with a very good friend and using her computer so I can get on to check mail and roam the net but I'm not sure how often I'll be posting here. Not sure either if I'll be able to post pictures of my completed projects either. I have to obtain a new camera first and that's essentially one of the last things on my list of things to do at this point. So, if I can manage all the juggling you'll get posts/pictures/updates...if I can't then at least you all know why. I will be back though, to post and show off, LOL...I have made myself a new updated crochet supply case and I'm dying to show it off. I used the pattern for the case written by Sally V. George found here but tweaked it to accomodate more supplies. It's a little bulky but it holds everything very nicely without being too cumbersome. I promise pictures as soon as I can manage it. Until I see you again, Happy Crocheting!

Delays, Decisions & Delimmas

Finished Seraphina
Well, new pictures of old projects. Completed the Seraphina Shawl so here's the picture of the finished project. A friend of mine is modeling it for me.
Here is the shawl spread open so you can see the "wings"

And another shot of it wrapped around. This angle really shows the stitch detail don't you think?


Fleecing Shrugs
I also have another of those fleece shrugs completed. This one is a print fleece with a sleeve and collar insert made with Simply Soft Turquoise yarn. Again, a shot of the front so you can see the collar

and a look at the back which shows the lovely print of the fleece.
These shrugs are snuggly warm as well as pretty.

Doily Delimmas
Now to reach quite a while back in my blogging and bring up an old project that I had some problems with. I made a cute doily called the Cluster Stitch Doily. The project was frustrating me because I kept having to frog the last few rows, over and over again so I put it up. Well, about a year or so later I picked it up and went back to work on it. I discovered at that time that I didn't have enough thread on the core I had so I went into my stash and pulled out what I thought was a match. Now, I of course got the wrong thread (and eventually learned a valuable lesson in mercerized vs. non-mercerized threads) and once the project was completed there was enough color/texture difference in the two that I felt I needed to do something with the doily. I thought I'd either dye it or stain it with tea or coffee. So, up the doily went again until I felt like fooling around with changing the color. After a bit of research I decided to dye the doily with Kool-Aid rather than stain it with tea or coffee. I hadn't yet learned that mercerized vs. non-mercerized lesson else I would most likely have just given up on the whole thing. I chose a grape color thinking it might just come out a lovely lavender which would make the doily very pretty indeed. What came out was a partially pink product that looked like this:


I was dismayed to say the least (this is when I figured out the whole mercerized vs. non-mercerized thing mind you-- a valuable lesson for the future). After letting it dry I decided to leave it as it was and try to pass it off as a deliberate action on my part, lol! I know with Kool-Aid dyeing you have to set the color and for that you need vinegar so I rinsed the doily again and let it soak in a vinegar solution, then laid it back out to dry. The finished product came out like this:


Now I realize setting the color drained a lot of it from the thread and left a subtle difference in shades between the white and the pink, but I kind of like the end product. I've got it put up again and am mulling this over thinking that I can either leave it as is (after another washing of course to determine if the color is going to fade any more or stay as is) or redye the project, hoping for a deeper shade of pink on the part that took the dye and for a resistance to the dye on the part that didn't take the color. Ah...I can see this is going to be my last doily for a very long time!

Out With the Old

Today I'm saying farewell to a year that slid by so quickly I could barely keep up with the days as they passed along. I got a lot of crochet accomplished this year. Producing unique and beautiful items had the effect of bringing me a great deal of satisfaction, pleasure and sense of accomplishment. What a nice legacy to leave behind.

I finally made the number one spot on my HQ page of free links this holiday season. I am committed to continuing to add links to the page because I like having all those free options in one place.

Over the holidays I didn't get a lot of crochet accomplished. I whipped up some coasters as a last minute gift that I never took pictures of. Guess that means I'll have to make some more just so I can show them off. They're gorgeous coasters and the pattern works up really quick. I finished another One Skein Scarf from the pattern in the Happy Hooker's Stitch 'n Bitch book. The link for the pattern can be found in my last post where I was showing off the Yellow Buttons yarn project. This one is done with Jewel Box Amethyst yarn.
It made a very long scarf.
A detailed shot of the neck
A close-up so you can see the beautiful colorway.

Another project I've ventured into with a crochet friend are Fleece Shrugs with crocheted details. I have pictures of one, constructed with pink fleece and trimmed in a pink print boucle yarn.

Front & Back

Close-up details of the collar Back
Front

The last thing I've worked on for the year is Christmas related. I started it on a whim after Christmas because I wanted something quick and easy to work up. I saw this pattern for a Snowflake Doily and loved it. Instead of using the size 50 thread and size 12 steel hook to obtain a doily 7 1/2 inches in diameter I used some R.H. Holiday yarn and a size F hook to create a centerpiece 25 1/2 inches around.


So my new year starts with the unfinished Seraphina's shawl and Zen scarf that have been occupying space in my Progress Bors all month. I'm hoping the ushering in of 2008 will give me the incentive I need to pick both projects up and complete them before the end of January. We'll see, sometimes these things have a time frame of their own, to which I am not privy.

I hope this coming years brings new inspiration to all my fellow crafters out there, indeed even new inspiration to those who choose other forms of creation and relaxation.

Projects Gone Wonky

Well, not sure what's going on with the Progress meter here, but it's gone wonky on me and I don' t know why. Perhaps it's just my luck, perhaps it knows I'm a computer moron and has taken this opportunity to screw with my head. I've tried a couple of simple things with no luck. *Sigh* I will try adding another project to the mix and see if it straightens out then. Bear with me folks I'm a much better talker than programmer.

I wanted to share pictures of the round shawl now that I have it completed. You remember the one I said I was making from a vintage pattern I found in an old Mon Tricot magazine that I picked up at the local Thrift store? Well, it took a bit but I finished it and I think it's gorgeous.Here's a picture of the shawl in progress. I have gone through two of the five cluster sequences of the project. It turned into a huge round lovely shawl but I could only get a photo of it folded, with my friend holding it against a sheet and draping it over her back in order to get a good picture of the color and detail. At least this project didn't go wonky on me.

I still have the Zen scarf in process, haven't bothered to pick it up and work a stitch because it's so tedious that it's been boring me. Hopefully I'll get back to it soon and finish it up.

Meantime I've discovered the joy of making the One Skein Scarf from the Happy Hooker's Stitch 'n Bitch Book. I had a couple skeins of this vintage yarn called Buttons that was a pretty yellow with flecking that seemed perfect for this project. The end result:

Lovely scarf; the pattern is easy and works up super fast, in about three hours.
Here is a close up shot of the yarn with the colors flecked throughout.


I'm working on a second one using this pattern with some Jewel Box yarn in an Amethyst color.

O.k., So He's Got Me Hooked

Poor Me!
I wanted to share with you a special thing I got to capture today; a picture of my dog Baby at his "best". I had a friend stop by this evening and both Baby and Honey were yammering away wanting attention. Honey, being younger and less well behaved usually gets the attention early on while Baby waits patiently. Once Honey has had her fill then Baby wants his turn. Now, tonight my friend was busy talking to me about something important and wasn't paying attention to the Baby boy, he started whining in the most pitiful manner and so I told my friend she should give him some lovin' just to shut him up for a bit, lol. Well, she called him over, he jumped up on the couch beside her and sat there, soaking up the attention. He just happened to turn and give one of those pitiful little whimpers and I laughed, grabbed up my camera and got him to look my way long enough to snap a shot of him at his "hammy" best. Now, isn't this the most pitifully ignored puppy you've ever seen?

My sadly neglected Baby.

Onto Projects
I have to say I've been lax in finishing up projects but finally tonight I forced myself to sit down and finish the Farpoint Topper I started back in October. I posted pictures which will show up on my progress bar, but I'm going to post the picture here as well because I think the top turned out so beautiful and I want a picture that will stay on the blog after I've gone on to other projects. This was really a simple project, worked from the book Amazing Crochet Lace by Doris Chan. By the way, I absolutely looooovvveeee this book. Every project in it is something eye catching. I have only worked two of the projects so far, but I've intentions of working almost all of them, eventually! So, the Farpoint Topper:


I finally picked up the Seraphina's Shawl that I started in the Cozi Yarn and frogged repeatedly until I had to put it down for fear of messing up the yarn. It's such a beautiful colorway of yarn it would have broken my heart to mess it up, so I put the thing up for a bit until I felt capable of tackling it again. I've gotten probably 60% though it now and I'm quite pleased with the way it's turning out. I've draped it over my shoulders a few times checking the length and I just love it, so soft, cuddly and warm. I may have to keep this one for myself; we'll see.
Front side View of the back


A closeup of the beautiful color, called Evening Jewels.