Strange conversations

I had to go to the eye dr because I have this tearing issue with my left eye that's been going on for about 6 weeks now. As I was sitting in the waiting room, working on the round ripple, this older man comes up to me.
"How very peculiar! (he obviously was from a country where speaking is more of an art than it is here ;)) I have never seen young girls doing work like this before in this country! Old women, yes, but young girls like yourself? Never! (now, I am not, by any means, a "young girl." When did 30 become a "young girl??" LOL!) Mother, look! It's a young girl knitting!! How wonderful!!"
"Actually, I'm crocheting. A lot of my generation does. Why, I even have an entire group of women that I meet with monthly so we can crochet together."
"And what is this you're making?"
"It's an afghan for a baby."
He and his 99 year old mother (he made sure to introduce me and tell me she was 99) walk about 4 feet away so the mother can sit.
He to his mother: "She must be from Ghana, don't you think? I've only ever seen the young girls in Africa do things like that. I think she must be from Ghana. She has to be. I liked Ghana."
It was just the oddest exchange I've ever been a part of. And crocheting means I'm from Ghana?? That one made me crack up! I have a very southern accent, and don't look the least bit exotic! You look at me, and you usually KNOW that I'm a Belle!

Playing Catch Up

I know, I know - I've been neglecting my yarnie blogging duties! I mean to update all the time, I swear it, but there are things that keep preventing me! Like Ravelry, or Heather's new stuff, or just plain bad moods....



Still, I have some things to talk about, most of which is yarn-related. There's one thing, though, that I want to mention first that's not yarnish - My sister is participating in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society half marathon in Atlanta this year. Any donations to help her reach her goal in raising money for research would be greatly appreciated. This is a cause that is pretty near and dear to us, as one of the potential side effects of my treatments last year is developing leukemia or lymphoma in the not-so-distant future. We've also lost a few dear friends to leukemia, and there's more research needed in the areas of adult blood cancers. So if you don't mind, even if it's just a dollar or two, it would really mean a lot. And, it's tax deductible.





Okay, done with the PSA/solicitation. Not something I would normally do, but I just felt it was important. Now back to your regularly scheduled yarning!



I mentioned Ravelry eating up my time. Now, if you don't know about Ravelry, and if you own yarn and hooks or needles, you need to click on that happy little link I have each time I say the word Ravelry on here and check it out! It's an incredible place for we crafty types to go, organize our stash, patterns, WIPs and FOs, books and fibery friends, among other things. It's also an incredible resource for deciding whether a pattern will work for you, choosing yarn subtitutes or asking fiber (and some non-fiber) related questions. Seriously, one stop shop for all your knitting and crocheting needs. Go. Now. http://www.ravelry.com/, just in case you missed the happy clickies above. It's my new home on the net, and I spend ENTIRELY too much time there.



In other (kinda related) news, this past Saturday was Stitch n Pitch at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays game. Great, great fun! I grabbed Tracie and headed to St. Pete so we could get our Ravelry buttons from Pischi, a lovely a lady I'm so happy to have met! I also got to meet Michele and her hubby, someone I need to get to know better! I bet her hubby and Hans could get along well! (meaning I could talk yarn without him getting as irrtated!!)



So here are a few pics from SNP 2007:

Round Ripple Babyghan

I got a a gift card to Hobby Lobby from my brother for Christmas. I don't have any HLs near me, so I ordered online. I got 6 skeins of Bernat Cottontots in three different colors with the sole idea of making a round ripple babyghan. So far, I'm loving this pattern. It's Lyn's Round Ripple Baby Afghan - a beautiful and simple pattern, easy to figure out and follow. I can't post a pic right now because we're hurtling down I-75 at 85 70 miles and hour, so I'm not able to photograph and load pics. Take my word, though, my plan is working out really well so far. I'm doing it in three colors - 6 rnds of CA, 1 rnd of CB, 6 rnds of CC, 1 rnd of CB, 9 rnds CA, 3 rnds CB, 9 rnds CC, 3 rnds CB, then 1 rnd CA to finish her off. I think it's going to look really nice going in that manner. Already I'm on rnd 14 and am happy with the effect.

As I said on my Ravelry comments for this pattern, I want to do another one of these using Baby Coordinates or another fingering/sport weight (or lighter) yarn so that I can try the fading effect that Tracie gave me directions for.

What's going on...?

Tracie has inspired me to complete a very frightening task - inventorying my WIPs. Yeah. Here goes....

Active:
-round ripple babyghan
-Fit To Be Tied purse (just need to sew in liner and seam)
-mini 1 project tool case (my own pattern)
-knitted pashmina ( no pattern, just learning with it - simple garter stitch)
-loom knit scarf
-s hook scarf

Inactive:
-messenger bag prototype (Soon, I promise!!)
-Cozie Blankie - Just too tedius and boring....
-I'm sure there's more, but we're speeding up I-75 in Macon, therefore I'm far, far away from my projects....

Planned:
-dress for heather
-Thycaghan
-knitted lace stole


So there you have it - things I'm doing, things I'm not doing and things I want to do, to an extent. There's lots more, and every day I add to my list of things to do, but I have to take it slowly,, right? Already you see my ADD showing through. And that's not even counting all the shelved projects!

Pointy sticks!!

So I've been working with pointy sticks (AKA - Knitting needles) for a couple of months now, on and off. Haven't worked with them very much - until today, just enough to get my tension kinda figured out on the garter stitch. Today, though, I decided to truly accquaint myself with the purl stitch, making a lovely stockinette stitch. And it's working! Knitting is a bit rougher on my hands than crocheting, but I have a n umber of projects I'd like to do that really do require knitting as opposed to crocheting, namely cables and lace. So off I go. Add to that the fact that my Grandma sent me a pair of her needles (number 4!!!!) and her vintage yarns.
So I'm off. Soon I'll post some pics.

Package has arrived!!

I received the package from my aunt yesterday with the knitting needles and yarn that were my grandparents'. There is some awesome vintage yarn in there, and someone started a beautiful argyle something - I think it's a scarf, but I'm not sure - it could be the beginning of a sweater - perhaps the front left panel. Beautiful dark brown, seafoam green and off white superwash fingering weight wool.... There's also a couple of skeins of cotton/acrylic rug yarn.... and a few others, too....

I also got the three squares for Dani finished and off to Tracie. She's going to take a couple of pics and send them to me.

Not much else going on in the yarn world right now, though. I went down to help family with moving prep, so my hands aren't exactly crochetable right now, and most certainly not knittable.... soon, though. I plan to do some stuff here at home today and then spend tomorrow relaxing (maybe).....

Playing

I haven't said much lately. Mostly because I haven't finished much lately. I seem to have a problem with actually finishing projects. Right now, though, I'm working on some squares for Dani's requested comfortghan. It's for a 1 year old who was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. I hate that there's even a need for a comfortghan for a one year old, but I'm more than happy to contribute......

I've also been working on a super seekrit projeck and a babyghan. Oh yeah, and I need to finish the purse. And the grannyghan. And a couple of other things, I'm sure :D

More to come, soon :D

Oh, goody!!

I talked to my aunt a little while ago. She and my grandmother have been cleaning out Grandma and Grandpa's house, and trying to find new homes for various items. Among the things that have been slated to make the trip here to Florida are a quilt someone started, and almost finished, a few decades back. All I need to do is the edgings, and I will have a beautiful quilt for one of the beds. I'm also evidently getting a plethora of knitting needles, crochet hooks and yarn. I'm so excited! Not only is this stuff that I use, but it's stuff that my grandparents used, things they created different items with. It will be so special to me to know that I'm using the same knitting needles that my grandparents used, that I'm using yarn that they had bought. It's like having a little part of them with me, and something I can eventually pass on to my daughters or grand daughters.

Thoughts an designs

I'm trying to work out exactly how I want to construct the afghan I"m making. I decided, after making the butterfly square for the comfortghan, to make a thyca-ghan. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I have the yarn in the correct colors.

Dunno why I'm blogging this - it's more incomplete thoughts than anything.... oh well....

Comfortghan

Brandee has a colleague who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. So our crochet group is putting together a comfortghan to give her in shades of pink and cream. I did am doing three squares. Actually, I've done 2, and am working on the third on our drive to the Charlie Daniel's concert tonight, where I will give the squares to Brandee...

Square 1 - Butterfly Garden designed by Chris Simon in Caron Simply Soft Plum Wine:





Square 2 - Lacy Sun designed by Dayna Audirsch done in Caron Simply Soft Soft Pink:




I'm also working on a square in off white Simply Soft, but it's just a very basic bubble stitch... sc, dc, dc all in the same stitch, skip 2, repeat....

A big thank you to the magic gnomes who make things possible!

Sock Progress

Just a couple of sock progress pics.... I may have to frog some, though, as I have ridiculously large heels, so normal people socks evidently don't fit me correctly.




PS - I love being a blonde - I hadn't shaved in over a week when I took this pic, but you can't see it!!

Sock Pictures

Here are the pics we took yesterday morning after only spending a short time figuring out the sock pattern and working up swatch, then moving to sock....









They're turning out quite nicely - I'm looking forward to making more! I think my mom will really like a pair!

Newest Adventure

Edited to add a tag for Tracie :P


So I haven't been able to crochet much of late because of RA hand issues (so, yeah, John, if you've been working on the grannyghan, I'm willing to concede a loss.... lemme know {and I need you to email me please....}), but the last couple of days have been pretty good (low iodine diet? liquid diet? not sure, don't care!), so Tracie and I decided to do a sock crochet challenge. So we have our sock yarn and our nice, small hooks, and are sitting here working on shoeable crocheted socks. I think it's going to work out really well!

As a happy aside to the whole sock crochet challenge, I learned to do a dcf (that's a double crochet foundation to you those of you who are crochet illiterate). Awesome little trick, and, with Tra's help, it only took me about 20 minutes to figure out. Neat trick that she and Doris Chan taught me (well, she learned it from one of her DC books....) is to try it out on a larger yarn with a large hook. I figured it out with some light colored Softee Chunky and an M hook, and was able to then easily do it with my sock yarn and F hook. Rocks my socks, pun completely intended. I think this is going to be my new starting method for quite a nmber of applications now!

So that's what's working. No pics right now, but I think we'll do some photographing in the morning before Tra leaves....

The Great Granny Ghan Race of 2007!

So John and I are engaged in a race..... he's a relative newbie to crochet altogether, and I'm a newbie to granny squares. We started about a week apart on a granny ghan - an afghan made of one large granny square. Neither of us are doing any color changes. I think John's doing a babyghan, meaning his end size is going to be about 36"x36", whereas mine's going to be a couch throw..... so I'm thinking about 50"x50".

Here's a pic of progress thus far, side by side. John's is blue, mine gray. We'll do another progress check this weekend!

Hey, John!

Game on! Get Tra to take and post some pics of your grannyghan progress!

Pictures

Okay, yet again my pictures are a couple of days after my initial post. So enjoy!





Baby Granny Ghan:









Gray Granny Ghan:

Fit To Be Tied purse:

I'm a Simple (wo)Man!

It takes so very, very, VERY little to amuse and excite me! I just got an email saying that my Venus Breeze is on its way. I had signed up, through Vocalpoint, to test the new Venus Breeze, but not everyone that signs up is chosen - as in all marketing, you have to meet various demographic criteria. When I read the email saying that I had, in fact, met the aforementioned criteria, I literally (and yes, this is pathetic - I have no life!) said WooHoo! out loud!

So I had extra kids today, as I mentioned either in this blog or in KA&TN, so I had an excuse to be a little lazier than normal. It was wonderful for me because it meant I got to work on my crochet projects a bit more. As Tracie has pointed out, though, I have CADD (crochet attention deficit disorder), so I worked some on the gray granny ghan, some on the baby granny ghan, and then I started on a bobble baby ghan. Purse is sitting waiting. So is the bag. The purse is wool, and the bag is cotton, and my hands are swollen, so worsted acrylic working into spaces is just so much easier on me right now. Of course, Hans thinks that all I do is sit here at home crocheting as it is - having 3 4 projects on the hooks really doesn't help my case any!

Now, since I'm a s l o w blogger, it's St. Patty's Day! Ahhh! Top o' the mornin' to ya! I baked my leprechaun cakes last night they're just plain yellow cupcakes that I mixed green food coloring with and am cleaning the kitchen so I can go ahead and bake my herbed Irish Soda Bread. we're having a few friends over for some Guinness, corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots and, of course, leprechaun cakes. Damned leprechauns forgot to leave me my pot of gold this morning, though.

Well, the family is waking, so I'd better start looking busy! Adieu!

Yarnapy....

Okay, so I had this looooong, informative, witty and link filled post 9/10ths of the way complete when Netscape decided to crap out on me and shut down, so I lost it. I know, I know - I'm an irresponsible blogger to count on Blogger to hold on to my post, and that I should have been (should be?) doing it in Word, since it has that handy dandy recovery option thingy. Here's the thing, though - it's 12:39am, I can't sleep becaue my husband is snoring like the world is about to end, and the only time I have had to get online without two children climbng on me this week is, oh, um, now. Yeah, so screw off, Blogger! And while you're at it, since you're connected to Google, why don't we have that handy little autosave action that we have in Gmail? Seriously - it would be the cat's meow if we did, no joke.


Okay, so here's the deal. Yarnapy. The act of using yarn, in one form or another, as therapy. Indugled in a little more than usual on Tuesday. Went to lunch with a friend, then hit AC Moore to pet the yarns and marvel at all the yarn paraphernalia. Seriously, my eyes were glazing over - I looked like a junkie who had scored a major hit when we left. And since it's spring break, I had to take both kids with me. Now, they're grounded from yarn. Yep, you heard me right. Grounded from yarn. Haven't decided how long yet, but it's in response to the dress destruction that I last blogged. So anyway, my daughters, who love yarn and are grounded from it, were forced to walk with hands in pockets while mommy petted, rubbed and otherwise molested the yarn. For well over an hour. I have to say, though, that they were perfect angels through it all, and for their wonderful behavior, they earned bubbles and a piece of candy each. See, I'm not all evil as a mommy!

Anyway, I spent that time in AC Moore wishing that I had more money in the bank. I think it was as hard for me not to buy as it was for the girls not to touch. All yarn was 25% off, and their prices on many yarns is great to begin with. Still, I for the most part got out scot free. I was very proud of myself, very proud indeed.

So anyway, shopping. Great. Therapeutic, and I was in need of therapy. Then to continue the yarnapy, it was home to play with stash. I got it out, untangled, sorted and organized it all most of it. Then it was time to work on projects. I started on my first ever granny square, which will become a lovely gray ghan for my couch, and a messenger bag (I know this isn't a crocheted bag - it's just the style, plus, I love the bag - maybe for John, Tra??) to sling across my body and carry my project du jour to, from and at the bus stop (or any other place I deem hook-worthy.) Hooking and talking carried on late into the evening, interrupted by the need for food, which necessitated a trip to Winter Garden Pizza for stromboli, garlic knots and salad. I also decided, finally, on a use for the Patons SWS in natural pink that Dani gave me for Christmas. I'm going to make the Fit To Be Tied purse out of Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. Of course, I started on that yesterday, despite being told not to start another project until either the ghan or the bag were completed. We all know, though, that that wouldn't happen. I won't even mention that fact that tonight I made a flower and started on another granny ghan. Hey, it's for Project Linus, so don't give me too hard of a time!!

Okay, I know there was more I wanted to blog about on here, but I think I am finally tired enough that I can pass out despite the log sawing coming from the other side of my bed. I'll leave you with this link, though - turn on your speakers :D

Skein

Dress Disaster

Remember that lovely little dress I was posting about? The one for Heather? The one that was half way done? Yeah, well, it no longer exists.


Yesterday, while I was in bed nursing the mother of all hangovers, my loving, darling daughters snuck the dress out of my room. Then they frogged it. All the way to the bodice. And tangled the yarn.



Yeah. One of those moments when you send your kids to their room so that you don't end up doing something rash that you will later regret.