Crochet in the Car

The other day my husband and I carpooled into work. It's a little under an hour each way, and I usually bring crochet that I don't have to watch too closely, as it's a very curvy road.

On the way there I made most of a water bottle tote, but then on the way back I got the idea to try washcloths.

I thought rather than a flat one I'd make it 3D, kind of like a loofah.


It turned out ok, but next time I'll use cotton/acrylic rather than the 100% cotton.

The idea was very simple, I started with a magic ring with 6 sc, then did two sc in each for 12, and then a one-two for 18 to make the center. Then I did 3 dc in each, and then 2 dc in each for the last few rows to finish the ruffle.

Our kitties continue to take turns going to the vet. This time it was Casper with a foxtail in the eye (ouch!) He's doing much better now but is still squinty and requested no photography ;)

Mouse, however, is always happy to pose.


And here's a rare shot of Spook lounging in bed. She reminds me of a resting dragon in this pic.



-- iPhone post

Funky Dress

I know, two posts in one week, don't look so shocked =)

I'm on the email list for Vogue and McCalls, and they send me specials every now and then. It's handy because patterns can be expensive!

I'm undecided on this dress. I like the general shape, and the panel in the front, but I'm not sure about the side "flaps."


As usual, the diagram looks very different from the photo, so that's not so helpful.

Hmm, I have some burgundy fine knit fabric kicking around, so I may just have to experiment.

-- iPhone post

Kitties and Quick Projects

I think I'm making up for my 3-4 years last decade where I didn't have any cats. In addition to our 4 kids, we've been fostering some kittens. The first pair (we named Luke and Leia) just went up for adoption and now we have three little grey and white boys, yet unnamed.

Also, Mouse had a little lump taken care of, so here's the obligatory recovery cuteness :)


This afternoon she gets the cone off, which I'm sure will make her very happy.

As usual, I have many projects in the works, as well as a big exciting reorganizing of the craft room.

In the meantime, here's a pretty little washcloth that I'm going to enjoy making with my scraps of cotton and cotton-ease: (Lion Brand reg required)

Along with my craft room cleanup, I sorted out over 50 skeins of yarn that I no longer need, and will never use, and hauled them down to Goodwill.


I'm loving our new car, and all the storage space =)

Lastly, here's a BBQ sauce recipe that I haven't tried yet, but has rave reviews. Fire up that grill!

Hope everyone has a great weekend =)

Cleaning and Painting

I know it doesn't sound very exciting, but those were a couple of my small projects this weekend.

I have this white square planter that's a couple of years old. The little lemon tree in it had been long dead, munched on by the deer and then sadly neglected. The wood had started to peel and fade, so it was time for a new coat.

It looks much better afterwards; in fact it's almost glowing in the twilight. You can also see one of my two new lavender plants in the foreground (which brings the front yard to 5 total, different varieties) and a newly planted Queen Elizabeth rose in between. I'm hoping the lavender will act as a small barrier to keep the deer away from my rose.

Some friends of ours were celebrating their 10 year anniversary this weekend, and I wanted to get them a little something special. A picture frame came to mind, and I found this wooden black one with carved flowers in the front.

I thought it was missing a little punch, so I masked off the edges and painted the flowers a deep red. Here's a before, and "in progress" with a grey primer:

And the deep red, all finished.

On Sunday I climbed onto the roof to scrub the skylights, which have gotten filthy over the last year or so. Right after I got up there, Casper trotted on over to see what I was up to, and then Mouse joined him in lounging near by. I can definitely understand why they like it up there, it's a fun spot!

And finally, here's a project from last weekend. My husband and I upgraded from an older full/queen size futon mattress and got a custom built California king mattress. What a difference!

So of course we needed a new bed frame. The one I built a long time ago got dismantled, and we found some plans online for a platform bed. With a little tweaking here and there, we now have a beautiful redwood bed frame, with plenty of room for storage underneath!

Marms supervised the whole thing.

The old bed will eventually be turned into a small planter, just like the wood futon frame before it. (The marigolds in the second picture are housed in that planter.)

And there are all our cats except for Spook! She came in last night with a couple small wounds on her neck, which look like a bite or a scratch. She held still long enough for me to put a compress on it and make sure she wasn't in any immediate danger, but we're still going to have to keep an eye on her and hope it heals up well.

Meanwhile we're going to have some stir-crazy kitties while they all stay indoors for a bit.

Turtle and Scarves

First off, here's a present I made for a friend who loves sea turtles. Her birthday was back in November, and I ALMOST had this finished in time, but unfortunatelyit didn't get delivered to her until recently.

This was so much fun to make, and now I want to make others in different colors!

Last weekend was an engagement party for some friends of ours. I made them matching scarves. Yes, it's nearly summer here, but the party had been postponed and originally it would have been cold when they received them.

At least our Pacific evenings are still chilly =)

Speaking of scarves, here is one I made for my mother-in-law for Christmas. It's made with Caron's "Country" an acrylic/wool blend, which I had never used before.

And the final scarf for this post is one for me! This is from some beautiful wool yarn that my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas (I won't say which year,) that I made into a scarf in the beginning of winter, and have been enjoying immensely.

Also it seems that I was playing with shallow depth-of-field when I took this picture. Yep, digging into the archives, of which there is plenty that has never been posted.

Spring Projects

I finally have a replacement for the Christmas mantle piece. This was a stack of squares I got a long time ago, but was a little afraid to start on for fear I'd "mess it up." So finally I decided on a random pattern basic square arrangement and just dove into it.

Looks great with daffodils!


I made a little market/lunch bag for my mom's birthday. I started it in some sage green Sugar'n Cream, as a free form shape, but I hurried it along and wasn't quite happy with the shape.

Then I found a great hemp mix in a pretty cranberry, so I decided to start over. I love the result. The hemp drapes better for a tote than the softer cotton did.


Then, as I was goofing off with the unfinished bag with a friend, we decided that it made a very nice hat.

Voilà!


Speaking of hats, I made a floppy sun hat for a co-worker's birthday, which was today. I used white and spring green Cotton Ease by Lion.

I think the pattern used thicker yarn, so I had to make a couple modifications, but I think it turned out ok.

All ready for the beach! Or the library... I modeled it quickly this morning because I knew my co-worker is a little camera shy :)


(yes, my colors clash, never mind that!)

So now I'm making one in that pattern for myself in the sage green, and my friend and I will have matching colored hats :)

That's it for now, and I'll try to post sooner next time!

-- iPhone post

What I'm Making Now

First of all, I don't know what's up with my old photos. I may be switching host sites soon.

Second of all, it's been awhile! I have a lot to catch up on, but I'm going to start off with what's going on right this second. My husband and I both came down with a nasty cold/flu/fever thing this weekend, so we're not doing much other than lounging on the couch and listening to the rain. I don't like working on gift projects while I'm sick, so I'm crocheting for me. A co-worker gave me some yarn for my birthday, and now I'm making a sweater.

Cozy Classic Pullover


Lion Brand requires a login for their patterns, but it's free and I highly recommend their database as well as their iPhone app. I'm making this in Homespun "Marble" which the site describes as a painterly (striped) cream with light orange and taupe. I can't wait to post the finished product, and I'm looking forward to being quite comfy in those generous bell sleeves.

While browsing for that pattern, I came across this beauty. It just might be worth digging out the knitting needles for, in spite of the intimidating "experienced" skill level.

Midnight Glamour Pullover