UFA (Unfinished Afghan)

This afghan was started a few years ago, or maybe more than a few, but I injured my thumb and it was hard to crochet for awhile.  As a word of advice, remember that it is not a good idea to poke a stick into a ground bee nest to see if the bees are still in there, because this may result in panic, running, falling, and an injured and stung thumb.  Now I am able to crochet again, and need to finish this large UFO.  The design idea was for a Mexicana look reminiscent of chili peppers with an acid green center and hot red/yellow/orange tones.  The border will be black in a fancy stitch that makes you think of Latin wrought iron work.  But first I have to finish it.  It will be 8 blocks wide and 12 blocks long for a nice lap robe size.  So far, there are seven complete rows sewn together.  The sad fact is that I hate sewing the squares together, especially since the edges are black and hard to see.

After I finish this afghan, if I ever crochet another one, I'm going to try another, easier method of joining the squares.  I ran across this site that has lots of info about crochet, and has instructions (in the second group down called 'Afghan Edgings and Joinings') for the Flat Braid Joining Method.  This looks much easier and could result in an afghan project being finished in less than 10 years.

http://priscillascrochet.net/freepatterns.html

A New Year

I'm finally starting to feel like knitting again after that loser of a year, 2011.  This winter I have been wearing the cardigans I knit for myself in past years, and I love the burst of color in my otherwise somewhat drab existence.  It seems like a good idea to finish up a lot of my languishing projects, and I am also interested in making some baby and child sweaters to set aside for future gifts.  I was cleaning out the sewing room a few weeks ago and ran across a Wallaby sweater I had forgotten which is all finished and ready to go.  My niece is expecting her first child soon, so this was a great find.  Now I don't have to rush to make something for her.  This was so convenient that I would like to have a nice stockpile of gifts so no more rushed knitting need ever happen.  I know I have said this before, but this time I might actually do it.

Look what I found this morning :  the first violet of spring.

This little booklet was purchased in the local JoAnn store using my 50% off coupon.  That makes it really inexpensive and it is just full of great designs.  For starters, that hat is a real winner, and I plan to make several of them.  I have two skeins each of an acid green and a good purple, and a girl can't have two many winter hats for bad hair days or rainy days.

The pink cardigan has possibilities, though I don't like a really narrow crocheted band, but that's an easy fix.

This purple cardigan is great, and I would make it as is.

This would be cute for the daughters.

 My daughter, M, never buys a knitting book or publication unless it passes her test, which is that there must at least be three designs in it that she would actually make.  By those standards, this little booklet passes the test, and I've shown less than half of the designs.

Summer

Not much knitting has been going on for a long time now, so I got to feeling a little guilty about that last week. I have been sewing a lot, but after all, A does need new socks now and then, so I got out a poor neglected pair that have been on the needles for about a year. I am knitting both socks at once, and I will never do that again because it is soooooo boring. It makes everything seem to take twice as long, because it does. While I am trying to resurrect the knitting mojo, I have been working in the garden. We had a long cold spring, so the garden wasn't started until late in the season, but it is coming along fine now. Today I picked a lot of summer squash, two tomatoes, and basil.

I've been trying to get a variety of poppy colors in the yard, and this is the prettiest one I have ever grown. Most of the others are orange or yellow, but there is the occasional white or red orange plant.

Stitches West II

These pictures were taken without a flash, so there was plenty of light in the massively huge convention hall. I found a new book by Marion Foale, and the designs were so nice that I remembered that I have her original book from about 25 years ago. She designs classic garments with lots of textural interest. Look at this beautiful jacket which is included in the book (Ali MacGraw was about 4 feet to the right of this jacket so you can imagine her sitting there, if you wish):

When did a skein of sock yarn begin to cost $25?? I had to content myself with taking pictures of the gorgeous colors. I realized that I have to buy a better rolling carrier for the lunch and purchases, so, since the husband needs one for carrying office files to meetings, we will have to go shopping for one. The one I usually use is a little awkward and tends to trip up other people.

Naturally, it started to pour rain as soon as we left the convention center, so we had a rainy drive home.

Stitches 2011

It had snowed the night before, and there was snow on the foothills on the way to San Jose. We had already purchased our tickets online, but the rest of the knitting world has also learned to do this, so the line was already long by the time we joined it, but it is always fun to talk to knitters and watch the fashion parade of handknits. My daughter was wearing one of her beautiful small shawls and people would come up to admire it. One lady reached out to touch the shawl and explained to us that that is 'the knitter's handshake'.

As usual, we attended the market for two days. It starts to get really crowded around lunchtime, and I detest being crushed in crowds of oblivious women, even if they are wearing pretty sweaters. We get there early to snag a parking place and wait in line for the doors to open. We have developed our technique to avoid the crowd for most of the morning, and we leave when it gets bad. We had lots of fun, and there was even a celebrity sighting, since Ali MacGraw was there signing books for some charity or other involving animals.
I took a picture through the doorway before they allowed us to enter the marketplace. It is a huge venue with many, many booths from all over the country. It is yarn shop heaven, is what it is.

They had relaxed the rules about picture taking, so I'll show some more pictures of the yarn and garments tomorrow.

On To The Future

My posts have been very skimpy the last while, because I was helping take care of a relative whose health was failing. The inevitable has happened, and I now find myself with time to do all the things I have been missing. I know that I am more of a product person than a process person, and I find finishing up projects helps a lot in sad times by giving my spirits a lift. I have several sweaters started with the ribbings ready to go on the machine, so I am making an effort to straighten up the sewing/craft room so that I can use the machine again.

Spring comes early in California, and the almond trees are blooming. Just yesterday I saw yellow daffodils in someone's front yard. Of course, a storm is moving in today, but the brief glimpse of warm weather gave us time to go for a ride in the country where I took the photo above. My goals this week are to get at least one sweater section on the machine, and to find that walkabout seed catalog so I can get my order in.

Christmas Shopping Blitz

I was getting a little nervous about time passing swiftly as we rush towards Christmas, because I have done nothing to get ready. The spouse suggested a quick trip Friday night to The Container Store to look over their stocking-stuffer specials. We left the house at 6:48, drove to the next town, did our shopping, and drove back into our driveway at 7:20. This is a record, even for us. There was little to no traffic during the dinner hour but even I was surprised at our speed. Now that both families have a name draw and a $10 limit, Christmas is not nearly the hassle it used to be.

My daughter is doing the Christmas baking, and I did a lot of the family present buying online, so I think I am about done with the shopping. I have a lot of house cleaning to do, though. I just wish the weather would brighten up, but I should be grateful we are not up to our necks in snow like a lot of the country. We are just whining about a little drizzle and overcast.