Yarn Along :: Easy Peasy

I finished my shrug and started one for Sunshine but I need some more yarn. Amy asked some questions about finishing it that I plan on answering in photo form once I finish my girl's. It was only a minor change to the pattern but made a big difference, I think.

This week, I am making... dish cloths! I know... BORING! But not really! I love making my own cotton dish cloths. Like Auntie Leila, I am not really a sponge person although the scrubbing ones do come in handy for some things and there are ways to disinfect them when you need to. I just like the idea of tossing a cloth into the washer, pouring on the hot water and knowing that  I can grab a fresh one from the drawer anytime I want. I have been known to use a clean cloth with every sink full of dirty dishes. I figure, they are reusable, so why not use them!

Anyway, this seed stitch pattern is one of my favorites to crochet because it produces a good sized dish cloth with little scrubbing bumps. Don't kid yourself, you can't scrub with them like a scrubbing sponge, but they do a decent job on most things and anything that needs serious scrubbing, usually gets soaked and scraped anyway! I always use Lily's Sugar and Cream cotton yarn, but in the past I've just used what I had and ended up with a hodge podge of colors. Thanks to Auntie Leila's advice, I demoted those to bathroom cleaning and made myself some beautiful dishcloths in my new favorite color: Country Stripes! Blues and greens just make me happy! So calming, like an ocean breeze. And sometimes, ya' need to be calm when staring down a pile of mucky dishes! That's all I'm sayin'. I've found that one ball makes 3 dish cloths.

Reading wise, I'm still having trouble convincing my brain that reading time is not nap time. But this book, Dictionary of Patron Saints' Names, has been promoted to a place of honor on my nightstand. Now that we know we are expecting a bundle of pinkness, it's time to find her a name!

Check out more projects over at Ginny's place.

Yarn Along :: End of March

Ginny's Yarn Along is the perfect opportunity to show you a new crochet stitch I learned that I am absolutely in love with!!! 

 It's called a Solomon's Knot, also a Lover's Knot. Isn't it so pretty and lacey looking? 

I learned it by watching this video on YouTube. The yarn is Caron's Country in Spruce. It was on clearance at Michaels and such a pretty color I couldn't pass it up. Sadly, after I took this picture, I realized I had made my shrug way too long and ended up frogging the whole thing! That's OK. I am enjoying this stitch so much, I don't mind starting over and it works up really quickly once you get going.

Reading wise... I'm not reading much because I can't seem to keep my eyes open long enough to make it through a page. No matter when I sit down to read, I start to get drowsy and want to take a nap. We are listening to the Truth and Life Audio Bible this Lent and that will have to count for now.

Speaking of yarn and great books...don't forget that today is the last day to enter Jenn's raffle!

Sunshine's Yarning Along

I don't really have anything on the hook right now, but Sunshine is most excited about her newest project and asked if she could participate in Miss Ginny's Yarn Along and Giveaway (especially when she saw the give away yarn called "Princess"). She had her very first sock knitting class yesterday or "two hours of sitting and clicking" as The Professor put it. He was actually very patient along with the other two. We spent the time discussing the Renaissance, playing a first grade version of Scrabble and reading, which helped pass the time but we will need more distraction for next time.

Miss Trudy was very impressed with Sunshine's attitude and desire to learn and will be very pleased to see that she has already accomplished her "homework" for next week... she started her second sock completely on her own!

As you can see, pink is her favorite color. If she ever marries I'm sure her colors will be blush and bashful! And she apparently has the same subconscious talent for coordinating her reading material and knitting material. This yarn is Cascade Yarns Pacific number 18. The pattern is the sock pattern her teacher gave her. The book is Nancy Drew's The Crooked Banister. Sunshine says she's read this one a couple of times and while it's not her favorite Nancy Drew, she likes it!

The Yarn Along that wasn't

I had hoped to Yarn Along this week, but apparently, God had other plans. Like...raw sewage spilling from the front of my house. Again!

Thankfully, the sewage was not in my house, only outside of my house. And also thankfully, the city determined that the problem was with the main pipe, so they are responsible for clearing it. You know it's a bad blockage when the big burly utility men suddenly shout, "Woah!!!" from across the street! Our house just so happened to the be lucky "release valve" for the back up! Great. How did we discover this? You don't want to know. Let's just say it has to do with items coming up from our sewage line that nobody in this house uses!

So, my yarn along plans were a wash, so to speak. I had planned on starting this cute little project, Lily the Christmas Elf, for fun, not a gift, so I can always just postpone it. We've never done the elf on a shelf thing, but she just looks so cute, I can't resist! And for reading material, do plumbing discussion forums on the most sewer system friendly toilet paper count?

Hope you have a very uneventful day!

Yarn Along

... with Ginny and friends!

I am working on this Flirty Ruffle Scarf for my big girl. She loves to knit things for others, so I thought I would treat her to some twirly homemade fun. I'm not sure this is it. Do you ever have this problem? I see something cute like this in a picture and think, "That's adorable!" But when I work it up in my own two hands, following the pattern exactly, even down to the kind of yarn used, just a different color, I think, "That looks like something a little old lady wouldn't even wear!" I don't know. Maybe it's just me.

As far as what's being read around here, I decided I needed a little levity, so I picked up a copy of A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love and Faith in Stages by Kristin Chenoweth and Joni Rodgers. So far, it's doing the trick. I have laughed out loud multiple times because these gals can sure tell a funny story. I have also been impressed by her adoption story (she's adopted, she hasn't adopted a child herself) and her love for her grandparents! But I should warn you that I am a huge Kristin Chenoweth fan and that's probably what inspired most of my interest in her story.

(Again, somehow, I have managed to match my yarn to my reading material.  I really am not that much of a perfectionist!)

Yarn Along...

with Ginny and friends

Same hats as last time, but now finished; except for the roses that need attaching. I actually finished these before our Thanksgiving trip, but discovered that I had no white yarn left to attach the white rose with. How could I be out of white yarn and not know it? Oh, that's right! I have another fiber fanatic in the house!!! She tells me she is knitting a shawl for an elderly friend at church so I really can't complain. This little girl gets giddy at the mention of Hobby Lobby and even knitted her own muff (no pattern) during our road trip and has been using it to keep her hands warm on these chilly mornings.

 It's a Sunshine original design!

The book is a picture book we unwrapped last night and have all enjoyed re-reading today. It is a really cute little story and perfect for a family with golfers. The Professor started lessons over the summer and just moved up two levels based on his skills challenge results! He was very nervous for no reason at all it seems! He laughed at the puns in this little tale and helped explain some of them to his sisters.

Twas the night before Christmas

With things running fine,

Old Santa decided

to play a quick nine.

We thought it was fitting for St. Andrew's Day since St. Andrews was mentioned!

Yarn Along

A little late to the yarn along train but finding myself suddenly inspired...

Crocheting some flapper style hats for my girls with rose accents. 

Shhhhhh... they're a surprise!

I promise I didn't plan the color coordination. I picked this yarn out weeks ago; Naturally Caron Country yarn in Claret.