TNNA

The San Diego trip was wonderful. The weather cooperated - the Santa Ana winds didn't follow us south - and the hotel was (almost) as beautiful as advertised. The inn was built around the 100 year old Spreckles mansion - Spreckles was an early investor/developer in San Diego and Coronado, holding a controlling interest in the Hotel Del Coronado and owning all but about 6 parcels of Coronado island. The main part of the inn was gorgeous. Our room - and most of the guest rooms - was in one of the newer, probably 60's era, wings around the main mansion. Not quite as nice but clean, quiet, with a very comfy bed. The best part was being right on Coronado's main drag, just a short walk to very nice shops and restaurants.

The entire island is less than 2 miles wide, with stunning views of San Diego's downtown skyline, and gorgeous mansions lining the beaches.

Notice the shawl? It's my newest FO; details tomorrow.

While I was in class on Friday (details below), Dick toured the USS Midway which is on permanent display in San Diego. He got through just a fraction of the 1001 foot long, 18 deck ship, but was able to tour the flight deck, island (what I'd call the bridge), and some of the quarters. Did you know that the Midway:

• used 260 gallons of fuel per mile
• was the 20th century's longest serving carrier
  
• had 225 cooks, 200 pilots, 2 physicians and 1 dentist
• served 13,500 meals per day using 3,000 potatoes and 1,000 loaves of bread

You didn't know that? Hmm, neither did I. . .

My TNNA class - Lily Chin's 'Crocheted Tips, Tricks & Hints - was great. She's very exuberant and very New York - fast talking, fast moving - and she knows her stuff when it comes to crocheting and knitting. Some of the things she talked about in the beginning I already knew (foundation stitches) and some of her ideas are too fiddly or complicated to be of practical use, at least to me (crocheting over cotton rather than using a beginning chain row), but others I've already incorporated into my work and plan to pass on in my classes.

Our trip home was l.o.n.g. We made great time until just south of LAX, when traffic came to a slow, grinding almost-halt. We thought it was just the usual get-out-of-LA-for-the-holiday-weekend rush but after 45 minutes turned on the radio to discover a Sig-alert for a tanker truck that had overturned on the 405 by the Getty Museum. We used Dick's Christmas present - a Garmin GPS unit; great fun to play with tool - to route us around the mess and out to the Pacific Coast Highway. When we left San Diego we thought we'd be home by 4:30; we finally straggled in the front door at 6:30. Not bad by LA commuting standards, but definitely a pain in the b**t. Literally.

Must Make

Every now and then I get a overwhelming desire to make a specific pattern. Most things I put in my Ravelry queue or in a folder on my hard drive and wait for 'the right time' to make them. But sometimes, for some unknown reason, an item will hit me hard. Like the doily rug -
This time it's these thrummed mittens (Rav link here). Love.Them. You crochet roving on the inside of the mitten - the wool roving felts as you wear them, becoming softer and thicker - so they are extra warm. Interweave even put a how-to video on You Tube. How cool is that?

And I'll even have a chance to wear them - we're going to visit Addy in February and Rachel wants to go on a sleigh ride for her 30th (!!!) birthday. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Basketweave Square

Basketweave Square

By Elisa Purnell

Copyright November 2008

download now

Materials:
Worsted weight yarn,
Size “H” crochet hook

Each block measures about 10 inches square.

Stitches:

Foundation Double Crochet (Fdc): chain 4, YO, insert hook in first chain of chain 4 (nearest slip knot), *YO, draw up loop (3 loops on hook); YO, draw through first loop (ch 1 made - still 3 loops on hook); YO, draw through 2 loops; YO, draw through remaining 2 loops (dc made). YO, insert hook in ch 1 of previous stitch repeat from *.

Front post double crochet (FPdc) – Yarn over, insert hook from front to back to front around post of stitch in row below, yarn over and draw up a loop, [yarn over and draw through 2 loops] twice.

Back post double crochet (BPdc) – Yarn over, insert hook from back to front to back around post of stitch in row below, yarn over and draw up a loop, [yarn over and draw through 2 loops] twice.

Pattern:

Row 1: Fdc 42 (multiple of 8 plus 2) (start of 4x4 rib)

Row 2-4: Ch 2, turn; *FPdc around next 4 stitches, BPdc around next 4 stitches; repeat from * across, end with half double crochet in last stitch.

Row 5-8: Ch 2, turn; *BPdc around next 4 stitches, FPdc around next 4 stitches; repeat from * across, end with half double crochet in last stitch.

(change to 2x2 rib)

Row 9: Ch 3, turn; dc in each stitch across (including last stitch).

Row 10: Ch 2, turn; *FPdc around next 2 stitches, BPdc around next 2 stitches; repeat from * across, end with half double crochet in last stitch.

Row 11-12: Ch 2, turn; *BPdc around next 2 stitches, FPdc around next 2 stitches; repeat from * across, end with half double crochet in last stitch.

Row 13-14: Ch 2, turn; *FPdc around next 2 stitches, BPdc around next 2 stitches; repeat from * across, end with half double crochet in last stitch.

Repeat Rows 11-14 twice more.

(change to 4x4 rib)

Row 15: Ch 3, turn; dc in each stitch across.

Row 16-18: Ch 2, turn; *FPdc around next 4 stitches, BPdc around next 4 stitches; repeat from * across, end with half double crochet in last stitch.

Row 19-22: Ch 2, turn; *BPdc around next 4 stitches, FPdc around next 4 stitches; repeat from * across, end with half double crochet in last stitch.

Edging:

Rnd 1: Ch 1, turn. Single crochet in each stitch across.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, do not turn. Working on edge of block, *42 sc evenly to corner, 3 sc in corner, repeat from * around; join with slip stitch. Do not turn.

Rnd 3: Ch 3, * dc in each stitch to corner, (dc, ch-1, dc) in corner, repeat from * around. Fasten off.

Moving Ahead

Thanks for all the sweet comments and emails on Oreo's passing. I got up from writing that entry last night and headed for the kitchen to make up her nightly medications. I think it's going to take a few days to break that habit.

I'm leaving tomorrow for two days in San Diego at TNNA - The National Needlework Association's twice annual show - where yarn shop people go to see what's new and order stock for the next six months or so. TNNA also has classes by some of the best known names in the knitting and crochet world. I'm taking Lily Chin's 'Crocheted Tips, Tricks and Hints' class. I've got a couple of her books and I've made some of her patterns, plus I've heard she's a great teacher/speaker, so needless to say I'm very excited. And after this week's sadness, I decided to splurge a little and got us a room at a little inn on Coronado Island for Thursday night (right across the street from this little place).

I finally picked up the pottery Naia, Marie and I painted after Christmas. Can you tell which two pieces are Naia's? She's very creative with her color choices and painting skills. This is the second time I've taken her painting and she showed more patience this time, covering more of the pieces with paint and putting the required 2-3 coats on most of the surfaces. Naia informed me that pottery painting is better than Chuck E. Cheese but not quite as good as Golf N Stuff. Always good to know where you stand.

Marie put a lot of effort into her lighthouse, continuing to paint for over an hour after Naia and I were done and gone. And my little jar is pretty and serviceable. I'll use it next to my TV chair to store stitch markers and yarn tails; Dick will be thrilled they aren't scattered all over.

Oreo

This is my kitty, Oreo. I adopted her from a rescue organization 6 or 7 (8?) years ago. I almost went with another cat, a gorgeous long-haired Persian, but the volunteer kept talking about what a love Oreo was, how all she wanted was to cuddle and be held. I went with cuddle over beauty and I never regretted the decision.

Oreo's more like a dog than a cat. She follows me wherever I go, waiting for me to sit down so she can climb in my lap. She's willing to share the lap, but she has to be closest to me. AJ can have my legs; Oreo has to have my lap or tummy or shoulder. In the morning while I'm reading the paper in bed, she'll stretch out on my chest with her face as close to mine as possible, sigh, close her eyes and go to sleep, totally content.
I can pick Oreo up, carry her with me to bed and she'll curl up beside me, ready to sleep as long as I want. Try that with another cat and they'll be offended that you would dare suggest they do anything.

Oreo had a bit of the devil in her. She delighted in pouncing on the other cats when they least expected it, chasing them through the house until they hissed and batted her away. She'd chase any yarn ball she could find, and she was good at finding them. She'd watch me put a ball away - in a drawer or bag, it didn't matter where - wait for me to walk away, then work it out of its hiding place so she could play. I can't remember the number of times I'd walk into my studio and find yarn over and under and through and around everything in sight. She hated when I wouldn't pay what she considered 'sufficient' attention to her. She'd climb in the middle of a project, always willing to 'help'. We spent almost every evening together, Oreo asleep on my lap as I crocheted or computered.

The view from my lap. "No more flashbulbs, mom."

At about year four, Oreo started her battle with feline stomatitus. She put up with surgeries, feeding tubes, and having all but 4 of her teeth pulled to combat her chronic mouth infections. We finally settled on a regimen of 4 daily oral medications. I'd mix her 'cocktail', then hold her in the crook of my arm while squirting them down her throat. She didn't fight me - not with the feeding tubes, the medications or the dreaded baths - she just took whatever came her way with total trust.
When I took Oreo for an unplanned visit to the vet today, I knew in my heart that it wouldn't be good, but Oreo's surprised me before and I expected that she'd do it again. We could have scheduled yet another surgery to extract her abscessed teeth; tried more medications to fight her raging ear fungus; started treatment for diabetes; tried yet another skin shampoo to stop her pulling the hair on her sides out by the handful. But nothing we could do would make her healthy; it would just prolong her life. And her quality of life has been steadily deteriorating.
I know I made the right decision to put her to sleep. But damn, I'm going to miss my baby. Rest in peace, Oreo.

Finding Comfort

The weather outside is frightful - howling, gale-force winds, record temps into the 90's; isn't this supposed to be January? - and even the cats are seeking comfort wherever they can find it.

AJ launched herself to the top of a bookcase in my studio and curled up with her little purple friend. She used to sleep with the fishes (sorry) routinely but this is the first time I've seen her up there in months. Snickers is in her usual spot, curled up on the couch with Dick. See the lump where her chin is resting? That's Dick's knee. He'll sit reading or watching TV like this for hours, proclaiming all the while that it's because he's comfortable this way, not because he doesn't want to disturb the cat. Whatever.

Trimming The WIP List

I'm working on finishing some works in progress (aka 'WIPs'). I like having multiple projects going - when I get bored with one, I can pick up another, and some make better take-along projects than others - but I've been feeling the need to complete some things before I move on to bigger projects.

This is Lily Chin's Mock Faroese Shawl from Fiber Trends. The previous shawl I made from this pattern gets worn all the time (maybe because it's cashmere and feels yummy?). This one is a shop sample for the class Anne and I are co-teaching in February; she's teaching the knit version while I do the crochet. Should be interesting.

The yarn is South West Trading Company's Toftusies sock yarn made from shrimp and crab shells (nope, not kidding!) along with superwash wool, soysilk and cotton. The colors are great and I love the texture. The first ball was wonderful to work with. The second had 3 or 4 knots and in multiple places the 3-ply yarn had split or frayed, leaving only 1 ply holding it together. I hope that was just a fluke, since the first ball was so good, but it does make me hesitate to buy more.
But I love the finished shawl. Who knew sock yarn could have such great drape?

Tech specs: Fiber Trends 'Mock Faroese Shawl' pattern #110LC; 2 balls (928 yards) SWTC's Tofutsies, color #922; and a "J" crochet hook.

Done With CBAM

Until May, anyway. I finished the last two squares for my block-a-month class today. Both are my own design and teach specific concepts.

February's block could be named 'things that go bump in your crochet' - popcorns, bobbles (dc and sc) and clusters. It's hard to see the design; wish I'd had time to take outdoor photos before I took this one to the shop today.

This block gave me fits the entire time I was making it; I must have frogged it four or five times before I got it to a point that was acceptable. I may play around with the pattern again before I teach this one.
April's block is Intarsia, which comes from the Italian word meaning 'inlay'. While researching this one, I found that the difference - one of them anyway - between Intarsia and Fair Isle is that with Intarsia the yarn isn't carried across the blocks. It's held on bobbins (which I knew) that hang down the back of your work. Fair Isle is stranded; the unused yarn is carried loosely on the wrong side, with floats of 4 to 5 stitches at a time. The reverse side of Fair Isle looks very messy to me; Intarsia is nice and neat. I used MS Excel to design this block. Nice to know I can use my pre-retirement training for something important - like crochet.

Ravelry For Weavers

For the weavers out there, have you found Weavolution yet? It's still in the beginning stages but looks to be a Ravelry-type site for weavers. Several fund-raising auctions have been held (I haven't won anything yet, darn it) and donated items are also offered on ebay. I love Ravelry and if Weavolution is even half as cool, I bet it will be indispensable. Check it out!

From the website: "We are (or will be) a social network for handweavers, where people can share projects, see what others are doing, or discuss weaving-related matters (or just hang out) in our discussion forums.

Weavers of all types will be welcome, from basketweavers to those who weave on small peg looms to those who use large, complex table and floor looms.

Weavolution will offer user notebooks to catalog projects, ways to share weaving plans or patterns and find project inspiration, forums to socialize with other weavers, and methods for finding information and resources for weaving."

Challenged

Gigi challenged me so here goes . .

(Original challenge issued by this blog).
1) go to the 4th picture folder
2) go to the 4th picture in the folder
3) tell 4 things about that picture
4) tag 4 more people

My picture organization leaves a lot to be desired (along with most organizational aspects of my life); I have several places where I store photos. So in the spirit of the challenge, I went to where I'm supposed to store photos - the 'My Pictures' folder - chose the 4th folder and the 4th picture.

You aren't going to believe this (or maybe you will, considering how crochet-addled I am) but it's a crochet project, one of my favorites.
Fact 1: This was taken at Scott and Jennifer's wedding in July 2007. If you click to enlarge the photo, you can see the champagne glasses and place cards in the background.

Fact 2: I loaned Marie my shawl because her dress had no sleeves and she was freezing. My price was posing for this photo.

Fact 3: The wedding was in the morning and the reception (where this was taken) was in the evening. Hubby's brother Bill and wife Carolyn had come down from Idaho - we don't get to see them often - and the four of us spent the intervening hours at the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival. Wow, there are some seriously good artists who exhibit there!

Fact 4: This is my favorite shawl, and maybe my favorite project, of all time. I adapted it from a doily pattern, designing the 'arms' as I went. It's made from organic cotton and is super soft. How funny that it would be the 4th photo.

Hmmm, whom to tag? How about Rachel, Wenona, Tanya, and Jill.

Warm Toes

I seem to be on a carpet roll. This one took about 3 hours, using 2 strands of rug wool held together, a 10mm hook and this doily pattern. I made a couple of modifications, including changing the last row to straight double crochet rather than the scalloped edge in the pattern. At 22" across, this one should be perfect for keeping my feet comfy against the cold bathroom floor.

I may make one more rug for the floor on Dick's side of the bed but it needs to be rectangular and fairly long so a doily pattern is probably out. Maybe a log cabin design? Hmmmmm . . . .

Doily Rug

Done. I left off the last round of picots; I thought it looked fine without them and the rug was already bigger than I wanted. At 36" wide, it's too big to put in the bathroom as I'd originally planned. So this one is going in the bedroom where we've ripped out the old carpet. It'll be so much nicer stepping on a wool rug than the cold, barren cement during a midnight bathroom trek. (TMI?) And the search is on for another, smaller doily that I can make into a bathroom rug. I could always remake this pattern using only one strand of rug yarn - and I may - but I'd rather find another challenge if I can. Much more entertaining that way.

FO's One and Two

These are for my crochet block-a-month classes, probably in March and April. I finished them before the New Year but I'm counting them as 2009 FO's since that's when I'm teaching them (and I didn't get them photo'd, Rav'd and blog'd until now.)
I think Picot Lace, based on a stitch from MyPicot.com, would make a great shawl or wrap. It's very elegant-looking; the picots remind me of little crowns.Bowtie, from Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet, would be cute as a baby blanket; I'd do it in pastels, changing colors at the start of each 'tie'.

The second and next-to-last bows in the sample are in half-double crochet - the rest is all single crochet - to show what it would look like. As much as I dislike a project that's all sc, I do like those ties better than the hdc ones. If - when? - I make this into a baby blanket, I'd use a nice, fat yarn and a really big hook. Fast, easy, enough variety to keep it interesting; perfect project for gifting.

On another note, MyPicot.com is a fairly new-to-me site with some unusual crochet stitch patterns. They have a knitting side too, but I haven't checked that out. The stitches are shown as diagrams, no text, which can get very interesting on the more complex patterns. Beautiful stitch patterns, easy to navigate site; well worth checking out.

Ringing In The New Year

Even when she's sick, Leia is a happy baby. We got to keep her* over New Year's Eve and she kept us better entertained than a party ever could. Although she's coming down with a cold - how could she not when almost everyone around her is sick? - she laughed and smiled the evening away.

The towel was Leia's constant companion due to her still 'delicate' stomach.

Congestion woke her up repeatedly during the night. I got to sleep around 12:15 (Dick and I stayed awake to midnight, barely) but woke up when Leia started 'talking' at 1:30. After that, she'd doze for awhile before waking up again, happy and smiling but awake. I passed her off to Dick at 6:30 and went back to bed while the two of them watched Bones and Mythbusters marathons.

This is Leia's 'I'm tired of the camera now' look.

Dick also weighed Leia on our bathroom scale. Our 4-month-old princess weighs a whopping 19 pounds. The pj's she's wearing are 9-month size and while the legs and arms need to be rolled up, the body fits her just fine. I'm sure that once she gets mobile the weight will melt away, but she sure is an adorably chubby little thing right now. *Miles - who turned three on Dec. 29 - is still with his dad. Naia decided she'd rather stay home with mom and Nana than spend what I was forced to admit would be a 'boring' night with us. Marie and I took her pottery painting in the afternoon on New Year's eve though. No pictures; I forgot my camera and my phone battery died just before we started painting. Finished project pix sometime after Jan. 7.

Accounting

I've seen this a couple of places, but I got the original idea from Gigi (who has great taste in projects, BTW. We do a lot of the same items, so that makes her brilliant, right?)

Looking through my Ravelry* projects (click to see them all) for the past year made it much easier to assemble a list of FO's. A couple of things may not have made it to Rav, but this should be pretty accurate. In 2008, I finished:

• 45 crocheted and zero knitted items, including:
• 1 bag
• 3 blankets
• 11 squares
• 1 dress
• 4 hats
• 1 pair of mitts
• 6 scarves
• 7 shawls
• 1 pair of socks
• 8 sweaters
• 1 set of stocking tags
• 1 set flowers and leaves
  

And who - or what - motivated most of my projects? I made 14 for class samples - block-a-month, shawls and scarves; 11 for Addy; and 9 for me.

I also have a lot of items in progress, some of which have been there an embarrassingly long period of time.

• 1 blanket (knit, log cabin)
• 1 hat (crochet, cables)
• 1 scarf (knit, using handspun)
• 4 shawls (2 crochet, both class samples; 1 woven; 1 knit)
• 1 pair of socks (crochet)
• 4 sweaters (all knit, 3 for me and 1 for Leia that she's already outgrown)
  

This doesn't count the ones I gave up on and consigned to permanent hibernation. My New Year's Resolution - one of them anyway - is to finish some of these projects, especially the knit ones. No knit FO's this year? That's just sad.

*Since joining Ravelry in August 2007, I've added 131 projects; 18 are still in progress and 7 are in hibernation. I love Ravelry's organizational features.

Had To Do It

I finished 2 and a half of the three blocks I needed so I gave in to temptation and started the rug. I figured it was better to get it out of my system then try to finish all the blocks AND do the rug, which would probably have hurt my shoulder again. So see? I'm being proactive. Or something.
This is the first 10 rounds. Only 8 more to go. I'm using a 10 mm (N/P) hook and 3 strands of all-wool rug yarn that I bought as a mill end from Yarn Barn of Kansas. Depending on the size when I'm done, I may felt this; I think it would be cozier on the tootsies.

Hope to have this finished and on the bathroom floor tomorrow night.

Happy New Year to All!

Disciplined

I'm trying to finish several projects but I keep getting distracted by things I Must-Start-Right-NOW. The latest? This rug from the February 2009 edition of Crochet World magazine. Can't really explain why, but I'm completely gaga over this thing. It's made with 2 or 3 strands of yarn held together and a big hook, so it should go really fast. And it's a stash-buster since I'm planning to use wool rug yarn that I bought for weaving.

So I've made myself a deal. If I finish the three samples I need for my crochet block-a-month class by Wednesday, I can start this rug New Year's Eve. Don't finish the samples? No rug. My New Year's resolution is to do only knitting until at least one of my sweaters is finished.

Now I just need to get my head in the game and finish those *@#& squares.