August 27 - 30, 2009
Time flies when you're having fun!
Monday, August 31, 2009
The lost weekend
And, uh, the lost last Thursday and Friday too...
August 27 - 30, 2009
Time flies when you're having fun!
August 27 - 30, 2009
Time flies when you're having fun!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Life's like that
You'd think that all the practice from the 200 & some-odd squares I've hooked this year - along with the several years of crochet experience that fueled the odyssey in the first place - would mean that my mistakes would be few and far between. And small. And easy to recognize right off the bat before much damage was done or time wasted.
You'd think that, but you'd be wrong.
Apparently practice doesn't make perfect. It makes you better, but never perfect.
Like so many of those cliches invented to make life appear neat & tidy & easy as pie, this one is a lie. You know, kind of like the, time heals all wounds one, which is also a pile of crap.
Why the disgruntlement? Because tonight - or tomorrow, or whatever day I can actually bring myself to do it - I'm going to have to rip out an entire shawl and start all over again.
So close to the end I can taste it.
Except that it tastes off. Like spoiled milk. Because I just figured out that I made a huge mistake right at the start that has affected the entire piece.
And it explains why it looks more like a long pointy Superman cape than a dainty, short shawl.
Siiiiiigh.
But I did do a couple of things right this week. Today's square and yesterday's. Both, as far as I can tell, absolutely perfect.
Just don't look too close...
August 25 & 26, 2009
A penny saved is a penny earned? What?!
No it isn't. A penny saved is a penny saved.
Harrumph.
You'd think that, but you'd be wrong.
Apparently practice doesn't make perfect. It makes you better, but never perfect.
Like so many of those cliches invented to make life appear neat & tidy & easy as pie, this one is a lie. You know, kind of like the, time heals all wounds one, which is also a pile of crap.
Why the disgruntlement? Because tonight - or tomorrow, or whatever day I can actually bring myself to do it - I'm going to have to rip out an entire shawl and start all over again.
So close to the end I can taste it.
Except that it tastes off. Like spoiled milk. Because I just figured out that I made a huge mistake right at the start that has affected the entire piece.
And it explains why it looks more like a long pointy Superman cape than a dainty, short shawl.
Siiiiiigh.
But I did do a couple of things right this week. Today's square and yesterday's. Both, as far as I can tell, absolutely perfect.
Just don't look too close...
August 25 & 26, 2009
A penny saved is a penny earned? What?!
No it isn't. A penny saved is a penny saved.
Harrumph.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
It's not easy being green
Actually, it's much easier than you'd think. Especially if you're too lazy to go upstairs to get a different colour of yarn and instead opt to use the exact same kind you used the day before.
So, green it is.
Again.
August 24, 2009
They don't call them the lazy days of summer for nuthin', I suppose.
So, green it is.
Again.
August 24, 2009
They don't call them the lazy days of summer for nuthin', I suppose.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Bad movies and a broken head
I made this cranberry red motif on Friday night while we watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
It wasn't worth it.
The movie, I mean. I quite like the motif.
And I especially love the comically large ball of Phentex yarn I used in its creation. It makes me feel small - like I've shrunk down to the size of a tiny little crochet-loving waif who couldn't possibly weigh more than 90 pounds.
Blah ha.
August 21, 2009
$7.99 for a billion yards of yarn. Good deal.
And then there's Sunday.
Saturday I had massive sinus issues (dizziness, headaches and nausea) which I initially thought was a possible brain tumor, but eventually conceded was more likely the barometric pressure screwing with the inner workings of my (clearly) already fragile head.
So no crochet on Saturday.
But this frilly green circle on Sunday.
August 23, 2009
It's a total coincidence that I chose a colour some might describe as neon snot green. It really is.
It wasn't worth it.
The movie, I mean. I quite like the motif.
And I especially love the comically large ball of Phentex yarn I used in its creation. It makes me feel small - like I've shrunk down to the size of a tiny little crochet-loving waif who couldn't possibly weigh more than 90 pounds.
Blah ha.
August 21, 2009
$7.99 for a billion yards of yarn. Good deal.
And then there's Sunday.
Saturday I had massive sinus issues (dizziness, headaches and nausea) which I initially thought was a possible brain tumor, but eventually conceded was more likely the barometric pressure screwing with the inner workings of my (clearly) already fragile head.
So no crochet on Saturday.
But this frilly green circle on Sunday.
August 23, 2009
It's a total coincidence that I chose a colour some might describe as neon snot green. It really is.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Silly life...
...getting in the way of my crocheting!
But everyone knows you can't keep a good hooker down.
Or something that sounds far less filthy and sordid...
August 18, 19 & 20, 2009
Mmmm, Neapolitan ice cream colours. Yum!!!
But everyone knows you can't keep a good hooker down.
Or something that sounds far less filthy and sordid...
August 18, 19 & 20, 2009
Mmmm, Neapolitan ice cream colours. Yum!!!
Monday, August 17, 2009
I would say it was a loaves and fishes kind of thing, but I don't want to be struck by lightning.
Today it's actually less about the square and more about the yarn I used to make it. I had just enough. Emphasis on just. Seriously - when I hooked the very last stitch I had about 12" of yarn leftover.
A very close call indeed.
It was touch and go as I nervously monitored the dwindling scrap of denim-coloured Astra slowly disappearing with each stitch, but I somehow managed to eke out an entire square from the little scrap.
Magic, I tell you! Magic!
August 17, 2009
If only my photography skills were magic too. You can't tell that the four petals in the centre of the square are both rounded and somewhat dimensional. Alas.
A very close call indeed.
It was touch and go as I nervously monitored the dwindling scrap of denim-coloured Astra slowly disappearing with each stitch, but I somehow managed to eke out an entire square from the little scrap.
Magic, I tell you! Magic!
August 17, 2009
If only my photography skills were magic too. You can't tell that the four petals in the centre of the square are both rounded and somewhat dimensional. Alas.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Hottt
It's hotter than a [your colloquialism goes here].
With the humidex I'm sure it had to be pushing 40C today. (In case you're not a celsius type, that's just north of 100F, which is wayyyyyyy too hot for me. Melting hot. Sticky hot. Stinky hot. And definitely whiny hot.)
Luckily a couch, air conditioning, and yarn can completely redeem a disgusting too-hot day like today. And they did. As they did yesterday and Friday too.
August 16, 2009
August 15, 2009
August 14, 2009
Sadly, the days of running through the sprinkler are long gone. I like my neighbours too much to subject them to that...
With the humidex I'm sure it had to be pushing 40C today. (In case you're not a celsius type, that's just north of 100F, which is wayyyyyyy too hot for me. Melting hot. Sticky hot. Stinky hot. And definitely whiny hot.)
Luckily a couch, air conditioning, and yarn can completely redeem a disgusting too-hot day like today. And they did. As they did yesterday and Friday too.
August 16, 2009
August 15, 2009
August 14, 2009
Sadly, the days of running through the sprinkler are long gone. I like my neighbours too much to subject them to that...
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Fiesta and carnage
The cheer radiating from this bright, happy little circle motif belies the anguish I felt midway through its creation when My Beloved tapped on the window to tell me that our gorgeous beet crop had been decimated by voles.
All they left us were the tiny ones. The ones you usually see pickled. Or, perhaps, laughed at and discarded. All the fat, luscious, once gorgeous ones were eaten into comical half moons of cruel vole-y destruction.
Between the mice, slugs and voles, we're almost ready to raise the white flag.
Luckily no critters seem to like zucchini. They can (and have - I'm not kidding) grow baby-sized in our garden. Over six pounds and 19" long.
It's been a bit of a weird gardening season.
Thank God for crochet.
August 13, 2009
Yarn. It's so delightfully predictable.
Inedible, but predictable.
All they left us were the tiny ones. The ones you usually see pickled. Or, perhaps, laughed at and discarded. All the fat, luscious, once gorgeous ones were eaten into comical half moons of cruel vole-y destruction.
Between the mice, slugs and voles, we're almost ready to raise the white flag.
Luckily no critters seem to like zucchini. They can (and have - I'm not kidding) grow baby-sized in our garden. Over six pounds and 19" long.
It's been a bit of a weird gardening season.
Thank God for crochet.
August 13, 2009
Yarn. It's so delightfully predictable.
Inedible, but predictable.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
'n such
I would like to win the $9 million 6/49 jackpot tonight.
And also, I crocheted this square.
August 12, 2009
It's just one of those days where the less I say, the better.
And also, I crocheted this square.
August 12, 2009
It's just one of those days where the less I say, the better.
Monday, August 10, 2009
All laughed out
Today's square was made during the viewing of Valmont, a 1989 Colin Firth flick made even more entertaining by adding a sibling, a high school friend, nachos, brownies and wine to the mix.
Try it. You'll like it.
August 10, 2009
If Colin only knew...
Try it. You'll like it.
August 10, 2009
If Colin only knew...
Sunday's square...
I actually did complete this square last night and was all set to shoot it and blog away, but then the mother of all storms rolled into the greater Toronto area (serious armageddon stuff - I'm not kidding) and I was afraid of frying my computer. So I put the yarn away, collected up my kitty cats and slunk into bed instead.
It's bright and sunny today - and I can't see any damage in our area - so all's well that ends well, it would seem.
And without further ado, here's yesterday's square - another of the afghan blocks from It's Great to Give.
I generally love a good thunder boomer, but last night's light and sound extravaganza really was a little over the top. Even for me...
It's bright and sunny today - and I can't see any damage in our area - so all's well that ends well, it would seem.
And without further ado, here's yesterday's square - another of the afghan blocks from It's Great to Give.
I generally love a good thunder boomer, but last night's light and sound extravaganza really was a little over the top. Even for me...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Cozy! Cozy! Cozy!
I bought a little half knitting, half crochet book published by Red Heart (even though my knitting isn't even passably fair) because it had some wonderful, simple items in it that just happened to tickle my fancy. It's Great to Give ~ Knit and Crochet Ideas, is where yesterday's and today's squares came from.
All three are from an afghan pattern that calls for both knitted and crocheted squares, 49 in total.
Designed, I suppose, to bring the two camps together in one yarny love fest of afghany goodness.
If only I could knit.
August 8 & August 5, 2009
Mmmm Autumn blankies and sweaters. I can almost taste them!
All three are from an afghan pattern that calls for both knitted and crocheted squares, 49 in total.
Designed, I suppose, to bring the two camps together in one yarny love fest of afghany goodness.
If only I could knit.
August 8 & August 5, 2009
Mmmm Autumn blankies and sweaters. I can almost taste them!
Friday, August 7, 2009
And...
...because once again Shinny asked so nicely (and flatters me regularly), here's a group shot of some of the squares I took at the beginning of July. These patterns are all from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans, and so they're roughly the same size. For the most part.
In fact, she planned it that way. They're all meant to be mixed and matched (provided, of course, you are careful with your colour choices).
She's very clever, that Jan Eaton.
Lucy, a.k.a "Old Kitty", can NEVER resist yarny goodness laid out on the floor. And I kind of don't blame her, really.
In fact, she planned it that way. They're all meant to be mixed and matched (provided, of course, you are careful with your colour choices).
She's very clever, that Jan Eaton.
Lucy, a.k.a "Old Kitty", can NEVER resist yarny goodness laid out on the floor. And I kind of don't blame her, really.
Floozy
I remember once reading an article about the history of crochet that said it was the poor man's (or woman's) answer to lace. Cheaper and faster to make than its high-falootin'cousin, but not as delicate or as sought after.
When I hook patterns like the one I used for toady's square, I can totally see crochet's relation, albeit distant, to lace. It's not as fine, of course, but the family resemblance is definitely there.
And I have to say, it's so pretty it doesn't bother me one bit that I'm a cheap hooker.
August 7, 2009
The same article suggested that it's possible that early crocheters were paid so poorly that they had to resort to prostitution to make ends meet.
I'm not making this up.
I swear.
When I hook patterns like the one I used for toady's square, I can totally see crochet's relation, albeit distant, to lace. It's not as fine, of course, but the family resemblance is definitely there.
And I have to say, it's so pretty it doesn't bother me one bit that I'm a cheap hooker.
August 7, 2009
The same article suggested that it's possible that early crocheters were paid so poorly that they had to resort to prostitution to make ends meet.
I'm not making this up.
I swear.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Little art big art
After nearly 8 full months into the crochet odyssey, I've become accustomed to thinking of the daily squares and motifs as tiny little pieces of yarny art. Singular. Individual. Free-standing, as it were.
So wrapped up in choosing colours and patterns for each individual creation, I forget that they could, hypothetically, be part of something much larger. Or, at least, something else.
It makes me look at the pieces very differently when I stop and think of them as parts of a larger whole; a blanket, a pillow, an embellishment on a garment.
I'm glad I see them for what they are all on their own. But it's pretty exciting to think of what else they could be.
Eventually.
August 6, 2009
Who knows what this will become...
So wrapped up in choosing colours and patterns for each individual creation, I forget that they could, hypothetically, be part of something much larger. Or, at least, something else.
It makes me look at the pieces very differently when I stop and think of them as parts of a larger whole; a blanket, a pillow, an embellishment on a garment.
I'm glad I see them for what they are all on their own. But it's pretty exciting to think of what else they could be.
Eventually.
August 6, 2009
Who knows what this will become...
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
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