Crochet!

Let’s catch up

February 10, 2021 Vicki12 Comments

I had a lovely 3-day weekend, with Monday off. It was that perfect blend of getting things done without the days disappearing in a flash. I don't know how/why that seems to happen sometimes, but it was just so great to finish a task and still have plenty of "time on the clock."

Kate took my big hint on Friday and started to take down the tree. She stopped when she got to the part where "I know certain things go in certain boxes," so I finished up on Saturday morning.

I always love the "tetris" part of the putting away! This was by far the longest I've ever had my tree up. Whew! Glad it's down, and so grateful for Kate's help.

On Saturday, Ali dropped Ginny off for a "Date with Kate" on her way to grocery shop — which mainly consisted of Kate & Gin driving up to Green Bay to pick up an order at Michael's and a drive-thru/parking lot snack at McDonald's (such are the times), and then dropping Ginny off at home on the way back.

Junah happened to be with Ali, so I offered to have him stay with me while Al did her shopping.

We played with K'nex — well, he played while I was tasked to helping count out some of the pieces — and he built a motorized fan. He was so chuffed: "Oh my god, it really is turning!"

And then we got out the train set that had been set up once or twice around the Christmas tree and he played with that for a while… with room to spread out and not worry about Malina or Ginny bumping into the track while dancing or whatever.

And then we watched a little TV: Snoopy In Space! (He just loves Charlie Brown & the gang.) He had me sit right next to him on the couch, arms linked… "This is so cozy!"

Plotz. One-on-one time is so nice! Can't wait 'til next time with a different kid.

On Sunday, we finally put up the curtain rods in The Garden Room. I had all the stuff we needed since a few weeks before Christmas and then… early holiday hoopla followed by Covid followed by no energy. I finally felt up to facing the task!

Because it's really nice to have sunshine streaming into that room, unless you're in there trying to do something while the sunshine is streaming in! Seriously, sunglasses are needed! There'll be easily arranged light-filtering curtains along the east side (to Rusty's left) and on the two large windows that he's facing. That should help a lot. Those other two windows are "original" and we've never had

That's some specialized curtain rod hardware for the corner — adjustable and mostly used for bay windows, I guess.

I was motivated & energized enough to do a little clean up and rearranging in there!

Meanwhile, I've been stitching away on my 100 Day Project, missing only one day so far when the kids were over and I was tuckered.

Since I took this photo on Sunday, I got a lot of beading done on the lower third. Feel like I'm getting my groove back.

I'm also playing Embroidery Bingo on IG with Jessica Long Embroidery! Cara posted about this in her IG Stories late last week with an invitation to join her. I needed another Thing in my life like a whole in the head, but y'know… it takes no time at all and I'll learn some things! I have no idea how to do Turkey Work or Oyster stitch, for starters. Bingo started on Monday and today is the first day that my stitch wasn't called.

Thought I'd show you the layout from the Granny Squares Color Pattern Generator, which of course I also learned about from Cara!

I'm making hexies instead of squares, and they're all bordered in off-white, so I just had it generate a 2-color layout using 35 colors. Oh boy! It's crazy, scary, intimidating… and I LOVE IT!!!

Unraveled | 3TT

January 28, 2021 Vicki12 Comments

I'm joining Kat & the Unravelers today to share what I'm working on, and, because I'm a day late, I'm also joining Carole & friends for (a very loose interpretation of) Three Things on Thursday…

1 — KNITTING CROCHETING:

Knitting is on hold. I have things percolating, but nothing is moving forward at the moment. Instead…

I picked up one of my crochet projects last night. Remember crochet?? Way back in JULY, while I was also working on Davy's Safe At Home Blanket, I also decided to start crocheting not one, but TWO, blanket-type projects. I even designated Saturday as "Crochet Day," which I think happened on the very next Saturday and then never again. Heh.

I plucked two yarn balls from the basket and reacquainted myself with the process, making some of the same mistakes again! It's all about practice! This is Hexie Love Actually, and I think it's going to be random, but with some "rules"… which I've yet to figure out. And, since I'm the one making the rules, I probably won't use ALL the colors I have of this yarn as originally (loosely) planned… the neons do not bring joy for this project. (I think they might make an awesome something for the kiddos… maybe some trippin' gnomes!)

READING:

I still have a few hours of listening to HAMNET, and I'm on the edge of my seat. I am also reading AN AMERICAN QUILT: UNFOLDING A STORY OF FAMILY & SLAVERY. I don't remember where I heard about that book, but it's an interesting historical non-fiction story that truly "unfolds" through the discovery of an unfinished quilt. At the risk of sounding juvenile, I like that there are lots of pictures!

2 – MORE MENDING:

When I patched the left elbow in this favorite sweater, I wove the patch directly into/onto the sweater… you can see that process here.

For the right elbow, I picked up and knit a stockinette patch, which I then sewed down on the other three sides.

In hindsight, it would have been nice to do some increases along one side of the patch to better "fit" the shape of the sleeve… but it's a patch on a holey old sweater that is in need of some other repairs, likely soon relegated to "house sweater," though I am going to get some public wear out of it yet!

Though the hole was smaller, the new patch is quite a bit bigger than the first — there was a lot of "thinning" happening!

A close-up of the first patch. I'm happy with how it's held up. Both of these were worked in Madelinetosh Unicorn Tails.

3 — CUTENESS OVERLOAD:

Kate had a dentist appointment a few days ago that involved novocaine and she sent a hilarious Snapchat to all of us, which, as often happens, started a flood of Snaps amongst us.

I had to grab a screenshot along the way!

And this morning, Ali sent a few photos, including this:

If that is not a doting big sister… and her little brother who is fully aware that he is Living The Life… I don't know what is.

P.S. Ginny is wearing a pair of Hannah Andersson PJs worn by both her mother and her Aunt Maddy, and still going strong! Quality FTW.

Crochet!

Getting back into the groove

July 7, 2020 Vicki11 Comments

Well, that was a nice break… a long, hot & lazy weekend. Though, y'know, "lazy" doesn't mean I didn't get anything done!

I gave Rusty his second haircut! I borrowed Ali's electric clippers and even did the back this time. It was my first time using a clippers — it was only a little scary, and mostly because I was thinking about all the people I know who have ended up with mohawks or total buzz jobs because of a slip. Whew! I should have trimmed his brows, though.

I've designated Saturday as Crochet Day…

…but I also did a little on Sunday. I wanted to finish the first square of the Rainbow Blanket, and figure out the join-as-you-go method for the hexies. So far, so good! I definitely use different hand/arm muscles when I crochet, so my appendages are thankful for a break.

And now I'm back to houses & stripes. This is Row #3 (of 9). Still figuring out a few things…

I hope y'all had a good weekend and start to the week! I'll be catching up…

3TT: Three Things on Thursday · Crochet!

3TT: Dovetail, Garden, Crochet

July 2, 2020 Vicki7 Comments

Joining Carole & friends for Three Things on Thursday…

1 — I stopped at The Office after work the other day to drop something off? pick something up? I don't remember! I did take a seat for a few minutes…

Kate was inserting goodies into the magazine, readying shipment of the premier issue of dovetail. I gotta say, it was nice just to sit for a while and watch someone else work!

2 — How does my garden grow?

The tomatoes are all coming along. The basil is AMAZING!! (That photo-bombing succulent is also doing quite well.)

Something is nibbling at my zucchini!

And this is the usual raucous jumble of things.

BONUS:

The platform rocker is out of the garage and in The Garden Room! There's a pretty good view of the lower yard/garden from there.

3 — I'm getting the hang of crochet again! My rainbow box of yarn is only a hint… this is the bigger picture:

As Wisconsin began its Safer At Home order in March and I awaited my stimulus check, Madelinetosh threw up a post about a Prism Pack of Unicorn Tails and, well, I've always loved those unicorn tails and… I didn't even think twice before ordering. (Ugh, pandemic times!) If I was going to be "safer at home," I was going to be surrounded by things I loved… and colorful, too. Heh.

Well, I really can't be spontaneous and throw down money like that without some sort of plan, and they were making me feel so guilty just sitting there, so I sort of had to MAKE A PLAN! The Safe At Home baby blanket was & is perfect for the baby and already in the works by then, and I knew it would never be a "portable" project… not that I was going anywhere with my knitting, but y'know… And so many people were crocheting… so, yeah, CROCHET! That could work! And even though those are little skeins of yarn, they're going to go a ways, so maybe TWO projects, somewhat simultaneously, even…

Uh, yeah, why not THREE epic blanket projects at once?! (Ugh, pandemic times!)

So my plan is to make Bear's Rainbow Blanket and also Hexie Love Actually! << FYI: Those are Ravelry links, just so you know in case the new design is problematic for you, as it is for many. (I am not in love and wish it wasn't quite so stark. I like it on my phone, but find it a bit easier to take if I enlarge my desktop display, and I've tweaked settings to remove drop shadows, etc.)

So, anyway, back to crochet. As I said the other day, it is not like riding a bicycle for me! I'm getting my feet wet and re-learning with Hexie Love Actually!

That red & blue blob was my first effort. I thought I was doing OK, but it was supposed to have six corners/sides, and instead turned out with only four. So, basically, a SQUARE (and not even a good one)! Turns out, I did a few things wrong, and my second effort (red & orange) turned out much better. With the orange & blue hexie, I'm trying the "join as you go" method and I'm not sure that's right but will figure it out. It's really fun, but once I get the hang of it I'm going to limit my crochet time until I get the blanket done. (Did I mention that I've started Row 3? I meant to take an update photo… maybe tomorrow.)

(It was a stellar morning for photographing yarn on the walkway outside the back door!)

Even for me, this feels a little crazy, but… pandemic times! I'm just going with it.

Crochet!

Hello, July

June 30, 2020 Vicki9 Comments

My calendars are already flipped to July, so… HELLO. And, also, you're looking OK in some respects. I just realized that, with regular days off + holidays + vacation, I won't be working a "normal" week until the last week of the month (and, as always but especially in summer, that's subject to change).

I rented a "beach" house on the lake-side of Door County in the middle of the month and am heading up with Kate & Al & the kids. Rusty & I took the kiddos on Sunday and gave them a preview.

I'm not gonna lie… it was Sunday, it was gorgeous out, and it was crowded — sometimes, uncomfortably so — but Ali lent us a secret weapon: a large pop-up screened gazebo! It was/we were terribly obnoxious about it, especially since the water level is high and the beach is not as big as it used to be, but hey! We muscled in, and it worked! The added benefit is that we had a place for sun breaks and didn't get sunburned!

When we dropped the kids off on the way home, I took a peek at my grandchickens!

They're getting so big, but still sounding like chicks.

Yesterday, I took a drive across the state with Kate. Her new art magazine, dovetail, debuts tomorrow and I rode shotgun to Chanhassen (a 'burb of Minneapolis) to pick it up. It was a full day of driving and, y'know, things being as they are we had lunch in the car in the parking lot at Culver's instead of a nice cafe lunch before heading back, but it was a nice day and even with gas & food, it was a solid $200+ saved. What else would we be doing?? (Well, I might be finishing my taxes, but p'shaw… I have a couple of weeks yet!)

There was weather! It was hot and my air conditioning was a little sketchy for a while, and there was rain, but mostly it was a lot of fun watching the sky all the way there and back.

I had prepared a nice little R A I N B O W box of yarn to take to the beach… an idea has been percolating for a while and I just had to scratch that itch! I didn't get started on it, nor did I really do anything while in the car yesterday, as planned… it turns out that doing crochet is not like riding a bicycle (at least not for me). I got the tiniest start last night, though, and we'll see. The baby blanket is still my #1 focus (I've finished Row 2, started Row 3), but I'm going to designate one day a week for at least a little crochet action.