Bron's Blog II

Spring Fever? Me?

Gosh - when I can wake up to scenes like this:

Why on earth would I have spring fever? (Yeah - that big mound of snow is still there from the "big one" we had at the end of December.)

We have another storm zipping through later on today, piggy-backing on this one. Nothing major, though, maybe a couple of inches when it's all said & done. Still - I'm glad my job is inside the building today & not out in the portables!

Yesterday's field trip was great - a really nice change of pace. I almost wasn't allowed to go since two teachers called in & they needed 2 emergency subs. If no coverage was found, I would've had to stay behind. But luckily my sub coordinator was able to find people to fill all the slots. She knew how much I was looking forward to it & really busted butt to keep me on the trip. :)

We saw The Mayhem Poets and it was a wonderful show. All kids were so surprised. They were expecting people standing up & reading poetry - not hip hop & rap! We stayed behind for a 15 minute question & answer session and the 3 guys were very personable. :)

Once back at school, I got a small start on Black Lace's second front, but did the bulk of the crocheting after dinner last night:

I'm pretty sure I can finish this front today. I guess you can tell I've decided to concentrate on this one project until it's finished...which, barring hell & high water, should be this weekend. ::grin::

Paula pointed out something to me in my comments yesterday - namely, that I was still making cardis! Albeit shorter sleeved cardis. :) So much for trying to stay away from cardi a bit, eh? So much for the new year's resolution!

Yep - I must admit - cardis are the crack of the knitting world for me. And boy, am I addicted! It's fun, though, to wear a different sweater to work every day and know I made every one. :)

HOWEVER....my resolution still stands. I have WAY too many cardis on my shelves right now. I still need to branch out to other areas and slow down the cardi making machine!

Soooo...I chanced upon a stack of Sandra magazines my dear Nat sent me awhile back. I paged through them once again and found a few things I might just make.

Cardis? Heck no!

Pullis! LOL

This first one is actually a top - great for summer and I could wear it to work:

Just enough embellishment to keep things interesting, but very classy looking too. :)

This one has my beloved 3/4 length sleeves and such a lovely lace accent:

Next up: A really fun knit with bulky yarn. Great for next winter:

I love those twisty, meandering cables!

I was very, very taken by this coat:

Can you imagine how warm that must be? And how much yarn that must take? Still - I think it's very attractive even if it is a really huge project to take on.

That's it for today. I'm off to sub 7th grade science. The teacher has a prep period linked with her lunch half hour - keep your fingers crossed that I can have some good crochet time today! (But I'm not banking on it. Lots of teachers have been calling in sick lately - mid-winter blahs, I guess.)

Have a good one!

PS - I'm wearing Nantucket today ....I'll report back with any teacher comments! LOL

 

Finally, Some Knitting & Crochet

I'll get right to it, too!

My progress on Black Lace Cardi:

If I'd just work solely on this, it wouldn't take very long to finish. That front took only a day or two's crocheting time. But I keep getting distracted with things like this:

That's my new project, "Something Pink." My Bubblegum Cotton Ease version of Something Red. I've had the pattern for awhile and suddenly I just couldn't take it any more, I had to cast on! (Must be a bit of spring fever, eh?)  ::Grin:: It's zipping right along since it's perfect TV knitting. :)

Now - a bit more about aprons. Pfirsch, someone who's Googling skills far exceed mine, managed to come up with several different versions of my mother's apron. Check out here , and here, and there are lots of different apron types here.  None are exactly like mine, but some are pretty darn close! I then mentioned to her that there should be a book about aprons. Lo & behold, she found that too. I now have that book in my Amazon cart. ::Grin::

This weekend I'll be picking my final fabric and seeing about making a pattern. I'll keep you posted on the apron progress!

Today is pretty exciting - at least for a poor substitute teacher like me. :) One of the gifted teachers grabbed me before school yesterday to check if I had a job for today. She wouldn't be able to take her 6th graders to a field trip & wondered if I could fill in for her. The field trip is to UNM for a poetry slam and includes all the gifted classes. She (and the other gifted teachers) were pretty anxious that I be able to come since the 6th graders know me & love me....her words, not mine! hehe

Of course I did have a job, but as long as the teacher who has me doesn't object, I get to switch when a teacher requests me. ('Cause, you know, I'm just so hot & in demand! Honest - those were the sub coordinator's words! LOL) Sooooo....I get to go on the field trip! Woohoo! Dylan's going with his class & I'd wanted to go anyway as a parent volunteer, but couldn't because I was working. We'll leave around 9:15 and be back at 1:30-ish, which means I'll get my teacher's prep period at the end of the day too. :) Life doesn't get much better. ::Grin::

Oh - here's one more thing that I just gotta share. Since Dylan is special ed and entering high school next year, he needs a progression IEP this month. Over a 2 day period, Feb. 13th & 14th, all the sped teachers on both ends of the spectrum will have their parent/high school personnel meetings. I, of course, am subbing for one of the sped teachers but...I'm also scheduled for Dylan's IEP. There's no way I can cancel that job and there was seemingly no way to make that meeting.

My sub coordinator had me talk to the Sped. Ed. Dept. head and long story short, I'm getting "coverage." Dang - just like a regular teacher, she'll send in a substitute for me! LOL

You know - sometimes it's the small things in life that just tickle you pink.

Let me end with yet more knitting news...I finally found a knitting basket that I like, is the perfect size, and looks good:

 

Before there was just a crate and it looked messy & unkempt. Now everything fits in here neatly and it actually looks clean & modern:

Next time: I've been tagged for that weird thing meme going around (waving at Stacey) so I'll see what I can come up with. I have a feeling that the only hard thing will be stopping at only 6! LOL

Let's Play Catch Up

Not only did I go off on a nostalgia tangent, I also skipped a day of blogging so I'm a wee bit behind!
I do have lots of progress on both the black crochet cardi AND on a new project, but I think I'll save that for tomorrow's entry. (When I should have even more progress to share.) So - on to a very special Bullet Monday:

• I found a horn button at JoAnn for my purse - here's what it looks like:

• I got motivated to fix my Grape Whip (Licorice Whip) because Jess was so pleased with hers. So, I picked out the first 4 rows of knitting at the neck and voila! That choking feeling was gone. Yay!

The "un-picking" was made easy because it was a top-down design. When you take stitches out there are no live stitches left to mess with. (Which, of course, everyone knows but I just had to mention. ::wink::) Cool! I wore this all day yesterday with a tank top underneath and, although the thermometer said 38 degrees, I was comfy out in the cold. I'm officially moving Grape Whip from the failed pile to the success pile. Woohoo!

• Remember that teacher who commented negatively on my choice of lime green for my Nantucket Jacket? Well, as luck would have it, she came into my room last week while I was wearing CeCe which, as you all might remember, is a very bright, lime green. The conversation went something like this:

Teacher: Is that the same sweater I saw you working on last month?
Me: No - this is a different one.
Teacher: But it's almost the same color! (her voice actually raised!)
Me: Yes, it is actually.
Teacher: If you remember, I asked you before what possessed you to choose such a color for yourself.
Me: YES. I remember. (Believe me, I had tone in my voice!)
Teacher: Well, I'm not trying to be rude, honest.
Me, thinking to myself: (I guess being rude comes naturally, eh?)
Teacher: But I just couldn't help noticing that color again and had to comment.
Me: I've actually worn that other sweater a couple of times, you just haven't seen me.
Teacher: You mean you finished it???
Me: Yes.
Teacher: Well.
Me: (gritting teeth) Good bye!

Sometimes the actions of others just boggle my mind. Truly, that woman is certifiable!!

• I really wish I liked Bernat Boa yarn. You can get a package of 10 skeins for 10 dollars at my local Tuesday Morning and it's in pretty decent colors too. Instead, with kitchen dishcloths in mind, I purchased 3 skeins of Lion Cotton that was on clearance:

To go with the two skeins I bought earlier at JoAnn. (Notice the lime green. I can't seem to stay away from it now! LOL):

So I can make some fun patterns from this book:

• Because I'm not quite done with nostalgia, I wanted to show you my last baby who lost his last baby tooth a few days ago:

He managed to con a fiver out of his bemused & nostalgic Tooth Fairy. Sigh.

Happy Monday!

Sitting In The Light, Remembering The Dark

While I've been dipping my oars in the sea of remembrance (dang - that's poetic!) there are some things I've dredged up that I'd rather forget. I'm sure we all have one or two less than stellar memories that we prefer stay buried deep in our past. But, like it or not, our experiences and our memories of them shape who we are for the rest of our lives. That's what makes us interesting creatures, eh?

Whenever I think of my Mom, I think of aprons. Not only because she wore one every day around the house but because an apron is the perfect symbol of my housebound-through-choice mother. She had no self-esteem and was truly terrified her family would leave her. (She was adopted & always felt rejected by her birth mother, her adoptive father divorced her adoptive mother when she was 16 and died a year later the day before her 17th birthday, etc., etc..) I don't think she necessarily loved my father, but she married him a few months after her own father died, just to make sure she'd have someone to take care of her. Instinctively she knew Dad would never leave her.

For the next 73 years, until they were both put in separate Homes, she did exactly as Dad told her. Once in awhile there was a flare of independence, the last vestiges of a feisty girl that was drowning in a sea of fear, but mostly what Dad said was what happened. (And that wasn't always a good thing either, but I'm not discussing my Dad today. ::wink::)

When we (the children) went to the house with a police escort to take my mother away from my father a few years ago so she could have proper medical treatment and a clean place to stay, she was wearing an apron when she came to the door.

It hadn't been washed for months if not years, but I remembered that apron from my childhood.

All through the medical examination, up until the time the nurses helped her strip down for a shower and fresh clothing, Mom's hands alternately crumbled & smoothed that apron. Her memory was so far gone that she had no idea who her children were and didn't remember her husband's name, but her hands went through the old familiar motions.

Her hands that were always busy throughout her long life. Playing piano was her passion - when the time came that she couldn't remember how to play at the Home, we knew the end was near. Sewing, knitting, crocheting, cooking, her hands were constantly in motion.

I think she tried to keep as busy as she could as a distraction against the dark.

When I was digging through my fabric stash looking for vintage-type fabrics for aprons, I came across something that Mom gave me years ago:

This is an apron from the 40s that she had stashed down in the basement. I don't think she ever wore it and I have a suspicion that my Great Aunt Nina made it. (Mom tended to keep everything Aunt Nina made fresh & unused.) Here's what the apron looks like on:

I really love the design of this one and it's something I've not seen in recent years. I even did a search on Google yesterday and out of the hundreds of vintage aprons I saw, I couldn't find this particular style.

The details are interesting - darts at the back of the neck:

and also where the ties join the body:

Not needed, of course, but interesting. :) The only hard thing about this is sewing around all those curves. But I think I'm up to the challenge.

The first apron I make from this pattern will be for me.

And every time I take it off to go out the door into the world without fear, I'll remember Mom and hope that a little bit of her might still be hanging around to live vicariously through me.

Crafty Nostalgia, Part 2

I told you yesterday that Mom & I used to make a lot of what's called kitsch today. Well...I have a confession.....

It seems I still do. Take a look at what I found in Kitschy Crafts;

And take a look at what I pulled from my kitchen drawer:

I made a couple of these one year after finding the pattern in a Workbasket magazine. I had no idea they were tacky! LOL I think I finally threw out the collection of bottle caps I had - just in case I wanted another. ::Grin:: However, seeing the one made in variegated purples makes me want just one more!

Here - let's go tripping down memory lane again....

To continue on a grape theme, I've already made one grape doily,

Can this one be far behind?:

When I was around 12, I embroidered a denim shirt to within an inch of it's life. I remember the big motif on the back was a freckled face boy with a fishing pole. I think he was at least a foot high! In comparison, this shirt featured is positively sedate:

During the 70's, there was a very popular doily/tablecloth pattern being passed around between crocheters in our area. Back then you photocopied patterns with impunity. No one even spared a thought for copyrights. My Aunt made one in peach for her dining room table and my Mom crocheted one in pink for herself and one in ecru for my Bio-Mom. I have a copy of that old pattern, left to me in my mother's crafting things, but this doily reminds me strongly of that one and I think I just might make it:

Next up, something I saw at other people's homes, but this craft is one I'd never have been allowed to do at MY home:

And coasters to match!

In our new house we're going to have two living areas - one will be Doug's pool room. I think a couple of record chip bowls and a bunch of these coasters would be perfect for the ambiance. I'm going to have the kids make these for him for Xmas. They'll love melting records in the oven and it's something that Doug will love receiving. :) Oh - and while we're at it, I'll have them find a colored vinyl record and make one of these too:

Now...I just need to find a friend who wouldn't mind receiving one of these for Christmas:

Surely I can find someone that would laugh at these as much as I do??? hehehe

By the way, speaking of fridgies, anyone out there remember those crocheted butterflies that were really popular in the 70's? You crocheted a hexagon (I think) then folded it over to look like butterfly wings, using a pipe cleaner twisted down the center for the body & antennae. I've got to Google that - it would be fun to make a couple. For nostalgia's sake. ::wink::

In part 3 I'll talk about a little something from Mom I rediscovered....that's going to give me another project to work on!

Nostalgia - A Post In Two (Or Three) Parts

It all started when a. I had the afternoon off yesterday and b. I was putting the Crocheted Triangle Purse together.

I came home at 11:30 (after having 1st period prep, then only subbing 45 minutes in a classroom until the teacher came back - long story, but I still got paid for 4 full hours - whoohoo!) and found these waiting for me in an Amazon box:

Now - I for one, love kitsch. I grew up with all those crafts & decorating faux pas that most people call kitsch today. Heck - my Mom & I MADE some of that stuff! So when I saw the first book at Michael's, I knew I had to find it on Amazon. The second book popped up at the same time & that crocheted baby fridgie sold me on getting it too. ::wink::

But more on those later in the entry. First, let me show you the finished purse. Well, all except for the button, which I'll find at JoAnn this weekend:

This is actually a lot roomier than I thought it would be, but I'll still need to "think small" when and if I use it. (This might be a present for Xmas - we'll see!)

It's a very heavy purse - there is a lot of bulky yarn in this - and while I was making it I kept thinking of the very first purse I ever made. I was 10 and it was made of rectangles & squares...lots & lots of them. It was my first ever "design" and I loved pockets. I kept crocheting little squares and sewing them on & in the purse until finally there were so many pockets, I couldn't fit anything else in the purse!

The minute I hefted the Triangle Purse, the weight and thickness brought it all back to me. Which isn't such a bad thing, I suppose. I got a chuckle out of the remembrance and and it got me thinking about my Mom...which led to another discovery....but that I'm saving for part three of my entry.

Here are the official stats on Triangle Purse:

Pattern: Triangle-Motif Purse from the spring 2007 Family Circle Crochet magazine
Yarn: 3 and a smidge skeins of Patons SWS
Hook: I
Mods: None

A really quick pattern, easy to crochet, kinda tricky to sew together but it goes faster once you get the hang of it. I like it! I still need to get a big, funky button for the front. I'll post another pic when that's accomplished.

Now - back to kitsch...

Although my house was full of kitsch when I was growing up, there were a few things we didn't have that I lusted for as a child. In the book, Kitschy Crafts, they have 'em. Honestly, in the 60's I wanted these grapes sooooo badly!:

I had no idea they were a craft (resin pouring) that you could do at home! I thought everyone bought them! Even more shocking, I had no idea you could STILL make them today! Will wonders never cease. As a kid I thought they were the coolest thing ever. In fact, just looking at them in this post reminds me of the clackers we had as kids. Remember those? Must've been in the early 70's. Those big heavy balls that you flung around on strings & they "clacked" together...when they weren't hitting you in the head and causing severe injuries!

I remember I had a pair of purple ones. ::Grin::: Ahem....moving right along....

Another thing that was in my Aunt's house and I coveted was the ubiquitous poodle TP roll cover:

I'm not quite sure how it was that we never ended up with one. Especially since Mom crocheted and my Aunt had one and Mom tended to make anything my Aunt did. After all, Mom put a felt Santa face seat cover on our toilet (complete with sequins in strategic spots!) every Christmas - surely after that nothing could've have been too kitschy for her????

I really love this book. The illustrations are straight out of the magazines of that time and really bring back memories:

Tomorrow I'll talk about the crafts I've done & ones I'd like to do from these books and then in part 3 you'll see the discovery I made after thinking of Mom, crafts & nostalgia, and I'll have a picture of a nostalgic milestone of my own.

Wow - it's kinda like a story arc in a TV show. ::Grin:::

The excitement never ends here at Casa De Bron!

What A Difference A Day Makes

Just getting a few things accomplished, having a good night's sleep (yeah - I went to bed during the State of the Union address...sometimes I just can't bear to see his face on my TV), and making a couple of decisions can make everything look brighter. :)

More life bullets:

• I got the rental's electric/gas/water transferred back into our name. One thing off my mind.

• Doug called the renter & we've got assurances that $$ is forthcoming within the next 48 hours AND all the trash will be hauled away forthwith.

• I've been very dissatisfied with WW Online, mainly because their online tools fail. They lose days out of my points tracker, for instance, and that is VERY irritating. Also, they are so backed up in customer service that they say they'll answer questions within five days! Nope - sorry. After one week I decided to cancel, but then found out I might be out $40 for just one week's worth of use! Grrrrr! I'll keep you posted on how THAT works out!

• I've gone to what is tried & true for me: I lose weight AND I get rid of gas & bloating. It's low carb all the way. (I didn't say NO carb, so don't anyone get up in arms!) I've lost a couple more pounds and feel wonderful. The best part is not worrying about a poochy stomach - I'd forgotten just how bloated carbs make me. The really best part is that I don't have to pay anyone to tell me how much or what to eat. Low carb is pretty much a no-brainer diet. :)

• Classes yesterday could've been worse but they could've been better. I had to lecture all of them on behavior a time or two but avoided writing contracts. Although since I threatened to, next time I'll probably have to in order to prove I don't bluff. Sigh.

• Today I have a half day job - Special Ed Science. If no emergencies come up, I'll be out at noon. I'd love to be able to come home & have a couple of hours of peace & quiet. It's been awhile!

Now...on to knitting & crocheting....

I've made just a smidge of progress on Black Lace Cardi:

(I've made this my school project since I've memorized the pattern & it's small & easy to carry.)

I've knit on Holey Cables during the evenings, but with around 270 stitches per row, even at a larger gauge this is taking awhile!:

I got a new Sandra in the mail yesterday (October, 2005) and this is the pattern I've been waiting for:

Fishtail lace is my favorite and I really love this wrap cardi. :) But wouldn't you know - this calls for a chunky yarn (size 11 needles) and I'm fresh out of yarn that big on my shelves! I've been making a concerted effort to buy worsted weight & below and stay away from big knits. Hmmmmm....could there be some yarn shopping in my future? Or can I make something in my stash work???

I'll let you know!

Again, More Tidbits About My Life...

...than you probably want to know. But hey - it keeps the old blog interesting, eh?

Bag update:

They are now "lightly blocked" and by tomorrow they'll be dry enough to crochet together. Karen, no need to stay away from the pattern - 28 triangles equals 56 ends to weave in. It only took half an hour! ;) I will say that it's kind of finicky to sew together - making sure you have the top of the stitch showing around all sides.

Wanda mentioned SWS shedding and she's right! I definitely wouldn't wear my contacts while working with this stuff. Leisel talked about breaks in the yarn and I thought I'd chime in. I had one ball with 4 knots in it which is about one knot for every 27 yds. That's pretty bad. On the other hand, the other two balls I've used have had no breaks at all. So I'm thinking it's probably the luck of the draw as to whether you get a "bad ball." So to speak. ::wink::

I fulfilled a knitting resolution yesterday - I wore a vest to work! I actually did have Doug take a picture of me to prove it, but the picture was too wonky to post. (We used the night vision on the camera since it was pretty early in the morning and it didn't turn out well.) I wore Cul-De-Sac and actually liked it. I found a really neat paisley stretch shirt to wear underneath (and hanging out from the bottom of the vest!) and it looked fine. :) I also washed the vest & blocked it out a bit to make it hang better.

Which brings me to a small rant: Once again, I have to complain about how badly Lavold's Cotton Patine fades. After just one washing the vest looks 10 years old. The brown faded to gray in some places and truly looks BAD. Sigh. I had to throw out an entire cardi when something like this happened before. I'm just saying that for the amount of $$ charged, the yarn should hold up better...MUCH better! I'm not throwing this vest because as bad as the yarn looks, the knitting is good enough to save it.

Here are some brief life bullets:

• After last week's easy peasy substituting, this week is turning out to be HARD. No preps, no free rides. Yesterday a substitute (a little old lady, nonetheless) had extreme problems with a class. She had to call a neighboring teacher over to pull a kid out & write him a referral. So when I get home yesterday, I see that (lo and behold!) my half day job was canceled and I'm put in that class for today. I've decided that the attitude of "let's get Bron to do it, she can handle it" really gets old after awhile. My ego's had enough stroking - let me have the normal stuff again!
• I really get pissed at kids who would treat elderly people so badly. Some of the subs who work are well into their seventies and certainly don't deserve the disrespect and attitude that the kids think is so cool.
• I really get tired of parents saying, "Well, MY kids wouldn't to anything like that!" Frankly, you know your kid at home. You don't know your kid when he or she is at school and awash in the pack mentality. Some kids do a total 180 when confronted with peer pressure. Just sayin'. I've seen it happen, these parents haven't.
• Then again, I was braced for the classes from hell yesterday and they all turned out to be fine. We watched "Stand and Deliver" each period and the movie managed to hold their attention pretty well. Aside from making a few kids put iPods away & telling them to be quiet quite a bit, everything went well. Just no knitting time!
• Our renters still haven't paid this month's rent; they still haven't cleared out several truckloads of trash than needs to be hauled to the dump; we found out yesterday that the water is going to be shut off in 3 days because they canceled it and never told us; the renters think that offering us a Chihuahua from their next litter is enough to make everything alright.
• Doug got called up for jury duty starting Feb. 14th. At least it's Metro Court & not Federal! What a pain!
• We have a Comcast guy coming out between 4 & 6 today. Ever since they put in high speed Internet, it's gone funky once in awhile. We have to reset the modem, unplug, etc. and even then it won't connect at times. It will be fine for a couple of months, then the signal goes wonky again. I finally had enough & called 'em in. Hopefully they can find something other than ghosts in the Ethernet!

There - that's enough kvetching for one post, eh? I may or may not be skipping tomorrow - I have a feeling I won't have much progress on anything to show you since I have a pretty full day today. :)

Ah - life's little stresses.....

There Is No Joy In Muddville

The might Patriots have struck out.

No Patriots in the Super Bowl. That sucks!

Sigh.

Well, in that case: Go Bears!

I mean honestly - the Colts? In the Super Bowl? For the first time since 1970? You have to give credit to Manning for getting 'em this far but I'm going with "Da Bears" on this one.

I sewed these triangles together during the 4th quarter...I'll blame the excitement for any wonkiness you might see:

Both sides of the purse get blocked a bit before sewing up. Don't worry, the weird sides will definitely even out! Now I need to do the same to these babies:

And these? Just a bathmat waiting to happen:

Do you know what else I need to be making? Dishcloths. You see, my oldest is taking Cooking this semester and they've already learned all about germ transmission & how sponges in the kitchen are the enemy. The teacher recommends cotton dishcloths for their durability and nukability to kill germs.

Which, of course, I knew (and I sanitize my sponges, thank you very much) but with a 14 year old quite literally breathing down your neck (because he's taller than I am!) I think I'll knit up a few dishcloths to make him happy. Maybe I can get him to clean the kitchen with them! ha!

Hold good thoughts for me today. I was hoping for a snow day, but only the mountain schools are on a 2 hour delay. I have the classes from hell (yeah, again - only this time from a different teacher!) and I'm not looking forward to it. Ever since the first of the year, this teacher has been asking for me as a sub because she thinks I "can handle her classes."

Whenever a teacher says "handle" it's a code word for "survive in one piece."

I'd better get a prep period - I'll need it to recover! ha!

Oh - by the way: I'm really loving that Soy Stripes yarn. The colors are really gorgeous and the wool isn't bothering my hands too much. I know I could never wear anything I made from it next to my skin (I definitely feel the itch underneath!), but I find myself wanting to knit multi-directional scarves, just to see the colors play out! :::Grin:::

Happy Monday!

If The First Doesn't Get You, The Second One Will

The first "big storm" kinda busted here in ABQ while dumping pretty hard in the Eastern part of the state. But - fear not! Another storm is coming down from the north today & tomorrow which just might bring us the snow we were bracing for. (Ahem..."for which we were bracing.")

Just as well - Dylan was able to go to his friend's yesterday for 6 hours to film a cartoon/movie/"thing" they're doing. (With 9 fourteen-yr-olds involved, I'm SO glad it was at someone else's house! LOL) And Colin was able to go to his friend's B-day sleepover too. :)

I was able to get out & about and buy this:

If you crochet - go buy it. You won't be sorry. I haven't been this excited about a crochet magazine in a loooooong time. Years ago when I'd buy a crochet magazine I would make at least half a dozen projects from it - the patterns were that good. Now I seldom make anything from them (most of my projects come from books) but I buy them anyway to support the cause. That's why I'm so very, very pleased with this issue. Of course, now that I absolutely love a magazine they are discontinuing it, but I suppose that makes these patterns all the sweeter, right?

I'm so enamored of this purse I'm going out to buy the 4 skeins of Soy Wool Stripes I need to make it today:

This is just plain cute. Whether I'll wear it myself or make it to give away, I gotta make it:

I'm buying the yarn I need to make this today too:

Don't ask me why - I just love that bathmat. ::Grin::: I like this kitchen set too - I've always liked yellow & deep blue as a kitchen combo:

I may make that table runner, actually, in the leftover Almond Cotton Ease I have from Fountain Lace. The neutral color will coordinate year 'round and it looks fun & quick to crochet.

I really liked the color combo on this sweater too:

That's definitely something I would wear. Here's a two-for-one pic:

That purse is TOO cute! Like Vera, I'm thinking I probably wouldn't have the patience to crochet all those little flowers, but the jacket without them might be pretty cute too!

Last, but not least, I liked this jacket enough to start it last night:

I'm just not longer feelin' the love with Haight Ashbury so it's out with the old & in with the new:

I really like this pattern stitch and it goes very quickly too. :) This just might be that basic black cardi I've been wanting. Yay!

Bernat has a big advertising section in the middle of the magazine showcasing all their yarns with free patterns for every room of your house and three wearables. You can browse through the pics in the magazine, then go to their website to click on a room and download the patterns. I thought it was a cute idea - something a little different at least!

So, anyway. Seriously. All you crocheters out there. Buy the mag. 'Nuff said.

I also had time to start winding my yarn for Cabled Tree Skirt:

Doug thinks it's an incredibly odd choice for a project. Here I am, trying to branch out & get away from sweaters a bit and he says, "Why use all that wool for a tree skirt? Knit me a sweater!" ha! Yeah, right, honey!

I also knit awhile on Holey Cables, but it's going to be days before I have any real progress to show you. Here's a current pic with Arnold's head for scale:

Sheesh - silly cat.

OK - I think that's MORE than enough pictures for one post - I'm outa here!