Bron's Blog II

Long Time No Cardi

So here ya go:

Please excuse the hair & the goofy face. It was late, I was tired. ::wink::

The back:

The front:

The Stats:

• Pattern: "Lacy Top Cardigan" by Doris Chan from Tahki Stacy Charles "Crochet" Spring, 2007.
• Hook: J
• Yarn: 5 skeins Lily Cotton in black.
• Mods: I made it a few inches longer than called for and I changed direction on the front edging so I'd be ending with a RS rather than WS row. I have long arms so to have the sleeves be as long as the pattern, I would've had to add another 4 pattern repeats but I didn't bother.
  
• Mistakes: Once I got past my own user goof, I only found one mistake in the row stitch pattern. It's not a big deal and once you get there you'll know exactly what to do so I'm not going to write it out.
• Ease of crochet: Once you get the pattern going correctly, this is a breeze. The size of the hook and the worsted yarn make this one go very, very fast.
• Ease of wear: Even though the pattern is very open & lacey, this is surprisingly warm due to the heavy (worsted) yarn used. The fitted sleeves are a very nice touch and the tapering is perfect. The drape of the whole cardi is great. :)

For all you Cotton Ease lovers out there - this would be a perfect project for our favorite yarn. Judging by the Lily yardage, you'd need 5 to 6 skeins of CE, depending on your size.

I'm thinking I might wear this to school today. The weather has turned cooler and we're getting rain for the next couple of days. Today is "Civil War Day" where loads of reenactors come out & show the 8th graders what it was like. There are 9 "stations" on everything from cannons to the Virginia Reel. It'll be a lot of fun and hopefully I'll be able to see some of it. :)

Speaking of school, I didn't have the "zoo" yesterday after all. Turns out I was really there to cover teachers going to IEP meetings. But it didn't go as smoothly as in past years. The head of the Spec. Ed. department left a couple of weeks ago and she's the one who scheduled all the substitutes for each teacher. Each of us would cover 4 to 5 different teachers throughout the day. However, yesterday there were subs waiting but no schedules!

Too crazy for words. I ended up covering 3 IEPs and a period for a teacher who went home with the flu.

But at least I didn't go to the "zoo!"

Regarding the boy I told you about yesterday & Dylan's part in it: The kids were interviewed again yesterday and the tables were turned. The officer who interviewed Dylan told him he must be lying, that he would press "charges" against Dylan for doing that and for "covering" for a student who regularly brought weapons to school. He asked Dylan if he wanted to wait until there was "another Columbine" before coming forward.

You have no idea how angry I am at this. You know why he was hard on Dylan? Because Dylan wouldn't back down & looked him in the eye and insisted he was telling the truth. Dylan said he could tell the officer was getting pissed because Dylan wasn't acting like a frightened child. Eventually he backed down, though, because the officer just kept at him about it and Dylan said that finally he made him feel about 2 inches high.

Charming.

Because I don't want this to turn any uglier than it already is, I'm going to withhold any comments I might have unless they (the admin) keeps hammering at the kids. Hopefully this was it and they have enough info.

No wonder kids don't come forward if this is how they're treated!

More Black Blob Pics

Sorry folks - I need to photograph black projects in natural light! But here's proof that I am, indeed, finished with Lacy Top Cardi's body:

There's a really nice picot edging (sorry about the foot!) and here's a dark pic of the ties:

I know you really can't see them at all, but they're there. It's a nice pattern in that you finish the fronts and bottom all at once while incorporating the ties in your final row. I did change the last row but it's no biggie: I didn't like how the stitches were looking on the right side (you end with a WS row) so I cut the yarn & reattached so I'd end with a RS. Much better to my eye. :)

I also made this about 4 inches longer than suggested, maybe a bit more. I didn't keep track, just tried it on as I went.

It'll take me a couple of days for the sleeves and then I'll have the unveiling. It's been awhile since you've seen a pic of me. LOL

Here's my progress on a new pattern by Wendy for a dishcloth:

(Ignore that one bit in the center where my stitch count went wonky for a row.) This is fun to do & looks really great. It's Wendy's crochet answer to the knit "Ball Band" dishcloth. When it's finished, it'll go in my "fall kitchen" stack. It matches the tea cozy & dishcloth I've already made.

I'll be taking this book to school with me for some light reading:

This was back-ordered on Amazon for a couple of months & it finally arrived yesterday. I haven't had time to even flip through it, so I'm looking forward to a bit of reading today. I'll be subbing 6th grade English today so I know I'll be able to read a bit.

And yes, I'm still planning on making a pattern for my Mom's apron. In fact, I'm really itching to do some more sewing. Every day as I sit at the computer, my sewing machine sits right beside me, tempting me!

Have a happy & blessed first day of spring....whatever the weather!

Incentive

(My commentary is rated PG this morning for the use of the word "*ss." Just thought I'd warn you. ::wink::)

You know what this is?

It's a box of clothes that I've gotten from eBay off & on over the past year. Mostly jeans - about 15 pair of jeans I think - and other bottoms. I didn't buy them specifically, they came as part of a "lot" of clothes. I was really going for the tops or dresses that were included, the pants were extra.

All those pants should fit. You want to know why they don't?

'Cause I have a fat *ss.

You know why my *ss is so fat?

'Cause I have a lazy *ss too that doesn't want to exercise.

I could have a closet full of cute clothes if only I could drag my.....wait for it.....sorry *ss over to the exercise bike & get back into the swing of things.

I have high hopes that spring break will give me the time & motivation I need to start my exercise regime in earnest once again. In the meantime, in order to get the exercise ball rolling, I helped Doug finish shoveling the gravel in the front yard at the rental. My butt may be big, but my arms are sure getting toned! I'll get a pic of the finished project today. :)

In crocheting news, I reread the crochet cardi directions for, like, the 10th time & this time I really have it going correctly:

I've joined the back & fronts & am working my way down. :) Please ignore what I said before about the pattern obtuseness. There IS a real mistake, but it comes later - what I did at first was totally a user goof. I was trying to fix what I thought was a mistake on row 4 when in actuality I should've ripped back to row 2 to fix my own mistake. ::Grin:::

The real mistake is in the section where it tells you how the pattern rows go for the straight sections, working in the round and the taper. I'll list the correction when I do my end notes for this cardi - which should be in a couple of days 'cause this is a FAST crochet!

I'm using the Lily Elite Cotton that I've had for awhile. I tried two other projects with this and both failed. I was hoping the 3rd time would be the charm and it looks like it will be. :)

I totally forgot I bought a subscription to this until it arrived in my mailbox yesterday:

I liked a couple of patterns, which I'll talk about later, but I really have to say that my biggest beef with Knit N Style is their habit of putting really awful  items on their front cover. There are usually bright stripes & some sort of fun fur involved. Yuck! You're supposed to entice the reader into opening the magazine, not turn them off from even picking it up!

Yes, I'm still working on kitchen stuff. Right now I'm pattern testing for a friend. :)

Next up: Reviews of Lace Style and the June "Knit 'N Style."

Then the unveiling of Lacy Top Cardi.

Can this blog get any more thrilling???? hehehehe