Absence of a Saturday Sky

I was unable to get a photo of the sky yesterday. So, imagine if you will a day full of rumbly thunder and summer storms. A gray haze broken only by sheets of rain. That's yesterday's sky. Today's sky is much prettier, but that would be cheating.

Quick Hat, Good Cause

A hat made for the daughter of an acquaintance of a friend... is that sufficiently vague? The lovely girl in question is in the midst of chemotherapy, and a little distressed over losing her hair. This cap was made with the softest yarn the boys and I could find, which turned out to be Debbie Bliss Cathay. One skein made this hat, wtih pretty much nothing left over.

Her head's not really that big... that's a junior sized soccer ball in the photo. ;)

Started:	Week of 17 July 2006
Finished:	24 July 2006
Pattern:	Lace-Edged Woman's Hat by Julie M. Hentz (http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/kpatt18.htm). Head Huggers has a lot of wonderful chemo cap patterns.
Yarn:	Debbie Bliss Cathay (50% cotton, 35% viscose microfibre, 15% silk.) One 100m / 50g skein. Color 12012, a deep purple.
Needles:	Old aluminum dpns, size 7

22 July Saturday Sky

The view from our driveway. The promised thunderstorm is currently wispy clouds. Where's our RAIN?!

First Harvest

If you're looking for crafting content, move along. Perhaps I should take up basketweaving so I can display my veggies as a craft. :)

This is the first harvest from our first little raised bed garden. Kentucky Wonder green beans - yum! This is the same vareity I grew last year in pots; they look much happier in a real garden.

Happy Saturday, everyone. Sky photos later, though they will likely be a uniform grey.

Do the Watermelon Crawl

This cheeky little hat is headed on its way to California, as soon as I can convince it to stop frolicking with the kitchenware. It is being donated to a breastfeeding awareness campaign, and will be given to a newborn from a low-income family. I hope it brings a smile to someone's face.

I had intended to make another hat, but the watermelon is tired of waiting for its sibling. The Li'l Green Apple hat is having a time of it, mainly because I'm teaching myself to knit continental-style. It seems like a reasonable way to knit for economy of movement. However, I am finding that overcoming over twenty years of muscle memory is... kinda time consuming. I'm getting there, though. I'm sure the apple will find another charity home evenutally.

For those of you who can whip out a hat as quick as a flash, the deadline for this particular campaign is the end of July. You can get the address to mail hats to on the Harlot's site (look in the July 14th entry.)

Started:	July 2006
Finished:	11 July 2006
Pattern:	From the Yarn Harlot's blog. Scroll down to the July 1 entry for instructions.
Yarn:	Sugar 'n Cream Cotton in Hot Pink, White, Hot Green, and Sage Green. Caron Cotton Tales in Black. It's a little rougher than I'd like for a baby item, but if experience with my dishcloths holds, it will acquire cushy softness with use.
Notes:	My first duplicate stitched item. I'm pretty sure the inside is a mess. I'm also pretty sure the baby won't care.
Needles:	I've forgotten already! I think they were Bates aluminum dpns, size 6.

15 July Saturday Sky

Today once again found me at the library, so I took more sky pictures. A storm was moving through, and the sky was different everywhere I looked. So, please indulge me in multiple sky pictures. I couldn't help myself!



Today was our first week back at home schooling, so I didn't get a lot of crafting done. However, I did manage to make this little guy for one of the boys. As you can probably see, she's a little the worse for wear already from a few days of kid love. The other kidlet has ordered a snake, and I am resisting the urge to make him just the right size to swallow the mouse.

Started:	Week of 10 July 2006
Finished:	Week of 10 July 2006
Pattern:	This little guy was made from another Kristie pattern.
Yarn:	Caron Simply Soft Acrylic in pink and white.
Notes:	4mm amythest beads for eyes; stuffed with polyester fiberfill. If I make the pattern again, I will alter the bit just before the tail, and also make the tail longer.
Hook:	Boye aluminum, size F

Saturday Sky

I dedicate this late afternoon Saturday Sky to my son's overdue book on Geckos. The view from the library parking lot was gorgeous.

Wanna Know a Secret Meme

I'm working on a project I can't share yet, so I'm going to join in Scout's Wanna Know a Secret Meme instead. The idea is to share a little secret that may make people lose respect for you. Here goes... *deep breath*

Dirtly little secret the first: I'm addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV series.) My hubby and I watched the whole seven seasons as quicky as possible, and then started over at season one. Now that we're back up to season six (in the space of a few months), we're slowing down to one a week to make it last. I adore the evolution of the characters, and admire their struggle against evil. I love that good versus evil isn't painted in black and white. And, as an added bonus, it's quippy. I loves me a quippy show.

Dirty little secret the second: My children know all the words to the musical episode, because it's what we play in the car as we're driving to and from our errands and homeschool activities. No, I do not let them watch the show. Heh.

Dirty little secret the last: When I'm dying for a Buffy fix, I read fanfic. Don't tell anyone.

Saturday Sky just as soon as I actually go anywhere... you've already seen the view from my backyard.

Hey, I DO own a Viking!

Guess what I found today? My sewing machine. I had a sneaking suspicion that I still owned one. Sure enough - after moving a computer keyboard and mouse, some tesselating clay tiles (ancient history project courtesy of the little ones), an old family reunion photo, and a lot of fabric scraps... voila! A Viking!

I also found an ironing board, some pins, and some unfinished curtains. To top it off, I sewed another piece on the curtains just to make it all feel worthwhile.

Sometimes, progress is progress even if it isn't worth taking a picture.

So, to amuse you all, I give you a picture of something else I found this week:

These little lovelies were hanging out in my needle box. I came across them while looking for a set of dpns for a hat. Alas, they were the wrong size. But, seeing them threw me back into my childhood. Before I could blink, I was immersed in a full sense memory of sitting on a red vinyl swivel stool at the lunch counter at Woolworth's with my mom, eating grilled cheese. The memory comes complete with chinging cash register and the sound of shoppers milling around the store, though it doesn't come with the smell of food. Funny.

No, I didn't buy these needles at Woolworth's; they were given to me by an older lady a few years ago since she had given up knitting. It must have been the photo on the front of the package that did it.

Itty Bitty Boy Toys

The boys talked me into crocheting these little guys over the weekend. They each picked out the yarn and colors for their own animal, and stuffed it with minimal help from me. The turtle and the snail are currently spending each night tucked in next to their own little boy.

Started:	1 July 2006
Finished:	2 July 2006
Pattern:	The Itty Bittys, a free pattern by Kristie. Here's the link to the Tiny Turtle pattern.
Yarn:	Sugar 'n Cream cotton. Snail: Hot Green (body) and Summer Splash (shell) Turtle: Sage Green (body) and Midnight Magic (shell).
Notes:	4mm wiggle eyes. Iridescent sequins and glass seed beads for shell. Stuffed with polyester fiberfill.
Hook:	Boye aluminim, size F

Two Generations of Knitters

This is the first time I've knitted the exact same pattern that my dear mother has knit, and had the results to compare side-by-side. Now that I see them, it makes me question... just how big a hole should a YO leave? My blankie has big, lacy holes between each 'v' of the ripple pattern. My mother's blankie, by contrast, has very tight 'v's with an almost imperceptible set of YO holes. These blankets were knit from the same brand and weight of yarn. Her blanket (the green) is a bit stretched from six years of my son's love.

I don't know if she really tightens her tension in the next row, or if I don't tighten enough. I already know that I knit much more loosely than the lady in question. My hands would cramp if I knit like she manages to do!

So, dear readers, how do your YOs go? Lacy, or not-so-much? Thanks for any advice.

The baby blankie is done.

Well, the blankie is done. I'm not sure about the baby... I haven't heard from the mommy in question for a few days. Eep!

I stopped a little short on this one, as it was quite wide. I felt that making it the length called for was going to be quite unwieldy in the long run. My decision had absolutlely nothing to do with the fact that the pattern was boring me senseless, and that I get to make a quilt for said baby once this blanket is done.

Blankie stats:

Started:	28 May 2006
Finished:	30 Jun 2006
Pattern:	Reversible Baby Blanket, from the Jan 1981 issue of Workbasket magazine.
Yarn:	Caron Simply Soft, 100% acrylic, color 9909 - soft blue. This yarn is very shiny, and hard to photograph true-to-color.
Needles:	Size 8 circular

Saturday Sky

Mid-morning sky, as seen from my backyard. I can confirm that the mosquitos are out at 10 in the morning. What's that all about?

Today's forcast: hot and sunny with beautiful wispy clouds. Come on over, and we'll have a barbeque!