Welcome visitors!

Wow! I just checked my stats and saw that the page got 15 hits from new visitors today alone. Thanks so much! Let's see if we can keep it interesting enough to lure you back. The next few days are going to be pretty image-intensive as we catch up, so I apologize to those of you with slower internet connections.

First, remember the baby blanket? I finished it three weeks ago. Seriously, I thought the kid was going to be in college before it was done. I added an edge of two stitches per each final stitch with a few extras in the corners. I never knew a little girl who didn't like a ruffle. She's here safe and sassy, by the way. Here's the blanket

.

Next in the category of Way Back When (it does seem like an awfully long time ago, so much has changed in the past two months) - the crockpot dyeing lesson. I did finally find an unsweetened Kool-Aid connection, dyed the gorgeous cashmerino and started to knit. Here are some pics of that fun day,

and my sad little attempt at using knitting needles.

It is pretty, though, isn't it? Click on the photo to see it larger and in better detail. I'm very pleased with the end result. The shading is so subtle and it's beautiful to work with, soft and gentle on the hands.

Next post we'll have some pics of the new digs and garden-related goodness. We had the first salad tonight for dinner, it was wonderful!

Take care and thanks for visiting!

Uncooperative projects

Lately I seem to be trying to work with yarn that does not want to be worked. I have a few balls of this that seemed to have lots of potential when I purchased it before Thanksgiving last year. I decided it was going to become a shrug to cover my grandma arms during a number of formal events over the winter/spring. I have tried at least four different crochet patterns and two weave patterns, none of which were right. I'm very afraid this yarn wants to be knit. As anyone who knows my crafting skills, I knit at the speed of dirt. I'm just too uncoordinated for it. Maybe this yarn will become a gift for someone who can put it to proper use.



And then there's this, which is destined to become a baby blanket for The Tall Guy's uncle's girlfriend's daughter's new arrival (otherwise known as "The Baby"). This is Peaches & Creme worsted weight cotton in I Don't Know What Color. I bought about a dozen spools of this yarn in different colors years ago, and it's one of my favorites, worked with an I hook. The fabric is wonderfully drapey once it's done, and even in sc stitch it stays flexible. The problem with this is that I wanted to keep it simple, so after a number of false starts I settled on changing rows of double and half-double. Then I realized that at that width I was going to run out of yarn long before I ran out of blanket, so it became something else. I did the center in granny square, and now am finishing it off with double crochet in the round. You can see the original on the right and the new almost-finished product on the left. It's mind-numbingly b.o.r.i.n.g. I'm trying to stick with it, but I've been working with this yarn for so long now that it looks destined to end up in my UFO pile. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, UFO = UnFinished Object. I'm hoping to finish this weekend, if for no other reason than to give it away and get it out of my house.