Breakfast Scarf

When I was new to the work force I was adopted by a mentor.  She was a Special Events manager and was hard to keep up with.  I am eternally grateful that she took me under her wing and feel that my current employer benefited from her efforts.
She used to bring me along to tastings.  She warned me, don't eat everything, you will go into a coma if you do.  The caterer would bring out plate after plate of gorgeous and delicious food.  Not eating everything was a challenge, especially for a poor kid living hand to mouth.  She brought me primarily because she was a vegetarian, and would not taste the meat dishes, but also to share the experience with me as a mentor.  Whatever her reason, I was grateful.  It was certainly the loveliest part of the job.
Frequently she would arrive late to the office with a fast food wrapper in hand.  She loved McDonalds' breakfast sandwiches.  She always got the Egg McMuffin with bacon.  But wait, she was a vegetarian, right? I challenged her on this point once and she helped to clarify for me.  Bacon does not count as meat.
I'm not sure that most vegetarians would agree with her assertion, but I appreciated her logic.  After all, bacon is delicious, and if it were not so then soy products would not be manipulated to imitate it.
So, as I worked on my weekend project I thought of Mary Alice, because in actuality this bacon is not meat.

This pattern was adapted from Twinkie Chan's book of patterns, but if you wanted to buy this scarf you could do so at my Etsy Shop!

Easter Egg Basket Blanket

When I was a little girl Easter was an important holiday.  My father was a minister, and impressed upon us that Easter was far more important even than Christmas to Christians.  We spent a grueling month leading up to Easter, because when you are a minister's kid the liturgical year actually means something, and Lent was my least favorite part of the liturgical year.  Dad always seemed to work more during Lent, which frequently meant that we had to work more, too.  We eagerly anticipated Easter weekend, and on Easter Sunday looked forward to a rousing sing along to our "Jesus Christ Superstar" album and a basket of joy.  In later years it was mostly candy (white chocolate crosses instead of Easter Bunnies, because chocolate gives me migraines and Mom could never stand to watch us eat rabbits). In our youth the basket would contain a lovely Polly Flinders dress for us to wear to church that morning and Wonder Woman Underoos, which we would invariably wear under our Polly Flinders dresses.

Times have changed, though.  Dad is no longer a minister and we don't get Easter baskets anymore.  There was a brief moment this year when I considered decorating eggs, but then determined that this would be an absurd and pointless endeavor.  Instead I made an Easter Egg Basket Blanket (now say that 10 times fast).  following a simple pattern for the eggs and a basket weave pattern for the trim, ultimately the hardest part was adding the grass fringe around the eggs.

This blanket is currently for sale on my Etsy site.

Lego Blanket

It's a simple pattern, really. Chain 26 the half double crochet across 24 stitches. On the third row add a popcorn stitch after 4 HDC and repeat across until you have 4 bobbles on that row. HDC across for the next 3 rows, and in the next row repeat the 3rd row. Finish off with two more rows of HDC. Repeat until you think you might go mad, until you think "this has to be more than enough" and then make more.

Lego had not sunken their marketing hooks into my psyche as a child, so I do not share the fascination. I am crestfallen whenever my niece and nephews insist that all they want is Lego. It is so very very expensive. But I admit that I am quite impressed by what they create with it. I support any toy that encourages creativity. Yarn became my Legos long ago, the building blocks of my creative endeavors.  Here is my homage.

This blanket is sold, but if you want to commission one like it click here to go to my Etsy Shop.

Bags from bags

When I decided to save plastic bags to recycle into plarn (plastic yarn) I enlisted my co workers to share their bags, too. Before I knew it plastic bags were taking over every available space in my life, or at least it seemed that way.
So many other projects were much more appealing, and in all honesty easier on my hands and wrists. But the bags kept amassing and something had to be done, hence bags from bags. I sketched out several designs and had (and still have) more than enough materials. 

 

 

 

Like printing money

My friend's husband once said of the Magnum PI blanket, "I would think that it would be like printing money." Only a short time later I had a request on my Etsy store to make another Magnum Blanket on commission. Like printing money, sort of.
The experience was overwhelmingly positive. I shared updates as I worked on the blanket and was especially grateful to receive a photo of the blanket with its grateful recipient. If you are interested in commissioning a themed blanket, I would be happy to work with you on it.  Check out my Etsy shop to request a custom item!

Playing by Ear Part II

It makes me proud to know that I can buy a doily at an antique store and then use it as a template to make one myself. I bought this variegated crochet thread on a whim, it just seemed to fit this pattern. I'm pleased with the outcome, but seem once again to have failed to write down the pattern. Perhaps next time.

Click here to find this doily on Etsy!

Is plastic ok?

Whenever I go shopping I am asked, is plastic ok? No, it isn't, is it? But still I smile and say yes, that's fine. And so to assuage my guilt I have begun to obsessively collect these bags. I then began to request that my coworkers give me their bags. My office is stuffed to the gills with newspaper and grocery bags. At home there are bags crammed into every closet, corner and under the bed storage container. My garbage can sits upon a plastic yarn rug. Somewhere in a box or bag or closet there is a partially finished kitty rug made of plastic yarn. I use a bag made of grocery bags to hold other bags, and another bag made of newspaper bags has served as a purse, when needed. But still I cannot keep up with the deluge of plastic.
Still I am determined and that combined with my dogged and obsessive need to crochet will see a great many plastic bags recycled into something useful or even delightful. After all, does't it seem appropriate to create plastic sea creatures? For example this squid... Who admittedly begs for a Nautilus to attack. Perhaps I will get to work on some jelly fish... Right after I make some more progress on my plastic yarn laundry bag.

Playing by Ear

My niece can read patterns. It took me 15 or 20 years before I figured out how to read patterns. I was content for that long to just single crochet.
I recall my grandmother telling me once that I could discern a pattern by looking at a finished piece. At the time I couldn't even fathom following a pattern that was spelled out. To think that I could play a pattern by ear, as it were, that seemed like the stuff of fantasy.
Well talent and time progresses and I've learned to read patterns, but better yet I've learned to play by ear. These days when I see a pattern for sale I will just work it out, staring at it at length and mimicking it- undoing and redoing until I get it right. Maybe it would be easier to just buy the pattern and follow it, but where's the reward in that?
Recently my mother requested a doily for grandma's lazy Susan. I made one that ended up being too small- it was placed under a lamp in the living room. While visiting I spent time staring at the doily that currently occupies the lazy Susan. I took a few pictures for reference and set about to make it myself. I think it turned out ok, now if only I could remember to write down the patterns...

Baby craft project 5: Layette

This project felt like maybe it took forever.  I started and completed multiple projects while this waited to be finished.  Perhaps it had something to do with it being a 3 part project.  Once I got to the blanket I was just tired of using a shell stitch.  That can happen.  Is stitch fatigue a thing?  How about color fatigue? 

At any rate, at long last it is done, and my weird reborn doll gets to model it.  Say hello, Esme...

If you like this, you can purchase it at my Etsy shop.

When I finished I had just enough yarn left over to make this little guy.

(He's pleased to meet ya.)

Did you see the Sunrise?

When I am crocheting I am content to watch pretty much anything.  I depend upon my roommate to determine our entertainment.  This could mean a long forgotten classic film from the 1940's, a laughably bad B movie from the 80's or a sci fi serial from the 30's.  When forced to decide for myself it usually means Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because I don't have to think about it, and there seems to be an endless supply.  Recently however I found myself happily hooking to Magnum P.I.

First we went through a list of the top episodes, then through the ones with intriguing description, then from the first episode forward, and so on.  Early on my roommate declared that Tom Selleck had the "eyes of a kind wolf" which delighted me to no end.  I finished several projects during the Magnum P.I. obsession, and thought, "I would like to in some small way pay tribute to this nostalgic jaunt into 1980's Haiwaii.  And so I set about creating a Magnum P.I. commemorative blanket, to honor that beloved, laid back Viet Nam vet, who goes from light hearted jesting to cold blooded killing faster than you can say "The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club", and his precious if not vaguely homosexual relationships with Higgins.

As I set about to create this blanket, I received a surprising amount of advice.  I decided in the end to keep it simple, my tribute to the intricacies of Magnum's relationship with Higgins will have to play out in some other medium...perhaps finger puppets.  I do not have extensive experience in patterns that require frequent changing of colors, so, I figured I had enough of a challenge with the Detroit Tigers logo, and didn't wish to figure out how to work Rick, TC, and Higgins into the pattern.  So with graph paper and pencil I laid out a simple design.

It begins with a sketch.

I began to crochet a Magnum P.I. themed blanket.  I do not doubt that there is a serious dearth of Magnum P.I. related crocheted material, although I can't imagine why.  I suppose what with the show ending nearly 25 years ago it ceased to be en vogue and for some reason the DIY movement has not yet learned to appreciate the veritable bounty of potential in this untapped source.  I'm not saying I'm going to start a new trend in DIY...but maybe just maybe before too long we'll be seeing a cross stitch pattern on Etsy stating, "Lads, Patrol."

A mustache begins to take form...

And at long last, behold...the Magnum P.I. Blanket.  and perhaps the world is a better place for it.

Addendum...I submitted the blanket to the Fan Art section of Magnum Mania, and and proud to share the link, as I am now part of an elite group of artists dedicated to honoring this great show.  Furthermore the blanket was sold immediately when put up for sale on Etsy. A short time later I received a request for another Magnum P.I. blanket via Etsy. I shared updates with her as the project progressed, and she was kind enough to send me a picture of her boyfriend who received the blanket as a gift.

 

Sometime later I was discussing the blanket with a friend who told me that her husband thought that Magnum P.I. blanket was pretty much like printing money. If only it didn't take so long to print that money!