Use it up

Being raised by Depression era parents, one of their mottos was "make it do, use it up, wear it out".

I'm using it up.

This is from yarn from my stash... Paton's Canadiana in School Bus Yellow, Deep Orange and Orange Salsa (discontinued variegated). Even more economical, all were bought on sale when Hobby Lobby was getting rid of their Canadiana. Too bad they no longer carry it.. I've gotten to love it.. it's a great yarn.




clickable

Stitches used:

Closed Shell (5dc), Wave, Star Stitch (also called Marguerite Stitch), Closed shell (6dc), Somerset Stitch, a stitch that I don't know the name of..kind of a spike stitch.., trinity stitch, forked halfdouble, Closed shell (5dc), Wave stitch, reverse wave, Catherines Wheel, a row to end the catherines wheel .. making an even row, star Stitch, two rows of sc, Odd forked Halfdoubles, a row of sc, then reverse sc around the edge and inside the handles.

Most of these can be found at various places on the web if you're not familiar with them. Others I got out of my Harmony Guides (300 crochet stitches and 220 more crochet stitches) books.

I'm still not quite satisfied with the handles on this one, but decided I'd go ahead and leave this and improvise something different for the next tote. Yes, there's another version of this brewing in my head.

What do ya'll think? Other than the bright colors.. hehehee.. can't miss this thing could ya?

I used about 1 skein of the yellow and orange and 1/2 skein of the variegated. I still have more yellow and orange and some green I bought on ebay.. a little more expensive than what I paid at HL.. but not much. Considering gas prices.. it was probably a huge bargain for me since HL is 40 miles away.

Another WavyBaby Blanket

I used Caron Perfect Match in White, Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in Soft Blue and TMA All Season in CloverPatch (the green). The picture doesn't show the detail of the green very well.. it has tiny flecks of yellow and blue in it.. very subdued.






The pattern calls for Baby Yarn and to start with a chain of 176; ending up with 175 stitches in the first row. I used worsted weight and chained about 132. I ended up having to undo some of my beginning chain. Eventually I had 118 stitches in a row and 6 "waves" per row in the blanket.

Now to go work on the "Impressive Plaid" blanket I started this weekend while hubby was glued to the tv watching football.

Daisy Square for Charity

Doesn't this look like the old "Flower Power" designs that were ubiquitous in the 70's? This design is courtesy of a talented crocheter from Crochetville.






The one on the upper left still lacks one round.

The square pattern is available free.. with one caveat. The designer requests that upon receipt of the pattern that a square is made and sent to her. She is assembling these into an afghan to be donated to various charities. There's lots more information on the designers blog.

These I'm making will eventually go to Project Linus disguised as a blanket. I'm doing them in Red/White/Blue for the PL drive for the Good Grief Camp/Camp LeJeune during Memorial Day weekend put on by the TAPS Organization (Taps stands for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors). They will give red, white and blue blankets to the children at the camp to help comfort them.

I 'm using HobbyLobby's "I Love This Yarn" to do the r/w/b.. but I'm going to start doing the centers in various colors (yellow, pink, black, brown, etc.) This will help to break up the colors without ruining the theme.. I hope. If my PL coordinator deems it inappropriate for the taps drive.. well, it can go to a local hospital or shelter.

I rediscovered the audio portion of the wayback machine (or internet archive) while looking for old timey bluegrass for my DS technical theatre class (they're getting ready for UIL competition.. UIL is like district and/or state competitions in other places. Texas does University Interscholastic League.. have to be different .. lol). Anyhow, while searching for Open Source music.. I ran across the audio books on the internet archive. Whoa Nellie!!!

I've downloaded the first 8 or 9 chapters of "Pride and Prejudice" and am listening to them while I type this. I will eventually burn this to CD so I can torture my son during our morning drives to school (he's been dekeyed due to numerous progress reports.. grrrr). I'll have to go and see if there is an audio book version of "The Importance of Being Ernest" which is one of his future assignments in English. (picture me with a wicked grin).

Spring break starts tomorrow too ... good for listening on our day trips too. heheheheheeeee

Found the old song "Wish I were a single girl again" while digging through the open source applachian music last night. This song was also in the movie "Song Catcher" , and it makes me want to see the movie again (great movie for the applachian music, the rest requires a little too much "willing suspension of disbelief"....).

Anyhow, the movie has an old granny midwife singing this song, very effective. The lyrics go:

When I was single, went dressed so fine;
Now I am married, go ragged all the time.

Chorus:
I wish I was a single girl again,
O Lord, don't I wish I was a single girl again!

When I was single, my shoes did screak;
Now I am married, my shoes they do leak.

Three little babies crying for bread,
With none to give them, I'd rather be dead.

Wash them and strip them and put them to bed,
Before your husband curses you and wishes them dead.

Wash their little feet and send them to school,
Along comes a drunkard and calls them a fool.

When I was single, I eat biscuit and pie;
Now I am married it's eat corn-bread or die.

When he comes in, it's a curse and a row,
Knocking down the children and pulling out my hair.

Dishes to wash and spring to go to;
When you are married, you've all to do.

Suppers to get, the cows to milk,
Them blame little children is all crying yet.


Sure makes one think twice, huh?

Randomization

Found this in the tagline of someone's email today:

If you want happiness for an hour—take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day—go fishing.
If you want happiness for a month—get married.
If you want happiness for a year—inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime—help others. -Chinese proverb

I like that.

Flying is getting to be hazardous to a mother's peace of mind. Put DD on the plane today.. we were lucky and got to the terminal early and she got an early flight into Atlanta. But the flight out of Atlanta.. oh dear. She wasn't able to get an earlier flight to her final destination, and her scheduled flight had problems. :( The engine had an oil leak and the pilot didn't want to fly it. So they moved her to another concourse and she's gonna be about an hour later getting in.

I think she's begining to realize why Mom had her fly a day before she absolutely had to be back.

One of the members on crochetville husband was found unresponsive beside his car/truck yesterday. The paramedics were unable to revive him. She's a sahm and has two young daughters. I feel for her.. having lost my dad when I was young.

DS is trying to fail senior english AGAIN. I don't know what to do with the boy. I'm not gonna pay for college for him to screw up like this. He'll have to go out and get a job and support himself if he fails college. Of course, if he doesn't graduate, the university he's interested in isn't going to want him.

Went to the HL after dropping dd at the airport.. nice to shop in a place where they actually have large stores for a change. Found some "I Love This Yarn" yarn... reminds me a lot of Caron Simply Soft. The skeins are 7oz and cost 1.99! The color selection was limited (burgundy, red, navy, royal and white) but I bought 2 red, 2 royal and 3 white.. thinking of doing something for the Taps Project.

We have a new driveway.. it's pretty. no more bumps and holes. we can drive on it.. but can't park on it for another day or so.