We LOVE our LYS

Shelly, owner of the local yarn shop, Twist, gave up the windows of of her store to the KS My Stitch chapter of the Crochet Guild of America. This is one of the displays that was put together.

Our guild president, Tamara, got the items together and arranged for many of the vintage items that are included in the display.

All the windows look so great, and what a great way to get the word out about crochet and our guild.

To see the rest of the display check out the KS My Stitch blog here.

We LOVE Shelly!

A spring-like day

and the dogs loved it! Milo decided to take a break on the cushion on the bench — which you'll notice has lost its legs. However, it still makes a nice place to sit and stretch out and enjoy the sun, as Milo can attest to. The temperatures reached almost 6o the last two days, are supposed to be close to 60 again today, and near 70 on Saturday. Whoo-hoo!

Rippling along

I have a friend who started a ripple afghan and the pattern was one I just fell in love with. Now, I have usually avoided ripple patterns (except for my Pendragon wool scarf) because they often look like the afghans grandma did in funky colors and just sort of a mish-mash. But this pattern was a little lacy and used neat yarns (Tamara is using Provence cottons in bright colors, with rows of chocolate brown single crochet between colors).

I fond a soy blend by Bernat at Michael's on clearance in a great oatmeal color and a celery. The oatmeal is the almost white color and the celery is the soft green color (right above the melon color). I wanted some other colors to brighten it up, so I got a Bernat acrylic in forest green, Lion Baby Soft in melon, and a couple of fun yarns to add some texture. I am using an off-white mohair blend, a fun fur (which isn't in yet) in the same green as the acrylic, and a fringy ribbon in a melony blend. And then for a little extra contrast there's some Jiffy acrylic in grape. I love the little darkness that it offers and how it just contrasts so well. Then there's one of those crazy eyelashy carrying yarns that is in greens, pinks and yellows. And as you can see from the picture of my yarn bag, there's another variegated bulky yarn in there that I want to incorporate as well.

The pattern is from the Feb/March 2007 issue of Crochet Today. I ordered a bunch of back issues of the magazine including this one. I am just loving how it is working up!

It's been a while — again...

Last Saturday one of the sports guys looked out the window of the newsroom, and said it's snowing. Well, it had been cold, and we thought it might snow a little.

What we saw was great big bunches of snowflakes coming down thick. So I went out to the roof on the deck area off the break room. Here are a few photos of what the snow looked like. It was quiet, and really quite beautiful.

We only ended up with about an inch, but it hung around until late the next day. And the roads were clear enough after work to be able to drive home without worrying much.

It made the city (in Old Town on Saturday night which is usually loud music, lots of people and loud cars) quiet. And it only lasted for a little while, but was a nice break.

I guess I should update

But it doesn't seem like I have much to say this time around. I have had a busy week and have been trying to fight off some kind of sickness. Everyone at work has had the flu it seems, and I really don't want it.

I did get my order of LusterSheen from Maggie's crochet. I have been wanting some other colors and she had them on sale for 25% off. So I ordered an orange to make a top and it's a little brighter than I expected, so it may go into something else. But I also ordered some brown, yellow, purple and a fall variegated with those colors in it to make a granny poncho. I think it will look great, and I think I'll start it soon. I just have to figure out how to keep the yarn ends in after its finished. That is the one thing that I have not done successfully. The pattern I would like to use is here, and the colors of Luster Sheen that I chose are buttercup, chocolate, autumn, and dark mulberry.

What fun!

So I stopped at the health food store to pick up a couple of things, and they always have some fun, quirky items for your office or kitchen or whatever, and I found this cute bank. A friend at work has one that says "I'm saving for a new pair of jeans" that I love. So when I saw the knitting lessons one, I just couldn't pass it up! It's sitting on my desk and I throw a little change in once in a while. Maybe I'll actually be able to pay for knitting lessons at Twist after all....






And in the meantime, I decide to try my hand at a simple handbag. The original pattern didn't
look exactly like I wanted, so I used it as a starting point. I changed hook size from an I to a G, and decided to work it in the round as opposed to separate sides that needed seaming. I hate seaming (most of the time).

The pattern was pretty much just rows of double crochet, with increases and decreases where needed. I decided to add a little interest. I used extended double crochet on a few rows to add height without lots of holes like treble crochet. Then I decided that a couple rows of shell stitch would add some interest without adding holes, too. Then, to finish around the top, i didn't want to just finish off, attach yarn and make the rows to go around the handle, so I slip-stitched the sides and chained three at the end of each row, one going up and one going down the other side. The edges have about 3 rounds of slip stitch, which I think adds an interesting finish. Anyway, it worked up fast and easy, regular worsted-weight acrylic, and a set of bamboo handles. Not expensive either! I think I might just make a stash of them to have on hand for gifts.