There is Beauty All Around

We went to the beach yesterday.

It was definitely Not a Swimming Beach. We went with some friends, and the people who came in our group were the only ones there. I was concerned at first that it wasn’t even a public beach, as we got there by ducking between the headstone shop and a barn then driving along a pair of tire ruts through tall grass before pulling out onto the beach. Yes, we parked on the sand. Several people got stuck. Adventure! Don’t worry; I was assured that it was a public beach, just not much frequented (for obvious reasons). Actually, there are only one or two beaches on this part of the coast that are safe for swimming - they’ve put in breakers and barriers to calm the waters before they get to shore there - because everywhere else?

there are fantastic waves, and riptides, and undertows. Yeah - that is right along the beach. See the little seashell in the lower right-hand corner? It was breathtakingly gorgeous, though.

Honestly, this (Japan, not just the beach) is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. It’s easy to see why their native religion is one that venerates nature. Between the ocean, the mountains, and the forests, a simple jaunt into the countryside borders on a spiritual experience. Back to the beach, though -

This is when we arrived. Note the hesitant postures - what is this stuff? - and the presence of shoes, socks, and toys. This next photo was taken less than an hour afterward.

Dirty, barefoot, and with a distinct whiff of ‘We don’t need no stinkin’ buckets!’ That was the last picture I took of them before I put the camera back in the car so I could play. You should have seen them when we left! Charlie tried to taste the sand. Max tried to fill his watering can with the rising tide. They both almost got sucked out to sea when I brought them to the water’s edge to get their feet wet in the ocean. (Although that was the reason I was holding their hands, it’s still kind of frightening.) We made a sand ‘mountain’ and decorated it with seashells - there were literally piles of huge, unbroken seashells swept up against the dunes - crazy! We made a driftwood bonfire, had hot dogs and roasted marshmallows. We saw the moon reflected on the ocean. It. Was. Awesome.

I collected a little box full of seashells and other small treasures, too:

A chunk or two of driftwood, some small, smooth stones; I found a chunk of something we suspect might be a sponge (upper right hand corner). Many small shells, lots of larger ones, and a bit of the dark sand that found its way home with us. I also picked up pieces of broken shells that had been worn smooth. Mom, this beats Cocoa Beach all hollow.

At any rate, Greg will be gone soon and it was the best way imaginable to say goodbye.

Sporadic Bloggage

We’re busy, we’re stressed, but I thought I’d drop in to share pictures of a project in progress.

I crocheted the bottom part in a flat rectangle (vertical) then worked around the top, added chains for sleeves, and did raglan decreases. The collar’s a bit funky…

But that’s okay. I frogged back a few rows in an effort to fix it (after I took these photos) but we won’t know if that worked until I do some more work on it.

Anyway, I must go! The children want ‘food.’

Happy Little Mushroom

He’s happy. He’s cute. He’s super happy cute! It’s a finger puppet, only a few inches high (and who knew I had a mossy rock under the bush in my yard? It works out.) and every time I see his little face I just get the biggest grin. Don’t you? I can see a whole series of kawaii super happy cute stuffed toys in my near future.

(I have the notes for this written down, too! Should be a veritable pattern explosion around here next month.)

Restless

As we count down to Greg’s impending departure, I find myself increasingly restless. I can’t concentrate enough to read, for instance, or code, or edit patterns. I did write down directions for the cow, by the way; it’s in my notebook. If ever I get my act together I can type it up. Not even TV (unaccompanied by another distraction) is enough to hold my attention. This has resulted in very busy hands, and while I don’t have any pictures of swept floors or washed dishes to show, I do have some crocheting.

I made a necklace yesterday.

Pattern is Crochet Necklace by creativeyarn, with SkaMama’s Crochet Picot Flower. I’m not sure why my petals refused to point at the tips - maybe because I used cotton yarn. The boys ‘helped’ with this, by which I mean ‘played with the button jar until they started fighting and had it taken away.’

What a cutie! Anyway, the necklace is simple and fun (read the directions carefully, though). I omitted the fourth loop, as I thought it looked more balanced with three.

But that’s not all! Last night I also started an extremely random design:

It’s meant to be a cowl or smoke ring. (Nobody say you like it too much, it’s already been frogged. Mostly.) I’m using a ball of Feza Iplik Kid Mohair Multi I bought at Yarnivore - the last time I was there, perhaps? - with some gorgeous color shading. I’m really enjoying the mohair halo, too. It’s much like Kidsilk Haze (not that I’ve used that), but with nylon in lieu of the silk. (Cheaper that way.) Anyway, that’s right, I decided that the pattern I had chosen was too open, and I frogged it. With a great deal of care I was able to unravel everything except the starting chain, which was too badly felted and stuck to itself to be moved. Not bad, I think. As soon as I have some more kid-free time, maybe tonight, I’m going to choose another stitch pattern and try again.

But wait, there’s more! I pulled out a project I was working on just before our move from Texas. It actually traveled with us, instead of getting packed, but hasn’t been worked on too much.

It’s a baby blanket! It’s a round ripple with a sun in the middle - feel free to click on the picture if you prefer an overall view to an ‘artsy’ closeup. I’m not sure how big to make it, but it’s something I can pick up and work on without a lot of planning, and it survives the assistance of small hands very well.

That’s all I’ve got at the moment: now if you’ll excuse me, the dirty dishes are making me twitchy.

MOO!

How now, brown cow?

I made this little cow for Charlie today. He loves cows. Elephants and cows are his two favorite animals. I’m not sure why, but any time he sees a cow, a picture of a cow, a horse, or a giraffe (sometimes zebras) he’ll gleefully exclaim “MOO!” at the top of his little lungs. At first he was more interested in the drawing I made to work off of, but as soon as I put on the eyes he snatched it up and examined it, all the while ‘moo’-ing in fascination. (It was a little tough to get it back from him to attach the ears.)

It was sweet, it was simple, and the cow is cute. My work here is done.

Zippy Little Slippers

The cables don’t show up terribly well in the dark, heathered yarn…these are the little slippers that I made for Max to match mine. Since that basically meant redoing the entire design, I thought I’d share the directions. (Slippers are shown on an almost-four-year-old with 6-inch feet.)

Materials:

• Far less than one skein Lion Brand Thick & Quick
• Pair of size 11/8mm knitting needles
• Tapestry needle

Finished Dimensions: about 7″ long and 5″ around

Gauge: 2 sts and 3 rows = 1″ in stockinette

(Make 2.) CO 14.

Row 1: P1, k2, p1, k6, p1, k2, p1.

Row 2 and all WS rows: K1, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k1.

Row 3: P1, right twist (skip 1st st, knit into the front of second st, knit skipped st, and slide both sts off needle), p1, k6, p1, left twist (skip 1st st, knit into the back of second st, knit skipped st through the back loop, and slide both sts off needle), p1.

Row 5: rep Row 1.

Repeat rows 1-6 once more (for 2 repeats and a total of twelve rows).

Row 13: rep row 3.

Row 15: rep row 1.

Row 17: rep row 3.

Row 19: k2tog across. Cut yarn, leaving about 12 inches. Weave end through remaining 7 sts and pull tight.

To finish, fold cast-on row in half and sew closed (this is the heel), then sew up 2 to 2.5 inches of the edges at the toe end. Weave in all ends.

To reiterate, the pattern for the slippers that inspired these is here.

Happy 4th of July

In honor of the day, I present to you:

TEN THINGS I MISS ABOUT LIVING IN THE STATES

1. Seeing my family.
2. Yarnivore
3. Being able to use my debit card anywhere. I would, at this point, take being able to use it at 25% of the places I shop.
4. 24-hour Walmarts
5. Being able to read and understand street signs.
6. Buffalo Wild Wings
7. 70 mph speed limits
8. Papa John’s Pizza. Oooh, and delivery!
9. Not having to go to the Post Office to get my mail. Also, occasionally using the services of UPS, FedEx, etc.
10. Current TV programming.

Happy Birthday, America!

Super Chunky: Maybe There’s Something to It

I’ve not used really thick yarn much before, but this Wool-Ease Thick & Quick is really a treat to work with. I’d be tempted to make up a big project with it if they carried a color I really loved at the Arts and Crafts Store - or it cost less than six dollars a ball. As it is, I only meant to buy two balls (two balls = two pair of slippers) but after the first set, I decided to do something else with the second ball I’d gotten.

My second ball was orange, which requires a little explanation. I used to really hate orange - as a color, for clothes, anywhere. As an adult I started really assessing which colors were flattering on me (note to my teenage self: black and charcoal gray = less than optimal) and decided that I was best dressed in autumn colors. That only reinforced my love of green, and I soon came to love brown as well, but I resisted orange until a month or two ago. I really needed some new shirts, and the kind I wanted (at the time) only came in blue, orange, and ivory. Grudgingly, I tried on an orange shirt and behold! It wasn’t awful! It actually looked kind of good! And thus, a whole new color’s worth of potential opened up.

So when I found myself with a ball of orange yarn that suddenly had no plan, I decided to make myself something to wear.

Pattern is Julia Allen’s Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet. I had to do some serious calculations to resize for my thicker yarn (especially difficult as this was my first top-down raglan) but once I got going it was really, really easy. I started it Saturday night, and I might have finished it on Saturday night, too; but I ran out of yarn! So, I went to the Arts and Crafts store on Monday - and it was closed for inventory. Tuesday morning I was finally able to acquire another skein, and Tuesday night after the kids went to bed, I finished my little project.

Sorry the photos are a little blurry; I had Greg take them tonight as twilight was falling because I didn’t want to wait another day to blog about it. It’s really a cute little shrug: the key to having it flatter is the length. You have to make it so that it falls even with the bottom of your breasts. Too short, and it looks too small, perched atop your shoulders and making the rest of you oversize by comparison. Longer than that and it cuts across your waist, unforgivably thickening your thin parts. In general, I think that’s a good rule to follow for slinging something around your shoulders.

I’m pleased with it. I’m absolutely sure I’ll wear it out in public. (Yay!) But now I have two half-balls of Thick & Quick in two different (not so harmonious) colors. What to do, what to do…