Books I'm Reading

Or more accurately, not reading. I haven't been hitting even remotely close to my one book a week goal that I set at the beginning of the year. I'm sure I've read more than I kept track of, and I never did finish Other Peoples Children, though I want to. I did devour Little House in the Big Woods, and hope to re-read the entire series, which was a favorite of mine as a child. I also want to read the new ones that have been written by Cynthia Rylant, there is one that fills in the time between two of the stories, though now I don't remember which two...I think Plum Creek and Silver Lake. And then there are the new ones about Rose, Laura's daughter, and also a new series about Laura's mother and her childhood. I hope the library has them.

Warming up to flickr

I've always perfered Photobucket over Flickr. However, when I found out Ravelry was in cahoots with Flickr, I uploaded at least my crochet pics, and will continue to do so. The last 3 entries I made here were so easy! I connected my Flickr account with my blog, so now after I upload a pic, I can just click onto it, and then hit "blog this" above the picture, and write my entry there. It even formats it for me. Woohoo. Hopefully now I can update this easier.....provided of course I remember to take pictures of the things I make! I already forgot to take a pic of the cute little fridgies I sent to Anne. I wonder if she'd snap a photo of them for me? LOL

I keep on rippling along.....

fall ripple 2
Originally uploaded by crochetgirl91

I'm still working on the ripple, haven't gotten as far as I'd like to on it, but when I work on it, it does go quickly. Now if I can just remember to actually work on it. But with fall comes cozy evenings of settling down after dinner with a cup of hot cocoa and a Netflix dvd and my crochet. Ahhhh life is sweet.

"Angel of Light"

angel
Originally uploaded by crochetgirl91

I made this ornament the same day. The pattern actually came from a "fridgie" (that's refrigerator magnets) pattern booklet, but I thought it would make a lovely ornament,and it did. I love this one, I think it looks beautiful.

A star, a star, shining in the night

christmas star 002
Originally uploaded by crochetgirl91

I made this a little over a week ago to send as part of a Christmas ornament exchange in one of my Yahoo groups. I thought it came out really cute, though bigger than I thought it would be. I had originally intended just a star, but it looked sort of plain, so I thought it would be cute to write something on it, and so I glued these foam letters onto it. I had a hell of a time putting it together-I couldn't figure out how at first, so part of it looks a bit messed up and the peaks and valleys aren't very even. Oh well, nothing's perfect right? :o)

Adam & Shawna's afghan

I'm going to post some pictures of the progress I'll be making on my brother and sister in law's ripple while I'm working on it. Here is one to show the colors of the yarn and the pattern. It's going pretty quickly, when I find the time to work on it, so hopefully it'll be done by Christmas. They are also having a new baby in February, so I've got to get started on that baby blanket too.

What I've been crocheting

Lately I've been experimenting with some hemp I bought at the Hemporium in Bar Harbor, Maine. It's not the dull brown most help is. One small bunch is rainbow colors, and the other is a variegated "cool" colors of purple, blue, green and deep pink. I made a couple keychains, which I then sent in an exchange, and made this suncatcher type ornament from altering a snowflake pattern. I plan on getting a brass ring and stretching it across it. I may put a crystal on the bottom, not sure. Anyway, it's fun. The pic of the keychains didn't come out too well. :-( I liked the one with the white beads. Working with beading was something new for me. I bought these "e" beads, thinking they'd be just the right size. Hemp is odd though in that it's not "smooth"...the strands get thicker and thinner and occationally have a lump in them, which you can actually pick out a bit. Some of the beads fit ok, some did not. I got a tube of white, clear, clear with silver inside and iridescent beads, and used all of the different kinds in the different projects.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling

I can't remember if this was the 3rd? time I read this book or how many times I have, but this time I think I enjoyed it more. Maybe after reading the end, you notice little things that you didn't before, or maybe you just appreciate the rebellion more, because that's the part about this book that I love, the clash between Umbridge and Harry, the DA, the teachers and in this book I think she finishes what she set out to do in the fourth book-turn this from the children's fantasy story of the first three books, into a complex, young adult series that truly creates it's own world.

The book isn't perfect. There were many things that annoyed me about it and I thought Rowling could have done better on. But those are minor. The story itself and the magical (literally) world Rowling weaves and builds upon is so rich and detailed, at times familiar but you always want to be there. In this volume of the series, so many things are told, patches of the story are filled in that weren't before-the background of Sirius, Snape and Neville. Harry learns of his fate, and this sets up the end of the series. It's maybe the most important book of the 7, the turning point, and it's one of my favorites, 4 and 7 being the others.

I'm debating on starting 6 right away or waiting a bit. I haven't decided.

New Charity

Yesterday I volunteered at a kennel for a group that rescues greyhounds that have been retired from racing and finds them good homes. It was dirty, sweaty and smelly work, but the dogs are so sweet. I don't know how they manage. Anyway, I was struck that some of the animals only had a thin sheet or a piece of rug or an old bath towel to lay on. I will start making some little mats for them, as soon as I can. I've got to look through my stash and see what is there.

Plum Ripple Stitch Afghan

This afghan took a while to finish. It was originally intended for my friend Sarah. We'd been good friends in high school and during college, though we attended different ones, me down in NY and she up in Maine. But she called me one day about 6 months after I graduated from EC and she told me she was engaged and 2 weeks later they eloped. I expressed my concern, as she'd only known him 3 months. I didn't hear from her for a long time after that and I thought she was angry at me. Finally she emailed me back 3 months later. We talked a few times, but then she stopped calling or writing back to my emails. I was about half done with her afghan at the time. I put it away because I was sad thinking about her whenever I worked on it. 2 years later I found it in a bag and covered with cat hair at my parents house. I finished it and loved the finished product. It is done in "ripple stitch" as the pattern called it. Basically, one sc and 3 dc in a cluster. This makes it very thick and cushy. It's done in Red Heart in Deep Plum. Sadly, it doesn't really match my decor so I have it stashed away in my closet. I'm really not sure what to do with it, and it still gives me a little pang when I see it. I miss my friend. I sent her a Christmas card every year for years at her mothers house. It never came back but it was never replied to either. Last year I finally stopped. Sarah, where are you? Your afghan is waiting, and so am I!