A Beautiful Morning

Whenever we are on this trail, my dog Chaos stops at the exact same spot.  He faces the water and looks out into the distance with the breeze flowing against his face.  He stands there for a very long time until finally I (or my other dog, Trouble), am ready to move on.   One time, the lake was filled with hundreds of geese.  I practically had to drag him away.  I felt so bad. He just knew that there was something about water and geese that he should be excited about.  [Although they are litter mates, Trouble pretty much could care less.]

Yesterday, at sunrise, the weather was perfect, the geese were flying in the distance, and we walked almost a mile down the trail and back before we saw anyone.  I was glad I had my cell phone so that I could capture that peaceful moment in time.

How to Rationalize a WIP into a FO

This poncho was started about a year ago.  I got the pattern from a Groovy Crochet website, which has groovy crochet patterns from the 1970's.  I had some left over Baby Bee Yarn from Hobby Lobby and some Redheart Yarn of various earth tone colors to work with.  When I ran out of the Baby Bee Yarn,  I stopped working on the poncho.

This weekend, I pulled the poncho out of the closet and began to rationalize my "work in progress" into a "finished object:"  I really did not want a long poncho anyway.  A longer poncho would be heavier.  I am a short person, so I don't need a long poncho.  I can throw this on and still have my arms free... and so on and so on. 

I finished the poncho with a single crochet edging and viola - a WIP turned into a FO.  Anyway, I love the colors: Sage green  Baby Bee Yarn held throughout with interchanging claret, taupe, and brown Redheart Yarn.  It is so me!

The best part is that it was made with leftover scrap yarn.

Skwappi (the hat)

Seems like I am always trying to decrease my stash.  The more I try, the more it grows.  (You know how it goes...)  Anyway, I grabbed a hook and went to work on a stash busting hat.  The resulting color scheme was certainly different, but I sort of like it.  The pattern is pretty basic.  If you are a beginner, you might be able to use this pattern to practice your skills. 

Stash of Lion Brand Woolease Yarn (worsted weight) - taupe, green, gold, red (don't remember the official names)
I hook

Hat
Holding the green and taupe yarn together, chain 3.

Round 1    Crochet 5 dc in first chain.  Join to top of chain 2 [Beginning chain 2 counts a dc throughout pattern]. (6 dc)
Round 2    Chain 2.  Double crochet in same stitch as joining.  Crochet 2 dc in each remaining dc from previous round.  Join to beginning ch 2. (12 dc)
Round 3    Chain 2.  Double crochet in same stitch as joining.  Crochet 2 dc in each remaining dc from previous round.  Join gold and taupe yarn to beginning ch 2. [Fasten off green yarn] (24 dc)
Round 4     Chain 2. Two dc in next stitch.  [Double crochet in next stitch, then two double in next stitch] 11 times. Join red and taupe to beginning ch 2.  Fasten off gold yarn. (36 dc)
Round 5     Chain 2.  Double crochet in next stitich.  Two dc in next stitch. [Dc in next 2 stitches, then two dc in next stitch] 11 times. Join to beginning ch 2. (48 dc)
Round 6     Chain 2.  Double crochet in next two stitches.  Two dc in next stitch. [Dc in next 3 stitches, then two dc in next stitch] 11 times.  Join to beginning ch 2. (60 dc)
Round 7     Chain 2.  Double crochet in next three stitches.  Two dc in next stitch. [Dc in next 4 stitches, then two dc in next stitch] 11 times.  Join to beginning ch 2.  (72 dc)
Round 8     Slip stitch(ss) in same as joining. Single crochet (sc), half double crochet (hdb), dc, triple crochet (tc), dc, hdb, sc, ss over next 8 stitches. [Ss, sc, hdb, dc, tc, dc, hdb, sc, ss over next 9 stitches] 7 times.  Join red and gold to beginning ss.  Fasten off taupe yarn.  (72 stitches - 16 ss, 16 sc, 16 hdb, 16 dc, 8 tc)
Round 9     Triple crochet in same as joining. Dc, hdb, sc, ss, sc, hdb, dc, tr over next 8 stitches.  [Tc, dc, hdb, sc, ss, sc,hdb, dc, tc over next 9 stitches] 7 times.  Join red and green to beginning tc.  Fasten off gold yarn.  (72 stitches - 16 tc, 16 dc, 16 hdb, 16 sc, 8 ss)
Round 10     Chain 2. One dc in each stitch around.  Join to beginning ch 2. (72 dc)
Round 11     Repeat round 10
Round 12     Repeat round 10
Round 13    Chain 2.  One dc in each stitch around. Join gold and green yarn to beginning ch 2. Fasten off red yarn. (72 dc)
Round 14    Chain 2. One dc in next four stitches. Dc decrease over next 2 stitches.  [Dc in next 5 stitches.  Dc decrease over next 2 stitches.]  9 times. Join green and taupe yarn to beginning ch 2.  Fasten off gold yarn.  (60 dc)
Round 15    Sc in back loop only (blo) of each stitch around.  (60 sc)
Round 16   Repeat round 15
Round 17    Repeat round 15.     Fasten off.

Hat Bill
Hold geen and taupe yarn together
Row 1     Skip first 16 stitches.  Join green and taupe yarn to stitch 17. Sc in back loop of the same stitch as joining.  Sc in the back loop of the next 27 stitches.  Turn. (28 sc)
Row 2    Ch 1.  Sc two together over next 2 stitches. Sc in next 6 stitches.  Two Sc in next stitch.  Sc in next 8 stitches.  Two sc in next stitch.  Sc in last 6 stitches.  Sc two together.  Turn.  (26 sc)
Row 3    Ch 1.  Sc two together over next two stitches.  One sc  in each stitch until last two stitches.  Sc two together over last two stitches.  Turn  (24 sc)
Row 4    Ch 1.  Sc two together over next two stitches.  Sc in next 5 stitches.  Two sc in next stitch.  Sc in next 8 stitches.  Two sc in next stitch.  Sc in next 5 stitches.  Sc two togeher. Turn.  (24 sc)
Row 5     Ch 1.  Sc two togther over next two stitches.  One sc in each stitch until last two stitches.  Sc two together over last two stitches.  Turn.  (22 sc)
Row 6    Ch 1.  Sc two together over next two stitches.  Sc in next 4 stitches.  Two sc in next stitch.  Sc in next 8 stitches.  Two sc in next stitch.  Sc in next 4 stitches.  Sc two together over last two stitches.  Turn.  (22 sc)
Row 7 Ch 1.  Sc two together over next two stitches.  One sc in each stitch until last two stitches.  Sc two together over last two stitches.  Turn.  (20 sc)
Row 8  Ch 1.  Sc two together over next two stitches.  Sc in next 2 stitches.  Two sc in next stitch.  Sc in next 8 stitches.  Two sc in next stitch.  Sc in next 2 stitches.  Sc two together.  Fasten off.  (18 sc)

Edge
Join green and taupe yarn to first stitch of Round 17 of hat.  Slip stitch in each stitch around hat and bill.  Join to first slip stitch.  Fasten off.

Finished!!!

I finished the Kente Inspired Baby Girl Blanket.  Although it started out as "kente inspired,"  I used more adinkra symbols than my original plan called for.  I guess I should call it "Adinkra inspired."    Besides the gye nyame symbol which is the most recognizable, the other symbols represent: strength, perseverence, wisdom, abundance, and femininity.  I am already making another blanket using water blue colors.  I have not decided on the symbols yet. But, it will be for the next baby boy in the family.  Instead of using Hobby Lobby's Yarn Bee Sweet Delight yarn, this time I am trying Red Heart's Candi Jensen Designer Sport.  We will see how it goes....
Oh yeah, I made a hat with left over yarn.  The pattern is the Squiggles and Grin Baby Hat  from Lion Brand.  This hat is just too cute.

Wisdom and Creativity

Here is another symbol for the baby blanket. I am choosing adinkra symbols which reflect my good wishes for the new baby. This symbol means wisdom and/or creativity. The color in the picture is not as vivid as the actual pink Baby Bee yarn... but it will have to do until I get a new camera.

Next Year....

Well, there is always next year. My "garden" this year was not as bountiful as last year. I am amazed at the resilience of brave farmers and pioneers who live off the land. Take a look at what is left of this years crop - a little chard, a few onions, one carrot, and hopefully (maybe) some tomatoes will grow before the weather changes. Maybe we will have just enough to make some chard soup. Yummy!

I am not discouraged, though. Next month, I will prepare the soil, and plan, and wait, and hope, ... until next year.

Strength

This is one of the patches for the baby blanket. This patch has an adinkra symbol for strength and humility. You can see two ram horns butting together in a show of strength. Sheep can be docile or strong when need be. Like sheep, people do not need to always show strength with force.

I like that the symbol does not jump out at you. Once the blanket is together, it might take a moment to realize that it is kente inspired. It makes the discovery more enjoyable.

New Project(Really Old) Project

I started working on a new project recently. Actually, it is an old project that I would start and stop for a long time now. I am tapestry crocheting patches to put together as a baby blanket. It is inspired by my admiration for Kente cloth. More later.

Square Foot Gardening 2009
Last year, I began a little vegetable and herb garden in my small backyard. I used the square foot gardening method since I did not want to use a lot of space. I got some wood planks and my tool set and constructed a four foot by four foot planter. It was wonderful. We feasted on cucumbers, tomatoes, chard, onions, carrots, lettuce, all types of herbs, sweet peppers, and cayenne peppers. I even unsucessfully tried watermelon.

This year, is some what of a dud. We did get lettuce, onions, carrots, and some chard. However, everything else I planted did not grow well. I switched the plants around so that they were not grown in the same spot as last year, so I don't think that was it. In addition, the japanese beetles that loved my leafy plants last year attacked the pepper leaves instead. I decided to pull everything except the chard and herbs and start again next year. Any suggestions?

By the way, if you want to try your hand (or green thumb) at this, look for info on Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening.

Favorite Project - Infinity Wrap

This is my one of my favorite crochet projects. It is the Infinity Wrap pattern by Kristin Omdahl. I used Red Heart Peruvian yarn, which is quite economical, simply as a test run. But, the colors worked up very nicely. It came in handy during my son's baseball season.

I will do a couple of these for gifts at the end of the year using wool or wool blend yarn.