Nostalgia

My father and I email each other almost every day. Today he included some lovely family photos that make me feel nostalgic, and both happy and sad at the same time. Happy because they are pictures of people whom I love dearly, and sad because many of these people are gone and I miss them terribly. But mostly happy. :o)

This is a photo from my parents' wedding day, June 8, 1968, in Cherry Hill, NJ. From left to right, we have my maternal grandmother (Ruth Elizabeth, but she went by Betty), my maternal grandfather (Elmer Glenn, but he went by Glenn), my cute mom, all of 21 years old, my cute dad, all of 26 years old, and his parents, Mattie and Earl. My dad's parents were old enough to be the parents of my mother's parents. If that makes any sense at all. In this picture, you see a clue as to why this blog is called The Frog and the Daisy - daisies were Mom's favorite flowers. I will also have you know that the month after my parents were married, my mother's wedding dress was on the cover of Modern Bride. Good taste runs in the family. ;o)

I adore this picture. In the middle is my grandmother Mattie with her sisters, Gladys (on the left) and Minnie Lee, who we called Aunt Sis. My grandmother was the youngest - Gladys was born around 1891, Sis around 1894, and my grandmother in 1899. This picture was taken around 1974 or so - get a load of those outfits! The Hardesty sisters were stylin', no? The sisters were long-lived: Grandma lived to be 84, Aunt Gladys lived to be 91, and Aunt Sis lived to be 96! I hope I take after them.

Here's my dad. This was probably taken around 1978 or 1979. He made that guitar himself. He still has it, and it's really pretty. He has also made a few dulcimers, one of them for me. I should really practice it - it sounds positively lovely. I used to go to sleep to the sounds of my father playing his guitar. That too was lovely.

I so value photos. They take me back to places that have been buried in my memory for such a long time. It's easy to forget how dark my Dad's hair was, or what my Aunt Gladys looked like, or how my grandma looked when she smiled. Photos help me hang on to people longer than real life did. I can look at the first picture and see my mom healthy and pretty and smiling and happy. I can see three sisters, still together after 80+ years. And that's good.

Days go by...

This video is from a few years back. Generally I don't pay much attention to music videos, but this one tells such a powerful story. So here you go.

Here's what I'm gonna make

Dude. Can you believe this issue? I am so in love with it. Seriously, there is rarely a time that I want to make FIVE things from one issue of a magazine (okay, so maybe I loved the last Knitscene issue, but like I said, it's rare). Get a load of these projects!

Banded Peasant Blouse by Mary Jane Mucklestone

Flutter Sleeve Cardigan by Pam Allen

Fountain Hat by Katie Himmelberg

Holly Jacket by Theresa Schabes

A Good Stripe Dress by Mareike Sattler

How cute would the Banana look in that dress? Oh my goodness.

That's it for now. Love y'all.

All done

I finished the Herringbone Neckwarmer by Craig from Loop. I really like it! It was a quick and easy knit, I love the buttons, I love the yarn, and I love the pattern. The only thing I don't like is my right hand edge (top edge in the pic below). For some reason, when I finish a knit row and go to start a purl row, I have this ginormous loop of yarn at the end of each row. Sometimes I can purl tightly enough to wrap it up and hide it, but as you can see I'm not successful at this all the time. I think it looks sloppy, and I don't like sloppy! Anyhoo, I'm happy with the neckwarmer anyways. I used one skein of Sheep Shop One. I love this yarn (did I already say that?). I also love the buttons. Both the buttons and the yarn were purchased at The Lamb's Wool in Lansdale, PA. They have a nice selection, especially for you spinners and weavers out there!

I think I'll be starting another Tiramisu shortly. I also need to wrap up some WIPs that have been hibernating for quite some time now.

I'm going to bed. Happy Friday and have a good weekend!

Interweave Knits Spring Preview

Edit: the link to the IK spring preview does not appear to be working any more. :o(

Edit 2: I linked to a Google Cache, so see if that works.

Edit 3: The Interweave site now proudly displays the Spring Preview!

Oh man. I already have 116 projects in my Ravelry queue, and now I have to add 5 more. The IK spring preview is up, and there are so many gorgeous projects I don't know where to begin. It looks like Eunny and her co-workers took a cue from Carol, as many of the projects are made with fine yarns. This issue really makes up for the last issue; I probably won't make anything from Winter 2007. But my goodness - Mary Jane Mucklestone's Banded Peasant Blouse, the Holly Sweater, the Flutter Sleeve Sweater - they're so pretty! So much knitting, so little time.

I went to knitting group tonight (or Sit n Squeeeeeeee, as me, Aileen, and Liz decided to rename it, in honor of our founder and fearless leader, Anne Marie) and I had so much fun. I am so fortunate to have met such a fun-loving groups of wackos like these women. We help each other out, we make each other laugh, we try to make Rosemary snort, we listen to Sahfi talk about her cabled sausage casing, and a good time is had by all. What more could a girl ask for?

Life is good. Nighty-night.

Scarves

Here it is, in all its glory: The Chevron Scarf, from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson.

I used two skeins of Koigu KPPPM: one in blues, purples, and greens, and one is greens, peaches, and pinks. The colors are gorgeous; these pictures just do not do them justice.

This yarn is really soft and drapy. I just love it.

I actually blocked this scarf like I was supposed to. If I hadn't, it would look like a really colorful, expensive rope. The chevron pattern tends to pull the scarf in on itself, and the blocking really worked wonders. I guess that's why people do it. ;o)

This is the Herringbone Neck Warmer by Craig Rosenfeld at Loop in Philadelphia. It only takes one skein of Sheep Shop One, and I bought two wooden buttons to finish it off. Had I been able to knit today, I probably would have finished it. Gotta love big needles. This yarn is gorgeous. It almost has a pearlescent quality to it, and the colors are really saturated. This is also going to be one very warm neck warmer.

I have off tomorrow. Yay. I don't have work or school, so we are going to head on over to NJ to spend a day with my padre. It's going to be cold, and he has a wood burning stove. Guess where I'm going to park my behind all day?

Good night y'all. Sleep well.

L'Echarpe sans fin est fini!

I finally finished the Chevron Scarf. I should have pics to put up tomorrow. I started it in October, and took a hiatus from it in December. I have been working on it every day for at least the past week. I'm happy with the results - the colors are so gorgeous. I washed it in Eucalan (!), and now it's blocking(!). I feel like such a grown up knitter! I'm abusing exclamation points again!!

I just started making the Herringbone Neckwarmer which can be found on the Loop blog. It takes one skein of Sheep Shop One yarn, which is so pretty I want to marry it or something. This puppy is going fast, as it's knit on size 11s. I hope to finish tomorrow; I have some cool buttons for it, nice wooden ones that will look good with the yarn.

That's about it for now. Pics tomorrow. Love yas!

Not a whole heck of a lot going on.

Ah, today is Friday, and this weekend is a long one. That's good.

My knitting and crocheting friends are coming over tonight for an impromptu crafty get-together (okay, maybe not too impromptu; I sent out the invite on Monday).

I'm going to see my chiropractor for the second time today; she also happens to be one of my knitting friends. Getting your back cracked and adjusted is so satisfying.

I'm almost finished L'Echarpe sans Fin, otherwise known as the Chevron Scarf from LMKG. I seriously could probably finish it tonight, but then I have to block it. Aggressively. I really like the way it's coming out, and I might buy another skein of Koigu to make the Purl Bee Beret to go with it. I've never knitted on DPNs before, and frankly, I am somewhat fearful. It looks complicated.

Banana and I got our hair cut. How come my kid gets the hair I've wanted my whole life, and I get frog fur? She's got the lovely, straight, sunkissed blond hair that looks good even when she's just woken up. I've got... Velcro.

We got my favorite kind of snow here yesterday. It snowed for several hours yesterday and looked very pretty, and now it's all gone. Yes.

I need to exercise.

Once I've finished the Chevron Scarf, I think I'll bust out the LMKG legwarmers, which I started about this time last year. I need to finish them. Then I'll finish the Puzzle Scarf. Then I'll finish the Green Gable. Then I'll make another Tiramisu blanket, this one in blue. I also need to make two baby sweaters before March. I'm thinking I'll go with Julie Armstrong's Baby It's Cold Outside, because it's cute and crocheted and warm and quick.

So there you have it. Have a lovely three day weekend. Pictures next time.

Here's an answer for all those rabid knitters

Straight from the keyboard of Sandi Wiseheart...

Why not a separate Crocheting Daily newsletter and store?

A lot of folks ask this. Wellll...we had to start somewhere, and so we started with knitting. We have plans for growing our crochet offerings in the future, but we did not want the crocheters to have to wait to be able to find their favorite projects easily, either in the free library database or in the store. So: we're using the same database for knitting and crochet, to give everyone easy accessibility, and we look forward to the future when we can provide the crocheters with their very own "home sweet home" in the Interweave webiverse.

She's too dang nice.

FOs, yarn, and Dulcinea

Woo hoo! I actually completed something! Take a look-see.

You probably recognize this as My So Called Scarf. I used two skeins of Araucania Nature Wool that I bought on sale about a year ago at A.C. Moore. The color is really lovely, muted, not too loud. This scarf also turned out to be softer than I thought it would be - what a plus! I like this stitch a lot, but my edges looked like crapola, which is why I edged it with one round of single crochet. I finished this at Stitch n Bitch last night. Can I tell you how good it was to see all of my friends? I missed them so these last 4 months.

Here we have the Tiramisu Baby Blanket, pattern by Alicia Paulson. This took a little over 3 skeins of Red Heart Soft Yarn in Off White. This truly is soft yarn. It's nice and squishy. I really enjoyed this pattern - it's mindless crocheting, but the result doesn't look mindless at all.

Here's how I broke my yarn diet. This is the Classic Elite Four Seasons Cotton to make Cathy Carron's Cabana Tee.
And here is the Casco Bay Sport from Halcyon Yarns. Can I tell you how dang nice the ladies are at this place? I had to call them up, and they were just as pleasant as could be. I will definitely be shopping from them again. I will be using this yarn to make Regina Rioux Gonazalez's Singular Tee.

Yum. Hempathy. I'll combine this with some Cool Blue Hempathy in my stash to make Edna Hart's Marly Boatneck. Can't wait! I think the blue and green will look really nice together.

Who can resist this face?

I know some of you probably think I've gone off the deep end, but there is something about playing with dolls that I guess I just never got out of my system when I was a kid. And I can knit clothes for Dulcinea too. And crochet them. It's all good. ;o)

I have plans.

Just you wait and see. I have big plans. I'm going to go on another yarn diet. Yes I am. And this time, not only will it be a yarn diet, it will also be a pattern diet. That's right. No yarn and no patterns. And I'm going to go for longer this time. I think I'll go for six months. You read that right. Six months. I have a boatload of books and a boatload of yarn, so I'll go for six months without buying either one.

But first I have to go to Saucy Louise and buy 80 gajillion Japanese craft books. Then I'll go on another diet. Kind of like the Last Supper. Or Mardi Gras. It'll be a hoot. It'll be good for me. It'll be good for WT and Banana too, because I'll be able to focus and make stuff for them.

Oh yeah. I have plans.