The Art of Un-Crocheting

As you might have guessed by the title of this post...there's been a lot of un-crocheting going on here lately. About a year ago I asked for and received a bag of yarn and mostly finished crochet items from Freecycle. There was an afghan and several baby blankets, two baby dresses, and a pair of booties all pretty much finished. I spent this past weekend frogging or un-crocheting them for the yarn. Nathaniel teased me about it saying that I frog more things than I finish, when I told him I was recycling yarn and saving him money he changed his tune a bit. It is true that I frog more than I finish...I'm a perfectionist in my craft...and that's about it. Remember the doily I mentioned in my last post that I had started? Yeah...that's been frogged now and set aside. I have two friends both expecting little boys this fall so I've got a baby blanket started for one of them. I'm only on the 7th row...for the second time. Yeah, I kinda frogged the whole thing and started over, but I feel a lot better now. I'm really liking this pattern so far. It's from a Leisure Arts booklet I picked up at WalMart a long time ago called Beginner's Guide-Crochet Stitches & Easy Projects. I'll definitely be posting a pic when it's complete.

Pineapple Garden Is Complete!

I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning finishing this beauty. It wasn't that it was a difficult pattern or even difficult to block for that matter, I just kept making stupid mistakes. I used a bigger hook and bigger thread than what the pattern called for so it came out...well...bigger. I expected that, so it's all good. The finished dimensions were 18" x 27", had I used the recommended materials it would only have been 11.5" x 18.5"!! I'm thinking of giving it as a gift this Christmas, just not sure who the lucky recipient will be. Geof even liked it, he said it was, "gorgeous". Ha! I started another doily last night while I watched reruns of Dog The Bounty Hunter...don't ask...the pattern is from a booklet I picked up in North Dakota called Delightful Doilies. I plan on making several doilies from the book because they're all really pretty....and I'm freaking obsessed with doilies!

They're Baaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!

How did I feel when I discovered that my favorite mood indicators were back?

Foodie Friday

Yesterday I thought about fixing something from a recipe I have on hand, photographing it, and then posting it. Today is a different story because....it's too damn hot to cook!!! Never fear, I do have an offering for you, but no pretty pictures...

It's that time of year again...time for harvesting fresh veggies and fruits from the garden and putting them up for the coming year. Here is a recipe from my Grandmother. It's for canned dill pickles and I swear I could eat these things like candy. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as Geof and I do. When we get all of our cucumbers in I know I'll be making some for Nathaniel.

Old Time Dills

15 cups water
5 cups vinegar
1 cup salt
5 tablespoons sugar (optional)
2 garlic cloves
onion
sprig of dill

Put slice of onion in bottom of jar, a sprig or two of dill-cut up, 1-2 cloves of garlic-quartered, and fill with cucumbers that have been washed, top with another sprig of dill. In large pot add water, vinegar, salt, & sugar and bring to a boil. Carefully fill jars with brine, be sure to wipe the rims of the jars clean and place lids and bands on jars. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Let stand for 3-4 weeks for best flavor! Makes 9 quarts.

Knitting FO From A Few Months Ago

Remember waaaaay back when I was interested in knitting, and I mentioned that I had finished a knitted...thing? No? Ok, here's the link. I've been trying all day to wait patiently for the UPS man so my FO and I had a little photo shoot. Now remember, this is the very first thing I've ever knitted...one mistake...that's why I might be just a little bit proud of it.

Here she is from the front...



and the back...



close-up of the front...



close-up of the mistake...



and a gratuitous shot of Geof and what he thinks the FO should be used for...



Ha! Yeah, I'm bored so sue me! I ordered this book from Amazon and it's supposed to be here today (hence the waiting for the UPS man...that and he's pretty cute, too). I'm looking forward to having it in my hot little hands. It's canning season and we like giving our canned things away to family and neighbors and I think the jar doilies would add a nice touch. That and I have way too much time on my hands sometimes. With this heat Geof and I spend the majority of the day inside, and these doilies are the perfect thing to occupy my hands.

Does She Really Crochet?...

...yes, she does...er...I mean, I do. Really. I know it's been awhile since I've even mentioned crocheting anything so I decided to share with you today one of my works-in-progress. It's a doily from this book...


To be more specific it's called Pineapple Garden, and it will hopefully look like this...



For now, however, it looks like this...



I'm using a size 7 hook and Aunt Lydia's size 10 crochet thread. The color in the pictures is a little off. In "real life" it's a little more green than gray-ish/blue-ish. Ugh, this is bugging me, here let me try to take a quick pic of the yarn for ya...



There, that's better. Hopefully you get the idea. It's a really pretty green, and my favorite color of tread at the moment. I've been working on it off and on for the past several weeks. Progress was interrupted by my vacationing. I really like the patterns in the book, they're easy to follow and the pictures are a great guide as well. Plus, I'm crazy about pineapples in crochet.