Crochet, too

Sometimes it is a good thing to switch from always knitting.  Crocheted granny squares are simple to create and singularly adorable when they're finished.
Best relaxation therapy ever:  Our PAL's new blanket for her crib.

Details:

Granny Squares Crib Blanket

Crochet hook #G

Cotton Classic Yarn, 100% mercerized cotton

70 squares, all different combinations of five colors (red, light green, dark green, blue, yellow),

edged in light cream

Is It Really February?

It seems like this year is charging along faster than I expect.  Here it is the end of the first week of February and I feel like I've just celebrated New Year's Day.  One change I'm endeavoring to make this year is to meditate on gratitude every day.  Daily gratitude meshes well with my usual Friday Fave Fives.  Since I'm thinking each evening about what I'm thankful for, it makes writing about my favorite blessing of the week easier.  Gratitude begets gratitude.

1.  Rain.  Yes, again this week rain makes my fave five list.  One day we had a bit of misty spitty precipitation which we could hardly have counted as rain.  But Thursday (today) it really rained.  Less than .25 inch, but it soaked in our very dry ground, and we are grateful for it, every drop.

2.  This book.  The Professor and I and his brother and wife attended a book reading by George Morgan, the author of Rocket Girl.  Rocket Girl is about Morgan's mother, Mary Sherman Morgan, who was the first female rocket scientist.  It's a fascinating biography.  I bought a copy to read and then share with my own rocket scientist, my older daughter.

3.  Someone asked me to crochet some rosettes to add to a beanie.  While I may be a knitting ninja, my crochet skill level may be labeled elementary at best.  Beginner is a little too advanced for me.  So when I foolishly agreed to make those flowers, I had to learn some crochet.  Fortunately, I could call my crochet queen daughter and get some emergency crochet help.  I spent waaay too much time on these, but I think I've got it now.  I love learning new needle skills.

4.  I finished a bit of relaxing knitting after the stress of crochet.  These are fingerless gloves for a friend's husband.  Knitting often makes my Fave Fives list because creating useful things gives me great joy, and knitting is a restful and relaxing activity for me.

5.  Last, but not least-- Happy Birthday to my SIX year old grandson, The New Boy!  Oh, I love this boy!

And so ends the week on a happy thought--watching this boy grow into a young man and praying he will become a man of God who is a credit to his mama and a blessing to the world around him.

Calling All Hat Knitters!

Do you have yarn lying around in your stash waiting to be knit up?  Do you have little balls of fun colors which were left over from various projects?  If you do, you can knit them into HATS!  I imagine you are thinking, "Once they're knitted up, what can I do with them? All my family members and friends already have been gifted with my marvelous fibery prowess."  Well, do I have the perfect opportunity for you!  This month, you can pull out those partial skeins and knit (or crochet) them up in to hats to keep little heads in the Chicago area warm this winter!

I noticed a post on Robyn the minimalist knitter's blog about making hats for all the children who attend a Christmas party at a food pantry in the Chicago area.  Since I have an abundance of those little leftovers and I have been steadily knitting down my yarn stash, I thought this would be a great way to use my yarn and talents and also bless those cold ears from wind and snow.  I contacted Robyn who put me in touch with Kathie.

Here is Kathie's response and explanation:

"When I first started knitting the ladies in our church were very supportive. One lady volunteered in a food pantry and she thought some hats would be great for the children who come to a holiday party in early December each year. Last year I knit 60 hats and she said they went fast. When I asked her how many children came to the party, she said over 1,000 children. I just couldn’t believe it.


The food pantry is in a middle class neighborhood on Irving Park Rd. in Chicago. Last year they gave bags of food to over 30,000 people. This is a very small location that is only open 2 days per week. The most wonderful group of volunteers work there and they think there will be an even larger group of children coming to the party this year. So I’m looking for people to help crochet or knit hats. I’ve knit over 100 hats this year and have received 130 hats from people on Ravelry so there is over 230 hats ready to donate.


I’ve been putting descriptive labels on them that say the name and state of the person that made them. “Handmade for you by Mary in Georgia”. I want to show the kids that people from all over the country have thought of them and volunteered to help. My hope is that they will see this and feel special. Hopefully some day they will think of others and pass on their talents.

Kathie"

Kathie needs to turn in all the hats by the end of November so we have only a few weeks to knit and crochet and drop those boxes in the mail.  So far, I've knitted seven hats and have cast on for my eighth!  According to Kathie, any size is welcome although women's small or medium caps are a good general size.

You can contact Kathie through ravelry (her Rav name is kathied5732) or you can e-mail me at willowknits@yahoo.com for her address.

Don't leave all that yarn in a bag in the back of your cupboard when it could keep a child warm this winter!

When You Can't Walk-

you can still knit

1. a cabled hat

2. coffee cozies

3. a pair of Girly-Girl Socks

4. and a child's striped pullover sweater.

And you can crochet

5. a granny square blanket.

and maybe some other granny circle-squares.



There are many productive ways to use your time when your doctor says, "No driving yet. And limited walking." 

It's important to find ways to be thankful in every situation.

Thank you, Susanne, for hosting Friday Fave Five.  It helps me remember each week to look for areas of thankfulness and gratitude.

The Quiet Week

It was a quiet week here at Willow's Cottage.  Most of the noise came from the covey of quail which have been scurrying around on our back hill, most likely searching for dropped seeds.  One other fun bit of noise came from my computer one evening when our son skyped us again from Indonesia.  We were able to 'see' the view of the green green hills which surround the neighborhood where he is living and even hear the tropical birds chirping.  With her usual perfect timing, our MamaMia phoned so she was able to say hi to her brother from her cell phone to my cell phone to my laptop to his laptop.  Don't you just LOVE technology??

Anyway, as I was saying, our mostly quiet week was still filled with joyful and satisfying things.  I look for these little examples of joy to share in Friday Fave Five.  This little exercise helps me to be watchful and grateful for the blessings of my week.  Susanne hosts this EVERY FRIDAY.  That takes a lot of dedication on her part and I truly do appreciate her taking the lead on this each week.

1.  Every year, on the Thursday before classes begin at Cal State Univ Channel Islands, the lovely people who work in the library host a faculty and families back to school reception in one of the university library's courtyards.  Every year, The Professor and I happily attend and spend a couple of pleasant hours eating wonderful catered dishes, drinking excellent wine, and dipping strawberries, bananas and chocolate chip cookies into the chocolate fountain while we chat with the other faculty and families.

2.  After that rather filling dinner, we strolled around the library lawn and the rest of the campus.  Because the university is nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains near where they descend to the Pacific Ocean, it is natural that most of the grounds are planted with California natives.

I love the bunch grasses! (Well, yes, this one is bluish, but yes, I did doctor the color just a little bit.  But wouldn't it be wonderful if it really were that blue?)

3.  On Saturday, we loaded up our bikes and drove to Ventura and rode the bike/walkway along the beachfront.  It was a perfect day for a bike ride.  Cloudy but not cold.  Breezy but not too windy.

Past Surfers Point

Beyond the pier all the way to the  harbor.

And back.

4.  I've been crocheting.  I had some skeins of leftover wool from a project I knitted for my master knitter certification.  In my quest to use up my yarn stash this year, I decided to see how large an afghan I could make with the four colors-pink, purple, green and cream.  Forty-two squares.  Each 4 1/4 inches across.  A 6 x 7 square design.  Without the edging, the afghan will be 'about' 26 inches by 30 inches.  Not very large, but it will still be 'lap-size'.

5.  My neighbor, who is also my friend, had never been to our little indie coffee shop in town.  So on Tuesday morning we dropped in there for coffee and the best biscotti I have ever tasted!  We agreed that this little shop is the perfect place to meet up every week for a little study session.  Oh, the coffee's great, too.

That was Willow's Week.  I spent the rest of my hours sitting here in the cottage planning lessons which happily are mostly finished. 

How was yours?

Addendum:  Shortly after posting this, I somehow, I really am not sure how, I fell (tripped, stumbled, was a complete clutz?) and severely sprained my right ankle.  It looks like next week will be another Quiet Week around here.

Taking a (Crochet) Break

After the TKGA certification was finished and I pulled out the works in progress and did those, I decided I needed a break in my knitting. The next knitting project I have is going to take some thought and planning.

So I'm giving my brain a crochet break.

I decided to make granny squares.

Every square is different.

The theme is flowers. I look at my yarn assortment and choose colors and combinations that remind me of blooms in my garden, nurseries, even Trader Joe's flower department.

Every square is bordered with one to four rounds of light blue.

Each square has nine rounds.

I have crocheted fourteen flowers. I think I'm going to do forty-eight.