Great Title, Catchy Subtitle!

Not much crochet to report; started a bunch of things and then ripped them out. Turned a pile of Baby Clouds that I won in the Fastest Crocheter at my Local Michael's contest into snuggles for homeless pets (my neighbor runs a rescue group) because they gave me two skeins that DIDN'T MATCH, meaning that they weren't good for more than a baby hat at best. But they'll make some kitties very happy.

Am working through stash because I ordered *way* too much stuff from Herrschner's and I have to make room for it (by which I mean, hide it so my husband doesn't see it). Am making Jessi's Sherbert Tank Top out of four skeins of Sirdar Tango I got in a swap with Crochet Smartcat; I think that I will have enough. I can't tell you how much that spelling of "sherbet" bugs me but it's a really nice pattern that follows my favorite approach to fit -- "Crochet a starting chain that fits YOU and then work it out," not "Crochet XX chains and hope for the best re. fit."

And the new Dr Who? Never watched the old ones. Lots of my friends did because I gravitate toward that group, but I never got involved in it. However, the new one has pop culture references and a cute doctor and a very Buffy kinda vibe for parts of it, and it's neatly wrapped up at the end of each episode (so far, I've only seen the American premiere of two), and I think it's FINALLY a sci-fi show that my kid and I can both enjoy since I won't let him watch Battlestar Galactica.

So, this has been hanging around since mid-November, when I finished the main part of it but failed to sew it up because I freaking hate sewing things up. I always mess up and it ends up not straight or not the same on both sides, or the buttons aren't even, or something. I just don't have the patience for hand-sewing. (And yet, I don't mind embroidery; go figure.)

The material is this cotton/viscose shiny cord of indeterminate age and origin that I got in a bag of yarn that used to be my grandmother's. It's nice and shiny and pretty and I have a little blue and a little lavender and about 600 yards of white. I will probably make a purse for myself out of the white now that I've had the aha! moment and realized that I can crochet a purse. It's great stuff. Fantacia textured yarn from Italy. You can get some Fantacia stuff on eBay but it's not common so I think it might be from a defunct company. Anyway, it looks like crochet nylon because it's shiny and this but it's actually soft and shiny.

The shank button is probably not the best choice with its pointy sides but it was the prettiest button I could find. I just ripped it off of an Old Navy blazer the night before. It's a very cute shrunken fitted blazer but the rhinestone buttons were just de trop for casual daytime wear.

I hope she likes it. Mom just learned how to use her iPod, and boy, does she love it. Yay, Mom!

(Oh, this picture makes me sad. It makes it look like there's a hole in the middle, which there's not, and like the bottom corner is hinky and puffy, which I don't think it is. Did I mention how much I hate sewing things up? I can destroy a perfectly good piece of work that way.)

For those who asked about the baby blanket pattern...it's from a Leisure Arts pattern booklet called "Heirloom Afghans for Baby." Every single pattern in it is just plain beautiful; CrochetDude posted his progress on one called "Exquisite" a few months ago, which is my usual go-to baby blanket with lots of 19th century fans and pineapples; I've made it something like 15 times in the preblogging days and never thought to keep a picture. You can see his at http://thecrochetdude.blogspot.com/2005/10/exquisite-baby-ghan-completed.html

My favorite thing about the patterns in the book is that they are all worked as a single piece -- no squares and no strips.

I guess that the skirt I made Amanda is the real first piece of clothing I made, but this is the first thing that actually had to be put together. And I didn't even really have to put it together too much; it's the "Baby, It's Cold Outside" sweater from Crochet Me Magazine, and it's all kinda one piece. I made an incredible number of mistakes in this, which are apparent when I look at it, but WTH, it's done. I had the Sirdar Snuggly Chunky in baby blue from a swap, and it was *just* enough to make this, and the color wasn't good for much else, and it was chunky so I couldn't really DO anything else with it but make a soft baby thing.

So, I can't give away this sweater. It's not perfect, even though it's really nice yarn. I think I'll just keep it and look at it. Hey, it's easier to fold and store a sweater than to store those four skeins of yarn, and no one can get after me for hoarding yarn.

Had a little breakdown at a new physical therapy joint yesterday. At the time, I was upset because it HURT and I'm so tired of being in pain all the time. But then I had a massive pain problem all night in an area that's never actually hurt much before and then I realized that the reason I was crying is because this jackass physical therapist actually HURT me. Like, potentially did me some damage, and I don't have a lot of back left to GET damaged. So today I'm just tired and pissed off. At least the joint pain has let up. Dang, it made me mad. Don't really want to go back to that PT.

Next project...oh, who the hell knows. I should replace the obnoxious rhinestone buttons on my Old Navy shrunken velvet blazers with the more subtle ones so I can wear them with jeans. Now THAT'S exciting, no?

Gee, I completely forgot to blog for a month. Uh, whoops. February was mostly the month of aborted projects. I didn't make a mobius shawl from the mohair for my mother because I never got it to look right; instead, I made a very small openwork triangle shawl for her, which I think is better, for a number of reasons. First, the color pattern on the mohair was odd. No transition between colors, and very small blocks of color so you never get a run of more than five or six chains without a change. Second, shawls can look ridiculous on petite women. So, I made a very small triangle in a net pattern (started with a long chain that was a multiple of five, chain-5ed all the way back, slip stitched in to the previous net to decrease, chain-5ed in the middle of each ch-5 all the way across, etc.) It turned out quite nice; I've never seen a shawl that dainty before -- it's about the size of a nice square scarf, really -- and I think my mom can actually wear it around her shoulders without getting lost. I'll need to get a picture.

Spent a week in Houston, staying with in-laws for four nights and my parents for the rest. Went through my mother-in-law's stash, and boy, does she LOVE acrylic: tons of Red Heart Super Saver in Aran. Scored something like 40 afghan patterns, but I don't really care for any of them -- they're all old-fashioned, homey, or cute -- except for a single-color ripple, which I started to make in the aran, but then got discouraged three skeins into it because it's heavy and itchy and I don't like acrylic and I don't even feel like finishing it for charity. I've never given up on a project like this before and I really have to do SOMETHING about it because it's huge and undone and taking up space in the corner.

I think that I will buy purse handles and make one of those cute cable-style purses out of the aran, which takes care of maybe 5 percent or less of the stash. Need to go to Beverly's or Michael's with the coupon and see what they've got, handle-wise.

Made it into Hobby Lobby, which I wish would open on this side of the country. Bought a lot of Moda Dea Dream at half-price and made a soft fluffy scarf in openwork V-stitches for Bob's Aunt Edith, who is 84 and susceptible to drafts. I don't know if she'll like the fluffiness but it keeps the scarf warm even though it's lacy, and I made it lacy so it would drape nicely and be comfortable indoors as well as out. Oh, well; that side of the family really appreciates handmade stuff in any case.

Returned to thread to make doilies for Phyllis (mother-in-law) and Althea (her sister, who lives in Houston and with whom I have always gotten on famously). This is the one I made Phyllis. It was a new challenge for me because of the oval shape. I really need to learn to trust patterns and do what they say before I start winging it on my own.





Since I've been back, I made the scarf for Edith which doesn't photograph worth a darn, and spent a lot of time on the not-to-be-finished Super Saver afghan. Made a hat for Amanda last night from Chelle Grissom's free pattern (www.luv2crochet.com) in Lion Brand Cotton that was leftover from my knitting lessons. (The DVD has you making a dishcloth as the first project, with increases and decreases and a pattern border, which is a GREAT project because you learn a lot but I really don't like handmade dishcloths.) Anyway, she looks like a little flapper. For some reason her face keeps looking weird in the photos -- sometimes she looks gorgeous and sometimes just plain odd -- but the hat looks about right. Sure wish she'd stop doing that "angel face" thing with her hands all the time. If I make the at again, it'll be with fewer rows -- this one is so long that it looks like a little cloche helmet on her.

So, where am I? Current list of things that I want to do:

* A white Moda Dea Dream scarf for me because all my scarves are weird colors that clash with my tan coat. This is a fast project.

* A cable purse out of the Super Saver aran. I think that'll be a fine use of it.

* Got three spools of Omega Espiga crochet nylon at Hobby Lobby in Houston (Amanda's suitcase was jammed full of yarn on the way home). Will make a purse out of this. It's not the color I wanted -- they were out of stock on the neutrals -- but it should still be pretty nice.

* Eventually, Amanda's pink tank top but she's growing so fast that I don't want to start it until we're closer to summer.

* Still want to make myself a sweater as a personal challenge but still don't like most of the patterns I've seen. Almost everything in the book "Crocheted Sweaters" sucks except the Surf and Turf sleeveless hoodie, which I think I'd make in Sugar N Cream cotton instead of expensive Takhi.

* Liz has two nephews coming on each side of the family (her brother and Scott's brother) and she may commission some hooded baby blankets in bright colors. I spent the BSG hour on Friday knocking out swatches in tan Simply Soft to indicate the variety of possibilities (bad color but it's in the house). I think I'll go with Simply Soft because it's soft and washable. Interested to hear what she thinks.

Non-crochet stuff so that I don't lose track of it. Zeum in San Francisco is completely awesome as long as you go on a weekday when the kids are all in school. There are not enough workstations to support normal weekend traffic. But, we went on a SJUSD staff development day so most kids were in school, and we had enough time to do what we wanted without being rushed. The kids made a great claymation which I hope to be able to link to, and Amanda did a music video for which Alex was the "special fx" guy -- he changed the background a million times while she danced.

The Silliman Family Aquatic Center in Newark, about 20 miles from San Jose, is amazing and worth the drive. Three separate indoor pools and a big hot tub. The first pool is zero-depth entry with a great play structure. Second pool is a "lazy river" and two decent water slides. Third pool is just a regular pool that's about 4-5 feet deep. All nonstop kid happiness and fun, and it's INDOORS so you can go year-round and not worry about sunscreen.

I woke up with a miserable cold, unrelated to the above, but it was still a great weekend. Also, saw a new kind of pain guy -- a physiatrist -- who's sending me to a new PT who might have something useful for me to do, and -- most important -- who started me on a new medication (Lyrica) which, despite being similar to Neurontin which didn't help me at all, actually SEEMS TO HELP! I didn't wear the Lidoderm patches at all yesterday and I didn't have the horrible muscle aches that I usually do in such a case, and the twisting pain in my hips was barely noticeable. So I'm crossing my fingers that the effects of this new med will actually last.

This was long, but it makes up for a month of not posting.