Monday's Musing - Memorial Day Edition
In Flanders Fields
by John McRae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson
A Memorial Day remembrance and heartfelt thanks to those who have given everything, and to their families: thank you.
A little something different
I don't usually talk about crochet on my blog, even though I come from a crochet family. I learned to crochet long before I learned to knit! Trivia fact: I cannot follow a crochet pattern. My grandmother taught me how to crochet, but she never followed patterns, and so I never learned. This all means that I am even more than generally impressed by crochet designers. Knitting is so tidy and easy to make into a pattern. Crochet is so open to interpretation. Or so it seems to me. :)
Well, today I have the honor of featuring the lovely Kristin Omdahl's new booklet for Bijou Basin: The Complements Collection.
Kristin, besides being one of the most beautiful people I have ever met (truly - she glows), is an incredibly prolific designer of both crochet and knitwear. Sarah figured out that she does about 3 designs per month. Wowza.
The booklet actually had me thinking about getting my crochet hook out. I think I need one of these:
Perfect for the colder winter climate here in Nevada. And I do still have a crochet hook. Or ten thousand. ;)
Though Kristin had me thinking about crochet, I do have to admit to still gravitating towards knitting. This is my favorite project:
It's a little lace capelet. I know; big surprise that it's my favorite, eh?
All in all, this is a fun little booklet with a funky retro feel to it. And do you know what else? I have an electronic copy to give away! So leave me a comment by this Friday (May 25), midnight PST and I will enter you to win!
Monday's Musing
"Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of always." - Dante Alighieri
I love this quote; it's a little like "today is the first day of the rest of your life." Only better. :)
Monday's Musing
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” - Albert Einstein
Have a fabulous week, everyone!
Mother's Day Sale!
Happy Mother's Day!
Enter coupon code:
mother2012
at checkout in your Ravelry cart and get 15% off any of my patterns listed for sale on Ravelry! Good for one day until 12 midnight PST on Sunday May 13.
Have a great one! :)
Multi-tasking
It's something I'm trying to get better at doing. I always ask myself: WWAHD? (What would Anne Hanson do?) Because she gets so much done all the time. I am quite often in deep awe of her. This year has been pretty insane, as most of you know. But somehow I have managed to get five six(!) secret projects done in amongst my other work by trying to channel Anne's mad multi-tasking skillz. You'll see those projects later on this year and next. But here's a little project I can show you, a cowl made from the Melpomene stitch pattern.
It's worked up in String Theory's Caper Aran, the Black Tulip colorway.
I hope you can see how amazing this color is. It is truly incredible, a perfect black-toned purple. I asked The Bear to model it for me. (Notice that he's beginning to get swimmer's dreads? I convinced him not to cut the cuteness).
He was quite taken with the cowl. He gets super cold in winter and this yummy yarn has cashmere in it. Oooooh. Soft!
He wants one with a straight bottom.
How can I resist? So I think it will come in two styles: the scalloped edge and the plain edge. It will be released as an extra pattern in my current eBook subscription and as a single pattern. Speaking of the eBook, I am finishing up several projects at once. Here are the yarns.
On top, that's Alisha Goes Around. Middle is from Ripples Crafts, a lovely merino/silk in Pale AU. Bottom is Fresh Grass from At Bullard Farm. (WOW! I just went to look at what she has stocked at the moment - gorgeous!) It's another silk blend, this time with BFL.
They are all in progress. Multi-tasking. It's all good.
Travelin' Part Deux
Remember when I said there was yarny goodness forthcoming? Well. Look at what I found in Minneapolis! The first new dyer to me, All for Love of Yarn was one I was swooning over at 3 Kittens. I only agreed to let the yarn go to another home when I was assured that Angela, the dyer of this yummy yummy stuff, would be at Yarnover the next day. I wish I could show you her booth, but my picture was horribly fuzzy. So I will just show you her yarn. And can I just say: WOW! Look at these colors!
I can't get enough of looking at them!
And this?
Is it not divine?! Yes. It is. Ready for more? This is Lynae from Grinning Gargoyle.
She has some fabulous high twist sock yarn that I love.
It has cashmere in it. And it's high twist.
Need I say more?
And then here is Francine of Rovings in Winnipeg. I am a long time fan of hers.
And just for fun, a shot of some bags of top. It's called Three Feet of Sheep.
Love it. :)
When I was in Minneapolis, I was so jealous of all the lilacs in bloom. But what do you know?
When I came back home, they were everywhere here too!
Aren't they lovely?
And the smell is utterly intoxicating.
In other news? Another secret project completed. A small but not very secret project completed today and drying. Feeling a little productive again despite the continued upheaval in my, and my family's, lives. One day it will calm down and I'm sure I'll get bored. Well. Not really. ;)
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson
