You'll Soon Be One Of Us

I have made some more progress on my Ripple Afghan. So far each color has been used twice with the bit of pink starting the 3rd set of 7 colors. So far, it is about 13 1/2" wide. Although I have never been to the Caribbean, that is what this makes me think of. The colors are so bright and cheery. I took it to the Thursday WeHo SNB and it met with rave reviews! I love this group, always so much fun and very supportive. Some people confessed to having been "secretly rippling" at home but not posting to the Ripple Along.

At first I wasn't really crazy about the acrylic yarn. Truthfully, it does have a few "hiccups" from time to time. Big globs of un-spun fiber or one ply being too long and wrapping around the others. I realized that I had become sort of a fiber snob. That is until I also realized that I love another thing that is made from acrylic! Several years ago my fingernails started splitting on the sides. I don't know if it had to do with age or what. I started getting acrylic nails and have been hooked ever since. Since moving to SoCal I have tried a few nail places but one does an exemplary job. Alice Nails on Ventura in Woodland Hills is great. Lani does the best "pink & white", EVER!

The saga continues

I just can't stop rippling. It is addictive. I have decided to use all 7 colors, randomly. Each one of the 7 will be crocheted before a color repeats. We will see how well I keep this up.

While I am not the biggest fan of acrylic yarn, I do like the fact that the Caron Simply Soft Brights have no dye lots. I can acquire yarn as I go along and not shell out great flipping wads of cash at once. Although, with my luck they will discontinue these colors when I am half done.

I am weak

Not only have I succumbed to the Granny-Along, but just this weekend I also joined the Ripple-Along! It is all the fault of this woman and the beautiful, bright colors. I usually head for the blues/purples/greens in subtle tones at my LYS so this is quite a change for me. Also, I rarely knit/crochet with anything but natural fibers so the acrylic Caron Simply Soft Brights is a definite detour. But I was hypnotized by the ripples and the promise of a cheery accent for my all-white bedroom. So sue me.

I had anticipated an afghan that would sit, nicely folded, at the end of my bed, always ready for a nap or a chilly night. In actuality, it hangs over the sides by about a foot...on each side! It's just that much more ripple to love.

Kathy, You Rock!!!!!

For a long time I have been complaining writing about having left the majority of my knitting needles back in Washington when I moved. When your friends aren't rabid knitters or crocheters, they really don't see the urgency of having them at the ready. I could have spent a lot of $$$$ replacing all of my circulars, but that seemed a waste of money that could go to better use for say, YARN. Then one day last week, lo and behold, came an innocent looking box at my door. In it were these precious gems.

I am sure that the reason I didn't get them before was that no one could find them in the storage unit. But one intrepid friend made the extra effort to locate my lovelies and sent them down to SoCal so that I might be able to knit on a size other than 2.

I said it before and I will say it again...

KATHY, YOU ROCK!!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Now that I have my knitting implements back in the fold, I felt compelled to purchase celebratory yarn. (Yeah, the "Knit From Your Stash" vow didn't last long. Cut me some slack, it has been a difficult past few months...) Some Lily Sugar'n Cream in variegated pinks for a couple of washcloths for my daughter and some Heirloom Breeze in lime for a V-neck tank top from the Spring/Summer Knit Simple, page 36.

Don't hate me for this, but I will leave you with this recipe for Whipped Shortbread. It doesn't look like much on a plate, but when you bite into it, you will know why I said that.

In a large stand mixer, whip 1 lb. of softened butter until light in color. (No, margarine will NOT be okay.) Add 1 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar, 1/2 cup cornstarch and whip again. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract. Whip. Finally, add 3 cups flour (I use unbleached white), mix slowly until incorporated and then whip until the batter is light. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until very lightly "beiged". Let cool.

Yum.

Gettin' My Granny On

I was reading Ellen's blog over the weekend and came across this.

Easter morning I retrieved the bag of worsted weight wool from under my bed and set to work. For a long time I have been keeping bits and pieces of mostly Cascade 220 with the goal of eventually turning it into a Granny Square afghan. The first 3 rounds are being made from my leftovers and then I will find a nice midnight blue to make the 4th round that ties it all together. Between cooking eggs benedict for breakfast and ham and scalloped potatoes for dinner, I made a few 3 round squares.

Showing my backside

Of course it is the backside of my Flower Power crochet purse! What else would it be?

I am almost finished with the crochet part and am looking forward to moving on tho the sewing-of-the-lining part. I found this wild and absolutely perfect fabric for the lining. I also got a bit of this bright green to line the outside of the lining, the side that backs up against the crochet because the back if the lining fabric is a blah white flannel.

In fact, I am getting into sewing again after a bit of a hiatus. This is my latest sundress I whipped up last week. The weather in the Valley turned hot for a bit. Since I am now experiencing many hot flashes unscheduled trips to the Tropics each day, cotton sundresses are the most appealing garments I can think of. This fabric has been in my stash for about 10 years and I obviously liked it enough to bring it to SoCal with me. The inspiration for the vintage style trim came to me last Sunday when I was shopping with my roommate, Erin. I went to JoAnne's and found the perfect white-with-blue-dot fabric to coordinate. I suppose it is a bit too youthful for an old broad like me but I don't give a shit darn. I have one more in the works out of Simplicity pattern 3867 and then I will move onto another style.

On the same memory stick I found some photos of my friend Jen's and my last trip to France. We took a few days out in Quimper and on the only sunny day, drove to Carnac. If you have never been there, you MUST go! This photo was taken of me in February 2006 and I am happy to say I have lost about 40 lbs. since then so I am not fond of the picture. But it does show one of the stones in Carnac.

As much as I would like to, you can't edit past photos.

Happy Easter, everybody!