Holiday Snaps

That was so fun. I have a great sister. I keep mentioning my Mom and how extraordinary she was, but did I mention that I have an equally extraordinary sister? All the women in my family are awesome. Brilliant, beautiful, creative...extreme cooks, artists and gardeners . We invented the Stash Expedition decades ago, and although our mother has been gone for 15 years, we're still keeping the faith. Anyways, before I wax emotional, on to the pics:

As you can see, I wasted no time. I went to 3 LYS in Toronto: Romni Wools on Queen St, which is my favourite LYS to date, Lettuce Knit in Kensington Market, and The Naked Sheep in the Beaches. This picture is about half of what I came away with. Am I ashamed? Not in the least. It will all get used!

After Stash Ex. #1, we headed up North to Georgian Bay, specifically to a tiny island on the Naiscoot River where my sister has a beautiful cottage. Here's my DS driving the boat, supervised by my sis:
Me being driven!
We picked blueberries. I could make a pie out of these colours alone. We did make pie. It was the world's best blueberry pie. And here it is along with my Georgian Bay project. I made Troubador Socks for my sister, using this beautiful Noro sock yarn.
Back in the city I finished these Veritas Equitas for my stepmom. She has Reynaud's Syndrome where your hands get cold and turn white, so she needed these: in fact, she's been at the back of my mind since I first started making wrist warmers. They turned out prettier than in the photo, but I didn't have a chance to take FO pictures before coming home to Spain.
I wish I had stayed much longer. Sis and I only made 4 pies (sour cherry mmmm accounted for 2 of them) and we bought beads but never got around to beading, stepmom needed more cheering up and more fattening up, and Toronto was a symphony of greens that made me catch my breath about 8 times a day. My Dad needed my DH who always cheers him up, but sadly DH was home in Spain, poor lad. I returned home to find him very skinny. What is this, nobody eats unless I'm watching?

On the other hand, I gained 2 kilos in 2 weeks and would have gained a few more by now if I'd stayed. In my family we are seriously good cooks. And I would have had to send my stash by boat if I'd been allowed anywhere near another LYS.

The Queen's Work.

Now then, would anyone like to make Laracroft really and truly angry? It's not easy, but if you have what it takes, I will show you how. Are you armed with righteous fervor? Have you girded your loins with disciplinary zeal? Are you wielding your rod, and not afraid to use it? Then come along, for there is the Queen's work to be done.
Where are we going, you ask? To PicasaWeb, also sometimes referred to as a Den of Vermin.
And here we are, at the page of , insert name in Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Ukrainian Korean Chinese Greek or whatever. And oho, what do we have here? Why, dozens of magazines with patterns, scanned and posted - for free, no less! - on this vile person's page. They are in Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, etc (see above). No matter, for as we well know, this is Illegal. They are long off the stands and long out of print. No matter, it is still Illegal. Anybody who thinks that spending hours scanning unavailable magazines to share with the rest of the world is a Good Deed, is about to learn the error of her ways. It is not a good deed. It is a Violation of Copyright.
Simply click on the button reading "Report Inappropriate Content". Snap! No more page, no more unavailable crochet magazines for the other Vermin to read. With a little practice, I'm sure you could turn the offender to stone like Tumnus.

See how easy it was? To make Laracroft truly angry? Since this just happened to 2 of my favourite pages in one day, I just can't contain myself.

PicasaWeb is not about getting patterns for free. It's about access. Pattern magazines should not be printed on paper and sold in newsstands. For the obvious reason that we are running out of trees, but also because we crocheters would buy them if we could. Publishers could make a fortune: printing costs would not exist, and individual patterns could be sold online for the price of the whole magazine.

I have a pattern published in Interweave Crochet. Once that issue is no longer available, that's the end: nobody can legally make my pattern ever again. Woe betide me if I dare to make a copy of it for a friend. So, unless one of those morally reprehensible insurgents dares to post it on their Picasa page(which they won't: even they are not so foolish as to post an American magazine!), it will be dead and buried. And I as a designer should be happy about this?

A while back on Ravelry, a whole group of indignant, politically correct ladies resolved to make a habit of visiting PicasaWeb pages for the sole purpose of shutting them down.

Making Laracoft truly angry.

Sriyana

It's not for nothing that we Tapestry Crocheters love Sriyana. Personally, I would lay down my life for her. She won my heart the first time I saw this:


How to win the heart of Laracroft: beauty, geometry, thoughtfulness and phenomenal technique. How to further win the heart of Laracroft:



With a light heart - of the kind that makes Portraits of Hens - and phenomenal technique. I hope you all realize that this is as difficult as Tapestry Crochet gets: worked flat (in Mensa Stitch!) with up to 8 strands at a time! And in case one were to get bored with that, there's a few days' worth of bullion stitches in those leaves. And all for the love of one little hen.

And then, this J.S. Bach of crochet offered to test my Veritas, Equitas pattern for publication. The mind boggles. Herr Bach, would you mind proofreading my latest tune?


So I am very proud. They look so beautiful it's hard to believe I designed them. Thank you, Sriyana!!!

Paradise Regained

Did I mention that I love holidays? I finished up at work on Tuesday at 2pm, and by 3pm I was working on this secret project again, on hold since Easter. This is the life. A little food, a little walking, all the rest is crochet. I can hear my sister's admonishing voice: "Have you crocheted yourself a cocoon then, dear?" Hah. She's just jealous.