Gryphon

Here's the finished cowl, and I've christened it "Gryphon" after Sanguine Gryphon Yarns. If all goes well, I'll soon be making it again out of her incredible Gaia in silk/cashmere. And then if everything continues to go well, she'll be selling the pattern and kit on her site! I'm so impatient to get started, and having hissy fits every time the postman fails to bring my samples. This is such an exciting gig!


And here it is being modeled by my beloved Jones, who is a 1977 Sakurai guitar, the best guitar in the world.

Last Project

Tomorrow I start work, and so this is it. School starts in 2 weeks and things will go very badly for yours truly if all is not in place on the 15th. I'd better not even think about crochet. I have to finish this today or forever hold my peace.

I've made a couple of other things which will have to remain a secret until further notice, but this cowl is a prototype for many more, I hope. I love it and I foresee having to make them for all my friends and family. This is the first time I've tried to stick to one yarn for a whole project: because it's so close to the sensitive skin on the face and neck, I made it entirely out of Drops Alpaca. Who wants a scratchy cowl? Actually I'm telling a lie here: some of the red stuff is Posh Yarn Sophia, pure cashmere! If I had cashmere in dozens of colours, I'd do the whole thing in that, but cashmere seems to be a rare and expensive commodity.

Cloister Gloves

I was in the cloister of Santa Anna in Barcelona the other day at dusk. I love these gloves, but I promise the cloister of Santa Anna is more beautiful.

Homage to Blueberries

So here I am in bright, bleached Spain, but my mind is still filled with images of Georgian Bay: dark river, lichens and mosses in a thousand greens, blueberry bushes and the sweet smell of forest. And a whole month of crochet time ahead of me! Joy! I've started working on patterns for mittens to send off for submission, but this is not one of them. This is a laboratory of experiments, some of which will be used, some not - some of them were way too complicated and not worth the effort! - but it was fun to try to recreate the North.

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.

Arrows by Annette Petavy, and I've been tagged!

Arrows is finished and I'm in love with it. It was so interesting to make, and the Malabrigo was so soft, the colours so dark and intense, that I'm considering making another one just like it. But no: one more week and I'll be free to work on my own stuff again, which I miss terribly.


But wait! I've been tagged by Skamama! That was over a week ago, so here goes:

The rules; Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing ten years ago?

More or less what I'm doing now! Living in this house which I love in this village which I love, only it was smaller then. Playing concerts, teaching and conducting. DS was five then so I was still in Mommy mode. I wasn't directing a school (oh, happy days...) but neither was I crocheting, so I didn't know what life was about.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

Take rugs to dry cleaner. (done.)
Pay for airline tickets to Toronto. (done.)
Take pics of Arrows Stole. (done.)
Update Blog. (doing.)
Prune front garden.
Laundrylaundrylaundrylaundry
Make sour cherry pie. My sour cherry tree has produced its first crop this year: about 25 cherries. Enough for a very small pie.
Choose a crochet project small enough to keep my mind healthy for just over a week.
Do NOT think about my to-do list for Monday.

3. Snacks I enjoy.

Olives.
Pa amb Tomaquet, the crowning glory of Catalan cuisine: Toast (or even better, grill) a slice of country bread. Rub lightly with a cut clove of garlic. Halve a ripe tomato and rub it all onto the bread. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then drizzle with a bit of good olive oil. Unbeatable, addictive, very good for you.
Mmmm cheese. But not goat cheese.
Spiced sunflower seeds, another great Spanish invention. The shells are covered in salt and spices. You suck on them until all the good stuff is gone, then crack them and eat the seed.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.

No idea. I can't even imagine it. Classical musicians just don't become billionaires! It's like that joke, what's the least-used sentence in the English language? A: "Isn't that the banjo player's Porsche?"But I know what I'd do if I had 200€ to spare: buy a dressmaker's dummy.

5. Places I have lived.

Toronto
Barcelona
Here.

6. Jobs I've had.

Waitress. Worst waitress in the Greater Toronto Area.
Plant-Waterer in fancy office buildings.
Sandwich girl.
Picture Framer.
English teacher.
Musician.

7. Peeps I want to know more about:

All of these are fantastic crochet designers and bloggers from around Europe.

Annette Petavy, only once again I can't seem to access her blog.
Pyogazel (turns out she's already been tagged!)
YarnJungle
SylvChezPlum
Milobo
Since Pyogazel is already spoken for, I tag the talented Pimpampum!

Stayin' Alive?

By a thread. But Lord, what a thread! This is Malabrigo Lace in the VAA colourway. It's so perfect.
Life these days is simply horrid. Yes, it's just my old whinge about this job and its attendant stomachaches. What is a musician doing waging war against local politicians? Like this has something to do with me? The world of local politics is revolting, boring, shocking, and under normal circumstances any sane crocheter or musician would simply refuse to acknowledge it. Here's how I put it to myself so that I am still me: I'll be Saint George, pledged to seven years' service to the Faerie Queene fighting Evil. They can be the Dragons. I don't do reality!

Appropriately, I am making a piece of Weaponry. This stole is named Arrows, and is the masterpiece of Annette Petavy. The pattern can be found in her shop.


Absolutely no question of working on designs of my own. My brain is on hold!

Bootie-Blocking!

This design for baby moccasins by Sylvia Schuchardt is just delightful. It's available on her Etsy store. But:

How do you block a bootie? Being of inventive mind, I just devised this method:

1. Cut a bootie-sized potato in half lengthwise.

2. Shape cut half of potato to desired shape of bootie sole.

3. Cut top of potato to desired shape of bootie upper.

4. Insert potato in plastic bag. Important: do not omit step 4.

5. Insert potato in bootie. Spray lightly with water and let dry.

When these are dry I'll report back and show you how they turned out.




They turned out like this! Blessings on the humble Potato!
ETA:

7. Dice and fry up potato.
6. Remove potato from plastic bag. Important: do not omit step 6.

Thanks Amy!

Veritas, Equitas II, FO

Good. Now I can wash the other ones.

Actually, I have a sinking feeling about these. My best friend Meng has threatened to confiscate them for her own use, and I'm seeing Meng this evening. Which is why I had to take this picture one-handed and not wait till tomorrow when Mr.Croft could do some proper ones. If I do manage to hold onto them, I'll add more pics tomorrow.


And here they are. Farewell, Veritas Equitas II - you're going to a good home!