Little by little

I subbed in preschool today, which really wore me out. I had hoped to finish Astrila by Joelle Paulson today, but I'm happy to complete it little by little!

Astrila

Yarn shopping always puts me in the mood to knit, especially when I find beautiful yarns! I'm eager to start with the yarns I purchased this weekend, but I need to finish my Reyna shawl that's already on the needles. I finished the next garter section before heading off to school. I have two more mesh and two more garter sections to go.

I'm subbing every day this week, so there really isn't much time for tatting, knitting, or crocheting. Still, I eek out every moment that I can.

I was one of three lucky winners of Frivole's new snowflake pattern, Astrila. This one is a challenge for me, because it has split rings. I can tat split rings, but they seem to take me forever! I'm hoping that by tatting several of this beautiful pattern, I'll become more comfortable with the technique.

The first two split rings were the most difficult for me. The first one has a join on the second half of the split ring. Following some tips that Tim emailed me, I was able to join successfully. I did have to fiddle with the thread to make the ring look right, but I think I did okay.

The second split ring has a picot on the second half. My picot is huge! I'll get better, but it's obvious that I need lots of practice. The rest of the split rings are small, and I've been able to tat them just fine.

Now that I'm in a rhythm with this pattern, I'm really enjoying it. This may become my Christmas snowflake for this year!

Time flies!

Saturday was a very rainy day. Luckily, Garry got our soybeans out on Friday... one less chore checked off the list!

I react to rainy days one of two ways. I'm either energetic and accomplish a lot around the house, or I sit in my chair and read or craft. Saturday, I sat in my chair and worked on my 12 Step Sampler Blanket. I've finished the first 34 rows, and I'm now to the point where I go back to row 2 and crochet through row 34 until it's the length I'd like it to be. Right now, it's 12" long, and I know I want it to be at least 5' long. With my stellar math skills, I was able to calculate that I need four more repeats of this section. Keeping all of this in mind will help me stay motivated!

Saturday afternoon, Dave and I went shopping in Kankakee for Christmas lights. Everyone will be here for Christmas this year, and when all the grandchildren come, Dave pulls out all the stops on decorating. He has started hanging outdoor lights, while the weather is fairly decent. However, lights will not be turned on until after Thanksgiving. Inside decorating will begin the day after Thanksgiving. So, we slogged through puddle-filled parking lots and pulled up our collars against the rain and went shopping for one string of lights and decorating ideas. I'm beginning to think that pictures of decorations are just fine!

On Sunday, Dave went to take care of our friends' farm to take care of their animals. Then, he went to school to help daughter Carol organize and clean up props for the plays. After all of that, he came home to hang Christmas lights. We have an agreement that Dave will not go up on the roof if no one's around. We are getting older and a little more unsteady. Dave must have been feeling very sure of himself yesterday, because he had quite a few lights up when I returned home.

Where was I? I spent the afternoon yarn shopping with daughter Alison, granddaughter Eva, and Grandma Cindy (Eva's other grandma) at Elgin Knit Works. Alison bought yarn for a cowl for herself and a hat for Eva. Eva helped choose colors, but had no desire to practice her knitting or crocheting skills. Cindy and I each purchased one skein of Road to China and two skeins of Malabrigo, although not the same colors. We 're going to keep each other motivated to knit Summer Sky by Janina Kallio in Road to China, and Reyna by Noora Backlund in Malabrigo. Cold weather knitting, I am ready for you!

A little of this, a little of that

There was no school today due to parent/teacher conferences, so I had time to catch up on some housework and play with all of my goodies!

I practiced my needle lace again. There are lots of mistakes here. I was able to "pose" it to hide my mistakes. I'll probably try again tomorrow.

I worked some more on my 12 Step Sampler Blanket. Working in color was more interesting, but working in one solid color makes it easier to see the stitch patterns.

I worked on my hanky edging for a while. I'm already wondering if I have enough thread!

Knitting has taken a back seat for a while. Luckily, "Reyna" is an easy pattern to pick up and put down. I'm planning on going to visit daughter Alison on Sunday, and since we're planning on going yarn shopping, I figured I'd better get back into knitting mode!

Time for crochet

I was given 12 skeins of Lion Brand Pound of Love yesterday, and I was eager to start crocheting. I decided to start with the 12 Step Sampler Blanket, a pattern that I crocheted last year. When I crocheted the blanket last year, I used a variety of multi-colored I Love This Yarn skeins from Hobby Lobby. I love the way it turned out, but ever since I finished it, I've been thinking of crocheting it in one color. The time is here!

At lunchtime today, my high school crochet group asked the principal if it would be possible for them to meet with me every school day. Typically, high school students sign up for the Learning Commons on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while middle school students sign up for Tuesday and Thursday. The principal agreed to give it a try next week. The art teacher and I have agreed that the crochet unit will last until Christmas break. We'll have to see if lessons go in to the new year!

I was very excited to receive this invitation in the mail today! I served as the town librarian for about ten months before being hired by the school district. That was way back in 1984-1985, before the current library building had been remodeled. It used to be a laundromat. When I served as the town librarian, we shared space with the village hall. Things have certainly changed over the years!

Just a little bit

I finished the needle lace edging, and after looking through several of my favorite tatting books, I decided on Handkerchief Edging No. 6 from The Craft of Tatting by Bessie M. Attenborough. I don't have much done, but I do like the way it looks!

Switching to 20

I finished edging the hanky with size 10 Wedgewood Dk, and I think I'm going to leave it as it is for now. I haven't found a needle lace edging that I like to go with it, and I don't think the size 10 thread really works for a hanky.

This morning I decided to switch to size 20 Garden Afternoon hand-dyed thread from my friend Marilee Rockley. I figured this would be good practice for future projects. My plan is to add a tatted edging once I finish the needle lace round. I've crocheted around a hanky before adding a tatted edge, so it will be interesting to see how this looks in comparison when finished.

It's Spirit Week at school, which means lots of extra activity. In turn, that means little time for tatting while supervising. Still, I managed to tat another Ice Drop today!