that's entertainment

my roving arrived from etsy today and let me say it's more lovely and squishy than i could have ever imagined. the parents are flying down from the rust belt to thaw out a bit, and i intend on using that as a spinning demonstration as they have yet to see the spinning wheel in action.

the wizard arm shirt has gone on hiatus, as i unfortunately have to do things like go to work and clean my house. so it goes.

but fear not, gentle reader, i am not neglecting the dishcloth. while i have greatly strayed from the original pattern, i have happily wandering into the realm of the geriatric, and have whipped up quite of few granny squares in a small amount of time. stella is quite fond of them, as you can tell. it's only driving me moderately batty. plus, having such lofty goals is a really nice motivating force.


this is probably my favorite granny thus far. behold its old lady glory:

labour for learning

this weekend. what a mess.

i had a burning desire to make a smock. after some extreme googling and finding some sublime inspiration and tutorials, nothing seemed to come out right.

i did all the measurements as per the instructions which left me with something which my friend elizabeth described as "wizard arms."


no thanks. desmond dekker couldn't even save me.

on the dishcloth front, i have a bunch of granny squares completed and am trying some non-granny-squares (gasp!) crocheted dishcloths, but they're taking too long. i could not even finish a single one during the entirety of the oscars.

oh well.

i could also blame this on the massive misfiring of neurons (or whatever caused my massive banger of a migraine that left me incapacitated and seeking dark spaces all of saturday and most of today). things just aren't right. hopefully tomorrow will be better.

next craft i want to tackle: the embroidering of tea towels.

hot grannies

i found away to save my sanity! ramona explained the mystery that is known as reading a crochet pattern, and i was off to the races. i totally had a granny square dishcloth done before american idol was over (i voted twice for the dude who did the creepy and awesome version of the monkees' song). behold!

stella (our little grey cat found wandering on the street at our old apatment) was quite pleased with it too. she must be thrilled for me too, as she wouldn't leave it alone! she was hugging it, swatting it, and giving it lots of love. and yes, dear reader, i have 3 cats, i knit (and crochet!), and am a librarian. i don't have a bun. yet.

stella swipes:



stella loves:

love in the retail trade.

i think it's time for an intervention. someone call the authorities stat.

i can't stop knitting or crocheting with cotton.

the latest offenders:


i also just completed a giant cotton granny square. i think i'm in love.

i tried crocheting a wool heart. it just didn't feel right. my fingers were crying for cotton. should i be concerned?

granny squares et al.

this weekend my friend ramona came over and we experimented with all things crochet. i first must note that she is an extremely talented crocheter, and crochets beautiful doilies LIKE THE WIND. after seeing this in the Craftzine Blog, we decided to give one a go ourselves! well, it's still drying, and i'm afraid it's a) not salty enough, or b) too big for its britches. i think a smaller doily may be in order.



but it was fun! i may just starch the hell out of it when it's fully dry and see what happens.



while we were waiting for that to dry, ramona introduced me to the glory that is the GRANNY SQUARE. i'm a continental knitter, so holding the yarn was easy peasy for me, and i made to semi-respectable looking squares! apparently, my tension is uber-tight, but with some practice, hopefully, that'll get better.

BEHOLD, THE GRANNIES (and my grandmother's red crochet hook) :