Grannies and Squares

I come from a long line, not just of crocheters, but of women who could and can work MIRRACLES with a crochet hook. These women, my Mom included, are Champion Crocheters, hooking everything from awful Red Heart slippers to breath-taking fine cotton lace. I could blather for hours about the feats I witnessed while playing near their armchairs.

As it turns out, up to now, I've barely crocheted more than a simple chain, or maybe a bit of trim. My fiber time has been focused on knitting, spinning, sewing, and printing cloth.

But now, my genetics have bitten me firmly on the A-Double-Snakes. I have a sudden, uncontrollable urge to make granny squares. This is not just a blip, a momentary whim. This feeling runs deep, calling on my womanhood, my ancestral lineage. This craving is seducing me to take my place in line with my Mother, my Grandmothers, and countless women before them.

I will, I must, rise up, hoist my hook, and crochet.

Pen, Paper, Wood, Wool.

Howdy!  Here I am, snow bound again after being lured outdoors by a fake spring.  Hopefully, Real Spring will arrive any minute now.

After a day of fussing and gathering and scanning, looking for camera cords and answering to my name, this post is Finally coming together.  Having just discovered the Picassa collage maker, I will proceed to overuse it in one post.

First up:  a truck load of sketches from several Sundays.  You'll notice I've ditched the circle format when it suits me.



Secondly, one of my children went to Arizona to hang out with Uncle Jeff.  Uncle Jeff has a homemade CNC router used for his amazing all-wood clocks.  Said child was given free reign and came home to surprise his mother (moi) with these wooden versions of my mandalas. He gets bonus points and extra pudding.

























The wooden image on the left is less clear because they didn't program the router to cut deep enough into the wood.

Lastly, there has been yarn, much making of yarn:


Something about winter makes me want to spin and dream of knitted projects.  No knitting--just dreaming of knitting.  And in preparation for this summer's Ren Fest, my satellite has pulled out her drop spindle and begun to hone those skills.  I will be sharing a booth at a small local festival and plan to sell fiber of all ilk, including hand made drop spindles.  Our children will be shunted into the crowd and forced to spin in public as advertisement.  We'll pay them in yum-yums and free time to hang out with the belly dancers.

On the left, is my daughter's first hand spun yarns.  The orange merino is her firstest first, the lime she Koolaid dyed and spun herself.  On the right is her current yarn, something not-merino.  She's starting to get the hang of drafting and is producing what will be a bulky two ply, maybe for some leg warmers or fingerless gloves.

So, there it is, Lemon Drops:  a fresh post and a new week. I'll be back soon!

The Good, the Bad.

....there's already plenty of ugly in the past few posts.

The Bad: My 400 t-shirts project has somehow gone awry. The shirts are pale. They either didn't get warm enough, or I goofed up the soda ash somehow. The shirts were left in garbage bags (one per class) in a room set to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not sure the warmth got through to all the shirts. As for soda ash, there's a good chance I used too much. Am going to the school tomorrow for a personal peek.

The Good: Scrumbling. I love it, though have never tried it. For those not in the know, scrumbling is free form knitting and crochet. Scrumblers know who they are and Prudence Mapstone is their Chief. Her blog makes me happy. Check it out.

Speed Bump

Sometimes a metaphor is so strong that it can't be avoided.

Yesterday, I tripped on a speed bump in a parking lot. My body lurched toward the pavement and was stopped by my face. There was no chance of getting my hands out in time. Nothing appears to be broken, but there is plenty of swelling and some lovely bruises forming. The injuries list includes the right side of my face, both knees--especially the right one, pavement burn on the edge of my right hand. And this morning, my entire right arm is sore and weary. Oh, and lest we forget, my spirit is officially damaged.

This act was humbling on so many levels. Any vanity I may have been storing has left the building. The facade of always being in control is lain bare. Necessity is requiring me to rely on others. Welcome to my personal h-e-Double Toothpicks. Want to see what it looks like? I've included a happy picture for comparison.

The smile was painful, though it did light up my eyes a bit. Here's what it feels like:

Awesome. Couple this with lots of blubbering and vocal distress, then tell me why I told the nice stranger that I was fine and could get up on my own.

Enough misery. I have been knitting a bit:

It is a basic, comfy shawl for my daughter who's been dragging around in my coziest clothes and then losing them in her bedroom. Yarn: Cascade 220. Needle: Addi Turbo, size 9. I may need to keep it near my person for a few days after blocking, so it smells like 'mom' too.

The pattern is simple and free. You can find it on Ravelry. Click here.

Be Inspired

Hello, Blogophiles,

I've noticed a rash of bloggers posting about inspiration this morning. Here are a few of my faves, in case the cyberverse doesn't take you to the same haunts I frequent.

Lorraine Glessner:
lorraineglessner.blogspot.com
Lorraine is a mixed media artist and an academic. She posts work from a wide variety of artists. This feeds my eyes and my soul.

Sandy Snowden:
sandysnowden.blogspot.com
Sandy is a garment-head from the UK. Today, she has posted about finding inspiration in photographs. She encourages us all to look at our photo collections a bit differently to find inspiration. Fire up that camera!

Christine Predd:
www.christinepredd.com/quiltingontheedge/
Christine is an art quilter who posts "Tuesday's Ten", a list of 10 inspirations that riffs on one subject. Today's flavor: Scents. It took me straight to Olfactory Heaven. Check it out.

As for me, stamp carving is on hold this week. I'm knee deep in planning for an event next week. Will post more about that tomorrow. I can still think about stamp carving, just can't pick up the tools, or nothing else will get done.

So that you're not left completely fiberless, I'll share a little knitting, my "waiting for kids" passtime:

This is a sock trial based on Cat Bordhi's new book. For those not in the know, Cat is to knitting what the globe was to Flat Earth believers. She's the knitter's physicist and I find her to be very inspiring.