Flanders Poppy

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lt. Col. Dr. John McCrae, Canadian Army

To those men and women on Eternal Patrol: We salute your bravery and your sacrifice. Thank you.
To those they left behind: We grieve alongside you, and thank you for your bravery and your sacrifice.
To all others: Take time out to thank God that there are those willing to die for our freedoms, and so that others can have freedom as well.

Blue dress for Esther.

This is based off of the Baby Girl Sleeper Set from Crotiques. I think I've mentioned before that I'd avoided the pattern, though I found it cute, because there's not a gauge listed anywhere on it. I figured out while we were still in Hawaii that if I used a bigger hook along with worsted weight yarn, I can make Esther-sized dresses.

This particular incarnation uses Caron Perfect Match (you thought I was gonna say Simply Soft, didn't you?) and a J/6mm hook. I also used Alternate Double Crochet as the base for all my stitches, a V-st instead of 3-dc for the corners, and at the end of it all switched to treble crochet for the final shells. Other than that, I stayed pretty close to the original pattern, though of course Ilengthened it quite a bit to have a knee-length dress.

The cheap yarn makes it a bit stiff, but it's not uncomfortable & I truly believe it'll soften up quite a bit after washing.

Since the hook is so big for the yarn, and since the stitch pattern for the skirt is quite open, this is appropriate for spring/summer wear. I'm always kind of stymied by people saying that yarn arts are a winter time craft. I mean, they're so obviously not, but how do you refute such an obviously untrue statement when the person saying it deeply believes it? Interestingly enough, this was most recently said to me in a thread of FOs that featured two different non-clothing objects. 'Cause, yeah, when it gets really hot out there, you have to switch to a different purse or you'll be overheated.

KnitPro

KnitPro is "a web application that translates digital images into knit, crochet, needlepoint, and cross-stitch patterns." You're given a .PDF of your chart. Near as I can figure, they are 100% free, but there is a PayPal donate button, so if you can & you like it as much as I do, share the love.

Link here. I'm adding a link to my sidebar as well. Check it out.

This is the chart I made there (well, a screen shot, as I'm too stupid to upload actual files):
I made a chart of the International Breastfeeding Symbol developed through a contest at Mothering.com. In all honesty I'm not fond of the design It looks too much like a mother simply holding a baby. But as it was chosen by popular vote, I am obviously in the minority for wanting my breastfeeding symbol to look like breastfeeding!

I'm seriously going to crochet this, I'm just not sure when or what I'll do with the finished project. Maybe a mini-advocacy afghan, if I pair it with the runners-up. (I have some of them saved on my computer somewhere.

OK, just because I can, here's the one that was my favorite:
See, this one is much nicer, in my opinion. Not only does it have greater aesthetic appeal, it is obvious at a glance what it's supposed to represent. There you have mother, baby, and breast.

Maybe it's too white...

An interesting stitch

I know, that's rather large. I wanted to attempt to show the detail, though. They say that the devil is in the details, but I rather think that in this case Heaven is in the details.

This handy-dandy little stitch is linked treble crochet. It's a nice, tall stitch without the openness typical of treble crochet. I also find it easier, though slower, as you don't wrap the yarn around the hook twice. Instead you draw a loop up in two different places on the side of the previous stitch, and it leaves the pretty horizontal bars you can see in the picture above. (At least, I hope you can see them. It wasn't an easy picture to take. Too dark without the flash, too shiny with it.)

This is detail for the skirt I am making for Linda, as the last one I tried to make her came out too small. I am used to the weight of the yarn stretching the skirt out quite a bit; apparently that's not an issue if you use the chainless single crochet (Google it. You'll be glad you did.) The linked trebles actually aren't great for projects worked in the round, since there's a gap only between the first & last stitches, but I'm hoping it won't be noticeable when it's worn. It's such a pretty stitch, though, and it makes nice big stripes.

If you'll look on the left side of the screen, you'll see that I finally figured out how to have buttons for all the blogs I link to in this new version of Blogger (stupid me didn't think to check the format of the carried-over ones until just now). You'll also see a partially cut-off bar for Associated Content, which will shortly have a crochet article I wrote, and even now carries two other of my articles. Pretty cool, huh?

Quickie.

Yeah, it's odd to post again minutes after the last post. So sue me. I just found this blog, and I have to point it out to all my visitors who sew:

Wardrobe Refashion. It's just what it sounds like, only a little more complicated. Participants vow to not buy any new clothes for a period of time (at least 2 months). The idea is that instead you rework what you have, and also thrift-shop/garage sale finds, into a new wardrobe. Yay rejection of consumerism!

I love this one: 30-Minute Dress.

Yummy yarn goodness.

Arguably the best thing about being a conservative is that I can be unabashed in my love of Wal-Mart (I've never been able to afford to hate them, but that's another story). This is a salient crochet point because it allows me to sometimes get great deals on yarn.

To wit:
Isn't it gorgeous? Two big skeins of cottony goodness for $9. Total. A savings of $4 off the normal Wal-Mart price, and God only knows how much elsewhere.

I got this at a Wal-Mart on the south side, near my mother's house. It's not my usual style, being pink and orange and yellow and white, but it somehow manages to come together quite well.

The Wal-Marts near my house never seem to have stuff like this. The only Bernat I typically see at any WM, for that matter, is their baby yarn, and sometimes their novelty yarns. This was in a clearance section, and if I'd had the money I could have gotten two or three more skeins of this, or several of another color.

Take a look at this close-up:

Gorgeous, isn't it? It's going to make a cute toddler sundress or two.

Speaking of which! I totally forgot to show off the dresses I sewed for the older two:

That's the best picture I could get, & it was taken at the end of the night, thus the glassy looks. They love 'em, though, & they seem to be very comfortable.