Saturday, August 4, 2007

Focaccia on Steroids

I made focaccia today. The only thing is that my Dad stopped by on the last rise time, so I became distracted. It's friggin yuge. I'm going to make the pate fermentee for French bread tonight.

I'm beginning to like the Vertical Crochet Stripe Blanket. Maybe I just needed to add more colors.



Here I am Simpsonized.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Self-Proclaimed Snob

I forgot how fast crochet goes. The blanket will be over 10 feet long. And I've already crocheted over 6 inches for the width. The jury is still out on how it will look.


Even though I started with crochet, once I started knitting, it seemed to make crochet look rudimentary. Knitting has stitches. You can make lace, cables, bobbles and there are hundreds of different patterns to use to make the fabric. Crochet seems random. So, I'm a snob about knitting.


Maybe the sudden interest in crochet on the net is that these people didn't live through the seventies. And the crochet goucho vests, granny square purses and hats etc. Think Rhoda.


I'm also making this blanket using acrylic yarn. Over the years, I've turned into quite the yarn snob. I got the majority of this acrylic yarn when I decided to make the log cabin quilt blocks from Mason Dixon Knitting years ago before they published the book. I've got, oh, about 10 blocks made. Then, I made a few Harry Potter Scarves. I've used the left over acrylic for samples when taking classes. But, I might as well face it: knitting with acrylic makes me turn up my nose. But, who wants to hand wash a blanket?

While surfing this week I found a great Food Blog. Tea & Cookies. Check it out.

I didn't forget that this is yarn Porn Friday. This is Blue Heron beaded rayon. I'm going to make a wrap out of it. Clapotis?
And how about a picture of my trusty Beagle?

Monday, July 30, 2007

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 2nd Anniversary.
We are going to Bluestem. We're going to do the seven course meal. I hope it's fantastic.
I started a vertical stripe crochet blanket. The directions are here. I especially like Brainylady's version.

I learned to crochet before I learned to knit from my mother. I was probably about 11 or 12. I remember my mother making tons of crochet things. Her hands moving swiftly while we were on one of those awful driving vacations or late at night when she was watching Johnny Carson. I was not allowed to stay up that late, but I remember hiding on the stairs and listening to it.

When I started the blanket, I felt as if i had two left hands. Nothing was going right. I could not remember how to do it. I certainly didn't remember it as being a hard thing to do. But, my hands were all tense, shaking and sweating. And each stitch took several minutes. Finally, I looked up some video tutorials on it and now it's going much better.

I'm going to use leftover balls of yarn. Here are some of the colors.

If it turns out crappy the dog can sleep on it.