CT Lace Day

Connecticut Lace Day for October was hosted by Jeanne.  One of our newer members.  We had a lovely day.  I met Jeanne at Jill's studio nights this past summer.

As you can see, lots of us were actually doing and undoing lace for the day.

For me, I was working away at the Shelby blanket. 

These CT days are great.  We enjoy the conversation, share stories, and sometimes even talk about lace.  There were several instances when the entire room went quiet.  All you could hear was the clinking of bobbins on the pillows.

Thanks to Jeanne's husband for taking this picture and then he developed them and  presenting each of us with a copy at lunch.

Keep an eye open - NELG will be demonstrating at Webbs in North Hampton Massachusetts this Saturday, October 16th from 10am to 3pm.  Hope to see you there.

KASCare - Knit & Crochet Challenge

Today, I launched my committment to KasCare to get the word out about this most important work that is being done by them for the children orphaned by poverty and HIV/AIDS in South Africa.  Thanks for Sandy McDonald and her Aunt Ronda who have brought this mostly hidden tragedy to light.  They started only two years ago and already have had squares delivered to SA from 35 countries.

You can join in and help the children by knitting or crocheting a square.  See  my page on KasCare.org - Squares for Children for more information.

If you get here via my recent email, welcome!  Leave a note for me, email me at  KasCareNow-CT@yahoo.com.

Thank you for your Support!  You can make this difference.

Shelby's Blanket

Here it is !  This is the progression of how the square motifs have grown from only the small pink center (at the bottom left), up that row, 4th round, and across to the right to the 5th round.

Glad to report that I've completed all 154 through the 5th round.  Round 6, the one with the black is a easy/breezy round!  Those should go quickly.


The last one is a bit more time consuming - though it really shows how the color are working together.  Didn't I just say that?

This was getting exciting, so I continued to put on the 8th round.



Here they are.  The two in the center is a sample of how the 8th round, black in color, and a joining round will enable all the squares to be pulled together.

It's amazing how all the colors work and really pop.

So I'll continue on.  Hopefully over this holiday weekend I'll have a chance to work on them and possible finish up 25 of them or so! 

By the way, this pattern has been okay.  I'm still putsing around with the 8th round as I'm not confident about how the squares are to be joined.  Knowing that this blanket will be used, gets me thinking of how to upgrade the joining to make a strong blanket for my niece.

Hope you are watching Shelby!

Blanket

Yes it is, Round 4 of Shelby's blanket is complete.  I've been carrying it around the last couple of weeks along with two other projects as I move to continue to complete all those 'unfinished' projects'.  As each of them become complete, there is an amazing sense of accomplishment yet there is something more, a chance to be more creative.

Last night was no different.  While I was awaiting the begining of the performance of Pilobolus at the Riverfront under the stars, I was able to complete the last of the round 4.  It's been some time since I've been working on it.  Like all of us, many events pop up, tasks that should be a quick few hours turn into weeks of effort.

So on to round Five - a raspberry color is going to be added.  I was so exceited last evening, upon return home, exhilarated from watching Pilobolus, I began the raspberry round.  After this round, there are two more before the final round that will join all the squares together. 

Hmmm I wonder if I'll be able to begin the last round before the middle of next month?

Creative Time

A few more days at the Studio.  It is coming along and KC and I are quite pleased.  In between all that is on my schedule and the grueling task list I have set for myself, I find time for creativeness. 

I found this article at ZenHabits on how creative people get to be creative.  It is great and speaks that creative time is about the "quiet time" and the "particiation time".  Somewhat opposites yet the to activities balance one another out.

This holiday weekend will have some creative time carved out.  Will you make time?

Connecticut Lace Day - At Barbara's!

This past weekend was our group's Christmas gathering.  Held at the home of Barbara, it was decorated for the season.  In the dining area, the big old wooden beams were hung with a hundred crochet snowflakes - each one different.  The table was set in Christmas Spode, enough for our very large gathering.  Off to the other room, was Fine Threads from Vermont with lots of wares for you to choose from.  I did make myself available for another book of patterns and some fancy thread.  Lunch was just lovely, great breads from this bakery near Winann's and a condon blue cassarole, salad, carrots and beets from Boo's garden.

Of course there was dessert - and dessert is more serious than the meal.  Besides lovely chocolates that were passed around, Boo made two hedgehog cakes.  Yum Yum and a white cake with raspberry and white chocolate frosting. 

What an amazing day.  Barbara is quite the creative one.  Throughout her home was many samples of her lace making and other fiber projects to admire.  There was a plastic beach bag she crocheted, that got my interest and I'm going to give it a try.   I took a fancy to the snowflakes and became reinspired once again in my thread work.

Before and after lunch we enjoyed each others company, worked on our projects that we brought along and visited the "shop" for those extra goodies a lace maker could not be without. 

On this occassion, there is a gift swap.  Your gift goes in the pile and you can then take a number.  So a basket with numbered slips of paper was passed around the table.  As it went by me, I put my hand in and whispered on the louder side...".... ah Christina...." and pulled out my slip.  Wouldn't you know, I got the slip with the #1 on it.  Oh no! and lots of laughter was heard.  I asked if we could reverse the order so I would go last.  No problem.  Phew!  See I won the lace lessons, the Christina pillow, and a couple of other items( gave them back) at the 25th Anniversary.  That was my first meeting and this was my first attendance at the Christmas luncheon.  I ended up with a piece of lace and a frame to put it into.  One thing that surprised me is that the gift swap was no where near the " oh $10 - $20 range" for the gift.  IMO my gift didn't measure up - note for future - find a better gift!

Before we left, Barbara had one more surprise for each of us.  She handmade two dozen ornaments, each different, all with some kind of lace on them.  Each one was even better than the last.  We all gasped and awed at her creativity and originality to each ornament.  It was a lovely day - so many creative people to be with. 

PS - another 25 Round 4 mofits are complete!

Round 4

Yes, round 4 has begun!  One batch of 25 is completed and it is off to the next batch. 

My home has been a flurry of activity, with mechanics installing all new mechanicals, enjoying my new gas fireplace logs, and getting lots of paperwork in order for the "season".

I'm off to retire in a few minutes as my furry assistant has made it clear that I should retire NOW MEOW.

Pictures to come!

Round 3 Completed

Last week and this past Saturday proved to be a great period of time and I was able to complete the last of round 3 of Shelby's blanket.  It felt pretty good to get this far.  I may be able to get on track with my schedule.

So it is now on to round 4.  This round seems to be less complicated and when completed it should be considererd a little less than one-half done.   I've done about four of them to get the feeling of the pattern.  By completing one round at a time, it is much easier to remember the pattern and keep my tension to the same for the entire group of them.

OnWard I go!

Great Yarns

This past weekend I found myself in the craft store - either for the supplies for the seminar I was giving or for the charity event I was co-hosting or for supplies for my weekend house guest.

It is a great place for some inspiration, and also to take a walk inside and put some steps on my pedometer.

I like to pick up those 'freebee' flyers with crochet patterns on them.  You never know when you will need one of those patterns for a quicky project.  Next to the tear-off pattern pad was these great skeins of Homespun yarn in Christmas colors  and with a little effort and at least 8 skeins and an extra large hook, I may have a homemade Christmas present for a special relative.

Check back before the holiday - I'll have a picture of it and maybe with it's intended!


PS - I have only 25 round threes to go on Shelby's blanket! 

More motifs ! 100 Done!

At lace day, many of us work on lace and then some of use work on our other projects. So this month, I took Shelby's mofits with me. I was hoping to complete another 25 of them.

My original schedule was to complete a "round" per month. That breaks down to about 5 / day. Not all days are equal in a month nor are the rounds the same when it comes to doing the crochet. So from August through October it was the plan to get through the third round. I can report to those listening, yesterday worked out lovely and I finished up another group. Now only 50 more to go on round three.

Now it is November and I am planning by mid December the balance of round three and about 1/2 of round four completed. Keep Tuned!

Update on Shelby's Blanket

With all my work and speaking schedule, sometimes it is a long day.

I do enjoy, even if it is only for a few minutes, is picking up one of my projects and completing a row or two.

This past week, I did just that - I completed the next 25 squares with round 3, for a total of 79 completed - 75 to go! I hope that this month will give me a few more minutes here and there to complete round 3 and begin round 4.

Time will tell. One thing, while I make them, I get to think about my niece. She is an amazing young lady. In about two months she will be visiting here. Look forward to seeing her and showing her the progress at that time. I'll get a couple of pictures of her and me!

Update on blanket

It's been a busy month to say the least. Though on some evenings I've had the chance to get back to working on Shelby's blanket.

Round 3 - Add the 'dark pink' over the burgandy round. There are 50 completed with about 104 left to go on this round.

I must say - it is looking pretty good so far!

Update on the blanket

It's been several weeks since the update on Shelby's blanket. In that time I've demonstrated at the Big E and the Milford Historical Society. We have had an NELG meeting and a CT Lace day. Oh yeah - I have been working many hours at my business.

An observation of myself - having a new project, and new projects coming into the pipe line is good for my creative side. Even if it only a half hour a day, it is rewarding to see a project continue to grow.

The second round of the burgandy color is now complete, yes all 154 squares. Round 3 is a dark pink. This round adds some texture with front post double crochet (FPDC)around. It does cover up lots of the burgandy of the 2nd round. That's okay as the hints of the burgandy will become more apparant as the rounds get completed.

Each square doesn't take too long - the first pink was about 1 minute, the 2nd round about 2.5 minutes, and the third round about 2-3 minutes. I hope that in another month from now the 3rd round will be completed and beginning round 4! Stay Tuned.

Shelby's Blanket

If you saw my blog a week or so ago, you saw the blankets for Shelby's older sisters. It's become tradition - and now it is Shelby's time. She picked out her blanket, colors were approved and I'm on my way!

The basics is that the blanket is comprised of 154 squares with 7 rounds each - the 8th round is the joining round. So far this is where we are:

The first round - lite pink is complete! All 154 of them! The second round - adding a burgandy like color is on about 130 of them so far. Progress!