Crochet and More

It's no secret that I love to crochet. As a result, you can often find me with a crochet hook in my hand, madly making something out of yarn for someone in my family.  I finally finished my daughter's stocking cap, complete with pompom.

The is from a pattern by Maggie Weldon.  Here is a link.  She made a great video to go along with the pattern and it is super easy to make.

I used Country Loom yarn by Loops & Threads from Michael's. This yarn is a little too big for the pattern, so I had to adjust it a little bit.  The color is Steel Grey because it's what my sweet girl chose.  She was quite specific about it having a pompom as well.  Having never made one, it took a couple of failed attempts before I finally figured out how to do it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also on the crochet agenda for the weekend is this cowl made with Wool-Ease Quick and Thick in Barley.  It is a bit too stiff for the type of cowl I like to wear, but it is nice and warm.

I  used Lion Brand's free crochet pattern Openwork Crocheted Cowl.  You can find it here.  I wanted it a little wider than what they made, so I started with 53 stitches instead of the 37 called for in the pattern.  The color is wonderful!

Here's another pic, but with my girl and her hat.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And another highlight of my weekend is finding this yarn:

It's called Landscapes by Lion Brand and I LOVE it!  It is so soft and bright!  I started making a garment using the Tropics colorway but I went back to the store this afternoon and discovered my Joann's didn't have anymore of it.  So I picked this one up; it's called Broadway.  Landscapes is a self-striping yarn in gorgeous colors.  I really hope I can figure out the pattern.  I started it last night but got stuck at the end of the first row.  I must have miscounted on my foundation chain.  Wouldn't this be a wonderful poncho to have?

Alas, now it's Sunday evening and The Walking Dead season 5 is about to premiere.  I also have to teach in the morning.  I guess I have to put away my crochet hook and yarn pretty soon.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Thanksgiving Day in Canada and Happy Columbus Day in the U.S.!  

Have a marvelous week!

Peace!  Paix!  Paz!  Pax!  Friede!  

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Love Yarn!

It may be the beautiful colors, the soft texture, or the wonderful feeling of creativity and accomplishment that working with yarn gives me.  Whatever the case may be, I LOVE YARN!!!

HAPPY I LOVE YARN DAY 2014!!!

Blood Moon

Looky what I found in the sky this morning:

It took my breath away!  Have a lovely Wednesday!  

Fall is in the Air!

Can you feel it?

New Autumn soap:  Apple Jack

Take a look at a new soap I've just put on my Etsy shop, Apple Jack Handmade Soap:

I love the gorgeous colors and the scrumptious and spicy fragrance!  

Another thing I love about Fall is this poem:

Chanson d'automne

Les sanglots longs

Des violons

De l'automne

Blessent mon coeur

D'une langueur

Monotone.

Tout suffocant

Et blême, quand

Sonne l'heure,

Je me souviens

Des jours anciens

Et je pleure

Et je m'en vais

Au vent mauvais

Qui m'emporte

Deçà, delà,

Pareil à la

Feuille morte.

Paul Verlaine

Poèmes saturniens

I have my French 2 students memorize this poem every Autumn.  It is one of my all-time favorites, as well as the song by Charles Trenet.  I made a video using that song and featuring my family from 2010.  Check it out on my YouTube channel.
I hope you enjoy it!  And may your Fall days be filled with bright colors, scrumptious fragrances, and lovely music! 

Oh, and alpacas too!   Because ALPACAS!   

This is Outlandish!

{The following blog post was written with tongue firmly planted in cheek.  I am a happily married woman and proud mom to two great kids.  Although I think Sam Heughan is a fine actor with a voice of whisky and velvet, I hold him and his character Jamie in the highest regard--and no, it's not so I can look up his kilt.  Oh my gosh, I have to stop this NOW!}

I hope you enjoy this post.  :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Au revoir, mon petit chou, Jamie:

It has truly (read this with Jamie's accent) been wonderful getting to know you, but against my will, I must figure out what to do with my time between now and April 2015, when the second part of season 1 returns to television.  I have the books, of course, and that is fine.  I am well into Dragonfly in Amber.  Jamie has just visited Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Sun King.  Being a French teacher and having visited Versailles myself, I could really picture the Lever ceremony as Diana Gabaldón described it.  I didn't especially want to think of his chaise percée, but let it be known that I am an enlightened person.  I digress...

It's just not the same as getting to see my sweet Jamie every week.  

Perhaps I will pen my own novel featuring someone similar to you, love.  Or perhaps I will knit or crochet several cowls that will remind me of you (and not Claire, that Sassenach wench--Ha ha, just kidding!).  

Maybe I will find my own stones at Craig Na Dun and find my way to you.  

Oh, if that were only possible...

I think the most likely scenario is I will just live my life that way I've always led it, and sit on random stone walls out in the Scottish Highlands and wait for you to return to me.

Or maybe I'll just rewatch all eight existing episodes again and again and again (as if I haven't done that already!)  Here is  Episode 1 on Starz.com for free!  

Happy Outlander watching!

~~~~~~~~~

In my other life, I made some cool things this weekend:  

1) Nutella Pumpkin Bread (for Jamie)

2) Perfect Pumpkin Handmade Soap (for Jamie)

3) And two crocheted hats (for me to wear with Jamie)

One last photo, in which we whisper sweet nothings to each other.  What I mean is we really didn't whisper anything at all, but it was really sweet.  And then I realized he has a lamp in his nose, which made me think of Rudoph, and then I thought of Christmas, and then I wondered when they started hanging stockings by the fire at Christmas, and why didn't they do it in 1743?

OK, this is truly (said once again with a Jamie accent) the last photo.

Je t'aime, mon amour!  Je serai toujours prête pour toi!  ;)

***Some photos are from http://www.starz.com/originals/outlander***  I love you, Starz!  Thank you for bringing us Outlander!  Oh, and I quite enjoyed Spartacus as well!  ;)  You rock!***

Lovely

I am a happy Outlander fan today.  The episode we were all dying to see has made me love the show even more.

There were many scenes that were different from book itself, which made me slightly unhappy while watching this episode for the first time.   I've seen it again and I like it much better now.  I do understand that adaptations are not always going to be exactly the way the book was written so I have to let it go.  I hope the writers on the show choose to include some of the important dialogue in later scenes.  After all, we know Jamie Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Frasier is the king of men, but we want to hear more of his words to really bring that idea home!  Je t'aime, Jamie!

{REAL LIFE INTRUDES...}

So now it's back to the old grindstone.  I wanted to mention that my son and his debate partner got first place in their first-ever Debate tournament over the weekend.  That is a wonderful accomplishment, but I knew my son would make an excellent debater because he has been arguing with me for years!  Bravo, mon fils!  Et je t'aime aussi!  

Voilà.  C’est tout pour aujourd’hui.  À la prochaine! 

Today is the big day!

I need to get myself to the store to buy Scottish cookies and whisky.  Ach, no, not whisky.  I will look for Rhenish instead.

Happy Wedding Day, Claire and Jamie!