Vintage Edgings

I had to make a stop at the local Hobby Lobby to pick up some tapestry needles and found this beautiful multicolored yarn. It is so soft and has the perfect colors for welcoming in the (eventual) cooler weather. I found an interesting edging pattern from my collection of vintage crochet patterns and tweaked a little here and there to come up with this scarf. Now all I need is a cold snap.

Pattern available at my Etsy shop.

How does your garden grow?

I am exceedingly proud of myself. I finally put together a Square Foot Garden. And I did it all myself since DH is not exactly the outdoor type. When asked to help, his comment was, "but I'm a city boy..." Actually, neither of us is very good at growing things, which is pretty obvious if you look closely at the grass in the photo. I've had the Square Foot Gardening books for years (decades?) and I pull it out and look it over every few years. This time I took it to heart and even tracked down coarse vermiculite, which according to the NEW Square Foot Gardening book is absolutely de rigueur. I had to drive waaaay down to south Austin (I'm a northie) to a place called Brite Ideas, which I'm thinking might have hippie roots. ( I'll try out their hydroponics supplies one of these days.) I've got several kinds of lettuce, spinach, mustard and collard greens (I lived in Mississippi for 3 years where I developed a taste for leafy green things cooked in bacon fat and doused in vinegar), a few herbs and three strawberry plants. The strawberry plants are a sneaky attempt to involve The Kid, who's generally not interested in putting something in his mouth unless it comes out of a Chef-Boy-R-Dee can. If any gardening pros out have any advice, I'm all ears...

Keep Austin Weird

I had a blast at the Maker Faire this past weekend. It was pure heaven for anyone with craft and/or geek tendencies. I was volunteering for the Texas Etsy Street Team, but it didn't feel like work. I helped with demos and learned new ways to recycle ordinary objects - like making gift boxes out of greeting cards, and making a tote bag from a t-shirt. I even got to try making a shrinky-dink out of plastic from a clamshell container from the grocery store thanks to Claire at poopscape.com. The whole experience inspired me to tackle a old pair of red keds with a sharpie and fabric paints. They obviously need a second coat of paint. Next time I'll start with white shoes...

Arachnophobia

I found a vintage crochet pattern that spoke to me about my favorite holiday. I lightly modified an old pattern labelled 'A Pretty Spider Insertion in Torchon Effect.' I didn't know what 'torchon' meant, but I did like the spider-like image in the middle and decided it would make a great black scarf for Halloween. And I couldn't resist looking up torchon online - come on, you're curious, too, right?

Pattern available at my Etsy store.

The Happy Hooksters of Elk Grove, IL

I sold a breast cancer awareness scarf pattern to Nina in Elk Grove, Illinois. It turns out she and a group of crocheters are going to use it to make pink scarves during the month of October to send to the American Cancer Society. We should all be so generous with our time and skills. Here is an excerpt from an article about this group:

What started out in 2005 as a lunchtime group with a common interest in crocheting and knitting, has steadily turned into a passion for providing a measure of warmth and care for those in need.
“We started out making gifts for our family, friends and co-workers, but then collectively decided to extend our reach to charitable projects, such as creating lap robes for the elderly

To date, the Happy Hooksters have completed several projects, including:
79 baby blankets and 22 newborn hats for Project Africa
72 lap robes for the elderly at the Meadow Brooks Nursing Home,
75 hat and scarf sets and 25 baby hats for the Primo Center—a shelter for homeless and
abused women and children.

The team shows no signs of stopping. They have made baby blankets for babies born to fellow employees, as well as lap robes for sick co-workers. For their future projects, the group has their sights set on creating:
Chemo caps for cancer patients,
Squares for Warm Up America,
Hat and scarf sets for a shelter,
Lap robes for veterans, and
Other projects submitted by members or co-workers (cancer awareness scarves).

Their passion has not gone unnoticed. Their work was highlighted in the book, “Open Your Heart with Art," published in 2007 and written by David L. Wilson. In his book, Wilson, interviewed several of the group’s members and even included the crochet pattern for their lap robes.

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I wanted to to make something special for a relative, who is battling breast cancer, and came up with this scarf design. I originally was planning to save it for Christmas but maybe I should give it to her in October. Only it ususally doesn't cool off here in Central Texas until November. What do you think I should do?

Pattern available at my Etsy store.

Flower Power!

My friend Erin got me making these little flowers. She wanted something small and felted to go on a project she's working on. They turned to be so easy and so much fun to make (probably because they are so easy) that I ended up with way too many. No bother. I took a picture and entered them into the 'Flower Power' contest over at Craftstylish. So there is no need to feel guilty about making so many, right?