Saturday Sky with Lighthouse - Part 2

The Low Lighthouse in Harwich, with the High Lighthouse in the background.

Ships approaching the harbour in the 1800's would align the lights of these two lighthouses to steer a safe course up the channel. Over time the channel shifted and these lights became redundant in 1863, replaced by the Leading Lights further west along the shore in Dovercourt.



The Low Lighthouse is now the home of the Harwich Maritime Museum.

Want some lime with that?

What Your Favorite Color Green Says About You:

Balanced --- Relaxed --- Flexible
Compassionate --- Philosophical --- Humble
Loyal --- Inventive --- Unique

What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?

Melting Snow

SSSS #5

This snowflake picture was not taken on my customary blue background because a) it didn't fit - even made with #20 cotton this sucker is 8½" across and b) I don't like it and I'm not keeping it. It's blocked but not stiffened and I haven't even cut the thread - I just airbrushed it out of the photo.

That is the one slight drawback with these sorts of sign-ups - you sometimes have to make things you don't like in order to get the next pattern. Still, this is the first one I've really disliked so I can't complain.

But I can recycle my thread.

Too wet for snow

It is chucking it down outside. Typical Bank Holiday weather. Don't let the little sun in the corner fool you - no sun to be seen here!

But fear not - despite the title, I have got a snowflake. In fact, it's the ~winning~ snowflake in the first simplysnowflakes Homepage Contest. Woohoo!

Ok, in the interest of full disclosure I feel I have to mention that, although several people expressed an interest in taking up the challenge, in the end there was only one other entry.

But I won.

Here's the real snowflake we had to "copy". How did I do?








I will be posting the pattern for this flake soon as. Mind you, it took me a month to post my granny square pattern, so I wouldn't hold my breath.


Last but not least, here's my simplysnowflakes Snowflake Signup (SSSS) #4. I know where this one came from but in order to get a pattern you have to complete the previous one and there are some in the group who haven't gotten this far yet, so I'm not tellin'.

I'm It!

Good Lord, I've been tagged.

And while my tagger was "totally excited" about having been tagged, my immediate reaction was panic. What if I have to answer some really embarrassing question/s? What if I can't think of anything? How long is this going to take? Oh, the pressure! I was relieved when I saw that it was the "7 Random Facts" meme but then Wave of Panic #2 - I don't think I know 7 bloggers to tag... All of which probably says something really sad about my personality {sigh}.

Anyway, I've had some chocolate to settle my nerves - deep breath, here goes:

The Meme

Those tagged must list 7 random facts about themselves. They also need to write in their blogs the rules of the game, which are pretty simple--you list your 7 facts, then list 7 people you are tagging. Then you leave them comments letting them know they've been tagged.

Here are my 7 random facts:

1) I can wiggle my eyes. Jiggle them back and forth really fast. Looks like I'm having a seizure. I've only met one other person who can do this (or, at least, only one other person who's admitted to it).

2) I've had one broken bone and two cuts that required stitches.

3) I don't like being with more than one person at a time.

4) I can count to 10 in 13 different languages.

5) I've been married 3 times. Third time's the charm - I've been with DH longer than all my other relationships put together.

6) I inherited the ability to tell fortunes from my maternal grandmother. I use tarot cards but she used ordinary playing cards (and read coffee grounds).

7) *** Censored ***

7) I have a tendency to be too forthcoming with personal information.

The seven people I am tagging are:

Ah.

Sus? She tagged me!
Tina? She's currently "between blogs".
Scott? He's in the middle of a major move.
Umm...
{sigh}

Little and Large

Today's Snowflake Monday offering is the #3 signup flake from simplysnowflakes. I don't know where the pattern is from so if you want it you'll have to join!

This doily...

is from a German bi-monthly magazine called Häkel-Träume, which I think translates as Dream Crochet (US/CD subscription info here - can't find any for the UK). My aunt sent it to me a while back and I sent her this as a thankyou.

1 of 3

I made three snowflakes this past week but I can only show you one.

This is simplysnowflakes' Snowflake Signup #2. The pattern can be found online here.








The other two were worked up for a contest at simplysnowflakes. We were given a photograph of a real snowflake and asked to design a matching crocheted flake. The winner gets their SF posted on the group's homepage. All the entries have to be in by next Monday so hopefully I'll be able to post the pictures (and a pattern!) the following week.

Super Seraphina

I've just completed my first Seraphina Shawl. I love this pattern! It was a bit confusing at first but the pictures are a great help. Once I got my head around the repeats I was away.

This one is for my aunt. I inherited my mum's stash and decided to use some of it (there's tons!) to make something for each member of the family. The problem is that there's mostly only one or two balls of each yarn, so I've been making scarves. I had six 50g balls of this yarn so I thought I could get away with a shawl. Well, it was just barely enough - it seemed to be worsted weight but it worked up like chunky and I had to use a K hook. In the end, one ball did only two rows. Thank goodness for blocking, which added a few inches.

The very next morning I started this one:

I found the mohair at a charity shop in Rickmansworth - £1.99/$3.94 for about 400g. Yes!

When that one is done I'm going to make one with this ball of Sirdar YoYo. Can't wait to see the colour changes.

Another bargain - the 400g balls sell for about £16.50/$32.69 but I got this one off of eBay for £10.50/$20.80 delivered. Like I need more yarn, yeah.

Flake and Faith

I've signed up for simplysnowflakes' Snowflake Signup (try saying that quickly five times). You have to make and post a picture of each flake before you are sent the pattern for the next - this is SF#1.

I didn't think I'd like it all that much when I first saw the picture that accompanied the pattern but now that I've made my own I think it's really quite cute and it's certainly easy to make.

Right, that's the flake, now the faith. You have been warned.

If you've been with me a while you'll know that one of my favourite bloggers is the man formerly known as "Preacher Boy". I've linked to several of his posts in the past, basically with the injunction Read.This.Or.Else.

Backtrack a moment - the other day I visited Beliefnet and on the home page was a brief survey, "Which is more important: having faith or doing good?" I chose doing good and fully expected to see that I was not in the majority. But I was quite surprised to see just how not in the majority I was. At the time doing good scored only 33%. I huffed a bit and then moved on.

So today I visited PB's new blog A Place to Be Yourself and came across this gem (I just love when these connection things* happen). Now, I am a firm believer in the power and necessity of prayer, but faith without works just isn't going to cut it when you've got someone in your face who's suffering. And PB so beautifully and honestly points out why. His "Uncle Jerry" post ties into the same theme.

If you want/need a Spiritual Slap-Upside-The-Head I suggest you read his blog regularly. Catch him while you can - he's moving on. I just pray he'll keep on blogging!

*Coincidence is just another name for God.

Off-Kilter Granny

At last! The pattern you've all been waiting for. This is my first (and quite probably only) original design. I hope the instructions make sense. If you do find any mistakes please email me.

Off-Kilter Granny
(American notation)

Update 23/6/07 - corrected DK hook size and added mm sizes

WW / H-5mm hook = approx. 7",
DK / G-4.25mm hook = approx. 6"

Special stitch - htr (half-treble):
YO twice, insert hook in stitch indicated. YO, draw through two loops. YO, draw through remaining
3 loops.

(You'll be working a standard granny square for the first 3 rounds, with ch1 btw the 3dc shells and ch3 in the corners.)

Ch5, join w slst to form ring.

Rnd 1 - ch3, 2dc in ring, ch3, [3dc in ring, ch3] x3, ending slst to 3rd ch of beg 3ch.

Rnd 2 - slst in ch3 sp, ch3, [2dc, ch3, 3dc] in same sp, ch1, *[3dc, ch3, 3dc] in nxt ch3 sp, ch1, repeat from * around, ending slst to 3rd ch of beg 3ch.

Rnd 3 - slst in ch3 sp, ch3, [2dc, ch3, 3dc] in same sp, ch1, 3dc in nxt ch1 sp, ch1, *[3dc, ch3, 3dc] in nxt ch3 sp, ch1, 3dc in nxt ch1 sp, ch1, repeat from * around, ending slst to 3rd ch of beg 3ch.

Rnd 4 - slst to centre ch of corner 3ch, ch5, tr in same ch, *ch4, htr in nxt ch1 sp, ch4, dc in nxt ch1 sp, ch4, [hdc, ch3, tr] in centre ch of corner 3ch, repeat from * around, ending slst in 2nd ch of beg 5ch.

Rnd 5 - ch3, [3dc, ch2, 2dc] in ch3 sp (corner made), *[dc in nxt st, 4dc in ch4 sp] x3, dc in nxt st, work corner, repeat from * around, ending slst in 3rd ch of beg 3ch. Finish off.
Copyright © 2007, Judy M Kerr. All Rights Reserved.

SFM

(Snowflake Monday, but you knew that already.)

Hmm... no.

But it was Noel's original free pattern* and I had to try it to complete the set. Doesn't help that halfway through the last round I ran out of the #20 cotton I'd been using and the only other #20 I had was a decidedly dingier white.

*I called up her website on the Wayback Machine but I couldn't for the life of me find a link to this pattern. If anyone remembers the actual url please let me know. The website is still worth a visit, though. Stacks of info and links to other snowflakes.

Didya miss me?

I sure missed you.

We helped get MFD moved in on Monday (what a job!), M went home yesterday (she stayed one more night with us rather than sleep on the floor surrounded by boxes), and I've got my pc back! Hooray!!

No snowflake this week I'm afraid. I was too busy "attending" to M and trying to get this done in time:

As it was, I only finished it this morning. But if I had managed to give it to her on Monday she'd just have lost it in all the clutter.










Once I catch up with everything here I'm hoping to post my Off-Kilter Granny instructions. But right now I'm off to read my 683 emails. I'm not joking.

Snowflake Monday (yeah, I know)

#3 from The Crochet Works. I had a little fiddle with the "branches" and, as the previous rounds used sc picots, I replaced the slst picots in the last round with sc picots for consistency.






As per the countdown, my friend Dana (henceforth to be known as MFD) will be moving here next Monday. From tomorrow her daughter, our god-daughter, "M" will be staying with us so that she can start at her new school while MFD works her notice. This means I probably won't be able to get anywhere near my computer until she's gone, LOL! So apologies in advance for the lack of posts/comments. I'll be back asap.

Well, I never knew that!

Thank you, Sus, for bringing this vital piece of information to my attention:

More Fun Quizzes at QuizPox.com

Oops

This is Nancy Hearne's Snowflake Ornament. Well... almost.

When it was done I felt the edge might benefit from a bit of tweaking.

So I started another one.

It was only when I got to Round 2 that I realized I'd completely skipped this round in the first SF. {sigh} Carry on.

At Round 8 I added an extra chain each side of the points to give the picots in Round 7 a bit more breathing space. Then in the last round I worked an extra sc in each of those loops and added a picot on the sides.

As it happens, I like the first one - with the mistake - better than my tweaked version!

Saturday Sky with Lighthouse

The Harwich High Lighthouse was built in 1818, replacing an earlier lighthouse which sat over the town gate. It and the Low Lighthouse 150 yards away on the shore served as "leading lights" - a view of one light positioned over the other meant a ship was on the correct course into the harbour. Over time the harbour channel shifted and the lights became redundant in 1863.


The lighthouse now houses the National Vintage Wireless and Television Museum.

FGX Update

To date, I've received 5 squares and sent out 6 squares as part of the Crochet Partners Friendship Granny Exchange.

Since my last FGX post I've received:

from Arizona, USA - Grandma's Sunflower

from Maharashtra, India. It's much more "hot pink" in person.

from Florida, USA - Friendship Jewel 7"

from Queensland, Australia - Frilly Flower

And I've sent:

to Arizona, USA - my own design. I call it Off-Kilter Granny. Anyone interested? I'll post the pattern shortly.









to California, USA - stitch pattern here. Yes, teal again. I've got a lot of teal, ok?

to Maharashtra, India. Look familiar? Well, what can I say? - I really liked the pattern.









to Texas, USA. Yeah, I know. I'm such a sheep. It's even worse than that. The original square, when it arrived, was actually closer to 8" than 7" so I removed the last round of dc's. Then I used some of the salvaged yarn for the centre of my square. Hey, that's what scrappy grannies are all about.

{Insert witty title here}

Sorry, can't come up with anything better than "Snowflake Monday" today and well, frankly, it's been done.

So, without further ado, today's flake:

This is the last of Noel Nevins' recent SF designs. This one is unusual - reminiscent of a stellar plate.

Of her 8 designs my favourites are 1, 4 and 6.





Now to scuttle off and decide which of my patterns I'll tackle this week. Happy Hooking everyone!

Snow from a cloudless sky

It's an absolutely gorgeous day outside. The sun is shining, there's just a light breeze. I'm going to go out later and prune the buddleia.


Here's last week's snowflake. It's no. 7 of Noel Nevins' 8 snowflake patterns made available to members of Crochet Snowflakes. Unfortunately, NN isn't responding to sign-ups at the moment. Hopefully she'll be back soon.





As for the flake - a bit too much flower, not enough flake this one. Still, I've really liked some of her others and I've got one more to try.

Update!
While digging in the garden this afternoon DH disturbed a slow worm that had been basking in the sun. Yep, a really lovely day.

I've got a Fish Bag!

xxx

And I know how to use it.

Did I mention that green is my favourite colour?

I made the first one (pattern link here, too) with the intention of giving it away, but it was so cute I wanted one for ME. And now I've got one.

It's not big - the "bag" part is only 9" long by 8" wide so I'm using it to hold my take-a-long thread crochet projects (doilies, angels, etc). Yes, Crochets in Public. Should get some interesting looks. Maybe even some orders.

Maybe not.