Hello world, it's been a while!

I can honestly say that April was not kind to us. So far, May isn't looking much better but I can only hope for the best.

I'm recovering from a fairly serious bout of bronchitis aggravated by COPD. Thankfully, the chest x-rays were clear...considering how my sister was taken from us, it's a blessing that mine were clear of any nastiness. My ribs are finally thanking me for not coughing so much. Last week was wrapped in a haze of medication, pain and coughing with very little sleep. The past couple of nights I've actually been able to sleep for more than 7 minutes at a time AND laying down! I love my bed!

On the knitting and crocheting side of life, being too sick to knit and or crochet definitely meant that I really wasn't doing too well. The few times I did some knitting on the various ongoing projects, only led to disastrous results and much gnittink I did manage to figure out the 4 corners squares for my son's blanket though and that's a plus.

Yesterday, my darling daughter stopped in on her way to her Narcolepsy & Cataplexy specialist and brought presents of yarn, lovely balls of spring colors; lavenders, lilacs and variegated yarns for me to play with. She was also very concerned with my health but saw that I was weak but definitely on the mend. The lack of a job also worries her and she asked me to make up a list of absolute needs groceries. I've learned over the years not to argue with my daughter on what we need or may not need and just gave her the list without a battle or a "but hon, we're doing fine. " She returned from her appointment with groceries and the fixings for supper! She is a cook at a fairly large restaurant and last nigth we got treated to a lovely stir fry supper with veggies and chicken and udon noodles. It was delicious!

In return, while she was gone to her Dr's appointment, I crocheted a pair of cycling fingerless gloves for her. She doesn't want anything covering the palms but she definitely needed some weather protection for her knuckles and the backs of her hands since she bikes home in the middle of the night most times when the weather is still rather cold at this time of year. I made them to match her jacket, Bright Orange. We had a good laugh and then she agreed that no one would dare to grab those since they are so bright and Orange.

I also started a plastic bag holder for her when she comes next time. It sort of looks like an upside down acorn that got stretched out or the weird stem of a plant. Either way it's getting decorated with tambour crochet so it at least looks nice while holding plastic bags for reuse. I hope she likes it :)

Mother's day was difficult this year, considering my sister always sent me a card for mother's day, it just brought things to the fore for me and I just wanted to not think about it on Sunday. I called my Mom and left her a message wishing her a happy Mother's day. Her boyfriend had taken her out to dinner at a local restaurant and they ended up spending the day out driving around looking at the countryside and all the trees and flowers blooming which I know she loves to do.

Spring always reminds me of my grandmother. Two of hers and my favorite flowers bloom in spring. A breeze gently blows and the sweet smell of lilies of the valley and lilacs brings back memories. Nothing lets me know more than these that spring is here and always reminds me just how much I miss my grandmother. She passed away almost 20 year ago but amazingly, the pain I feel is just as fresh as if she'd passed away yesterday. She taught me much, including knitting, patience, love, how to survive on less and how to appreciate the simple things in life.

Born in 1913, she grew up in a poor single parent family, her Dad having passed away a few months before she was born. She was the youngest of 8 children ranging in age from 12 to 1 year. Growing up was filled with teasing from her older siblings, wearing handmedowns that had worn out 2 children earlier but were patched and made to go just one more round. She had fond memories of fishing for brook trout in the small rill that flowed behind the farm house, of eating ripe juicy blackberries off the branch while picking out the brambles that had stuck to her shirt getting to them, picking wild strawberries for jams and jellies put up for the following winter, of eating sweetened curdled milk and bread sprinkled with a few berries for supper and getting up with the sun to get the cows in for milking. Her life was not an easy one, she and her husband managed to raise 2 children during the great depression, and to retain ownership of their 100 acre farm through the second world war. They survived a barn fire that took everything but the cows in the mid 60's, rebuilt and passed the farm on to their daughter, my mother, when they retired from farming in the late 60's. Grandma was always there with a bandaid to cover a scratch or a bump, a hug to heal the teasing, and a kiss for a dusty nose sitting in the bathtub at the end of the day. I miss her wisdom, her memories of days gone by, her courage and her great love of nature and all things growing. I miss her talents at figuring out how to make do. I miss her.

Falling in love with Crochet once again

Yes, it has happened. Something I thought I'd never go back to, Crochet!

I did crochet as a teenager, self taught using a Stitchionary. I wasn't very good at it. The yarn I used really wasn't the best but it's all I had. The problem was that I wasn't happy with the feel of the finished projects and after 10 years or so, gave it up in my mid twenties and moved on to sewing for my kids.

Last week, my girlfriend became a grandma for the first time. A gorgeous little girl born 1 minute to midnight on March 31st. Almost an April Fool's baby. Right then and there, I decided to knit a welcome to the world jacket for the little princess. I found a very nice pattern for the jacket but did not want to use ribbon since I find it's fussy and inhibits the wash n wear you need for baby clothing.

I substituted said ribbon for flowers. I searched high and low for some really nice knit flowers and leaves but most of what I found had to be felted. Since I don't have wool in my stash, that was out. I figured maybe I could find something nice in crochet. Shouldn't be too difficult to do and I have much better yarns now than I did as a teenager.

Searching through Ravelry's patterns for flowers, I found some I liked, but still not THE flower. I then turned to the internet, typed tiny crochet flower pattern and the 3rd site listed on the page was Attic24's. I clicked on the link and it brought me to the prettiest little flower patterns that I had ever seen. Also included with the flowers was leaves! simple ones, no fuss, no muss. So off I went looking for a crochet and some yarn small enough to do some flowers for the jacket.

She also had a pattern for a double petaled flower which I really liked and found the perfect spot along with a leaf to keep it company. I wanted to add a bit of weight to the hood and that was the perfect spot for that flower and leaf. Something pretty to look at from the back.

The flowers and leaves came out gorgeous and were the perfect addition to the jacket. I even used 3 of them as buttons! The leaves still need to be appliqued, but you get the idea.

I have to say that her blog is amazing, she has the simplest instructions, lots of very good photographs of how to do specific crochet stitches. She also lives in the sweetest village in the UK I've ever clapped eyes on judging by the photographs she posts. It all seems so quaint, reminds me of idyllic pictures you see of an era gone past. Add to that living in a 100 year old Victorian house and there you have it.... my dream.

I'm also going to give her ripple tutorial a go since I love the way it makes the colors pop and no holes!

So all this just to say, go check out her blog!!!!