Aran Afghan Complete!

My first afghan is done.

It is for my grandmother.  She gets cold.

She taught me how to crochet when I was four years old.  It was the first hand craft I learned.

With yarn and a single hook, you can create fabric.  You can make it do anything. 

That is amazing.

Craft Outside Today!

You there, reading.  Find a window and look outside.  What do you see?  Is it sunny?  Cloudy?  Raining?  Snowing?  When is the last time you checked out the progress of the seasons?

I've been doing a lot of Inside Things lately, and I almost missed the blooming of my pet rose!  It's called Don Juan, and it blooms dark red with a very sweet fragrance.  Back when I was fourteen I read Robin McKinley's Beauty and suddenly had to grow roses.  Because I only live here on and off, I am not always around at pruning time.   My dad has managed to keep this one alive, thank goodness.

There's a Christian legend that goes along with the Dogwood, but I prefer to see the four compass points here.  A beautiful tree in the spring!

I didn't realize these were blooming until today!  That's what I get for staying inside all day.  Last year I not only worked outside, but I was able to bike to work.  Even the rainy days were beautiful.

The one thing I missed last year were the trees.  Now I have them.  I feel sheltered and grounded again.

We just had a brief, sunny thunderstorm.  Back outside to work on the afghan!

Easter Weekend Entertainments

Yesterday I visited with S., my brilliant friend from college.  She's the kind of woman who draws a cute wug on the chalkboard before class and then pretends she didn't.  After the wug incident, I knew we were going to be friends.  We started off the evening trying to colonize a small continent.

It's my third time playing Settlers of Catan, and I rather like it.  There's a highly social element to it, particularly the trading.  I tried to convince S. to team up with me to prevent an evil world dictatorship, but she doesn't yet want to help me win.

Next a game of what I learned to call Telephone Pictionary.  As in the game of Telephone, where the phrase changes as the players whisper it down the line, the phrases and images change as they cycle around.  The object of the game is to get a good laugh.  This set began as a walrus missing a bus, and this Octopus of Doom is only the middle of the evolution!  I love games that can be played anywhere and that don't require purchased pieces. 

During breaks in the game I worked on a crochet afghan that is Almost Finished.  I've been working on it since January, and I'm ready for it to be done.  Just a few more inches!

Right now, my dad's childhood friend is over.  He, my dad, and my brother are jamming in the living room.  Which reminds me: I need to dust off my guitar!

Merry Meet!

Wow, I can't believe I'm actually starting another blog!  Impatience combined with a desire to create combined with the free time (yay economy) result in this new project.  I want to use this space to inspire myself and others to create--anything!  Creation empowers.

I'll philosophize later, but now I have to show off a technique I learned yesterday: slip stitch colorwork.

I'm pleased with this swatch.  I think it will make a beautiful drawstring bag!

Edit: I found the design here.