Returning to Blogging and Circles to Squares Project

My birthday is fast approaching so I have decided to make a birthday resolution. In my upcoming "new year" I resolve to blog more. I always like it when I do blog it's just like everything else it's the carving out the time to make it happen that is the hard part. Since I last blogged, I completed two lacy scarves. One in a bright pink yarn that was left over from the first baby blanket I made at the beginning of the year and the other in a tan I had originally bought to make some beanies for boys. I started the tan scarf as a way to get rid of some spare yarn and make my Mom a mother's day present. I didn't get the scarf done in time for the holiday and I am going to have to buy another skein to finish the fringe. Now I'll have to do is go to the yarn store and get another skein to finish the fringe. I should have it done in time to give it to her when I see her later this month.
For a long time now I have wanted to make Lion Brand's free Circles to Squares afghan pattern. I have either been in the midst of another project or hadn't firmly decided what colors to use. This weekend I decided was the weekend to put down all other projects and start that afghan. I had decided on making it in a green and aqua blue combination colors. As the case always seems to be the available yarn colors were not quite what I had in mind. The yarns I did pick out looked nice when I held them next to each other put when I worked them together I thought they looked too dark. So after two trips to the yarn store I have decided to make the blanket in three shades of green. The squares really look best if there is a light color contrasting with the dark. An all green blanket wasn't exactly what I wanted but I think it will look nice. And if it isn't too hard to sew all the squares together, I can always make another blanket in brighter more vibrant colors. So far the squares have been easy to work up. I think once I get the pattern down in my head they will be pretty fast too. I am going to follow one crocheter's advice from ravelry and weave in the ends as I finish each square. I can see how leaving those till all the squares were done would be really tedious.

Baby Blanket #2

Yesterday, I finished my second, granny-square baby blanket. This time I actually followed the color sequence suggested in the pattern. I think the three rows of the same color followed by a single row of the contrasting colors is a lot prettier than a single color of each row on my last blanket. Speaking of the last blanket; the recipeint of that blanket, a healthy 6lb baby girl, was born yesterday. I hope she likes the blanket as much as her Mom seemed to. The recipient of blanket number 2 is due in July but the shower is next Saturday and I am done one week early. Gives me enough time to hopefully work up a couple of wash cloths and a hat. I am thinking I'll do a couple wash cloths in dark green with light green borders. I went a little cheaper on the yarn for this project. I don't think it showed in the final product though and I think it might even be a little softer. Another benefit to the cheaper yarn is I have a plenty left for the extra gifts I want to get done. Unfortunately, this blanket is also not perfectly square but after some pulling and stretching it looks a little straighter on the sides. I am still irrationally afraid of blocking gifts. I need to block a project for myself and mayke sure I know what I am doing. I am sure experienced crocheters would be shocked to hear me say I don't block. I will learn, I promise.

Is it About a Bicycle?

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Probably one of the most surreal, thought provoking, and weird (in a good way) books I have read. It is a shame O'Brien is so under-appreciated. He deserves a lot more attention for his vivid descriptions and brilliant plotting. The writers on Lost only wish they could reveal information as adeptly as this. The descriptions of landscape and characters reminded me of the animation of Terry Gilliam and I kept imagining that giant hand sitting outside the police station. Anyway, I cannot recommend this book enough and anyone reads it and wants to talk about bicycles I would love to discuss it with you.


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Spiny on the Outside Cuddly in the Middle

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have not been surprised by a book in a long time. I usually get a feeling by a 1/3 a way through how I am going to like the book but Elegance slowly charmed it's way into my heart and moved from a 3 star to a solid 4, 4 and 1/2 star by the end. The first couple of chapters were slow, a little "precious", and the characters were not entirely likable. If it hadn't been a book club selection, I am not sure I would have kept reading but I am so glad I did. The story takes place in a posh apartment building in Paris and is told from alternating points of view of a the widowed concierge,Rene and a thirteen year old resident, Paloma. Paloma's sense of superiority and suicidal teen angst was what turned me off from the book initially. However, like all good characters Paloma changes as the book progresses and she becomes humbler and more appreciative of life. Through the voices of both Paloma and Rene, Barbery is exploring the idea that all people are free of determinism and you don't have to be what other people expect you to be. In other words, just because you always been a concierge in Paris and everyone expects you to behave like an uneducated working class person you don't have to really be that person. Rene applies this thought to her own life and through her connection with others in the apartment begins to realize she can be free to be who she really is. Sounds a little hokey, I know but I think the book is successful because she uses subtle transitions in character and becomes more plot driven and less "preachy" towards the climax. The book is also surprising in that a translated, philosophical treatise could become a national bestseller. I found it amusing that one publisher thought hedgehog wouldn't do well in America because it is a class-less society and we wouldn't get it. Ha wouldn't that be nice.


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French Fiction

Exteriors by Annie Ernaux

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Lately, I have been fascinated with America's preoccupation with "Truth". In my opinion, this spate of successful memoirs that turn out to be fakes and "betray" the American public says something (although I am not entirely sure what yet) about how we value stories as a culture. Apparently, other countries are less concerned veracity and Annie Ernaux's popularity is evidence of this. Her books often blur what is real. In the case of Exteriors, the entire book is a series of observations of ordinary life which could be completely fabricated from Ernaux's imagination or actual scenes she has personally observed. The reader has no absolute way of knowing. My guess is it's a mix of both. Ernaux explains at the beginning of the book that she decided to write this book when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers. She explained that her mother's world was quickly becoming populated with strangers and she believed that to better understand her mother's experience she needed to explore the strangers in her own world. This is a beautiful reason to write a book and it is no less powerful to me if some of the observations are less than "true."


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Granny Square Blanket

It's official , my first successful baby blanket is packaged up, addressed and ready to go. Earlier this year, I tried a baby blanket that didn't quite "shape" up correctly. Parallelograms are a nice shape but not great for blankets. The Lion Brand Bright Baby Blanket was a giant granny square that while still not entirely square was a lot closer. In fact, if I had dared to block it might have perfectly square. However, when it comes to hand made isn't perfect a little overrated. I know, I know, it probably would be better and more polished to block the piece before giving it to my friend but I was so nervous things would go badly. I have never blocked before so I didn't want to try on a gift. One of my next projects is a blanket I want to make for myself so I will practice blocking on that.

Anyway, I am hoping that my friend won't lay the blanket on the floor a lot or scrutinize the back stitches. (I wove those threads in like crazy but you never know). I did use the machine washable Cascade Yarns 100% Superwash wool in magenta, pink, apple green, and white. The yarn was a good quality that split very little and worked up nicely. I am also now a big fan of this pattern too. It only took me about a month and half to finish and that was with some breaks due to some busy nights where I couldn't watch TV and therefore crochet. The color changes kept the pattern from getting boring and I am now inspired to make more in an array of different color combinations. Although, next time I do it I think I will follow the pattern a little more carefully. I didn't realize until I was almost done that I was suppose to work three rows of the light pink color (the color I chose as my main color) each time. Instead I just did one row of light pink in the sequence. I think this design choice looked fine but I did end up almost running out of the other colors and having a lot of light pink left. To use up some of that pink I did four rows and the end as a border. I liked the border but the more I looked at that pink the more it resembled Pepto-Bismol to me. Hopefully my friend won't think so.

Now that the blanket is finished I am moving on to the PDQ hat from the Happy Hooker book. After finishing a long project like a blanket it is always fun to start something small that I can finish quickly.

Chain of Events

When my mom is asked how she learned to crochet she loves to tell the story of how her mother only taught her the chain stitch. My grandmother likes things done well and she didn't want to teach her anything else until she made a perfect chain. After weeks of chain stitches, my mom became impatient and taught herself how to single crochet, double crochet and pretty much every other crochet stitch except for maybe the popcorn stitch. When I expressed an interest in crochet, she taught me how to chain and then quickly taught me the simple stitches. I am grateful that I didn't have to make yards and yards of crocheted chains but for some reason I had a hard time figuring out where to put my stitches. In my childhood I had made a few crocheted things but mostly round doilies that rippled instead of laying flat. My mom is a truly amazing crocheter who rarely follows a pattern, I think I always worried I wouldn't be able to make anything as beautiful as her pieces. Some of her crocheted table cloths and doilies are the most beautiful pieces of crochet I have ever seen.

As I got older, though, I started to feel bad that my mom's amazing talent and knowledge would not have a legacy. Maybe it's a bit melo-dramatic but I think it is a tragic thing if this yarn crafting skill dies out with my mom. So, during several trips home I asked her to teach me to crochet again. I would like to say that it went well and I never got frustrated or yelled at her and became an accomplished crocheter after a couple lessons from Mom. Well I would like to say that. I did learn how to single and double crochet and she did teach how to read a pattern. The problem was when I would come home I had no one to ask questions to or to look over my work to confirm I was doing things right. After a few years of trying to teach myself in a vacuum and trying to get the motivation to actually do a whole project I was invited to my first Stitch & Bitch. All the other ladies in the group are knitters so I didn't have feedback but what I did have was motivation to get better. I wanted to hang out with ladies every other Sunday but I didn't want them to see that I didn't know what I was doing. So, I bought several books, looked at videos on line, and crocheted while watching TV. I watch a lot of TV so I was able to whip out projects like hats and wash cloths by each Stitch & Bitch. The book that really gave me the confidence to crochet in front of people and to even give some of my work as gifts was Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker. There isn't a book out there. in my opinion that better explains how to work into a chain, decrease, and work in the round. The writing is so clear and engaging, so I am actually reading through the instructions and not skimming them for the main points like I have been known to do with instructional books. After the Happy Hooker and a year of the Stitch and Bitches I am now a fairly confident, competent and helplessly addicted crocheter. Now it is hard for me to believe there was a time I watched TV and didn't do anything. That just doesn't sound fun anymore:).

For anyone learning to crochet I cannot recommend both the Happy Hooker and a Stitch and Bitch group enough. Even if no one in the group crochet's, like my case, just having a time set aside every month that you dedicate to crochet is a great way to improve and the girl time is just as relaxing or maybe more so than the craft itself.