More Crochet

 

I've been doing some more crocheting. The pattern for this dish cloth was on the inside of the wrapper of the yarn. I was casually reading it and realized that it used only the stitches I have learned so far! I was curious to see if I could follow a crochet pattern and I think it turned out fairly well. Talk about a low pressure project. I'm going to use it to clean with so if it didn't turn out well, who cares!

I also crocheted a blanket for Stuart Little, who is now Stuart Weathers. According to Parker, the Little house in New York City blew up and Stuart needed a new home. He has been busy designing and making items for Stuart who has moved onto the shelf above his bed.

Below is Stuart's bed (it's part of a large box of matches and some batting scraps) and some books Parker has created for Stuart to read.

 

 

What's in a Name?

If you are reading this you may notice that I have changed the name of my blog. I never really liked "the Last Homely Quilt." It is an obscure Lord of the Ring and The Hobbit reference. If you haven't read the books several times, you probably won't get it. The name came about because I had been thinking about blogging for some time before I started. One day the quote "it's the job that's never started that takes the longest to finish" popped into my head. The quote is from The Fellowship of the Ring (first book in the Lord of the Ring series) and is made by a character called Samwise Gamgee. This got me to thinking about the books so when I had to name my blog I couldn't think of anything else. Why didn't it occur to me to just name it the same as the blog address? I don't know! This blog may end up being something like Bilbo's Red Book in that respect. He gave his book several names over the course of writing it. In the end Frodo finishes up most of the book and gives it a new title before passing it along to Sam. If you haven't read the books, you should.

Pajama Day

Yesterday was Pajama Day at Parker's school. They never had fun days like this when I was in school!! Parker took his Teddy for show and tell. I had to drive him to school because his morning bus is pretty full and I didn't think there would be room for Teddy on the bus. The afternoon bus is not as full so he rode it home. Notice his friend Jamie right behind carrying Parker's coat. (Jamie comes over every Friday after school.) Parker is only just recently taller than Teddy. I couldn't quickly find the adorable picture of Parker "reading" to Teddy when he was one year old. It will have to be for another post.

Before school Parker asked me when he got Teddy and who gave it to him. An old boyfriend gave Teddy to me and I kept him because I thought that someday my child would enjoy him. I'm so glad I did. I glossed over the boyfriend part for Parker but told him that Teddy was waiting for him when we got home from the hospital. So Parker didn't "get" Teddy, Teddy "got" him. He seemed to like that.

Make Your Own Cross Stitch Patterns

As promised, the program I found for designing my own cross stitch patterns is called Artopik. Click on the name and it will take you to the home page. Towards the top of the page you will see the word "download." Click on this. At the top of this page it says "Artopik 1.50," click this and follow the instructions to download and install it. You can use this for cross stitch or embroidery or anything that can be made up of little squares. You can print your patterns out in color or black and white using various symbols. If you do plan to print out your pattern I suggest you set your printer to give you a preview before actual printing. I found that I needed to adjust the print size and/or change from portrait orientation to landscape orientation in order to get my design all on one page. It would probably be pretty easy to tape your pages together if your design doesn't fit on one page, but why do this if you don't have to.

Parker is just making designs and printing them out in color then cutting them out and using them for various projects. He has become obsessed with Stuart Little. Stuart is now living with us and he has made him a bed, some books and a bookcase, so far. He is using some of the designs he has made with this program to decorate things for Stuart. It is really cute but also exhausting because I have to be the voice of Stuart and Snowbell and Margalo and Darth Vadar and Luke Skywalker (obvious what movies we have seen lately), in addition to myself, all at the same time!!! He and I went to the grocery store recently and I was being the voices for all these characters while shopping. I'm sure people who overheard our conversation must have thought we were crazy, but I couldn't worry about that. It took all my concentration to just do my shopping and keep track of who I was from minute to minute. But I digress ...

Happy Designing!!

Blog Crafting

You may notice a few changes to the blog. Yesterday I spent some time figuring out how to put the links of some blogs I follow along the sidebar. Maybe some of you will enjoy them too. This is kind of a weird format, blogging I mean. I've only been doing this for a short time and only have one follower who is not even a quilter, just a good friend - Hi Julie! I have no idea who actually reads this besides a couple of friends (Hi Alison!) unless you leave a comment. And yesterday I had such a nice surprise when someone whose work I enjoy and respect left me such a nice comment about my stitched crop circles. It made my day, so thank you Jude, if you are reading. If you are so inclined, check out Jude's blog - Spirit Cloth. The link is on the right hand side of my blog. I've had a similar experience a couple of other times so I assume that people are reading, at least occasionally, and maybe some of them are following anonymously, which is totally fine too.

Because I worked yesterday, I don't have any photos to show you today. I have, however, created a cross stitch pattern. I'm working on stitching it up and I'll post a photo when I'm done. It is a stocking ornament. After making those cute Navajo rug inspired stockings for last Christmas I started thinking, how hard is it to make my own patterns? Turns out, it's not that difficult. I found a freeware program called Artopik that I used and if this first one turns out half as cute as it is in my head, then I'll be doing more pattern making. As I am stitching I have thought of a couple things I would do differently next time, but I am making myself stitch this one exactly like the pattern. Instead of changing the pattern mid-stitch, I'm making notes of my ideas for next time.

Stitched Crop Circles, Part 5

As promised, here is a current photo of the "little" stitched crop circles quilt. The center, the actual stitched crop circles piece, measures about 6 1/2" square. I have added some wooden beads, some glass beads, some buttons, and little french knots on the center part. I really like the french knots! I had planned to add beads where the french knots are but after sewing a couple of beads on I realized that this was not what was needed. I tried a few other things, buttons and different beads, but nothing looked right until I tried a french knot.

I've got to go to work today. I have 5 or 6 assignments to grade for my Extended Studies class. It is Basic Arithmetic Skills (MATH 095), the lowest developmental course offered at Adams State College. I have some administrative work to do for my two on campus classes. Then I will help students with any questions they may have.

Before I began working on campus I tried to grade my MATH 095 assignments within 24 hours of receiving them. Once I started working on campus, this policy was taking up too much of my time. I get paid very little per student considering how much time it takes for me to grade their assignments and exams. I realized that I really couldn't afford to continue grading things within 24 hours of receiving them anymore. How sad is that! I'm glad to have a job (some would say "lucky" considering the current economic situation) and any money in addition to my husband's salary is helpful. I just wish that Adams State valued it's adjunct faculty more than they currently do.

Crochet!!

At the December guild meeting Parker won some yarn and he wants to learn to knit. I have bad memories of knitting in Home Ec. class in 8th grade so I'm trying to convince him that crochet is better. I think that, for him, learning to use one needle effectively first will make for a more enjoyable learning experience and better success with whatever project we do. But ... before I can teach him, I need to learn myself! I found some great videos on YouTube and learned to do a single crochet stitch. The sample I made turned out pretty large mainly because I was enjoying practicing but also because I didn't know how to stop!* LOL* I'm going to try to learn another stitch tonight.

On the quilting front: I got my baby quilt basted together this morning. I'm not sure how I want to quilt it but I have a tight deadline so it may just have to be an all over large stipple or loops. Nothing very inspired, but done is better than not done. I have also been working on my stitched crop circles. I'll post a photo of it tomorrow.

On the home front: I'm a ski widow again today. My husband filled in for another math faculty member last month so he is cashing in his favor today so he can go skiing. He only teaches one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and today they had an exam. Proctoring exams can be quite boring but it isn't hard so I think the other person is getting off pretty easy. He had to actually teach their class.

There was also a bit of milestone at our house yesterday. Parker walked home from the bus stop by himself for the first time. Here in Alamosa the bus drivers will not allow kindergarteners or first graders to exit the bus unless there is an adult waiting at the bus stop to claim them. Some drivers are stricter than others but Parker's driver for kindergarten and first grade always followed the rule. For second grade through fifth grade, they encourage parents to be at the bus stop, but it is not required. Until last weekend, Parker wanted me to meet the bus. On Sunday, he said that he wanted to walk home by himself. So I agreed. I did stand on the front porch to watch him cross our street but he did a great job. Actually, it couldn't have worked out better. Yesterday it snowed like crazy and was windy from about 3 pm until 3:30 pm. I have stood on the corner in all kinds of weather and am really not sorry at all that I don't have to do that anymore. He still wants me to walk him to the bus stop in the morning, but I don't expect that will last much longer. My baby is not a baby anymore.