I was reading Textiles Today, an interesting and varied survey of contemporary textile/fiber work from around the world. This particular image from the book is an interactive installation by New Zealand artist, Ani O'Neill. My wagon wheel coaster made from leftover Merlin linen/wool yarn seems to happily fit right in.
And today I was wearing a freshly-made Julia cuff, design by Robyn Chachula. The yarn is Berroco's Seduce, soft and lovely. But black sure is a real pain to photograph sometimes.
(a mini collection of birthdays and in progress crochet cardigan)
So I crocheted a pollen scarf. Well - it looks like it could be a form of pollen. It doesn't, however, cause headaches or complaints.
2. Collage box: I was cleaning my closet recently and found a box of leftover collaged jewerly that I made about 15 years ago. I thought they'd fit nicely in this wooden box I found. This may end up on the wall or I may add a layer of resin to it and use it as a tray.
The Crocus Bud Scarf from Webs, designed by Sharlene Boyce, in mohair and edged with seed beads.
And lastly, my first attempt at knitting, only possible thanks to the excellent help from my sister. I'm slowly making progress on my very own Almost Garter scarf, designed by Norah Gaughan.
I must be taken with this color this season. I finished the scarf below this week. It's a simple, yet distinctive scarf that drapes nicely. Find it here: Claudia's scarf. The yarn is Knit Picks Essential Kettle-dyed, fingering weight. It's very soft against the skin.
VS.
All Hopped Up Bag
And the Winner is..................
It was an easy match. How could the outcome have gone differently? His opponent really didn't have a chance. Watch Strong Bad in action here. Get the pattern on Ravelry. Here's one last pose from him, lounging after his match.
This is the most bizarre Pez I've ever seen. It's really no surprise it was in the sale bin before Halloween. The neighborhood cat below is much more pleasant and friendlier.
The fiber-related topic in this post? A glimpse of a soon-to-be-finished crocheted shawl behind the psycho cat.
Every time I finish a crochet project using linen, I use the leftovers to make coasters. The four coasters above are my latest. The flower-like coaster is a freebie from Clover's Japan website. I think it has a Mexican vibe to it though. The square one is a Daisy Square from an old Harmony Guide. The circle and triangle are from the Lacy Crochet book, but I didn't crochet all the rounds to the patterns since I was using sportweight yarn instead of thread. I think the triangle would look great as joined together motifs for a tablecloth, throw or shawl. Maybe that will be a future project. I really love the yarn-Berroco's Naturlin. I love how it softens and drapes after it's been blocked. I used this maize color for the tablerunner below, a birthday gift for my sister, Jackie. It was a happy accident that the diamonds in the runner echoed the diamonds in the chairs.
In September of 2001, the Woolly Bullies, as we sometimes refer to ourselves, started getting together about once a month to rug hook together. There's always lots of oohing and aahing at each others rugs, sometimes attempts to steal rugs, wool and dying tips, delicious treats, lots of laughing, and sharing the ups and downs in our lives. An extremely sad, unbelievable family tragedy befell one of us. Devin, the founder of our group, came up with the idea of making a rug as a way to give support, comfort and love to our friend. The rug design is Devin's. Each of us will hook our hand and loving thoughts into the rug. Besides designing the rug, Devin also can be credited with organizing the whole project, from gathering the wool to packaging up the rug as it's passed from person to person. She also is hooking the background. Isn't the swirling green background fantastic? Emmy hooked the perfect lettering. Below are close ups of the hands of myself, Emmy, Devin, Marie, Lenore, and Joelle.
Blue Peninsula's blog is always a good read, full of inspiration, gorgeous photography, spectacular art and knitting, and views of Ida the cat, now and then. So I was surprised when Bonnie gave me this Blog Award. There are some rules that go along with its honor:I've recently come across and have been following these rug hooking blogs:
It's a cliched image but I see these tracks every day, just down the street. This line doesn't go too far - west out to Fitchburg and east to North Station. I never tire of seeing railroad tracks fade into the distance. I've always been partial to the romance and symbolism of the rail. How can you resist travel to a new destination, movin' along, the sounds of a train, the people along the way. As a little kid, "I've been working on the railroad" was a favorite song, and before the area was built up, from the second floor of the house, you could see and hear trains passing in the distance. I still have the book my Dad gave me for my first train trip from Chicago to St. Louis. And how could I forget the "Ride this Train" feature on Johnny Cash's television show? So it's really no surprise "The Darjeeling Limited" was a must see for me last year.
Speaking of Cash, working on the Johnny Cash #2 rug got derailed for quite awhile. I've been trying to work on it again and I'm determined to get it done by the end of the year by working on it a little bit every day. Maybe a listen to "Orange Blossom Special" or "Hey, Porter" will be the ticket. Here's where the rug stands at the moment.
And so, the Ravelympics are over and I finished all my events. I received some really wonderful prizes from my sisters. From Bonnie, I received the the soft and fragrant Summer Blossoms prize. And from Jenny, this Weeping Willow bag, an original weaving design of hers. Isn't it the perfect fit for my camera? Thank you, Jenny and Bonnie!
After a long absence I've returned to blogging.
A recently completed scarf, artfully modeled by my Chicago OrkPoster. My sister said I should name the scarf Waveland. When I lived in Chicago I always felt compelled to wave anytime my path crossed with Waveland Ave. What can I say-it's a happy street name. I think I'm going to have to make a shawl using this stitch pattern. 
My sisters and I are all on Ravelry and competing in Ravelympics while the Olympics are going on. Check out Bonnie's entertaining updates of our Ravelympics progress. I medaled in WIP Wrestling and completed 2 unfinished crochet projects.
I'm competing in one more event, the Sweater Sprint. Despite some setbacks, I'm hoping to make it to the finals, producing a bolero with this fabulous yarn.
Okay, bye, bye!
