felted bag class

I made this bag in a class at 'Yarns Unlimited' yesterday. I am very excited about the result as my first felting project. We used the Scandinavian felting method and made the bags in one piece. Paula was a great teacher, and I look forward to experimenting much more on my own. Wool roving is a very different media than straight-up wool. The roving I was working with was very soft. I still don't know whether or not I'm going to add handles to this bag or just keep it as-is.

updated pic of the ponch

The poncho as it stands right now. Where the hell is my 'bark' yarn???? I'm ready to finish this, add the fringe and move on!!!!

The poncho pattern

Here is the link and the picture to the pattern for the poncho I am making.
Elise already knows that she will have to strike this pose everytime I see her wearing the poncho.

project "progress"

I've been swamped with family, work and red cross stuff, but thought I would touch base about my projects to stay 'accountable'. I will take a photo soon of some of the stuff I am working on.

The poncho is coming along slowly but surely. I add a row when I get a chance. I am actually at a point now where I am waiting for my LYS to call me for when my 'bark' yarn is in.

I'm working on a scarf at work (when I get a chance in a craft group) that is black red-heart yarn and a nice thin eyelash yarn that I used in a previous project. The wool poncho has started to turn me into a bit of a yarn snob. (!) The acryllic just doesn't feel right anymore. The scarf is more of a fun stress-reliever than true goal-oriented project.

Oh, and, yeah, I thought I would include the above picture of Mason just because I can relate...

Red Cross Training

A few days ago, I received an email from our Center's 'Emergency Services' manager pleading for volunteers to train for Red Cross Disaster Relief certification. I felt it was the perfect way to feel productive in helping with the Katrina disaster. I completed the first day today and then tomorrow I'm going to learn about setting up and running an emergency shelter; Sunday I'm spending the day learning about RC family services.
Next week we are actually expecting around 60 evacuees to set up in a shelter on Indiana University Campus. The Red Cross retrofitted a dormitory that the University was gutting for updates. I also signed up to be a member of a disaster alert team locally. This way I can assist with helping victims and workers involved in local 'after hours' disasters such as fires.
I feel really good about the decision to get involved with the Red Cross. It seems like a good match with the skills and experience I have gained at my job in mental health.
Anyway, it will probably be next week before an update (or a chance to think about hobbies....)

Hope everyone is safe and well.

email from Sherry

My friend Sherry sent me this email after I sent her my blog address. I think it is pretty funny!:

I love you and appreciate your ability to tell the world that you love to crochet.

I'm not sure whether to take this at face value or as a silly note. Could go either way with Sherry. ;)

giant puffballs

We all decided to spend the afternoon at a nearby park yesterday. As we were leaving, something caught my eye out in the grass. I was excited to find a group of giant puffball mushrooms. I ended up with a plastic grocery bag full!
This morning, I washed a couple of the fungi, sliced them, peeled them, seasoned them and then browned them in olive oil and butter. These large slices were about the consistency of fried tofu, and DELICIOUS! I ended up sharing the rest with a guy I used to work with. We both have spent many tireless hours in search of the perfect edible mushrooms in this area. We often wondered why we had never found the giant puffballs since they are a pretty common mushroom.

Nick is an amazing cook, so I'm sure he makes something special with his.

Katrina devestation

Last night, I finally allowed myself to watch footage of New Orleans and surrounding areas. Without even letting myself think too deeply about how I would react if I was in the same situation with my family, my anxiety still went sky high. Since then, I have seen a video clip of a completely staged interaction between our pathetic president and supposed to be 'random' citizens on the street and a picture on Yahoo of a woman wrapped up in an american flag blanket to stay dry from the rain. Would you like some fries with your propoganda today????
As horrifying as this disaster is, I'm hoping the following good can surface during this crisis:

1) Americans give up their state of being 'Bushwhacked' and realize that our president is a self-centered con (still more worried about 'looting' than suffering and dying...)
2) We (as Americans) see that the devestation in other countries that we see is REAL and can happen to us. We need to unify and help each other out in this world.
3) We each find a way, no matter how small, to help someone out in crisis. I know it is more symbolic than practical, but I MUST find a way to do something positive for the victims of the hurricane.

And so my rant is over. This is just the tip of the iceberg of my feelings, but I kind of intended to keep this blog light....

Give to the red cross.

past, present, future

Past: Today I came across a bag of yarn and several old, uncompleted projects. I've got to finish Andy's monkey (from last Winter), Mason's blanket (from 1.5 years ago) and let go of some ugly hats that I started before. I hope I can find enough cotton yarn in the right colors to complete Mason's blanket!!!!

Present: Still loving the poncho. I'm also working on a tapestry inspired by "Crochet Dude". Someone gave me a bag full of granny squares in different levels of completion. I'm bordering them all in black and trying to arrange them in an artful fashion.

Future: Okay, I'm taking this as a sign. One of my coworkers brought in a box FULL of brand new knitting needles. I ended up with four or five complete sets of sizes 3-9 needles and three different circular knitting needles. I've never knitted before, but I'm really curious to try. I'm also strongly considering taking a felting class at a local yarn store.

I'm doing a pretty piss-poor job of setting limits with myself. What happened to one project at a time?!? ;)

I don't get much "free" time to crochet, but I've been squeezing it in where I can. In my opinion, the poncho is coming along really well though. I can't say enough about how much I love the wool I'm working with!

picture for my profile

I'm having problems with my profile picture, so I'm just going to go ahead and link it to HERE.