Hairpin Lace Crochet

I was prowling through my library stash this morning looking for instructions on Tunisian Crochet technique.  Not that I want to make anything right now in Tunisian Crochet, but one of my friends asked me last night if I knew how to do this technique and if I ever made anything using this technique.  I said "No."  Well, after I found the instructions I recognized the basic stitch as an Afghan Stitch, and sure enough, I did make an afghan.  This must have been in the early 1970s.  So much for my memory. 

Needless to say, one endeavor leads to another and during the Tunisian Crochet search, I found instructions and some patterns for Hairpin Lace.  This led me to a search of my moth ball filled foot locker to find a nice little baby afghan I made for one of my girls.  My goodness, we have such wonderfully soft yarns today.  This little afghan is quite rough.  I think it was made with Red Heart baby yarn available in the early 1970's. (I don't think Red Heart has improved much.  I still find their yarns scratchy.)  Now, this is one technique I will have to try again with another little baby coverlet using some of the softer yarns manufactured today.  Maybe by taking several of the loops and grouping them into more fancier fan shapes or twists. 

Pretty little Hairpin Lace Crochet baby coverlet.  I made this around 1971 for my first daughter.

Mini-vacation at Lassen Volcanic National Park

One of the nice things about having your own blog is the freedom to post items of interest, some that may not coincide with the intent of the blog.  Each of us sees beauty in our own way.  I always enjoy nature's beauty.  This past week my husband and I enjoyed the company of our daughters and grandchildren at the Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California. We spent two days exploring the park sights on a few of the trails.  There were still patches of snow at the 8,511 foot elevation and the creeks were icy cold from the snow melt.  The meadows were still green and wildflowers were in bloom.  Hope you enjoy the nature pictures from our short mini-vacation.

I liked this little scattering of spring flowers.  A nice little composition of colors and nature's textures.

This is also a pretty setting of flowers that I liked.

Here is a grouping of flowers next to Kings Creek.  The creek meandered through an open meadow. 

This is another view of the flowers along Kings Creek.

We were at Summit Lake and I captured this view of Mount Lassen in the background. 

Dragonflies were plentiful as we walked around Summit Lake.

I managed to capture two dragonflies mating.  I think the picture came out pretty good with
 my little Panasonic digital camera.

This little guy came to visit while we were eating lunch.  Maybe thought a handout
would be forthcoming.

There were several ducks swimming at Summit Lake.  My husband took this shot.  I like the
reflections in the water and the little dragonfly in the corner.

My husband took this picture, too.  Nice shot of the duck swimming through the reeds.

The reflections are so clear. 

Puff Box

I collected quite a few of my scraps and have a mess in my sewing room.  Thought I would make a small scrap blanket, but I got tired of trying to find just the right scraps in the right colors, etc.....and decided to make a small box instead.  It will be nice when our house addition is completed and I have more space to spread stuff out.  I don't work very well in a cluttered environment. 

So, here is what I came up with for a small fabric box.  I call it a "puff" box.  Now that I know how I want to assemble it, the next ones I make will be put together differently.  On this one the top is a little too small, but all-in-all it will do for some of my little trinkets. 

The design on the top is from the Oriental Whispers design collection from Skeldale House and the little heart is from Sonia Showalter heat bead collection. 

Puff Box

Puff Box a little closer look.

Wildlife Visitors

Our California heat wave has abated.  It is tolerable now to go outside.  We do have a breeze, but up here in the foothills it is a warm breeze, not like the delta breezes we used to get when we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area that offered some respite to the summer heat.  But, I won't trade places anymore. 

It is nice to sit outside on the patio and not hear traffic and sirens all day long.  Our music is the bird chatter in the morning when all is still and the forest echos like an atrium, then in the evening the sounds of night life critters.  In the Spring, when the trees and lawns are green, and the ground still moist from the winter rains, and the water is running in the seasonal creek, the din is almost deafening.  During the day and evening we are treated to visits from our local deer and turkey, the occasional rabbit and many squirrels that live in the trees, sometimes a fox or skunk.  We are becoming accustomed to the cycle of life the seasons bring.  Spring is mating time for the turkey, quail, hummingbirds and other little critters.  Fall is mating for the deer.  It is such a nice surprise to see the young ones come around in the summer.  Each day offers a different surprise.

We don't always see large bucks.  Our deer are the smaller white tails.  This shot was taken some time during October.

They became tired of looking at me and returned to their sparring business.  We watched them for quite a while.

 

 

 

Mama and baby don't usually stay around very long when we want to take pictures.  I managed to get a pretty good shot here, although the trees provided a lot of shade.

And then the baby decided to run off.

Another little baby.

I don't know what the fox was looking at, but this picture came out pretty good, too.

Didn't get too close here.  Had to use the zoom on the camera.  This skunk was out during the day, which is unusual. 

We have quite a few tom turkeys strutting their stuff in the Spring.  The largest flock we counted around 40 turkeys in the yard.

This year we were treated to an albino robin. 

Last year we had a young bear in the area and many times we hear about the mountain lion feasting on domesticated animals.  We saw the bear ambling down our driveway, but have yet to see a mountain lion on our property.  I think these predatory animals stay closer to the river where there is more plentiful food supply. 

I saw some ripe blackberries today.  In a couple more weeks, I will have to go picking.  Time to watch for the rattlesnakes.  

Mystic Stitch - Rose Garden

We are in the middle of a California heat wave and I am not doing much of anything.  All my machines are quiet.  It is simply too hot to start any of them.

So, I decided this would be a good time to work on many of the counted cross stitch pieces I have started, go through all my fabric scraps and scour my library for some small projects to start and hopefully complete. 

I stopped in the Gallery to pick up my check for a couple items that sold.  Most of the items that sell are "gifty" type items.  I think those type items appeal to the residents....a nice, inexpensive item for a birthday, anniversary, baby shower.  So, I think the gallery is in an evolutionary process, going from showcasing the more expensive "art" items that one would find in a larger metropolitan area artist gallery, to the upper end craft items that are a little smaller and within the economic means of the area residents.

Back to my projects.  Several years ago I found the Mystic Stitch website and downloaded one of the free designs, Rose Garden.  The artwork was provided by Blakeslee Fine Art.  Although the artist was not named, I believe the painting was done by Sarah Blakeslee.  I found a few images of her art on the Internet and those images were similar in style to the counted cross stitch adaptation.  If anyone knows something different, please leave a comment.

Rose Garden

When I first started stitching the design, the colors were very muted and I became disinterested in working on it.  It languished for several years until I brought it out this Spring and placed it in my rotation of projects to complete.  Now that the I see the entire project, the colors emerge from the fog.  It is a nice piece to add to my collection.