Still hooked

I'm sort of in shock at the moment. Came on to make a new post and saw that I needed to moderate a comment written by the author of Hooked On Murder, Betty Hechtman, which is a book that I mentioned in my last post. (You can read the comment in the previous post.) I was reading more it in the bathroom earlier this morning! Due to my curiosity, I had to skip ahead to find out who the killer is. That won't ruin the story for me. I'm more interested in the gripping crochet parts than anything else. I love reading about crochet almost as much as I like actually doing it. I still have to read about how the group's blanket turns out in the story. I feel like starting another blanket myself.

Here are pics of the slippers I made. As you can see, they start off as rectangles that are gathered at the toe. Whip-stitched the back seams then single crocheted a cuff around.











They're half wool and half acrylic. I put them through a hot water laundering with a few other clothing articles, then dried them in the dryer. I applied puff paint to the bottoms to prevent the slippers from slippin' on the floor while I wear them. Has worked so far. I've worn them a lot since they were ready to be worn. I'm wearing them right now.

I'm almost done with an off-white scarf that I've been crocheting. I've also have started knitting one in thick yarn, but that will take me longer to accomplish.

More glorious crochet

Decided to make my own blog post so I can go back to checking out other crochet and knitting blogs.



At left you see the two light teal dishcloths that I took my time crocheting using a half double crochet + single crochet stitch pattern. A simple pattern that gives a nice texture. I used Red Heart Soft and that yarn feels glorious. My idea is to sell the washcloths with a bar of soap for added value.



I have been reading a lot as usual. I have three books in rotation that I'm reading hands-on and one of the fiction novels is Hooked on Murder: A Crochet Mystery by Betty Hechtman. The man character is 48-year-old Molly Pink who initially gets detained by the police after literally stepping on the body of the woman who led the book's crochet group. It's funnier than I thought it would be. I do wish I could have gotten it on audiobook through the library so I can crochet while listening to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Hooked-Murder-Crochet-Betty-Hechtman/dp/0425221253

My current audiobook is Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris.

I've been wondering what crocheters and knitters in Canada have been making to survive the cold. I have been delaying getting out of bed these days just to postpone being cold for a little longer.



Yesterday I finished the grey slippers that I started months ago when I was on a slipper binge. They are quadruple-stranded; two strands of acrylic and two strands of wool. My feet have been freezing so badly that I have to warm them up several times a day so I thought the wool would help insulate them. I'll show you the slippers in progress and in action in my next post.






This is the teal & white double crochet blanket that I've been working on. The one pound skeins have been going a long way. So glad that I won't have so many ends to weave in after the crocheting is done.

I have more crochet news, but I'll save it for my next post.

Happy cow

I bought the counted cross-stitch plastic canvas cow from the Salvation Army. It was very well-made from yarn. It has a compartment that I am currently using to store scissors, aluminum crochet hooks, and remote controls when they are not in use. The brass bell around its neck jingles. Next to it is the second sweater can cozy that I made using black bouclé yarn and surprisingly soft pink bulky yarn that was also a thrift store find.




I made this slipper months ago by now. I still need to sew up the back seam and make a second one. I'll get on that for sure one of these days.





Had my second yard & porch sale on Saturday. Was a sunny day. It got so hot that I was so glad for it to be over with so I could stop complaining about the heat and bees/wasps flying in my face. Have been putting the unsold non-crochet items in the attic and organizing the unsold crocheted items. I have selected three blankets that I would like to donate.

I visited my friend Kathy yesterday at her home for several hours. We ate cheesy bread and pizza from Papa Murphy's. We sat outside on her porch after we gave her husband instructions for replanting hostas in front of the house. I worked on a gradated stripes blanket that I've been making for myself while she held the large skein of Red Heart "Claret" yarn. It will probably be long and enough to cover the top of a twin-sized bed.

It's a chilly, whitish gray day which is a signal to get cozy and relax. My plan is to watch recorded Lifetime movies in the office bed while crocheting another blanket that I've been working on until it's time to go on errands late this afternoon.