Mail time!

I was lucky enough to win a beautiful handmade hook in the International Crochet Day giveaway hosted by The Cosmic Crocheter!

She also included a couple other gifts:

This hook is a joy to touch. It's so smooth and light, I can't stop playing with it. It's a G/4mm hook from Fancy Kitty. It's made of canarywood and has been smoothed and coated with something to make it shiney.

The yarn is Peace Fleece in Kamchatka Seamoss. I'm not certain if it's sport weight or worsted weight as they're both 2ply and nothing is listed on the label. My guess is that it's sport weight. If I can find my ruler, I'll check the WPI. (ETA: It's worsted weight, the Cosmic Crocheter told me so. OOoo that sounds so mystical! :-P )

Lastly, there's a cute crochet button included! The photo on the button is of crochet fabric in all different colors. I'm going to have to stick this on the bag I generally through my crochet in. I also use it as an everday purse, but that's because I'm always bringing my crochet somewhere!

I have no idea what I'm going to use this yarn for, but I'm sure that I'll think of something. I can't wait to play with my new hook and I hope that I can use the two as a pair.

Thanks so much, cosmiccrocheter81 (as she's known on Ravelry)!

International Crochet Day

International Crochet Day
Originally uploaded by lauriakincaid

Today is International Crochet Day! This photo is of me crocheting during my lunch break. Of course, I'm wearing the fingerless gloves that I crocheted just over a month ago. I love how ridiculously bright these are!

The Crochet Liberation Front just released the Crochet Liberation Front First Ever Book! Awesome. I looked through some of the patterns on Ravelry, and I'm so excited to get my hands on this book! I'll be giving a couple of the LYS around here the promotional material as soon as I get it snail mail from Fearless Leader.

There are a few blog giveaways going on, which is very exciting. I've entered all that I've heard about. Maybe I'll win something! That'll certainly be exciting.

What are you doing to celebrate?

Beach, Park, Crochet!

This weekend has been great. Friday night we went to Independence Park, which is five minutes away from our apartment. It's got a grassy park area, and then a beach. I was hoping that it would be warm enough to go swimming and when I got down to the shore, I was pleasantly surprised! I dove right in.


I'm that little dot waving at the camera.

My husband and I relaxed on a blanket while looking out at the water. I feel so luck to have witnessed this sunset.

I was enjoying looking out so much, that I neglected the crochet I brought along with me!

Today, we went to Gallows Hill Park in Salem, the alleged site of Salem "witch" hangings.

The lower level is a playground, skate park, and playing field, but the upper part seems to be the actual hill and is sorely neglected.

This is a broken water fountain filled with rain water from the storm we had last night.

You don't see metal slides like this one anymore!:

I also whipped up a crocheted drawstring pouch today. I still need to weave in some ends, but I think I left my tin with my yarn needles and stitch markers at work.

This little pouch is to hold my Diva Cup. I didn't like the fabric one that came with mine because it wasn't very subtle. It says "DIVA" right on it. And I also broke the drawstring on it. I could have easily fixed it, but I thought it would be fun to make one out of cotton. If you're interested in learning more about the Diva Cup, an alternative to pads and tampons, check out their website. I love mine.

While I was waiting for the clothes to go around in the washer and dryer, I started a bag for my camera case out of purple Lion Brand Homespun my sister gave me. I think it will protect my camera from any minor bumps or falls. It'll certainly be better than the plastic bag it's currently sitting in!

Hope everyone else had as lovely as weekend as I did!

Knit Night @ Yarns in the Farms

Last night I went to Yarns in the Farms for their Wednesday (and Tuesday) Knit Night! I met some very nice people and Wink remembered me from when I came in to buy the yarn (J. Knit's Lace-a-Licious) all the way back in May!

I brought along my Lauria's Lovely Lacy Shawl to work on while we chatted. Everyone really liked it and couldn't believe how simple the pattern is. I think that there's great beauty in simplicity. No one was in the least bit snotty about me crocheting, though everyone else had brought knitting and a couple of the women crochet, too.

We had interesting talks about many things from politics to glow in the dark yarn while people sipped red wine and "healthy" cookies. Of course I mentioned how much I love Ravelry and that it's worth the wait. It's hard to believe that there are any fiber artists that aren't on it!

I was definitely coveting the Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Chunky yarn. It is so beautiful and I think I'm going to have to get some once I have some yarn money (hopefully soon!). Next I need to decide on a project.

I didn't think to take pictures last night (maybe I'll remember next week when I hope to return), but here's a photo of the shawl I worked on:

Approproated Retro Shawl

Early in July, I was visiting my mom to celebrate my birthday. I went up to the attic and stumbled on a few crochet treasures. The first was a baby blanket that I remember. It's a waffle stitch blanket in a variegated blue, pink, white yarn. When I commented to my mother about it, she told me that she had made it. She started it for me, but finished it for my little sister Kayla whom was born 2.5 years later!

Then I also discovered two shawls in a bag. One was a stiff granny square blue shawl. I'm not big on granny squares, so I didn't pay much head, but underneath it was this lovely shawl:



My mother's best friend made it for her when my mom was 19. So this was back in 1974 or so. They're still best friends, although her mother passed away a year or two ago. I appropriated it, cleaned it and love it!
Here's some stitch detail:


I'm so glad that I found it and that it's in great condition. I feel really good about giving it a new home on my shoulders.

I wear it quite often to work. At work, I sometimes have to wear a respirator because of the chemicals used in the air - my body can't deal with chemicals very well. That makes me look like Darth Vader. So I'll often be found backstage, crocheting away on a project with my mask on and this shawl around my shoulders! People comment on how I look like Darth Grandmother! :-P