just a bit...

...I will be stepping away from my blog.  For just a bit of a break.

tennis, anyone?

Who knew that one could get tennis elbow from something non-related to tennis!?

Well, I did.  Get it, that is.

And it has put me out of commission for many, many loooooong weeks.  And because it's a painful condition from repetitive motions of the wrist & arm ---- let's just guess what motion plays heavily into knitting...or even crocheting?

Yup. Repetitive motions of the wrist & arm.

In spite of all of that (and just let me tell you --- going w/o knitting or crocheting for weeks is one of the most painful things e.v.e.r.!) I did manage to finish these lovely socks from here.

Do I love knitting for the beautiful motion of yarn & needles -- or the vibrant, yummy & gorgeous colors that come out once the project is complete?...

...ehhhh.

It's a definite toss-up.

red, white & blue bunting

Such a lovely, patriotic pattern for red, white & blue bunting found here.

And yes, I needed to make this.

So simple & so quick.

Using an h hook and leftover yarn from past projects.

Perfect for the 4th.

lacy

Oh, lacy things.

(Deep, deep, contented sigh.)

I finally finished tatting this lacy Clover Doily by Jon.

This doily is made up of 3 individual motifs but once tatted together ~ it forms a lacy mosaic that seems so intricate, but is actually oh, so simple.

My obsession with lace has now seeped into socks & knitting.

I just started this Medallion Lace Sock by Andrea Fox.

And this is what I have noticed...

...I am still completely bowled over that socks are magically appearing from my needles.  I stare down at the movement and think ~ is this really me doing this?

Because it's so therapeutic.

So rhythmic.

So soothing.

And so unbelievably beautiful.

horseshoe cable socks

Horseshoe Cable Socks. (Pattern can be found here.)

All finished!

2 of them!

Yes, even I am amazed that both of these are finished.

And what's even better is they are softer than soft.

Yarn is Black Olive by KOLLAGE ~ Sock-A-Licious.

They fit like a glove.

And I'm pretty sure when I put them on, I squealed so loud the neighbors heard.

enthusiasm

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. 

Sir Winston Churchill

It seemed no matter what I attempted I was met with failure.

Crochet.

Knitting.

Any type of stitching.

Fail.

Fail.

Fail.

And my enthusiasm died.

But then I picked up this book for the 1,000,000th time and wondered for the 1,000,001th time if I could possibly make something from all of these beautiful patterns...

101 Designer one-skein WONDERS by Judith Durant

I kept coming back to the Horseshoe Cable Socks.  They were more than yummy and way out league as far as what I could attempt.

Heh.  heh.

Until I tried them.

What?

These are easy.  

And so utterly beautiful (and if I have to tip my hat to Tonia who has the greatest technique for knitting these horseshoe cables WITHOUT a cable needle!)

I  couldn't believe it!  These were flying off of my needles!  

No failure.  Just complete, satisfying success.

And so now I once again have something in my hands.  

And I am once again enthusiastic about sticks and yarn.

fairest of them all

My love for crochet started because -- plain & simple -- I wanted to be able to somehow duplicate the delicacy & beauty of a doily.

And I am just head-over-heels, in love with this pattern designer...

Elizabeth Hiddleson

I found one of her patterns in this magazine:

This one is ~ Fairest of Them All.

And this pattern truly is!

The crochet thread is Coral 
Classic 10
by Aunt Lydia's
hook size 7

I read that Elizabeth Hiddleson began designing crochet thread patterns in the '30's and did this in her 'spare time' while working a full-time job & raising 2 children.  She designed over 200 patterns & lived to be 101 years old.  (Her birthday would have been this Thursday, January 31.)

Indeed ~ the fairest of them all.

Miss Lovey

When I was little I made a billion Heart People out of construction paper.  Yes.  A billion.

They hung all over the house and my scissors could not move fast enough to keep up with how many hearts I wanted to adhere together.

Sadly my construction paper days are over, but not my days of dabbling in yarn.

And if you can make Heart People out of paper ~ well...why can't you make them out of yarn?

This is Miss Lovey.

And she was made out of hearts, of course.

This is my most favorite pattern for a crochet heart -- ever.

After making 2 of my most favorite crochet hearts, I stuffed it and edged it with single crochet in white.

Button eyes, embroidered floss mouth, 2 tiny hearts for a barrette & heart-shaped hands & shoes for Miss Lovey.

It took me awhile to figure out how to make the arms & legs.  With paper, I would accordion-fold strips for the arms & legs.  So what to do with crochet?

How 'bout corkscrew arms & legs?

It's been awhile since I have done this stitch but I watched this as a great refresher on how to crochet a spiral/corkscrew.

I think she is lovely. 

♥ ♥ ♥...

a quaint heart

A heart.

For Valentine's Day.

I wanted something quaint & simple and seeing as how I had these gold rings from a crocheted belt that I was going to make...well, how about putting them to use for this?

A simple single crochet around the edge of the ring.

Round 2 is a super easy scalloped edging of ch 5 into every 4th stitch.

Then onto a heart.

The pattern for this I got from Nicky Epstein's book:  crocheting on the edge.

Traced the bottom of a vase & cut out a circle from cardboard and fabric...

...I folded and glued the edges down.  Then glued all of this to the crocheted ring.

Adhered the crocheted heart to the front & found a tiny, antique button in my button tin that was just perfect for this.

Quaint indeed.