daisies & doilies

The Field Daisy
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I'm a pretty little thing,

Always coming with the spring;

In the meadows green I'm found,

Peeping just above the ground,

And my stalk is cover'd flat

With a white and yellow hat.

Little Mary, when you pass

Lightly o'er the tender grass,

Skip about, but do not tread

On my bright but lowly head,

For I always seem to say,

"Surely winter's gone away."

Ann Taylor (1782 - 1886)

Yes, indeed.

A little yellow hat.

Daisies picked from our garden, wearing little yellow hats.

They surely announce spring, don't they? And the pureness of the white petals -- so easily mimicked in this pale crochet thread. So, of course, I must get started on yet another doily...

The doily is called Garden Party and once again -- is a pattern found in the no-longer-published-Magic-Crochet magazine. I am using #7 steel crochet hook and size 10 thread.





And the vase? Oh, my! A thrifted find at a rummage sale. A mere 50 cents.

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A perfect color of blue.

butterfly in knots

Seeing a wonderful project involving french knots, I asked myself just how hard can it be to embroider a 'few' french knots!? Keep in mind that I had to get this done in about a week.
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Ha.



And after about the billionth french knot -- and yes, I saw them in my sleep -- I swore I would never make another french knot. Ever. Who knew making these things could take soooooooo long! Phew.

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Anyway. I do love french knots and got the delightful pattern from this book:

I used a little bit of a different color scheme -- love the periwinkles! Then raided my stash for some sort of complimentary fabric for the border. And finished it with machine quilting in a pearly meandering.

I purchased a ornate candle holder from the Dollar Store and had my husband clip off the candle
part of it and was left with this whimsical hangar. Because the candle holder was a dark burnished color, I aged it all vintage-y looking with white paint dabbed on with a sponge.

Whimsical and blissful. Even if the french knots were almost the death of me.....

birdhouse

The busy-ness of school winding down in our house has left all of us scurrying here and scurrying there trying to get. everything. done.
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But I can find time to sew. And even tho I seem to have this love-hate relationship with fabric lately -- ugh -- I love the picking out of fabrics. The putting together of complimentary colors, but oh, the absolute physical reluctance to sew it into anything -- it has become such a love/hate relationship for me.

So, I will stick to smaller projects. Projects that make me smile with ease and not cringe with overwhelmingness -- is that a word?

Choosing pastel prints and trying to think of something pretty to applique, I decided on a birdhouse. I merely drew this from my head onto fusible web and ironed it to muslin.

And what's a birdhouse without wild roses winding their way around the post?

A gift for my sister-in-law. Her entry way is decorated with so many birdhouses. You just can't have too many birdhouses welcoming your guests when they enter your house. Right? Well, I hope she agrees!

A bit of simpleness with a vintage, white button.

A birthday birdhouse for not only for someone who is my sister-in-law, but for someone who has become a dear, dear friend.

apple blossoms & why I love lace

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The apple blossoms are blanketing our lawn like pink crocheted lace.
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...and I just finished this doily from the previous post.
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This is the first time that I have used size 30 thread and I must say that I truly love the delicate feel of it! The thread was actually a thrift store find, but it worked up so elegant and subtle.

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Such a delicate lacey look -- do you have such a passion for lace, too?!
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This is why I love lace. Crocheted or otherwise.
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This book shows a gorgeous bedroom laden with lace & beauty! How breath-taking is this bedroom!? Ahhh. Someday, in my quaint farmhouse, my husband & I will have a master bedrooom just like this.........complete with the exquisite lace that drapes the bed.

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More reasons why I love lace ~
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...this just steals my breath away.

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Last summer we toured a settlers' village and all of these fine examples of lace were showcased in the dressmaker's store.
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...and this magnificent, hand-made lace that was made to look as if the lady was about to come back soon to complete.
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...or this adorning this antique dress-form.

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All of those tiny stitches taken either out of necessity or out of need for fashion speak of such subtle beauty. And if I can come even close to making that same type of lace, well that is my desire.
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for the love of pink lace

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Remember what I said about making these to fill every room in my house? I am being taken over with a love for crocheted lace. Whether it is just loving the ones my grandma made -- seeing lace & doilies on other's blogs -- or just browsing through crocheted lace books... I just have this urge to immerse myself in this.

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And when I saw this rich hue of pink in this peony that comes from our garden.....

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....why, yes. I just had to put this pink crochet thread to use.
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hook--1.4mm .....thread--size 30

pattern: Magic Crochet magazine (edit--Oops! Voices of Spring doily, Decorative Crochet magazine [same publisher as Magic Crochet], issue: May 2001 No. 81)

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Just a few more rows and it will be finished. Just in time for the apple tree blossoms to fall pink all over our lawn.

ribbon candy afghan

My hook is flying. And the proof is here ---> my ribbon candy afghan that I started a few posts ago. I need a total of 10 strips, but being this is the easy, non-thinking type of crochet....



.....I can sit, crochet, talk, crochet, wait, crochet, listen & crochet without ripping out the previous row. And this is good -- because sometimes I can't even walk & chew gum at the same time, much less yarnover, find Mount Pinatubo on my daughter's atlas and calculate crochet stitches.

Mindless, repetative. Sometimes that's exactly what a mom needs in her hectic day.

And when it is completed this ribbon of candy afghan will warm the kids when snuggled in front of the TV.

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Emphasis on ---> when.....

crocheted peony brooch

As a teacher and now as a parent, I always love(d) when Teacher Appreciation Day rolled around (May 5) because I loved receiving tiny trinkets from such dear, dear students. But now as a parent, I love making these tiny trinkets of appreciation for our children's teachers.

For our son's teacher, I crocheted a fuchsia peony and added a vintage earring to the middle. And then my -aha!- moment -- I sewed fabric leaves that are actually these petals from this flower tutorial I did. Versatile. I like that!

So, Mrs. Friday -- this is in appreciation for all that you do!