I hate, hate, hate when a pattern turns out to be incorrect and chock full of errors! The niece's poncho pattern turned out to be a doozy. I was following that thing exactly and it refused to cooperate. I ended up switching patterns over to a tried and true and now it is going swimmingly. Here is where I am with it so far:

Poncho picture accidently removed by Carlin (even the Blog isn't safe)

I hate when crochet, one of the things in life I love to do the most, turns into this stress causing thing that totally turns me off. I don't need to create more stress for myself when what stress already exists is enough (did I use the word "stress" enough in this post?)
but, I digress...
Carlin went swimming at her friends house yesterday, spent all day (several hours) in the pool, got completely sunburned (even with her already caramel complexion I always admonish her to wear sunblock) and had scratchy feeling, light sensitive, still blurry eyes when she woke up this morning and stayed home from school today.
Too much of a good thing (except yarn) is never good.

Today is the day that 2 of the rat babies are being adopted. Yay! If you don't know the story....Carlin and I "rescued" the sweetest rat from the HELL that they call Petco, when we got her we asked them if there was any possible way that she could be pregnant. They said, "No, we seperate them very early." WRONG! So, now we are left in a position to find "forever homes" for them. If we take them back they will most likely become snake food and we don't want that to happen, sorry Dixie! we know how much you would appreciate that :-)

I started a poncho for my niece for a holiday present, she's 5 and loves pink...cotton candy pink to be exact (i'll post a picture when I get a bit farther with it.) I think probably scarves and hats will be made and given to most other people (Christine, email me with your email address, I don't have it!)although, my sister has also been hinting really hard for a poncho, so I may be making a few...we'll see.

Our friend Karen from the SnB has a birthday coming up...When you ask? I don't know! Must find out! Karen....

Today is Carlin's first day of the 7th grade...and here she is leaving the house at 6:30am!

Another one of the school districts great ideas in allieviating overcrowding. Early in, late out and really long vacations...In my opinion, the early/late days are not great for the kids...extracurricular activities are pretty much out of the question during the week, especially for Carlin and the kid's in her program...they have around 3 hours of homework, most days. Weekends are usually spent really tired and trying to catch up on sleep and more homework.

I've tabled the "Popcorn Stitch" scarf for now, I wasn't having fun with it. Now i'm sort of in a project limbo, though I could work on my "Ripple" but I think I need to start on some holiday gifts...

I had an opportunity to work on my 'popcorn cluster neck warmer' at the Sunday SnB yesterday...I'm going to do my best not to frog it again, it's not been my favorite project to do so far. I managed this time to get at least about 20 rows in. I think that might mean I'm officially committed to it's completion.

The Sunday SnB was a fun time yesterday...I think Carlin managed to work on my scarf for a sum total of like 10 minutes and then she was off to something a little more interesting...I can tell that she is truly bored with making it. She taught herself to knit a couple of months ago (is that all?) Seems like it's been a lot longer, she has a lot of projects started...Plus, things she is crocheting. Which means that my scarf, which was the 2nd thing she ever knitted, will get done when it get's done, and that is ok. I also had to promise her that if she actially knit a scarf for me I HAD to wear it the day it was finished no matter what the weather was...i'm thinking November might be better then say August! Although, now she's having visions of me wearing it to a Labor Day B'bq. Evil child.

Karen surprised me at the SnB yesterday by giving me a BUNCH of Cro-knit hooks, I have to say that I was truly touched and rendered speechless by her generosity. She and her daughter Cara are two truly wonderful people and I am glad to know them.

Before we actually even left Kaldi's, Carlin was already trying to teach herself to Cro-Knit, by the time we had actually gotten home and looked at www.stitchguide.com she had figured it out within minutes and then showed me. It is super fun and creates some beautiful stitches. I can't wait to do a project.

Karen also reminded me that the holidays are just around the corner, which was prefaced with the question, "what are we giving people."
now i'm n-e-r-v-o-u-s. I have to start planning that stuff all out! I had a panic attack last night, i'm not saying that was the reason, i'm actually not even sure why, but... 8-)

I started the 'cluster stitch' scarf today, it's a pattern from the Vogue: Crocheted Scarves book, easy straightforward pattern but I don't think today was a good day to start it. I'm "PMS"ing and when that happens I don't have the patience or coordination for small cluster stitches (not to mention, I feel REALLY sorry for Thomas and Carlin!)
I ended up 'frogging' it about 3 times, so tomorrow I may have to officially start over. I'll post a picture of it if I make any progress.

Went to the SnB last night and had a great time. Really nice bunch of people that attend and the conversations are always interesting. It's really become a sort of "right of passage" for Carlin and I. We love it, gets us out of the house and gives us perspective and inspiration when we see what others are working on.
I started a "ripple" afghan, this very opinionated women who teaches crochet and knitting once told me I should NEVER do a ripple afghan because SHE was personally sick of seeing people do them, well you know what? I'm making one by golly! My motivations behind it are that I like them and we actually have a need for some blankets for the cooler weather. Here's where I am with it, so far...



We are still trying desperately to find homes for the rat babies, who incidentally, are so cute and rambunctious... a friend of mine told her summer intern about the babies and she is adopting two. Yay!
The babies get to go and live in San Francisco, lucky babies!

So, I just whipped up a scarf for my mother's birthday. Easy, just single and double crochet, the yarn is really soft, and does not come from an animal, she's allergic...I hope she likes it. There is always a certain amount of anxiety for me when i've given something that I have made to someone, I think it's because subjectively, I am a "selective perfectionist." Which may be why I don't usually gift my things that i've made (i've been crocheting since the late 80's) I need to get over that.

Mom's Scarf