They're In!

Got a knock on the door this evening, where I found a UPS driver with an envelope for me.

My Crochet Instructors certificate and pin came in!  Whoot!!

Celebration Time!

After way too long, I finally finished part 2 of my crochet course!  The last project was finished about a week ago, but I needed to finish converting my notes into lessons, patterns, etc., print it all out and put it all together.

Finishing required commandeering the computer for the day and pretty much kicking the family out so I could work on it uninterrupted.  Good gosh!  I just looked at the time.  I've been working on this for almost 8 hours straight!



Mind you, I did have some interruptions.  I set up a small table beside the computer chair to spread my binders and stuff out.  That required closing the drawer we usually have our older cat's bed set up (yes, we're sucks).  She was quite unhappy with the situation and plunked her but down right on my notes in protest.  I wasn't able to get a shot, but the other cat promptly jumped up to see what the big deal was. 



And here it is!  I've got all but two of the samples in small Ziploc bags that were hole punched to fit in my lesson binder.  The sweater and sampler pillow case are too big to fit into the binder with them.

Now I just have to find a box big enough to fit it all and mail it off.

It feels so good to finally have this finished!!

More photos here.

Art in the Plaza

Set up at Art in the Plaza in Sherwood Park again.  Hope to see some of you here! :-)

Yarny Love

Ah, finally - a blog post not done on my phone!

Summer is the busiest time of year for us, and for the next while I will be joining my daughter at Art on the Plaza, sharing her booth with my crochet.

My birthday was during the Art Walk (which was fabulous, even with all the rain on the last day!), so today my daughters took me out to get my birthday gift.  They were originally planning to pool their resources and get me a tajine, but they're prohibitively expensive and not many places carry them, or have them in stock, so they took me to River City Yarns, instead.  This is what they got me...

Eighteen balls of Phildar Recif multicolour in Savane, a self striping yarn made in Belgium (French language website)

The downtown River City Yarns is in the process of moving to a new, larger location in the West End, so the downtown store was almost completely empty when we got there.  There were quite a few kits and some other yarns, and sale tables.  The sale items were all at least 25% off, or 50% off if you bought at least 10.  It was so difficult to choose!  In the end, I decided to pick up all they had left in this colorway.  That way, there's enough yarn for me to make pretty much anything I decide on.  The girls had one restriction placed on their gift.  I have to use it to make something for myself!  Most of the things I make are either gifts, samples or sale.  Other than winter hats and the like, or things like can cozies or table mats, I have nothing for myself.

This yarn is 70% acrylic, 25% coton and 5% polyester, gentle wash and lay flat to dry.  Each ball is 50g, 112m.  I am thinking of using it to make either a top out of it, or a shrug or cardigan - something lighter for summer use.

While we were there, my younger daughter picked up a ball of yarn for herself.

Frill Seeker by Estelle, Precious Metal, Q50901.  Another hand wash, lay flat to dry, it's 90% acrylic, 10% polyester, with about 60 meters in a 200g ball - enough to make two narrow scarves.  She's broken out the knitting needles already! 

Now to look for pattern ideas.

My kids sure know how to make their mom happy!

It's Raining, It's Pouring

A quick dash into the rain to get a shot of today's lay out.  It is supposed to rain all day, but the artists are a hardy bunch!  Grab your umbrellas and rain coats and check out the Whyte Ave Art Walk!

Change it up

Second day of the Art Walk.  Trying a different configuration inside.  Still have time to tweak.

Set up

My daughter's booth, all set up.  :-)

Whyte Ave. Art Walk

This weekend, beginning on Friday the 13th (and my birthday!) I will be spending most of it as my daughter's go-fer at the 17th Annual Whyte Ave Art Walk.  We're really looking forward to it!  There will be hundreds of amazing artists showing, demonstrating and selling their work.

Here's a map showing where the artists will be set up.  My daughter's booth will be in the green striped area between 103 St (Gateway Blvd) and 102 St.

It's expected to be a hot weekend, though not quite as hot as it has been in the last few days, so be sure to put on the sun screen, wear a hat, stay hydrated, and enjoy the weekend!

Art on the Plaza

My daughter and some of her paintings in Art on the Plaza.  It was a bit of a challenge setting up in pouring rain, but things have cleared up, and the winds have calmed down.  Looking like it will be a good day, after all!