Art in the Plaza starting soon

This is for the folks in the Edmonton and surrounding areas.

Art in the Plaza is starting up again.  There are a few changes from last year.  It will still be held at the Community Centre at 2001 Sherwood Drive, Sherwood Park, but will be held in the East Plaza rather than the West Plaza.  This means we'll be visible from Sherwood Drive.

It'll be running on Saturdays instead of Sundays (which means the library will be open, too) from noon until 5pm.  June 15 is the first day and it will continue through to September 28.  More information is available at the Strathcona County website.

I don't know what is being done for advertising this year, as I don't live in Sherwood Park, but I did want to make sure that people know that this is an art market, not an art display.  Last year, we had people coming by expecting some sort of gallery type displays, which got rather confusing.

My daughter will be there with her paintings, I will have my own booth this year with my crochet, and I know of a couple of other artists from last year will be returning as well.  The only weekend we won't be there is during the Art Walk.  I won't be doing the Art Walk myself, but I'll be assisting my daughter again that weekend.

I hope to see some of you this summer! :-)

Free Crochet Pattern Book link

I just found a great looking pattern book available for free online.  It's 300 patterns, with photos of the patterns stitched, plus an International Stitch diagram.  There are no text descriptions at all. 

Enjoy! :-)

Saying Thanks

Things have been really busy lately, so posting is going to be a bit sparse.  Hopefully, I'll be able to do more mobile posting over the summer.  We shall see.

With two new additions to our household, we're all getting used to having younger children again!  Both my daughters have been great about helping their new "sisters" settle in.  My younger daughter has been really above and beyond, so today I got her a gift to say thanks.

While I was helping my older daughter with her first festival of the season - in pouring rain, no less - I had the opportunity to tuck into a local yarn shop I haven't been to in ages.  I found this.

I took this sad, inadequate little photo with my phone while we were still out, and it's now tucked away, so I'll have to look up the brand, etc. later on.  I do remember that it's 75% superfine merino wool, 25% silk.  It's 100g and 1,400m.



Yes, it's almost a kilometer and a half long and weights only 100 grams!!  The photo does not do the colour justice at all.  It's incredibly soft and luxurious, too. 
 

My daughter is thrilled with her gift!

Yogurt tub basket

Just finished sewing in the ends while waiting for my daughter's driving class to end.  Will update with a link to my source when I am on my desktop later on.


Made with a large yogurt tub and mason's line.


Sent from Anna's phone



Update: Oh, look!  A computer!


Here's the link where I got the idea for this container. 

My kids - especially my younger daughter - were sweet enough to use a Magic Eraser to take the print off the yogurt container.  Then I trimmed off the shaped bits at the top and used a hole punch to make the holes around the edge.  I really liked using mason's line for this project - it's really strong and not as slippery to work with as I was afraid it would be.  For the initial round of single crochet through the holes, I did [1sc, 2sc] around.  Thankfully, I had an even number of holes! *L*  After that, I worked sc in a spiral so there would be no seam.  After a few rounds, I did foundation single crochet for the handle, then sewed it to the opposite side.

At the last minute, I decided to hide the holes by doing a round of slip stitch, finishing off the last loop with a needle so that it looks seamless.  I like it much better than with the holes exposed.  It seems cleaner that way.

My first experiment with this was actually a 4L milk jug.  I thought the rounded corners would be okay.  It turned out all right, but I don't recommend using a milk jug.  Stick to round things. :-)

I'm not sure if I should call this a basket or a bucket or what.  *L*  It's just a handy little thing, though.  It even held my roll of mason's line for me while I worked, so it served as a yarn bowl as it was being made.

Definitely something I'll be making more of.

Is this awesome, or what?

My younger daughter recently completed a new shawl for her sister.  She bought herself a copy of Exquisite Crochet Shawls, and the pattern is the Galician Sea Shawl.

There were some minor modifications.  Instead of the recommended light worsted weight yarn in the book, she used, the medium weight Waverly for Bernat in Classic Navy.  She also used a larger 5.00mm hook. Because the yarn is a heavier weight and larger hook size, she made it several pattern repeats smaller than the pattern recommended.

Which, as you can see from the size of it, was a good idea!  Blocking it was a challange.  I don't have enough of those interlocking foam mats for something this size, so she had to make do.

The border rows alone took 1 1/2 balls of yarn, which means it took a total of 6 balls of yarn to make this shawl.

 Her sister loves it!

UPDATED: Class and $5 Yarn Night schedule

I've got my schedule for classes and $5 Yarn Nights at Michaels done up for the rest of the year.  I hear that Michaels will be having online registration for classes soon!  Should make things easier for everybody.

Class name and date	Times	Months
Single Crochet (Beginners 1)      First Friday of the month	3:00-5:30pm	May 3,  July 5, Sept. 6, Nov. 1
	5:30-8:00 pm	June 7, Aug. 2, no Oct, Dec. 6
Tall Stitches (Beginners 2)      Second Friday of the month	3:00-5:30pm	May 10, no July, Sept. 13, Nov. 8
	5:30-8:00pm	June 14, Aug. 9, Oct. 11, Dec. 13
Textured Stitches      Third Friday of the month	5:30-8:00pm	May 17, July 19, no Sept, Nov. 15
	3:00-5:30pm	June 21, Aug. 16, Oct. 18, Dec. 20
Granny Squares      Fourth Friday of the month	5:30-8:00pm	May 24, July 26, no Sept,  Nov. 22
	3:00-5:30pm	June 28, Aug. 23, Oct. 25, Dec, 27
Hooded blanket     Second Thursday of the month	3:00-5:30pm	June 13, Aug. 8, Oct. 10, Dec.12
	6:00-8:30pm	May 9, no July, Sept. 12, Nov. 14
Daisy Ring Rattle     Second Thursday of the month	6:00-8:30pm	June 13, Aug. 8, Oct. 10, Dec. 12
	3:00-5:30	May 9, no July, Sept. 12, Nov. 14
Lace Crochet Wrap      Third Thursday of the month	3:00-5:30pm	June 20, Aug. 15, Oct. 17, Dec. 19
	6:00-8:30pm	May 16, July 18, Sept. 19, Nov. 21
One Piece Granny Throw      Third Thursday of the month	6:00-8:30pm	June 20, Aug. 15, Oct. 17, Dec. 19
	3:00-5:30pm	May 16, July 18, Sept. 19, Nov. 21
Crochet gifts - Totes      Fourth Thursday of the month	3:00-5:30pm	May 23, July 25, no Sept, Nov. 28
	6:00-8:30pm	June 27, Aug. 22, Oct. 24, no Dec.
Time for Crochet - open      Fourth Thursday of the month	6:00-8:30pm	May 23, July 25, no Sept, Nov. 28
	3:00-5:30pm	June 27, Aug. 22, Oct. 24, no Dec.

$5 Yarn Nights: 

May 18, break for summer, Oct. 19, Nov. 16, Dec. 21

1:00 - 3:00pm

Simple Lap Blanket - free crochet pattern

I just finished writing up a pattern for a very simple seed stitch lap blanket, which is available here.

I made this using the new Luxury Wool yarn from Loops & Threads that Michaels has started to carry.  An excellent price for 100% wool!  Also, it took me quite a long time before my very mild wool allergy started to act up. 

I have three more balls of this yarn in blue and haven't decided what to do with it yet. 

Any suggestions?

Once again, here's the link for the free pattern.