June 26, 2013

"What a lovely idea," I thought.



So today I am joining along with Ginny's Yarn Along over at Small Things. This is the crochet pattern promised in the last post, a little handbag. It is written in American terms, but a terminology translation can be found here.

Ruffled Drawstring Bag
(4 ply yarn, about 3 oz; size F/5 3.75 mm hook)

With main colour, ch 6, sl st to form ring.
Rnd 1:  ch 1. 12 sc in ring. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 2: ch 2. 2 dc in each st around. sl st in ch-2.
Rnd 3: ch 1 *sc in first dc, 2 sc in next dc. repeat from * around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 4: ch 2. *dc in first two sc, 2 dc in next sc. repeat from * around. sl st in ch-2.
Rnd 5: ch 1. *sc in first three dc, 2 sc in next dc. repeat from * around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 6: ch 2. *dc in first four sc, 2 dc in next sc. repeat from * around. sl st in ch-2.
Rnd 7: ch 1. sc in each st around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 8: ch 2. dc in back loop only of each st around. sl st in ch-2.
Rnd 9: ch 2. dc in each st around. sl st in ch-2.
Rnd 10: ch 1. sc in each st around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 11: ch 2. dc in each st around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnds 12 & 13: ch 1. sc in each st around.sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 14: ch 3 tr in each st around. sl st in ch-3.
Rnds 15 & 16: ch 1. sc in each st around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 17: ch 2. dc in each st around. sl st in ch-2.
Rnd 18: ch 1. sc in each st around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnds 19 & 20: ch 2. dc in each st around. sl st in ch-2.
Rnd 21: ch 1. sc in each st around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 22: ch 1. *sc, ch 1, skip next st, repeat from * around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 23: ch 3. *dc in next ch-1 space, ch 1, repeat from * around. sl st in ch-2.
Rnd 24: ch 1. *sc in ch-1 space, ch 1, repeat from * around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 25: same as for rnd 23.
Rnd 26: same as for rnd 24.
Rnd 27: same as for rnd 23.
Rnd 28: same as for rnd 24.
Rnd 29: ch 1. sc in front loop only of each st around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 30: ch 2. * dc, ch 1 and skip next st, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next st, ch 1 and skip next st. repeat from * around. sl st in ch-1.
Rnd 31: ch 3. (dc, ch 1, dc) in ch-1 space. *ch 1, dc in next ch-1 space, ch 1, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next ch-1 space, ch 1, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next ch-1 space. repeat from * around. sl st in ch-2.
Rnd 32: ch 3. dc, ch 1, dc in next ch-1 space, ch 1. *(dc, ch 1, dc) in ch-1 space, ch 1, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next ch-1 space, ch 1, (dc in next ch-1 space, ch 1) 3 times. repeat from * around. sl st in ch-2. End off.
Rnd 33: Join with accent colour. ch 1, sc in each st around. sl st in ch-1. End off.

Handle: With accent colour, ch 200. Thread through rnd 27. sl st in first ch. End off, pulling both strings through loop.



As for the reading bit, I've been spending a lot of time with Bleak House by Charles Dickens on the kindle (my token bit of technology). I have enjoyed reading it so far, though I couldn't stop myself from watching the BBC miniseries. And somehow it didn't spoil it, which must be a sign of a good book.

June 23, 2013

I have not dropped off the face of the earth.


No I haven't. Promise. I've just been busy doing many uninteresting everyday things. Although I had a birthday, the camera never made it out so the whole day went undocumented. And it's funny, in that not-funny-but-odd sort of way, because as far as I can tell birthdays typically make one feel old, but mine only made me feel young and inexperienced.

So I did the obvious thing: I wrote my first crochet pattern. It was an idea for birthday presents for two little girls, and turned out much better than I had anticipated. The only hitch was writing it down in pattern form, since I just made it up as I went along the first time and had to figure out what I'd done afterward... Anyway, it is pretty much done now, and will be posted here within a few days.

June 6, 2013

Beautiful but dangerous




Behold, a very lovely trip to the hospital.

Last week I was at the beach, because it was actually not raining.  It was a nice day.  Well, you know, aside from the red and purple flags on the lifeguard station (meaning 'rip tide warning' and 'sea pests', respectively).  Since pretty much everyone else was in the water and not getting stung or swept under, I figured it was fairly safe.  About ten minutes after I got out of the water, this washed up on shore.  I promptly decided that I'd had enough of swimming for the day.

You may recognize it as a Portuguese man o' war, technically not a jellyfish but I can't remember what it really is.  I took a few classes in middle school at an oceanographic center, but the only thing I remember is that they had a live man o' war in a tank.  One of the teachers touched it with a pen and told us that the pen would then sting anyone who touched it.  Scary stuff, that.