Great Grandma's communion purse...

So, here it is. While I was reorganizing my basement (in what seemed like a never-ending task) I came across this little purse that brought back childhood memories for me and again, made me wish I had learned the needlearts crafts from my family memories instead of fumbling along like I did and still am. This adorable little purse was made for me by my non-english speaking Great Grandmother (she was straight from Sicily). She barely spoke when I saw her, only really said my name, "Christina," when I saw her but there was something about her that I found calming. She was a real matriarch and unfortunately, with her death, died the idea of matriarch in our family. She crocheted this little purse for me for my 1st Holy Communion and at the time, I knew it was really special, b/c she had made it, but also b/c she was really old when she did (I wonder how old she really was at the time, but as a kid, I remember her being "really old.") It is adorable with a little rosette sewn in the center, and it is lined in white cotton. I remember when I got it, my mother telling me that it was really special and that I had to take extra good care of it. I'm shocked that I still have it and very thankful that I do, b/c unfortunately, I had and still have a HUGE tendency to be absent-minded and lose things. Thank goodness, this little purse was spared of my faults.
When I look at this purse, it makes me think back to that day of communion-I was so excited to wear my little veil and fancy dress and my mom was going to curl my hair like some lady named Farah Fawcett, and I was going to have tissues and a dollar in my purse for church. I also think about how my great-grandma knew how to both knit and crochet and what skills she had and how all of my older aunts and my grandma could knit/crochet ANYTHING and I never thought to ask them to teach me. I so wish I had...
Someday, I'm going to teach my daughters how to knit/crochet and someday they are going to thank me for that-not that I need that. But hopefully, they will grow to love creating things with sticks and string as much as their mommy does. Someday too-in the next few years, my daughters will use this cute little purse for their Holy Communions and they will know to "take extra special care of it" b/c their great, great grandma made it for them.

Yep-new post, b/c it's raining outside!!

So....in the world of yarn, what have I been up to?
I've been crocheting up a storm!! Finished off another pair of booties and I've twerked so many patterns here and there, I'm thinking that I should probably just write out what I've been doing so that I can do it again. I also have been printing out a billion-I want-this-now patterns, including a few that I purchased from Etsy. Among them are these:

1. Petit Chou yet another cute bootie pattern-this one is knit
2. Stitch Diva Studios-to make the Evening bag with my one skein of Lousa Harding's sari ribbon yarn...and some grecian headbands for the girls...
3. Oma House Slippers-really hoping this pattern is a good one so that I can make some cute slippers for all of the girls in my life! Also bought her Pleated bag pattern and completed it-it is TERRIFIC!! I will definitely make more for gifts and am hoping to make a larger one for my mom's birthday....
4. Shetland Shorty-b/c this little wrap is so cute for summer-I want one in many colors!! Can be found on knitty.com summer o8
5. Coachella-I made one of these last summer and am hoping to make one again using Louisa Harding's Fauve yarn-I've got a bag of it sitting here staring at me. I've had that darn bag almost a year-needs to be used soon....

Now-I know, I already have projects on tap like the girls summerlin dresses (cast on but didn't go that far yet-I got distracted) and the clapotis (yawn for right now) but I have knitting ADD for sure-just ask my husband...he gets me...

What I have noticed is the pull of the crochet hook lately....I feel like crocheting more than knitting (GASP) I really NEVER thought that could or would happen to me but it is.....Crochet is just so fun and summer friendly I believe, b/c of it's airy-ness in the stitches and the fact that it really is so much faster! Where knitting tends not to really show off cottons to the best of its abilities, crochet does-those tight little single crochet stitches are addictive!! So, right now, I am experiencing the push and pull of knitting vs. crochet.....we'll see which needlecraft reigns soon enough!!

Yep-it's been a long time...

since I was here. Way too much has been happening for me to be able to keep up with it all on here, so I will give in snippets.

As for knitting, still plugging along with the clapotis, but other teeny, instant gratification-I-need-a-gift-in-a-few-hours projects have popped up and in the way. I also managed to knit up a shop sample for the LYS, 4 Corners of Artful Living (which is now called 4 Corners Yarn shop) in Narrowsburg, NY. I did the Anthro-inspired capelet, basically b/c it's been in my queue forever, I had pretty bulky yarn to use up and show off for the shop and it was a quick two nights of TV knitting to bang out that baby. Nice!! I added a quick crochet brooch to the collar that can be taken off and voila!-Sample done!
I did another pair of Saartje's booties for a friend who had a baby girl-came out cute with little daisy buttons, and also managed to squeak out a crocheted clutch. All the clutch needs is the silk lining that I plan on sewing into it to keep items from slipping out of my single crochet stitches. A little tidbit on the silk.....cutting up a HUGE silk, beaded poncho that I splurged on while pregnant with my 2nd child. This poncho is maternity so it has a lot of fabric to it and it is in such a cool pattern, it had to be used for something good!!! Will post a pic of the finished product as soon as I'm done. The pattern was a freebie from LionBrand and I used cotton-ease....

Now-to vent for a sec....
I approached the powers that be in my private community about teaching a knitting course for kids this summer. Wrote up the entire course-what would be covered, what would be accomplished, hoping to validate why I would charge the fee that I said for the week-long, 2 hour a day course....heard nothing back from them for the last two weeks. I honestly was just getting over the fact that they didn't want me to do it, when my mother calls up to tell me that it is posted in the community newspaper as "Crochet Boot Camp" for kids-what??? Now we all know, only someone not versed in the needlearts could screw up the word crochet with knitting, but what adds insult to injury is that I gave them all of that stuff and they obviously didn't read it. When I spoke to a woman on the phone about it, she said, "Oh Honey, the young moms here-all they wanna do is sit on the beach with their kids and do nothin' all summer-they don't want to knit"-nice....Did she not remember that I AM a young mother and I am offering this to them?? Ugh....why did I bother??

Ok-that's enough of that-hey-anyone see the CUTE bags from hockeyknittingmom on etsy? She's awesome-really mixes fabrics, GOOD FABRICS, nicely!! Check her out...

Ok-hubby's home now-time to cuddle. Enough said.