I'm an intern!

I'm so excited and had to write about it.  As of today, I am the curriculum design intern at the Mexic-Arte Museum in downtown Austin for their massive Día de los Muertos festival!  As part of their celebration, they organize after-school programs to teach students about this part of Mexican art and culture.  --And they want me to re-design their curriculum, which will entail enough research to become and "expert" on the subject and building curriculum based on that knowledge.  Because their celebration is such a big event, they want it to have a firm educational foundation.  I love their vision and am thrilled to have the chance to work with them.

new direction

I've decided to shift this blog a little.  I have, so far, restricted my posts to projects only, which is a pretty narrow part of my days.  --And for that matter, a pretty narrow definition of what I enjoy of the arts.  And it has been boring.  Very boring.

Expect more variety and fun!  Like this, for example:

Yes, it is another picture of my silly cat (looking quite like a turtle this time), but what is important is that it is a project of mine in progress.  I'm making a rug out of fabric strips, and for some reason my cat is fascinated with it.  Especially sitting under it:

Scaredy turtlecat!

A Prayer in Spring

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfil.

-Robert Frost

I know Punxsutawney Phil says winter will continue, but the days in Texas are feeling more like spring is here, and I couldn't be happier.  I enjoy spring to the point of distraction.

Hope you enjoy your day, too.

saturday saturday

A bit of fun so that you can at least say your day was interesting:

My cat will not be limited by labels and stereotypes; he is a liberated feline who will drink from the toilet if he so desires!  Who says toilet water is only for dogs, anyway?

G'day!

a first attempt at houndstooth

I'm obsessed with houndstooth plaid and have been for my entire life.  I had some houndstooth shorts when I was in 5th grade.  The motif for my wedding is houndstooth.  I currently don a houndstooth coat on cold days.  I have houndstooth luggage.  Maybe that last one is a little absurd, but I like it.

Of course, it wouldn't be long until I started experimenting with houndstooth in my crochet.  I found instructions for knitting houndstooth, but because I have not yet (I stress yet) I tackled knitting, I have been working on translating that to crochet.  It's really not that hard, but it does look a little different that it would if it were knitted.

This is a picture of my first try:

I doubled the design of the knitting pattern, which made these rather huge checks.  With this try, I have carried one yarn under the opposite color, and unfortunately you can see the lighter color (pale blue) under the black.  I also think this big check looks a little too blocky for my liking. I have been working on another pattern (no pictures yet) and carried the spare color behind the work, which has been better, but it seems to me a little awkward when turning with all those threads on the wrong side of the work.  I think my next attempt will be using bobbins to make a piece that is reversible; perhaps that will alleviate some of the difficulties I'm having.

Spring classes begin in two days.  I'm not too thrilled, but I think this semester should be less stressful than last.  I've started learning Tunisian crochet, so I'm going to try to continue with that this semester.  I recently got five or six crochet books (both instructional and patterns) and I have a subscription to Crochet Today magazine; I think I'll have plenty of projects that I'll want to do.  Now to schedule the time to get to them!

Happy Sunday!

other projects

I forgot to post this picture in my post about my Christmas gifts.  I also made this slouchy earflap hat for my brother (modeled by Jeff):

This blanket was my very first crochet project.  I used a pattern for 6-inch squares, but I used a large yarn and 10.00 mm hook, and the squares are about 15 inches each.  I like the jumbo squares, and it makes up more like a quilt than a blanket.  Jeff and I re-used yarn from an old blanket of his, so I didn't have to buy very much new yarn.  Hurray Recycling!

There's an interesting story behind this picture.  This, as you'll notice, is a seven-sided hexagon.  I'm working on a colorful hexagon blanket from scraps, and I figure I'll just work on it gradually while I'm working on other projects.  I was making this hexagon while watching one of the presidential debates, and I got so flustered by one of the candidates that I didn't realize I had made it with seven sides until I tried to set it with my other hexagons.  Thus, the seven-sided hexagon coaster:

These are the rest of my hexagons.  It's slow-going, but eventually I'll get there:

And some classic granny squares that will also eventually be a blanket:

More to come!

Christmas projects, etc.

Well, as we ring in the new year, I have photos of the gifts I made for Christmas.  I know, try to control your excitement!

First, a picture of me wearing a hat I made for myself.  This wasn't a gift, but I made one like it for a friend:

Next, the cowl I made for my father, the hunter, in camo, of course (modeled by my fiancé, Jeff):

A cute buttoned hat/scarflette for my cousin:

A purse for Jeff's younger sister (this picture is before I added a row of black around the edges).  Unfortunately, you can't really see the buttons in this picture, but they are a white rose, blue/white plaid round, and a gold round button:

The UT scarf I made for Jeff's mother:

A lumberjack hat, pattern from Crochet Today authored by this blogger, for Jeff's brother, Kevin:

And the most time-consuming of my gifts, a giant granny square blanket I made for my mother:

I have several other projects in the works right now.  I will post pictures when they are finished.  Our camera was being fixed for about a month, so updates will be more regular now.

Happy New Year!

-Laura