Fiddle-dee-dee

I've been pretty out of touch for the last little while, mainly because our family was really involved in putting on a production of R&H's Cinderella.  It was really quite a lot of fun.  Mom was the stage manager.  Dad was in it (he danced and was a cobbler's apprentice) and helped with the set pieces.  I worked stage left, keeping track of the props, helping the kids, checking costumes, making sure nobody missed their cues, et cetera.  My feet got really sore.  Ashleigh was Queen Constantina:

Constantina Charlotte Ermintrude Gwindyvere Maisie Marguerite Anne

We all had a lot of fun; it's kind of sad that it's over, especially for Ashleigh.  But there shall always be other plays, I suppose...

Me and Clara.  She was a baby mouse -- so cute!

To tie up some loose ends, for Halloween, I ended up whipping together an angel costume.  It seemed appropriate since I was teaching Sunday School that day.  Oh, and by the way, remember that blue and bronze hat?  Voila:

I finished it about a month ago.  Crocheting is now going very well for me.  Just, please, ignore the fact that this is a terrible photograph of me.  I've also made another hat, and I'm working on making Ashleigh a hat.  Hers is a pretty, light blue, with a dark blue flower on it.  Maybe I'll be able to get a photo of that when it's finished.  After that, I'm making a scarf.  It's getting cold around here, so these things are necessary!

I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter seven; did you see it?

And with that... I'm going to watch the Music Man with Zac.

Crocheting: An Adventure in FUN.

Just to update you on the status of my teach-yourself-to-crochet endeavor, I can now say that things are going swimmingly.  I have mastered the single crochet stitch, the half double crochet stitch, the double crochet stitch, and the triple crochet stitch, as well as a type of edging called picot.  This afternoon, I've been working on learning the "Little Fan Stitch," which I think is every bit as cute as it sounds like it would be.  You can see an example of everything except the Little Fan Stitch in this swatch, which I am proudly displaying.  That's the picot trim, by my nose; it's all nice and wavy:

I think that as far as getting started goes, it was quite a bit tougher than knitting, but now that I semi-know what I'm doing, I finally understand why Grandma said it would be easier.  Also, when I poke the hook up through the yarn, it always looks (to me) like a sea monster's head bobbing above the water.  I thought that was appropriate to mention on this blog.

In other adventurous news: this morning I was woken up by a trash can hitting the house just under my window.  It's been extremely windy and stormy all day long.  I'm going to go for a walk.

I guess I'd better start  bundling up.

(Good thing I bought EAR MUFFS.)

I'll post photos of the Little Fan Stitch when I finish with a swatch of it.

Also, the entire upstairs portion of our house smells like paint because we're making props for a production of R&H's Cinderella, which Ashleigh is in - she's Queen Constantina.  Today, we painted fake big wheels of cheese.  I think this gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "stinky cheese."  Also, that probably has a lot to do with why I want to get out of the house... phew.

Crocheting: An Adventure in FRUSTRATION.

Last night, I went to the store.  It was extremely dark and foggy, but I live fairly near the North Pole, and so, these things are not that unusual around here.  Braving the chill, I was able to make my goal of purchasing some Teach-Yourself-To-Crochet materials.

So far, things have pretty much gone like this:

Yes, at first, I was very confused.

Then I sort of mastered the Single Chain stitch deal.

I felt pretty good about that.

But now, I am attempting to learn the Half Double Chain stitch deal.

This is not so good, and has resulted, more or less, in a lot of this:

Me: Why don't you cooperate, Crochet Hook.

Crochet Hook: Because I don't want to.

Me: I will break you in half.

Crochet Hook: No, you won't.  You paid four bucks for me.

Me: ^%^&$%%&*&%@##$@*

Yeah, so far, all I have to show for HOURS of work is this small fabric swatch, which proves that I can at least crochet the single chain:

Yeah, sad as it is, I'm pretty proud of that little swatch.  Although, to tell you the truth, I probably didn't even do that right.  Le sigh.

Some days, you know?

Probably the best thing to do would be to find someone who actually understands how to crochet, the problem there being that everyone I know knits, not crochets.

Before she passed on, our dear grandmother was going to teach me how to crochet.  I never got the chance to learn from her, but boy, would that have been a dream!  She's the one who told me that learning to crochet would be easier than learning to knit.  To which I emphatically say, 'Huh?'

Alright, I guess I'll give my poor hands a break and get ready for Nate's cello concert.

Hoot.

This is a mask.  It is gorgeous.  I want it.  I also really want to learn to sculpt masks from leather.  These are incredible.  I'm partial to owls, but there are many amazing animals in their shop.  I'm just so impressed by these; I thought I'd share.

Also, in case you're wondering about the process as much as I am/ for my own future reference, I am including a handy link to a tutorial on making leather masks.  Maybe I'll do it someday.  I also think just learning to work leather, maybe making leather bracelets or something, would be fun.

Today, however, my goal is to learn how to crochet.  We'll see.

I mean, I guess that's more of a long-term goal, but my plan is to at least START today.

It's raining out, so it's a good day to put this plan into action.

This goal stems from my love of hats.  I really want to make a dark blue/bronze one.

I already have too many hats.  But they're SMALL.  I can stuff them all in one drawer.  It's less of a problem than if I collected jeans, or something.  Those take up a lot of room.

I would, ahem, like to point out that I live in Alaska.  Hats are very practical here.

Someday, I'll also crochet an afghan.

Simple goals, really.

On the plus side, I've heard that crocheting is easier than knitting.  And I already know how to knit, and that isn't so hard!  So this crocheting thing is going to be easy-peasy, right?  Right.

Oh.  And I'm also making chicken and dumplings for dinner.

It just seems like an appropriate sort of thing to do on a wet, cold, fall day like today, don't you think?

Plus, I have a delicious chicken and dumplings recipe.

Plus, for some reason, cooking chicken and dumplings makes me feel like Ma from the Little House series.  I'm not sure why.  I don't think she ever even made chicken and dumplings.

It just does, okay?

It looks like I might have a busy day at home, after all.