Ocean Swells Afghan

I had great intentions of making my mother- and father-in-law a crocheted blanket for Christmas.  I wanted it to be special.  After giving it thought and looking at many pictures of crocheted blankets, I found the perfect pattern (in a book I did not own, but I found on amazon).  I decided I wanted it to be done in a neutral color and silver seemed to be a great idea.  But for some reason the perfect shade of silver kept eluding me.  Finally I took a chance on a shade in KnitPicks Brava.  I ordered the yarn and in early December it came.   Plenty of time, I thought.

The stitch pattern is called Ocean Swells and the book it is found in is:  Crochet: The Complete Guide by Jane Davis. ISBN: 9780896896970.  This is a book of stitch patterns (not patterns of finished objects), so figuring out how to get the stitch pattern into a full size afghan took some thinking and some calculating, then finally crocheting, and ripping out, and crocheting again.  At last, I got it down.  It was exciting to watch it grow.

Well...as it turns out, December is a terrible time to begin a large crochet project of a new pattern.  Especially if the pattern is the least bit challenging.  Especially if you want to give it as a Christmas gift.  But I gave it all I had.  For weeks, I crocheted.  And ripped out mistakes.  And crocheted some more.  It was, I think, less than a week before Christmas when I finally realized that I could crochet every free hour I had and I was not going to be able to complete this blanket in time.  So I quit.

Well...I didn't exactly quit, but I freed myself of the expectation that I would finish in time for Christmas.  I took it slower and enjoyed the process instead of frantically crocheting my fingers off.  And I enjoyed that last week before Christmas - promising never again to put off starting such a large project until December.

I finished it after the New Year and decided that it would instead, make a great birthday gift for my mother-in-law. Good thing I had let go of the idea of it being a Christmas gift, because much to my dismay it needed blocking when it was finished.  I've never before had to block an afghan so I don't know whether it was the Brava yarn or the pattern that make this afghan not lay smoothly.   While I've blocked small objects, blocking a blanket was new to me.  And of course, I procrastinated.  Once I bit the bullet, though, it wasn't so hard.  It was just big.  And blocking did the trick.  YAY!

 

Yes, I know it's not laid out smooth in the picture, and the pretty top and bottom edges don't show, but blocking really opened up this, almost, lacy pattern.   Someday, maybe, I think I'll try this pattern in another yarn to see if it behaves differently.

Finally, it was ready to go and I'm happy to say it was a hit!

Happy Birthday, Mom B!

 

The Vikings Are Coming...

No more beard envy

The Play's The Thing...

Having graduated our youngest I thought I'd share some highlights of Ben's high school years - which largely included being part of the SEEK Drama Troupe.  

SEEK is a high school co-operative made up of homeschooling families from all around central Indiana.  Its emphasis is on teaching high school level academics, but Drama, while less academic than some offerings, is possibly its greatest treasure - though admittedly I may be bit biased since I've been privileged to see behind the scenes of many of the plays produced.  

In addition to some minor productions at church or in smaller homeschool group settings, Ben participated in six major high school drama productions.  While my role has been minor, I've been thankful for the opportunity to work behind the scenes and see this wonderful (sometimes crazy) world of collaboration that had before been a complete mystery to me. 

I've worked in make-up, assisting the director, and sometimes just taking photos.  While the intense experience of working on high school dramas is now behind us, it's all been a great learning experience for Ben, and while at times stressful, mostly great fun for me.

For some reason, we don't have any good pictures of Ben's first drama, A Christmas Carol, but Ben made a most extraordinary ghost of Jacob Marley in December of 2010:

And here he is, after the play, with Grandpa & Granny B, and Aunt Amy: 

Determined that we wouldn't find ourselves without pictures of future dramas, I became an unofficial house-photographer of the rest of the plays Ben was in.  No one asked me, but neither did I ask if I could do it.  That's the way we homeschoolers roll sometimes.

I soon discovered how difficult it is to get good pictures in a dark room when everyone I'm trying to take pictures of keeps moving.   To do this really well, a full practice needs to be devoted to picture taking and actors, at times, "frozen" for shots - which I have since learned is how the professionals do it.  

Ah well...in spite of the difficulties, and my amateur-ness, I persevered - taking a lot of terrible shots, but by the time Ben's drama days were coming to close I finally had begun to get this picture taking thing down.   

Well, okay...I had improved slightly.  

Or gotten really lucky a few times.

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In the fall of 2011, Ben played Oberon in a Midsummer Night's Midterm.

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In the spring of 2012, Ben was in Somebody Say Glory (a play written about five young missionaries who were killed by the Ecuador Aucas in 1956 - that's a woefully inadequate summation of the story, but so that I can get on with the pictures that will have to suffice for now).   Ben played missionary, Jim Elliot.

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The next play Ben was in was in the Spring of 2013 when SEEK put on the hilarious drama, The Mouse That Roared.  Ben played the character, Benter: 

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In the Fall of 2013, the SEEK Drama Troupe put on a rip roaring melodrama called The Saga of the Golden Horseshoe.  Ben took on the role of Professor Roseloa (a detective in the disguise of a fortune teller):

This play was performed in the old Crump Theatre in Columbus, Indiana.  The theater is purported to be haunted and I can attest to it being a totally spooky place to work in, but it was a fabulous venue for this particular production.  It was also cold.  During the weeks in November the kids had no heat for their practices and they soldiered on admirably.

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And Ben's final high school drama was an adaptation of Cinderella called If The Shoe Fits.  Ben played the scrappy Python, leader of a misfit gang that was, in the end, defeated by the court's "ladies in waiting".

There are lots more pictures, but these give a glimpse into the fun SEEK drama was for Ben.  Lots of life lessons learned and friends made.  And a hugely valuable part of Ben's high school years.  We will long be grateful for the directors and other adults who work tirelessly with the students to produce some amazing productions.

Using my stash

I'm participating in my first CAL (Crochet A-Long) online and the pattern we are working on together is a corner to corner crochet stitch.  Some are making blankets, some are making washcloths.  After looking through my stash of yarn and playing around with different colors I finally settled on using my skeins of Lion Brand Tweed Stripes yarn and making a pillow.

Actually, I had previously made a cowl with the yarn and while I loved it, I discovered that I don't look so great in a cowl (at least not the bulky one I made).  It was a sad day to rip that lovely thing out, but I'm happy again seeing this pillow I can enjoy everyday!

Why Do We Do Art?

I don't know how I stumbled upon this video and I have no real context for this short speech. It's a rather unassuming little talk and the speaker ends rather abruptly, but about half-way through this lady, Judy Martin, speaks to my heart about "why we do art".   Do you have a need to create?  And do you sometimes struggle with justifying time, effort, and money spent on creative pursuits?

Maybe Ms. Judy Martin will touch your heart a little like she did mine: