Hop on the Bus, Gus

Click on the title of this post to see this pattern. It is my latest FO and my crocheted scarf entry in the Lake County Fair. Wouldn't you agree that it's an apropo design for a school teacher? I'm thinking about embroidering the name of our school corporation on the side of the bus just like our real ones. I will probably raffle it off as a class fundraiser once school starts. We'll see.

Lace Leaves Scarf

I decided to make this as my entry in the knitted scarf division at the Lake County Fair. I finished blocking it this morning. I used the Yarn Harlot's suggestion. It saved me from spending an insane amount of money on steel blocking rods. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Watercolor. I loved how the yarn looked on the Yarn Grove's website so I bought it. They offer free shipping so what the heck! I really like how it turned out.

Well, It's about time the hostess got in on this!

I am hosting this month's -along at get Stitchy! I know I should have posted this a few weeks ago. Bad girl! Bad girl! It's been fun so far. We are creating items for those with the XY chromosomes. I've been slow to make something. I think I'll call E and ask if he'd like anything special this month. He is my godson, after all. In the meantime, I took this -along as a chance to make a rabbit for J, my four-year-old nephew. He has imaginary rabbits so Cleo asked if I'd make him a "real" one. Here's his "real" rabbit. I added eyes to it since I took the picture. Cleo gets weirded out by faceless creatures.

Spring Felted Bag Exchange

I got my first package from my pal in the Spring Felted Bag Exchange. It's almost like the girl knew me! Here's a picture. The yarn is her own handspun wool/silk blend. It's 110 yards. I don't know what I'm going to make with it, but whatever it is, it will be for ME!




Just look at this gorgeous yarn!!



In addition, she sent some goodies for D, too. Here they are, yarn and stitch markers. He'll be so happy when I send them along.



What I think is so funny about this package is the fact that I told Lisa that I wanted to Mex out my place. You know, give the decor a touch of my heritage. If you look closely at the lower left-hand corner, you'll see the ceramic jar that my pal used to hold the stitch markers she made me. It is so perfect for my decor plans. Check out the close-up.



Secondly, the notecards and notepad she sent (bottom row of items in the next pic) match perfectly with the notebook and pen that the PTA gave me for Teacher Appreciation Week.





Spring Felted Bag Exchange Pal,
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! The gifts were wonderful. I can't wait to start using them. You know, a knitter can't have too many stitch markers (especially if she's working on the clapotis). I love all the goodies. I used one of the notecards to explain to D why I'm sending this extra yarn to him along with the yarn he forgot at school on the last day. He'll be as thrilled as I am. Thanks again.

I almost forgot

I did make myself a fat-bottomed bag with the leftover cotton from the stained glass flower potholder. Here it is.




Here's the lining I chose.



I even made a cell phone holder from the leftovers.

First Official Weekend of Summer Vacation and...

I've started stitching like the yarn ho that I am.

I crocheted a skull potholder. I took the idea of the skullholder from the Stitch 'N Bitch Happy Hooker book and used this graph from the bag I made Sandra for her birthday. Methinks this will be the potholder I enter in the Lake County Fair.


I started working on Short 'n Sweet from the Stitch 'N Bitch Happy Hooker book about a week and a half ago. I chose dusty pink yarn because that's what I had at home and, truth be told, I needed to get rid of some stash yarn. I hope the pictures are clear enough. Taking pictures of yourself is a pain. My arm only stretches so far from my torso. The sweater isn't blocked yet because I was so excited to try it on and because I'm not really sure how to block it. I don't make garments very often.


Left side...


Right side...


I also started working on a scarf for the knitted scarf section of the Lake County Fair. It's the Lace Leaves scarf from HeartStrings FiberArts. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Watercolor. I've completed 3 of 12 repeats.

My crocheting made the newspaper...sorta

Actually, a picture of one of my students playing Juliet in our annual Shakespeare production appeared in the local newspaper. In the picture she's wearing the Juliet cap I crocheted for her. I let her keep it. I'll make another one next year for the next Juliet. That's it for the fiber connection.



Our sixth grade classes performed abridged versions of Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream for the second year in a row. It started a couple of years ago when Scrappy and I decided to have our classes perform at Washington Park on the stage behind the greenhouse two years ago. Last year, the sixth grade team (Go, team!) decided to each take a play and perform. Shakespeare in the Park was born. Unfortunately, it rained on us (Did somebody utter the name Macbeth?) and we had to hoof it back to school. We performed in the auditorium. This year we didn't want to take any chances with the weather so Shakespeare in the Park became Shakespeare in the House.

We gave two perfomances. The first was at 9:00 AM for classes at school and parents who couldn't make the noon performance. We had a packed house. The sixth-grade actors were magnificent. The grandfather of a boy in the 6-2 class came to the 9:00 show and asked what time the second performance was. He returned with two more relatives for that show. That little boy must have been so proud of himself. They made the sixth-grade team of teachers look like the most awesome teachers ever! The noon show was covered by the newspaper and by our local cable channel 21 for broadcast beginning next week. I swear I got all choked up and almost cried as I introduced Romeo and Juliet to the audience. I can't tell you how proud of them I am.

Here is the entire cast of the 6-1 production of Romeo and Juliet. The other picture is one of the lead actors.