Starflower Purse

In my June 23rd post this year, I suggested that crocheters find creative ways to design with motifs. Here is my second item made with that idea in mind. This purse is worked in Cotton Classic mercerized yarn. Small, simple flower motifs made from perle cotton were attached to the dark teal circles and then I crocheted the circles to the dark blue body of the purse with metallic embroidery floss. I love that the metallic embroidery floss sparkles under lights. I put the button closure at the back so as not to interfere with the design on the front. This purse is presently for sale on Etsy.

Baby Hands

Several days ago I had fun playing with my grandbaby in the car as her Mom ran errands. I began to move my hand to the music from the stereo, slowly weaving large arcs and little ones, sometimes letting my index finger lead the others in following a curve, other times letting pinkie choose its path. Kate seemed to enjoy following with her eyes. And then, in time to the music, I touched the tips of each of her outstretched fingers gently, one by one.

Today I read this from Wilma Ellersiek's Giving Love-Bringing Joy: "If careful, loving contacts are imprinted in the body, the child can also more easily establish a careful, nurturing relation with plants, animals, people and things in their surroundings."

Sill Sweater

It's done! My second sill sweater is finished. This one and the first one are both crocheted, having been inspired by knitter, Kristin Nicholas', work. First I played with graphing out some of the smaller stitch pattern possibilities, while working around the quirkiness of crochet. The very smallest patterns that are used in knitting don't look especially good in crochet; they become blurred in the highly textured nature of the fabric. I also needed to pay attention to which stitches were worked on a back side row and which were worked on the front. It was pretty easy to figure out the repeats since none of these patterns are complex.

Kristin doesn't tend to work with neutral colors but I wanted to see how cream colored yarn could be worked into my first piece. I used it in all the four-stitch checks. The effect reminds me of nautical signal flags.

Then I decided to try a second piece (at the top) in a more condensed colorway and make the sections a little longer. I find the densely packed color very exciting!

I completed each piece by sewing a 7 inch zipper into the seam, crocheting circles for the ends, making a drawstring muslin lining and filling it with dried baby lima beans. For more information about this project see my September 13 post.