Back at it

After several weeks of travel, and a severe case of exhaustion, I was having trouble getting back into my crocheting groove. Then I got an e-mail featuring some new colors of Bernat Baby that I just had to have!

So today we went off to Michaels - despite the fact that I have a full closet of yarn at home. Wouldn't you know, they didn't have the new colors in stock. I did buy some TLC Baby Amore in the baby print color. On the way out of the store, I passed a display of the cutest Knitpickers tote bags and yarn storage. I saw this little skein holder and just loved it, but I have so many tote bags for my crochet and really didn't need it. Hubby saw how much I liked it, so he bought it for me. I Love it!!

This picture shows the color I got. It's perfect for a skein or a few balls of yarn. A center pull ball feed easily out of the top, and the bag keeps the yarn clean and neat.

So tonight, I'm using my new bag and my new yarn, and happily making a baby sweater for Marine Corps Kids.

Looks like Wormie got her groove back!

Intolerant

Normally I post here about my crochet projects. I've been traveling quite a bit on business, and haven't crocheted nearly as much as I would like, so I don't have any projects to post about. Instead, I'm going to post about something that's been on my mind.

I like to think of myself as a fairly open-minded and tolerant person, but lately I find myself feeling rather intolerant and it's disturbing. I'm intolerant with all the intolerance that I've been subjected to. Lately I've felt bombarded with intolerance, narrow-mindedness, and outright hatred, and it's making me irritable.

This country was founded on the principals that all men are equal yet lately I've seen a trend towards separatism and intolerance based on race, culture and religion. This country once prided itself as being a great melting pot. A place where people of any race, religion, or culture could live together in peace. A place where we respected our unique differences and embraced our commonalities. What happened to that?

Maybe I've been blind or maybe I've been lucky because I didn't grow up seeing a lot of hatred and intolerance. Now I do, and frankly it scares me.

I had a religious upbringing. I was taught what my family believed and how we practiced our religion, and that others practiced in their own way. One wasn't better than the other. One wasn't right or wrong - we just had different beliefs and different ways of expressing them, but they were all based on goodness. I was taught to respect others' beliefs. In the past few weeks on many occasions I've been confronted about religious differences and how there is only one right way to think, pray or believe. Frankly, that offends me.

In the past few weeks I have seen spam e-mail spewing horribly hateful white supremest ideas. E-mail so hateful to so many different ethnic, religious, and cultural groups that I wonder who that hateful author has left not to hate.

So I have lost my tolerance. I'm angered and disgusted by the bigotry that I see around me. I still believe that most people are good. I still believe that respecting one another, respecting our earth and our environment, and living for a greater good beyond one's own well-being are the things that make a person good. The color of one's skin, the house of worship that one chooses, the language that one speaks doesn't make a person good or bad - their actions do.

So, I'm questioning the goodness of those around me who preach intolerance, and I'm saddened.

Today is Memorial Day - a day for us to honor the memory of those who fought for our freedoms. They fought for us to have a better country and a better world. Hatred and bigotry will keep us from achieving their goals. They deserve better than this.

Fun Weekend

We had a lovely weekend visiting with family and friends! My niece Jessica celebrated her 30th birthday last week, and her mom threw her a surprise party. We were delighted to celebrate with her and spend some time with her extended family. Of course that means we got some fun time with my Great-niece Livie who is just precious in every way ( I may be biased, but photos don't lie!)

I made good use of the drive up to visit them by crocheting a Short and Sweet Child's Cardigan for Livie. I think it may be a while before she grows into it, but I just loved this pattern. It was fast and easy to make (I finished it in about 4 hours) and it's a really cute design. I'm sure I'll be making this pattern again. I used Bernat Cotton Tots yarn which worked well, but made the finished sweater a bit larger than I planned.

On Sunday, we met my mother-in-law and went out for a nice lunch. We didn't get to see my mom for Mother's Day, but we'll get to see her next weekend when we're in NY to celebrate my nephew's 8th birthday with him.

Lot's of great celebrations this month! Birthdays (my niece, my nephew, my sister and her husband), Mother's Day, Graduations. There's so much to be happy about!

Here Comes The Sun

Spring is in the air! The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming and it's time to put away the cold weather gear and get ready for summer.

Babies need sun hats, so I designed this simple cap to protect the little ones from the strong summer rays.

P, the cutest sheep in the world, is modeling my new Here Comes the Sun Baby Cap. This is a very fast and easy cap to make.


The pattern is below:

Here Comes the Sun – Baby Cap

By Wormie

You can make this cap with the yarn of your choice and a G Hook.

As a sun cap, I think that this hat lends itself to cotton yarns, but you can use other sport or baby weight yarns for cooler weather caps.

This yellow cap was made with Peaches and Cream Cotton.

To Begin,
Chain 4, join to form a loop.

Row 1) chain 3, 11 DC in loop, slip stitch to join (12 DC)

Row 2) Chain 4, sc in next stitch, *Chain 3, sc in next stitch*, repeat ** all the way around. Slip stitch in first loop to join. ( 12 loops )

Row 3) Chain 3, 2 dc in first loop (counts as 3 DC), 3 DC in each loop around. Slip stitch to join (36 DC)

Row 4) Chain 4, skip the next stitch, sc in next stitch, *chain 3, skip the next stitch, sc in the next stitch*, repeat ** all the way around. Slip stitch to join (18 loops)

Row 5) Chain 3, 2 dc in first loop (counts as 3 DC), 3 DC in each loop around. Slip stitch to join (54 DC)

Row 6) Chain 3, turn work, DC in each stitch around. Slip Stitch to join (54 DC)

Rows 7-10) Repeat Row 6

Row 11) Chain 4, turn work, *sc in next stitch, chain 3* all the way around – this makes a tiny looped ruffle along the bottom of the cap. (54 loops). End off and weave in tail.

This is an original copyrighted pattern.
Feel free to use it for personal and charity use, but do not sell the completed caps or the pattern. You may link to this pattern on this sight, but please do not post it elsewhere without permission.

If you like this pattern, please consider donating a completed cap to Operation Marine Corps Kids.