My First Madelinetosh Project

 

So, as you may know, I am a newbie crocheter.  I took my first crochet lesson back in February.  Since then, I have definitely found, yet another, crafting addiction.  I love how portable crochet is!  Today in my class my students are winding down the year by watching The Hobbit and identifying elements of the archetypal hero’s journey from the storyline.  I brought my crochet with me today, so that I could work on it while my students watch the movie over the next three days.  I haven’t had a chance to actually crochet at all because I’ve been busy removing everything from my classroom walls and packing up my teaching stuff, but I do plan to use a little of my planning time to decompress and crochet.

The project I’m working on right now is a cowl (and up until about a week ago, I could have still worn it here in Denver! – It’s been unseasonably cold recently).  I’m using that gorgeous yellow Madelinetosh thread I wrote about a few weeks ago.  I picked it up while on vacation in Portland at KnitPurl.  Love that store!!  It was very inspirational perusing all of the beautiful fiber in their store.  Now I also want to learn to knit!  I will be taking a class sometime this summer.   This is my first foray with Madelinetosh, and I can understand the cult following with this fiber.  My local shop seems to sell out all…the…time!  It is soft and so easy to work with!  Love.  I also have some more Madelinetosh from the same trip but in a darker, eggplant variegated color.

How about you quilters out there?  Any fiber favorites?  Since I’m new to the game, I would love some suggestions.  I recently bought some of these fun little Bonbons.  They are from Lion Brand, and I got them at JoAnn’s.  I am such a sucker for cute little colorful things!!  Aren’t they so adorable?  I have been using them to practice making crochet flowers.  Lion Brand has 6 different color assortments.  I have the “Celebrate” and “Party”, both are metallic (sparkly!  another one of my vices).  But next up on my list are the “Beach” colors.  Such great colors – not sparkly though.

I hope you are all looking forward to the long Memorial Day weekend.  I have no set plans, and I am really excited about that!  My goal is to get comfy somewhere in the sun and read my book and do some crafting!  Sounds dreamy doesn’t it?

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My Week: In Seven Slices

Two posts in one day?  Crazy I know, but I have been neglecting my Seven Slices lately, and thought I should add another update.  So…here goes.

Slice #1 – Reading

I am currently reading Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.  I joined a book club here called Women, Wine, and Words (fitting right?), and this is the book for this month.  I am not very far – like Chapter one, but it is good (what I’ve read).  Lots of description which I enjoy.  It takes place in Italy in a small coastal village in the 1960’s. 

Overview from BarnesandNoble.com

“From the moment it opens—on a rocky patch of Italian coastline, circa 1962, when a daydreaming young innkeeper looks out over the water and spies a mysterious woman approaching him on a boat—Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to the back lots of contemporary Hollywood, Beautiful Ruins is gloriously inventive and constantly surprising—a story of flawed yet fascinating people navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.”

Slice #2 – Fiber Addiction

The last week of March, I flew out to Oregon to visit my sister.  My mom flew out too and we had a wonderful “girl’s week”.  On one shopping day in Portland, we stopped at Knit and Purl, and of course I had to buy something.  I got two lovely colors of Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Candlewick and Tosh Chunky in Stephen Loves Tosh.

Candlewick

Stephen Loves Tosh

Slice #3 – Crafting

I am seriously behind with my block of the month quilt blocks.  I have to get the March block and the April block finished.  I couldn’t make it to the last two clubs at my LQS, so I’m on my own until May.  Hopefully my schedule will work out to go to that one.  Anywhoo, here are the blocks that I need to finish.  Maybe I’ll get them done today…

March Block

April Block

Slice #4 – Running

As you might have read from my last post, I’ve started running again.  I am using the lolo app on my iPhone to start up again.  I’m following the Easy 5K, and much to my surprise, I am finding it very doable.  Apparently, I’m not as out of shape as I thought.  It is a really good program if you are looking for something to follow to get your run on!

Slice #5 – Next Project

My next decorating project to tackle here at the casa is not such a fun one, but it will make my life much easier to manage.  I need to organize my closet.  When we moved in, I just hung everything up and left it.  I still have a box of “summer” shoes sitting on the floor.  It is a mess!  I just haven’t had the time to get to it.  It is on my list, and now that spring is sprung, I think I can start packing away some of my heaviest winter items and pulling out my pretty, summery stuff.  I will be channeling my bestie, Erica, as I take on this project.  Don’t worry, I’ll have before and after photos.  Isn’t this closet the dreamiest?  Hello, lover.

Slice #6 – On The Hunt

I am currently on the hunt for a new sheet set.  Sadly, my favorite, softest set was so threadbare that my cat ripped a hole in them while I was trying to administer medication with him wrapped in the sheet.  Thanks a lot, Odin!  So, I have a backup set, which are fine, but one set is not enough.  So I’m hunting.  I have a hard time buying sheets online because I need to be able to feel them.  I am wary of the descriptions provided.  I’m going to go check out this set at Macy’s – looks like they are having a sale: Westport Bedding, 600 Thread Count Tencel Sheet Sets.  Hopefully they have some.

Slice #7 – Current Playlist

Anyone who knows me, knows I love music.  Pretty much every genre, except that screaming, head banging stuff.  I’m also not a huge fan of the Dub Step fad right now.  However, everything else is pretty much fair game.  So what is on shuffle on my iPod right now?  Here you go:

• “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
• “The Boys of Summer” by Don Henley
• “Carry On” by Fun.
• “Change” by Churchill
• “Demons” by Imagine Dragons
• “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey
• “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers
• “I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)” by the Proclaimers
• “It Get’s Better” by Fun.
• “The Joker” by Steve Miller
• “Rayando El Sol” by Mana
• “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding
• “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse
• “The Show Goes On” by Lupe Fiasco
• “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert

So what are you listening to lately?