A Smattering of Stuff

I've been running in 11 different directions, mentally anyway, and haven't been able to articulate very much at all. So I've taken a break. I'm still pretty scattered, but here are some of the things I've been thinking about.

My favorite dishcloths are the ones my mom knit, but I don't know how to knit. I can crochet, my mom taught me, and I know I can still make 'bookworm bookmarks' so when I saw Daiquiri's post on crocheting dishcloths I thought I had to try. Very fun, and I like the pattern so much that I am tempted (and being asked/begged by Micah) to make an afghan out of it. I think will try the knit dishcloths next, here is a pattern called 'Idiots Dishcloth' just like the ones my mom made. My friend at work will teach me and I have yarn and needles ready to go!
See how ratty the edges of the old ones on the left are? I even keep using them holey, though I did find a brand spankin' new one at the bottom of the drawer! Yay! A little bit of my mom!
Here's the three washcloth's I was able to crochet with the pattern above. Woo-hoo me!

Micah, our 13 year old, has started track! He has quite a head of hair - my curly, unruly hair - and he doesn't want to get it cut although all the 'more mature' members of my family we saw over Easter made sure to note it and let me know how he really could use a trim. If this is the worst thing he ever chooses to do - I am SO OK with a long-haired son! It's kind of small but here's a picture of him at the beginning of one of his races last week, hurdles. He's the second runner from the right - the one with all the hair flying back from his face!
Grace has a favorite baby blanket which she likes to remind me that I bought a a garage sale while she was still in my tummy. I bought it because I liked the 'old, well loved T-shirt' texture of the material. It was just an Old Navy blanket with leaves and berries on it. It had a little satin tag on it stating the materials and she would love to rub it, rub it, rub it and I knew it was going to fall off so I made her a little blanket with satin tags all around it. She wanted nothing to do with it, and it's SO cute, and taggy. So now she uses it for dolls once in a while. Now the treasured blanket (the first one) did not come back from a trip that Grace just had to have it on. Emergency! She and I have been talking for a while about the necessity of replacing the old blanket because she is getting so big and the blanket is so small, and ratty, and getting holey... and she was all for replacing it as long as we got the same kind of material that 'feels and smells cold.' (old t-shirt material) So we took a trip to the material store and checked out their choices of cold material and they were all pretty much nothing I would choose... but Grace did pick something and we got 1.5 yards x 60" width and took it home. It should be big enough for her for a long time! Because the blanket needed to be done NOW, I just zigzagged the edge - both because it was easy and a super stretchy material that I didn't want to fuss with too much AND because the effort in the 'taggy' blanket was not appreciated. And she is happy! No one else can share it, her feet don't stick out, and it smells cold! Yay! Some pics:

The 'Taggy' Blanket
Enjoying the new improved blanket
And the best way to use it!

And finally, I found these adorable baskets in the blogosphere, linked from a link from a link... and I can't stop thinking about who I can make this for! I want to make 3 or 4 of them in different stacking sizes and give them to new parents, or newly weds... or SOMEONE!!! Don't you love them?

And I love this snowman embroidery in a little house frame. I am thinking about making one with a slightly bigger house and doing a nativity scene, and them something for Valentines Day, and Easter and... LOVE it! (I have to admit that now I can't find the right blog, only the picture of the thing I liked best - sorry!)

Thanks for reading!