I feel so dirty...

I'm so embarrassed, but it's time to come clean and confess.

I've been having an affair.

It's true, it started out innocently enough, but before I knew it, I got swept away. I haven't forgotten my love, truly I haven't, it's just I'm starting to think that I might have to make room in my heart and my life for this newcomer as well. Because things between us? Well, they just feel so right. So right! It's all so new, so exciting...I really don't think I can stop myself!

That's right...



I've been....crocheting.

And I love it, I really do. I started off crocheting years ago and never really got anywhere. Then I found knitting and well, I never looked back.

The Waldorf curriculum has crochet being taught in 3rd grade. I had planned on trying to get it together to teach Iain last year, but we both got caught up in our knitting and you know how that can be. It wasn't a total loss though; he did learn several more advanced knitting techniques.

Still, this year I decided it was time to conquer this dragon. Somehow when I picked up a hook this time around everything seemed to click and I finally figured out what I've been doing wrong all these years. I'm really enjoying both the process and the results. Crochet has such a fun, old-fashioned, vintage kind of feel to it. I can totally see this getting addictive.

For a first project, Iain and I took turns working on a potholder. The theory being that we would felt it, thus masking our imperfections. I have a knitted one that I made this way, several years ago, and it's everyone's favorite potholder.


After that first project, Iain moved on to a solo potholder project (as seen in progress above), but I was looking for something a little more interesting. So, I grabbed some yarn and started making myself a cowl.

This was one of those great, near to instant gratification, less then 24 hour kni... erm...crochets??

Now before I show you my newly crocheted version, I have to show you the older knitted version...

This project and picture are both from sometime (early spring-ish) last year. I never shared it here because I've been thinking about frogging it ever since I made it. For one thing, the color was not at all what I expected. It was ever-so-much more...limey. Clearly, my monitor can NOT be trusted.

And then there is the design. I don't know, something about those three tiers doesn't sit right with me. It makes me feel like my head is perched atop the neck of some bizarre Dr. Suess character. So, I did finally work in the ends on it. And I do wear it from time to time, but it's never found much popularity around here.

On to the new version, which is just so much more, me somehow.

This is one of those project that I finished up a while ago. The problem has been, as it so often is with things for me, in the pictures. I never seem to get around to taking them. Last week, when my mom was here to hold the baby and the sun was shining brightly, I asked My Love (the flesh and blood one, not the craft one) to give me a hand.

Any thoughts on what Steve could have said to me that resulted in this face??
For the record, I don't really know either, I just thought it would be fun to ask. I mean it was obviously something.

This one is a little better...But let's face it, when you look at this picture all you see is hair and boobs, both of which I seem to have in abundance these days. It really has nothing to do with the cowl, though I guess in a way they do kind of frame it.

One really does have to wonder about the kinds of hits I’m going to be getting from this post! Attention: scary, creepy people who are only here because I used some dirty sounding words: please go away now. Thanks a bunch!

That wasn't really working out, so we tried it this way for a bit...
What do you think??

And then I took matters into my own hands.
I don't know, I kind of like this one. Even though it doesn't really show me OR the cowl.


Alright, here you go, me and the cowl.

And yes, it really would have been too much to ask for me to be actually looking at the camera.