Whole grain penne and some other awesome things.

The passed few days have been really really rough. I won't elaborate because I tend not to dwell on things that make me upset but rather learn from those troubling times and move on. It's been hard though, but I've been doing things to get my mind off of the initial troubles of it, but you know it's still always there, at least for now it will be. Grieving is a gradual process.

That being said there isn't anything like cooking (besides maybe knitting something fast and gratifying) to calm your nerves and settle your mind, at least I know for me it's a good thing. I've been tapping into my inner domestic goddess over the passed couple of days, it's one of the things I want to do to try and better myself; every girl should know how to cook for herself and at LEAST one other person right?

I hung out with Nicole today and I made some asparagus (steamed of course) and some "broccoli slaw" which is basically just shredded broccoli with some awesome poppy seed dressing mixed together to give it that "slaw-ish" consistency. The main course was whole grain penne in burgundy wine marinara and it was SOOOO good haha. I love actually cooking things, even if it is just pasta. Eating healthy food and not sacrificing taste and body is really satisfying and is actually quite motivating.

In other news back to school in three two days. I am stoked for it! This semester promises to be one of the best for now. I have high hopes for myself. I'm gonna stop being so absorbed in myself and my own issues for once and just live like I should have done from the start. I think it'll be good for me.

rant about crochet, alternatively titled: "Forgo the Red Heart"

I seriously don't get it at all.

Even on etsy there are all kinds of crochet patterns/pieces that are made with this ghastly multi-colored, variegated, cheap acrylic yarn and they are normally something awful like a toilet paper cover, a tea cozy, or a "spa set" that involves an uber-intricate picot edging with lace and ruffles that is so inappropriate and it's just...ugh.

The point here is I'm failing to see why crochet hasn't stepped it up, and why the crochet designers haven't tried to take inspiration from someplace other than their grandmother's kitchen. I'm all for hand-crocheted dishcloths and hot pads because they're functional and have that traditional vintage charm thing going on but HONEST TO GOD please stop with the Super Saver for the love of all that is good and holy!

Crochet is a very versatile craft capable of making a sturdy bag as well as an elegantly draping shawl, but the choice is in the YARN people! And the STYLE! If we crocheters are going to change the way people think about our craft we are going to have to quit making the doilies and start making something fabulous. There are a couple of books out there that have the right idea and are making strides, like this one by Debbie Stoller (thank the lord, someone credible) and this one that just came out from Chicks with Sticks, but we as the artists really have to evaluate what we're doing.

It might be okay for your great aunt to make a bed doll out of pastel baby yarn but come on, is this what we have resigned to using our craft for? Stiff cotton can be made into cute washcloths or sturdy bags (that don't need to be felted, a plus with crochet) and although using wool and other finer fibers is particularly scary for crocheters (because crochet uses more yarn than knitting) they make for beautiful hats, scarves and even fingerless gloves. It's true. Even mohair is fair game.

And lest we forget, crochet has one important edge over knitting we fail to utilize properly: lace. Crocheters can make the most beautifully intricate lace shawls EVER and with a lovely yarn to showcase the workmanship it will outshine ANY knitted lace item. And don't forget, we have Amigurumi too, the cutest thing to come out of Japan for the crafting world. We need to learn that nothing is off limits to us anymore, and we need to understand that if we're going to give crochet the street cred it's cousin knitting has, we're going to need to knock it off with the grandma-style projects that set our craft back a couple decades too many.

With that I give my message to crocheters everywhere:
Experiment. Try new things. Take that old doily motif and turn it into a scarf. Try to make a lace beanie out of a DK wool. Crochet an environmentally friendly market bag out of that cotton you were going to use for (yet another) hot pad set. And perhaps the most important thing of all:

Forget about the Red Heart for a little while, it does nothing for your but make your work look cheap, and outdated.


With that said, get out there and make something.

Oh my god.

It's been months and months since I even touched this blog. It's been kinda crazy with everything that's been going on this summer and I haven't even had the time to actually get this thing off the ground (two posts is not a lot haha).

Recently I've been getting back too my roots, yeah, I mean crochet. My grandmother taught me when I was about 10 years old, and it's been like comfort food ever since. Until I started experimenting though I had resigned crochet to nasty potholders with cheap acrylic yarn (crochet uses 1/3 more yarn than knitting! AHHHHHH). However, since I was looking through some books and trying to reconnect with something another woman in my family passed down to me I decided that if I do it right, crochet doesn't have to be stiff, unforgiving, and ,worst of all, synthetic.

While my camera is on the charger, I'll just tell you a few of the things I started making while on my crochet renaissance:

- Two cowls
-Three washcloths (okay, so they're typical, but these are at least cute)
-A scarf (which is technically a WIP but I have three stitches to go to finish and a ran out of yarn).
- aaaaaaaaand fingerless gloves, but those were given away, sadly I have no pictures =[.


As for Coquette...

That thing NEEDED to be frogged. I looked at the errata and everything and decided that it would be the easiest projected to complete since the shaping is practically ziltch, however it wasn't the actual pattern that vexed me this time, it was the YARN. I need to start it again with something a little less...splity. The yarn is a gorgeous color purple, but it's being a pain in the ass as far as workability goes. Maybe I'll just get some soft cotton or wool even...I don't know. Anything but acrylic at this point.