A Needlefelt Treasure

Mrs. Harrison, we're ready to learn,
Mrs. Harrison, we'll try not to squirm!
We're hungry for knowledge;
We may go to college :-)
Mrs. Harrison, don't be too stern!

You can meet the very nicest people on the internet; just like I have! I was the lucky winner of Mrs. Harrison, the School Marm Blackbird, from a drawing on the blog MarthaandJane (http://marthaandjane.blogspot.com/) This is a delightfully whimsical blog that I encourage you all to visit. Mrs. Harrison is a beautifully needlefelted work of art by April Ross, and a teacher of young fairyfolk and their friends.

She reminded me very much of my own second grade teacher, Mrs. Harrison; an angular, upright, grey haired lady that taught us well. She was brisk and birdlike, neither kindly nor cruel. This Mrs. Harrison is a bit more indulgent, but just as sharp eyed :-)

Mrs. Harrison

Thank-you so much, April and Helen!

Christmas Crochet, 2010

This is the time of year I start thinking about Christmas; crocheting for Christmas, that is. If I start in July, I have plenty of runway ahead of me and don't feel rushed and panic'd as Thanksgiving rolls away and the Big Day looms :-) Since I love to crochet, making crochet items for Christmas is no hardship.

I'd love to see Christmas become a simpler and happier holiday. I think handmade can go a long way toward this end. Also, make doing something for others less fortunate a part of your Christmas traditions, and ease up a bit on all of the store bought items. We place so many expectations on ourselves at Christmas that is it sometimes impossible to live up to them all, and we wonder where the joy has gone.

Okay, enough lecturing; I'm getting off the soapbox and ready to tell you about the cute crew in the picture above. They are irresistible amigurumi from Ana Paula Rimoli, found in the May/June 2010 issue of Crochet Today. The book bags are a free pattern from the Creative Me blog site; here is a link:

http://bwalker8706.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-sons-bookbag.html

The only changes I made to the book bag were to use half double crochet instead of double crochet. I made three more increase rows, and five additional body rows for the bag. It turned out great! These are for my three nephews, ages 7, 5, and 3. Making stuff for kids is the most fun of all.
The Pocket Spirits fell in love with Oskar! They couldn't resist a photo op with him :-)

Roses and Fairies

Thorns don't hurt fairy feet,
Fairies are too light and sweet.
A quick glimpse; don't look away!
A fairy child is here to play.

The Great Greenway Tour!

Yesterday, Larry and I and my Dad (the photographer of this pic) rode 22 miles of the Great Greenway Tour, a Rail-Trail annual ride out of Muncie, Indiana. And, just like last year, we got DRENCHED!

I think they are going to ban Larry and I from coming to the ride. For two consecutive years, the ride, held in July, has been deluged with rain and unseasonably cold. This, in what has been the hottest July that I can remember. Larry and I are thinking of hiring ourselves out as rain-gods :-)

It is hard to tell from the above picture, but we are standing in the rain at the end of the ride, and soaked through and through.

The Cardinal Greenway is a beautiful ride, through lots of gently rolling farm and pasture land, wildflowers, wetlands, stands of trees. And being on a rail line, the grades are gentle. The folks who have built and maintained this Greenway have done a spectacular job, with beautiful bridges and trailheads like tiny parks. It is a wonderful ride; I just want to do it sometime when it is dry :-)