Off course

Last March, when Martha Stewart got out of prison, I saw the news segment showing her release and she was wearing that now famous crocheted poncho. I really liked it and wished I could find a pattern to make one for myself. Shortly after that, a pattern showed up on the Interweave Press website but although it was similar, it didn't have the lines of the original that I hoped for. Then last week, a friend told me that she had seen the Martha Stewart show and they had a whole show on that poncho and there was a pattern on the Lion Brand yarn website. That pattern was better and it was fun to see all the women in the audience with their own ponchos but it still wasn't exactly like hers. But I started that pattern and was making it longer because that was the biggest difference that I could tell and I knew that I wanted it at least wrist length rather than mid arm like the Lion Brand one. It gets cold here! Then yesterday, my friend sent me another link to the Maggie's Crochet site and this pattern was even better than the Lion Brand one because it is shaped more as it is crocheted. Last night I started crocheting this one and will finish it although I'm not sure I will do the scallop as on this pattern. There is also a pattern on the Bernat website but it is made in 2 pieces sewn together and I would rather crochet in the round and not have those 2 bulky side seams.

Several years ago, I had spun some really pretty yarn for a sweater but the sweater turned out huge so it was just in the cedar chest all this time while I decided what to do with it. The yarn is spun from a medium gray corriedale cross but I dyed some of the gray various blues and greens and blended that into the majority of gray batts. I spun it 2 ply and it is really lofty and nice. Now I am wondering how I got it so light and airy because I don't usually get that in my spinning. The blues and greens make the gray interesting so the yarn is quite pretty. Howard was out of town this weekend so I spent Friday night unraveling the sweater. My knitting is obviously not that great but my seam sewing ability is unparalleled so ripping it apart was quite a chore and took forever. There is a lot of yarn because I had some left over so I'm sure I can make the poncho as long as I want and have enough. Even though I haven't crocheted for years, this is an easy pattern and I could figure it out without a problem. Once it is done, I probably won't crochet again for a long time but I'm happy that I will finally have my own cozy poncho after all this time. It works up pretty fast so I'm sure I'll have it done before it is cold enough to need it, even here in Montana.

Now I'm ready to get back to weaving and finishing off the tapestry warp I have on the loom.