Friday Fabulous

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Purple Power

I recently got another special order, this one a baby quilt for a childhood friend's first granddaughter. She asked for a pink flower quilt like I made for my neighbors down the street when they had their second baby girl. I actually have another Spoonflower panel similar to the first I haven't used yet, but I'm almost out of pink stash for the backing and binding!

When I dug out the second of three pink flower panels, which I designed with flowers from my garden, I wondered why I haven't done a purple flower panel. I don't think I'll ever run out of purple stash!!! I would have plenty of backing fabrics and scraps for a purple flower quilt!

So I made a new collage with my purple flowers. My friend's granddaughter still gets a pink flower quilt. But one day I'll be able to make another garden flower quilt to use up some of my purple stash, and I'm excited at the prospect.

I made a small version, too, because I thought the purple would look awesome in a dress. Then I saw an advertisement with flowers swirling from the bottom of the skirt diagonally up into the bodice. Back when I was in high school, I used to design dresses while I was working the graveyard shift for my parents' answering service. One of my favorite designs would feature my own embroidered butterflies swirling from the bottom of the skirt diagonally up into the bodice and completely covering the sleeve. Somewhere in my basement is one of those envelopes of 100 butterfly embroidery designs from the '70s because I always intended to make that dress one day. Somewhere in my basement is a book of 1,000 embroidery designs, with a whole chapter of butterfly designs.

I got this crazy idea to make yet another purple flower fabric panel with flowers from my garden along the bottom of the skirt and going up to the waist. It took longer to create this new collage with the flowers properly placed on the fabric than it took to do the entire first collage. I still don't know if I lined everything up right. But I ordered two yards so I can see how far off I am. And to make a dress, or a skirt if there's not enough fabric to make the dress. Now I just have to wait for the fabric to arrive. And I guess, the time to sew...

I asked AI to create such a dress (because my photoshopped mockup is so amateur; I could have drawn a better rendering!!!) so I could have an awesome image to help illustrate this blog post, and I accidentally forgot to specify I didn't want a video. The accidental result is so entertaining, I have to share it here!

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Wordless Wednesday

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Date Day

We had planned to go to the Labor Day Lift Off in the Springs on Saturday for the balloon glow, when they light the balloons up at dusk but don't fly. We went for this event last year, but that was back when Lizard was still having horrific hallucinations, and we weren't able to stay long enough to photograph the balloons reflecting in the lake as planned.

We checked the Colorado Springs weather forecast Saturday morning, and it wasn't looking promissing. We often joke about being the jinx at any balloon festival. We once went to Albuquerque for four days, hoping the balloons would go up at least one day, and high winds cancelled all four days, as well as a fifth, had we been able to stay. This often happens at any balloon festival we try to attend. We don't do it much anymore because road trips are so hard on Lizard, but the Springs are so close, comparatively, I do try to go for at least one event each year if he's feeling up to it. Thank heavens he loves balloons as much as I do. He often will sacrifice comfort to try to make it through just one launch or one glow. (Tomorrow's photos are from previous years; Lizard did not feel up to a road trip yesterday for the final day of the Lift Off.)

Lizard kept asking me if we could have caffeine, which he takes for tremors. Caffeine would make me tremor for hours, but for whatever reason, it has the opposite affect on people with Parkinson's. Some patients even have caffeine prescriptions. I tried to encourage Lizard to wait until evening for his high-octane caffeine beverage, which actually helps him sleep, and he kept asking if WE could have caffeine. After about 15 minutes of a conversation I felt was going nowhere, it dawned on me he was asking for Café Rio, one of his favorite restaurants. We haven't gone out to eat much at all since I retired, thanks to the expense but compounded by his anxiety and claustrophobia in the car. Since it looked like the balloon glow was going to be a bust, I thought it might be fun to treat him. Off we headed to Castle Rock, which once every month or two was our "date day" on Saturdays before I retired.

We ate half our chicken (his) and veggie (mine) bowls in the restaurant, which we rarely did back before retirement. We would take it home to eat, or eat in the car in the shade if the weather wasn't too hot. This beautiful Saturday afternoon, eating in the restaurant was very peaceful. We arrived just before 4, and the restaurant wasn't packed like usual. There were only two other diners. We didn't sit under the air conditioner, which really bothered Lizard the last time we ate in, and the music wasn't too loud this time.

The day was sort of like date night. The whole day, actually. Lizard was considerate of me. That was missing this time last week. (He had shut me out of the bedroom because he thought I was a hallucination. He wanted his best friend back as much as I long for mine.) He doesn't often realize I have feelings anymore, and in my burst of grief (after I finally got him to sleep), I cried myself to sleep, then felt guilty the next morning for being so selfish. Saturday was a complete turnaround. I know moments like these are extremely fleeting, but Saturday was so special, and I so needed it. I had prayed to see a glimpse of my best friend again, and that's exactly what I got. I want to shout from the rooftops that Lizard was back for a day.

After we got home, I laid on the love seat because my back was so sore. Lizard tried to cover me with my fleece. He did think the homeless people he thinks are living in our house rent-free had peed on it, so he wanted to wash it first. Then he asked it if was mine because he thought someone else was using it, but he wanted to make me comfortable. That was such an awesome moment. Gigantic. This is the guy I married, and he came back to me for a few minutes. It was precious. Thank you, God, for giving me back my sweetheart for a few precious hours!

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Snowflake Monday

I've been trying to work on portable crochet projects while waiting for Lizard during his PT, and I needed some snowflake inspiration, I guess because it's just been so hot. It's finally cooling down... YAY!!! While looking for inspiration, I came across this Wave shot, originally created in pink, from Valentine's Day 2012, and a swarm of the most wonderful memories enveloped me. Valentine's Day, The Wave, and Shonna... I shifted the hue in the manipulated image below from pink to teal because today is the first day of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Today's snowflake is inspired by this image and fueled by so much love and warmth.

The Wave is one of my favorite places in the world, but also, I used to spend hours back then pumping my favorite images through a Photoshop kaleidoscope extension on my laptop. The Wave was one of my favorite image collections when creating kaleidoscopes. When I had to replace that laptop in 2016, my favorite Photoshop extensions wouldn't work on the new computer. I bought another kaleidoscope-generating program, but it was nothing like the wonderful extension I'd been using since about 2009. I rarely used it. I had to replace the 2016 laptop during the pandemic, and I've yet to find a suitable kaleidoscope generator for this baby, the computer I'm using now. I've manually created a few kaleidoscopes in Photoshop. There are all kinds of tutorials out there with good instructions. But nothing runs as smoothly as the old program that was never converted to newer technology. I also have two apps on my phone that create kaleidoscopes as I take photos, and I do enjoy using that every once in a while. It's not the same as manipulating an existing photo, however. Good thing I have about 2,000 archived kaleidoscopes in my stash to work with when I need inspiration these days!

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 7.5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

September Wave Snowflake Instructions

SPECIAL STITCHES:

Popcorn Stitch (pc)

Work 5 dc in designated st, take loop off hook, insert hook through top loop of 1st dc and replace loop on hook, pull loop through top of 1st dc.

Make magic ring.

Round 1: [1 pc in ring, ch 15] 5 times; 1 pc in ring, ch 7, 1 quintr (which is 6 yo)(counts as 7 ch in next Round) in starting pc to form 6th ch 15 sp of Round. Don't pull magic circle too tight.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), [1 dc in next ch, in next ch work (1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc), 1 hdc in each of next 2 ch, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, sk next ch, next pc and next ch, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, 1 hdc in each of next 2 ch, in next ch work (1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc), 1 dc in next ch, in next ch work (1 dc, ch 21, 1 sc in 10th ch from hook, 1 hdc in next ch, 1 dc in next ch, ch 3, sk next 3 ch, 1 dc in each of next 2 ch, 1 hdc in each of next 2 ch, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, 1 dc)] 6 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Round 2, Rock Covering: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), [1 dc in next ch, in next ch work (1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc), 1 hdc in each of next 2 ch, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, sk next ch, next pc and next ch, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, 1 hdc in each of next 2 ch, in next ch work (1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc), 1 dc in next ch, in next ch work (1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc)] 6 times, omitting last dc and last 2 ch of final repeat; 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round.
NOTE: Binding off here makes a cute little flake.

Round 3, Rock Covering: Ch 7 (counts as 1 dc and [[ch 5), 1 dc in next ch 3 loop] 17 times; ch 2, 1 tr in 2nd ch of starting ch 7 to form 18th ch 5 sp of Round.

Rounds 4-?, Rock Covering: Ch 7 (counts as 1 dc and [ch 5), [1 dc in next ch 5 sp] 17 times; ch 2, 1 tr in 2nd ch of starting ch 7 to form 18th ch 5 sp of Round. Continue with Round 8 until snowflake fits snugly around rock, leaving about a 1- to 2-inch opening on the back or bottom side.

Final Round, Rock Covering:Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in each ch 5 sp around, inserting rock after about 2/3rds of Round, gently stitching while finishing Round and closing up hole so as not to damage crochet hook; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off, leaving 4- to 5-inch tail. Weave end through final Round of dc and pull tight. Bind off again, weave in end. Place in garden!

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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