Very first attempts at crocheting...

I bought a beginners kit for crocheting today and have been watching learn to crochet videos at youtube. At first it was driving me crazy - I couldn't get the tension right, I kept dropping stitches.....it was a MESS. Then I got going fine...then it would mess up again..then I thought I'd done a million stitches but it was only about 5cm long!!!!

Anyway, my friend Holly suggested I use a bigger hook so I tried that and although it makes much bigger stitches which I don't much like the look of, I am at least doing regular stitches and regular tension and going faster and feeling better about the whole thing and feel like I'm getting somewhere!

I'm crocheting!!!!

So I am going to stick with the big hook for now and learn with this and then change when I get a bit better! I bought two balls of yarn and will practice. But my goal is to one day make a ripple blanket like the one here:

mysewingserenity.blogspot.com/2008/10/first-born-ripple.html

Isn't it gorgeous? It reminds me of the stripy blanket I was given when I was a baby!

So no laughing at my very first attempts in the picture - there was a stage a couple of hours ago where I was close to throwing the stupid crochet hook out of the window!!! I'm glad I stuck with it!! Check out my friend Julies knitting and crocheting blog at: wittyknitting.blogspot.com/ not JUST about knitting!!! Her homeschooling family have been looking at sperm on the kitchen table......hahahahaha OMG THIS is why Julie will ALWAYS be my homeschooling role model :) and why I would give anything to be able to drive over for a cuppa and to catch up....because they just do the coolest things :) she knits, she homeschools and she wouldn't have batted an eyelid to the fact we kept a dead shrew on our kitchen windowsill in a jam jar.....

For Mom....

So far I can only find this ribbon at any of the stores....its the narrowest I can find. I grabbed it anyway as I figure I can always use it to send to our girls we sponsor for their hair etc otherwise.....let me know if its any use for Lynn at all or if I should keep looking for the finer ribbon.....I know this is much wider than you wanted but I can't find anything finer at the moment - maybe before the wedding I will though.....

Hi Lynn - I know this isn't the fine ribbon you want so I will keep looking but I grabbed it jujst because it had the maple leaf on it and was all I could find so far! Thought if anything you might be able to make use of it for something - on balloons or chairs.........something!

Which swap?

Can you guess which swap these are for???? Lets just say I am sorely disappointed with them I received them today - they are on flimsy paper and are poorly made....stickers stuck on a piece of paper do not an atc-make!!!! And the note that was sent was written in a 'can't be bothered' attitude. I really got the feeling from it that the person who sent it wasn't botherd to even try. I had to give a 5 because she sent what she had to send - 2 atc's. But they don't match the swap in my opinion AT ALL :( I did NOT give a heart :(

I was so excited to get this swap too. I took sooooo much time making the atc's for this swap - throwing away many before having some I felt were good enough....HA....NOW you all know what swap it was huh?????

I know art is in the eye of the beholder and it's all in the interpretation but PLEASE...... :(

more dragonfly atc's

Here are my second set of dragonfly atc's that I received from the swap at Swap-bot - aren't they gorgeous?