A Little Crochet

Today we headed to Tunnels Beach to do some swimming and some snorkeling.  In spite of the fact that the scenery was absolutely stunning, both at the beach and on the drive to the beach, I took no photos.  In fact, I didn't even bring the camera along.  I think that's the hardest thing about going to beaches that you aren't able to walk out your back door and go swimming in -- you just don't want to take all that much valuable stuff.  Especially if your car is not going to be where you can keep an eye on it and you have a toddler to patrol.  The water was wonderful and the snorkeling was great, even in the afternoon when all the water was stirred up.  It was like swimming in a fish tank with all sorts of salt water beauties swimming around and under us.  We're hoping to head back in that direction sometime in the next couple of days, and next time the camera will probably come with me.

Thank you to everyone who left nice words about Lotus.  They are much appreciated!  To anyone who likes the sweater but thinks it's too complicated to tackle, don't let the crochet or the fine gauge dissuade you -- it takes a little care, but it's not all that hard if you follow the instructions carefully.  Also, I know the Fine Milk Cotton is pretty spendy -- but I'm pretty sure that almost any sport weight cotton would work out just fine.  Rowan has a standard cotton 4 ply, and I believe Patons also has a yarn in the right weight range and I think both would be more affordable than the Fine Milk Cotton.

When I was packing for this trip, I brought very little in the way of fiber-related projects.  I packed Lotus and the supplies I needed to finish her up.   I packed the sock project I am working on using the Vesper Wee Skein kit, yarn for one additional pair of socks, should I finish up the Vesper sock, and a collection of perle cotton, an interchangeable crochet hook set and my Japanese Doily book.  It may not seem like it, but, for me, this was remarkably restrained.  With Lotus out of the way and my desire to knit wool socks dulled by tropical weather, I turned my attention to the doily book.

I picked this motif somewhat at random, bt mostly because there were no complicated stitches to figure out.  Of course, it ended up having the crochet equivalent of bobbles (at the corners, they're a little hard to see), but I liked the end product even so. I crocheted the motif using 5/2 perle cotton on a size 3 steel crochet hook.  The motif is aboutt 6-7" in diameter and the perfect size for an actual doily.  The color changes are due to the fact that one little skein of perle cotton didn't go as far as I thought it would -- all those double crochet stitches eat up yarn pretty quickly.  I'll have to block it when I get home, but I think it will make a nice dresser decorationn.

With this one finished, I'm itching to start another one -- these things come together so fast, even on a small hook, and almost every row is different, so I'm finding it hard to put them down!