Bits of this and that...

I've been a little all over the place lately... I am still just living, trying to make the most out of my days and just enjoying them and being happy... but my so free life, leisure life, it has become busy and full of things lately!!! which is great and I don't regreat any of it, but it gives me less time to spend in blogland... either reading or writing...

I've been more and more involved with the LYS, and I LOVE it!!!! I'm not "working" there and I'm not official staff, but I spend a lot of time there, helping with different things, giving classes, knitting, crocheting and chatting...
This yarn shop will be moving to another location at the end of July, is just a block away but there's a lot of work to do in the new space and a whole lot to prepare for the actual moving... and I've been helping with that too... it gives me something to do, it allows me to know more about more things and I can be useful to someone.
I love to spend my days there, learning about fibers, different tecniques and medias, diferent yarns and their caracteristics... and all that happens in a store in daily basis...

I've been enjoying this books and magazines...

I just got the Learn Slip Stitch Crochet from Annie's Attic, I have worked with slip stitch before but I've found several interesting things in there, it was on sale when I bought it so a great discovery for $4!. The Interweave Crochet magazine (spring 2011) has several lovely patterns that I am dying to try!
And the Happy Hooker is a book that I've seen for years but just recently picked it up... I think is a must for any crocheter!

This is my reading book on turn... I'm LoVinG it!!!!!!!!!!!

On the Yarny side...... I fixed a crochet blanket for a customer at the yarn store... It was like this and I felt so bad for it!!!!

 It took me a little while because the old yarn was difficult to take out, but I did it and I felt so proud of myself!

I made a shawl/poncho kind of thing for myself.... I used a picture of a shawl from Ravelry for the base, but then I added the mesh ribbon (Swing by Rebecca Pick), that is one of those yarns that you use for a curly scarf.

Anyway, it was fun to make and I can wear it on the side and it looks fun and it's super comfy!

And last, I started to make a top, pattern from Annie's Attic...

I have the back finished and I'm working on the front now... I'm using Cascade Sierra yarn that it's a heavier weight than what the pattern asks for, so I did my numbers and I'm wroking with the small size instructions of the pattern, but it's not really coming out small as it has to be for my side and I'm more Large than small, hehe... but it fits and I'm very pleased with the work so far!

And my last sharing for today is some jewelry... I've been playing with Viking knit.

Don't you love them????

See you soon!!!!
S.

An Awsome Class!!!

Hello my friends! here I am again... very quickly that I must go... I'm heading to the Yarn Shop for the afternoon!!! Yei!

I just want to share with you my awsome story of last week.

Last week I had my first "official" crochet class at the Yarn Store, I gave a nice class on Monday, and then on Wednesday another... different people, different classes...

The first one was with 3 middle age ladies, friends, one of them had crocheted before and wanted to improve tecnique... the other 2 had never picked a hook before... the class was good and they learned to make a chain and a single crochet stitch in one hour. The one that had crocheted before, learned the crocodile stitch.

My class on Wednesday was special and made me really happy...
It was a private class for a woman named Jackie, who was 83 years old, was in a wheelchair and had some kind of illness that erased her crochet memories. She had some limited and slow movements in her hands and couldn't speak. It was a challenge and a great thing to do.
I stood up behind her, place yarn and hook in her hands in the way I'm used to hold them and grabbed her hands in mine... and started to crochet.... I moved her hands to make chains and after a few she started to move her hands and do it on her own!!!
I stayed by her side, just to hold my yarn and hook in position of each step to form a chain so she could see it if needed and by imitation she could do it again and again...
I could see in her eyes that little by little she was remembering, as she moved her hands and put them in her own position, and grabed the yarn and chain with that movement that every crocheter owns to hold its yarn and move their hands... I don't know how to explain it... is just that she moved her hands in a right way with out me telling her how to do it...

It took a long time and she didn't pass the chain, but she did great!!!!
her daughter told her that she could do the whole skein just in chains and she would say no...
When her daughter went to leave the things in the car so she could come back to take Jackie, I started talking to fill the space... I told her that she had to practice a lot to make great chains, she would say no again and looked around the samples in the store.
I asked her if she had grandsons, and slowly she put down her hook and raised one finger... so I asked her if she wanted us to work in her crochet skills so she can make a hat for his grandson, and then she lighted up, her eyes sparkled and she noded very happy.
I asked if she wanted it to be red or blue, and she looked again to the samples on the store and pointed to a knitted hat in green and yellow, so that's the yarn we would use.
The daughter came back then, and Jackie pointed to the hat... her daughter didn't understand and I explained it all to her.
They both left the store very happy.... and I was happier than them!

I loved to be able to comunicate with her, to see those sparkles of knowledge in her eyes, and loved to feel that I was able to give her some hope that she can do it again... and I have no doubt on that!!!!

I hope they come back for another class...

See you soon!
S.

Z is for... Zumba!

I love Zumba, I love what it had brought to my life, I love to be able to work out in an intense hour full of fun dance... I love to see that my body is not so out of shape and that it really works... I love to feel like I'm having a REAL workout during the class, even when I finish drenched in sweat each class.

Very unfortunately, my Zumba place will be closing in about 2 weeks... which makes me sad and leaves me with the necessity of finding a new place to go to Zumba or a gym to work out.

:o(

Z is also for ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.............

Off to bed now!!!
See you soon!
S.

Y is for Yarn!!!!!!!!!!!

As it is almost impossible to go into a yarn store and not get nothing....

AND I've decided that yarn is an excellent souvenir whenever you go to a new place, guess what I got in Rochester????

I'll make a top with that one, is Vintage Chunky, by Berroco.

This one will be a hat or a scarf.

This one was made while being in Rochester with cotton, it has a nice brim to cover the sun.

My Vintage Vertical Stripe is coming out great!!!

I am LOVING IT!!!!!!!!

And I'm making a shawl! this is just the first "row" but I have 5 more done already... I'll show you soon!

See you soon!
Off to dinner!
S.

X is for X-Ray

I think I need one for my left ankle...

My left ankle is the weak one, the one that every once in a while gets hurt and bad for a couple of days... it has been bad, on and off, for almost 2 weeks... I can't go to Zumba and it hurts to walk sometimes... I think I had a sprain somewhere in the past...

See you soon!
S.

W is for... Wire Jewelry

It has been about a month since I was last here...
I've missed it but somehow, I feel like I hadn't have time for blog land... no, scratch that. I for sure, hadn't have any time for blogland... not for reading, not for writing...

I'm back and hope to be right on track again... this A-Z blogging was a lot harder than I thought and made me lose my writing track.

W is for Wire Jewelry, which I've been doing a lot in the past month... you see, last weekend I had my first show!!
I had a booth at the Luna Festival. Which is an event organized by Women Inspire, and organization that supports and empower women on business and arts.

I don't have pictures of my booth right now... they are on MG camera and I have to unload them to my laptop... but here some of the earrings I had that day!

I displayed some of the jewelry in a manequin... can you tell I was at the yarn shop???

Have to go!
See you soon!
S.