BLUE MOON TIME

Also Known as the Sturgeon Moon While I fully expected August to be miserably hot and humid, it has not turned out to be so here in Middle Tennessee. Cooler than average temperatures and just enough rain here (more than enough an hour or two away). Nice. We've had some hot days and humid nights but really can't complain at all. I've been working on a few projects, one I just today completed. Original design, no written pattern.

I'm still not sure if I'll part with this one. I love it. It embodies autumn, my favorite month, right down to the oak leaf and acorn tie ends. Another is a cover for books, tablets or journals that I came up with. Shell stitches with more fall colored yarn (Knit Picks acrylic - very soft and wooly).

I'll likely make more of these using different stitches (I like variety in my crocheting). In creating my poncho (above) I finished up the bottom few rows with a stitch pattern I found in my encyclopedia of stitching. It has no name, but I really liked it. As I was crocheting it (in red)I could see that stitch being quite useful in a bath set of washcloth, scrubby, and soap bag, so I made a set using cotton yarn in just a few hours.

FREE INSTRUCTIONS TO DUPLICATE THIS STITCH PATTERN I love the texture and look of this simple stitch pattern - so try it out yourself! I used a cotton worsted weight yarn and an H hook - All you do is: chain a length and in the third chain from the hook, insert hook and pull up a loop, yarn over (YO) and draw through one loop on the hook, reinsert the hook and pull up another loop, YO and draw through one loop, then YO and draw through the three remaining loops. Stitch is completed. Skip a stitch and repeat all the way across the chain, turn and ch 2 and repeat the pattern. You'll figure it out.

I'VE BEEN DOING SOME MESHING AROUND LATELY

Summer Comes to a Moist Close

Where does the time go? I don't know about you, but my summer sped by like the rain storms the Southeast U.S.A. has had countless numbers of this summer. No flooding here, and corn and soybean fields are tall and full and green. The harvest should be bumper crops for all. While I didn't have a veggie garden myself this year, I planted potatoes and have an asparagus bed or two that did quite well. Fresh dug red potatoes - you can't beat that with a stick! My daughter and her s.o. do have a garden and they both work full time outside their home, so, not long ago, they inquired about hiring a gardener for a share of the produce. I volunteered and set to ridding their patch of a bumper crop of crabgrass and other weeds. It only took a week. For my efforts, I was awarded some gorgeous purple or black peppers, some black cherry tomatoes, some anaheim peppers and jalapenos. Also a couple of turnips and greens and some cattle beans seeds to plant myself in my former potato garden container. They have already sprouted and are taking off.

CROCHETING RIGHT ALONG Also, I have not neglected my crocheting and sewing. I've gotten into making baby shoes, likely inspired by a friend or two's new arrivals. They are cute, quick, and you can really play with colors. I also enjoy making my own buttons for them out of polymer clay. I'm also getting ready for a craft show in October (my first!) so I've made a cute Halloween-y banner and am upping my inventory to include some fall-ish items.

Just so you know, those multicolored things that look like canteens to the left in the picture are stowable shopping bags. The second picture is the larger one in use. They are pretty cool items to make and useful, too. I plan on having some to sell at the craft fair. INSPIRATIONAL MOMENTS I would be remiss to exclude those blessed occurrences we often refer to as inspiring that I've experienced in recent days. May they also serve to inspire you. Here's my list: A friends daughter just graduated high school last month. She has struggled with her weight all her growing years. Recently, she joined a team of coaches and began a diet using the Medifast program. Her success thus far is remarkable. She is amazing even herself and offers the thought that "once you get your head around it, it becomes easier." I think she's hit on something there, don't you? A blind parishioner at my church recently performed the reading of scripture at a service. He had to climb some stairs to the podium and read from his handwritten braille version of the verses. Then find his seat on the side and wait to descend the stairs again after all the readings are read. I'm sure this is nothing that special to him, but it is to me. A woman whose son was shot and killed spoke, through her grief and pain, to the three young men who murdered him for no apparent reason, saying that she hopes her son's senseless death will serve to call attention to the fact that young men of color need to turn their lives around and stop killing one another. As she communicated her heartfelt message to these men, she choked back what must have included rage, sorrow and despair, and also seemed to include the forgiveness that faith dictates we give those who trespass against us. It was so very touching. Inspiration was not only taken from this poor mother, though, but from the news agency who deemed the story important enough to include in their evening news broadcast. We are often given only the sordid side of most stories; this time the viewer was left with some hope, at least. These are just a few quite recently noted moments. I'm sure there are many I'm unable to recall at this time. If you have some you'd like to share, please leave a comment here with your "moment of inspiration" - and thanks for taking the time to read this.