Half-Shell Blanket


I finished this blanket last August 2007 while I was on a blogging hiatus. I love this pattern so much--it is so easy and creates a beautiful texture. I also love the border, which you create by crocheting from left to right instead of right to left. It was awkward at first, but makes such a pretty frame for the blanket.

Pattern: Easy Patterned Throw by Vera Hannaford (from the website Crochet Me)

Yarn Used: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid, 10 skeins in Natural Heather

Bonus Picture!

Here is a picture of Sadie running in the fields around my Dad's house. We went to Arkansas to visit some family there a couple of weekends ago. I think this city dog looks so cute against this back drop of yellow flowers, running wild and free!

Book Review: The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

Jennifer chose The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff for our last book club, and everyone who read it loved it! The book centers around a fictional town named Templeton, based on real-life Cooperstown, NY (of James Fenimore Cooper and baseball fame). The main character is Willie Upton, living in present-day, and her research into the lives of her ancestors, back to the town's founder, Marmaduke Temple. The book goes back and forth between the past and present in each chapter, and all of the ancestors get their turn to tell their story. The author puts handy family tree charts at the end of each of Willie's chapters so you can keep track of who's who.


The book is an interesting mix of magic and reality, as one of the main characters of the book is a monster who lives in the town lake. There are also ghosts, visions, and other mysterious happenings, but the author treats them almost as everyday and accepted occurrences. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book--the cross between the mundane and the fantastic. I also immensely enjoyed all of the characters in Monsters of Templeton. Each character had major flaws, but that made them more true and real. No one is perfect in this book.

Lauren Groff is a great story-teller, and this is one of those books that you don't want to end. My favorite section of the book is the Charlotte and Cinnamon letters--you'll have to read it to find out what these are! I hope Lauren Groff is working on another book--I would like to read it!

Short and Sweet

I finished this cute bolero at the end of April, and it is the first garment I have crocheted! (Other than a scarf.) I got the pattern from the aptly-named Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller. The pattern seems very confusing at first, but once you get the stitch pattern memorized, it is quite easy. I was very satisfied with the results! It fits very well, and the yarn I chose is great. The only problem with the pattern is that you have to weave at least 20 ends in!! I would still highly recommend the pattern, however. It is pretty easy to adapt--I added an additional pattern repeat on the back, left front, and right front so the bolero wouldn't be tight under the arms. I also added some length to bottom of the entire thing because I didn't want it too short.

If you decide to make this, check out the pattern designer's website here for some further instructions. This bolero really gave me some confidence to try to make more garments!


Yarn Used: King Tut cotton yarn in Color #431, 4 skeins

From Shabby Sheep