Corner View- January

 You probably can't tell in this first picture, but this January day is cold, wet and dreary. Up until today, we have had unseasonable warm weather. Yesterday was beautiful.

But today is beautiful in its own way, I suppose.Y

It's the kind of day that is perfect for cooking and baking. I have the great fortune that my younger sister is still here to assist in my Dad's care. She will be partaking of these tasty oven-baked falafels with vegan tzatziki  sauce from the Vegan Dad's recipe with me at lunch today. Yum! In case you are interested, I will be blogging about this over on Two Fat Sisters later!

Corner View is a weekly appointment with bloggers all over the world, started originally by Jane, now curated by Francesca at Fuoriborgo. Go there and click the links to visit other corners around the world.

Corner View- Black and White

This week's Corner View theme is Black and White.
No pictures this week.
We had to face some decisions this week that you might think of as Black and White....like Life and Death.
Lymphoma had made Dad so weak that his oncologist didn't think he could survive chemotherapy, so he had to choose.
Life or Death?

He chose the only hope he had, which was chemo, even though his oncologist let him know there was a possibility that it could finish him off even faster.
What she didn't count on was how tough, how resilient and how determined my Dad can be.
His words?

"I have never backed away from a fight in my life. I don't see any point in starting now."

When you are faced with a decision such as Life or Death, things become a lot more black and white, and the shades of gray fade away.

So far, so good.


Corner View is a weekly appointment, originally started by Jane, now curated by Francesca. Visit Francesca for links to Corner View's all over the world. Next week's theme will be "January"

Corner View- Out with the old, in with the new!

January- "New Beginnings" Shawl - Shawl number one of 12 Shawls in 2012

Welcome back, Corner View! We took a little holiday break. Our theme today is "Out with the Old, In with the New". I pondered several different subjects I could have talked about, like how I changed my eating habits last year and how I plan on losing more weight this year. I might have pondered family issues, but they are just too complex right now, and frankly, you probably just don't EVEN want to know...
So, in keeping with the name of this blog, "Crochet Renee'", I thought I would blog about what's going to be new this year in my crochet life. I blogged here about this some already, but thought I would tempt you with a sneak peak of next month's shawl of "12 Shawls in 2012", which I am designing and writing throughout the year. They are all going to be crocheted. Perhaps sometime in the future, I will design some knitted shawls, but for now, I am gonna stick with the hook, because I want to show just how gorgeous crochet can be!

I am calling it "Chocolate Covered Strawberries" in honor of one of my favorite Valentine's Day treat!
Watch for a different shawl each month. If you have any ideas of themes for names of shawls in the coming months, leave me a comment!

Corner View is a weekly appointment with bloggers all over the world, hosted by Francesca over at Fuoriborgo. Visit her to see links to CV's all over the world!

12 Shawls in 2012: January- New Beginnings Shawl

Happy New Year!!! I am looking forward to this year being a good one. 2011 was not the best year we ever had in our house. Let's just leave it at that, 'kay? I was toying around with an idea to do 12 shawls in 2012, but was reluctant to venture out, since I had a client who kept me very busy with design work. Unfortunately, that same client got bought out by another company, who does all their design in-house....so suddenly, I was out of that job. Consequently, I now have a little more design time on my hands so I decided to go for it! What's the first in the series? I am so glad you asked!

 

I am calling this lacy little number the January- New Beginnings Shawl.

In case you wanna buy it now, here's the button that will get you there:

 

Pretty, huh? This yarn is one of my new favorites, Ivy Brambles Romantica Merino Lace. It is hand dyed by a lovely couple in New Hampshire. The colors and the fibers are SO. YUMMY.  They also hand dye a pure silk lace weight yarn. Don't worry, I have some, and yes, you will eventually be seeing it here! Be sure and give them a visit, buy some yarn and give it a "spin" and let them know Crochet Renee' sent you!