12 Shawls in 2012: May- Vilano Beach

The end of April finds me on the Atlantic shore of Florida, seeking continuing education in St. Augustine, Florida. I love to stay on Vilano Beach when I am here. Given the beautiful blue of the silk yarn, Ivy Brambles Pure Silk 20-2, I thought it rather appropriate to name May's shawl Vilano Beach. Every month, I think that month's shawl is my new favorite. Here I am, thinking it again.

 

Go on, click the button so you can get your copy....you know you want to!

See you at the beach.

 

Corner View- Work and Play

Today's Corner View theme is "Work and Play". I spent the day combining both.

 

Crochet and gardening are both work and play. Swatching for the May shawl, planting garlic, eggplant and tomatoes.

These two thought it was strictly play!

Corner View is a weekly appointment with bloggers all over the world, hosted by Francesca, started by Jane.Visit Francesca at Fuoriborgo for other posts from around the world.

12 Shawls in 2012- Review

I meant to do this quarterly, but March got past me and I have April's shawl done and it was released yesterday. While shooting pictures of Pineapples and Pearls, we also shot some pics of New Beginnings, Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Trillium, just to show how well they can ALL go from Winter to Spring.

                                                                   January- New Beginnings 

                                                  February- Chocolate Covered Strawberries

                                                                 March- Trillium 

                       Trillum- back view. I love this shawl so much, I had to show it to you twice!

Finally, April's shawl, Pineapples & Pearls. Click any of the buttons to get your favorite pattern today!
                                                                         
I forgot to mention, that all 12 shawls are available for purchase individually or as a collection. If you get the ebook, you'll get all 12 patterns as they are uploaded for the price of 10. That means you'll get 2 free...which 2, well, does it really matter? This button will take you to the link for the ebook. The buttons above will take you to the individual patterns. Happy hooking! 

12 Shawls in 2012: April- Pineapples and Pearls

I have been busily working all month on April's shawl. I struggled for awhile with a name for it. My Dad looked at it and said, "Pineapples and pearls". So I decided that was what it wanted to be called. I introduce you to Pineapples and Pearls.

Why Pineapples and Pearls? Because there are some pretty little pearl and citrine beads finishing the ends, as you can see in this close-up shot.

 Elegant and lacy, Pineapples and Pearls proves cold weather isn't necessary for shawl wearing. Shawls are great for summer-time, too, to cover up that little sundress when needed, not to mention to keep your shoulders warm when you enter an air conditioned building.

 I know, the pictures are kinda corny, but we had fun taking them! Buy your copy of the pattern to make your own version of Pineapples and Pearls by pushing the button below, and don't forget to let me see your finished shawls!
                                                                                  

Japanese Crochet

Japanese crochet stitch dictionaries has been all the rage for a couple of years now. I have not found one that I really, really wanted. Until I saw this one.

I ordered it on Ebay, from a lovely seller that calls herself pomadour24 . Even though it actually came straight from Japan, I received it quite promptly.
Even the envelope it came is was pretty.

Keep watching here. One of the beautiful stitch patterns out of here will be unveiled tomorrow with my 12 Shawls in 2012- April Edition: Pineapples and Pearls!

Corner View- Self Portrait and Where I live

I just got a new floppy sun hat yesterday. I am a sucker for a nice, big floppy straw hat in the summer time. Especially as I...um...."season". As you can see behind me, the dogwood trees are blooming here in the Ozarks. It is very beautiful where I live. I went for a vigorous 3 mile hike on Sunday afternoon with Ben, Shelley and Wyatt into the Buffalo National Forest, where we hiked to the Indian Rock House. It was once used as a shelter by the indigenous tribes. It is now part of the National Forest system and we are fortunate enough to live very close by. I took a ton of pictures, especially of the springtime foliage...

...the Maypops were (March) popping....

There were fiddlehead ferns coming up around every corner. I love their curly little heads!

I have no idea what this flower is, but it was the only one I saw one our hike and I thought it was very unique and pretty.

Here are Ben, Shelley and Wyatt at the opening of the Rock House.

And here is a pic of Ben, Wyatt and I (with another floppy straw hat on!)
Happy Corner Viewing!
Corner View is hosted by Francesca. Visit her to read other CV's from around the world.

This week's Corner View- Hindsight

This week's CV theme is "Hindsight". I thought perhaps a definition might help. Freedictionary.com has this to say:
Hindsight
1. the ability to understand, after something has happened, what should have been done or what caused the event
The last couple of years have seen a lot of challenges and changes in my life. In hindsight, would I have changed anything? Some yes, some no. Even though pain is something we like to avoid, the eventual outcome of a painful situation might be something desirable.
If I hadn't married my first husband, I would not have had this young man as my son, of whom I am so very proud. Nor would I have my sweet daughter in law and my little buddy.

If I hadn't gone to college, I would not be in a place to support myself now, with my current marriage in a state of decay. If I hadn't chosen to move back to the area I call home, I would not be able to spend time with my Mom and Dad now, in their later years.
Life is made up of a series of choices; some that turn out to be good, some that turn out to be bad, and some that seem bad at the time which actually turn out later to have truly been blessings in disguise.

Food for thought.

Corner View is a weekly appointment on a preselected theme with bloggers all over the world, started by Jane, now curated by Francesca at Fuoriborgo. Visit there now to read posts from all around the world.