rose hip

it's 8:10 in the evening...

...and Halloween is in full swing! 'So fortunate to have Marie-Antoinette join our entourage tonight (as you can see, she's still very much at a happy point in her life...). 'Hope you're all having a very

Happy Halloween!

trim trials...

...as you can see, I've been trying different crochet trims on my pillowcases... While I've come across many beautiful trim patterns in my collection of crochet books, a lot of them tend to be a little too labor-intensive for what I'm looking for; I've therefore simplified a few or used only a few rows of these longer, more intricate patterns. I'll be putting together a juicier post shortly showing you my pillowcases in more detail... (Hmmm... perhaps it's time for a pillowcase giveaway?!)  I've just been rather busy lately with household fall chores like this one, my all-time favorite: putting away the kids' summer clothing and replacing it with their fall/winter wardrobe...Ugh! with four kids, this one seems to take forever! 'Talk to you soon...

embellish!...

...as you can see, I've been working on some crochet-trimmed pillowcases and having a ton of fun with colors!... I will be bringing these to the lovely local shop, Molly's Furniture Salad, which stocks my wares. Because I had so much fun with these, I've started working on a new batch to fill my very sad and empty Etsy shop...

A word about the flowers in the vase... they are mostly zinnias with a few stray roses, all from my garden where flowers are still blooming because we are having the most gorgeous autumn in Vancouver! I absolutely adore zinnias -- they are the ultimate "happy flower "as far as I'm concerned; they sprout easily from seed, and when placed in a sunny spot, they just keep growing very happily and produce the most perfect little flowers in wonderful shades of pink, orange, yellows, cream, etc... Pure happiness. What is there not to adore?

Back on the subject of crochet... I finally got my hands on a book I've been dying to get: Crochet Adorned, by Linda Permann, who pens one of my favorite blogs, Lindamade... and, oh boy, this book does not disappoint!! Gorgeous to look at -- the photos are absolutely stunning -- this book starts with crochet basics (great if you've been dying to learn how to crochet!) and moves to give how-to instructions for a very yummy and contemporary assortment of wardrobe embellishment, fashion accessories and even a few home decorating projects. I've show you some of my favorite picks below... OK, how adorable is the jacket with the scallop trim!! This book really brings out why I love crochet so much: by learning just a few basic stitches, you can make quick small-scaled projects with so many possible looks -- from lacework to flowers to geometric shapes, etc... -- which can be completely stand-alone, like the sweet earrings shown below, or used to zing up any items that you sew up or have that are already sewn... How fun!

...Looking at the photos in this post, I think I'm still stuck in summer mode despite it being October (Yikes!)... What do you think?!