It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I spent last weekend immersed in activity. Saturday, LittleLinoleum and I drove to South Pasadena so that she could work her weekend shift at Abuelita's Knitting and Needlepoint. Needless to say, I don't generally have any knitting and crochet students this time of year due to crazy holiday schedules, but simply dropping Lena off at work, going home and returning to retrieve her is pretty much out of the question due to distance and traffic. So, I use my student-free waiting time at the store to work on knitting and crochet projects, while chatting it up with the customers and Samantha (store proprietor). It's a nice way to spend the day and I'd like to believe that LadyLinoleum Jr. will look back fondly upon our Saturdays together.

I spent Saturday evening behind the spinning wheel while in front of the tube watching Christmas flicks (Little Women and It's a Wonderful Life), gas log blazing, lights twinkling on the tree(s), the hubs and I making the most of our quiet evening at home.

Sunday morning was all about a bit of baking on the kitchen front and a little assembly on the fiber front. From the kitchen emerged popovers, of which I forgot to snap a photo, and from my living room based textile mill half of new diamond shawl woven from some of my crazy handspun took shape. Pictures to come of the shawl. It's a wild one to be sure, lots of metallics embedded in the yarn. I'm quite happy with the results!

Then it was back to the kitchen for another round of making eats. This time I tried my hand at homemade marshmallows!



I never fancied myself a concoctor of confections, but marshmallows were surprisingly easy with Alton Brown as my guide. (Love that guy!) In fact, making 'mallows is nothing more than creating a syrup, whipping the syrupy mixture up with some gelatin until the final product is thick and sticky, yet airy. It's pretty fast and relatively simple if I do say so myself.


Marshmallow sugary syrupy base.


Curing mallows in a pie pan.

The most difficult aspect of the recipe process is trying to get the 'mallow mix from the stand mixer bowl into its final resting place, the pan. Wow, sti-cky! I won the battle however, and the mallows look superb. Tonight, I plan to coat my masterful marshmallowy goodness with chocolate. Mmmmm!

The hubs and I rounded out our Sunday with friends at our annual outing to Merry Tuba Christmas! (LittleLinoleum is currently too cool to attend this much loved *by the rest of us* tradition.) Sans child, we began the evening with a fabulous friends-filled dinner at Far Niente, then headed over to the Alex Theater to partake in a bit of musical majesty that only 150 tubas playing Christmas (and Hanukkah) carols can provide.



It was awesome. Incidentally, this year marked my fifth Tuba Christmas and, thankfully, the event always manages to kick my hibernating Christmas spirit into gear.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Fruit Tart Fascinator

I am so excited that you guys are lovin' the Pie-Rets! I have received tons of requests for the pattern. So, I will be testing all three pies this week in the hopes that I can offer the patterns to you in the next few weeks. Stay tuned...

Needless to say you've inspired me to keep going with the holiday sweets headgear...

Introducing the Fruit Tart Fascinator!



Yes, that would be me hamming it up with a little pie atop my head.

This mini crusted headgear was a one-night crochet project. As such, you can be sure that there will be many more versions of this little wonder in a variety of fruity fillings!



Who would have thought that wearing one's food could be so satisfying?

More holiday fun to come! Stay tuned...

Holiday Pie-rets

I have been infused with some serious crochet mojo combined with a touch of holiday spirit for the past few weeks. Now, you all know what that means...Oh yes, that definitely portends a bit of twist in my yarn!

Introducing Holiday Pie-rets!



These crocheted versions of round flaky goodness are just in time for Turkey Day! And yes, you can be sure I will be wearing pie to my family's Thanksgiving feast. So, let's take a look at my crusty choices shall we?

There is the always popular seasonal delight, Pumpkin Pie-ret...



Topped with a dollop of cream...

Thanks to Ellen for modeling!

OR how about a touch of dark and rich Pecan Pie-ret...



Bridget is modeling this lovely headgear!



And my personal fave, the Cranberry Orange Pie-ret with lattice crust!





Modeled by my girl, Jenna!





It's a tough choice to be sure.

Onto the crochet stats...

The Pecan and Cranberry Pie-rets were crocheted with an F hook and some of my Cascade 220 stash. An F hook combined with this light worsted yarn creates a very tight fabric. This is exactly the effect I was attempting to achieve as I was aiming for structure, not drape. My challenge during the design process for both of these Pie-rets was creating a perfectly shaped circle while using a popcorn stitch pattern. Needless to say, frogging ensued before I came up the correct increase to stitch ratio. I am happy with the results.

The Pumpkin Pie-ret was also crocheted with an F hook. However, I chose to use Lamb's Pride worsted for this one. Don't think I would choose this yarn again for this type of project. The FO ended up being too heavy for my taste. I will use Cascade 220 going forward should I ever decide to crochet another dessert-themed hat!

Needless to say, one of these hats combined with Turkeyzilla the Tote Bag accessorizing my holiday outfit will surely embarrass my daughter to the core. It just doesn't get much better than that! Muhahahaha!

Copyright 2008 Regina Rioux Gonzalez. All rights reserved.

NEW PATTERN - Creepy Crawly Crochet Appliques

In the spirit of the season, I bring to you a suite of buggy delights in the form of crocheted appliques!

How about a handful of Red Worms...



Cock-A-Roaches...



Black Widows...



And of course Maggots in 3D!



Gross, huh?

You've got admit, they're a little cool though too...

Best part is that these crocheted, squashed examples of bug-dom are great stash busters! Yep, best use of my leftover sock yarn yet (if I do say so myself)!

Pattern for all four squiggly wonders is available on my sidebar for the low, LOW price of $7!

You know you want to make piles of bug carnage...

Three New Patterns!

Ready for some winter holiday crochet?

Me either, but what follows are my latest and greatest patterns for Crochet Today mag.

Check out this darling little pet bed...



Pretty in pink sleep mask...



And some cheery holiday cushions...



I am partial to the snowflake pillow meself. Uh, now that I've forgotten about the painful process of sewing down said flake to the front of the pillow that is. Oh yeah, not exactly a fast procedure. However, the result is one stunning fluffy square!

Hopefully I will be able to make some of these things for my family and friends. My "To Crochet" list is getting mighty long...

Anyway peeps, enjoy!!