Bird in flight

The Lacey the not so Lacey Headband turned out to be a much wider headband than I thought.  I used Red Heart in Ranch Red and a size H hook and my headband measures about 4″ wide.  

I’ve been hiking around Moran State Park a lot lately and this headband with a low ponytail is perfect.  I like having my hair out of my face when I’m on a long walk.  I haven’t taken my camera with me on the trails yet, but I really need to.  Late spring and early summer is so beautiful in the park!

Apart from a hiking headband, the reason I wanted to make the Lacey Headband was to sample the bruges lace technique.  From what I understand, you crochet a long strip with chain loops hanging off the side.  When you make the second strip the parallel chain loops are slip stitched together.  This makes an interlocking, lacy fabric.  The center strip looks like the X-stitch to me. 

 

The pattern is a really nice introduction to bruges lace. The written directions are very clear and there’s a chart included.  I’m not a full fledged chart reader, but if you’re a visual person, it can really make the process clearer. 

I’ll leave you with an evening photograph.  The hummingbirds around the house stop by the feeders all day, but at sunset they come out in swarms!

You can see a slide show of the other hummingbird pictures I took on Slide.com. 

*That’s cool* a random fact

Hummingbirds have the fastest wing beats and the largest brains proportionate to body weight, of any other bird.

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Pay it forward

This is the center of a granny square I did recently for a ROAK on Crochetville.  The pattern is the Multi Stitch Granny available free from Dayna’s Crochet.  I really like her crochet square pattern selection.   There are slightly altered grannys, pretty lacy squares and solid textured designs.  Also, she has nice pictures of the samples.     

I’m not sure the purple flower petals were meant to overlap.  In the picture from Dayna’s Crochet site the petals are arranged next to each other but my flower won’t lay like that.  I like the effect though.  By overlapping the petals it adds an inconspicuous three dimensional texture. 

In other news, it’s time to announce my Pay It Forward blog.  I signed up for my PIF handmade gift at A Mess Put Together Nicely from Melissa.  She sounds very nice and when I left an error in my name on Crochetville she had to hunt me down.  (Sorry about that Melissa!)  I believe she has one more spot available so if there are already three comments here try snagging a spot on her PIF entry.  Below are the ‘official’ PIF rules: 

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

When you leave a comment on my blog for the PIF please leave your name on Crochetville, Craftster or Ravelry.  If you prefer you can e-mail me at thekidneybean@gmail.com or just leave me some way to contact you.

– Edit –  One PIF spot left!

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