Woo hoo! I can’t believe I finished my Scheepjes CAL 2020 d’Historie Naturelle. This pattern was the most complicated piece I have done so far. I learned so many new stitches and new techniques. I’m so thankful I had that moment in my life that I thought I could make this blanket.
All done. 8/23/2021 As wide as queen size bed
Thank you, Christina Hadderingh of A Spoonful of Yarn , for your fantastic design. I don’t know who you came up with this design, but I’m so glad you did.
And oh my goodness, I don’t know what I would have done without Esther Dijkstra of It’s all in a Nutshell blog videos to get me through the entire piece, especially the lacy corner sections. Your voice (extremely calm) and helpful hints as if you knew where I would be struggling.
My blanket is nowhere close to perfect, but I don’t care. I think it looks great. Sometimes you have to say yes to a challenge.
These two are the sassiest. Orange is sleeping on my Coop pillow like it’s his very own. And Ollie has taken over my mom’s new chair. She put towels and throw on it so it doesn’t get covered in fur. Love how they take over everything in your life. haha.
Yes, I’m still slogging away at my Scheepjes CAL 2020 blanket. I’m on row 97 out of 105. I probably wouldn’t call it “slog” if I wasn’t crocheting a blanket in the hottest part of summer. I see the end coming soon and have been pushing to finish each row I work.
This is row 97 of my CAL 2020 blanket.
D’ Histoire Naturelle is the most challenging pattern I have crocheted. I’ve learned many new stitch patterns and techniques. I was close to quitting around February, took a two-month break. And I was able to tackle what I perceived as the most complicated section.
start with a half double crochet (hdc)
Yarn over (yi)
move needle behind hdc
yo, bring needle to front (should have 3 strands on needle)
yo again
bring needle behind the hdc again
yo, bring needle to front, you should have 5 strands on needle
yo, then pull strand through the 5 loops
I took a few pictures of myself working the current new stitch–pearl stitch. I could see using it as edging. Pretty cute. Oh, by the way, please excuse the shots. I should invest in a tripod if I’m going to continue to do these types of images.
I’m shooting for the end of August to finish the blanket. I have eight more rows to go and MANY ends to weave in.
I did a whole series of shots from my vacation to Montreal and Quebec in 2015 of close-up of colorful blooms. It was a hot August and all the colors seems so intense. This one was one of my favorite as the orange came out loud and clear. Here’s the rest of the collections.
I got to spend a weekend with the girls, High School friends, some of them I have known since first grade, on a staycation in Honolulu. It’s been a while since going on a vacation for many of us in the group. I was looking forward to being away from folks and not having my daily chores. No guilt, I would be only half-hour away, and my Mom knew that she could call anytime they needed me. And yes, I think they were happy to have a break from me.
I didn’t do my best at taking pictures. There are lots of picture-takers in the group. Here’s what I got.
Friday Night’s Adventures
A scavenger Hunt to get to our first destination of the weekend. These are our challenges to the hunt.
Find a store that begins with the first letter of your first name
Find Keeuamoku Seafood to pick up pupus
Find the statues of Kamehameha and Queen Lili’uokalani and take a group picture of ourselves in front of the statues
This was one of the only photo we remember to take our mask off. With the Kamehameha statue. Photo credits: Stephanie Takehara
I thought it was funny that the girl that lived on the mainland for 35 years was the driver of the scavenger hunt. Thank goodness I had great navigators, or we would be still on the search for these items.
Once all of us got to Friday’s final destination, Skull & Crown, it was time for pupus (appetizers) and drinks. Here’s all of us eating, drinking, and talking way too much. Cathy asked to bring her husband Allen along as it’s been a long, challenging year without a vacation. He was a trooper and didn’t get annoyed with all our jabbering. Group shot photo credit: Allen Takayama
Saturday’s Adventures
Oh my! What a day. We packed it like we weren’t going to have another chance: Afternoon tea at 11:00, Raku Ceramics event, roaming around Chinatown, shopping, getting ice cream, dinner in Waikiki, and more talking, drinking, and laughing at the end. I hope I’ll survive this weekend.
Tea at 1024 is a cute tea shop across the street from the Downtown Art Center (more about this location later) in Chinatown. We each picked our tea and teacup. I chose Vanilla Rooibus because I’ve been trying to eliminate caffeine from my life and like the taste. Here’s what we had. Everything was delicious, especially the scones and clotted cream.
Before we went to Tea at 1024, we found our way to Downtown Art Center to see what was showing. They had an annual Raku glazing/firing event. You could purchase a hand-thrown bowl, and you got to glaze it, and the raku team would fire for us. Several of us decided to to do it. We hurry to get into the last firing.
Meanwhile as the pots were fired we roam chinatown for interesting shops to browse and take advantage of their AC. We ended up making our way to Wing Ice Cream for a cool snack. This ice cream shop has unique flavors (pizza, we weren’t brave enough). I got a double scoop of “The Haole” and black sesame (I shouldn’t have done that).
Melt-y mess of goodness. Photo credits: Stephanie Takehara
We had dinner at Taormina in Waikiki. Taormina is a Sicilian restaurant with a Japanese Chef. Cathy and Allen have been there before and gave it a glowing review. We hopped in the minibus we rented for the evening. My disclaimer for the evening was that I wasn’t feeling great by the time we got back to the hotel. My choice for dinner may have been different if I felt better. I chose the Sea urchin “Ricci di mare,” Spaghetti sautéed with fresh sea urchin, light salt, and garlic. It was a creamy sauce from the sea urchin but a little bland. Maybe a little more salt or sea urchin. I think the duck, Pesci Misti, grilled mixed seafood, and Sarde e Finochetti, Spaghettini with sautéed sardine, fennel, anchovy, olive, caper, tomato paste and bread crumbs, were the winners tonight.
After dinner, we hung out in one of our rooms for more eating, drinking, and laughing.
Sunday Winddown
We had an early Dim Sum reservation at Jade Dynasty. We decided to sleep in (no 6:00 am walking), pack up, and move the car for the rest of the day’s events. Since coming back to Hawaii three years ago, I realize people in Hawaii like to stand in line for things. We got to the restaurant about 10:00, and people lined up already. Well, I survived dim sum without bursting, then off to the Van Gogh exhibit. Great use of fantastic artwork (wow, I still can’t believe they were allowed to do it), animation, projections, and ample space.
Well, I say we sure planned a jam-packed weekend and had a blast. I’m looking forward to the next event. Maybe a little less packed.
Princess Hot Flash 