a Winner & a Laugh

On this sunny Sunday afternoon, it is most officially time to announce the winner of the Swoon fabric giveaway.  The lucky one will be selected from my pool of Google followers, in a highly scientific manner.  And, the winner is....  Danielle of The Crafted Things.  Oh, you lucky girl!  Enjoy!

For all the rest of us who aren't going home with new fabric, let's try to keep our chins up, shall we?  You can still enter a pillow you've made into Blogger's Pillow Party for your chance to win a 1/2 yard stack of the Innocent Crush "The Swept Away" palette by Anna Maria Horner!  "Wow" & "Yum!" seem fitting here.  Make your entry by January 26th.

"Alas", you say, "I have not a pillow to enter."  Oh, my!  Well, would you like to see some silly things I crocheted years ago?  I did promise to procure some pictures.  And, perhaps a laugh is in order?

Drumroll please (see, I saved it for this)....

Crochet past:  poncho (why?)

the Poncho.  Somewhere around 2003 ponchos were suddenly chic.  I'm serious!  They were flying out of the fancy designer clothing store where I worked in sales.  This was my first indulgence in "nice" yarn.  So easy to make.  Destined never to be worn.  I've considered taking it apart for the yarn.  What would you do?

Crochet Past:  oh-so-stiff baby dress

the Baby Dress.  Ahhhh, I made this for Aria, my first baby.  It's crocheted in a sturdy white cotton yarn with delicate blue accents.  Practical?  No.  But I was deluded by pregnancy hormones. 

Somewhere about halfway through making this, I realized that using the yarn specified in a pattern can be really, really important. 

Crochet Past:  Seriously.

Because, this dress is so incredibly stiff that it stands up on it's own.  In denial, I stubbornly kept crocheting.  And, my husband kept laughing.  No, I never attempted to put it ON my child.  6 years later, I'm laughing too.

Crochet past:  the baby blanket

the Baby Blanket.  Of course, I made baby blankets.  Who doesn't?  This purple wonder was Aria's, though again, I rarely ever used it.  I dislike crochet blankets for babies because their little hands and feet get caught in the holes. 

The flowers?  Don't ask me why I made them.  And I have no idea what to do with them. 

And there you have it - the ghosts of my crochet past.  The process of making was delightful, but nothing I made seemed really practical or well-loved in the end.  And that's just not good enough for me. 

Crossing fingers that my current crochet project will meet a better fate!