Brigid: Theater Crew Member Extraordinaire

Our daughter, Brigid, became involved in her high school's theater group this year. She worked crew for the two main plays this year, George Orwell's 1984 and Seussical the Musical. She learned how to use all sorts of tools while building sets, and even though she said it was a lot of work, she had a lot of fun, too.

Tonight was her school's theater awards. The kids get all dressed up in formal attire, just like the Academy and Tony awards. Brigid won the award for Best Technical Newcomer for the overall year, plus a group award for Best Technical Ensemble for one of the plays. Obviously we are really proud of her, and she is getting to experience the particular joy of having her hard work truly appreciated.

She said I could post these photos here. Click on the photos for a larger view.

Isn't she just beautiful?


 

 

 

 

Pattern: Easy Baby Blanket

This baby blanket pattern is good for beginners.


 

It starts with a foundationless double crochet (directions and photos here, where it's called the Triple Base Chain Stitch). Gauge doesn't matter, and you can use any type of yarn and whichever hook you like.

The pattern is basically groups of two dc's, with a single dc at the beginning and end of the row. The single dc's will be used in the border round.

I used a G hook and one 6-ounce skein of sport-weight Red Heart Soft Baby in Bunny Print. I made mine about 19" x 23" to fit a car seat or baby carrier.

Easy Baby Blanket

Note: Ch 2 counts as first dc in the dc rows. You can ch 3 if you prefer.

Row 1: Foundationless double crochet the width you want, ending with an even number of dc's. Ch 1, turn.

Row 2: SC in 1st dc. Sc in space between 1st & 2nd dc, *ch 2, skip 2 dc, sc in space before next dc; repeat from * across, sc in top of turning chain. Ch 2 (or 3), turn.

Row 3: 2 dc in each ch-2 loop across. Dc in last sc. Ch 1, turn.

Repeat rows 2 & 3 until you reach the desired length. End with row 3, but ch 2 (or 3), turn.

Last Row: DC in each stitch across, dc in top of turning chain. Ch 2 (or 3), turn.

Border:
Work in rounds.

Round 1: *Top edge: DC in each stitch across, 3 dc in top of turning chain for corner. Side edge: Work 2 dc around each dc post and 1 dc in the end of each sc row, ending with 3 dc in last stitch for corner. Repeat from * for bottom edge and side edge. Join with a slip stitch to the top of the first turning chain. Ch 1. Do not turn.

Round 2: SC around, working 3 sc in center dc of each corner. Join with a sl st to first sc. Fasten off. Weave in ends.


 

Cats in the Box

Cats are just so . . . so . . . well, I don't know what they are, but whatever it is, they excel at it. Our cats, Rika and Keiko, get along about as well as you might expect for an arthritic senior citizen (Rika) and an exuberant teenager (Keiko). Rika tolerates Keiko for a while, then hisses at her and bites her whenever Keiko oversteps Rika's boundaries.

Rika and Keiko like to sit in boxes, and since they couldn't share one nicely, we had to provide two for them. Of course, having two boxes doesn't really help. Whichever box one is in, that's the one the other wants.

So Brigid just got home from school and told me to come upstairs from my dungeon office, "quickly but don't scare the cats!"

Here, for your viewing pleasure, Rika and Keiko.


Keiko (on the right) says, "I was here first, but Rika just plopped herself right in like she owns the place! 




Brigid said I should image-edit this one to make it look like they were left on our front porch like this!