Turtle Bowl Pattern

This is my very first published pattern! I finished this little guy about 2 months ago, and even had it test crocheted by my friend Jen (rolyknitter on Ravelry)! I've just been so swamped with life that I am just now getting around to publishing it.

I had inspiration for this bowl from my sea turtle soap dish that lives by my sink. I wondered if I could crochet a bowl that looked like a turtle, but could also be functional. This little guy can hold flowers (if you put a waterproof dish inside to keep the yarn from getting weird), crayons, keys or just about anything. It's really simple to make too, because it's just crochet in the round.

Tour De Fleece

This was my first year participating in the Tour de Fleece - a spinning "competition" that happens during the Tour de France. I joined Team Rookie, Team Batty and Team Lendrum. All of my yarns were spun on my new Lendrum, but some had to be plied on my Ashford due to the nature of the yarn. I feel really good about the yarns I made and I hit my goal of spinning for a minimum of 15 mins each day (but really I was able to spin at least an hour or more) I had forgotten to take the rest days, but there were a couple of days I could not spin, so I figured it got evened out that way. Only 8 of the 9 yarns are pictured, apparently I forgot to take a photo of one before I entered it in the local fair. Most of my yarns were spun from Batts, except the top right blue yarns, they were spun from a roving. Total distance of yarn made was 2511 yards (I'm counting each ply made) which equals 1.42 miles! Wow, that seems like a lot when you add it all up!! I would definitely participate again.

Lavender Festival

It was that time of year again to trek out to Yamhill for the Lavender Festival. This was Hazel's 2nd Lavender festival (Pix from last year) and she had a blast! She got to ride a pony named Belle. She had practice riding and holding onto a saddle from the carousel for her birthday, and those playground animal things on a spring. She knew to hold on, but when she came around the loop to where my mom and I were standing, she would take one hand off and wave at us, then go back to holding on. Owen was there just in case she fell off, but he really wasn't needed! We visited the two farms we like Willakenzie and Wild Rain. At Willakenzie they have the Alpacas which are always fun to see. In their gift shop they added skeins of alpaca yarn and patterns too. The man I met 2 years ago here was again spinning on his Lendrum, and it was neat to chat with him, now that I have more spinning experience. At Wild Rain farm we picked a bundle of lavender and walked across their farm to the rivers edge and I re-taught my mom and her friend how to make lavender wands. It was so relaxing to sit in the shade and drink lavender lemonade and craft. It would have also been the perfect place to spin if I had brought my wheel.

Hazel's First Birthday

It's been almost a month since her first birthday (oops), how time flies!

Hazel's real birthday (June 21st) was celebrated along with Father's Day, in Seaside. We drove over to Canon Beach Sunday afternoon. Had lunch at a pizza parlour. I went to the bead store while Owen and Hazel went to the playground. Then we all went and got ice cream cones (Hazel snuck a few licks off of our cones). We stayed the night at the Rivertide Suites. In the morning, we packed up to leave, and went to walk around Seaside. Hazel rode the carousel, then we went to the beach where she walked in the sand and touched the freezing cold ocean! We drove home during her afternoon nap and quickly changed clothes and drove to the Spaghetti Factory in Portland. We had dinner with my mom and Owen's parents. Between salad and the main course, Hazel took a walk around the restaurant and flirted with all of the tables. When it came time to sing happy birthday, everyone in the restaurant sang to her. This made me tear up a bit, because I'm sappy like that. She enjoyed her own vanilla ice cream.


The following weekend we had her birthday party with her friends. Lots of little kids came to play in the water fountain, eat cake and help her open presents! After a full day of fun you can imagine she was exhausted!!