2009-06-26

Traveling to Philadelphia

It's been a long time since my last post, so this one will be a little longer than usual. Stick around, I'll try not to bore you.

We (my wife and I) drove from California to Philadelphia to attend our daughter's college graduation.
Some pictures along the way:

Our first stop was to visit my wife's brother in Lyons, Colorado.

Elk in Estes Park, Colorado

Another stop was in Aurora, Nebraska. We arrived early in the afternoon, and decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. My wife spotted this house for sale and wanted me to take her picture. The asking price was $89,900. It was built in 1900. It needs some fixing up, but that seems like a great price (if you want to live in Aurora, IL).


909 L Street, Aurora, CO


While driving on the way to Aurora, we spotted a wide load on the freeway. It turned out to be windmill propellers (the kind that are used to generate electrical power) - I estimate they were at least 100 feet long.


Wide Load in Nebraska

The next stop was in Wilmette, IL to visit the Baha'i House of Worship. An impressive building and the only Baha'i Temple in the North American continent.


CrochetDad at Wilmette


I took this great night shot of the Temple

We brought along some of our own food which required a blender. We got tired of trying to find a rest stop with an electrical outlet, so we stopped at a Target and purchased an inverter to power the blender from our car. It turns out the inverter had insufficient power, so we took it back. We'll have to look for a more powerful model...


The inverter worked just long enough to make one shake.

Here's the blender in a rest stop restroom
Our next stop was Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. I took so many pictures, I knew my wife was getting impatient to leave. Here's a couple of pictures of the American and Canadian (Horseshoe) Falls:

American Falls

Horse Shoe (Canadian) Falls

We stopped at an Arby's Restaurant in Pulaski, NY. Outside, in the parking lot, there were these two spaces marked "Buggy Parking" ostensibly for the local Amish. I asked one of the servers inside if they were used much, she said "No, they go to McDonald's". I thought that was ironic, since McDonalds didn't have reserved spaces for Buggies.

Reserved Buggy Parking

My crochet project (Alpine Frost Scarf) was completed, although I don't have a decent picture of the whole thing yet. Here is a closeup of the stitch pattern.


Alpine Frost Scarf (closeup)


2009-05-15

Mother's Day Flowers


Mother's Day Flowers
Originally uploaded by CrochetDad
My wife received a beautiful bunch of flowers from our daughter, Ciera. I had to share this beautiful picture with you.

2009-05-09

Cooling our heels

Our sanctuary...
The umbrella pole is in the way, but the "stream" is a pondless waterfall in our backyard. I made this myself, and we love to sit in the backyard to listen and watch the water flow. It's truly relaxing.

San Diego County Fair Entries

I'm entering some of my crochet items in the San Diego County Fair again. Here's a slideshow of my entries:

2009-03-05

Mary J Blige Bulky Crochet Cables Hat


I've finally finished the crochet pattern for the Mary J Blige Bulky Cables hat. It's available on My Lulu Store and My Etsy Store. Finished hats are also on Etsy.

2009-02-03

Cotton Unisex Fedora


I've created a new hat! This one's a unisex fedora made from cotton yarn. The crown is made from two strands and the brim is three stands. The color is "Camel" with a black band.

2009-01-05

Mary J Blige Reflections Hat (CrochetDad version)

I was inspired by the hat worn by Mary J. Blige on the cover of her "Reflections" album. Her hat was apparently knitted, but since I don't knit well, I decided to try one in crochet. This is the result, in cotton yarn.

My daughter, Cambria has claimed this one, but I've had requests for more. The pattern is in the works, which I'll hopefully be selling on Etsy and Lulu.