I’m not sure if it’s the same all over, but here in Toronto, “summer hours” are a common thing — that’s when employers let staff have Friday afternoons off. As self-employed people, Nick and I usually treat ourselves to summer hours, too.
So, a week ago Friday, after she’d finished up at work, my friend Julie came over for a little r and r on our patio. We had lunch followed by a crochet lesson.
↑ We had a salad plate, including a version of this Quinoa Salad that you’ve seen recently, as I just made it on Canada Day (posted about here). I made it again because everyone seems to really enjoy it, however this time I added a fair dose of Julie’s favourite herb, marjoram, which I had growing in our potted garden. ↑
↑ Nick made us some Iced-Coffee in lieu of dessert. ↑
Julie is a very skilled knitter — I may be biased but would confidently say that she’s amoungst the most highly regarded in the country, publishing her own original patterns, leading all kinds of workshops and blogging on the subject at her site Knitted Bliss.
While she’s a knitter, I’m a crocheter. Both of these crafts involve turning yarn into fabric, however, knitting is done with two needles and crocheting is done with one hook. I mention this because I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve explained to people that what I do with my hook is not knitting!
Anyway, you get the gist … they’re not the same thing and knitters don’t necessarily know how to crochet and vise versa.
So, on this lovely summer afternoon, Julie and I got together for a little crochet lesson. We’re both left-handed, making me a good person to show her how, because the hand you use makes a difference. The end product still looks the same but lefties work backwards (for lack of a better way of describing it.)
We worked on a “half-double-crochet” stitch and she caught on quickly.
↑ I mentioned the herb Marjoram above … that’s my plant on the right. I managed to overwinter it this year, so this is last year’s plant, still growing. Marjoram is an annual here, and while I’ve tried to keep it alive over the winter before, by bringing it inside in the fall, but I’ve always failed. This year, however, it survived to grow another summer. Both the Marjoram and the geranium, on the left, were “overwintering” successes this year. I also have a rosemary plant from last summer, that survived inside, but it seems so happy where it is now, that I dare not disturb it and bring it back out. I could go on and on about plants and gardening, but I’ll stop now! ↑
It was a fun afternoon and we plan to have more lessons, including some where she shares her knitting knowledge with me! Julie’s goal is to be crocheting flowers sometime soon, and mine is to knit a cabled scarf this winter. I’ll let you know how we make out!
Thank you for reading. xo loulou
