Adding Color to Your Life

Isn't it wonderful that you can add color and music to your life to brighten it up?  A few years ago I crocheted a banner/bunting/pennants in red, white and blue.  I decided to make a colorful banner to take to our camping trip to hang on our shade canopy we erect over our picnic table.  I cannot tell you how much joy this colorful banner brings me.  I showed a photo of my work-in-progress and mentioned that I would be adding bells to the bottom of the pennants - for 2 reasons.  To hold them down and to add music when they blow in the wind.  One of my blog friends read that and offered to send me a bag of bells that she'd gotten at an estate sale.  I happily accepted and a few days ago the mail came and one envelope had a distinctive jingling sound and I knew the bells had arrived!  Thank you, Kathy - please go visit her at Running With Rocket. I just visited and she has one heck of a colorful flower garden on her patio!

I had to show you the bells when I opened the envelope... the perfect size!

I organized my pennants by the colors of the rainbow and began crocheting them together and adding the bells.  I put 3 chains between triangles and single crocheted across the top of each flag. 

It looks awfully pretty across the pergola on the deck, with flowers peeking between.  

These are easy - I chain 28, then double crochet into the 3rd chain from hook, and dc across to end, chain 3, turn, then dc into 1st dc (do not dc into beginning chain 3 as this is how you decrease) - dc across to last true dc, (and not into the top of the chain 3) ch 3 and turn.. you do this back and forth until you have 2 dcs - tie off.  Make sure that each row is one less than the last.  When I get all my pennants done, I will chain a tie for about 25 ch or so, then sc across the pennants with 2 or 3 chains between the flags, on the end, another 25 chains, tie off.  Why don't you try this with leftover yarn?  I recommend cotton, but I'm sure anything would do.  You can make them bigger or smaller to your taste by how many chains you make to begin with.

This is the best year ever for the flowers that Dayle winters over, such as this tuberous begonia.  We've had the sunniest year ever.  Climate change?  

We have 3 color varieties of these.. I love this white one with pretty pink edging.

The Asian lilies are happy with the sun but they are aging and drying out faster with the warm dry weather.

Another of my wonderful blog friends, Meredith at Mereknits made a Queen Anne's Lace scarf and when I was shopping at Craft Warehouse I saw this fabulous variegated yarn and grabbed two skeins of this luscious acrylic in single ply - it looks hand-spun and is very lustrous!  I think my two granddaughters might like a scarf in this pink rainbow color.

This one is rather like a peacock color.  They will make great scarves as they are soft.

It feels as yummy as it looks.

A few more shots of the bunting here, next it will be hung in our campsite at Waldo Lake!

We ran some errands yesterday and I quickly snapped this shot on my phone as we passed over the Stark Street Bridge over the Sandy River.. we've had some hot weather of late and the river is FULL of people cooling off by swimming and rafting down the river.  

Well, time to make lunch for Dayle and I and then we're going power shopping at Costco and Winco to get the fresh food for our trip.  What are you up to this fine day?  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)