Spring Celebration and Hope House

Spring is in full bloom here now.  My headaches are a testament.  But I love going outside without a coat and just feeling warm anyway!    Lately I seem to have a fascination with primitive designs.  It's such a change from the really detailed type of cross-stitching I used to prefer.  When I saw this cute little freebie from the Primitive Hare,  "Spring Celebration", I couldn't wait to stitch it up. I used a piece of 32 count natural Gander linen that I bought from The Thread Basket.  I had heard so many good things about this linen that I was curious to try it out.  It's not available much in the U.S., but the Thread Basket does specialize in French patterns and has a limited supply on the site.  It's a nice weighty linen, and I enjoyed working with it.   It was just the right size to turn into a luggage tag for Spring Break getaways.  I gave it to a Jazzercise instructor who taught an especially fun class on the day I finished it up.

 

While searching for something completely different, I found this cute pattern for a funky crocheted house on Pinterest.  Just for fun I tried to see if I could actually re-create it.  My finishes from a lot of crochet patterns just don't turn out anything like the models.   This one worked out pretty well though.  I added a safety pin on the back.. poor man's brooch.  One of my friends has been training for the Avon Breast Cancer Walk.  She's trying to get in shape without over-doing and it's been a little tricky.  I will give it to my friend as a gift of encouragement.  The pattern is called "Hope House" and you can download the free pdf here.  I should have taken the photo in context so you could see the size.  It's about 3" (7.62 cm) high.  I crocheted it using #10 crochet cotton with a size 7 hook from colors that I had already.