Weekend side trips

This winter we bought an RV and started making some general plans for trips, but we hadn't found time to do some repairs and spruce-ups that we wanted to do. Well, the weather was fantastic this weekend, and we got started.
Friday, we went to a hardware store and bought water hoses, pipes and connectors. H spent all day Saturday working on getting the water system operating properly and making sure there were no leaks. Saturday we went to the local RV store and got some other hoses, putty tape, etc. and scheduled maintenance on the LP gas (stove, heater, hot water) for this week. I spent a little time as "gopher", you know, "go for the phillips head screwdriver", and "hand me the wrench". Sunday, we went to Home Depot and looked at things we might want to have in our traveling home away from home. All we bought was a portable vaccuum cleaner for quick clean ups. Today (Monday) H worked more on the water system, disinfected all the tanks, lines, etc.

Wait a minute, this is not the RV blog, where's the crochet content?
Okay, when we were out on Friday, we went to the WalMart in Mechanicsburg, not the local one we were at last week. I found the variegated yarn for the purple afghan, but not the light pink thread that I wanted. We went to the AC Moore in the same shopping center, they didn't have the thread, either. Saturday, after the RV store we stopped at JoAnn Fabric. No light pink thread, in fact, they had barely any thread at all. But their yarn selection is looking good. On our Sunday shopping we stopped at Michaels, again. I selected a light pink in Cebelia #10, though I was rather sure that it was just tooo close to the pink I alread had. I also selected some embroidery floss in a "light baby pink". In the evening, I tried both of these and didn't really like either with what I already had. Believe me, there was going to be no ripping back just to change colors. I can select other colors if I use this pattern again. So, last night I started with the white. I think it's going to look very good, just not spectacular. I think that the stitch patterns are complicated enough that it will be a good entry for the county fair, as hoped. Well, I have learned a lot on this project.

I also started working on another light lap cover for my aunt. She's in a nursing home following surgery, and last time I visited she had a pretty little thing made out of dishcloths crocheted together. She asked if I could make her one, so we went to the WalMart and got some dishclothes, pastel variegated thread and a steel hook. I whipped one up that weekend. Since we're going to be in town this weekend for a family reunion, I'm trying to get a second one made, maybe before we leave for the weekend, maybe while we're there. For this I selected some beige washcloths that have red/pink roses. I started with a #9 hook for it's sharp point, and used it to poke holes and do a single crochet, chain 3 around the outside in shaded greens. Then I changed to a #5 and dark red thread and I've working a little shell pattern around. I think that the next round will be shaded pinks, and then join the 4 washcloths together.

I have a busy week, trying to finish up these small projects, getting ready for the trip, and it's 2 weeks before the dance recital so I have some extra projects. Tomorrow I probably should hem some scarves for the belly dancing costumes. Or at least get a good start on the project.