Crazy Crochet

I keep thinking I should submit this freestyle crochet technique as a book idea. I haven't really seen it anywhere else and it's so perfect for people who like to crochet but don't want to (or can't!) follow those confusing directions or count stitches.

Isabel DePew, who were you?

I came across this wonderful vintage high school history book, especially printed for the state of Kansas in 1922. It obviously belonged to one Isabel DePew in Howard, Kansas. It's so perfect that despite the admonition in large letters "NOTICE: PLEASE DON'T MARK IN THIS BOOK PLEASE" our dear Isabel did just that. Perhaps she started the "altered book" trend that is going strong all these years later?

The penalties for various classroom infractions are noted on the last page:

Forgetting assignment - 10
Chewing gum - 5
Turning around - 10
Whispering - 10
Speaking without hands - 15
Tardy - 5
Rudeness - 10
Disagreements - ??

Thinking back to my own high school days, I fear I would have gotten a "perfect 100" on many a day...

On page 301, Isabel and a friend had this written conversation:

Isabel: "I am out of luck know. I guess tennis will blow up now with me."

Friend: "No I don't think so there is always some one. Bill is not through yet you can't tell he may."

There are sketches of the first floor of "my future home" as well as the somewhat resigned, "I don't care a darn but...". The best is a rough sketch of "you" with an obvious black eye!

One small scrap of fragile writing paper tucked between stained pages read:

"He said he had been saving his money for several years expecting to leave my native country that I loved so long, my friend, my home and my relative all but my wife and three children. We finally got enough money to take us across the water."

You can't help but wonder who Isabel was writing about...

Anyway, I did a quick internet search and found that there was indeed an Isabel DePew Jones who graduated from Howard High School in 1930. So I emailed the local historical society, explaining how I had Isabel's old text and offered to send it to them or Isabel's descendents if they were interested. No response yet, but I'll keep everyone posted if I hear back.

Library Love

I LOVE my local library. I just love it. Except for the occasional indulgence, I don't buy books anymore. The library sends me an email twice a month listing new books they've received in the categories I've specified (books on tape, oui! craft books, oui! cookbooks, non!). I decide what I want and put them on hold via computer, then I get an email when they're in and I pop by to pick them up. It could not be easier.

And you want to hear something really funny? I don't remember anyone's phone numbers (I mean, my daughters are Speed Dial 1 and Speed Dial 2), and I barely remember passwords and PIN codes, but I have my library card number memorized.

I remember going to the library across the street from my elementary school. It was one of those old, musty, dusty places where you checked books out by laboriously writing your name (well, it seemed hard as an 8 year old) in pencil on a little lined checkout card. How on earth did they ever keep track of books? How many were actually returned? Maybe the honor system was such that they actually got most of them back.