Crochet Cabana's Crafty Corral

just saying howdy

2011-10-09T11:34:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd pop in here and say I'm still around. I do most of my posting at the Crochet Cabana blog since crochet is what I do most of the time. I am going to be getting back into looming though and when I have something to share, I'll be sure to post about it here.

Hope everyone is well and excited about crafting. Christmas will be here before too long, so I'm guessing gifts are at the top of your crafting lists.

Enjoy!

Happy crocheting!

Finished loom hat

2011-05-31T12:30:00.000-05:00

Loom hat on Mr. Bingle

I finished the loom hat though I was a bit off on my round counts. Well, to be honest I have no idea how to count the rounds and my guess was off. The hat is a bit too high for a regular person. LOL But I finished it.

I also was able to do a small amount of crocheting. My hand is mostly better. I'm wearing a more flexible wrist support just to remind myself not to overdo it. :-)

Mr. Bingle is happy with his new hat. Now to make one that will actually be useful for a living person.

Happy Crocheting!

Sandie

Loomin'

2011-05-30T08:16:00.000-05:00

Since I haven’t been able to crochet due to the sprained wrist (fall of 5/10), I have been trying other creative outlets. I’ve done some plastic canvas and now I am trying looming.

There is still a little bit of pain in the way I have to work with looming, but not like with crocheting. Of course, I couldn’t loom if my sweet daughter had not given me wonderful instructions. I had tried to read the instructions myself, but with no success. It is rather irritating that she took the looms and in 5 minutes voila – a hat! ROFL. I’m just kidding. I’m thrilled she was able to figure it out and teach me. I do still have to learn how to finish this off. She showed me, but I don’t remember now. Here are a couple of pictures of what I have accomplished thus far.

I was able to get into my Blogger blogs today so still not sure what I will do with them. Crochet Cabana is staying where it is for now, but I may move Crafty Corral to Wordpress if I can figure it out. I like that I can have more than one blog under one place so to speak without the signing in and out problem, but Blogger has other advantages too.

Happy Crocheting!

Sandie

to move or not to move

2011-05-29T21:58:00.001-05:00

I am considering moving Crafty Corral and my Shifting Winds blogs to Wordpress so they can both be under one umbrella so to speak. Haven't decided yet though.

The reason this came up is because for a few days I was unable to sign out of Crochet Cabana to get to this blog or my other one. I solved the problem, at least temporarily, but I still like the idea of one sign in.

You can check out the Wordpress blog at http://craftycorral.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/first-loom-project/ .

Happy crocheting!

Sandie

plastic canvas crosses

2011-05-23T14:33:00.000-05:00

If you're a reader of The Crochet Cabana Blog (or my Facebook page) you know I sprained my hand and am unable to crochet as I recuperate. I found I could, however, make the little plastic canvas crosses I featured in the video a couple posts back, so that is what I've been doing. In fact, I just ordered more of the 3" crosses at Craft Designs For You just in case I don't recuperate as fast as I hoped. :-)

I have been told that these cute little bookmarkers are welcomed by nursing home residents and hospice patients and I think they might also work well for Sunday School classes. If you know of other uses, do share!

Happy crocheting!

Sandie

Linkys

2011-04-24T00:21:00.000-05:00

Firstly, Happy Easter to you all! I hope you are enjoying this day in which we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

In fiber related news, over at Sandy's Space she blogged about a knitting book she started to read and didn't finish as of yet. She asked that we "Add your name, blog about a book you've read about knitting or crocheting or any book you've recently read for that matter, and remember to add a link to this post." So here I am.

I've read a number of knitting and crochet fiction and nonfiction books. I couldn't possibly name them all, but I do have a few that come to mind.

My very favorite is the Molly Pink stories by Betty Hechtman. I think I have listed them all, but you can use the first link to search for other books by the same author if you prefer. I really enjoyed these. There is a natural blend of romance and murder mystery though you'd likely not think of the two together. heh
Search Amazon.com for betty hechtman
Hooked on Murder (A Crochet Mystery)
By Hook or by Crook (A Crochet Mystery)
Dead Men Don't Crochet: A Crochet Mystery
A Stitch in Crime (A Crochet Mystery)
You Better Knot Die (A Crochet Mystery)Search Amazon.com for betty hechtman

I just read that there is a new one coming out at the end of the year. I'll be putting that one on my list.
Behind the Seams (A Crochet Mystery)

Bendy Carter's book, Dying to Crochet, is a great book. However, it is more expensive than the others. You might be able to get it from your local library. There are 10 original designs included and several unique stitches so you might find the extra price worth it for that reason. It's sort of like buying a pattern book with a bit of story attached, though the story is a good one, too.

Another fiction series, related to knitting rather than crochet is Maggie Sefton's series beginning with Knit One, Kill Two (Knitting Mysteries, No. 1). I read this one quite a while back. If time allowed, I would certainly like to catch up on these. The rest of the books in the series (that I could find anyway) are:
Needled to Death (Knitting Mysteries, No. 2)
Oh, reading the summary of that one, I have read it also so I must have really enjoyed the first one. Here are the rest.

A Deadly Yarn (Knitting Mysteries, No. 3)
A Deadly Yarn (Knitting Mysteries, No. 3)
A Killer Stitch (Knitting Mysteries, No. 4)
Dyer Consequences (Knitting Mysteries, No. 5)
Fleece Navidad (Knitting Mysteries, No. 6)
Dropped Dead Stitch (A Knitting Mystery)

Skein of the Crime (A Knitting Mystery)
Double Knit Murders
Unraveled (A Knitting Mystery)

I was surprised at how many there were in this series. I really need to catch up on these.

Another good knitting series (why are there so many more knitting series??) is the one by renowned author Debbie Macomber that begins with The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, No. 1). I love Debbie Macomber so no chore to read this one!

In the nonfiction realm, I am still going through Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes . I have to think when I'm reading this one and that means concentrating on that one thing, so it keeps getting pushed aside. I do want to finish it though as I find it fascinating.

Guess that's all. I hope this inspires you to pick up a good book whether it is from the library or a bookstore. Most of the fiber craft related ones have patterns too.

Happy Crocheting!
Sandie

Plastic Canvas Cross Bookmarkers

2011-03-22T15:33:00.003-05:00

Since this is not crochet, I'm putting it here at the Crafty Corral.

Below is a video I made demonstrating how to make plastic canvas bookmarkers. I have made hundreds of these crosses over the years. They can be very colorful or more muted in tone depending on what you want. They're very easy to do once you get the idea and take hardly any time at all.

I purchased premade crosses online at Craft Designs For You, but you can also cut them from clear, white, or colored plastic canvas if you want to do that.

The needles I have used both with my plastic canvas and to sew in tails in my crochet are the Boye Needles Size #16 2/Pkg. I just discovered that Darice (the makers of the crosses I have) also make needles. Darice Plastic Canvas Needles Size 16 2/Pkg

As I was looking for books on plastic canvas I ran into these adorable Sesame Street Designs in Plastic Canvas.

Enjoy!

Happy crocheting!

Crochet Cabana everywhere

2011-03-11T14:59:00.000-06:00

Before I start, a quick reminder to check The Crochet Cabana blog for regular updates on my crochet doings. I now have a Twitter and a YouTube channel too.

I also want to express sympathy for those who are suffering due to the recent tsunamis. I have a friend in Japan though she was not in the affected area. Another friend is not in Japan but in that general area of the world, not close enough to have been affected. My nephew will be heading to Japan as his tour of duty but is not there yet. The blessings abound and I am thankful none of them were in the line of fire so to speak. It always amazes me how much smaller the world seems as time goes on and we are all connected through the various social networks and such. This news would have taken so long to reach us years ago and now we have the news (and can start aide) within minutes. Amazing!

The world of print also is changing. I recently got a digital copy of my blog just to see what it would look like. You can do this at http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html . The digital copy is made right then. You pay and download it. You get a table of contents and I chose to get all the photos the same size. I thought it looked great. It is only 7.95 for the pdf file. You can get a print copy as well, but it is much more costly, price depending on how many pages it is.

Now I could do this myself by moving all the posts into publisher or word and making a pdf file or using print friendly to do each post individually. I do keep the posts in a file separate from the Internet so I can search for things when I need a date or forget some information I need. However, I have to move each post, and then each photo individually, which takes a lot of time. This process will put everything in one file and save me a lot of time.

Unfortunately for me, I chose what I thought was a pretty background (they are tiny), but it turned out to say "2009" all over the cover. Since this was my 2010 journal, not so good. But it is not for publication so not a big deal. You can set it so that people can buy copies, but I am not doing that.

That's all for now. I will try to hop over here at least once a month. You can find me more often at the Cabana as time and projects permit.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Special Olympics Louisiana

2011-02-24T07:27:00.000-06:00

Special Olympics deadlines have been coming and going and this week is Louisiana's turn. Deadline to mail scarves is Friday (tomorrow), so if you've been working on scarves, now is the time to get them mailed. I mailed my last batch yesterday. I'd hoped to get 30 done, but I ran out of the blue, so 29 it is. :-)

I was also rummaging through my closet the other day and found a whole bag of those plastic canvas crosses. I was thinking I might make those for bookmarkers soon. It's quick and easy. I used to bring them with me to doctor appointments because I could make a dozen or so while waiting with little effort. I also just got some more of my favorite yarn for making these - the Red Heart Super Saver Bikini. It's colorful and makes a nice showing on the bookmarkers.

I probably should mention that I've been going through this blog and deleting old ones with bad links and reworking patterns to put over at the Crochet Cabana blog. I've moved a good number of them there for safekeeping, with new photos if possible, and extra details. I've put the link on the post here when applicable, so posts may be reappearing in your blogroll. Sorry about that. I didn't realize it was doing that until today.

We've had some virus going around here lately. Daughter and SIL had it big time and, in fact, are still not 100%. Hubby and I are hopeful it will swing past us. I've been spraying my Basic G at every opportunity. Thank you, Shaklee. :-)

Hope you all are having a good year for crocheting thus far. I think I've done more scarves in the past couple months than I've ever done. Coats and Clark knew what it was doing when it started this Special Olympics sponsorship. People were scrambling for those Red Heart yarns. I personally bought a LOT of skeins. Wish I'd kept track of how many. It takes at least 7 ounces to make a scarf, sometimes more depending on pattern. By that logic, and 29 scarves, using both colors for each scarf, I am guessing at least 14-15 skeins of each color. I still have some Turqua left. I bought more of it than the blue because I preferred working with it. I love the color and it feels softer than the blue. Multiple that by the thousands of scarves sent all over the country. Nice bit of change for Coats and Clark.

That's all for today.

Happy crocheting!

patterns

2011-02-10T10:27:00.000-06:00

I didn't realize how many patterns and patterns-to-be (items made but patterns never written up) I had on this blog. I have been slowly going through the older posts that have dead links and outdated information. I've reposted many of the patterns already at The Crochet Cabana blog and have some waiting in the wings and others I haven't found yet. It's a time consuming job because I have to double-check patterns before posting, sometimes making a swatch, or an entire item if the urge comes. :-)

You'll notice some posts have been shortened, some deleted, some remain as they were. I will work on this until I get sidetracked by something else. :-)

Special Olympics Louisiana deadline is fast approaching. I am guessing they've received about 10% of the stated goal. The 1400 requested was to go to athletes, coaches, volunteers, and supporters. My hope is that they get at least enough for the athletes and coaches.

I have three scarves packed and ready to mail out tomorrow. I may get to finish another one or two before the deadline. Then I will move on to other things. It's been a challenge to make scarves to certain size requirements. Fun and interesting to find different patterns to work so they wouldn't all be the same. I was fortunate to have the yarn colors readily available locally. Many had trouble finding the colors in the beginning. I really like the Turqua particularly and hope to continue using it in other projects.

I hope you all are staying warm. It has been terribly cold here. The humidity and wind make the lower temperatures feel colder than the thermometer says. At least to me that is so! We don't generally have a very cold or long winter here so hoping it will warm up some soon. We did have one day where it got up in the 70s, then back to the 30s. Well, wherever you are, just bring your crochet supplies and if you get cold you'll have yarn to warm you!

Happy crocheting!

2011

2011-01-08T20:24:00.000-06:00

Sorry I've been MIA at this blog. Without really making a conscious decision to do so, I've been making most of the posts at The Crochet Cabana blog. I hope you've been over there to see what's going on. I appreciate everyone who has followed me there.

I do intend to post here on occasion, generally about crafts other than crochet which I occasionally do.

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday season and are gung ho into 2011. Can you believe we've already been through a week of the New Year?

I've got many crochet projects going, starting with taking care of some WIPs and UFOs.

Make this year the year of Crochet!

Happy crocheting!

He gifted us

2010-12-06T14:07:00.002-06:00

Since I just completed a list of the charities I hope to donate to in the coming year over at the Crochet Cabana blog, when I read this Christmas message, written by Dr. Joe McKeever, a particular section jumped out at me as it relates to our crafting and, in particular, our charity giving. I'm taking it out of context, so go read the whole message to see how it all comes together.

--He called us into His service.
--He gifted us for the service.
--He sent us into the world.
--He gave us a ministry.
--He accompanies us.
--He empowers us.
--He fills us.
--He gives us brothers and sisters as encouragers and colaborers.
--We have fellowship.

The "He" here is God through Jesus. "He called us into His service. He gifts us for the service." What gifts has God provided you with? Crocheting, looming, knitting, plastic canvas, felting, sewing? Or maybe your gift is not in the crafting world, but elsewhere - compassion, teaching, leadership ... You know your gifts. But today I'm talking about crafting since this is the CRAFTY Corral. ;-) Those other gifts are important, too, just not what I'm focusing on today. Maybe at my other blog later. ;-)

My "gift" in the fiber craft arena appears to be crochet. Some might say that is not a gift. That is a skill. And it was a learned skill. That is true, but it doesn't mean that God didn't give it to me as a gift too. I've known people who have tried to learn to crochet and couldn't do it. I've had people tell me they tried everything and just couldn't get it. But they could pick up knitting. Or they could do quilting or plastic canvas or cross-stitch with no problem. God didn't paint all of us with the same brush. :-)

Does that mean I'm an expert at crochet? No indeedy. *shaking head* But to my great surprise, over the years God has allowed me to share what I know with others. Over the past 13 years, Crochet Cabana has grown beyond anything I could possibly imagine. It started out small, just a couple pages on my personal web site. Now it is hundreds of pages, thousands of pictures, all there free for the use of others, so they can find and develop their God-gift. I hope it has served you all well.

"He sent us into the world. He gave us a ministry." God didn't give us these gifts to waste. He intended that we use them. For ourselves. For our families. For OTHERS. Nothing wrong with making a baby set for your new grandchild. While you're at it, how about making a second little hat for a baby who has none? Take you maybe an hour. Cost a few pennies. And possibly save a life. Seems an equitable exchange.

There are so many ways to use our gifts for others. Not everyone is able to work on a house or visit the sick or donate money to a cause. But there is something you can do. Something, quite possibly, that only you can do. Even if that something is getting someone else to do something. Maybe you are the person who knows who to call when there is a particular need. This person crochets. That person sews. This person can take care of the children while there is a craft evening to make teddy bears for sick children. The opportunities are there if we look for them.

We don't all have the same ministry. We are not all touched by the same projects, the same charity efforts, the same groups. What would be the point if everyone was working on the same thing? Some folks choose one or two charities and that is their focus. That is great! I imagine it helps the charity to plan things, knowing their needs will be fulfilled by the loyal followers.

Others choose to provide a few things to many efforts. That is me. I am not saying that is a better way, by any means. I often wish I would just settle down and choose one! But I just can't do it. It's not me. I often get sidetracked when I learn of an effort that I've not participated in before. That is why I made my list to begin with. Hoping to get a bit more organized. Think that will work? Time will tell. :-)

"He accompanies us. He empowers us. He fills us." Are there days when you just want to throw your hooks or needles in the air and say, "There are too many needs! I can't do enough to make a difference!" I know I get overwhelmed sometimes when I get too many things on my plate that I just must do. "Must" is not exactly accurate. There is nobody putting a gun to my head and saying you have to donate to this effort. If God wants it to happen, then He will "empower me and fill me" to get it done, and "accompany me" while I work on it. If it's not something I should get involved in, then it will either not happen at all, or I will be stressed and overwhelmed because I'm not working on what I should be working on. Hmmm. Isn't it great to have a crafting companion like God? He is THE great encourager.

"He gives us brothers and sisters as encouragers and colaborers. We have fellowship."

This is why you can go into any social media - yahoogroups, Craftown, Crochetville, Eons, Facebook, MySpace or wherever - and find groups talking about charity efforts. You can find crochet groups, knitting groups, quilting groups, sewing groups, cross-stitch groups and more. These groups exist for the sole purpose of encouraging like-minded individuals to help their cause. There are no lonely crafters, unless they want to be that way. Fellowship is everywhere with the explosion of the Internet. That's not to say you shouldn't also seek fellowship with local people who have your interests, of course. Nothing like being in the same room with a bunch of crafty people.

You can find craft groups that focus on whatever it is you want to make. If you like to make scarves, you can do that. If you like to make hats, you can do that. If you like to help military servicemen, you can do that. If you want to help babies or homeless or abused women and children, there are places you can go to help them.

Encouragers and colaborers. That is co-laborers, as in those who labor alongside us. Collaborators, if you will.

I belong to Bev's Charity Challenge group. I have never seen a group of folks who rise to the challenge like these do. Encouragers. Yes. Every day. Every hour. If there is a need, they jump on it, whether it is a need for prayer or for hats or scarves. Co-laborers. There are projects we participate in as a group, but for the most part we all labor together to serve the Lord where He leads us. There is tremendous variation in the projects that are completed.

Through the encouragement of groups like Bev's and other groups - like Dee who does the scarf challenge each year, for example, and Sandy, who had a contest to get folks involved in working for the homeless - we help thousands of people every year - one stitch at a time.

Together, we can make a difference.

Happy crocheting!

pocket knitter

2010-11-04T13:03:00.000-05:00

At the Caron Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Caron-International-Yarn-for-Knit-and-Crochet/255870129243 I happened across a post which talked about the pocket knitter. I was not familiar with this though it is apparently not new. It is very similar to the round looms and the knitting looms. I saw Joann.com had a 50% off code so I went ahead and bought one.The code is on the home page, but it is WEF317. I don't know how long it will work.

That said, if you get it from Bond directly, they also offer a 3 pack for $24.95. If you buy 3 separate packs at Joann.com with the coupon code, however, it would be $15, but you wouldn't get the different colored knitters. Just depends on what is important to you. Either way, there is s/h and tax if there is a store in your state.

Amazon also carries Pocket Knitter if you want to order from them.

So how do you work with a pocket knitter? I did not know, but I found an excellent video with instruction. You can find it at http://isela.typepad.com/looming_crafts/2007/06/pocket_knitter_.html .

You can see that same video at Wonderhowto . It's very clear and easy to understand. You use bulky yarn with the knitter.

The tool is not hooked, so I'm not sure how easy it will be to use. I'll let you know when I try it. If it doesn't work for you, I saw the Knifty Knitter Loom Hook available separately at Amazon or in a set of 6 Provo Craft Knifty Knitter Loom Hook Purple 21-0096, 6 Item(s)/Order.

If you wanted to try loom knitting, this might be a nice, inexpensive way to do it.

Happy crocheting!

crafting

2010-10-18T11:10:00.000-05:00

I made another attempt (failed) at knitting. I almost succeeded. I did a couple inches on a rectangle, but then I flubbed it and that was it. I can't figure out how to put the stitches back on the needles. I did look at a video that shows how to fix errors though. I guess I am just not motivated enough to pursue it. I should have taken a photo of my almost-rectangle, but I did not. :-( Oh well. I wouldn't lie. LOL And if I was going to, I would certainly say I did a great job, not that I failed. LOL

I also found this neat explanation of how to make a "fidget" quilt at http://blog.laurawestkong.com/2008/11/06/quilting-4-alzheimers-part-2/ . Quilting is another thing I've not yet been very successful at. That is mostly because I don't get along with sewing machines and/or sewing needles. And I don't think I'm very accurate in cutting either. I did succeed in finishing a quilt square - which was the top part, not the finished quilted part - which was later used to make a very nice pillow for charity. I think I still have (or maybe my daughter does) a small blanket top with the squares and sides sewed on. If memory serves, I even have the quilted backing and "stuffing". It's just not finished. I got stuck at that point.

Speaking of quilts, I hope you all got the chance to visit the Alzheimer Quilt project page. There's a blog (not associated with the actual project as far as I know) that gives a bit more info on it as well.

Another thing I wanted to mention is that Amanda, the editor at Craftown has been putting up bunches of great crafting activities of all sorts at the site. The new ones are noted at the forum in each category.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!

lapghans for Alzheimer patients

2010-10-14T13:17:00.001-05:00

I wanted to post this information here as well as the Crochet Cabana blog.

I may have mentioned the Alzheimer's Study Quilt Project. You can find info on that here http://www.adcs.org/Research/Quilts.aspx . I had asked about crocheted/ knitted items when I first learned of the project and at the time they were unable to accept them. I am pleased to report that I have received an e-mail letting me know that they can now accept lapghans to keep the patients warm as they have treatment or undergo tests. These are not given to the patient, but kept at the facilities.

The size specified for quilts can also be used for lapghans. I suggest at least 36" wide with 40" being optimal, and either square or slightly longer - like 45-50" long. I know a lot of folks like to make 12" squares. 9 squares of that size, joined and then edged around, would make a nice size lapghan.

If you want to do smaller squares, that is also fine. You just need more of them. Or you can make a one-piece lapghan. All good.

Any pattern can be used and any color. They have both male and female patients. The main thing is that it must be washable, so I suggest acrylic. No wool. You wouldn't want to be ill and then suffer an allergic reaction on top of that so let's not take the chance of that here either.

I know there are so many needs out there and not nearly enough crafters to take care of them, but whatever we can do is something. Since these lapghans will stay in the center to be used by patients, the turnover won't be as great. If you can send one that would be super!

The mailing address is at the link above.

You may wonder why I'm interested in this particular project. The reason is simple - the same reason I am interested in projects for cancer patients, and preemies - I have personal experience with this. My Dad and several other relatives suffered with this disease. Alzheimer's is an especially hurtful disease because it takes the person away from you. Not physically, but mentally. In many cases, the personality changes. The memory leaves and the person doesn't recognize even close family members. It's hard to deal with. In a way, I guess it's not as hard on the patient as they can't remember, but for the family, it's very difficult.

So anything we can do to help find a cure is something important. We can't all be scientists and do research, but we can use the skills we have to help. Like bringing comfort to those already afflicted while they help to further the research.

That's it for now. I'll post photos over at the Crochet Cabana blog when I'm done with my first lapghan.

Happy crocheting!

this 'n that

2010-09-20T09:21:00.000-05:00

Firstly, a reminder to pop over to the Crochet Cabana blog for latest crochet info on my current projects and anything crochet.

If I run across anything that is crafty but not crochet related, I'll continue to post here. That probably will be less often than the crochet site as that is what I am most involved in.

That said, did you all see the Crochet Dude products? Love the kits. I haven't seen them in person, but you can view the individual products and kits at http://www.simplicity.com/

Also, the new Knit Your Bit crochet pattern for 2010 is up - and I have particular interest in this pattern as I am the designer. You might like to check that one out, as well as the previous years as they are all good. If you knit as well, there is a knitting pattern for each year too.

I also ran across a new Etsy shop with a very interesting hat pattern. I thought I'd pass it on to you all as well.The shop owner is Crochet Dad. I really like the looks of the fedora unisex hat.

That is all for now. Have a great week!

International Crochet Day

2010-09-11T15:04:00.001-05:00

Just popping in to mention the contest at Jimbo's Front Porch. Tomorrow is International Crochet Day. What are YOU going to do to celebrate this special fiber art? Go let Jimbo know.

Myself I plan to spend some time crocheting, in public if I can! I'll keep you posted on that.

Happy crocheting!

quilts for Alzheimer's patients

2010-09-03T15:42:00.000-05:00

Although this isn't about crocheting, I thought there might be some who also do quilting. Since this is the "crafty" corral, not the crochet corral, I'm squeaking by here on a technicality. LOL

Since my dad had Alzheimer's this is something that caught my eye. It is a project to make lap quilts for Alzheimer's patients. You can read this blog that talks about the program and also visit the ADCS site. It doesn't really give a lot of details there, but they answer e-mails very quickly.

I was looking through my yarn today, and I know my husband would vehemently disagree, but I really don't have much yarn. I am down to the "odd skeins", which means I have one skein of a good number of colors, but not enough of any one color to do much with - except possibly the blue I bought to make another police box (which ain't gonna happen, folks!). Of course, there are lots you can do by mixing colors, but you know my policy - fewer tails the better! LOL

Speaking of the police box, I am almost finished it. I need to do an edging around, sew in the tails, and am considering whether to write Police Box on it. Have a look. I am pretty pleased with the way it came out, but don't intend to tackle such a project again for a while.

The afghan did have a little visitor ... Can you tell who it is?

Will I write up the pattern for this? Hmm. Well, I did start to, but then I sort of ... quit. However, maybe when I'm done with the edging and tails, I might tackle getting it all down. It's really not all that difficult. Just a matter of changing colors and having all those little bobbins hanging about and getting tangled up. Satisfying to get it done though.

I will be back to making squares with these single skeins, most likely or perhaps thin scarves as I think a single super saver or I Love This Yarn skein is big enough for that.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!

bloggin'

2010-08-24T10:47:00.000-05:00

Be sure to check The Crochet Cabana blog for updates. I will probably start posting there more often than here rather than duplicate posts. However, if you come here and you want to know if there's a new post at The Crochet Cabana blog, there is a little widget in the left sidebar that should have a blurb and photo from that blog and you can tell if it's new. Likewise at the Cabana. There is another widget in the right sidebar that shows updates at the Corral.

Happy crocheting!

colorful circles and squares

2010-08-17T12:16:00.001-05:00

Yet more double yo-yos, saltines and such.

The bag contains 76 double yo-yos of various colors. There are 34 saltines and 21 yo-yos.

The pink are Mary Maxim Best Value that I had left over from cancer ribbon ghans. I believe they discontinued this color.

The rest were made with yarn donated by Viv over at Craftown forums. I'm still working with the yarn. I'll be able to get quite a bit out of it.

You might wonder how I decide what I'll make with the yarn. What I generally do is to begin with a double yo-yo or saltine, then as the yarn goes down I will make yo-yos or granny's daughters, trying to get the most out of the yarn available, especially if it is donated.

The double yo-yos will go to making afghans for Native Americans. The red, white, and blue saltines and yo-yos will make afghans for Veterans and the other colors will be used as needed for other charity afghans.

I think when I'm done with the current donated yarn, I will take a break from yo-yos.

Just to update you, I have not yet received an address to which to mail my Master's Course, so I don't have any news on whether I passed or not. However, I did get some info on what they look for. One of the most important things is following directions. Also neatness is important. Most have had to redo one or more swatches. I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Not much else to do.

Happy crocheting!

Squares galore

2010-08-10T19:06:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I posted about an afghan my friend Sandy was assembling with squares received from various sources. She's finished it and her post about it is on her blog the Bridge and Beyond. She graciously allowed me to share the photo of the completed ghan. I added the names to the squares to make it easier for you to see where each came from.

My daughter Kate's square is the Dreamcatcher pattern at Heartmade Blessings. The two reds are my heart squares and the blue above the red on the third row is Bobby's Square from Heartmade Blessings. The yellow one I don't remember at all, but Sandy noted it as coming from me and I think the others are granny squares.

Sandy has such talent for pulling colors and shapes together into something beautiful and useful. Kudos to her for keeping folks warm.

Happy crocheting!

yo-yos and saltines

2010-08-09T16:29:00.012-05:00

I've been keeping myself busy with small projects, trying to use up all my little balls of yarn.

Here are some pictures of the double yo-yos for Crafting for a Cause. These will be made into afghans for Native Americans. The double yo-yos are Rnd 1: 16 dc in ring, Rnd 2: 2 dc in each stitch for a total of 32 in the round. I like these because there is more place in which to weave the ends.

Here are some red, white, and blue saltines that will be made into afghans for Fisher House. These were made as part of a contest at Bev's Charity Challenge. I would have made them anyway, but it's a nice incentive to move forward. In the first batch, I concentrated on blue and white, and in the last batch which I'll be mailing tomorrow, I concentrated on red. If you look closely, you can see that there are two colors of red included. The "real" red is that messes with my camera. The darker red looks like it comes out fine.

These are simple to make, just two rounds of a granny square. For this effort, I work a ch-2 in corners and a ch-1 on the sides of Rnd 2. I also use a ch-2 for my beginning chain up on Rnd 2 because my dcs are short. You can see pictures at my tutorial http://www.crochetcabana.com/yoyo-grannysdau-saltines.htm

Here's how I make mine.

Rnd 1: ch 3, 2 dc, (ch 2, 3 dc) three times, ch 1, sc in top chain of beg ch-3 to join (12 dcs)

Rnd 2: ch 2, in same sp work 2 dc, ch 1, in next ch-3 sp work (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc), ch 1, in next ch-3 space work (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc), ch 1, in next ch-3 space work (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc), ch 1, in next ch-3 space you already have one shell worked, in same space work (3 dc, ch 2) then join to first ch-2 either by using the invisible finish off or by joining with a slip stitch in top chain of beginning ch-2. (8 shells - 24 dc - 4 ch-2 spaces, 4 ch-1 spaces)

I was so excited that my little Amazon thingie started working, that I thought share with you some crochet books I've found. I periodically search the store for things of interest and my wishlist is pages and pages long. I'm sure many of you are in the same spot.

Learn to Yo-Yo Crochet - I'm starting off with this book since I am talking about yo-yos, although this is not strictly speaking the traditional yo-yos. These are made by using long chains and the yo-yos are joined together as you go, working half the yo-yo in one pass, and the second half of it in another. That is my explanation. You may look at it differently. I made a scarf using this method which you can see at the Cabana blog.

The Crochet Answer Book: Solutions to Every Problem You'll Ever Face; Answers to Every Question You'll Ever Ask (Answer Book (Storey)) - I have this book and it's small enough to carry with you in case you ever get confused or need a quick answer to a question.

Teach Yourself Visually Crocheting (Teach Yourself Visually) - I also have this one and since I am more a visual learner, I like to have a number of reference books on hand as I find sometimes a person will phrase things just so or have a photo that is just right to answer my question or confirm what I think I need to do.

The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet: *All You Need to Know to Crochet *The Essential Reference for Novice and Expert Crocheters *Comprehensive Guide to ... Charts, and Photos for 200 Stitch Patterns - You all know I have this one. I've been using it to do different squares over the past months over at Crochet Cabana blog. This book is different than other books in that the foundation row is not counted as Row 1 or Round 1. The pattern begins with the next row. Skill levels are given, symbol crochet for the pattern is shown, and multiples are supplied. That's a lot of information included.

Lily Chin's Crochet Tips & Tricks: Shortcuts and Techniques Every Crocheter Should Know - I love this book. We all have heard of Lily Chin, of course. The book is small enough to throw in your purse, if your purse is a good size like mine is, to flip through while waiting at the doctor's or while stuck in traffic. Be careful not to get so engrossed you stop traffic yourself. LOL She covers the basics, but also gives a lot of tips you'll wish you'd discovered a long time ago. Even as I'm typing this, the book fell open to the page on joining and I had to stop and read it, though I've read it before. If you're like me, sometimes things go in, but they don't STAY in. LOL

That's all for today. I don't want to overwhelm you. There can be too much of a good thing. :-)

Happy crocheting!

double yo-yo ghan

2010-07-27T12:06:00.002-05:00

You may remember a while back I was making double yo-yos by the bunches. Some of those have been used to create this yo-yo afghan. Jana at Crafting for a Cause assembled them and did a fantastic job (the photo is hers). I believe the bright pink, purple, and aqua are my double yo-yos.

If you're not familiar with CFAC you might like to have a look. The home page states the mission:

Our efforts and focus are on children and elders of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in SD, the newborn unit of the Pine Ridge hospital in SD, The Pretty Bird Woman Battered Women's shelter on the Standing Rock reservation in SD, Children at the UC Davis Pediatric Cancer Infusion Center in Sacramento CA and the Pass Creek Elderly center in SD.

They accept a variety of items so there is something for everyone.Items sent are tax deductible and if you put your items into the database, you'll get a receipt at the end of the year for tax purposes.

Speaking of double yo-yos, I have been making those lately as well. I have about 20 made right now. I'll take a photo when I've gotten a few more done.

Happy crocheting!

Bridge and Beyond / Craftown

2010-07-27T10:35:00.000-05:00

I am chuckling at myself this morning. All this time I've been calling Sandy's project collecting scarves for the homeless The Bridge Project. I saw today it is actually called Bridge and Beyond. My apologies for the error, but the cause is the same - and a good one. Saving lives one scarf, hat, mitten, pair of socks, at a time. I guess The Bridge Project was my nick for it and it stuck in my mind? I don't know, but I wanted to correct it.

Don't forget Sandy's contest and also the contest over at Craftown.

I'm working on that yo-yo scarf, but I need a spot of time to make 216 chains three times without interruption. It will happen. Cleaning my closet this morning though.

Happy crocheting!

Edgerydoo and other yummy things

2010-07-26T03:03:00.001-05:00

Over at Craftown, Amanda is having a giveaway. Go have a look and register so you can have a chance at winning the prize. If this one goes well, there may be others in the future.

At Crochet Spot, guest Erin tells about three interesting stitches you can add to your crochet arsenal if you've not worked with them before. Rachel always includes some interesting things in her newsletters. Never fails to please. If you've not subscribed, I recommend it! You might check out her pattern store too. Some great items there! I love the toilet paper scarf! What an idea! Very cute.

I just ordered a pattern from Annie's Attic and downloaded it with no problem. I noticed there that there is a page for errata. You have to know the name of the book or leaflet, but once you put it in you can get any errata on that book. I assume this is for Annie's Attic publications, but it may also be for those they sell even if not published by them. I'm not sure.

Hobby Lobby is offering free shipping on orders over $35 at their online store. Sooo tempting. How is one expected to resist such an offer? :-)

And lastly, Joann.com has blizzard fleece on sale.

I was just talking with Marleen at Edgerydoo yesterday and got the urge to work with my tools. :-) I even ordered the flannel Edgerydoo set. For this area, flannel might work better than fleece, though I love fleece!

Happy crocheting!

scarves and Cabana links

2010-07-24T18:54:00.005-05:00

Two scarves off my hooks. The one on the left is amethyst, but it is a darker color than the Red Heart amethyst. My memory is failing me as to what it was. I think it might have been Impeccable. The finished size is about 5 1/2" x 62 1/2". It is the V stitch, which goes pretty quickly. Though not a really close stitch, if worked with a small hook, it is still pretty warm.

To my surprise my camera actually shows the scarf as it's true color, rather than blue as it usually does. We bought new batteries and a new battery charger, but I don't see how that could have affected it. Still, there it is.

The second scarf is the Moda Dea Tweedle Dee Surf and Turf bulky yarn. You've seen this yarn before in other scarves. It makes a really nice, thick, soft scarf - very warm -, but is a pain to work with because of the twisting. I have to constantly be untwisting it. I'm using every bit of it though as it comes out so pretty! This one is about 4 1/2" x 59" without border. I may add a border to it later if I can find a bit more of the yarn in my stash. I think I have a leftover ball somewhere. This one goes to the homeless in Utah, a special project.

As to the web site, I am taking a break. I've finished sc and hdc chainless foundation. This is a new-to-me method of beginning a project. I've known about the method for quite some time, but never bothered to learn it, though I even bought a book about it. Now I've done the research and hopefully got it down. Of course, I must share what I've learned with you all, my faithful visitors. You can find the chainless foundation here.

I'll just summarize the other pages I've worked on as well. I went into a bit more detail at the Crochet Cabana blog.

Linked Triple Crochet
http://www.crochetcabana.com/stitches/stitches-linked-tr.htm

Added pics to the dictionary
http://www.crochetcabana.com/crochet_dictionary.htm

I just added a note at the bottom of the pages for the extended version of each of these.
http://www.crochetcabana.com/tutorials/double-crochet.htm
http://www.crochetcabana.com/stitches/stitches-tr.htm

http://www.crochetcabana.com/tutorials/gauge.htm Added information about the Golden Loop

http://www.crochetcabana.com/shapes/hexagon.htm I added some new photos at the bottom of the page.

http://www.crochetcabana.com/hook-sizes.htm I added info on U.K. hook sizes for steel hooks and suggested threads to use with specific size hooks.

http://www.crochetcabana.com/stitches/stitches-reverse_sc.htm Added a different method of making a corded edge with photos.

http://www.crochetcabana.com/stitches/stitches-popcorn.htm Added photos

the Cluster / Bobble
http://www.crochetcabana.com/stitches/stitches-cluster-bobble.htm

the Berry Stitch http://www.crochetcabana.com/stitches/stitches-berry-st.htm

That's about it for me today. We have been watching Tropical Storm Bonnie this week, but it appears she is not expected to pack much punch. Good first run though, to make sure we have everything we need for emergencies. Discovered my battery TV is no good now that the airwaves are digital.

Happy crocheting!

links

2010-07-20T09:57:00.000-05:00

Check out The Crochet Cabana Blog for some photos of recent additions to the web site and also page links.

Talking Crochet newsletter had an interesting article on the Bullion stitch. It is by the talented Jean Leinhauser so well worth a look.

Crochet Spot has a guest article on working a color graph. Rachel's site is one I visit often. There is always something interesting there and her newsletters never fail to entice.

Sorry for the brief post, but I'm off to make some bobbles. :-)

Happy crocheting!

Bridge Project

2010-07-19T14:05:00.001-05:00

As I was making the rounds I saw that Sandy over at the Bridge Project is having a contest to celebrate her 200th post. You can read about it here. I have been following this project since its inception and since I know Sandy I am not surprised that the effort is still going strong and has been so successful in helping these homeless folks. Read the comments section too as I posted there myself. :-)

Sandy is currently working on an afghan which includes a number of my squares and one from my daughter. She posted a photo of the square layout which you can see if you hop over there. In the comments section is a listing of who made the squares. Sandy is always so creative when it comes to making ghans. I love her work!

It's still pretty hot and will be for some time in Louisiana, but in other places the hot days will be turning to cool fall days before you know it. No time like the present to work on hats and scarves. These are fairly small items that won't cover you up while you work, so they can be worked on in the hot months with few problems.

Coincidentally, this is MY 500th post (if I added it all correctly). I am adding this little note here as a reminder to myself. :-)

Remember that Bev's Osmond Project continues through November so plenty of time to get some things going for children during the next few months.

Happy crocheting!

Master?

2010-07-17T22:21:00.010-05:00

I've been busily working on the Master's course. Some of the swatches are quite challenging. But now I'm done. I think I did okay, but we'll see what the reviewer thinks. :-) They have a backlog, so I have not yet received the information as to whom I am to send my swatches to so they can be reviewed and I can hopefully receive my certificate. You can read about the delay on the CGOA web site. I think it's great that so many crocheters are interested in this. Kudos to the leadership for a job well done. I can't wait to send mine off.

I am not sure how much can be posted about my experiences. However, I will take some photos of some of the pieces to show you.

For those interested in taking the course, and since I know many these days are on a yarn diet, you should know that for a few of the swatches you need three colors. I started out doing all my swatches with the same yarn, using an H hook for most swatches. I used a complete 6 ounce skein of I Love This Yarn and went into a second skein. For the other two colors, you need just a small amount of each. Hook size is not specified. You are to use a hook that is appropriate for the yarn you are using.

I used the same type of yarn for all my swatches. I chose I Love This Yarn. Sad for me there is no Hobby Lobby nearby so when I ran out of the color I'd chosen I had to move to a different color to finish, but kept the same yarn type. You also need to get LIGHT colors. They ask that you don't use dark colors. I used a pale yellow (don't know the name but maybe like cornbread or wheat perhaps), white, and sungold.

You don't have to use this yarn. That is just what I used.

I did learn some new things as I worked through the swatches and plan to share what I've learned at Crochet Cabana. That has always been the goal of the site - to take my visitors along on my crochet journey. Most of it is already there in some way or other, at least in the Crochet Dictionary. Some have been on my to-do list for a while. :-)

In other news, I've been working on items for the Osmond Project. These are items geared to children but worked in the colors that the Osmonds wore during their appearances. I happened across a cartoon drawing which showed these colors and which tickled me. You can find it here http://www.nomascreative.com/assets/disc/advertising_osmonds.jpg . The original entry at the web site is apparently gone. There's another cartoony one here http://www.ukparentslounge.com/images/products/cd_osmonds.jpg

If you want to see the Osmonds as they are today, you can visit their web site at http://osmond.com/about-us/

Here are all the squares I've made. The blue is a pale blue. It looks grey in this photo. And I used two different shades of green and purple.

In addition, I did some pink hats, which I've already shown you. My favorite was the Donnie and Marie pink and purple one. I'll show you that one again. :) The edging was made by changing colors every stitch. I did this for an afghan once and really liked the effect. It takes a bit of concentration to do.

Happy crocheting!

scarves

2010-07-11T17:06:00.010-05:00

This scarf is heading to Crafting for a Cause. Finished size is about 7" x 62". Yarn used was I Love This Yarn stripes in Blue Camo Stripe. I do love this yarn brand, but became quite annoyed with these two skeins. The first skein had no less than 3 knots that had to be cut out, two of them just a few rows apart. I have only used part of the second skein and already cut out a knot. Very, very annoying. The yarn itself is scrumptiously soft as always. The blue camo color makes a scarf I think would be good for a man with the brown that is mixed into the color scheme.

Here's a scarf made with Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky Weight in color Fudge. Yummy. It's a deep brown, very soft. Finished size about 6 1/2" x 60". It is going to Scarlet for the homeless project, Just Call Us Volunteers.

I've finally decided to order the crochet course Master of Advance Crochet Course Stitches & Techniques. The CGOA description says it is "Designed for the intermediate crocheter to learn and master advanced techniques and stitches".

I chose the e-mail option thinking to get it sooner, but I also chose a terrible time to order it as this was the weekend of the big Chain Link conference. I thought it would be like when I order some pdf files and patterns, as soon as you pay you receive an e-mail automatically with the item. I guess it is a particular program that is put in place for this. I have no idea really and the catalog does not say this at all - it was my misconception. This program is not set up that way. I think a person has to actually send out the course to you. With that in mind, I imagine it will be a few days before things settle down as leadership returns to their regular lives after conference. I am hopeful it won't take me too long to complete if I get right to it.

Since I have the Etsy shop and sell my work, I thought it a good idea to have some sort of official training. I do have the CYCA certificate, but I've been wanting to do this one also. This just seemed to be the time. I would love to take Pauline Turner's course, but it is much more expensive - both the tuition and the additional postage costs since it is located in the UK. (We're talking $450-600. I'm not ready to put out that kind of money for something like this. Maybe if I move to UK. ;-) It's cheaper in country.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes once I get the materials. One improvement over the CYCA course will be that one can ask questions over e-mail. For the other one I had to phone the teacher if I had a question. I didn't have many, but still it was inconvenient. She was a sweetheart, though. A really nice person.

That's all for now. Have a great week.

Happy crocheting!

cute bowls and a gift idea

2010-07-06T10:28:00.003-05:00

Daughter showed me these cool little bowls on Etsy this morning. I am sorely tempted. This shop contains some lovely things. I liked the heart scrubbies too.

She has some really pretty mugs and other things. The site says "All of my glazes are lead free, dishwasher, microwave and oven safe. When baking in stoneware pottery remember to place you pot in oven when cold and then turn on the oven. When taking the pot out of oven place on a trivet." I thought that was a nice tip to know.

I also ran across this cute little craft kit that I thought would make a nice gift for a youngster. It has both knitting and crochet supplies. I found it at Amazon. Alex Yarn Craft Kit in Carry Basket

Isn't that cute? You can keep the basket afterwards to use for other things, or refill with more yarn for another project. The knitting needles are wooden according to the detail listing. The crochet hook is plastic.

As to what's on my hook - or off it I guess would be more accurate - here is my latest scarf. It is going to Scarlet for the homeless project. The yarn is Deborah Norville chunk. The finished size came out about 5" x 56" using my quick scarf pattern which uses V stitch and inverted V's.

I posted this one at The Crochet Cabana blog as well as photos of the squares I've finished for the Share a Square project. Remember that those are not to be mailed to Shelly until mid August so you have time to gather a bunch before sending.

That's all for now. Back to my hook.

Happy crocheting!

Happy Independence Day

2010-07-04T10:28:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all the soldiers who keep us safe and free, past, present, and future. Big virtual hugs to you all.

You can still send scarves to thank a vet to Knit Your Bit. This is an ongoing program so vets will receive nice, warm scarves all year long. You can use the patterns shared on the web site or you can crochet or knit a scarf in any other man-friendly color and pattern. The majority of the vets are men, and women will also like these colors so nothing is wasted.

If you are into making squares, I just saw a new effort at Facebook. It is Share a Square and the web site is http://thiseclecticlife.com/share-a-square-2010-faq/ . The Facebook page is here if you are interested in that. They are planning to make 150 afghans for children with cancer. From the web site directly:

We are inviting people from around the world to help crochet afghans to give to children who will attend Camp Discovery (a summer camp for children with cancer sponsored by The American Cancer Society) in the summer of 2011. Our plan is to blanket them with our love! Each afghan will be made up of 80 different squares … each crafted by a different person.

They are asking for 6" squares with a 12" tail left hanging for assembly. Read the FAQ for all the information. I would think kid friendly colors of all sorts could be used. Of course it is important to try and get all sides of your square 6" since they will be joined to other squares. You can send any number of squares but not more than 150 since they will only use one square from each person in any one afghan. The point is to show the kids there are people all over the place rooting for them. They need 80 squares per kid which is a LOT of squares - 12,000 to be exact. :-)

They want only crocheted squares, not knitted, for this particular project. You can find squares all over the place. I have several by other designers on my page here. I plan to make a few of these myself. I'll document the squares over at the Cabana blog.

In other news, I did finish the police box. However, I am not pleased with the top part and I am going to *sob* frog it and redo. I tried to decrease too quickly as I didn't want that section to be too large and it all bows in. I was afraid that was going to happen and sadly, I was correct. So why didn't I stop? *rolls eyes* I should have. But I did not. I do know how to do the light on top now though. :-)

Today I will be celebrating with family and friends that we are still a free country. There is a lot going on in our country and not all of it is good, but compared to many places we are truly blessed. So for this one day, let's all just forget to complain and enjoy the day.

If you meet a soldier or veteran, shake his/her hand and tell him/her thank you. If you have a family member who is a soldier or a vet, give him or her a big hug. They deserve it! We will not forget those soldiers who gave their lives to keep us safe and free either. My thoughts are with all of you today.

Many blessings,

another KYB scarf

2010-07-02T11:38:00.000-05:00

Nope. This is not the same scarf as yesterday. This is a double crochet version. You know that dc is my favorite stitch.

This one took a lot less time to make. However, I have to admit the single crochet version was mighty pretty. This one is not as stiff though.

Possibly if one worked the sc version with a larger hook (like perhaps a J?) it would be less stiff. Or if you used a lighter weight yarn than worsted. I don't know if I have enough yarn left to make another one though. I'll have to see. The two took a bit over a full skein of Red Heart Super Saver - maybe a couple ounces over.

I was going for 200 but in counting them, it seems I chained 210 or I miscounted. The finished size is 7 1/2" x 67 1/2". I count anything over 60" good.

The color scheme I followed is

    * 3 rows dc in green
    * 2 rows dc in gold
    * 1 dc row each (in order) white, red, green, red, white
    * 2 rows dc gold
    * 3 rows dc green

I worked sc along both ends to give a finished look.

In other news, I am still working on the police box. I like to work on it at night while watching TV, but that is not working out on this section. What I need to do is pull it out while hubby is at work and just finish it while I can concentrate. Maybe I'll do that next week. Hubby is off on Monday and the Orkin man is coming Tuesday, so ... Time. Where does it go?

Happy crocheting!

Knit Your Bit

2010-07-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

More scarves completed. The one on the left is Loops and Threads Impeccable chunky Holiday yarn worked in straight double crochet. Finished size is about 5 1/2" x 61". This one is already winging its way to Scarlet for the homeless Christmas project. This is truly a Christmasy scarf! I love the colors and it is very soft. I think it will warm a neck quite nicely.

The second scarf follow the Knit Your Bit pattern for 2008. It is a pdf file. I couldn't get it to come up this morning, but it is probably my silly computer which occasionally acts weird.

I followed the pattern as is, which calls for chain of 165. Then it says you will have 165 sc. That is incorrect. If you chain 165, you will have 164 stitches. It doesn't matter at all, however, because the entire thing is just single crochet along each row. You don't have to be fanatic over getting your chain exact.You can chain however many you want and just follow the color pattern - 8 green, 4 gold, 3 white, 2 red, 3 green, 2 red, 3 white, 4 gold, 8 green. Easy peasy.

I love this color scheme. It really comes out looking nice. Mine came out rather short and wide at 9" x 52". The finished size will depend on what yarn you use, what hook, and your tension.

If I made another, I'd make changes to get it longer and slightly less wide. Perhaps a longer chain to get it to at least 60 and probably 6 rows of green rather than 8. I probably won't make another though because by the time I got to the end section of green I had had quite enough of sc. It takes soooo long to see your progress. That said, I started and almost finished all but two rows of this in one day, though I did work on it all afternoon and into the evening. I finished the last two rows and the weaving in of ends this morning.

I am washing this one because I used mostly Red Heart which is stiff to begin with and the single crochet makes it a bit stiff with the smallish hook. I still like it though and I am thinking of making another using dc and the same colors. It takes hardly any white and red. I had a partial skein of gold and still have some left. I had a full skein of green and have some left, but I'd say less than half the 7 ounce skein.

The green I used is frosty green by Red Heart. The gold is I Love This Yarn sungold. The red and white were leftover balls. The red I think is I Love This Yarn. The white looks to me like soft white.

This one is going to Knit Your Bit to thank a veteran on our Independence Day weekend. Why don't you thank a soldier this weekend? In person and/or by participating in one of the many charities out there for current soldiers and vets.

Hope you all have a safe holiday weekend.

Happy crocheting!

Stained Glass Stripes scarf

2010-06-30T09:19:00.001-05:00

AI said I would write up the pattern for the V stitch scarf, so I have been working on that. This is a great pattern for using up those wee bits of yarn if you're tired of making yo-yos and saltines. :-) I even made a new one (and sewed in the tails!) to write it up.

For the pattern, I evened things out. For the first one I made I didn't work the same number of black rows between colored rows because I wasn't sure how far the black would take me. In the pattern, I've given the colors I used. You can substitute your own colors for CC1-CC10.

Stained Glass Stripes Scarf
c2010 Sandra Petit,
http://www.crochetcabana.com

Materials:
H (5mm) hook, large eye needle, scissors
worsted weight yarn - about 4 ounces of black, about 22 yards (about half an ounce) each of blue and green (enough for 11 rows), for the single colored rows, I used 8' of each color but suggest making sure you have about 2 yards each of 7 different colors to be sure. I suggest bright colors to contrast with the black

Finished size: 5 1/2" x 61"

Pattern abbreviations:
CC = contrasting color
ch = chain
dc = double crochet
ea = each
tch = turning chain
hk = hook
MC = main color
rem - remaining
rep = repeat
sc = single crochet
sk = skip
sp = space
st = stitch

Special Stitches:
V stitch - (dc, ch 1, dc) in same stitch

To change color, work dc to last step and finish stitch with new color. In other words, yo, insert hook in stitch, yo, pull through, yo, pull through 2 loops, yo with new color and pull through remaining two loops

Note: I use ch-2 as my turning chain. Some people use ch-3. You can use whichever you prefer for this pattern.

Multiple: 3 + 1

With green (CC1), ch 22
Row 1: (dc, ch 1, dc) in 5th ch from hk, * sk 2 chs, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next st, repeat from * across to last 2 sts, dc in last ch (6 V-stitches)

Row 2: ch 2, turn, (V-stitch in ch-1 sp of previous V-stitch) 6 times, dc in top ch of turning ch

Row 3-10: repeat row 2, changing to black at last stitch (10 rows green)

Rows 11-20: with black (MC), repeat row 2, change to CC at last st of row 20 (10 rows black)

Row 21: with blue (CC2), ch 2, turn, dc in ea dc and in ea ch-1 space across (20 dc), change to black in last stitch

Row 22: with MC, ch 2, turn, skip stitch under tch, skip next dc, V-stitch in next dc, (sk 2 dc, V-stitch in next dc), 5 times, sk next dc, dc in tch

Rows 23-29: with MC, repeat row 2, changing to CC at end of Row 30 (8 rows black)

From this point you will continue in this manner (rows 21-29) working 1 row of a CC and 8 rows of MC to Row 92. Your final single row will be CC1 (Row 93). Your two final sections will be 10 rows of black, then 10 rows of CC2. Details for each row below.

Row 30: with CC3 (red), ch 2, turn, dc in ea dc and in ea ch-1 space across (20 dc), change to black in last stitch

Row 31-38: repeat rows 22-29

Rows 39: with CC4 (yellow), ch 2, turn, dc in ea dc and in ea ch-1 space across (20 dc), change to black in last stitch

Rows 40-47: repeat rows 22-29

Row 48: with CC5 (amethyst), ch 2, turn, dc in ea dc and in ea ch-1 space across (20 dc), change to black in last stitch

Row 49-56: repeat rows 22-29

Row 57: with CC6 (white), ch 2, turn, dc in ea dc and in ea ch-1 space across (20 dc), change to black in last stitch

Rows 58-65: repeat rows 22-29

Row 66: with CC7 (orange), ch 2, turn, dc in ea dc and in ea ch-1 space across (20 dc), change to black in last stitch

Rows 67-74: repeat rows 22-29

Row 75: with CC8 (beige), ch 2, turn, dc in ea dc and in ea ch-1 space across (20 dc), change to black in last stitch

Rows 76-83: repeat rows 22-29

Row 84: with CC9 (purple), ch 2, turn, dc in ea dc and in ea ch-1 space across (20 dc), change to black in last stitch

Rows 85-92: repeat rows 22-29

Row 93: with CC1 (green), ch 2, turn, dc in ea dc and in ea ch-1 space across (20 dc), change to black in last stitch

Row 94: with MC, ch 2, turn, skip stitch under tch, skip next dc, V-stitch in next dc, (sk 2 dc, V-stitch in next dc), 5 times, sk next dc, dc in tch

Rpw 95-103: with MC, repeat row 2, changing to CC2 blue at end of Row 30 (10 rows black)

Row 104-113: with CC2, repeat row 2, (10 rows blue)

Color sequence:
10 rows CC1 green
10 rows black
1 row CC2 blue
8 rows MC black
1 row CC3 red
8 rows black
1 row CC4 yellow
8 rows black
1 row CC5 amethyst
8 rows black
1 row CC6 white
8 rows black
1 row CC7 orange
8 rows black
1 row CC8 tan
8 rows black
1 row CC9 purple
8 rows black
1 row CC1 green
10 rows black
10 rows CC2 blue
(113 rows total)

The two colors on the end should be used at least once in the body of the scarf. I used them at opposite ends in mine.

You can mess with this color scheme in a number of ways. You could choose two colors and alternate those with black instead of using 9 different colors.

You could also do a reverse on that making the black your CC. This would be a great way to use up medium size balls of leftover yarn.

Don't forget to adjust yarn amounts if you change the color scheme.

Finish off the scarf by working a single crochet edging around. Don't forget to increase stitches in corners.

I think that's it, but as always if you see an error, don't hesitate to let me know. My eyes sometimes glaze over as I'm reading over the pattern for the hundredth time.

Happy crocheting!

Loops and Threads

2010-06-28T01:26:00.000-05:00

A new week and here I am reporting on my crochet efforts over the weekend. I never get as much done as I hope to do, but I always accomplish something so I guess it's all good. :-)

Here is a scarf worked in straight dc. I believe the measurements were 6 1/2" x 58 or 59". I measured it last night, forgot to write it down, and already packed it. heh It is going to Scarlet for the homeless project. If you have the time and yarn, you might like to consider sending a scarf. I always think but for the grace of God that could be me. We have so many blessings. Our needs are met and much more. I share from my abundance. These folks have no abundance. Often they don't have basic needs. I am grateful to folks like Scarlet and Sandy over at the Bridge Project who help provide relief for some of these folks.

For this scarf, I used a wonderful new-to-me bulky yarn called Loops and Threads Charisma. The color is Deep Woods. I purchased it at the new Michaels that I discovered Father's Day weekend. The label says it is distributed by Michaels and I believe the Loops and Thread brand is exclusive to them.

The Charisma bulky yarn is an absolutely lovely yarn to work with. Very soft. I will be buying this one again. The recommended hook is an L. You don't see that very often though the L hook has become more popular over time as more manufacturers and custom hook dealers make them. I didn't use an L, however. I used an M because I rediscovered my beautiful lilac Corian hook (pictured here with my favorite cancer ribbon venaro rose L hook which recently was broken and is now repaired). I think I may do the next one with the L though as I bought four skeins of the Loops and Threads yarn. I had just a tiny ball left when I finished this one. That includes a border around it.

The Michaels web site says this yarn is exclusive to them, see here. It doesn't show the Charisma bulky but I have also used the Impeccable worsted and it is a very nice yarn to work with too. The skeins I have left are Loops & Thread Impeccable chunky in color Holiday, a very pretty yarn.

Besides the scarf, I am continuing to make hats for the Osmond Project. Here you see some Maries, Alans, and Jays, though the Jays are variegated so there's a bit of Alan in there too. :-)

That's all for now. Enjoy your week!

Happy crocheting!

hats and scarf

2010-06-25T07:19:00.000-05:00

Pictures, pictures, pictures. I love pictures. So here are pictures of my latest projects.

Here are some baby and preemie hats I made yesterday. The preemie hats will be going to a little guy under 2# who was born prematurely earlier in the week. He will be in the hospital for many months and could use prayers that he develops well and gains strength and weight. His name is Jayden.

This is a scarf I finished a couple days ago. It is 5 1/2" x 64" and made with Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky Weight Yarn in Red Ochre. Really nice, soft yarn. This is what I was working on when my hook fell and broke. It is now back in complete working order thanks to my husband's quick action. He even sanded down the rough edges at the join and it is perfect once again.

This is a picture of the raised diagonal square I did from The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet, the book I've been working in at the Crochet Cabana blog. I also did some mitered squares. Those didn't come out quite as well. You can see photos at the blog though.

In my mail yesterday I received the book I had ordered - the one I saw at Hobby Lobby on my weekend trip. It is All About Crochet: The Dictionary of Crochet Stitches and Techniques
and is by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. I have had a chance to flip through it and am amazed at all the things they managed to get inside this smallish book (127 pages). Everything is in alphabetical order and many of the entries include photos. Just a few of the things included: hook sizes, measurements for clothing sizes, metric equivalents, sizes for tablecloths, afghans, bedspreads, standard yarn weights, a description of what the terms beginner, easy, intermediate and experienced mean, and an explanation of those symbols you see on yarn labels.That's just a quick look. There are many other things and I think this would be a great book for a beginner crocheter to own. I like having these types of books in my own library as a reference for myself and to use when I teach.

That's all for now. Hope you all have a great day!

Happy crocheting!

joining new yarn

2010-06-23T12:48:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note - a while back I mentioned the Crochet! newsletter article about joining a new color using a double crochet. I have created a tutorial to show how this is done which you can find at Crochet Cabana.

I was not totally in love with the procedure, but I think in time, with practice, I could perfect it a bit for my own use. My usual method of changing colors is to work to last step and finish the stitch with the new color. My preference is not to have to change colors at all in a small project like a square but there are such pretty patterns out there. Hard to resist. The combination of colors does make such a pretty look.

Anyway, that is all. Enjoy!

Happy crocheting!

Donny and Marie hats

2010-06-23T10:32:00.002-05:00

Here are the hats I've made so far for the Osmond challenge that Bev began (see previous post). I've made one Donny and Marie (pink and purple) and three Maries. :-) I have more of the pink and purple yarn and plan to use it for this purpose.

I haven't had a chance to work on the police box the past few days. It's hard to move it from place to place. I can't leave it on the love seat as that is Jack's spot and the sofa is where hubby likes to lie. So... heh I will have to get off the computer and try to finish it during the day.

I've also been working on squares which you can see at the Crochet Cabana Blog.

That's about it I think. I haven't gotten to writing up the pattern for that wool scarf yet. It's on my to-do list. :-)

Happy crocheting!

crochet crochet crochet

2010-06-21T14:43:00.001-05:00

Here is a photo of the second wool scarf. As you can see ends not sewn in, but you get the idea. What I did was use black as my MC (main color), working it using a V stitch. Then I used up the little bits of yarn I had in various colors, working those as straight dc. I varied the number of rows of black to make sure I had enough to finish it off. When I was done with the small bits, I had two balls of green and blue still left. I decided to put ten rows of each color in V stitch on the ends. Since those colors were also used in the body of the scarf, I think it worked out well.

I probably should write that up a little clearer in pattern format. I will do that later on. I'll have to sit down and count stitches.

Over the weekend, I had opportunity to go to Hobby Lobby. While there, I noticed a book, which I didn't pick up then, but have bought online since. It is All About Crochet: The Dictionary of Crochet Stitches and Techniques. The format is like a dictionary A to Z, similar to what I have online at Crochet Cabana, but with more pictures and explanation than my simple dictionary. I haven't received my copy yet so I can't go into extreme detail, but the Amazon link above allows you to go in and look at a few pages, so you can see what I mean. When I get my copy I'll let you know. It is by Jean Leinhauser, a name with which most crocheters are already familiar.

What did I get at Hobby Lobby? Yarn, of course! I also picked up a rug hook because in my article on crochet tools for arthritis I had mentioned it. I wanted to give more detail about it as it was much smaller than I thought from the online photos. I also picked up a small pair of scissors to keep in my craft room. I keep having to run back to the living room to get a pair when I need one in there. I picked up a few more odds and ends to round things out.

The yarn that I bought was with the intention of making a second police box with a few changes as I figure things out in this first one, not that there is anything really wrong with this one. The only thing so far that I would want to change is the bars at the window, which I think should be blue rather than black. I have seen photos where they are white, and others blue, but with the grey or white windows, blue would be the better choice. I might fiddle around with the number of stitches as well. Have to be careful with that to get the right number at the windows.

I get a lot of questions and comments about this police box. I have been surprised by the number of people who don't know what a police box is. I don't know why I'm surprised. It's not like you see one every day. heh

Moving on, I have talked about the triple yo-yos. Here is one way that crocheter Deb uses these. She makes them into squares and assembles them.

If you have a blog and you run contests or for whatever reason you get lots of comments and need to have them numbered, this really nice person has figured out how to do that. You can read about it here at 1st Floor Flat.

And in some sad news, last night as I was working on a scarf, I dropped my most favorite hook in all the world and the hook part popped right off! To the good, the underneath of my sofa and love seat is really clean as they got swept up as we searched for the tiny piece. Hubby super glued it back on and it seems to be holding, but there is a scratchy part at the join. He is going to look at it tonight and see if he can maybe do something about that.

The hook in question is this one from this page at Crochet Cabana.

I was soooo very sad and depressed all evening. As I said, this was my most favorite hook. It is an L done in venaro rose Corian. Well, at the very least I can still look at it, but hopefully I will be able to use it again, albeit carefully! I've dropped it before - I always drop my hooks. LOL But this time, it hit just right - or just wrong I guess you could say. Thanks to my hubby for his quick action to mend it. What a guy!

Hope all the Dads out there had a wonderful Father's Day. I think I enjoyed Father's Day weekend as much as my husband, possibly as much as Mother's Day. LOL He himself said he wasn't sure which of us enjoyed it more. I got to go to Hobby Lobby, discovered a new Michael's just a half hour from my house and to which I can actually drive without getting lost. :-) This is probably a dangerous thing!

Besides that, we spent the night away from home in a fancy hotel and ate at an Outback. I have all the details at my Shifting Winds blog so I won't bore you again if you've already read it.

Lastly, Bev at the Country Cottage is sponsoring a special crochet project for children and teens based on the colors of the Osmond singing family. You can read about it here. Since I am presently working in my craft room, I found a bag of pink yarn balls and I plan to make some baby hats with that to go to this project. She would like to get someone in each state, just for fun.

I don't think she'd mind if I shared the colors here. I think it's a fun project. My colors are not as vibrant as hers as the choices were not wide in blogger so please go to her page to see them.

Alan = Blue

Wayne = Orange

Merrill = Black

Jay = Green

Donny = Purple

Marie = Pink

Jimmy = Red

That's all for today I think. Don't forget to check out Crochet Cabana blog if you've not been there before. You might like to bookmark it or add it to your blogroll. I love blogroll because it tells me when someone has updated. I have it set to the top 5 so sometimes I do miss things, but I always catch up eventually. :-)

Happy crocheting!

UFO to FO

2010-06-16T20:54:00.001-05:00

I realize I just posted a photo of 19 scarves and you would think I've had enough of scarves, but not so. Here is another. This one is done in wool. It is about 4" x 48". There is a story about this scarf. Probably a boring story, but I will tell it all the same. LOL

Last winter I decided to make a scarf and chose this pretty variegated wool yarn. I made it rather wide and got about about 18" in and ran out of yarn. I was going to get more yarn, but never did and then I couldn't remember which yarn it was so it went into the UFO file.

This week I was rummaging around in my craft room / guest room which I am currently reorganizing to fit a queen size bed. There will not be a lot of room for anything else, but that is okay because I always have too much yarn. I know - you can never have too much yarn. But really, you can. LOL In any case, I have a lot and it needs to be organized so that when I want to make something I can see what I have to work with.

I found the half completed scarf and ripped it back. Working a smaller foundation chain and using a V stitch, I managed to get a complete scarf out of it. It is not as long as I normally make them, but should do for someone who doesn't mind a shorter scarf. It wrapped round my throat just fine.

I also found a double strand wool scarf made with leftovers that only had about 12" done. I ripped that back also and with a little bit of ingenuity, using single strand, got that one almost done. It is awaiting tails to be sewn in. I'll give more details with the photo when I get it taken.

In other news, I added a page to Crochet Cabana regarding hooks and aids for those with difficulty crocheting due to pain in the hands and wrist. It is just a beginning, so if you have other ideas, please do chime in and let me know what I can add. There are a lot of people with this problem who can use the help.

Happy crocheting!

scarves, scarves, everywhere scarves

2010-06-14T17:18:00.000-05:00

Here is the progress on the police box. I haven't been able to work on it the past couple of days. It's been relocated temporarily, but work has been steady up to now. I hope to be able to finish it this week or early next.

So far I have used 3 skeins of the blue and 1 full skein and a wee bit of black. I've begun the grey as well. These are 7 ounce skeins, fyi. As I think I already noted, I'm using an H hook and yarn bobbins for some of the color changes, hand wound balls for the others. I will be buying more of the bulky yarn bobbins soon as I can. Those seem to work best for my purposes and I only have 3.

This afternoon I pulled out all the scarves I've been collecting. Here is a photo of the 19 of them. Lots of different colors and designs here. I would be hard put to choose a favorite, but I can say the waffle scarf and the Boucan were different and fun to make. Miranda is one of my favorites and the star stitch was something I'd been wanting to try and finally did.

Here's a rundown. Most of these have been featured either here at Crafty Corral or at the Crochet Cabana blog.

1, 8, and 9 use Suzie's pattern at http://suzies-yarnie-stuff.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-april-scarf.html .

2, 3, and 4 use my own Hugs and Kisses (X and O's) pattern available at my Etsy shop.

5 uses the Star Stitch in The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet (links to Theresa's video showing her method and other info here at CrochetCabana blog.

6 and 12 are Kate's V stitch scarves
7 is the Miranda scarf
10 is worked in straight box stitch (tutorial available at Crochet Cabana)
11 is the Double Crochet Lace on p. 47 in The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet
13 is DC in BLO using Surf and Turf bulky yarn
14 is made up of square working 6 rounds of the Butterfly Garden square by Chris Simon with bits and pieces from Gourmet Crochet's assembly tutorial, and a ruffled edging of my own design.
15 is the waffle stitch pattern at Lion Brand
16 is the DC chevron (ripple)
17 uses front post double crochet (pattern at CC)
18 is adapted from Easy Baby Blanket
19 is Boucan stitch following Judith Richardson's pattern (also in The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet )

Last but not least, check out The Crochet Cabana blog for a brief tutorial on how to connect Jacob's Ladder loops. You may have noticed that I have added a recent post thingie at left so you can see what's going on there. At some point in time I may completely move over to the CC blog, but not today. :-) Right now, I'm concentrating on trying out patterns that are new to me and sharing my experiences with any visitors that come by.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!

crocheted bag

2010-06-10T09:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I made my first crocheted bag/purse. I used Department 71 Naomi yarn which is 50% wool and 50% acrylic.

I had six 1.75 ounces and I used every bit of it. Every skein had a knot that had to be cut out so there are a lot of tails to weave in. This is a thick yarn so it requires an extra wide eye on your sewing needle. #16 would not do. When you sew your tails in, you also need to be extra careful not to split the strand and also when you cut the leftover, be careful not to clip the surrounding stitch. No, I didn't do that, but I could see how easy it would be to do.

I think this was yarn I bought on sale. I can't figure out what the color name is but it is brown and a light tan together in one strand. The yarn is sort of like the stuff I used to use on the children's loom to make potholders. A little more stretchy and holey than that, but similar in size. That's what it reminded me of.

The pattern I used for this purse is http://www.buttonspecialties.com/pdfs/SummerMarketBag.pdf. Since I was using a thick yarn, I used my trusty L Corian cancer ribbon hook. I was afraid I would run out of yarn, but I had JUST enough with 10.5 ounces. That is 300 g or 162 yards, or 150m. The pattern calls for worsted cotton. I think it would be considerably smaller than mine. My bag came out about 14" along the bottom, 10" high and about 12" or 13" at the sides.

The label says Knitting Needle size 4. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what that means in crochet hooks. The gauge is 13 sts for 4". According to CYCA standards that classifies it as a bulky yarn. That means you can use anywhere from a K on up according to my chart.

I also continue working on the police box. The next section will be a bit trickier. Wish me luck. :-)

For those who inquired as to what a police box is, you can learn all about them at Wikipedia.

I understand that next week is Worldwide Knitting in Public Week. I am going to assume crocheters are welcome too. :-) Since I always have my crocheting with me, it shouldn't take much to crochet in public at some point.

I have a few links I wanted to share with you which I've been collecting. :-)

First is a YouTube video demonstrating the flat braid joining. I have never used this joining but it's very popular and makes a beautiful join.

I also wanted to share the blog Gourmet Crochet with you. I love the afghan she made. Very colorful! If you go to past posts you can see the joining method used and a lot of great information.

If you have trouble with your hands when you crafty, you might want to print out these exercises. I don't have a great deal of trouble, but sometimes my hands do get tired if I've been on a marathon crochet project or something like yesterday's purse which uses thick yarn. I found these helpful.

I ran across this pretty afghan and thought I would share the link. It's on my to-do list with about a thousand other things. LOL

Lastly, I thought you might like to see this method of starting a new round with double crochet over at Crochet World. If you don't subscribe to their newsletter, I would suggest it. Lots of good info comes out of there. That page also shows the invisible finish. I have had this at Crochet Cabana for a while now but they use a hook to work it, which is handy since you obviously already have a hook in hand. ;-)

I think that is it. Hope something here was helpful.

Happy crocheting!

police box

2010-06-07T08:51:00.000-05:00

Here is the beginning of my police box afghan. I have done a bit more on it, but thought I'd show you the progression of it as I work. I do not have a pattern. I'm designing it as I go.

The second photo looks "bowed" but it is actually straight. It looks that way because of the way I photographed it going around the edge of the sofa.

I am using a lot of small balls, particularly of black, no less than 8 and probably more like twice that. I haven't counted them. The yarn bobbins are wonderful. I could only find two here and Michael's did not have any. I bought some floss bobbins, but they are not the same and not as useful for this purpose. I've ordered some from Knitting Warehouse because they are usually pretty quick in delivery.

Winding balls is okay, but they tend to get tangled up together very quickly and makes things bog down.

I'll have more details as I go. I am keeping track of the pattern. There will be four sections of "boxes" though the last one will be much different than the first three.

It has been an interesting project. I am working with Red Heart Super Saver yarn, which, as you know, is rather rough to work with. If I'm not too tired of it when I'm done perhaps I'll make another using better quality yarn and good bobbins. :-) We'll see how that goes. I am trying to keep track of the yarn as well, but I am bad about that. LOL

Well, that is what I've been doing. You might think crocheting a police box is very odd, but I've seen lots of odd crocheted things and this is certainly not the weirdest. LOL The other day I saw someone had crocheted around a tree. A real tree. In the yard. I don't remember what material was used or if they said.

Anyway, I hope this post isn't oddly spaced as I've had trouble with the "returns".

Happy crocheting!

houndstooth stitch pattern

2010-06-03T08:28:00.000-05:00

I put up a tutorial on the houndstooth stitch pattern found on page 117 in The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet: *All You Need to Know to Crochet *The Essential Reference for Novice and Expert Crocheters *Comprehensive Guide to ... Charts, and Photos for 200 Stitch Patterns

http://crochetcabana.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoy it. It's a challenging bit of a stitch. :-)

Happy crocheting!

scarf

2010-06-02T10:26:00.000-05:00

New post with an old pattern. If you missed Jamie's Scarf when it was at the Cabana, you can get it now and also see the finished Miranda scarf.
http://crochetcabana.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Happy crocheting!

projects

2010-05-31T16:35:00.003-05:00

I just realized I don't think I posted a photo of the completed Star Stitch scarf here. Finished size 6" x 60". I worked 136 rows with an H hook, using Vanna's Choice dusty blue yarn. I used 2 full skeins so if you would like it longer you need to get more yarn than that.

I chained 24 as Teresa suggests in her video. This gave me 10 stars. Note that she says the multiple is 2 + 3 but 24 is not a multiple of 2 + 3. However, 24 works so it's all good. If you need your piece to be smaller or larger just chain a bunch and work the first row to desired size.

I have also been busy making triple yo-yos, double yo-yos, yo-yos, and a saltine.

I've continued to work on the scarf I started with the new Miranda Scarf pattern. I just haven't had much crochet time lately.

I still have a Spidey ghan to complete and I'm *this* close to finishing it. I have only one more round of blue and the webbing to do. I just need time and space to work on it.

Also in the planning stages is another afghan that I need to start from scratch, with design and such. It is a challenging project I am not ready to discuss yet. :-) No money involved. Just time and effort.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!

new pattern

2010-05-27T10:29:00.002-05:00

New scarf pattern over at The Crochet Cabana blog.
http://crochetcabana.blogspot.com/

Didn't want to leave my faitherful Crafty Corral readers out.

Happy crocheting!

links

2010-05-25T17:16:00.000-05:00

This will be a quick post with a few links I thought you might be interested in.

First off a chance to win some nice prize packages as Scotty's Place celebrates her blogiversary. Very nice! Check it out.
a neat blog I discovered. Her tutorial on the bullion stitch is good. I even made a successful bullion. I didn't take a photo though. Maybe next time. You'll just have to trust me.
Manly doilies. I love the one shaped like a saw and there is a wrench shown on his web site.
In case I haven't already mentioned it, CGOA now offers a Master's Degree in crochet. It is open to members and non-members but it costs twice as much for non. You can enroll here. Read about it here. I'd like to take this course, but I'm afraid I'd fail. LOL That would make me sad. Since crochet is the only thing I do half well, I don't know what I'd do then. The course is for the intermediate crocheter and up, it says.
Don't forget to check out the Crochet Cabana Blog. Latest stitch is the Double Crochet Lace. I made a scarf. I'm always making scarves. heh

That's all for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but it will come to me eventually. :-)

Happy crocheting!

Boucan Scarf

2010-05-20T17:12:00.001-05:00

I have finished my scarf using Teresa's Boucan stitch and I love, love, love it. I used three different colors of I Love This yarn - #250 Dark Country Blue, #200 Gray Mist, and #60 Aubergine. I used the gray mist for edging.

Instructions for the last row were not covered in the pattern (I understand she is working on that) , however Teresa's video shows it very clearly.

Though the video is rather long, if you have any uncertainty about working the stitch, I highly recommend it. It's very clear, has audio as well as visual, and you can follow along with her through the entire thing or once you get the idea, just forward to the next thing you need to see. While you're there, check out her other videos. I'm almost sure you'll find something you'll want to look at. :-) That's always what happens to me. I end up spending way more time there than I'd planned. More often than not, I forget why I was there in the first place and end up going back later for that. LOL

If you want an idea for a different color scheme, Beth Ham has a brief video showing what she did.

Note that I did not cut yarn, but carried it up. It did get twisted some coming from the skeins, but that is because I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have been. I only cut the yarn once as I was working and that was for a problem in the yarn itself.

The resulting scarf is very warm and soft. I made mine 8" x 62" with a single crochet border around. I put one sc in the side of each row with the same H hook I used for the body. Usually when I work a border I use a smaller hook and put 2 sc in each dc row, but the way this stitch works, there was a smaller space there so the 1 sc worked out perfectly. I had read about doing this in Lily Chin's Crochet Tips & Tricks: Shortcuts and Techniques Every Crocheter Should Know book but was hesitant to try it. This seemed a good time and it worked out perfectly.

Speaking of Lily Chin's book, I have been reading every page and while I do know a lot of what she describes already, it seems that I am continually finding a new twist to some ideas that I find interesting. There are several things I will want to try when the right project comes along. One hint I am thinking of right off regards those balls of yarn with no center skein. I think she was talking about cones in the tip, but I think it would work for yarn just as well. What she suggested is to make two holes on either side of a shoebox, take a knitting needle, put it through the skein and put the needle through the two holes. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this correctly, but she has a picture in the book. The yarn can turn easily and won't get away from you. I love this tip. Now I need a shoe box. If/when I do it, I will take a picture and show you.

Until then, here is another picture of the teddy bear afghan. I added one of my faux picot borders (sc, ch 2, sc, sk 1) in same st. I think it came out nicely. It is about 37" square.

I think that is all for today. Big TV night and most of it is season finales. I will be busy tomorrow catching up.

Happy crocheting!

Boucan

2010-05-18T18:24:00.007-05:00

http://www.crochetmagazine.com/stitch_guide/index.html?content_id=56First off, I posted the heart bullion block stitch pattern over at the Crochet Cabana blog so hop on over there and have a look if you are interested.

I was reading my good friend Ghost's blog. She always has such lovely items and is kind enough to post links to the patterns when they are available. I am ALWAYS tempted to immediately start making these same items.Sometimes I do, but most often I save them off. This time, however, I meandered over and began to work.

The item in question is Teresa Richardson's Crochet Boucan Pattern Stitch. It's a wonderful pattern stitch. The three color pattern that she suggests works out perfectly for me because I am not cutting the yarn after each row, but rather carrying it up. With the three colors that gives me a color to pick up on each row, meaning less of a loop at the side.

You can also find a similar pattern - called Clever Blocks - in The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet.

The pattern is not exactly the same in the photo guide so worth a try at both of them I think. Teresa uses 4 stitches on each end of the row, giving a multiple of 6. Margaret uses three on either end and a multiple of 6 + 5. Teresa ends the row with a dc. Margaret ends with a sc. Both suggest three colors.

I am loving this pattern and hope to complete a scarf in it. Then I am going to have to try it Margaret's way too. LOL

Teresa also has a video guide where she actually works the pattern. This is fabulous. Very helpful. You might like to view her other videos as well. I love watching videos that actually show me to how to do things because I am a visual learner, although I remember better after I actually do things. Reading patterns I am noted for skimming and missing important things.

You will notice in this stitch, Teresa refers to the Extended Double Crochet. She demonstrates this stitch very well in the video tutorial, but in the written pattern there is no instruction for the stitch that I saw - I could have missed it. There is another stitch known as the Extended Double Crochet which is worked differently. The stitch, as Teresa works it, is known to me as a Long Double Crochet. Different designers name stitches differently and that is not a problem. Both stitches would actually work quite well in this pattern so if you just did the EDC without consulting the video, you would be fine.

I was also curious as to what the word Boucan meant. I immediately thought of Toucan, but that is quite different (a bird). LOL I found a definition in the pirate dictionary.

The Buccaneers used this knife when they hunted wild pig and oxen on the Islands around Santa Domingo and Jamaica. Boucans came in all sizes and shapes and looked like a cut down cutlass. These knives were primarily used as a utility knife, but could be used in combat to hack or slash an enemy in battle.

I also found a place that used the word to mean "a native grill for roasting meat".

I make no claim that this is what Teresa meant. I have no idea. I just had fun looking it up. Most of the google items were not in English so sad me. LOL

I recommend this pattern if you want something a little more challenging that will give a beautiful result. As I said, you might like to check out the rest of Teresa's videos and patterns also.

Oh I forgot to say that in researching the two stitches I discovered that three web sites used what appears to be the exact same video to demonstrate the long double crochet. The URLs are different, but it's the same demonstration, the same color yarn etc. Annie's Attic, Crochet World, and Crochet! magazine. I also found definition of the two at http://www.crochetnmore.com/123basics.htm.

In other news, I am still working on the teddy bear afghan. I've done all the squares and bordered the pink ones in white. That's as far as I got before I got sidetracked with the Boucan. heh So many patterns, so little time!!

Well, it is NCIS, LOST, and V tonight so if they don't get me too excited I might get some crocheting done! LOL

Happy crocheting!

CAL (Crochet-a-long)

2010-05-11T13:53:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to let you all know I will be starting a crochet-a-long at a new blog, http://www.crochetcabana.blogspot.com . I will be making squares and am starting off with the Teddy Bear filet square that I showed you a couple posts ago. I am still making them and it will give folks time to get there and find the pattern easily. That is my thought anyway. :-)

After this I will begin making squares from the The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet: *All You Need to Know to Crochet *The Essential Reference for Novice and Expert Crocheters *Comprehensive Guide to ... Charts, and Photos for 200 Stitch Patterns

As I told you before, I just became a proud owner of this book and I'm anxious to get started on it.

That's all for today.

Blessings,
Sandie

Happy Mother's Day for the crafter

2010-05-09T11:58:00.009-05:00

Firstly, Happy Mother's Day! If your mom is no longer with you, I hope you will be blessed by your memories. If your child is no longer with you, my deepest sympathies. I hope you also have memories to bless the day. If you are separated from your loved ones today, text, phone, e-mail, FAX. In today's world there is no excuse for not getting in touch. If you're estranged, let this be the year you reconnect. If you are blessed by being able to have your family with you, as I was, rejoice and store these memories.

My Mother's Day actually began last night with a call from my son letting us know he would be able to come down after all, though he would have to leave during the morning as he was scheduled to work in early afternoon. He arrived late last night, stayed the night and left in time to make his shift. It was great to see him.

I decided that instead of going out to eat, we would have a big home-cooked breakfast. That way, we could visit and chat as we worked and sit around as long as we wanted to afterwards.

Cooking was a group effort - two kinds of pancakes (plain and chocolate chip), beignets, eggs, sausage, bacon, coffee, and OJ. I am still full. :-) Just as delicious as going to iHOP for me and I think everyone at least had their fill. Five people ate all that food - three men and two women. We did have leftovers, but not as much as you might think.

Everyone was very cooperative and helped with food preparation and getting plates to the table and organizing as things came off the stove. The result was well worth it! So yummy and so nice to have everyone together.

Gifts abounded as well, which is always fun.

Daughter and SIL gave me a plaque which reads: If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your Mother told you." Wise words indeed!!

The figure in the background is me taking the photo. I had a choice of either the bright light of the flash or the background me. :-)

Hubby also plied me with gifts. He first gave me Lily Chin's Crochet Tips and Tricks. I was excited because this was on my wishlist. I sat down to let you all know of my excitement. A few minutes later he came in with Doctor Who magazine. Oh, wonderful! I would have been happy with just the one. Then a few minutes later, he came by with Gail Sattler's new book. Also on my wish list. My eyes were wide by this time. LOL

Lastly, he brought in The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet, the book I raved about in a previous blog. If you want any of these items for yourself, below are the Amazon links. Happy shopping. I can easily recommend them all. Now the library can have their copy of the photo guide back. :-)

Doctor Who magazine, April 2010.

The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet: *All You Need to Know to Crochet *The Essential Reference for Novice and Expert Crocheters *Comprehensive Guide to ... Charts, and Photos for 200 Stitch Patterns

Lily Chin's Crochet Tips & Tricks: Shortcuts and Techniques Every Crocheter Should Know

The Narrow Path, a Christian romance novel by Gail Sattler.

Good job by hubby! I know he had to have shopped for these at the last minute because he'd already shown me my gift - a model of the TARDIS which he has to build. He knew he couldn't complete it by Mother's Day - which was perfectly fine. So I was both surprised and pleased with these "extras". :-)

Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful gifts.

This will also really help my plan to start making squares. Someone suggested I start a group so we can all make squares together. I am thinking on that. It's always more fun to work as a group, so I may do that when I'm done my present commitments, if that day ever comes. heh

I am blessed to be a wife and mother. It's all I ever wanted to be and I thank my husband for allowing me to fulfill that desire. He has worked hard through the years to provide for us while I schooled our children. My children have provided me with so many blessings! They were a joy to raise and to educate. Homeschooling was a challenge, but one I would not have missed.

I guess that is all for now. I hope you will forgive me for sharing more of my personal life and less of the crochet side today. I will have photos soon of my teddy bear squares and hopefully a finished afghan.

Now, I must go and do some reading, and call my own Mom!

Blessings,
Sandie

Bullion Block Stitch

2010-05-08T19:31:00.002-05:00

This is just a quick post to let you know the URL has changed for the Bullion Block Stitch. I edited the previous post, but those who already bookmarked it might want to change their bookmarks. The new page is here.

I've been working on more teddy bear squares in hot pink, as well as continuing to work on the heart square.

Longer post later as this is Doctor Who night. :-)

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Mine has been just fine so far. Went to Zydeco's for their seafood buffet yesterday. Today hubby and I went to Michael's and Petsmart this morning and had barbecue for lunch. Plans are to go to Texas Roadhouse tomorrow if all goes well. So all in all, a pretty nice weekend!

Blessings,
Sandie

pretties

2010-05-06T22:09:00.003-05:00

First and most importantly, I must show you my new treasure. My daughter and son-in-law gave me these two beautiful crochet hook holders for my birthday. The pictures do not do them justice. The color is perfect. Each one holds 11 hooks.

I decided to use one to show off the set of Brittany hooks a friend recently gifted me. They really are beautiful hooks. In the other one, I put some of my special hooks. I don't know if you can the individual hooks in the photo. There is my lighthouse hook and my Mollie hook, my knook hook made with a chopstick, and my Henry hooks. My purple Corian hook is in there, but I think it looks blue in the photo as my camera doesn't get along with purple. heh

My SIL made these hook holders himself as he is a very skilled carpenter. Many thanks to them for this very special gift.

In other news, I finished another Surf and Turf scarf. This one went to Scarlet for the homeless in her area.

I've just fallen in love with the patterns this yarn makes. I wish it didn't twist so badly.

Right now, I'm working on a new pattern, but before I started that, I was working on teddy bear squares. Here is what I've done so far. I used the pattern at Crochet Patterns Only blog. Once I made one, I just used it as a reference for the others. I really didn't read the pattern much. I relied more on the enlarged photo.

I decided I wanted a row of dc top and bottom so I added that to the pattern. You can see that the yellow square was the first one I did as I added those two rows after the fact. On the green ones I incorporated it into the pattern and that worked better.

[Edited] Today, I worked on a new tutorial for Crochet Cabana on the Bullion Block Stitch. Now I know the box stitch (diagonal and straight) is sometimes called the block stitch, as well as the crazy stitch, the crazy shell, the brick stitch. The Block Stitch I'm talking about here is not that one. I already have tutorials on those. This is a stitch that makes me think of working a puff stitch around the post of a dc rather than in a stitch. It is not, however, puffy, and it is worked over two stitches and is flat. It also reminds me of the Bullion Stitch which wraps a bunch of stitches around the hook. I have renamed the stitch the Bullion Block Stitch, at the suggestion of Beth Ham. That way those who search for block stitch can find it, and those who are looking for a new stitch can also find it. Anyway, if you are curious, go have a look at Crochet Cabana. It is in the stitches section if that link doesn't work for some reason.

That's all for tonight. Don't forget to wish your mom a Happy Mother's Day on Sunday. If you haven't been in contact, maybe this is the year to reconnect.

Blessings,
Sandie

another scarf

2010-05-01T12:08:00.001-05:00

Yes, yet another Moda Dea scarf. :-) This one is 6" x 64". I made it thinner in the center and used a double crochet border around. I also went into BLO (back loop only). I haven't done that in a while and wanted to mix it up. I think it came out pretty well. The difference in color is more dramatic along the sides, not as gradual as in the body. Still, hubby liked it best of the three so I guess it is okay. The BLO gives it a different look too.

I also was able to make good progress on the Spidey ghan last night while I caught up on my online viewing. Watched CSI, Community, and two Flash Forwards (I apparently forgot to watch it last week). I also watched a bit of Fringe. The fairy tale storyline didn't catch my interest. What I really want to know is where did Peter go and when he is returning.

Tonight, Doctor Who. Yay! *excited laugh* The Doctor deserves my full attention so I won't get as much crocheting done. Heh I also discovered that the episodes are available at Amazon on demand for a couple dollars. This might be after the U.S. viewing, which wouldn't help me much, but good to know regardless.

Someone asked how long it takes me to make a scarf. Well, that depends. These scarves have gone fast because it is bulky yarn and I use a larger hook. The first one was made with an N hook. The other two used dc so I used a little smaller hook, a 6.0mm which is a J hook. The finished product was not as flexible as the other, so I may switch to a K for the next one. So larger hook with sc pretty much equals smaller hook with double crochet. :-) I also generally use a hook one size smaller for the border. IOW if I use a K hook for the body of the piece, then I use a J hook for the edging. For my tension and crochet method, this helps it not to bunch up.

Anyway, I digress as I often do. LOL Ordinarily it will take me two or three days to complete a scarf. That is because I don't just sit and crochet all day to finish it. It COULD be done in one day, I'm sure, if I stuck to it. These bulky ones took me two days but not a lot of the second day.

I find if I like a project and am enjoying working on it, I can get it finished more quickly. If I am not satisfied with the way it is going and keep thinking that I wish I had done this or that, then it takes me longer as I am brooding as I work. heh

Another thing with this Surf and Turf yarn is that it twists, so after every row you have to sort of straighten it or it will be too thin as you work and affect the tension and width of your finished project. That takes a bit of extra time. At first it was annoying, but I got used to it and now I just do it automatically.

I still have a baby afghan started as well. I've got about a quarter of that one done.

That's all for today. Have a safe weekend.

Oh, wait a sec. I forgot that I wanted to mention the translation tool I added to the blog. I saw this at this site. I translated the site so easily with this tool and I decided I must have it. LOL So many thanks to her for this.

Blessings,
Sandie

Scarf #2

2010-04-29T16:12:00.000-05:00

I know you are asking why am I posting another photo of the same scarf? Aha! It is NOT the same scarf, but it does look very similar. I decided to finish off the yarn I had and got most of this one done yesterday.

Finished size is 7" x 63". I was dismayed because I didn't have enough to work a border around it and still get it to a decent size. Then, voila! I went into my craft room and there was not one or two, but three full skeins and a partial. Imagine my joy. I used most of the partial for this border and will be able to make more. Very nice.

I took my mom to the eye doctor this morning, and did bring my crochet. However, I didn't even get to finish one square. We were called in quickly and there wasn't time between moving from this room to that one to settle and do any crocheting. That's good, though. It makes the time pass quickly and productively.

So you see when I think I will be working on one thing, I end up working on another, but it's all good. Long as I accomplish something worthwhile.

Hope you all are gearing up for a good weekend. I think rain is predicted here throughout the weekend. Bad for the doggies, but the ground needs it.

I've mailed off most of the squares and will hit the post office tomorrow to send the scarves off to Sandy at the Bridge Project. It's still pretty cold in Ohio though it's begun warming up here in Louisiana.

May you all be healthy and happy.

Blessings,
Sandie

Surf and Turf scarf

2010-04-28T15:11:00.000-05:00

Took a break from squares to make a scarf for the Bridge Project. From what I understand it is still pretty cold there. I loved the way this one came out. It is made with the Moda Dea Surf and Turf bulky yarn. I had some trouble with this yarn twisting when I used it before, but this time I used smaller balls of yarn and tried to match it up well as I could and I was very pleased with the result. Hope the recipient will be pleased as well.

I was even pleased with the photo. I put my snuggle blanket (given to me by a friend) under it as I thought it would make a nice background. It did indeed.

Finished size of the scarf is about 6 1/2" x 64". It is straight single crochet with a sc edging around. I always have trouble getting sc borders to lie flat, but I think I did pretty well on it, if I do say so myself.

I think I may have enough to make one more scarf out of this yarn, but I need to finish those ghans I have started first. So many projects. So little time.

OT David Tennant playing Hamlet tonight on PBS, for those who are fans.

Blessings,
Sandie

squares, squares, and more squares - and some double yo-yos.

2010-04-26T11:52:00.000-05:00

This would have been a good St. Patrick's Day post with all the green there. heh Finished more squares and double yo-yos as you can see.

As I was deciding what to do with them I ran across a blog that was desperate for squares for a nursing home project. Well, there ya go. Waiting for an address.

My projects are getting smaller and smaller. I was just thinking over the weekend that I'd like to take all my books of square patterns and make the squares in those. The only reason I haven't already done that is because I'd like them all to be the same size and that's not going to happen. LOL But I'm getting over that.

Here are the books I've got that I can make a start with (links to Amazon). This does not include all the afghan books I have that also have squares in them. One thing at a time!

First off, there's a square I've been wanting to make in

Teach Yourself Visually Crocheting (Teach Yourself Visually)

The square is the mitered square on p. 158-9. That's first up on my list though it's not technically a "square" book.

Next is
200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws, and Afghans: Crochet Squares to Mix and Match

Some of the squares are just variations in different colors, but there are still a LOT of squares to do.

Then there is
The Crochet Stitch Bible

That one might be out of print as there wasn't a price listing on it. I don't know why it would be since it was published 2004 and it's such a nice book. Smaller size, spiral bound so easy to keep open where you want it. It gives multiples, which I love, so I can make it any size I want.

Maybe I should just start with
365 Crochet Stitches a Year: Perpetual Calendar

I could do one each day, but that wouldn't get me through all these books. I'd have to do one a day from each book, eh? In any case, this one is also smaller size and spiral bound, but paper cover rather than hardcover like the other one.

I have already made many of the squares in this book
101 Crochet Squares (1216)

It's one of the first pattern books of squares that I got and I've used it a lot. I have a few favorites. #96 is my all time favorite. I've made dozens of them.

Another book I've had for a long time and used often is
63 Easy-to-Crochet Pattern Stitches (Leisure Arts #555)

This leaflet has been around a long time. There were some errors in the first printing. I'm guessing they've ironed those out over time.

My most recent acquisition was
50 Fabulous Crochet Squares (Leisure Arts #4420)

You might remember I bought this book for the Janie Herrin squares. Lovely squares. Lovely book. Squares are many different sizes. (Note: The Janie Herrin memorial is still up if you missed it first go round.)

I also have the Chris Simon patterns from Lulu. If that link works, scroll down to see her other books. I'm also seeing the Crochet Dude's Flying Afghan which I do not have, but would like to get. You can get Chris' patterns as a print book or a download.

I've also pulled Spectacular Polish Stars leaflet. There are several patterns that could be adjusted to make a square. I think I've done a Polish Star before, but I can't remember exactly what for.

So you see, I have my work cut out for me if I start this project. First, however, I still have a Spidey afghan to complete and I have a baby afghan started, as well as a few skeins left of Carolyn Toups yarn to finish up.

Yes, I could use the Carolyn yarn for this, but since I don't know the size of the squares in each book, I'm more comfortable just making the one I am familiar with so I can send these off. Most charities ask for a particular size square, and there's the rub. I am a fanatic about the measurements and never think mine are good enough. I figure if I send enough of them, they are all alike so they can be used together. :-) I have almost three dozen made right now I think, using the two patterns I featured previously. I will share the squares among the site I already mentioned and CFAC.

Guess that's enough typing for one day. I need to get crocheting! Hubby recorded the Doctor Who that played Saturday so I will watch that while I work. Hubby and son went to a Comic Con this past weekend and picked me up a TARDIS shirt. :-) Megan Rose insisted on modeling it, even though she actually does not have a body. Heh

Have a great week! Join me in square making...

Blessings,
Sandie

Complete Guide to Crochet

2010-04-24T13:56:00.005-05:00

Geez, it's hard to get the photos where you want them now.

Here's what I've been up to. Still working with the Carolyn Toups yarn.

Here are 18 squares, 19 double yo-yos, 8 yo-yos, 3 granny's daughters, and 13 saltines if I counted everything correctly.

I'm still working, but wanted to get photos taken of these. I have a tendency to forget photos when I'm in a rush to get things off to where they need to be.

The patterns for the squares are the same ones I used previously. Kim Jiries' Double Cross square (that link has changed, so bookmark this one if you need it) and the one at Royal Sisters. I used the same hook and same two patterns, but the maroon colored squares came out slightly smaller than the others. I didn't realize it until I put them all together. Sad me.

I also wanted to share a book I got through the library which I am thinking I am going to buy. It has nice, large photos and a variety of skills represented. The Amazon listing calls it The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet: *All You Need to Know to Crochet *The Essential Reference for Novice and Expert Crocheters *Comprehensive Guide to ... 200 Stitch Patterns (Complete Photo Guides).

That is no lie. Just to give you an idea of what's included -- It starts off with a history and I am always interested to read about the beginnings of the craft. Then she shows tools - difference between inline and tapered hooks. It covers working in back loop only, how to do the no chain foundation in both single and double crochet, and besides the basic stitches, she shows some special stitches like popcorn, bullion, puff, and picot. She demonstrates what I call the invisible finish off. She calls it the Invisible Join, but it is the same thing. There is a page on reading pattern instructions with abbreviation table, and a page on symbols for symbol crochet. She also covers working in rows, working in the round, gauge, seams, buttonholes, pockets, zippers, and joins. Then the specialty stitches are covered - Tunisian, overlay, freeform, hairpin lace, broomstick lace, polish star and more. There is something called Intermeshing crochet which looks very interesting.

I must stop or I will not be publishing this post while I look through the book. LOL Suffice to say, lots of good stuff. And bunches of patterns, too.

I don't think you'll be disappointed if you pick it up. As I said, I think I'm going over and put this one on my wishlist. Well done.

I noticed when I went to Amazon that there are several other "complete guides" for other crafts. There is even another Crochet Complete Guide, but that one is by a different author. It may be a good book also. I can't say as I haven't seen it.

Guess that's it

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Sandie

WIPS

2010-04-21T13:34:00.000-05:00

Here is the picture of a motif I worked on a few days ago. It is the pattern CTMar08-56 Swirling Fans Throw, which is a free pattern at Coats and Clark.

I only made the one so I obviously didn't do the joining part, but this part was not too difficult. The pattern is rated intermediate.

I'm still working on the Spideyghan and also began a baby afghan, but haven't gotten very far with that.

I also finished 24 6" squares. The light pink, hot pink and white were all made with Kim Jiries' Double Cross Square, pattern at Crochet Cabana. I did five rounds. This is yarn from

The variegated squares follow the pattern at Royal Sisters. It starts off round but ends up like a granny square so you can join as you go very easily. She shows you how in the tutorial. Once you've done one, a fairly adept crocheter can whip these out pretty quickly without too much thought - meaning you can watch TV or hold a conversation without having to rip continuously.

I used more of the Carolyn Toups yarn for these squares. I am gradually finishing up the last bits of it. It sure went a long way and a lot of folks are still being helped by her stash, long after her passing.

If you haven't been by Crafting 4 a Cause shop lately, you might want to stroll by. Sales benefit Native Americans in need. The shop has a new look. Quite nice. Notice the apple afghan. Beautiful work. (Don't forget to click go after you decide what section you want to see. I have that on my site as well and still sat there waiting with nothing happening. *duh*)

Any Doctor Who folks here? The first episode of the new Doctor aired last Saturday. Very exciting. I look forward to seeing what else he has in store for us. Takes a bit of getting used to, but that is the nature of the Doctor. If you missed the first episode, Amazon has it for viewing for $1.99. I imagine it is on iTunes as well.

I think that's it for today.

Blessings,
Sandie

suncatcher motif

2010-04-14T11:36:00.058-05:00

Here's what I was working on most of yesterday and a tiny bit this morning.

I may have mentioned that I was approached to help with the crochet section at Craftown, answering questions for visitors. This is a volunteer position. I am looking forward to being a part of this organization. Hopefully, I will be of some help to the visitors.

One question sort of took on a life of its own. A question was asked about the cluster section of the Suncatcher Tablecloth pattern.

Looking at it without working it, it looked like there were two different cluster stitches, neither a "normal" cluster stitch. I did a bit of research, looked for videos or mention of the pattern elsewhere, but came up with nothing. I couldn't figure it out, so I admitted defeat. But then, I got annoyed with myself. LOL What was the crocheter to do?

I'm usually a lazy crocheter. I don't challenge myself much. I don't want extra stress with my crochet. I like to relax while still feel that I'm accomplishing something. Did I mention lazy? Anyway, sadly I don't generally have the time to work every project I get a question about and I'm sure nobody else does either. That is why I often suggest contacting the designer when there is a problem. A designer knows his or her pattern best, though if it's an older pattern we sometimes forget what we did too. heh I still take responsibility for my own patterns and if I have to, I will work it then because well, it's my problem. LOL In this case the pattern is a vintage pattern. The designer is long gone so no help there.

As you may know, I'm a bit of a combination of stubborn and curious. (I see you laughing!) I thought I should be able to figure this out so I decided to try it myself. If I couldn't do it, she was no worse off than before and I might have learned something.

Now this is a tablecloth pattern worked in tiny thread. The motif is supposed to be 5". I knew I could never do that, but my purpose was just to work the instructions, not to make a tablecloth, so I ignored that part.

I pulled out the hated Red Heart worsted weight orangy yarn that I use whenever I want to test something. LOL Yes, I'm still trying to get rid of that yarn. I also pulled out my trusty H hook - my favorite for quick projects - and got to work. It didn't turn out to be so quick, but I did it!

The instructions were really not too difficult. There were a few bumps, like when working a repeat from *, it ended before the next "end with" part. There was a small section missing on a round or two. Fixed that, but if you are working it, you would figure that out pretty easily. I added abbreviations and stitch instructions to my copy.

After a few hours, I was pleased with my progress. Then I got to the round in question. Rnd 14. One had to REALLY concentrate here. There was a yarn over that was assumed - you know the one, when you insert hook and pull through. Well, you have to yo before you pull through or else you're not accomplishing anything. That was not a big deal. Even a newbie crocheter could figure that out so I didn't think that was the problem.

Then the cluster instructions. Once you figured it out, it was easy to continue. One, two, three. I think the confusion might have resulted from the fact that there was a beginning cluster, and then the pattern cluster, both labeled cluster. With no stitch instructions at the beginning, and with the pattern stitch not set apart, there was no way at a quick glance to tell what made up the cluster. However, when you're working it, it becomes obvious. The terminology changes slightly as you continue the round. Not a big problem.

All that to say, I finished it. Yay! I was able to, I hope, rewrite the instructions in such a way as to make it easier to understand should I attempt it again some time from now when I will have forgotten what I did.

This was a pattern written, according to Laynee Jenkins, about a hundred years ago. That means it is public domain if I understand the copyright law correctly. Anything previous to 1923 is public domain. Ms. Jenkins gathered up a bunch of vintage patterns into a book. Great idea for those who do that type of work.

Working with the Red Heart worsted weight yarn, it took almost the entire 3.5 ounce skein, using an H hook. It was about 19" edge to edge. The small motif was about 6". The small motif is worked the same as the large one to Round 5. Round 6 is a joining round. Remember the large motif in the pattern is supposed to be 5" so you can see what a different working with yarn rather than thread makes in a project.

So there ya go. Craftown is working on revisions to the site and this pattern revision is among those, so eventually it will be up. However, I think a long time crocheter would have no problem with the pattern as it is, so don't hesitate if you really want a tablecloth, or perhaps a doily. I think the motif would be very pretty as a doily. If I could figure it out, you can too. :-)

I have another motif I wanted to show you, but I have to take a photo of it later. Next time.

Blessings,

Sandie

tails

2010-04-10T10:24:00.003-05:00

I was playing around this morning and I ran across Beth Ham's video demonstrating the granny ripple tutorial. I just love to watch her work. What I wanted to mention regarding this particular one is that she shows how to add a color and work over the tail as you move on with your pattern. I found this very interesting. I sometimes do work over my tails, but not in this way. I most often will weave the tail in with a needle. She has a tutorial specifically for joining new colors in a granny but I caught this particular method in the ripple tutorial.

I have been trying to figure out how to put a link to this blog with a picture at the Cabana - something similar to what is done at Ravelry on your profile page, which is very cool. I found a widget but I can't get the photo to appear. Will work on that some more later, maybe get some help on that from my advisor :-)

That would settle the name consideration as the link would be right there anyway and I wouldn't lose my rankings by changing the name.

In my non-crochet life, I am reading the Twilight series. I just began Eclipse and hope to finish it before the movie comes out. These are huge books!

Someone needs to come up with a method of reading and crocheting at the same time! LOL

Well, that is all I had to share today. Hopefully will have some pics soon of the completed Spideyghan, but truthfully it will look just like the other one, but I think the blue might be a different shade.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Sandie

charity project

2010-04-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

I recently became acquainted with a special couple who do charity work in Alaska. I wanted to share with you the work they are doing with the children there. Here is a brief description from Anna. Her husband Larry is a pilot and he will be flying the children in for the Bible camp and crochet lessons.

Greetings from Anna in Alaska. Little girls in rural Alaska are so excited to be flying to Bible camp. Yes, you read that right. The only way in and out of the 150 villages is by plane. For many this is the first time they have heard that God loves them and has a plan for their lives. As an added bonus, I plan to teach the girls about God's given talents and teach them to crochet.

I work with Samaritan's Purse (Franklin Graham) here in Alaska and have taken on the task of providing the crochet supplies for these little girls. I will be collecting crochet hooks and yarn for this project. There will be 75 to 100 young girls. If you are interested in investing in these precious lives, we would be grateful for your help in gathering I or J size crochet hooks and clean, smooth acrylic yarn. The supplies are needed by June 1. It is such a blessing to me to see how God is providing for this heart to hands project.
In Him., Anna Jarrett

I have Anna's address, but did not want to post it on this public blog, so if you would like to provide a few hooks for these Alaskan children, holler out to me at craftycorral AT gmail DOT com, or to Anna directly at larryjarrett AT yahoo DOT com . You might note in the subject line crochet to let them know it is legitimate mail.

Thanks for blessing these girls.

Sandie

name change

2010-04-09T14:13:00.000-05:00

I am thinking of changing the name of this blog to Crochet Cabana since it is an offshoot of the web site. I originally decided on Crafty Corral so I could include other crafts, but over the years it seems all I talk about is crochet. heh

I know this might cause problems for you all in bookmarking. I apologize in advance for that. I haven't quite decided yet though. I do like Crafty Corral.

What do you all think? Would it make it easier to remember the blog name if it was the same? Do you already associate Crafty Corral with Crochet Cabana? Or does it not matter?

No photos today. I'm still working on the new Spideyghan.

Hope you all are enjoying the start of your weekend.

Blessings,
Sandie

squares

2010-04-07T09:46:00.000-05:00

Here is a square which is going into an afghan that I'm assembling. It is a heart square made with pink yarn - Pound of Love I think.

I've used this square to make many different afghans and designed a scarf using it, working the hearts both ways so it will look the same when you are wearing it dangling in the front. At one time I asked Leisure Arts if I could publish it as a derivative work but sadly they said no. However, you can find the original pattern online.

The original pattern was called Nursery Hearts and was in Crochet with Heart magazine, Feb. 1997. It was published again in A Year of Baby Afghans, Book 3, #3143. I just checked and Amazon has the leaflet:
A Year of Baby Afghans -- Book 3 (Leisure Arts #3143)

I'm sure it must be other places as well. At Amazon, if you click on the last little photo in the listing, you can see the afghan. The original in 1997 had a pillow pattern as well.

You can see afghans I've made on this page (about halfway down):
http://www.crochetcabana.com/projects_3.htm

The afghan I'm assembling includes other squares, but I wanted to show you my favorite. This beautiful square was made by my daughter. Of course I am prejudiced, but I think it is just gorgeous. She did a great job.

You can find the pattern at Chris Simon's. Daughter added a few rounds for size and durability. I love the two purple stripes. I think it just brings it all together.

I'll post a photo of the completed afghan later.

I sure wish I could get this Amazon associates thing to work. Then you could see the photo of the cover. Oh well. The links should work just fine.

Half the week gone already. Hope you're enjoying every moment. My son is safely back home after his trip to Boston. Sounded like he had a good time. Now back to work for everyone after this break.

That's all for today.
Blessings,
Sandie

Craftown

2010-04-03T06:52:00.000-05:00

Look what I did! heh I received a question about the pattern Lace Juliet Cap over at Craftown. I don't normally work a pattern to answer a question, simply because I don't have the time to do that. But every now and again I run across something that intrigues me and I just must do it. This was one of those.

That, and the round in question was just Round 4 so it's not like I had to work the entire thing. This is the cap, worked to Round 4. I think it would make a cute doily. The pattern calls for fine crochet cotton and an E hook. I used worsted weight yarn and a G hook, so obviously mine is larger. And purple.

The pattern was fairly simple, just chains and single crochets. I erred on Round 2 but it did not affect the next rounds and since I was just pattern testing, I didn't worry about it. You are supposed to work sc, then the ch 18, then another sc in the same spot. I did only the one sc because it was 4:30am and my brain was not engaged yet.

Anyway... you must check out Craftown. They have a new look. It is not finished - well, it is probably never finished as they are adding new patterns all the time, but I think it looks great. I love the muted tones in the purple and green shades. It all works well together.

I also finished a brown V-stitch scarf. I had started this scarf as a tunisian crochet project, but I kept pushing it aside to work on other things. Because of that, it was taking a long time to finish. It also had gotten folded somehow and looked like that fold wasn't coming out, so I decided to rip it and make the scarf you're looking at. :-) Much better result and quicker. While I can work afghan stitch competently, I am not drawn to it. I think this is just fine. We need folks who focus on different aspects of crochet. Experts, if you will. For tunisian, that is not me. LOL

I enjoyed working on both these projects and look forward to the next one. I've begun a Spideyghan which will go in the Etsy shop. At least that's the plan.

Off topic, my son is flying to Boston today. Please say a prayer for his journey and that he is returned safely next week. Thanks!

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Sandie

Janie Herrin - Bea Wells - Crobeanie

2010-03-31T10:06:00.003-05:00

You may remember that Janie Herrin (Bea Wells, Crobeanie) passed away earlier this month. I have been working on a memorial page and it is finished! You can find it at http://www.crochetcabana.com/janie_herrin_memorial.htm . My thanks to Janie's friends Debbie, James, Jean and Jewel for their help on this project. I couldn't have done it without them.

I hope you enjoy the list of her designs. I'm sure there are some I've missed, but there's a pretty good list there. Here are the books I have listed. I have tried to use the Amazon thing so you could actually see the book and determine if you own it. I know often I will read about a book and go to find it only to see I already have it. LOL

100 Afghans to Knit & Crochet

100 Crochet Projects

50 Fabulous Crochet Squares (Leisure Arts #4420)

I hope that is helpful to those who would like to purchase these items. I myself just received my copy of 100 Crochet Projects. Besides Janie's works, there are some other lovely things to satisfy my hook and yarn urges. The item that caught my eye was actually a thread sachet. Just beautiful. And I am having a yen to make the Pineapple Roses afghan also.

The other two books I had already. I bought 50 Fabulous Crochet Squares when I was making the afghan for Janie. The 100 Afghans book has both knit and crochet afghans and throws. I don't knit - yet - but there are some lovely crocheted afghans to tempt.

Many of the designs which Janie created for her subscription web site years ago are not available anywhere as of yet. Maybe Jean and Rita will use those at some point. I'd love to see a Janie Herrin pattern book. There are certainly enough designs out there. I'm sure it's a lot of work to put out a book.

If my Amazon links don't work, just go to Amazon and search for the titles.

Also, I wanted to mention Drew Emborsky's upcoming book which is available for pre-order.

Crochet It. Love It. Wear It! (Leisure Arts #5058)

I have a few of Drew's works and he is a fabulous designer.

That's all for today. Hope you enjoy the memorial to Janie and are tempted to create some beautiful works using her designs.

Blessings,
Sandie

yo yos and scarf

2010-03-30T13:39:00.002-05:00

Here is my latest scarf. It is made with Mary Maxim Best Value yarn. The finished size was 6 1/2" x 61". I used the straight box stitch. This makes a nice, closed stitch for warmth and it's not frilly or girly so good for a guy or a gal. That's my opinion anyway.

Here is another thing I was playing with the other day. You can find the tutorial at Sunshine Creations (http://sunshinescreations.vintagethreads.com/2009/06/yoyo-afghan-instructions-tutorial.html ). Very innovative design. You do have to do a continuously longer foundation chain, so if you steer away from long fch, this would not be for you.

These are not individual yo-yos that are joined together. It is made in one piece. The next one would also be made in one longer piece and joined to this one in a sort of join-as-you-go method.

You can see some beautiful renditions of various types of yo-yos and other designs here. I enjoyed looking through them. This is not the same person who did the tutorial, but someone else.

I am presently reading Betty Hechtman's A Stitch in Crime. (I couldn't get the Amazon Associate blogger thingie to work, but you can find the book by following the link anyway.) It is also available for the Kindle. Cool!

I just love her crochet mysteries. I was never that big a mystery book reader, though I love TV shows like Columbo, Castle, Bones and such where they are trying to solve murder mysteries. I really enjoy these that combine crochet (or knitting) and the mystery. There are a few other authors that do this and I usually enjoy those too, though I think this is my favorite. The price is not unreasonable, either.

I am presently working on a light brown scarf in V stitch. Most of the scarves are being put aside for a special project. I only need 6 but I want to have a variety for choosing. The remainder will go to charities later in the year.

I wanted to share with you this beautiful afghan made by Susan Wilkinson in Spain. She learned to work the ripple from the tutorial at Crochet Cabana and what a result! I was so impressed with it, I asked for permission to share it with you.

Susan says she used a thick hook and chunky wool to make the afghan. I just love it! Very nice job, Susan!

Blessings,
Sandie

yo-yos / patterns and stuff

2010-03-25T18:47:00.000-05:00

First, a really interesting photo of my latest double yo-yos. Apparently I moved while taking the photo. Since the yo-yos are already packaged to mail, I didn't want to rip the package open and retake the photos. You've already seen some just like this. So I thought I'd post the "bad" photo as an artistic representation. What do you think? :-) It was worth a shot. LOL There are 20 of each color and these are going to Crafting for a Cause.

I thought I had already posted links for the class I almost attended during my brief trip to Houma. However, I had not found them yet when I posted so I am here to rectify that. The instructor of the knit/crochet class is Linda Tabor. She has a small shop in Thibodaux, LA called Bayou Knits. It is located upstairs in Debbie's Antiques. She holds a knit/crochet class every Friday at Hobby Lobby. I believe it starts at 5:30, but don't quote me on that. heh In addition, she hosts a Sit 'n Stitch at the Booksamillion in Houma every other Tuesday. I believe it is the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.

I also wanted to share this interesting assembly method that I ran across at Crochet! magazine site. You create loops which are then intertwined. The important part is that your loops are two different sizes, with every other loop being the same. You work all the same size loops together first, then the other. So you go down the column twice. I haven't tried it, but it is intriguing.

Another intriguing pattern I ran across is this hat pattern. The pattern says "To create the unique texture you will work the stitches into a loop not normally used in most stitch patterns. It's simple enough for a beginner who is ready to shake things up and move beyond the basic stitches." I'll let you know how true that is. Heh

I am that great at reading instructions and figuring out the where and whyfores of complex things, so I am hesitant but intrigued. Intrigued won. I bought it. :-) There were two files in the download. As far as I can tell they are exactly the same, but use different fonts or different size fonts perhaps. I haven't examined it that closely.

BTW, since I myself have trouble, I try to write my own instructions as clearly as I can, even though that sometimes makes them longer. I figure other people may also have trouble with written instructions. I much prefer to watch a video that shows closeups of what to do.

I'm still trying to get through the donated yarn. Yes, even though I just bought out Hobby Lobby. LOL A girl cannot have too much yarn. No, she can't. LOL

That said, I am making a scarf - and no, I'm not using the donated yarn. heh The purple Red Heart I bought the other day was calling to me and I wanted to use Suzie's April scarf pattern again cos I just like it. It's quick, easy, closed pattern so it's warm, and doesn't use a lot of yarn.

I'll be working on that scarf while watching Flash Forward tonight.

Have a good evening!

Blessings,
Sandie

scarves and squares

2010-03-24T07:26:00.002-05:00

I have been trying to finish off the wool yarn I have on hand and go back to working solely with acrylic. Since the soldiers need sc hats now, there just isn't any reason for me to keep wool on hand. I was buying it for the soldiers. Rather than have to take extra precautions with storing wool when I'm not using it, I'll just stick to acrylic. There are some other efforts for the soldiers, not hats, that I can participate in.

With that in mind, I completed three scarves and three hats for The Bridge Project. The black double strand is 7 1/2" x 62". The tweedish is a double strand using black and a light green. It is 6 1/4" x 62". The multicolored one is a single strand, using up my leftovers. It is 6" x 58". Two of the hats I had already done, planning to send to TSP, but when they said no dc hats, I switched gears. I found a third half done hat from when we took that 9 hour trip to TN. You might recall I lost my hook during the trip and had to stand down on that one. heh I had put it aside and found it again. So three hats and three scarves. Hope they keep someone warm. Note I included a card that says it is wool. Don't need folks who are allergic having a reaction.

Some have asked what is done with all the saltines I have been sending. I received permission from Dawn to share with you this photo of one of afghans she assembled using some of my saltines. Isn't this just gorgeous! Thank you, Dawn, for sharing the photo. I believe it is 120 saltines for one ghan.

I will try to get one of the double yo-yos later too. I don't think mine have been used yet. I am making more right now.

Remember when I was in Houma I saw the knit/crochet class notice at Hobby Lobby? Well, because I am a well trained PI (JK) I found the instructor's e-mail, contacted her, and learned she holds a Sit and Stitch twice a month, for free, at the local (for her) Booksamillion. I am hoping that one day we can hop over there. It is at night during the week and that is a hard time for my husband to take off, but it might be possible now and then. There is still the classes if I want to pay, and I might do that for the knitting perhaps one time. We'll see. These stores are just over an hour from me and I don't drive at night, especially that distance, unless I absolutely have to.

Sometimes it seems like tasks just seem to multiply overnight and I end up with bunches of things that need to get done in quick order. That is what happened yesterday. So I took a page from Gail Sattler's blog and made a list for today, of what didn't get done yesterday. :-) I have already completed two items on the list and sent off an e-mail so I can finish the third - which depends on an Ebay seller sending me an invoice. Ta da! Thanks, Gail. Just seeing those strike throughs is empowering.

Added to my list already today is going to the grocery store and returning a Blockbuster movie. They have increased their rates, sorry to say. $5 for a movie! That's about what I pay to go to the theater as I always go to the matinee (the cheap one). However, you can keep them 5 days with no penalty. I am not keeping this one that long because it is Twilight and I know others want to see it. Sadly, it did not include the special features except for commentary. I love special features.

Oh well. I sort of got off topic there. Sorry.

If you knew Janie (as Janie Herrin, Bea Wells, or Crobeanie) and would like to pay tribute, send me your comment and I will add it to the page. I think it will be too long for a blog post as I'm putting in all her pattern designs, accumulated from her Flickr, the books I have, and what people have been sending me. That said, I'll create the page and add to Crochet Cabana.

That's all for today. Have a great day!

Blessings,
Sandie

this 'n that

2010-03-23T08:32:00.001-05:00

So much to talk about. I hope I can remember it all.

First off, you may have heard of Panda Man, James Davis, one of the talented men who crochet (you know the Crochet Dude Drew Emborsky already). James is now more into knitting as I understand it. He was a good friend of Janie Herrin's - she mentions his web site on her Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/crobeanie . In going through Pandaman's web site, I noted a tutorial on what I call the Invisible Finish off. He calls it the Hidden Ends Tutorial, and says it is the finish that he and Bea (Janie) use. Isn't that neat? As far as I can remember, I first saw this method in a printed pattern book. It is possible I did see this when I first began surfing and don't remember, but I still thought it was neat.

You can find his crochet site, with patterns (remember to obey copyright laws and not repost them) at http://pandacrochet.8m.com/ . Some lovely patterns there. To my understanding, he no longer updates the crochet site. Be sure to check out his tips, patterns, and the crochet prayer. Good stuff.

If you are interested in knitting, you might like to check out his blog at http://knit-n-panda.blogspot.com/ . He also has a yarn shop. You can find it at http://www.pmdiscountyarn.com/index.php?route=common/home .

Another site I haven't been to in a while is Crochet Memories. I happened across her Crochet Trivia page and was interested to see that the Granny Square was first published, according to them, in 1897 by the Weldon Company. There is a list of famous crocheters too. Dee Stanziano has a similar list at her web site http://www.crochetwithdee.com/ .

As I was traveling the blog trails today, I also ran into Chronicles of Yarnia, a blog I've visited in the past, but today I saw the prettiest potholder and also some dishcloths. The potholder is based on a German pattern. I do love pretty things. :-) From COY I went to Ravelry link she had and came away with this wonderful picture tutorial ( http://picasaweb.google.com/kudepihha/Camomiles?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ2v3IeVmf3P0QE# ) for a similar potholder.

Next up, Beth Ham shot off an e-mail to let me know she'd corrected a couple of errors in one of the patterns I feature at Crochet Cabana. It is the Grannie Ripple and you can find it here with corrections or at CC. She also has a video tutorial on the Grannie Ripple. Beth also has on her site the anatomy of a pattern. In a quick read through, I think she is spot on with this. A good pattern will have most of these things. When I first started designing for the web site, I had no clue. I should go back and rework those first patterns. I have done this on some of them, but I know so much more now than I did 12 years ago. I'm sure that is true of everyone.

Also in my mailbox was a note from my friend Randy Cavaliere and she has a new pattern featured at Caron. Go check it out. It is the Rosario Vest and it is Beautiful!!

Last but not least, I am working on a memorial to Janie. I'll let you know when that is done. I haven't decided whether to post it here or at CC. Maybe both. :-)

Have a great day!

Blessings,
Sandie

sad news / Janie Herrin

2010-03-21T13:16:00.000-05:00

I am very sad to share the news that Janie Herrin (Crobeanie / Bea Wells), crochet designer, has passed away. You can see her photostream of published designs at Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/crobeanie/

I had the privilege of speaking to Janie several times through the past few years, the last being in November after she received the afghan I was honored to make for her. Those who pass by here regularly might remember that I used her squares to make the ghan. I was so happy that she was pleased with the result.

Janie was such an inspiration to all of us. She was not just a talented crochet designer, but she was also a sweet, generous person. She will be sorely missed.

My deepest sympathies to Janie's family and friends. She won't be forgotten.

Blessings,
Sandie

shopping!

2010-03-20T13:37:00.000-05:00

Hobby Lobby. Michael's. Two stores that bless the heart of the seriously addicted crafter. :-) I had opportunity to visit both and came away seriously blessed. :-)

My husband also found a few things for himself, but I have to admit to taking the lion's share of the basket as we filled it with goodies.

I saw that they were having a knit / crochet class that very night, but since I already know how to crochet and there was no info on the sign as to whether it was for beginner or what the charge was, I decided to pass on that and spend the time with hubby instead. It is apparently ongoing, so I might have another opportunity in the future to discover more. I did write down the instructor's name and phone number.

I've included in this post photos of my yarn purchases. I also bought two regular old Boye hooks and some sock shaped point protectors. You'll notice the majority of the skeins are I Love This Yarn. That is because, well, I love ILTY. :-) I needed some yarn for edging and assembling squares, but wasn't sure what color I wanted, so I purchased a variety until I decide. Not like it's going to go to waste. I also purchased enough to make another Spideyghan, to put in the Etsy.

You can see here two skeins of the Deborah Norville yarn, and two of Impeccable yarn. These are two I have never tried before, but they were too scrumptious for me not to try. I'll let you know how I like them.

The Deborah Norville is a chunky variegated yarn. I bought both solid and variegated of the Impeccable. There were so many choices. It was hard to pick. You are probably wondering why I picked green. I had green on the brain and I guess that is just what I gravitated to that day. Some days are just like that.

Then there is a skein of cottontots, just because I liked the look of it. I like to have some cotton yarn on hand for dishcloths and emergencies. :-) I know some people do not think one can have a yarn emergency, but between my daughter and myself we have had many. :-)

Guess that is all I have for today. I hope I haven't made too many of you jealous with all the scrumptious yarns. If so, hit the Hobby Lobby online store or, if you're lucky enough to have one nearby, trot over to HL or Michael's. You won't be disappointed.

Blessings,
Sandie

knooking

2010-03-18T15:54:00.000-05:00

My knooking hook came in today - no photos yet, but wanted to share with you the web sites that show you how to do this interesting procedure that is supposed to be knitting with a crochet hook.

First off, there is the YouTube video.

Then there is this blog which has most everything you need to know. I did a tiny bit of work with it, but not so much that I can show you anything.

As to whether this would be better than just knitting, I can't say yet but it is certainly a way to knit if you only have a crochet hook and some yarn.

Have a look and let me know what you think. I will do likewise.

Blessings,
Sandie

new pattern at Etsy

2010-03-17T20:57:00.000-05:00

The new pattern for the Hugs and Kisses Afghan has been posted! I'm really excited about this pattern. As you know, I've worked really hard on it and I think it came out well. Of course, there is always room for improvement and I'm never really totally satisfied, but I hope someone out there will like it.

You can find the pattern at my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/crochetcabana .

Besides that, I have also put the actual afghan that I made to design this pattern, in the shop. If you go to the shop, be sure to choose the right one. There is only one afghan, but the pattern will be relisted as copies are sold.

Here is a photo of the completed afghan. Finished size is 48" x 63". That is a twin size bed on which it is laid out. It covers the bed from under the pillow to the foot of the bed. The orange is right against the wall with the red hanging over. If it was evenly spaced on the bed, it would probably hang over a few inches on each side.

As to the afghan, I have included bunches of photos and two charts. There are two different edging options and instructions on assembly. You can make one strip and have a scarf or multiple strips and have the afghan.

That's what I've been doing for the past few weeks, so now back to other things. I want to use up my wool yarn so I will be making scarves and hats for homeless. It's still pretty cold in many places.

Guess that's all for now. Oh, I don't know if I remembered to say, but I did get the results of my biopsy and the results were good. No cancer or suspicious cells. Yay.

Hope your week is going well.

Blessings,
Sandie

Crochet Block Stitch

2010-03-13T09:25:00.001-06:00

I actually worked the Crochet Block stitch pattern I purchased last night. Proof (at left). It is not difficult to do once you know the procedure. Sort of like making a puff stitch, but around a post instead of into a stitch. I rather like it.

The instructions use the European terminology, but in parentheses notes the US term, so it's not too hard to follow. I only did the first few rows with some scrap yarn, but do not anticipate there would be any problem with the rest. I'm really glad to have purchased this. I can see myself making a scarf out of this stitch. It would be quite warm and look fancy. :-) Very interesting variation. The pdf includes other patterns, such as working it in the round. I look forward to playing with those.

If you want to order it, go to http://www.knotjustknitting.com/, hit enter to get into the site, then scroll down to PDF Patterns and Tutorials. Click on Visit the pattern page for more info. On the pattern page, you can put the pattern in your cart or buy it outright. You get the pattern immediately if you pay with Paypal. It's $5.95 presently.

I also finished the yellow stripe for the Hugs and Kisses afghan. I took a picture to keep the picture hounds at bay. LOL I am working on a green one now and will do either an aqua/turquoise color or a purple stripe after that. The finished ghan should fit the top of a twin size bed. That's the plan anyway. Will either put it in my Etsy or my husband's Ebay shop when it's complete.

Each stripe needs an edging, then there will be the assembly and ends sewn in, of course, but it's coming along nicely.

I've been trying to organize my craft room. My daughter's sewing machine is in there now and I've put my keyboard in there so now perhaps things won't get thrown on it and I can actually use it. Heh Is that wishful thinking *picturing piles of yarn on top*?

Hoping to organize the yarn itself in the coming days. I just sort of threw everything in a bin or basket or zippered plastic bag. Ultimately, I want all the yarn either on my yarn tree or in a container to keep the bugs away. I am not going to work with wool yarn anymore as I don't really know the proper method of storing such things. We don't get cold enough for long enough here for it. Since I won't be making hats for The Ships Project I won't need wool. That was my primary use for it. I'm going to use what I have left to make scarves and hats for The Bridge Project.

I'm heading off to a bridal shower today. Ordered the gift online, but made a couple of dishcloths to bring with me today so I wouldn't be empty handed. I don't go to a lot of showers as that is not my thing, but this is my very good friend's daughter and I wouldn't miss it.

My son is coming by for a visit as well. He and his dad will have a day out since I'll be occupied.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Blessings,
Sandie

hooks

2010-03-12T18:46:00.002-06:00

I know. I know. I'm sorry. I still don't have photos. I decided to work strips into an afghan and it will be an afghan pattern cos it just is so neat that way. heh I think so anyway. We'll see how it works out.

However, I was voting over at Crochet Liberation Front for the Flamies and in doing so I checked out each category web site or Ravelry page so I could see what I was voting on. Of course, I ran into many, many wonderful designers and sellers of hooks. I bought one pattern and one hook. I could have purchased many more as I went through. :-) My sales go through my husband's paypal account and with so much ID theft and such going on, he is diligent to make sure purchases are legitimate. He kept calling down the hall, did you buy a crochet hook? Yes. A few minutes later. Did you buy a crochet pattern? Yes. LOL It was humorous. So I had to go and explain the necessity of these purchases.

The hook is such a neat little thing. I got it at Jimbo's Front Porch - well, I ordered it. I obviously don't have it. It is called a chophook and is made from a chopstick, with a hole at the top. It is used for knooking. I must try this. I actually have a metal hook made like this for lock hooking.

Those of you who don't crochet won't be interested in that, but I thought it was neat. It is supposed to look like knitting. Although I am a crocheter at heart, I would also like to be able to make some things in the knit look. Knitting is a little more stretchy than crochet and more suitable for some things.

The pattern I bought was from Prudence Mapstone and is what she calls the crochet block stitch. You can get to it from the blog or the patterns page. I cannot wait to give this a try as well. [added note: This pattern uses European terminology. I did not realize this when I purchased it. US terms are included in parenthesis.]

In addition to those sites I ran across a nice article by Shannon Johnson at the Crochet Insider on understanding hooks. She mentions a lot of different hooks, but I thought I would re-mention the Etimo. I recently purchased one and I love the feel of it. I got mine at Etsy but they are sold out. You should be able to find them online though.

Another hook that Ms. Johnson mentions is the Elegant hook. I haven't tried these, but they do look interesting. Interchangeable hooks for one handle. Note that these come from Canada. They are supposed to be good for those with fibromyalgia, arthritis and similar conditions.

I guess I need to mention this other one too. The SQUARE hook. That's a slight misnomer as the hook itself is not square. What they mean is that the handle is flat rather than rounded, if I am seeing the photo correctly. I do have one wide handle hook (not from this company) that has a flat handle. I find it odd to use, but I think that is because I am not used to it. If you have one of these square hooks, I'd like to hear how you like using it.

You all know I love unusual hooks so I'm sure you're not surprised by my attention to the different hooks.

On the voting form there were some crochet hook sites also listed that I did visit, though I didn't purchase. I'm sure you've heard of most of these already. Brainsbarn, Turn of the Century, Jenkins Woodworking, Flameworked (Michael and Sheila Ernst) glass hooks. I have a hook from TOTC already. These sites have beautiful hooks but some are a tad on the expensive side. If you're looking for hooks, don't forget to check Etsy and Ebay. Always good stuff at those sites.

Guess that's it.

Have a great weekend.

Blessings,
Sandie

soldier hats and strips

2010-03-10T21:33:00.000-06:00

I don't have any pics but I do have two strips finished and a third one started. What I'm doing now is working the vertical hugs and kisses pattern into an afghan so I can have a photo of that. I want to make six strips, essentially six scarves. Once that is done, I will put the pattern at Etsy.

Also, I know a lot of you make hats for soldiers. I learned today that the pattern I've been using, Dorothy's Hat pattern, is no longer accepted. They need close stitched hats. Also, brown and olive greens are not desired. Patriotic colors and team colors are enjoyed in off hours and for sick/injured. I am thinking black for ground troops. Hats must be single strand to fit under helmets. I wanted to let you know this since I'd recommended that pattern. It's no sense in sending items, through whichever effort you're participating in, that can't be used. All the soldiers do is gather them up and destroy them. They don't have room to store items they can't use.

That's all for tonight - a quick post. The weather is bad here. We are under a tornado watch.

Blessings,
Sandie

pretty ghan and scarves

2010-03-08T00:52:00.000-06:00

My daughter created this beautiful afghan for a little girl who is having surgery this week. The center pink strip is one I made. She added white squares along the side and combined the pink, white, and lavender for the edging, finishing off with this pretty ruffly edge. Very girly and I think just perfect for this toddler.

The squares she used are Chris Simon's squares, adapted to fit the size she needed.

Kudos to Kate! Good job. Prayers for the family as they go through this stressful time. Having been through many surgeries herself both Kate and I know how worrisome this can be.

I finished a green vertical scarf. It happily came out the same size as the other one. 7 1/2" x 54". I did the reverse single crochet edging on this one.

I have started a third, which I hope will be final revisions.

That's all for today.

Blessings,
Sandie

vertical scarf

2010-03-06T18:10:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been working on a vertical version of the Hugs and Kisses scarf. I finished part one of this version, but had a spot of trouble getting a good photo of it. The puff stitch is very hard to photograph. It just doesn't stand out as much as say the popcorn stitch. But, to me, it's easier to make with similar effect.

This yellow one came out 7 1/2" x 54". I'd like to see it a bit longer which could easily be done by switching out some single crochet rows for double crochet ones. However, the next one I am making will be just like this one because I need to see if it will come out just the same. Then I will do another with revisions.

Here is a photo of the same scarf, but using Paint Shop Pro to make it pink. I did this to see if the puffs would show up better. What do you think? Since I am not selling the actual item, but the pattern, I don't suppose it matters if the photo is pink or yellow. I am also going to do a physical one in green. You can use any worsted yarn to make it.

See the work that goes into creating a pattern? I've spent days writing and revising a pattern that I had already written! Not to mention the actual crocheting of the project for the photos and checking instructions to hopefully catch any errors as I make changes.

I don't mean to brag, but I must say I think it came out so pretty. Sometimes I surprise myself. The other day I was looking at some photos of past projects and I truthfully did not believe I had actually made some of them. Heh Must have been some other Sandie. LOL

Anyway, I am still plugging away at it. It will probably be another week before I am ready to unveil it. Will it be worth all the work? Probably not for the money, but there is a lot of satisfaction in seeing that finished product. Besides, who wouldn't want to give a loved one hugs and kisses? I will have several finished scarves to show for my trouble as well. :-)

I went to an Expo today and there was a craft section. There was one booth where several people were knitting as they waited. They were selling hats. One of them was a gentleman.There was at least one other booth that had some crocheted items among other things. One had some beautiful wooden ornaments. I did not buy anything today, but picked up a lot of business cards.

Maybe next year I will think of having my own booth. I learned too late this year to consider it.

Guess that's all for now.

Blessings,
Sandie

new Etsy pattern listed.

2010-03-05T07:22:00.000-06:00

I have been busy this past getting a pattern ready for the Etsy shop. This entailed more work than I thought it would, but I am pleased with the result. In fact, I'm not actually finished yet. I have rolled out the first pattern, which is the Hugs and Kisses Puff Stitch Scarf in horizontal format. Here are some photos of it.

The pattern includes two options for edging. If you made several without Rnd 2 of the edging, you could put them together to make a very nice afghan.

I am presently working on a vertical version. You'd think that would be easy, eh? Not as much as you'd think. LOL I am including two versions of that version as well so if you want to make it into an afghan, you can start one strip with X and one with O. It will also include a chart.

With the Puff Stitch the "right" side is actually on the "wrong" side. Puffs stick out on the back as you're working. You have to make sure that your Puffs are all on the same side. For my purposes I also wanted them to be symmetrical so it wouldn't matter whether you read from right to left or left to right as you're working it. Why make it more complicated?

So if you are interested in the horizontal version, you can find it at the Etsy shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop/crochetcabana . It is a pdf file, 3 pages long.

In other news, the deadline for Special Olympic scarves is fast approaching. They have already reached their 650 goal. You can, however, sign up for a notice when the 2011 details are ready. This will be in a few months I believe.

For those who asked, I had an endometrial biopsy done yesterday but the doctor does not anticipate anything to show up. He was very confident that all is well. The procedure was done in the office. While not pleasant, it was not too bad and over quickly. The doctor I saw is the same doctor who delivered my daughter. He is now on our insurance plan, which is good because I would never go back to the doctor who delivered my son or any that I saw at that time.

Oh, I forgot to mention the other day that I delivered the Spideyghan and the recipient was VERY excited. I got many hugs from this adult man who just loves Spiderman. (Don't worry. He is happily married, as am I.) It was great to see such enthusiasm for something I'd created. Don't you love it when you see such pleasure upon delivering an item you spent so much time making? I've heard such horror stories, and even experienced some myself where the recipient says "thanks" and then throws the item aside. But there are those other times. Very special. So thanks for the thanks, my friend. :-)

I also wanted to share another blog I ran across. This person is a designer and I am wowed by her designs. I wish I was half as creative. Have a look at Crochet by Faye. I've added it to my extensive blogroll. :-)

That's all for me today. Have a great weekend. I will be busy working on the vertical Hugs and Kisses.

Blessings,
Sandie

scarf

2010-02-28T15:59:00.002-06:00

I had a frustrating crochet day yesterday. I should know better than to attempt a new pattern when I've not had adequate sleep. The pattern itself was not a difficult one, though I had a bit of confusion at the "corners" or "ends" of the scarves. I still don't think I have it right.

The problem was with ME. I kept making the silliest errors.

Let me explain. The pattern, first of all, is Sweet Simplicity Scarf by Theresa Grant. A lovely pattern that I actually purchased at Etsy. The pattern is worked lengthwise. As I was working it, I thought to myself that the long foundation chain would be the biggest pain of the project. I had to count, and count again. The good news is that I counted correctly and the foundation chain given is correct.

The first one I completed was worked with the Moda Dea Surf and Turf bulky yarn. The pattern uses a different yarn and a J hook. I used this bulky yarn and an L hook. Finished size is 3.25" x 63.5".

Somehow, in the making of it, I twisted things and messed up the works. I didn't see this, of course, until I was done. You really can't tell in the photo and truthfully, if you don't crochet, you probably couldn't tell if you examined it, but *I* KNOW. Then I saw that I had also missed one of the loops when I was doing the final round. I was so very annoyed with myself. That error I think one could tell. To fix it I would have to just about redo the entire thing.

It really isn't a difficult procedure, but gives a pretty flowery finish to this decorative scarf. It is not meant for warmth. It is just very pretty.

I threw that one aside because I'd already sewn in the ends and everything. *sigh* What do you do with your *totally messed up* projects?

I decided to try again with a different yarn. I chose some of that orange yarn I'd bought for the Harley Davidson ghan. It's bright, but I actually like this one quite a bit. Everything going along fine, except like I said I don't think I have the two ends just right. I finish it and then I lay it out to look at it. You will NOT BELIEVE what I had done. I had totally skipped not one, but TWO of the "flower" parts. IN A ROW. How on earth could I do that? It seems impossible. The rest was just fine. *sigh* However, unlike the other, I thought that this one could be fixed. I would just add that section at the proper points. I actually did this and I cannot tell where it was repaired, so that worked out well, but still... I totally felt ridiculously stupid when I saw that. I mean, really!! How is that possible? *still shaking head*

Finished size of the orange one is 2.75" x 52.5".

I am going to give this pattern another go during the week. It is a matter of pride. LOL Such silly errors and not the fault of the pattern designer at all. Just me.

If you've made this pattern, give me a shout out. :-)

Now, I'm making hats. I don't think I can mess that up. Heh.

Blessings,
Sandie

P.S.
She says this is a quick scarf to work up and that is correct. I did both in just a few hours time.

double yo-yos

2010-02-27T10:01:00.000-06:00

Here's what's been on my hook - double yo-yos. These are quite fun to make. They are equal in size to the saltines, but round. To make them you do a regular yo-yo (16 dc in center), and then do a second round, working 2 dc in each dc of the previous round. I have a tutorial on how to make these and the saltine, yo-yo and granny's daughter at Crochet Cabana. With photos.

There are 80 double yo-yos pictured. 27 purple, 27 turquoise, 26 pink. I am not sure of the actual color names, but the yarn is the from the Carolyn Toups donated yarn. It is called Kleiner Yarns Color-Glo by Dupont and is light weight knitting worsted 2 ply, 50% antron, 50% sayelle. hot is every bit as thick as my worsted yarn. I got curious and have written Dupont to see if they have any information on this yarn. I am thinking it is no longer in production since I couldn't find it on google.

I don't know if you can tell by the photo but it's a bit shiny. The colors are vibrant and work up nicely. Antron, from what I read, is used in rugs and I can see how that could be with the thicker texture, although it is 2 ply. I can remember buying Sayelle brand yarn many years ago at the local store - a TG&Y if I remember correctly. So many years ago. :-) I think it is both a brand name and a type of material?

These double yo-yos are going to Jana at Crafting for a Cause with all ends dutifully tucked in.

I have bunches and bunches of saltines done, but have not gotten to the tails. I detest tails. LOL

I am dog sitting this weekend. They are not impressed with my crocheting. heh

Blessings,
Sandie

Spideyghan complete

2010-02-21T21:16:00.000-06:00

It's done. The Spideyghan is finished. As I noted yesterday, I ran out of the blue I Love This Yarn and had to adjust. Next time I will be sure to buy three skeins of red and blue. One of black was sufficient.

Looking back, I realized I used H hook for this ghan, whereas in the previous one I'd used an I hook. It's a good thing I did that. I would have run out of yarn much faster if I'd used the larger hook. But of course, the ghan would have been wider as well. This one came out to be 53" across, just as the pattern says.

Another thing I made sure to do was leave extra long black strands so I could weave up and across on the black rounds. After washing, I didn't find a single pokey out. I'll look again tomorrow though as that is really odd. LOL I couldn't have done that good a job. :-)

I did refer to my pattern notes a number of times as I worked. It was handy to have those numbers to be sure I was getting the right number of stitches between hills and valleys. A couple of times I'd missed the stitch right after the hill on large shell rounds and had to rip back.

I hope the recipient will like the finished product.

That's all for me. Hope you all had a good weekend and a pleasant week ahead.

Blessings,
Sandie

Spideyghan

2010-02-20T21:02:00.002-06:00

I've been working on my second Spiderman Round Ripple afghan. I finished the main part of the ghan today. I had to make an adjustment as I ran out of yarn on the very last round. Since the yarn used was I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby I couldn't get any more quickly, so I ripped - yes, you read that right - back to the previous section. Instead of six rounds, I worked five of the blue, then worked the black sc round, and the final three blue. So I'm only missing one round, but it still looks almost the same. I thought this was better than just using two rounds on that last round even though it was more work. You judge the final outcome.

As noted, this is before webbing is added. I hope to work on the webbing soon. Then it will be back to my charity crocheting. I have a lot of small balls ready for saltines and granny's daughters and I also want to finish the donated yarn.

The Spidey ghan is a gift.

That's all for tonight. Hubby is out so I'm doing the DVD thing tonight. Lighting is not so good for working on the black webbing though I might give it a shot.

Blessings,
Sandie

crochet poetry

2010-02-14T07:49:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

I was just making the rounds of a few of my favorite places and happened upon a contest that asked one to write a crochet poem. Since I had also read a crochet poem at a different site, I thought this a sign that I was to write a crochet poem. Forgiveness is asked in advance for its awfulness. LOL Ellen is Ellen Gormley, the fabulous designer over at Go Crochet. http://gocrochet.blogspot.com/2010/02/valentines-giveaway.html .

The days are long but I have a friend
Who helps me through until the end
My crochet hook with skeins of yarn
Keeps me going until I'm torn
Between the thought of 40 winks
Or finishing up that row - where's that link?

Oh no, I've found another pattern
I think I could crochet my way to Saturn
With tired fingers and a sleepy eye
I'm game to give it the college try
But lo and behold my body refuses
And my brain insists on sleep so confuses

When the time is long and the frogs are ripping
I think it's of the sandman's drink I'll be sipping
This poem has gone on far too long
Perhaps I should not count on a career in song!
But say a grateful thanks to Ellen
For this safe little place, and the great stuff she's sellin'.

Now you know why I write blogs and not poems. LOL

Hope you all enjoy your day with your special sweetheart.

Blessings,
Sandie

ghan

2010-02-13T08:59:00.000-06:00

Last night I had a bad case of JOMR. (Just one more row/round or whatever you're working on - for those who are not familiar with the term.) I kept thinking I'm almost done. I'll just stay up a little bit later and finish joining. Well, that was around 8 or 8:30. I finished at about 1am. But all squares were joined and ends sewn in. I just had to put it in the wash this morning and send it out.

Here is the project I've been working on the past week, including the squares made while sitting at the hospital with my mother. It is for a patient in a local hospital.

The ghan is 41" x 52 1/2". The 20 squares were about 9" square and it is joined with the continuous join as you go.

The yarn is a mix of Mary Maxim Best Value (red, green, and white) and Red Heart Super Saver (gold, blue). I had all but the blue on hand.

Next up is to continue making scarves, or finishing scarves already begun, and making another Spiderman round ripple for a relative who is a Spidey fan.

I may also make some more saltines as I have bloodwork and tests being done Monday and those are easy to complete quickly and with no brain power. :-)

That's it! Have a great Mardi Gras weekend.

Blessings,
Sandie

Mom / Saints / Scarf / Diaper Shirt

2010-02-09T17:20:00.001-06:00

First of all, Geaux Saints! In case you've been living in a cave, the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. We are all beyond excited.

I could not even crochet during the game, afraid my tension would be terrible and I'd have to rip it all anyway. I scared my puppy several times at critical moments. LOL

In the days before the game and after, I did manage to get a scarf finished and my very first wee bitty diaper shirt. I can't tell you how excited I was to do that.

The pattern I used is Marla's Diaper Shirt and Cover. I didn't do the cover, at least not yet. It was very easy. The only trouble I had was figuring out which way to turn at the point of the sleeves, but I think it worked out okay. It looks okay to me anyway.

The scarf is my own pattern, Staggered Post Scarf, using front post dcs. I used Mary Maxim Best Value yarn in berry red. Finished size is 6" x 64".

The Saints parade is in the background as I type this. Saints fans are very loud in case you didn't know. LOL

If you think of it, please say a prayer for my mother who is having surgery on her carotid tomorrow morning. It is almost totally blocked. She has to be at the hospital at 5:30am.

Thanks!

That's all for today.

Blessings,
Sandie

patterns

2010-02-06T12:29:00.002-06:00

This is just a quick post to let you all know about a few patterns I have put up at Crochet Cabana. These are not designed by me.

Back in October, I was given permission by Susan Ann Smith of Mooncat Creations to post a few of her patterns at the Cabana. Her web site was one of those affected by the closing of one of the major web hosts.

I have put Susan's patterns and those of Kim Jiries and the one from Janie Herrin, on a separate page on the site. You can find them at:
http://www.crochetcabana.com/patterns.htm

These are all wonderful patterns. I hope you enjoy them.

My patterns that were in the charity section are still there.

Blessings,
Sandie

scarves

2010-02-06T08:09:00.000-06:00

Two new scarves. Both of these were made with the same pattern.

The pattern is from Suzie's Yarn Stuff and is her April 2007 scarf. She calls the stitch she used seed stitch. What I call the seed stitch is a little different, but regardless of what it is called, I loved it.

The technique is simple - work in front loop of one stitch and back loop of the next. It went quickly for me and I enjoyed making it.

Suzie's scarf is wider because she used a larger hook than I did. I did one 63" and one 64" in length. It was not planned. It just came out that way.

I made the second one because I had to spend the day at the hospital with my mom and knew this would be a simple pattern and use less than one skein of yarn. That meant I could take more than one skein and if I got bored with one color, I could start a second. I finished the green one in one day though I did not finish it at the hospital. By the time I got home, my back was not in good shape and I spent the evening with the laptop catching up on shows online and crocheting. So the scarf was done!

I might have to make another one using the J hook suggested though. I like that it takes less than one skein of my Mary Maxim Best Value (6 ounces). Suzie says 4 ounces and that sounds quite right.

These scarves are going toward a special project requested by my husband.

I intended to do an on-the-double for my next scarf, but I started it and then remembered how much I hate working it. LOL So I ripped that out after just a couple rows and started a different pattern from Gourmet Crochet. I'll see how I like that one. Of course, I revised it to suit my needs.

I also hope to work on a preemie sweater. I've been wanting to make one and I keep looking at patterns, but have yet to do one.

That's all for me for now. I can't sit at the computer for a long time so you won't be seeing me around much except for my Facebook blurbs now and then.

Blessings,
Sandie

copyright / scarf

2010-02-03T10:24:00.001-06:00

I finally finished the burgundy scarf. You may recall that for the squares I used the first six rounds of Chris Simon's Butterfly Garden square and two rounds of edging from Gourmet Crochet.

I considered putting another round of dc, ch, skip around each, but decided against that as I thought it would make the finished scarf too wide. Finished size is just over 8" x 58". I probably should have added another square to it, but it was too late when I saw how long it was.

You can see that Hannah is loving it. :-) I allowed her to use a hat I'd made previously as her head was chilled.

I used 7 squares. I joined them with a whipstitch using the long tails I'd left on each square.

I took my daughter's suggestion and went with a ruffled edging around the entire scarf. This used more yarn than I thought it would, but I had enough to complete it. I put 3 hdc in each stitch around, skipping the ch-1s. I also went into the before and after of the joins.

I was uncertain how I would like my finished product, but I do like it. I think it came out quite nicely.

Moving on to finish that tunisian scarf I started now.

Blessings,
Sandie

squares, scarf, ghan, book

2010-01-29T13:10:00.002-06:00

This is going to feel somewhat like a repeat of last post. I am making a second 12 square cancer ribbon afghan and still working on the butterfly scarf.

I added two rounds to each butterfly square of the burgundy scarf. You will remember that the square is six rounds of Chris Simon's Butterfly Garden. I happened across the Gourmet Crochet CAL (thank you, Ghost, for the link) and saw her edging and decided to try it on my square. The numbers came out perfectly and I was very pleased. It doesn't lie quite flat, however, and I am thinking of adding one round of filet. So this scarf is taking more thought than I originally anticipated, but that's okay because I have the time. It's not due until fall. I wish I had planned it out better so I wouldn't have all these ends from starting and stopping, though.

As I consider what I want to do with the burgundy scarf, I continue to work on the ribbon ghan and I have begun another scarf in tunisian. I have not worked in tunisian in quite a long time. I did the purl start, but should have worked more than one row in it as I still had some curling. Tunisian takes a good while longer for me, but it makes such a pretty fabric. I do not intend to do any cross-stitch on this one. It will just be brown. Perhaps a bit boring, but good for a man, close stitched for warmth, and that is its purpose.

I did not get to go to Hobby Lobby this week as I thought I might, but next time I purchase yarn I hope to get some royal or navy blue as I'd like to have a blue one in this grouping of scarves.

I haven't done any charity crafting in a while. Yes, I know it is just January but I look at it as oh my January is almost gone! LOL I'm getting itchy to resume which I should be able to do soon.

Another thing I wanted to discuss is the book I bought. Knit 1 Purl 2. I was excited to get it. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the book. There are not nearly enough pictures showing you how to work it and I am a visual learner. In a book of 76 pages, there are only 6 pages of instruction in the method. There are photos on two of those pages. One set shows how to make the slingshot cast on. I already knew how to do that (and love doing it) so that was of no use to me but will be important to those who don't know how to do it. The next set shows how to bind off. Those ARE the two things you need to do.

Each piece starts with a CO/BO. But I would have liked to see more pics of work in progress. CO/BO a few stitches and what that is supposed to look like. Where do you insert hook on following rows (in photo)? What is the first stitch and last stitch? All the things newbies ask me about crochet in general.

Too many things were not adequately explained IMHO. I couldn't figure out if I was doing it correctly and I wasn't satisfied with the look of my work. Some things were noted in words, but they were not shown. There are no turning chains in this procedure, for example. She says if you have trouble seeing the first or last stitch put a marker. Well, that is all well and fine if you KNOW which is the first or last stitch to mark.

All in all, I was disappointed. That said, sometimes it takes me a while to "get it", so maybe the problem is not with the book but with my brain. I just need to spend more time and read the instructions more slowly. Maybe I can find a video demonstration. If I do, you can know you will be informed. :-) For now, it is put aside until I have that elusive bit of extra time to work on it.

There are a lot of nice patterns so if you are looking for patterns, you won't be disappointed. I just wanted to make a scarf, though there are a number of variations of stitches which will be good to go through once I get the methodology down.

Oh, an extra note on my tunisian scarf. I started with that slingshot knitting cast on as someone suggested to me a while back. I don't know if that has anything to do with my curling. I don't think so. But I may try another using the traditional foundation chain and purl one row just to see if it did. Something for later.

Have a good afternoon!

Blessings,
Sandie

Geaux Saints, oh and crochet. :-)

2010-01-24T22:41:00.000-06:00

First things first - The New Orleans Saints are going to the Superbowl! Although I am not a great football fan, even I am excited about this. My first thought was of my MIL who so loved the Saints. She is long gone, but I'll bet she's having a Saints party tonight! It's been a long time coming and I don't think anyone can begrudge the city its levity tonight.

On to crochet news --

Here's what's been on my hook for the past little while. This is a breast cancer ribbon afghan made with Mary Maxim Best Value pink yarn (no longer available as far as I know). Finished size was I think about 42" x 53". I did measure it, but I forgot to write it down immediately and you know how that goes.

There are six ribbon squares and six plain squares. They are joined with a whipstitch into columns, then the columns are edged with single crochet and joined to one another. It's finished off with a pretty picot edging all around.

In addition to this afghan, I've been working on 6" squares to be joined together into a scarf. I finished the 10 squares this evening, but haven't joined them yet. I used Chris Simon's butterfly garden square, which is 12" but I only did the first 6 rounds. I used Mary Maxim Best Value yarn for these also.The color is burgundy.

That's all for tonight.

Go celebrate the Saints win! (Apologies to Minnesota - you played a great game, very exciting and intense to the end!)

Blessings,
Sandie

Beeton's Book of Needlework

2010-01-18T14:15:00.009-06:00

Finished another scarf. This one uses the dc chevron (ripple) pattern which is based on the sc ripple used at Knit Your Bit. The sc chevron is quite lovely too.

The yarn used here is Mary Maxim Best Value hunter green and white. Finished size is 9 1/2" x 62 1/2". Enough width there to fold over if you wanted to.

I also wanted to tell you about this needlework book I found online called Beeton's Book of Needlework, originally published in 1870 in Great Britain. It is completely free with pictures. I haven't had a chance to look it over completely, but in the section on crochet there are several interesting things right at the beginning.

First off, note that the book uses European terminology. Slip Stitch and chain are the same. Where it says treble, for those in the states it means double crochet. Where it says double crochet, it means single crochet. I have a chart at Crochet Cabana with the differences.

The first thing I found interesting was the purl foundation chain.

Isn't that just the most interesting thing? I had to pull my hook out and give it a go immediately.

Since there is no copyright restriction, I guess I can post the instructions.

ILLUSTRATION 218 (Purl Foundation Chain).--* Crochet 4 chain stitch, then 1 treble stitch--that is, wind the cotton round the needle, insert the needle downwards into the left side of the 1st of the 4 chain stitches, wind the cotton round the needle, draw it through the stitch, wind the cotton again round the needle, and at the same time draw the cotton through the last loop and through the stitch formed by winding the cotton round the needle. Wind the cotton once more round the needle, and draw it through the 2 remaining loops on the needle. The 4 chain stitches form a kind of scallop or purl. Repeat from *. The following [188] crochet stitches require foundation chains like Nos. 216 and 217; they are all worked in separate rows excepting the two Nos. 222 and 234. Make a loop at the beginning of every row, as has been described (No. 216), and take it on the needle.

Now remember that the terminology is European. So when she says treble, for we here in the states, she means double crochet.

Another is what she calls the double foundation chain. If I am reading this correctly, I think this is what today's crocheter knows as the no chain foundation. You create your beginning foundation chain at the same time as your first row.

ILLUSTRATION 217 (The Double Foundation Chain).--Crochet 2 chain stitches, insert the needle downwards into the left side of the 1st chain stitch, throw the cotton forward, draw it out as a loop, wind the cotton again round the needle and draw it through the two loops on the needle, * draw the cotton as a loop through the left side of the last stitch (see illustration), wind the cotton round the needle, and draw it through both loops on the needle. Repeat from * till the foundation chain is long enough.

Two others particularly struck my fancy. You'll notice they are also purls. The purl stitch. It is done in two ways, and yes it is crochet not knitting.

This one forms the stitches on top.

ILLUSTRATION 237 (Purl Stitch turned upwards).--Work 1 treble, then 7 chain stitch. Insert the needle into the 2nd of the 7 chain stitch [198] downwards, so that the chain stitches form a scallop upwards (see illustration), wind the cotton round the needle and draw the cotton through; work 1 chain stitch and 1 treble in the next stitch but 3, missing 3 stitches under it.

This one is worked with the purl stitch facing down.

ILLUSTRATION 238 (Purl Stitch turned downwards).--The chain stitches form a scallop turned downwards. After having worked the 7 chain stitches take the needle out of the loop, insert it underneath the upper chain of the 2nd chain stitch, from right to left, and draw it through the loop in the direction of the arrow. Wind the cotton round the needle and cast all the loops off together. It is evident that the purl stitches may be worked at larger or smaller distances.

There are many more and I'll leave it to you to go have a look. I found the book at Project Gutenberg. They have a page explaining what you can and cannot do with the books found there. (I think I linked correctly) If you should want to share any of the photos, as I've done here, be sure you save them to YOUR computer and then post them. Don't link to their photos and use their bandwidth. In fact, don't link to MY photos and use MY bandwidth. Save your own.

Another thing I wanted to share is something I read at Crochet Spot Rachel Choi's site. This made me VERY happy. I can use 500 calories crocheting! Where are my hooks? *grin* This is good news for all of us. The article she references said knitting, but hey in this case, I am claiming sameness. :-)

I think that is all for today. Hope you enjoyed this little trip down crochet memory lane.

Blessings,

Sandie

scarves and pattern

2010-01-15T13:33:00.000-06:00

I've put up a new pattern at Eons. It is the Nonyghan. It is similar to the bearghans found online at various sites, this version adapted with permission.
http://www.eons.com/uploads/5/7/57747205_nonyghan-pt.pdf.

The bulky hat is still there in the files section for a couple more days, then it will be gone.

I have finished another scarf. This one is based on an afghan pattern called Easy Baby Blanket. I had to search for it to give you the link. It is by Lisa Collins. Very simply done, yet gives a pretty scarf (or blanket). I worked a round of single crochet for the border.

Finished size is about 8" x 64". The red didn't photograph well but you can see the pattern at Lisa's blog. She used a variegated yarn and it really looks nice in that yarn as well.

I also did begin a scrap stained glass scarf. I will work on that between my scarves and hats.

As I work on this blog I am listening to my new Doctor Who soundtrack, part of my birthday gift from my husband. Very good.

Have a great weekend.

Blessings,
Sandie

thermal scarf

2010-01-13T19:01:00.000-06:00

This was a really interesting scarf on which to work. It's the Thermal Scarf pattern over at Lion Brand. I used Mary Maxim Best Value yarn I bought in that big sale a while back, but the Wool Ease suggested would also make a nice scarf I think.

I don't know if you can see the waffle pattern here, but it really is neat. It uses front post stitches to make the waffle and I tell ya, I really am craving waffles! LOL The picture at Lion Brand shows it better.

This one is not for charity, but will be a gift.

I was inspired by Ghost's blog to make a scrap scarf in a sort of stained glass look - at least that is what it reminds me of with the black separating the different colors. I think I will start one of those next though I have a few more gifts to make. Perhaps I will work on two at the same time! I generally like to finish a product (unless it becomes a UFO LOL) before starting another one. We must mix it up now and then though, right? If I use the same hook, I should be able to keep my tension even.

A little off topic, some of you may know I'm a big Doctor Who fan, though I came to the series with the new run rather than the classic series. I have seen a great many of the classic episodes though. David Tennant's final episode recently aired and of course now everyone is looking for other things he did. I have been checking Netflix and they don't have a couple of things I wanted to see. I was certain there was a way to suggest dvds that they might get, but cannot find it. If anyone knows if that is so, or if I was dreaming this, please drop me a line or post a comment. The DVDs in question are Casanova and Hamlet. They do have those two movies, but not the Tennant versions.

That's all for now. Hope 2010 is being kind to you.

Blessings,

Sandie

Hannah and Logan

2010-01-09T18:42:00.000-06:00

I forgot to answer the question about Hannah and Logan. Hannah was a Christmas gift from my husband. She came from EBiz . Very nice folks there.

Logan was purchased off Ebay from the buyer easybuy2all . You can buy your own Logan-like head or if you search on Ebay for male mannequin head you will find lots of options.

If you photograph your mannequin a lot, keep in mind that the white styrofoam does not photograph well. The white grabs the flash and it doesn't give a good showing IMHO. I noticed there were a few male heads with detailed facial features which were really nice.

I wanted to post this before I forgot. I know there are those of you who enjoy sharing your work and it's nice to have a good "head" for displaying the hats.

Blessings,
Sandie

prayer cloths, saltines and yo-yos

2010-01-09T14:18:00.001-06:00

My how time flies and it doesn't seem like I'm accomplishing much, but at least it's something.

I have completed a few prayer cloths. I really like the way this brown works up. The size is good for this project. I still have a bit more of it and will use it for this purpose. Having worked with this thinner yarn (I don't know what it is exactly), I think sport yarn is a good choice for the prayer cloths.

I also have some more saltines and yo-yos, all of which will be packed up and mailed out, probably Monday or Tuesday depending on weather. Our weather here has been unseasonably (and unreasonably) cold!! I know some of you are much colder than we are, but this is Louisiana. We are not supposed to be so cold. LOL

Also still working on hats. I had to pull one of the doubled up ones out for hubby to wear to walk Jack last night. If nothing else, this cold spell has really given me an appreciation for what the poor folks are going through who have no place to get out of the cold. Even some who have homes to live in, but can't afford to heat it properly. Redoubling my efforts at hats and scarves. Some days I just wish I could clone myself a few times over and get more output.

Guess that's it for now. Wanted to get this posted so I could get back to crocheting.

Have a good weekend. Stay warm.

Blessings,
Sandie

hats and prayer cloths

2010-01-08T09:29:00.001-06:00

Finished another hat and liked this one a bit better as to size. I might even go one more round before starting the brim on the next one. It does take quite a bit longer to do these but so much warmer. In fact, if I hadn't already packed it I would have worn it myself to go outside today in the 29 degree weather! I can't believe the dogs are begging to go out!

As it was I grabbed a Paton Classic Merino wool hat and scarf I made last year.

On my hook right now besides hats is prayer cloths. Scarlet mentioned they would not turn those away and who can't use prayers? :-) They're so easy to make and take such a short time. I plan to make a number of them to send with some hats. I made a bunch while watching the Chuck marathon last night.

The weather in San Diego is not as cold as say in Ohio - at least not at the moment - but cold is cold and it really does depend on what you're used to. 29 here is REALLY cold to me whereas in other areas they are having temps in the minus column. Brrrr 29 might feel almost warm to those folks.

The pattern for the prayer cloths is at Crochet Cabana in the charity section. You can use any yarn for these. They are supposed to fit in a pocket, so sport or worsted or baby yarn (but use adult colors) are all suitable. I am using some dark tan yarn from the donated pile. It is acrylic and I think it might be sport. Many of the skeins I have left have no label so I can't be sure of the content.

For hats, personally I am going to use single strand worsted for the California hats because I know I can wear those even here and that is how my pattern works up best. It's 53 in San Diego right now. I would be cold in that weather and need a hat, especially if I had to spend the whole day outdoors! If I come across enough sport yarn I might give that a try, but I don't generally keep a lot of sport yarn on hand and it will take more rounds, a completely different pattern with the lighter yarn. There's a bit in the donated yarn but not enough for a hat. I prefer to do one color hats but I might get to the point where I make some stripes. We'll see how it goes.

That's all for today. Pics of the prayer cloths later in the week, maybe tomorrow.

Blessings,
Sandie