The Crochet Cabana Blog

Doctor Who character afghan

2012-01-30T15:05:00.000-06:00

Tada! All the filet pieces have been put together into an afghan.

As noted in my previous entry, I did redo the Dalek in the same yarn so he would match.

The finished size is approximately 48" square. The length might be an extra inch or so, but really the Ood sticks out on the side an inch or so. It balances out. :-) Since this is just for myself, I didn't worry about that. If I were to make another, I'd be more careful with my Ood, perhaps use a smaller hook for the solid mesh heavy section. I don't know.

At the top we have the Adipose and K-9. I made an extra piece to add to the side there. At the bottom are the Ood and the Dalek.

Because I know one day I will come back and be looking for this information, I'm posting it here. LOL

On the Dalek, I added an open mesh row at the top and bottom, which made my chart 50 x 61. Without the added rows, it would have been 50 x 59.

On the Ood, I added 2 columns on either side. I I think I also added 3 rows at the top and 4 rows at the bottom. I also worked an additional solid mesh row at the bottom of the Ood body. The finished chart was 50 x 59. That is because the first Dalek I made was 50 x 59, but when I went to put the pieces together I was short due to the size of the other pieces.

I worked the Adipose just as shown 40 x 40.

For K-9, I added 3 columns on either side which made it 50 wide. I added one row to the top and bottom. I also added one row between the solid mesh row and the bottom of K-9 and one row between the top solid mesh row and K-9's head. That got it to 38. If I had been a smart cookie, I'd have added 2 more rows and made it 40 and kept the Dalek at 59. That would have given me two piece 40 high and 2 pieces 59 high. I still would be short on the width.

To excuse myself, I did measure them before I started the Dalek and it looked like I needed 2 more rows to make it come out. I think what got me off is the edging around each piece. That added a little to the stitches.

In any case, it worked out okay. It was a little tricky at the joining, but not overly difficult.

I made a separate piece 8 mesh x 40 mesh to fill in the width of the piece as the Adipose and K-9 did not fill it up.

I generally do my side edgings with a hook one size smaller than the one I use for the body so if you watch me work, I'm always changing hooks. LOL

After I had these put together, I did 2 rounds sc edging, then a round of (sc, ch 3, sk 1).

I'm thinking I might like to do one using a different color for each piece. Or maybe a negative image where the solid are open. Interesting idea, I think. I'd have to redo the graph though because I am doing that now with a different piece and I find I automatically think white square, open. :-)

So that is my Whoghan. I really enjoyed working these. It was a challenge, but fun.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

K-9 / Craftown

2012-01-25T08:51:00.000-06:00

One more Who item finished. I introduce you to K-9, a very popular doggie indeed.

This version is 17" x 23". I worked the small pattern at Meredee's LiveJournal.

I did make a few changes. I added to the sides and one row above and below. This was to get him in line with the other pieces.

That said, when I put the other pieces together, the first one I made - the Dalek - is made with a different yarn and doesn't match. I have plenty of the Pound of Love left and will probably make another Dalek to go with these so I can have my Who creature afghan. :-)

I may make a TARDIS afterwards as it is a ghan by itself, although I'm not sure which pattern I will use, if any. For the blue one I made a while back, I made up my own pattern. In any case, one thing at a time.

The filet pieces are both easy and complex. You work right to left for odd rows and left to right for even rows. Keeping track of that is an interesting proposition. What I've been doing is using a highlighter to mark the rows. I mark one row in green, and the next in pink which makes it easier to tell where I am. I still get confused, sometimes looking at the row I just finished rather than the row I am actually on. LOL I also use stitch markers every 10 rows, which helps.

I do notice that Meredee's pattern charts and her actual finished projects differ slightly in some cases. Not a big deal. They certainly still look fine.

In other news, I finally was able to get in contact with leadership at Craftown and that matter is settled. I decided to stay on as a member, just not as a moderator. As it happens, there has not been anyone really administering that forum since Amanda left over a year ago, and it has gone silent with no posts since mid-2011. I don't know what happened, just fell through the cracks I guess. But there is a new Admin and she seems really interested in getting it going again, so if you have a membership there, perhaps go on by and leave a note. The new Admin is Tia. She is still getting acquainted with the workings, but will hopefully be around more.

You might wonder why another forum. I frequent Crochetville for crochet doings, but Craftown is not just about crochet. There are many crafts represented, so for the crafter who is interested in a variety of things it's a good way to share what you've done and maybe even get inspired to try something new.

I really need to go through all my memberships and get rid of some I no longer use. There are many I do use, but some that have gone by the wayside or are no longer active.

Well, off to the Dalek...

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Jeweltone and Teal scarf

2012-01-17T22:30:00.000-06:00

The Red Heart Soft Jeweltone came in today and I got right to work assembling and edging the teal scarf.

The squares for this scarf were made by Fran Metallo. The finished scarf will go to Threads of Compassion, which provides comfort to victims of sexual violence.

I'm very pleased with the way this scarf turned out. Fran did a marvelous job on the squares using the pattern by Susan Smith called Filet Granny Square. She left a really long tail which made it so very easy to whipstitch the squares together.

The Jeweltone brings a bit of extra color to the solid teal. I used Red Heart multicolor coordinate list (a free pdf file) to find the yarn.

The picture really doesn't do this justice, but I hope you can get an idea of how it looks. The Jeweltone yarn is very elegant in my opinion.

Finished size with fringe is about 6" x 65".

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

The Ood

2012-01-14T22:01:00.000-06:00

The Ood from Doctor Who. My Ood does look like an Ood, but I am not as pleased with this one as the others. Because the lower portion is more solid blocks it pokes out and there is a significant difference in width between the upper and lower portion of the piece.

In number there are the same number of rows in width and length as the Dalek. (I changed it a little from Meredee's original to make this work.) My intention was to join them together and then use the K-9 and Adipose as the rest of the piece.

I KNOW that this thing with open and closed blocks occurs so if I would have been smart I would have perhaps used a larger hook for the upper portion or made a greater effort to keep the spacing uniform. Not sure what I will do, if anything, about this. Since it is for myself, I can do what I want with it.

I AM pleased that it looks like the Ood we all know and love. :-)

I also continue to work on the lavender squares for a baby afghan.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Adipose

2012-01-10T17:15:00.000-06:00

Tada! The Adipose (from Doctor Who). The Adipose is basically fat - 1 kilo of fat according to the episode Partners in Crime. You can read about the Adipose here. In reality adipose tissue is "loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes". You can read about it here.

Size is about 18" x 20". 40 x 40 squares total. The Adipose itself is 36 x 36 squares. I used a G hook and Pound of Love white yarn.

You can buy Adipose toys wherever Doctor Who things are sold. ;-)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

new pattern for sale

2012-01-09T11:50:00.000-06:00

I have finished the new pattern, Jeff's Sampler Afghan/Scarf, that I talked about a while back. It is available for sale in my Etsy shop and in my Ravelry shop. There are exclusive videos available giving instruction on how to make the pattern.

Here are some photos of projects I personally made using this pattern.

You can make anything from a square to a full size afghan with the pattern. You can use any hook and any yarn, depending on your need.

You must know basic crochet stitches like the slip stitch, chain, single crochet and double crochet. There will be instructions for the special stitches used and they are shown in the videos on You Tube. You must have the specific URLs to see the videos, which are e-mailed along with the pattern.

I know many folks can't afford to buy patterns or just don't have the need for them, but for those who do I think this is a good value. I really enjoyed working on the pattern and videos.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Crochet Corncupiscence

2012-01-08T14:45:00.001-06:00

Back in December Kathryn at Crochet Corncupiscence was giving out awards during the month to blogs she found to be worthy. I was chosen to share a joint award with Sandy over at the Bridge and Beyond and Sue of SIBOL. The award was for blogs related to charity work.

I feel truly blessed to be in the company of these fine ladies. I have donated to both efforts. Sandy at The Bridge helps hundreds (I'm tempted to say thousands and that may well be true!) of homeless in Ohio. Besides collecting and organizing the many donations she receives, Sandy also puts together the squares and makes her own ghans to donate. You can read all about her efforts at the link above.

Sue has assembled so many beautiful ghans from donated squares which she then delivers to nursing home residents in the U.K. Such a sweet lady and you must visit her blog and see the beautiful pictures. She truly has a gift for photography and layout.

Both Sandy and Sue do various challenges to keep the donations coming. This month Sandy's focus is on mittens although donations of socks, hats, and scarves are always welcomed. You can find her calendar and the focus for each month here. Sue (or Mrs. Twins as she is also called) has her challenges listed here.

Before donating, it is always a good idea to find out the specifics of what is needed. Sandy has a general FAQ and also individual sections for the various types of donations such as hats and scarves. The challenge page at SIBOL also lists the requirements for the donated squares. Basically she accepts 6" squares made with acrylic yarn and having a straight edge so they can be easily joined.

If you are looking for a place to donate, you can't go wrong with these two ladies' efforts.

My thanks to Kathryn for allowing me to be in the company of these two worthy efforts with this award. My apologies, too, for the delay in posting about it. I meant to do it immediately and you know how that goes ... it didn't get done.

Kathryn always posts wonderful links to other sites, both charity related and many other topics, but all very interesting. I could spend all day checking them out and sometimes I do! LOL

I hope 2012 is going well for you so far!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Exterminate!

2012-01-07T19:07:00.000-06:00

I have happily completed my filet crochet Dalek. For those who are not Whovians, the Daleks are one of the "monsters" from Doctor Who TV series. Their most famous quote is "Exterminate!" which they attempt to do to everything in sight.

I used the pattern chart at http://meredee.livejournal.com/1608.html.

My finished Dalek is 22" x 26". The chart says 40 x 51 squares, but that is JUST the Dalek. There are extra boxes on the sides, top, and bottom.

I used a G hook and some ... uhm yarn. I am not sure what yarn it is. I had almost a full skein of it but no label on the skein. Go figure. It was a large skein, like a pounder, but seems like sport yarn to me or one of the light worsted.

The chart did not include line numbers so I added those to the next two patterns as I found it difficult to keep track of the rows. I also used a stitch marker at the end of rows to help me keep count of which row I was working on.

Well, the Saints game is starting so I'll end.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

working in the round

2012-01-05T08:00:00.001-06:00

Hats and scarves are my go to project when I don't have anything particular in mind. Crochet Me recently talked about hats in their newsletter. They have a page at the web site on this topic. Notice the 3 rules for making hats. I have mentioned these myself in past posts, but they bear repeating.

When working in the round, whether it be for a hat or any round project like a coaster for example, you start off with a particular number of stitches and you increase by that number on each round as long as you want the work to remain flat. That beginning number depends on the height of the stitch in which you are working.

For example, if you are working in single crochet, you might start with 6 chains in center of ring. How you make your ring is your choice. In future rounds, you would increase by the same number you start off with. So in this case, you would increase in every stitch since you have six stitches and you want to increase by 6 stitches. So work 2 sc in each stitch. In the next round you still want to increase by 6 but you have 12 stitches, so you would increase in every other stitch. And so on...

For half double crochet, you might start with 8. So you would have 16 on the second round, 24 on the third etc.

For double crochet, which is the stitch I most like to work with, you might start off with 12. So your next round is 24, then 36, 48, etc...

For triple crochet, you might start with 24, so the next round would be 48 etc. It would increase more rapidly since you start off with more stitches.

Now, that said, I sometimes like to vary it up and increase half the amount to give a more gentle slope to my hats, and not such a flat top. But we are talking here of how to make your piece stay flat.

There have been some good articles and tidbits about working in the round in many books and magazines. The one that comes to mind is Pauline Turner's chart in her book How to Crochet.

Besides thinking about working in the round, today I added a pattern to the Charity Patterns section at Crochet Cabana. It is not a new pattern, but one that was on the site years ago. I did some tweaking and decided it would be a nice pattern to make for needy babies and children. It is called Baby Love and Prayers. Those who have been around a while might remember it.

In addition to that I've been working on a filet piece. It is a Dalek from Doctor Who. I hope to also make an Adipose, an Ood, and K-9. You can find the charts at Meredee's site. I've known about them for a while, but finally decided to do it. I am not using thread, however, but thin yarn. Pictures when it's done, of course!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

x-stitch ghans

2012-01-04T08:52:00.000-06:00

I finished two afghans made with the squares I think I posted a photo of a while back. These are going to relatives.

Over the past years I've concentrated my efforts on charity crocheting and many of my nieces and nephews were left out of the ghan loop, so I'm playing catch up. This year my "plan" is to work on ghans for those who don't have one (and want one) and to do some Doctor Who things just for fun. Of course I will continue to support charity efforts, just not to the exclusion of other things.

I've noted the colors used as I remember them. I don't have the labels any more so I can't be positive. I had a bit of the rose leftover, but the white and pink were pretty much used up. I ran out of red - two skeins makes 3 squares. I was unable to get more of the red. When I went to Michael's they had skeins marked "scarlet" but the color was clearly not red. It was more like their rust.

Vanna's Choice white, Red Heart pink, and I Love This Yarn rose

Vanna's Choice white, navy, scarlet, and colonial blue

Both afghans were with nine-round X-stitch squares. The edging was worked in a continuous join-as-you-go using the x-stitch. I found it to be a very good, sturdy join.

I hope the first projects of the new year are going well for you all.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

stats for 2011

2011-12-31T08:00:00.001-06:00

The end of the year has come and as is my habit I trotted over to Site 5 to see what happened at Crochet Cabana this year. I love statistics. :-)

Here are the general stats which I put at Crochet Cabana (on the bottom of the page) every year.

Here's what happened at the Cabana in 2011
Unique visitors   667,950
Number of visits 831,631
Pages 1,409,540
Hits 40,270,747
Bandwidth 295.13 GB

The top 25 countries to visit (in order of how many page visits) were
U.S.
Canada
Great Britain
Australia
India
Netherlands
Germany
Spain
Romania
France

European country
Philippines
Norway
Italy
Israel
Bulgaria
South Africa
Egypt
Malaysia
China

Sweden
Russian Federation
Turkey
New Zealand
Indonesia

I always wonder when I look at the stats - who were those people in Zimbabwe who looked at 2 pages. There were 61 hits on those 2 pages. Was it the same person visiting 61 times or 61 people visiting once? What pages did they find interesting? Curious.

The smallest number of hits was 14 and it was in Mauritania.

I was crawled thousands of times by spiders. Doesn't that just make your skin crawl. :-)

426 people spent more than an hour on the site at a time. I am blessed by each visit, no matter the duration, but wow.

For the curious here's how it laid out.
0s-30s    72,003    82.9 %
30s-2mn    4,589    5.2 %
2mn-5mn    3,300    3.8 %
5mn-15mn    3,415    3.9 %
15mn-30mn    1,723    1.9 %
30mn-1h    1,357    1.5 %
1h+    426    0.4 %

Most people accessed the site through various versions of Windows, Mac or Linus operating systems, but there were a few people who use the Wii, Sony Playstation (didn't even know that was possible!), WebTV or their Blackberry. There were others that I am not familiar with too.

The top browsers used to access the site were
MS Internet Explorer
    Firefox
    Safari
    Google Chrome
    Android browser
    Opera
    Mozilla
    IPhone
    BlackBerry

I personally use Firefox.

Those using a search engine most often used Google, Yahoo, or Bing with the granny square topping the list of what you were looking for.

The top pages visited were
http://crochetcabana.com/tutorials/granny_square.htm
http://crochetcabana.com/    (home page)
http://crochetcabana.com/specialty/tunisian.htm
http://crochetcabana.com/tutorials/join-new-yarn.htm
http://crochetcabana.com/stitches/stitches-fpdc-bpdc.htm
http://crochetcabana.com/crochet.htm
http://crochetcabana.com/tutorials/ripple.htm
http://crochetcabana.com/stitches/diag-box-st.htm
http://crochetcabana.com/stitches/index.htm
http://crochetcabana.com/tutorials/index.htm
http://crochetcabana.com/tutorials/joining_squares.htm

I clicked on a few of the links that had only one visit and some of them were pages I didn't even know existed - like a listing of all the images on the site. Who knew? LOL Someone obviously did since they accessed it.

There were a number of errors (the 404 thing you get when you hit a page that doesn't work). That makes me sad. I would love it if you receive that kind of error you would let me know so I can fix it.

Well, that's probably a lot more information than you wanted to know unless you're a statistics fanatic like me. LOL

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T07:23:00.000-06:00

I just sent out a bunch of things yesterday, but did I remember to take photos? You guessed it. Nope. My house was rearranged to make room for the Christmas tree, then when I took the tree down everything was in a mess while furniture was returned to its original place. It never fails but that I miss a few ornaments and I end up finding them on the floor after everything has been packed away. LOL

In any case, I digress with all my excuses. I sent out some hats and a scarf and the fingerless gloves. I am also working on a pink and white afghan but not quite finished it. Then I have blue and white squares that need to be joined. I will have photos of those soon as they're done.

While waiting on my slow fingers and photos, I thought I'd share a few links with you.

Firstly, this morning I saw a video from Red Heart on sewing in tails which I thought was quite good. If this is something you struggle with, you might enjoy it. I know even though I've been crocheting for many, many years, I still worry that my tails will come out and the recipient will have a problem.

I also wanted to remind you that there are still states needing scarves over at Special Olympics. Louisiana needs quite a number and the deadline is not until March so plenty of time to work up a few for them if this cause touches you.

Yesterday I ran across this page of patterns which I thought you might enjoy. I particularly liked the way she did the ribbon. I must try that.

A visitor to my YouTube channel asked about making a slouchy hat. There are lots of ways to make such a hat. If you google you will see many pages as well as YT videos on the process, using different methods. I found this one at Crochet spot which seems pretty straight forward and simple. It follows the basic hat pattern I use in my video for the first rows. Then she works a few decrease rows to get the fit around the forehead. Nice pattern.

I think I already shared this, but I decided to buy it so I'm mentioning it again. It is a program to make crochet chart symbols. I haven't done much with it yet, but intend to attempt to add symbols to my patterns in future. The program is called Stitch Works and it is a download that you purchase.

I also ran across just this morning a video on the flat braid join. I don't know if this is the same join that Priscilla Hewitt originated, but it is called flat braid as hers is. I learn better with videos so I was happy to see it.

Lion Brand recently visited Vanna White (at her home I think) and did a series of brief video clips. I enjoyed "talking" with Vanna. Perhaps you would too.

Isn't this a beautiful afghan? It is on my want-to-do list. :-)

If you are one of those who, like me, is always looking for coordinating yarns, you might like to have a look at Red Heart's list. Go to this page and click on Multicolor Coordinate list. It's a pdf file you can save to your computer or print out.

That's all for now. May you and your family have a safe and happy New Year!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

making a hat video

2011-12-17T17:18:00.002-06:00

I'm still working on the new project. What is taking so long is not the pattern design, but I am making a video to go along with the pattern. I hope it will be worth the wait.

Besides the new pattern, I have also been working on squares and hats.

I've made more of the pink 9-round squares and some blue ones as well. I am using my grey Inox H hook to make these. The finished size is around 10 1/4 to 10 1/2".

I also made two hats while reworking the video on making a simple double crochet hat. One of the first videos I made was on working in the round, making a hat. The complaint is that I went too fast and in watching it now I agree. The problem was not in the making but in the editing. I am much better at making videos now, though I think I still have a long way to go. I hope this new video is better.

In any case, I made two hats. :-)

The first is the one I made while making the video. The second I made afterward to show a different way of completing the hat. The first uses front post double crochet and the second uses popcorn stitches. I can write up that pattern if there's a need for it.

And here is Part 1 of the video on making a simple hat. Enjoy!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

hats and squares and scarves

2011-12-08T14:56:00.000-06:00

Busy fingers and busy hooks. This week I made a few hats. I know these two look the same but they are not. One is a dark blue and the other is purple. :-) I have a small head as does my sweet model here. I think they would easily fit children or a small woman's head.

I also made a smaller variegated green hat.

I think that one would fit a younger child.

Besides the hats, I've been making squares. I started out envisioning 12" but after 9 rounds I couldn't envision it anymore and decided that was a great size! I have 3 finished and another begun. I also have a second partial skein in the same color to work more up. It's funny how as time goes I get impatient and want to be done with it even though I love this pattern, one of my favorites.

I am also still working on the pattern for the shop. I have completed a sample scarf using one of the edgings. The pattern will have many options and additional information. I always try to include as much as I can in a pattern that someone is kind enough to purchase.

I think that is all that's been completed this week. I've emptied out a bin to put my finished projects in until they're sent out. That will save me multiple trips to the post office.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

fingerless mitts and pattern preview

2011-11-30T12:19:00.000-06:00

I apologize for not updating in so long. I have not been idle, but the projects I've been working on did not produce anything I could post about yet.

However, I have now finished - tada! - a set of fingerless mittens. My very first. Yes, they did come out looking like mittens and even more or less like the pattern. I did not use the reverse sc edging.

The pattern is at Red Heart and is called Crochet Lace Fingerless Mitts. Very easy pattern if you know front post and back post hdc.

Of course you have to pay attention to what you're doing. I was working on this while watching the Saints game which, to my consternation, kept being interesting! LOL Great game. I was having trouble with this one round. FINALLY, I actually READ the round carefully. You know, the part where it says TURN or DO NOT TURN. LOL That was crucial in that step and I was distracted and didn't catch it.

I completed the mittens though it probably took me longer than it should have. The second one went much quicker. Here is my proof - a picture.

The pattern called for a superfine (#1) sock yarn (Heart & Sole Mellow Stripe) and a D hook. The yarn looks like a very nice yarn - it has aloe and everything! But I did not have any. So I went with #3 Moda Dea Sassy Stripes Crayon. I used a G hook.

Since that is a thicker yarn, supposedly the mitts came out larger than they would have. They are a little large on me but might fit a person with larger (wider) hands. I think I could use them though. They don't fall off or anything. At the wrist it fits fine.

In other news, I am compiling a page for the web site on problems and solutions that folks have while trying to make granny squares. If you have a problem that you have found a solution to, do holler out and I will add it. If you are the first to send that particular problem and solution (or a new solution to the same problem), I will give credit. If you send me something I will assume you are giving me permission to post the info on the web site.

In even more other news I am working on a pattern that I've had for a while, but have not done much with. This is a pattern that is close to my heart as I designed it to go with an unpublished story I wrote. The original was meant to be an afghan made by the hero's daughter as a Christmas gift to him. I shared the pattern as a lapghan during the Crochet Cabana anniversary. I plan to make it available with info on how to make it everything from a scarf to a full size afghan in my Etsy shop. (If the story is ever published it will be included free in the book - but don't hold your breath! I haven't submitted it anywhere.)

Here's a sneak preview, in scarf form. The scarf is not finished ... I will tell you that it is a sampler. Each portion is a different pattern. It will probably be nine or ten inches in width.

I thought I'd also share a few links that I ran across this week. Some I've been to before and some are new (to me). Hope you enjoy them.

Symbol Crochet program
https://stitchworkssoftware.com/

http://crafty-anna.blogspot.com/

http://iamtotallyobsessedwithyarn.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_archive.html (rectangle granny)

Puff Stitch square
http://crochet-mania-grannysquare.blogspot.com/2009/01/puff-stitch-crochet-square-5-rounds.html

Jacob's Ladder hat and scarf
http://crochetncrafts.com/crochet/jacobsladderpopcornhat.html
http://crochetncrafts.com/crochet/jacobsladderpopcornscarf.html

Crocodile Stitch http://www.crochetme.com/blogs/crochet_me/archive/2011/11/17/creating-the-crocodile-stitch.aspx

WOOL project (Warm out of Love). Even though the page says October 2010, the Facebook page is active.
http://www.warmoutoflove.com/

The Granny Ripple
http://thelazyhobbyhopper.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-crochet-granny-ripple.html

Loom Knitting, some good videos
http://isela.typepad.com/loomknitting/videos.html

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

6 hook scarf

2011-11-16T07:05:00.000-06:00

Another six-hook scarf. I started again with the F hook and worked 6 rows with each hook - F, G, H, I, J, and K. Then went backwards K, J, I, H, G, F. I put white between each scrap color I could find. I used my Susan Bates hooks for this scarf as I had a full set all together and it was easy to see which one I'd just used so I wouldn't get confused. That was the plan anyway. LOL

Finished size is about 66" long. Narrowest section is about 5" and widest is about 7".

Now my problem is that in trying to use different yarns I had available I used a couple of pastels, which are not good for the male segment of our population. With that in mind, I'm not sure where to send this scarf. If you have an idea, do holler out.

While this was fun and interesting to make, if you look at it and don't realize the different widths are on purpose, you might think what a lousy crocheter! LOL Another note is that yarns used should be of same weight or you won't get equal distribution from your different hooks. I don't mean all #4 yarns, but look at them and feel them. Will they work up the same? I didn't have a lot of choice since I am using leftovers, but did try to do this.

I also wanted to mention Share a Square here one last time. This is the organization that provided afghans for children at cancer camps, one of which was in Louisiana, my home state. 150 afghans were made using 80 squares from 80 different people. That is a HUGE undertaking. Shelly is making ghans again this year, for a different camp. How many ghans depends on how many people participate. Right now in order to make 100 ghans she is still in need of 400 squares from 40 different people. In other words, people who have not yet sent anything in. I believe there are 80 afghan kits complete (either assembled or waiting to be assembled). If you are on Facebook, you can read the November update yourself. I might also mention that the rules allow for a person to donate the yarn and cards with their name on it, then you can make the squares and donate in their name. This is nice for someone who wants to participate but doesn't crochet.

The absolute deadline for squares to be received by Shelly is December 15. I suggest mailing by Friday, the 9th to be sure they arrive on time.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

squares and a scarf

2011-11-13T21:20:00.002-06:00

I have been bad about taking photos and posting, but I'm going to catch up now.

First I have been making 7" x-stitch squares. There is actually one more to go with these (in the rose color).

Of course, there are always saltines and yo-yos.

Then I found a video at YouTube demonstrating how to make a log cabin afghan. I have long wanted to do this, so I started off making a small square along with the video. It wasn't very difficult. I just grabbed colors out of my never ending leftovers. The video is very well done.

Lastly, I remembered a while back reading about a scarf made using a bunch of different hooks. I had this in the back of my mind and was intrigued with the notion so I decided to do something with that idea. Here is my first result. I'm going to work another soon because this one came out very narrow.

Finished length is 62 1/2". Width is 4" at widest point.

Each row has 10 stitches. I started off with an F hook.

Here's what I worked:
with green, 1 row each hook - F, G, H, I, J, and K
with cream, 1 row each hook - K, J, I, H, G, and F.
with green, 2 rows F
with cream, 2 rows G
with green, 2 rows H
with cream, 2 rowsI
with green, 2 rows J
with cream, 2 rows K

Then repeat the pattern with the next section always beginning with the last hook used. For the two-row pattern I did not cut yarn, but rather carried the yarn up.

For my next scarf using this method, I am thinking to use one hook for several rows, then the next hook for several rows etc, using the same color yarn if I have enough of any color in my stash.

I think that is all I've worked up thus far.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

on my hook

2011-11-11T04:00:00.000-06:00

Here is the baby afghan I finished. I ran out of the green yarn with a round and a half to go on the last square so I had to drop one column. Even so, I think it came out a nice size. I did measure it, but I didn't write the measurements down and the ghan is packed away so ... you'll just have to trust me on that. LOL The squares are assembled using the continuous join.

I've also been making 7" squares with larger leftover balls. Yes, I am determined to use all this yarn up - at least a good portion of it. It gets harder as the quantities go down. I know some folks do mix different types of yarn - like a boucle or a brushed acrylic with a regular yarn. I may give that a try. I'll have to have a sit down and think on it. ;-) Maybe pull out a book of stitches and see what I can come up with. That is both the fun part and the excruciating part, making the decision.

I also want what I make to be useful so we'll see what happens next. I still have a cold so that is hampering my thinkin' a bit.

Before I sign off I want to thank all our veterans for this service. Our great country would not be what it is without the many sacrifices of our servicemen. A round of applause for them all, past, present, and future.

Happy Crocheting!

Sandie

2011-11-08T14:40:00.000-06:00

Hi! I've switched back to the old template as I couldn't figure out how to get to my links and my Twitter updates, my google search and all the things I myself use on my blog. LOL

I'm working on a baby blanket and will post photos soon.

Did you all remember to set your clocks back? That first day felt like it lasted forever. heh Maybe that is because I have a cold. I didn't sleep well and was up early, but it sure seemed to drag.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

new blog design

2011-11-03T10:15:00.000-05:00

Well, this new design thing already confused me. You have to click on the little "blogger" icon to get to the dashboard. Not likey. But I guess I'll get used to it.

I received something which suggested I try the new blogger interface. I had seen it before and they will eventually use it for everyone so I figured I'd try it out and get used to it. I particularly wanted to see how it would work with the monetizing feature since monies received from that help to keep my web site running and pay my charity mailing costs. Today's charity mailing was just under $6. I go to post office at least twice a week. How much it cost depends on what I'm mailing. Lately it's been saltines, yo-yos, squares, and scarves, fairly small packages. Packages run anywhere from $2 to $10. Afghans can run more but I rarely send out completed afghans these days. I try to donate those locally. I saved quite a bit by hand delivering those Special Olympic scarves. Anyway, I digress... heh

My understanding is that you, as the viewer, can choose which design you want to see for the blog. Just click on the different views - classic, flipcard, mosaic, magazine, sidebar, snapshot, timeline. I think I have the default as classic. There are advantages to each one. I like to look at photos so I'd probably use one of the designs that show most of the photos if I were viewing it myself, but everyone is different. Anyway, we'll see how that all pans out.

For today, I've completed more saltines and yoyos, some 6" squares, and a pet pad made of leftover yarns. Here are the photos.

The pet pad will go to one of the dogs, probably Lexi as she is the girl and there is pink. :-) It is about 18" x 34" and I used leftover homespun type yarn with a strand of fine yarn. It is all leftover from long ago projects. The dogs don't care about looks. I noticed it was quite warm as it lay on my lap. I was almost sorry to finish it, but I didn't have enough of the white to do much more with it. I have a fairly large ball of the light blue left but that yarn is too thin for most efforts that collect squares unless I double it - which I could do is I rolled it into two balls. Might could make one square if I did that.

Always interesting to see what one can do with all these odds and ends, eh? I'm still working on the first bin, but most of the small balls were in this one.

That's all for now. Let me know what you think of this new blogger thing. Remember it's not MY design though I think you can customize it. I haven't gotten that far with it.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

more saltines, yo yos ...

2011-10-30T09:50:00.000-05:00

If you can believe this I am still making saltines, yoyos and granny's daughters. :-) These are made with an H hook and whatever yarn was in the bag of leftovers. Some of them came out smaller than others because of the type of yarn. From what I understand, these small pieces are forgiving and size is not as critical. However, I've sent a lot of them so I think there will be enough of any size to handle a multi-colored project. I know many others have sent some also.

As you may recall, I work from largest to smallest. I start with traditional granny squares, but most of these balls were too small for a full granny. Although there are a number of the same color, these are from different balls.

Then I go to saltines (2 round grannies), then yoyos (1 round of 16 dc in ring), and finally granny's daughters (first round of a granny). The granny's daughters use just slightly less yarn than a yoyo.

Of course I always leave a nice tail at the beginning and end which takes up yarn. Anything under 7 loops around my ruler is tied onto the magic ball which is getting to be a nice size. :-) My plan for that is to make a pet pad. We have three dogs in the family at this time so I'm sure one of them will love a nice pad.

Unbelievably, I am still not finished with the leftover balls, but I'm coming close to the end. :-) Then I have a lot of one ups. One ball of yarn in this or that color. I do also have a few colors where I have a good number of balls and can make an actual project, like a scarf or something. I look forward to deciding what these will be used for. Part of the fun for me is choosing a project when I have the opportunity.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

scarves

2011-10-27T16:34:00.000-05:00

Remember that single crochet, back loops only scarf I started a while back? I finally finished it. I had actually forgotten about it and couldn't remember if I'd used an H or an I so I just finished off the row I was on and called it done.

The finished size is 5 1/4" x 54". It's heading to Knit Your Bit for a veteran. Working in back loop only gives it a nice bit of stretch. I was pleased with the finished product.

I also finished the wool scarf I'd begun. I used Lion Brand Fisherman 100% pure virgin Wool. I had an 8 ounce skein and was able to make the scarf and hat with a small ball leftover. I began and ended the scarf with a row of dc. The rest of the scarf is straight sc through both loops. It should be quite warm.

The hat is adult size. Finished size is 5" x 65". It's part of the Crafting for a Cause effort and will be going to Native Americans in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

Both of the above scarves were very easy on the mind and fingers. I have a number of patterns that I'm itching to try though so I'll be finding something a little more challenging for my next project I think.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

on my hook

2011-10-25T10:36:00.001-05:00

Here are 31 five-round granny squares. I used up the rest of the RH Soft navy for these plus a couple of others in a lighter color. Not sure which yarn that was. Anyway, these are for Crafting for a Cause for the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.

These are the last saltines and yo-yos I made, but I do still have some small balls left so I will probably make more when I'm finished the scarf I'm presently working on.

I did finish another scarf - a double strand - to use up the leftover Wool Ease yarn I had. I had quite a bit of cream color but I knew that would not be a good color for the homeless so I decided to join it with the other leftover colors of which I didn't have as much. This is what I came up with. It is 7" x 58". I'd really like it to be longer but I ran out of the cream and have only a small ball of the green left. It's not my best looking scarf color-wise, but it is warm.

That's about it for now. Have to make a post office run today. I like to send things out soon as I can.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Kim Jiries scarves

2011-10-19T16:00:00.000-05:00

You may remember that I have a few patterns at Crochet Cabana that were designed by other very talented designers. (You can find them at http://www.crochetcabana.com/patterns-other-designers.htm ) One of these designers is Kim Jiries. Her Mama Bess squares are wonderful.

Anyway, I just discovered her blog and I had to share. She started Global Warming with Crochet back in March so I have some catching up to do. She has posted nearly 100 photos of scarves she has made and the information on pattern used. You know I love scarves. What a find! This will be of great help when the Special Olympics starts for the next season.

These are not all scarves designed by Kim, but links are included where appropriate and details on what she did when there is no link. For those that she designed, she includes her pattern instructions. I look forward to giving these a whirl myself.

I have only gone through about a third of them, but fully intend to visit each one. I've used some of the patterns before and at least one is my own pattern and one my daughter's so I know those. :-)

I don't know how I missed this blog, but I'm sure glad I found it now.

Very cool. If you love scarves like I do, well worth a look see.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

even more squares

2011-10-18T22:11:00.000-05:00

More saltines and yo-yos. 'nuff said on that. :-)

And here are all the 6" squares in one photo. I think there is only one NEW square. The rest have already had their blog day.

I continue to work on saltines and yo-yos until I 1) get tired of making them or 2) use up all my small balls.

I don't know why I'm taking pictures of them except it's just what I do. LOL I sort of got used to doing it for my other projects for Bev's. This year we don't count saltines and yo-yos as part of that project unless we do a special project day.

Short and sweet. Have a great day! We're having some cool temps here. Nice change. I'm sure we'll soon be whining about how cold it is. heh

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

more squares and yo yos

2011-10-17T10:11:00.000-05:00

Three more 6" squares completed.

I am using the same pattern for all the squares, daughter's cross-stitch design .

I also made more saltines and yo-yos. These go so quickly even though I do measure the small balls before I start to know which I have enough to do.


24 saltines, 10 yo yos

I have many more bags of yarn scraps. The saltines and yo yos are great for these since even though my bag might have many balls of red, they are not all from the same skein so not the same dye lot. I hesitate to mix them. These small squares and circles are perfect.

In my mailbox this morning was a notice about a new book called Seamless Crochet. Amazon has a look see for this book so you can actually see pages from it. I have not seen the book "in person" but it looks like it's a good one. Who doesn't like having fewer tails to weave in? :-)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

squares, yoyos, saltines, magic ball

2011-10-16T11:33:00.001-05:00

I'm still working on the ziploc bags filled with small balls. Some of these balls are actually not that small and I've had enough to make a few 6" squares. I think I can get a few more of those.

If I can't make a 6" square, then I make saltines. If there is not enough for a saltine, I make a yo yo. If there is not enough for a yo yo, I try for a granny's daughter. If there is not enough for a granny's daughter, then I add the strand to my magic ball of scraps. Here is the ball right now. It is 15 1/2" around.

How do I know if there is enough for any of those projects? Well, a while back I made each of these and then ripped them back and measured around a 12" ruler. I discovered that worked with an H hook and worsted yarn, for MY tension, I could make a saltine with 16 lengths of the ruler. (You can find this info in my page on making the saltine/yo-yo etc.) In brief, here are the rules I use:

yo yo - wind at least 8 times (8 feet), 16 dc
double yo yo - wind at least 20 times (20 feet), 16 dc first round, 2 in ea for 32 dc last round
granny's daughter - wind at least 7 times (7 feet), 4 3dc shells separated by chains
saltine - wind at least 16 times (16 feet), first 2 rounds basic granny square

To be clear, when I say wind, that means one length of the ruler (12"). So there would be 2 lengths in one back/front wind. I also hold an inch or two at the top so it doesn't slip out of my fingers. You will be able to judge if this works for you pretty quickly. The number of chains between shells on your granny is up to you. I sometimes use 2, sometimes 3 depending on to whom it is going.

Using this method, here is what I accomplished yesterday.


49 saltines, 11 yo yos

And here are the 6" squares I was able to make. I don't know how many winds those are as I can't bring myself to rip one back. LOL

I didn't make any double yo-yos this time. Primarily this is because I didn't think of it. heh

Other than this I've been keeping busy with regular things. My mom is progressing with her physical therapy. My son has moved back home temporarily and he is getting settled in. Jack got out once and I had to call daughter to help me corral him. There have been the usual gecko ack incidents. All in all, life continues to move on. Hope you and yours are doing well.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

wips and fo

2011-10-14T15:21:00.001-05:00

What's been on my hook? Here's a look ...

64 saltines (2 rounds of a basic granny)

31 yo yos (16 dc in ring)

This will be a cowl when I've sewn the ends together

sc scarf worked in back loop only

Where are they going? Well, the yoyos and saltines are going to Dawn. She puts these together into gorgeous afghans.

The blue cowl is staying at home. It was made because I saw a pattern I just had to try. It is double triple crochet rows alternated with a single crochet row though I think the pattern called for three rows of sc between. The pattern is Patons Lace Sequin Cowl. I had a large ball of thin yarn and thought it would be enough but it was not. I used every bit of it and ended up with 7 rows of the dtr, about 7 1/2". I was hoping for 12". Still I think it will be useful. I have a small neck and it's very lightweight for our mostly mild temperatures here. I haven't had a chance to look through my stash to see if I can find a close match for joining even though I don't think the join will show.

The red is in progress and just a back loop only single crochet. I think I did 200 chains. I was inspired by the Mistake Stitch Knit scarf at Knit Your Bit and this scarf will be headed there when it's done.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

thick warm scarf

2011-10-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

I finished a scarf with this lovely Deborah Norville Premier chunky yarn.
So very soft. I think the color is Fudge.

The pattern is straight double crochet. Finished size is 7" x 65". I was trying to get the hat man size but was afraid I'd run out of the yarn so it ended up being suitable for a small man or a woman. I hope that will work for someone. It is a bit stretchy and it's definitely warm.

I'm thinking to send this to the Bridge project since it is so warm.

The next scarves I make will be for the Knit Your Bit project if I can find enough man yarn in my stash. I am hoping to save some postage and deliver them at the next gathering at the museum, which will be in November. We'll see if that works out.

I also have a lot of small balls with which I will probably make some saltines. Those are fun and easy to do and I am happy to have every bit of yarn used. Dawn does such a good job of assembling these into beautiful, useful ghans.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

DW scarf #3

2011-10-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Remember before I left on vacation in September, I was working on a Doctor Who scarf, my third one. I finished it before I left except for taking care of the tails. A few days ago I completed that little chore.

Finished size is 9' 3" long x 6" wide. I used an I hook and chained 21 to start.

I used the row counts from Chris Brimelow's pattern (#4) with the Vanna's Choice colors of Tara Wheeler's season 14 pattern.

This will be a much more useful scarf for me than the wide one, though that one is closer to the original which I believe was said to be 11" wide.

This is my third DW scarf. I do enjoy making them though it takes a lot of yarn and a good spot of time.

With that done, I decided to work on loom potholders just for something different to do. I am thinking of doing another loom hat or trying for a scarf perhaps with the long loom, if I can remember how I did the other little hat. :-)

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

surface crochet

2011-10-09T10:23:00.002-05:00

I've been keeping busy. I made squares for Share a Square - sent those off but forgot to take a picture. I made some rectangles for injured soldier ghans but also forgot to take a photo of those before sending off. :-(

A few people have asked me about surface crochet. I haven't done a video on it yet, but Kim Guzman has a nice one you might want to have a look at. There are also a number of text and photo tutorials. I found this one that I thought was clear. If that doesn't do it for you, just Google surface crochet.

Just briefly, what you do is make a slip knot, but don't put it on your hook, just hold it underneath your piece. Insert your hook from the top, through the material you've made, and put the knot on your hook. Draw it through. (Now don't draw the tail and everything through. Stop at the slip knot.) Insert your hook at the next spot where you want your design to go. Yarn over (from the back). Your yarn is always held underneath the work. Pull through the work, and through the loop on your hook, which makes a slip stitch. You might want to pull on your slip knot tail just to make sure the knot doesn't poke through.You will be able to see the outline of the design on the back as well but it won't look the same.

When you are finished with your design, weave the tails in carefully. It will probably not be the same color yarn but should not show through too much if you are careful.

You also have to be careful that you are not pulling in your piece as you choose where you want to insert your hook.

Although this method uses the slip stitch, I don't see any reason why you couldn't get a more 3-D look by using a single crochet or some other stitch. I haven't tried it, but perhaps I will do so soon.

I can envision many fun uses for this. I guess the only down side, if you want to call it that, is that it is worked over single crochet, which takes a bit more time and yarn to work since it is a short, closed stitch.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

SOL finale

2011-10-01T07:24:00.000-05:00

Lookit! I had a scarf about a third done in straight sc. I didn't think I'd have time to finish it before heading to deliver them, but I did. After it was finished, I decided to add a little surface crochet to it. I have been wanting to try that and I was pleased with how it turned out. It's not a fancy pattern, not planned. Just went where it went.

You can see both front and back in the photo.

Finished size is 6" x 58".

All of the remaining scarves will be delivered to Special Olympics Louisiana. Then I will be moving on to other projects.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

new scarf / copyright infringement

2011-09-29T22:48:00.000-05:00

Tada! #30 scarf is complete. Whew!

Finished size is 6" x 59".

The pattern I used is in the leaflet Ruthie's Easy Crocheted Scarves by Ruthie Marks. It is called Lace and Spirals. I didn't do the spirals part. :-)

It uses V stitch and a 3 dc bobble for the center section. The pattern does not call for edging, but I used an edging of one round sc in blue, a round of dc in red, then a round of faux picot (sc, ch 2, sc, sk 1) in blue. I really like the finished product. Oh, and I didn't count rows, but the pattern says 58" long so I must be close.

It was very simple to do once you got into the rhythm of it.

In other news, I discovered that some of my photos were taken from Crochet Cabana without my permission and used on another site. The site owner placed their "name" on the photos. Since these were from one of my earliest tutorials, I did not have my copyright notice directly on the photos. They are definitely my photos as my notations were kept.

The site is in Arabic but translation is available, though it is difficult to understand. My video is also embedded on site.

I have written a polite note using their contact form asking them to remove the photos. I have not had any reply as of yet. It is possible the person did not realize they were doing something wrong. I know it doesn't seem like it could be, but many are not educated about copyright laws and just don't think of intellectual property as something owned.

Truthfully, this is so discouraging and once again makes me wonder if I should just give up and shut down the site. This is not the first time I've had my materials taken and used without permission. I am not alone in this. I know other designers and charity sites have had similar experiences.

Oh well, I guess they are the ones who have to live with their conscience.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

afghan

2011-09-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

I've been busy, busy, busy the past week finishing up an afghan as a wedding gift. I wove most of the tails in during the four hours coming and going to the wedding shower. The assembly did double duty as I made videos during the process (which I will be uploading and annotating today).

It is being washed, then it will be wrapped for the upcoming wedding on the 8th.

The details - the finished size is 49" x 56 1/2". Here is a photo of it laid out on a queen size bed.

There was no planned "pattern" for the squares. I just made squares until I ran out of yarn. Then I scattered them into the largest size I could make with those squares. I purchased four skeins of the beige for the assembly and edging.

Yarn is mostly Vanna's Choice though I think one of the blues is a different manufacturer.

The whole thing was assembled using the continuous join. I'm pleased with the result. I hope the newlyweds will like it and enjoy it for many years to come.

I am hoping to deliver the Special Olympic scarves this week. I have one more to complete to meet my self imposed goal.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

60 Scarves in 60 Days challenge

2011-09-22T08:08:00.002-05:00

I've been so busy with... well, everything... that I forgot to keep track of my scarves for Dee's challenge. If you've never participated, you might like to have a look at the blog post about the 60 Scarves in 60 Days challenge. Once again, the dates are actually 90 days (Sept. 1 to Nov. 30). You can make any scarf pattern and donate it to whatever cause you wish. There is a Ravelry group (link in the blog post) where counts are kept, but if you are not on Ravelry that is not a problem.

I enjoy doing challenges. I guess I am competitive by nature. :-) In any case, many good causes are helped by this one so if you like to make scarves, this is your chance to hop on the bandwagon.

I went back through my September posts and found 7 scarves made since the 1st. As you know, those are going to the Special Olympics. I also made the Doctor Who scarf, but that does not count as that was for myself, not a charity. The scarves that are counted must be donated to a charity.

You can post photos or a link on the Ravelry group if you want to.

If you don't know where to donate them, here are a few suggestions from me.
Special Olympics Louisiana (be sure to read guidelines regarding size and yarn)
http://www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org/states/view/18

Knit Your Bit (veterans)
http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/knit-your-bit/index.html

The Bridge and Beyond (homeless)
http://homelessbridge.blogspot.com/

Threads of Compassion (victims of sexual violence)
http://threadsofcompassion.bravehost.com/

Christmas at Sea (mariners)
http://www.seamenschurch.org/christmas-at-sea

Crafting for a Cause (accepts many types of items, including scarves, for Native Americans)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CraftingForACause/

Scarves from the Heart (cancer patients)
http://www.scarvesfromtheheart.com/

The above are all efforts that I have personally donated to and have corresponded with someone associated with it so I know them to be legit. I have actually visited the Special Olympics Louisiana office and met the dedicated people who work there. The wonderful lady who coordinates Knit Your Bit has visited in my home. Of course I have known Sandy at the Bridge for many years and she is one hard worker and dedicated to helping the homeless in her area.

Kudos to Dee for keeping up this fine tradition and challenging us to keep those hooks moving to help others.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

wavy scarf

2011-09-21T06:00:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I was piddlin' around trying to decide what my next scarf would be. I looked through a few books and finally I thought to myself, you know I have never worked an entire scarf in triple crochet. All that thinking to come up with something so simple. LOL So here it is the simple triple crochet scarf.

I used the Red Heart Soft Really Red for the center triple crochet piece. Then for the edging I decided to do something different that I've not done before. Have to keep those creative juices fed.

For the edging, I worked one round of sc as a base, then I did a wavy border using (sc, hdc, dc, tr cr, dc, hdc, sc). Around the corners I fudged where needed but it really worked out pretty well.

There are 16 triple crochets across and 66 rows, but I really didn't count the rows as I was working. I just measured to be sure it would be within the guidelines. The finished size is 6" x 57 1/2".

I will be making one more scarf for this organization and then I will be moving on. I'm sure you'll be happy to see the end of the red and blue! I know I will - especially the blue with all its woes - though I will still have some yarn left so I may yet make other things with it.

The skein I used last night had a few knots in it, but not so much as to make me irritated. I did rip out a couple times after cutting out a knot or otherwise problem piece when I ran into another problem nearby, but that was my choice to make for fewer tails to sew in rather than cutting two pieces and joining so close together.

Now to decide on the next one. :-)

In other news, here is a video from Red Heart yarns demonstrating how they make yarn. I really enjoyed seeing the process.

That's all for today.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

another bobble scarf

2011-09-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the Bobble Scarf I made while checking the pattern. It's about 6" x 55". The center section is 3 bobbles across. It's worked with the Red Heart Soft Really Red and an H hook. The edging is the same pattern and worked with the navy.

I started this yesterday, working on it while watching TV, and finished it this morning. If you have the time available to work on it, it can go quickly. Since I worked the center in one color and the edging in one color, there weren't many tails to sew in either.

The only trick thing in making this scarf, once you know the bobble stitch, is to make sure the bobbles line up when you work the edging. Once you get the first one in the right place, you just continue the established pattern of bobble, dc in next 3.

That's it!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

The Bobble Scarves

2011-09-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Bobble Scarves
c2011 Sandra Petit, http://www.crochetcabana.com
pdf file available on the charity patterns page or use Print Friendly below this post.

Materials: 1 skein each Red Heart Soft Really Red and Navy for each scarf, H hook, large eye needle to weave in ends, scissor

Size: 3 bobble center 6" wide by 54 to 60" long for Special Olympics or however long you choose to make it

Special Stitch:
Bobble:
The Bobble will puff to the back. You will alternate rows of dc and bobbles.
1) yo, insert hook in stitch, yo and pull through, yo and pull through 2 loops on hook (2 loops remain on hook)
2) yo, insert hook in the same st, yo and pull through, yo and pull through 2 loops on hook (3 loops remain on hook)
3) yo, insert hook in same st, yo and pull through, yo and pull through 2 loops on hook (4 loops remain on hook)
4) yo, insert hook in same st, yo and pull through, yo and pull through 2 loops on hook (5 loops remain on hook)
5) yo, insert hook in same st, yo and pull through, yo and pull through 2 loops on hook (6 loops remain on hook)
6) yo and draw through all 6 loops on hook. (Some people choose to Ch 1 to close. I do not.)

Note: You can use ch-2 or ch-3 as your turning chain, whichever gets you to proper height.

Three Bobble Center Scarf

Pattern Instructions:
With H hook and navy, ch 17
R1: dc in 4th chain from hook and in each chain across (15 dc)

R2: ch 3, turn, dc in next 2 stitches, *bobble in next st, dc in next 3 stitches, rep from * across (3 bobbles) (12 dc)

R3: ch 3, turn, dc in each st across. (15 dc)

Repeat Rows 2 and 3 to desired size.

Edging:
Rnd 1: You can use either red or blue for this round. On right side (the bobble side) sc around, working 3 sc in corners.

Rnd 2 Bobble Round: ch 3, turn so you are on the wrong or back side—the side opposite of the one where you see the bobbles. Remember that the bobbles will puff to the opposite side and will then be on the right side when you’re done.

Being careful to place your bobbles in line with the previously made bobbles, work in above pattern —1 alternating bobble with 3 dc over 4 stitches. Along the sides, line your bobbles up with the stitches on the row opposite, you will be continuing this pattern except you will work 3 dc in the corner and will have dc on either side of the corner stitches in order to get you to the right spot, join to beginning ch-3.

Rnd 3: ch 1, turn, on right side, with blue, sc around, working 3 sc in corners.

Four Bobble Scarf

Pattern Instructions:
with H hook and navy, ch 21
R1: dc in 4th chain from hook and in each ch across (19 dc)

R2: ch 3, turn, dc in next 2 stitches, * bobble in next st, dc in each of next 3 stitches, rep from * across (4 bobbles) (15 dc)

R3: ch 3, turn, dc across (19 dc)

Repeat rows 2 and 3 with each color until you have 5 bobble rows and 5 dc rows in that color . (The Row 1 dc row does not count. ) The new color begins with a bobble row in the sample. You begin and end with navy.

Work 6 blue sections and 5 red sections

If you do not need a particular size, you can add the edging from the Three Bobble Center Scarf. This will give you a wider scarf. You can use either color for your bobble edging row.

shell scarf

2011-09-18T10:25:00.000-05:00

I finished the third scarf this morning. It just needed the edging in navy. Finished size is 6" x 58 1/2".

The pattern is the shell stitch pattern on the charity pattern page at Crochet Cabana, but adjusted to be 6". http://www.crochetcabana.com/charity/charity-patterns.htm.

I used a chain of 17 and worked 103 rows using Red Heart Super Saver cherry red and soft navy.

I have to say I am getting tired of red and blue. LOL When I finish with this I will be moving to different colors and something that doesn't require a particular width or length where I can just let go. :-) It's been fun working on these though and I'm very glad to participate.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

scarves

2011-09-17T19:30:00.001-05:00

I'm back! Hubby and I have been on vacation in Florida, a vacation which was delayed a week by Tropical Storm Lee.

Here's what I did just before I left and while I was away.

The Red Heart Soft really red did not come in before I left, but I did get those two navy skeins so I finished two center V stitch sections in that color and planned to use the red when I returned to finish them. That is exactly what happened.

The first scarf has 6 V's across and is edged with a round of sc in blue followed by a round of (sc, ch 2, 2 dc, sk 2) in red. Finished size is about 6" x 58". First time I measured it I was sure it was 59, but when I measured it just now it was 58. Maybe I should measure it a third time? LOL In any case it's over 54" which is the minimum.

This scarf has 5 V's across. I did a round in sc in the red, then a round of V stitch in blue, and finished off with a round of sc in red. I really liked the way it came out.I added fringe to this one as it was a little short. The rules specify 54 to 60" including fringe.

I also have about 3/4 of a third scarf using Red Heart Super Saver cherry red which will be edged with the soft navy.

I hope to do three more to make my goal.

I'm still catching up on the hundreds of e-mails that came in while I was gone. I did check some e-mails while I was gone using my phone. Our hotel did not have wireless Internet if you can believe that.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

square variety and beginning of Who scarf

2011-09-07T19:10:00.000-05:00

What's off my hook now? Yo yos, saltines, two 12" squares ...

Then ON my hook - I decided to make a skinny Doctor Who scarf with the leftover yarn from the previous one. I am once again using Chris Brimelow's pattern and Tara's Vanna's Choice colors. I'm using an I hook. I chained 21. You can see my cheat sheet in the picture too. :-)

I also had a happy surprise today. You might remember that I had more trouble with the Red Heart Soft navy yarn with the same orange bits in it. Well, I did write to them and let them know the problem but did not ask for any more yarn because I didn't want to appear greedy and really, how could they know if I was telling the truth? I was able to pick out most of the orange on the last skein so I got the use of it and though I lost some of the other one, I was able to use some for edgings, so I wasn't too displeased in the long run of it. I was just glad to have them aware of the problem.

Anyway, today UPS dropped off a package with 2 skeins in it. I was quite happy as I am out of the RH soft and couldn't get any more locally. I will be making another scarf soon as I finish with the Who one. So kudos to Coats and Clark customer service for backing up their products.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Share a Square

2011-09-06T14:35:00.000-05:00

20 more squares for Share a Square.

Most of these were made using the same X stitch pattern used previously, a variation of my daughter's pattern. I used an H hook for all the squares but various yarns from Red Heart Soft to Super Saver to Vanna's Choice and Bernat. I adjusted the Golden Loop of the last round to get them to proper size. Of course, they all needed a long strand left for assembly. I left 24" on each one.

Here's the Golden Loop video since I get so many questions about it. I did not originate this term. I first learned of it while doing my Master's training. It was in the course work which I believe Jean Leinhauser may have put together. I had previously used this technique, but didn't know it had a name until that time.

Here are all of the squares.

This one was done in the diagonal box stitch - a sample made for some reason or other.

This one is another of the squares from my daughter's pattern pack over at the Etsy shop. In fact, I used the same colors as the photos at the shop.

That's all for today.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

bobble scarves

2011-09-03T16:18:00.000-05:00

I was itching to do something different with this scarf. For no particular reason I decided to go puffy. I had in mind the puff stitch, but I ended up with bobble stitches. LOL

I also decided to line them up as opposed to alternating them.

The first scarf uses 5 bobble rows in each color with a row of dc between. There are four bobbles in each bobble row and 5 bobble rows in each color. It came out 6" x 60 1/2".

For the second scarf, I wanted an edging, but I had to get 6" width for Special Olympics. To accomplish this, I used 3 bobbles across in the blue, then created an edging which used red bobbles. This one came out 6 1/4" x 55".

I would have made this one longer but I was running out of the blue and there was no red or blue at the local Michael's when hubby stopped to check for me.

I have ordered several RHS Really Red and one navy from Knitting Warehouse. I'm afraid of the navy now although I have to say that this skein had only one tiny bit of orange which was much improved over the previous ones. Each Special Olympic scarf has to have both colors so I will probably use the blue as edging or fringe and the bulk of the remaining scarves red.The only problem I had with the red was a couple of "thick" spots. Not a big deal.

I am working on the pattern and hope to have it ready next week.

We are in the midst of Tropical Storm Lee here, but doing fine. Just a lot of rain and a bit of wind.

Have a good weekend!

Happy Crocheting!

Sandie

More scarves

2011-08-29T21:19:00.000-05:00

Both scarves were made with Red Heart Soft yarn and an H hook.

This is a V stitch scarf (ch 22, 6 V's across). Finished size is 6" x 55". I chose this pattern because it goes quickly and is basically a no-brainer even though I've already made one like it. No concentration necessary.

The edging is one round sc in blue then one round V-stitch in red.

Then I worked on a pattern I found in a book called Filet Crochet . My daughter and I loved this book so much I bought one for her too. The pattern I'm using is called Greek Key (p. 74).

I worked 15 pattern sections. If I had not had to keep checking to be sure that I was on the correct row, it would have gone very quickly.

If I had it to do again, I think I would start the row with a solid square.

For the edging, I used a round of sc followed by a round of (sc, ch 2, 2 dc, sk 2). If I made another I would use a hdc for this row to get closer to the 6". Length was 59 1/2".

That's it for today.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Share a Square

2011-08-27T19:00:00.001-05:00

20 6" squares complete! These are for Share a Square. If you haven't participated in this effort before, maybe you'd like to consider sending a couple of squares.

Squares need to be worsted weight acrylic yarn with at least an 18" tail left to be used for assembly.

These squares will be used on each of 20 afghans since each afghan will contain only ONE square from each participant. 150 afghans will be assembled and delivered to camps for kids with cancer. A very worthy cause, right? The camp in Louisiana received afghans last year as well as two others. Since we hope that many of the same children will attend the camp this year, the next set of ghans will go to different camps.

That said, no one person need send more than 150 squares. Last year I believe Shelly said over 500 people from all over the world contributed squares. Not everyone sends 150. Some people send one or two. It doesn't matter how many you send. Each one will contribute to a smile on one child's face.

To keep updated and see what everyone is doing, you can join the Facebook group or if you just want the facts you can read them at http://thiseclecticlife.com/share-a-square-2010-faq/.

Each square needs a tag, but the tags are not to be attached to the squares because they first have to be laminated so the children can keep them forever. This year they will be able to put the tags on shoestrings. You can see some of those in the picture. I got these from Oriental Trading Company. Of course 150 are needed. I'm only sending 36. Others will provide the rest needed.

That's what is also great about this group and groups like this. Folks getting together to make a worthwhile effort come together.

Next up I will be working on more scarves for Special Olympics.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

filet square scarf

2011-08-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here we are with scarf #20. I like this pattern and I will probably make a red one like it. I've already sent one made in alternating squares.

Since I have had so much trouble with the blue, I think I will concentrate on scarves with more red and less blue when I'm done with the blue I have on hand. I will need to get more red.

I know that I can also go to the Super Saver, but the Soft is such a nice yarn except for this problem and I've only had it with the blue.

The scarf is worked in one piece though it looks like squares. There are 17 "square" sections for 57" of length worked with an H hook. I put beginning and end and two dc rows between each square. The foundation chain is 21. The 4 filet rows are 5dc, 5 holes (ch 1, sk 1, dc), 5 dc.

The only problem I had with this scarf was that I would get interested in whatever I was watching (Standoff on Hulu) and I would forget to stop making filet rows and had to rip them back to keep my pattern. LOL Without those bits it went very quickly.

Onward!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

more bad yarn

2011-08-24T07:00:00.004-05:00

Remember I said I had some small bits of orange in my last skein? Well, I finished that scarf (photo below) and started another skein and lookee here. MORE orange. This is getting ridiculous. The skein from the previous post was not too bad. I could live with it, picked out the small bits. This one has not been bad to this point but I see large splotches of orange coming up.

I hate to be a whiner but really. There must be a better way to do this. As I told them, I am but one of thousands of consumers. If I have gotten three bad skeins (so far) can you imagine how many are out there?? And this was two different lots.

Anyway, I did finish the red V stitch. It is 6" x 57". Same as the blue one from yesterday's post. Edging is one round sc followed by one round of V stitch.

I've already bagged the scarves I've completed and printed out the tags. I still don't know what to do with the tags though. With the last batch I filled them out and included them in the large bag but not the individual bags. I have time to get more info on that though. Still have a bunch to make before I deliver them.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

V stitch scarf

2011-08-23T07:26:00.000-05:00

Here's the V stitch scarf (#18 or #3 of the second batch - I promised a total of 30). I chained 22. First V goes into the 5th chain from hook.

I worked a round of sc in blue then a red V stitch border all around. Very easy.

Finished size is 6" x 54", a little shorter than I usually try to get, but within the guidelines so it's good. The reason is that I expected to do more with the border but I couldn't because of the 6" width. heh Getting projects to a certain size is an interesting thing.

I'm working on a red one now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

dc scarf and more orange in my navy

2011-08-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

Next up is a simple dc scarf. It is 6" x 60" including fringe. The fringe is one strand each of the red and blue.

I used an I hook and a chain of 21.

Really not much more to say about this scarf.

I am working on a V stitch scarf right now and would you believe that I have found orange in my blue AGAIN?? I didn't believe it. But sure enough, I am picking out bits of orange. It is not nearly the volume that was in the other skein, at least not at this point. Just a few small bits. But what are the odds, eh? I guess I am just lucky that way. LOL

The skein is not the same lot. This one is Code: 4641 (which is the same as the other), but 20/04/11 and 12:16pm rather than 15/02/11 and 12:20pm. I am guessing that the first is the date April 20, 2011 and February 15, 2011 so processed on two different dates.

Annoying, but so far I've been able to pick at it and get the orange bits out. I've used half the skein already so it doesn't seem that it will be a severe problem.

All the skeins I have left have the April 20 date and different times so I'm pretty sure this is not the skein they sent me as a replacement. I just threw it in the box, but it would have been on top and probably used in the other two scarves.

Guess that's it for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

SO Scarf / Knook

2011-08-19T13:26:00.000-05:00

Back to the Special Olympics. I promised 15 more scarves so I need to get to it, don't I? Here is the first one of the second batch. I haven't done the tails yet, but you can see the pattern. I was inspired by something I saw in a magazine - can't remember which one now but the diamond pattern is fairly straight forward. Just do a solid block going out one over on each row as far as you want. When you've gotten to the size diamond you want, then you start doing one over going in until you get back to the point, which is one solid on that row. Make sense? I put a white piece behind the closeup so you could see it more clearly. I find myself that if I look at it from further away I can see it better.

Finished size is 6" x 58". Just to remind you, the size requirements for these scarves are about 6" wide and between 54 and 60" in length.Yarn is as below (from the web site)

Red Heart Super Saver Cherry Red 0319
Red Heart Super Saver Soft Navy 0387
Red Heart Soft Navy 4604
Red Heart Soft Really Red 9925

PLEASE NOTE: You can choose to work with the Red Heart Super Saver or Red Heart Soft Yarns - or a combination of both - please just use both a red and a blue in your scarf design!

My donations are going to the Louisiana Special Olympics. I had the pleasure of visiting the Hammond office a few weeks back. They are super nice folks there and truly love their work. They appreciate every scarf so even if you can only send one - please do.

In other news, I received my Knook! This would be the Knook I won in the blog tour sponsored by Leisure Arts. I was surprised at how small they are, but really they're no smaller than an average hook. Here are some pictures.

I haven't had a chance to even open it yet as we've been doing some painting here and I've also finally got round to going through my emergency box as I try to do every hurricane season. I'm a wee bit late but thankfully have not had a need for it. I try to fix up one box with important papers that I can grab and run with if we must leave but from one year to the next I throw updated items in there and it gets too full.

Anyway, that is another topic entirely. LOL

I've moved my craft supplies out of our extra room to make a guest room. It was formerly a cream color and is now sagey (green). I haven't changed the curtains or anything. One step at a time. ;-) Here's a picture, even though it's not crochet.

Have a great weekend!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

what's in a name

2011-08-14T15:40:00.007-05:00

This past week I worked on a crochet project. I deemed this the project from hell. Why? Not because of the project itself. I was happy to do it and the afghan itself was a cinch to put together. The thing was that I didn't have all the information I needed when I began and I didn't think it through well enough as I proceeded. So it was partially my own fault. I'm sure you've all had this kind of problem too, right? *looking at you all hopefully*

What happened was this. My mother asked me if I could make a baby afghan for for her to give as a gift. No problem. I would, of course, be happy to do this for my mom.

I had a few white teddy bear squares (Judith's square with minor adjustments) already made and I had some blue yarn which was easily enough for another five squares. I had some navy I could use for joining. (That is when I discovered the orange in my navy and couldn't use it, so I went to the second navy yarn, which was Red Heart, a worsted yarn, but a little thicker than the other.)

I started making the blue squares. Then I talked to mom again and she mentioned in passing that it would be nice to have the name on the afghan if it wasn't too much trouble. If it was too much trouble, not to worry about it. Now you all have moms. And you know what it means when your mom says that. As do I, but I chose to believe her then. Cos it was going to be a lot of trouble. LOL

However, each subsequent time we spoke she asked about the ghan and if I was going to be able to put the name on it. It became clear that the name was a crucial element of the afghan. Sooooo I had to figure out how to add a name to an afghan that was all but finished. The ghan was to be for my niece and she was going to name her boy-child after my Dad so that is why Mom wanted the name on it. Which is sweet, of course. Quite meaningful.

Had I been smart, I would have put that afghan aside and just made another one with the name worked into a square. That would have been a pain, but not as much of a pain as I ended up having anyway. The other thing was that the name was not "sure". It was "pretty sure", but not positive.

Anyway, I put a plain square in the center thinking I could do a separate piece with the name on it and sew to that square. If I'd been thinking I would done that square in single crochet for cross-stitching later, although the rest of it was in double crochet. My thought was that if the parents changed the name it could be removed.

Well, okay. Sounds simple enough. I made a single crochet rectangle the number of stitches I needed for the name. It was too long. I did one in afghan stitch. That one was fine in size, if it was placed diagonally on the square, but the cross-stitching just didn't really work out so I put my thinking cap on again.

I happened to be on Facebook that day (okay, every day) and I saw some filet crochet bookmarkers at Christal Dines Friend's page. I think you can see them with this link even if you're not on Facebook. If you can't well sorry. You can see other things she's made at her web site, but it's not been updated in a while and the bookmarkers are not on it.

The bookmarkers gave me the idea that maybe I could do a filet thread piece. I first thought of doing it like the bookmarkers with the name going down. Upon doing the math I realized that would be too long for the square I intended to attach it to, even in thread. The squares are 21 rows and 43 stitches across. Thread would have been smaller in size, but I thought still too long. Even the Tunisian piece would have had to be put on diagonally and still just barely fit.

I would have to do it horizontally, which was fine. For this first piece - yes, I said first - I created my own design on graph paper.

Now I don't work much with thread. Those teeny tiny hooks. My eyes. My fingers. Not a good combination. But I found some blue thread in my stash and thought I'd try it out. This was to be done in filet crochet so the foundation chain was somewhere short of a hundred stitches.

This was painstaking work for me. I am very, very slow working in thread. I do have some special steel hooks with large handles. The one I decided to use is the one made by Craft Designs for You for my Crochet Cabana 10th anniversary. It has #4 on it. A lovely hook which worked very well for this purpose. You can see that hook about midway down the page here http://www.crochetcabana.com/hooks3.htm . It's not on the Craft Designs page but the hooks on that page are similar.

I worked almost constantly for 2 days. I was about half through when I realized that blue was the wrong color to use since the center square was a pale blue. The thread was a little bit darker blue. Still, I thought it would be okay and I was not going to lose all this work. To give me credit, I had picked the blue because I did not have any white in my stash. I thought about maybe adding a darker piece behind it in felt or something.

I finished it with only one small error which I was able to fix without too much trouble. Filet is difficult in the sense that your odd rows are worked right to left and your even rows are worked left to right. So you have to remember where you are and pay close attention.

Here is the first result of that piece.

It did fit the area it was made for. The blue looked "okay" but not great against the blue of the ghan. Here is the ghan as it looked at this point (without the added name piece).

As I was thinking about it I thought well, if I had done this in yarn it would have taken me a tenth of the time. LOL Then a light bulb went off in my head and I thought to myself, "Why not?" I had plenty of blue yarn so for the next name piece I created the design in a table in Microsoft Word, then printed it out and used a green highlighter to mark my rows as I went.

I checked with the grandpa of the baby's parents (my brother) and he said this was still the name they were planning to use.

It took me about 2 1/2 hours to do the yarn filet piece, with no errors!

Now what to do with it? I considered a lot of different things, all of which would have meant more work. I considered the amount of time already spent on it and decided enough was enough. LOL

Remember at this point I already had a picot edging on the afghan itself, I attached the yarn name to the top of the afghan, then edged it with the picot beginning right at the spot where it began and ended on the main section of the afghan. It worked out perfectly. Here is the result of that.

It looked okay, but not having the navy edging around it just looked funny to me. I showed it to daughter and she said well, just edge it in navy. Duh. So I did and I like it much better.

So here is the finished ghan. There is a slight ruffling of the edging because, as I said earlier, the Red Heart navy yarn is a little thicker than the light blue, which I think is Pound of Love maybe. In retrospect, maybe I should have skipped 2 instead of 1 but I think it works fine this way.

Wait, I'm not finished. I still had that thread piece. I mean I really worked on that piece and I hated not to use it for SOMETHING. LOL But it looked so plain. So I decided to edge it and maybe it could be used in a frame as a wall hanging.

Just to give you an idea of how slow I am, the edging alone on the thread name took me a bit over two hours to do. Remember that it took me about that long to do the entire name in yarn. A threadie I am not.

I realize the edging probably make it a bit more feminine than it should be, but hey it's a baby. He won't know the difference. :-)

So that's my story. If you read this far, you need to get a life. LOL I appreciate your perseverance.

I hope my niece and baby Austin will enjoy this ghan for many years to come.

Oh, when I talked to her last time, Mom asked for a second ghan for someone else, but this is one I already had completed (from my Etsy shop) and did not need a name so that was not a problem. :-)

Mom had some good news this past week. Her broken leg is fully healed and she will be starting physical therapy hopefully next week. While it won't be a quick or easy thing, it is progress in the forward direction so that is good.

Hope all your crochet projects went smoothly this week.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

patterns for Share a Square

2011-08-10T20:04:00.000-05:00

It's that time again. I've begun work on squares for Share a Square. I doubt I will do 150, but I will certainly do a good number.

I have begun with my very favorite square, which is my daughter's design using the cross-stitch. This pattern and four others are available at my Etsy shop - 5 squares by Kate Smith. She designed the squares and I wrote them up. We have included pages of additional tips as well.

The first group of red squares below were worked to Round 4 then another x-stitch round done. They came out to exactly 6". In fact, all of these are as close to 6" as could be. They are all square even though the angle at which I took the photos makes them look a little off.

This one is worked to pattern but with one color. The last round follows the hdc suggestion.

This one is the same as the one above but with Round 5 in blue.

This one is worked exactly to pattern but uses Red Heart Soft yarn (navy and grey). That yarn is a little thinner so I used dc as my last round. I loved the final product. These colors work well together.

These next three are the V stitch square. The first is Red Heart Super Saver, red and navy. Red never photographs well. I know this. Yet I still use red.

This photo is only slightly better. I wanted to show you the measurement as I know it's hard to tell when just looking at the photos. They can be deceiving depending on the way they are taken.

And here is the V stitch made with Red Heart Soft. It is just a smidge smaller than the red.

Here are some of the other squares made with the different patterns in the packet.

In the pattern packet tips are included to help you get to the size you need. It's a good value, if I do say so myself. :-)

In other news, Red Heart has put out a new yarn called With Love Yarn. I'm anxious to try it. In the meantime, I received my Red Heart Soft and will be making scarves and squares for the next little while.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

orange in my blue

2011-08-08T07:53:00.001-05:00

I received an explanation for the bad yarn I got - the navy with the orange bits. Thought I'd share.

Thank you for your recent inquiry about the reason you may sometimes find a different color fiber in a yarn. Occasionally, two different colors may be processed in the same spinning room at the same time. Fiber from one machine can be accidentally blown into another (for example, if a door is opened at the wrong time). Because the manufacture of yarn is so highly automated, the wrong color can be spun into the yarn and transferred on to the finishing process without being seen. Unless the color migration can be seen on the outside of the skein, there is no way to know that the situation has occurred. And, even at that, occasionally a skein will be missed due to the high volume of product processed and finished in a single day.

So now you know. Basically it is caused by the fact that everything is automated and they are putting out more yarn cause we eager beavers are using it up so fast. So I'm going to extrapolate and say it's our fault, folks. Heheheh

One would think at least this particular problem might be solved by working on only one color at a time. I guess that is not practical. I've never been to a factory where they wind these. Would be interesting to see how it's done. The address on the Coats and Clark web site is in South Carolina. If you live there, maybe they'd give you a tour? If anyone does that, do holler out and post pics. :-)

[Edit: I wanted to add here that they DID send a snail mail follow up on this problem and indicated they would be sending replacement yarn. So kudos to Coats and Clark for taking care of this in such a speedy manner. Also thanks to CrochetBlogger for sending the link to Vickie Howell's tour of the Caron plant. I would think the Coats and Clark would be similar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz-H4yFZd2E ]

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

potholders and scarf

2011-08-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

Here are some potholders made with the new Harrisville loops. This evening my daughter made the one in the upper right and I made the blue one. The other two were made previously.

The small one in the lower left was made using every other peg and is not as stiff, but also probably not as good a potholder. Might make a nice scrubber we were thinking.

Besides the potholders, I finished up another scarf for the Bridge Project. I'm trying to use the Wool Ease I purchased to work on the Knit Your Bit scarves, hence the different color schemes. I think this one came out alright. I had only small balls of some colors so quite a lot of tails. The cream is not a good color for homeless by itself but I think it will do okay mixed with these other colors. It was also the one I had the most of.

Finished size is 6" x 65 1/2" made with an H hook.

I will soon receive the yarn to make more Special Olympic scarves and I also want to get started on some squares for Share a Square. Always something to do, eh?

I was looking for scarf patterns and found that Margaret Hubert has a book of scarves Hooked Scarves: 20 Easy Crochet Projects. I haven't seen it except on the 'net but will have to look at this one. Of course just about any pattern can be worked into a scarf with a bit of imagination and trial and error. That's the fun of it. Figuring out a different pattern for each scarf.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

purple scarf

2011-08-03T14:30:00.000-05:00

Found two skeins of I Love This Yarn - and I really do love this yarn. I had absolutely no trouble with it. Crocheted straight through. The only tails I had to sew in were where I joined the two skeins and my begin/end tails. Yay! Such a nice change.

I used both skeins and made a really long scarf - at least longer than the ones I've been making lately. Finished size is 6 3/4" x 70". Should be long enough to wrap around twice if one has the need to. And look - my camera even caught the purple color!

Good crocheting day!

Besides finishing the above scarf, my new Harrisville loom and loops came in. What a difference good loops make!

It came with three bags of loops and I had purchased an additional bag. There was also the long hooked tool and a crochet hook. The crochet hook is plastic but that is really best as the pegs scratch a steel hook.

The instruction sheet is much much better than the other loom.

This green loom is very similar to the red one I got previously so the looms themselves work pretty much the same. Both are steel. Both have the same number of pegs. Both have just a slight turning at the end of each peg. Very small difference in design, and of course color. I think the corners on one are a little more rounded, but that is not even used to make the potholders.

I made one the regular way and one using every other peg. I did not have a single loop that I couldn't use, unlike the bag of loops I got at Hobby Lobby where about half of them did not work on the loom. Much more pleasant experience.

If you're going to get a loom, or if you already have a loom and need more loops, I highly recommend the Harrisville loops. When I need more, that's what I will be getting. Amazon was pretty quick in getting them to me as well so no complaints there.

Back to my crochet hook now. Hope you're enjoying your day. It's not even raining here today unlike every other day.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

bad yarn and a new scarf

2011-08-01T18:16:00.000-05:00

Remember the Red Heart Soft navy yarn that had the orange in it? I wrote Red Heart and rec'd a reply by snail mail today. They asked that I send them (using the prepaid envelope included) a sample of the defective yarn along with the band from the skein. I have that fixed up and will send out tomorrow.

They also are sending a replacement for the bad skein. Delivery expected to take 3-4 weeks, which is fine. I have ordered more yarn myself since I promised more scarves to the Special Olympics and that is the yarn to be used. Hopefully I won't have any problems with those skeins. This one skein is the only one I had problems with of the previously ordered skeins. The ones I purchased before came from two different places as well.

While waiting to resolve the Navy yarn issue, I worked on a scarf in leftover Wool Ease yarn. The pattern is ... well, there's no pattern. Just straight dc in the colors that I had. Here is the result. I think it turned out okay. This is going to the Bridge project. Finished size is 7 1/2 x 60.

That's about it for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

DW Scarf completed

2011-07-30T19:00:00.000-05:00

Doctor Who crocheted scarf 2 is complete. You might remember that I was working the Season 14 scarf rows as noted on Chris Brimelow's site but using the yarn and colors from Tara Wheeler's Witty Little Knitter site (the Vanna's Choice option).

I used an I hook this time. The finished size is about 10 1/2" x 106". That is 8' 10" which is just shy of the perfect length. The knitted scarf would be 9' including 5" fringe on both sides. Mine does not have the fringe so the scarf itself is probably a bit longer than the original.

If I added fringe it would 9' 8". Still, much closer to the right size than the other one I did, keeping in mind that I used an H hook for that one and it was about 15" short. If I'd used the I hook, it would have been closer.

There are 7 colors I used: Beige, Olive, Charcoal, Brick, Toffee, Burgundy, and Mustard.

Just to be clear, the Who scarves used on set were knitted, not crocheted. Since I don't knit I adapted. I CAN do a wee bit of knitting but would never in my wildest dreams attempt something this extensive. My problem with knitting is that I can do the stitches, but if I err or have to stop and return to it, I am lost. I actually almost completed a dishcloth. Then if you can believe this, I messed up on the finish off - cast off I think it is called in knitting - and ended up ripping the whole thing back.

Back to crocheting, I finished making the blue squares and putting them together for the babyghan. The person who asked for this mentioned putting a name on it. I kept the center square blank in case I decided to do this. I didn't promise it, but I know she really wants it. I was thinking perhaps of making a separate piece - like a heart or star or rectangle or something, with the name on it and sewing it to the center square. The name is not etched in stone yet as the baby has not been born. However she would like to give the ghan as soon as it is done, so I figured if it has the name on something that is removable and the name changes, not as big a problem.

I didn't measure it yet, but still have the tails to tuck in. The edging is a round of navy and then a round of the light blue. The white squares were made a while back. The blue ones are what I've been working on this past week.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

bad skein / metal loom / babyghan

2011-07-27T12:04:00.000-05:00

Let's get the bad news over with first.

I picked up my last skein of Red Heart Soft Navy and had not gotten too very far when I noticed a large bit of orange in my blue. Okay, not a problem. This has happened before to me with various yarns and usually it is one or two small bits which I can either pick at until I get most of it or cut it out and continue. This time, I cut it off the strand and continued.

Then I got another one. And another one. Then I ripped back my project and started pulling out yarn. It was filled with orange bits. No, this is not a variegated yarn. But it is a BAD skein of yarn. heh

It's unusable for any project except perhaps pet pads. Pets don't care if there is orange in their blue.You'd think their quality control would have seen this. It's sooo obvious the bright orange in the dark blue. Maybe it is automated? I don't know.

I have sent off a note to Red Heart to let them know. If you have this yarn and would happen to have this particular lot, do let me know if you have any problems with it. As you know, I recently made 15 scarves with no problem but I don't know what the lot was for them. I doubt I have any labels lying around still. Sometimes Red Heart will ask that you return the skein to them, so I can't use it for anything until I hear from them, not that I would want to anyway.

Since I couldn't work on that, I decided to try out the loom I got in the mail yesterday. It's one of those metal looms and I bought it from Amazon. POT HOLDER weaving LOOM & loops colored FABRIC kid NEW

The instructions that come with the loom, forget those. They are pertooey. Basically you stretch a loop across each

The loops that come with the kit are okay. I bought some loops from Hobby Lobby. Those were also pertooey. About half or more of them are too short to work with this loom.

I think I am going to buy some Harrisville loops (or maybe a smaller bag ) and see if they work better. I remember seeing some loops at Walmart but I don't remember what kind they were. Oh, I just noticed the Schylling that makes the loom I presently have offers refill loops. They are a little rough, but they do fit the loom well. Maybe I'll get a bag of each and see which works best. Harrisville also makes its own looms Harrisville Designs Potholder (or Harrisville Designs Potholder Deluxe. I wonder if they are different. I felt the loom I have could have had longer tines or pegs or prongs or whatever you call those things. The loops would fall off especially on the last round.

One thing I will tell you is that it is fun at first, but as you come to the last loops, it is so tight that it is a chore rather than fun. To combat this, decided to leave the last row of metal prongs undone. That gives you a little more room to work. You could also try skipping a prong. I think I'm going to try that with these other loops which are very thick. I used a crochet hook to work off the loops.

Anyway, here are my results. I had hoped to make washcloths, but these are too thick and stiff for that. They will make good potholders though.

In addition to the potholders, I made some blue teddy bear squares to go with the white ones I made a while back. I intend to edge each square with a medium or dark blue and assemble them.

Guess that's it for me.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

baby hat in stretch sock yarn

2011-07-24T21:53:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to try this and finally sat down and did it. I purchased some stretch sock yarn some time ago and I was thinking that it might be a good yarn to use for tiny babies (or any babies) because it could stretch to fit their little heads a bit without discomfort. I have not tried it on any little heads, but I will send it off and hope for some feedback.

This is #1 super fine Patons Stretch Sock yarn. I used an F hook. The yarn label recommends a D. The yarn composition is 41% cotton, 39% wool, 13% nylon, and 7% elastic. I am wondering about the wool content now that I think about it.

It is not as soft as say Red Heart Soft but it is not as rough as Red Heart Super Saver.

If anyone has used the stretch sock yarn for hats, I would love to hear about your results and what you think about it. To give an idea of size, here is the hat on top of the skein. :-) The skein is 1.75 oz. so not huge.

As I was going through the 'net looking for various things, I happened across this beautiful pattern by Kim Guzman. It's a personalized baby afghan. I've seen it before, but happened across it again. We've had so many new babies in my extended family. I really should make one of these and see how it comes out. Maybe for my first grandchild? No, no. None are expected any time soon. Just thinking ahead. I've already got several ghans put aside for the grands.

So many projects in the back of my head. I'm getting to that point of oh my, what do I hit next? So much to do.

On my to-do list:
Finish Doctor Who scarf
15 Special Olympics scarves promised (need yarn for this)
wool scarves for the Bridge Project
Share a Square 6" squares (up to 150)
lapghans for nursing home
Knit Your Bit scarves
HAP rectangles
Chain Reaction squares (when the video comes in)
special request project
and whatever else I'm forgetting ... (like the UFOs in my box)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

DW scarf and Chain Reaction afghan

2011-07-21T15:06:00.001-05:00

Here is the progress on my Doctor Who scarf from Chris Brimelow's pattern, using Vanna's Choice yarns. I am exactly half done as far as the number of stripes (though the stripes are not of equal length).

I will keep you posted on the progress. As I noted before, it really goes pretty quickly considering it is worked in all single crochet.

I'm using an I hook this time. Last time I used an H I believe.

I'm also VERY excited to share that the latest Crochet Me newsletter has information on the very afghan I was just telling you all about - the Chain Reaction - the one I saw in the magazine at Booksamillion. You can get the pattern (free but you have to register there) here http://www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/67334/showcontent.aspx .

The newsletter also says you can crochet along with them on the Knitting Daily TV show. The first show of the 700 series begins July 21. I'm not sure about channel info but you can see a brief clip of what's to come in this video. (You can see if the show plays in your area on this page. )

If the show doesn't play in your area (sadly it doesn't play in mine) or you miss a show or for whatever reason you can't get to see them all, you can purchase the entire season here or wait for Amazon to get it. For the Chain Reaction afghan square a long, it is season #700. I would dearly love to do this afghan as part of the CAL. (Amazon didn't have #700 in my search but they did have the other seasons. Search Amazon.com for knitting daily series I'm thinking they may have it after it airs.

[Added note: I found a spot where you can order JUST the chain reaction scarf CAL as either a download or physical DVD. How cool is that? Half the price of the other DVDs. If that link doesn't work, just go to http://www.interweavestore.com/ and click on DVDs/videos in the crochet section.]

Anyway, I'm excited about it. Unfortunately, I can only do one thing at a time - first the Who scarf, then we'll see which of the half dozen projects gets my time. There is this Chain Reaction pattern, the Special Olympic scarves, and the Share a Square which has started up again. All worthy projects. Plus I have some wool yarn that I want to use for Bridge scarves. I also want to make more Knit Your Bit scarves, and rectangles for HAP.

So many projects, so little time! Maybe I can combine the two. The Chain Reaction squares are 12" (by different designers) but perhaps I can adjust a few of them to 6" for SAS. We'll see how that goes. :-) If not, I did want to do more lapghans for the nursing home.

Have a great weekend!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Special Olympics Louisiana

2011-07-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I planned to deliver the scarves I've made so far to the Special Olympics Louisiana office in Hammond. I did do that and here is a photo as proof.

This is a picture taken by SO staff member Tiffany. We did take some photos with my camera, but I thought hers was the best so I'm borrowing it from the Facebook page. :-) They wanted a picture featuring the scarves, so those are two of the ones I made. I gave it back when the photo op was done.

The young man pictured sits at the desk as you enter and welcomes guests.He was working on the computer as well so I think he stays busy!

The door was locked so I was glad I had e-mailed earlier in the week to let them know I was coming and make sure the office would be open.

My box of scarves was the first they've received. I also mailed in the first scarves last year. Oh my! A tradition. Heh I'll have to be sure to get on the ball next year.

Tiffany was the sweetest thing. She took us all around the facility, giving hubby and I the grand tour. We saw all of the offices and warehouse and the meeting room. There was a photo of the very first Special Olympic athletes. Very special.

There was also a chart showing the different logos. Louisiana office had a part in that design, though I can't remember the details Tiffany gave about that. I do remember the design went through several incarnations as there were at least four in the picture we saw.

We said howdy to those folks who were in the offices. Some were out of town tending to various parts of the business. We also met Dana, who hails from my part of the world and now works there at the SO office. It was unexpected to meet someone originally from here working over there. She actually knows my neighbor well. Small world.

The picture at left was not one of those I took, but rather one that Tiffany took. Hers was the best of the lot, so I'm borrowing it from the Facebook page. :-)

During our tour we received T-shirts commemorating our visit.

All in all, it was a great trip and I'm so glad to be a part of this project. You can follow Special Olympics Louisiana on Facebook as well as the Scarves for Special Olympics project.

Information on how to participate in this project, and specifically Louisiana, can be found at the main web site, http://www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org/states/view/18 .

Remember that the colors are:
Red Heart Super Saver Cherry Red 0319
Red Heart Super Saver Soft Navy 0387
Red Heart Soft Navy 4604
Red Heart Soft Really Red 9925

PLEASE NOTE: You can choose to work with the Red Heart Super Saver or Red Heart Soft Yarns - or a combination of both - please just use both a red and a blue in your scarf design!

Length: between 54" and 60" long. Please include fringe or other adornments within these measurements.

Width: Approximately 6 inches wide

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

HOBBY LOBBY!

2011-07-17T14:47:00.001-05:00

Hubby and I paid a visit to Hobby Lobby yesterday. Here's what I came back with despite not having a coupon for 40% off as we usually do. (This is just my stuff. Hubby bought stuff too.)

Links are generally to the Amazon store, but you might check around to get the best bang for your buck. Often Amazon has the cheapest price. There's something to be said for walking into a physical store and actually handing items, but one does buy more than one intends! :-)

The green and blue thing is an interesting little item. It is an ergonomic crochet handle for aluminum hooks.

get your crochet hook and put the proper rubber ring on it

I believe I used a J hook to test it.

slide your hook in from the bottom of the green piece

connect the two pieces, lining up the little knobby thing

You have rubber pieces with different size holes for the different hooks. I put mine in a plastic bag as you can see, so I wouldn't lose them - unless I lose the plastic bag, which could well happen. LOL

When I searched for this at Amazon, I was reminded of my other ergonomic handle set that came with hooks as well - Crochet Tools I Medium Crochet Hooks & Handles Set. They also has this wooden one which I would like to have just cos it looks cool. Ergonomic Handle For Boye 6402 Steel Crochet Set-Wood

I also got 2 packs of face paint because I couldn't decide which one I should get. This is for Halloween when I will become Amy Pond - no snickering (I know I'm not as thin or cute as Karen Gillan). LOL I plan to put hash marks on my body with this paint. Both packs were 2.99 each at Hobby Lobby.

There are three skeins of chunky yarn. It is Premier Serenity yarn from the Deborah Norville collection in the color Fudge. I got these for working on the long loom.

I also got a small denim bag and an apron which I am going to beg daughter to decorate for me.

There were some free pattern papers which caught my eye as well as the leaflet Make One For Baby (Leisure Arts #2756), which has been on my Amazon wishlist for a while. I saw it and decided to get it right then. It is the same price at Amazon and if you order with other things you get free shipping which is what I probably should have done. heh

A long time ago, in another lifetime, I made clown crayon holders. I've never been able to find those rubber clown faces again so I thought I'd get a doll and see if it was possible to do something similar with it. We'll see how that works out.

I also picked up a bunch of plastic cabone rings and gold rings of various sizes. Often we go to my stash to search out things to use in a project that comes to mind, but wasn't planned beforehand. This is the type of thing I like to have on hand for those times. I put a link to Hobby Lobby because Amazon was ridiculously over priced.

You can also see a bag of cotton loops similar to Harrisville Designs Cotton Loops. The Harrisville bag makes two potholders. If you want to make more you can buy a bigger bag Harrisville 100% cotton potholder loops - makes 10. I bought these with the intent of making dish/wash cloths on one of those metal looms. I didn't get the kit with the loom because I thought I already had one. I haven't found it yet though. I also wanted specifically COTTON loops and a METAL frame like this one POT HOLDER weaving LOOM & loops colored FABRIC kid NEW, not the plastic ones. The kit doesn't say if the loops are nylon or cotton though. They had extra nylon loops in the store, but I didn't want those. I thought the cotton would be thicker, sturdier, and better for washing purposes.

I was looking for the coilless safety pins like these Darice Jewelry Designer 2-1/4 Inch French Jewelry Pins - 50PK/Nickel but couldn't find them and decided to get the plastic stitch markers instead. I have already misplaced them. LOL When I find them, I'll take a picture. They look like short fat diaper pins

I also got daughter a Crochet lite hook (not pictured) as a gift for taking care of Jack while we were gone.

When I returned from the Hobby Lobby trip, my Joann order had arrived. This is the order I made using the gift certificate I received from Sandy over at the Bridge and Beyond in a contest. I made good use of it though not for yarn as I'd thought I would. :-) Not pictured is the cake decorating kit I got for my daughter.

You can see the scarf mesh which I am very anxious to try. There is also a fleur de lis stencil kit - big in this area for New Orleans and the Saints football team. You can also see the Provo Craft Knifty Knitter Loom Clip .

There is the handi tool Susan Bates Silvalume Handi Toolwhich has a needle on one end and a hook on the other. It is smaller than I thought it would be. The needle is a size 3 it says. The hooks is like a tiny steel hook maybe a size 00 or a B hook (that is just a guess - I have no idea the actual hook size) but it is aluminum. It is 4" long.

Also there is a pencil coloring kit. I have always loved to color, as a child and as an adult though I haven't had much occasion to do it of late. Thought I'd give this a try as it was not very expensive.

Now let me tell you about what I didn't buy but I came close to buying and hope to get on another trip. There was Loom Knitting Primer: A Beginner's Guide to Knitting on a Loom which I've gotten through the library and found helpful. I've seen it before, but wanted to do a bit more looming before I invest.

I also actually put in my hands a bamboo handle hook, but decided against it this trip. I think it was the Bates ones. Susan Bates Bamboo Handle / Steelite Head Crochet Hooks (5.50")

Besides Hobby Lobby, we went to Booksamillion where I noted down another book called The Encyclopedia Of Crochet Techniques: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Unique Fashions and Accessories by Jan Eaton. There are two version of this book, published just months apart. One is a hardcover so I guess the other is a paperback.

There are so many great beginner books out. I've been impressed with each one for different reasons. I don't remember exactly what I liked about this book, but I do remember that she suggested going into the back hump of the foundation chain which is how I like to do it also.

While at Booksamilion, I also picked up a copy of Crochet World which had some patterns that interested me. I looked at the Interweave Crochet magazine as well. There was an edging I thought was interesting (p. 62 the Chain Reaction Afghan project). If the entire afghan pattern had been there I probably would have purchased it, but for just the edging, and considering that I already had picked up a number of items plus what my husband bought, I decided against it. It's a great magazine though. I enjoyed looking through it as well as the Crochet Today. That day, Crochet World won out, but another day it might be one of the others. :-)

I think that's it. I had so much fun shopping that I didn't accomplish any actual crocheting this weekend. Maybe tonight.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

DW scarf in progress

2011-07-16T08:00:00.043-05:00

I've begun work on the new Doctor Who scarf. This is what I have accomplished so far.

It is about 11" wide, which is what Chris says it should be at his site. We'll see what the length comes out to be when it's done. I could do all the math, but seriously my brain is too tired for that. LOL

I am using an I hook and Vanna's Choice yarn. I chained 36, the same as the previous one, but with the I hook I was able to get the width right. I think I used an H hook before. On Tara's site she notes that each season's scarf was a different width so not as crucial to get it exactly right I think.

I make no guarantees that this will be an exact duplicate of Doctor #4's scarf (well, it can't be since his was knitted), but it will suffice for my purposes. It really goes pretty quickly even though it is in single crochet. There is no "pattern" stitch to worry about. You just go right along, changing colors when necessary.

There are seven colors and I bought two of each color except beige. I have three of beige. Hopefully that will be enough. If I use all of that yarn, that is 2 x 6 = 12 and 3 x 1 = 3, total 15 skeins at approximately $3 (retail is $4.99 but I can usually find it for 2.99) = $45.

The previous scarf was cheaper to make as it called for 2 skeins of beige and olive and one of the other five colors. So that is 9 skeins at $3 which would be $27.

Of course I may not use all the skeins or I may run out and need more. I'll just have to see how it goes.

Hmm I may just have to make one of each season's scarves. Oh, maybe in each yarn listed at Tara's Witty Knitter site. Chris mixes yarns to get the right color and I'd rather use one type of yarn in my scarves. At least that is what I feel today. No telling what I will decide later. LOL

There is a spot of turning up at the corner so it probably could use a blocking, but I don't generally bother with that. There is an excellent article on blocking acrylic yarns here and here . Tara has care instructions on her site but she says you cannot block acrylic, which is not true. Also, acrylic will not melt in the dryer. I dry my afghans all the time. Wool will felt if you wash it in the washer. Voice of experience. :-)

Anyway, Doctor Who scarf. In progress. :-)

Sandie

Lily Chin Mosaic Crochet

2011-07-15T07:00:00.026-05:00

Mosaic Crochet sample

I finally got to finish watching Lily Chin's Mosaic Crochet DVD. They did a really nice job on this DVD!

Here is a sample piece I worked of some of the stitches demonstrated.

If you don't want a DVD, Lily Chin does have a leaflet Lily Chin's Mosaic Magic (Leisure Arts #4229). I don't have the leaflet, but I do have her book Mosaic Magic : Afghans Made Easy. I haven't made anything from it yet though.

What is Mosaic Crochet? That is the first question you probably want answered and the first thing she covers. In the video, Lily Chin says that mosaic crochet is based on the principles of mosaic knitting. Only one color is worked at a time and you do stripes of two rows of each color. In crochet, you go downwards with the new color to cover up old color. You don't work into a stitch but work 3 rows below the stitch. Only right side rows have patterning.

To put it briefly, I would add that it is a method of crochet where you use sc, long and/or post stitches, and color to create pleasing textural patterns. (I have a brief tutorial on the long stitch here. This is also on my to-do list for videos but you can probably find one by someone else at YouTube.)

Basically, in Mosaic Crochet most of the stitches are worked over 3 stitches and 3 rows down using two colors. You start your piece with one row of the first color, then two rows of the second color, and go back to your first color to begin your "mosaic" row. So you are working Color B into Color B. However, she also demonstrates how to use just one color and also three colors.

There is one that is worked over 5 stitches called chicken feet. I have to agree that it does look like chicken feet. LOL

You are working in single crochet and long double crochet for the most part though I found that in some cases I preferred to use a triple crochet, but then my double crochets run a little short.

Lily Chin does an excellent job of explaining each stitch clearly and thoroughly. The video camera is perfectly placed so you can see just what she is doing. At some points they move in a bit close to give a different angle. For each stitch she demonstrates the procedure multiple times.

She starts at the beginning with the slip knot and chain. She goes into the back hump or middle part of the chain (as I do) for her beginning foundation chain. She also gives a complete demonstration of how to work both the sc and the foundation chain at one time which she calls the foundationless single crochet. I have a tutorial at the Cabana on this method using different stitches - the chainless foundation.

She explains the difference between mosaic knitting and mosaic crochet, which I found interesting.

After you learn the stitches, she shows you how they can be used in a project, with variations in color and also combining several stitches that you have previously learned into one project.

You will notice that right at the start she begins by leaving a tiny little beginning strand. She doesn't mention it, but I know from reading another of her books that she weaves that strand in later. What she does is she weaves the needle where she wants the tail to go, then threads it and pulls it through. I am too paranoid to do that. I always leave a super long tail and sew much of it in going in different directions. :-)

In another spot there was a huge knot in her yarn. She did not stop her work or even mention it, but just continued working. I cringed. I don't know if that was because she was filming and couldn't stop or because this was just a sample piece and it wasn't important in the scheme of things, or if that is what she would normally do. As I said, it wasn't mentioned and I didn't notice it on the worked piece. Maybe they cut it out during a break and just continued...?

Some of the examples had cute names, such as the one called Mardi Gras, made with silver and black yarn. It is in the chapter on X stitch variations, almost to the 2 minute mark. I am noting that because I want to go back to it. The finished piece is reminiscent of the fleur de lis. She has an afghan using this pattern in the book Mosaic Magic : Afghans Made Easy. In fact, I think many of the projects shown on the DVD are in this book - at least they looked similar to me.

Then there is another she calls Roman numerals because it uses an I, a V and an X. If you know your Roman numerals you know that I is one, V is 5, and X is 10.

Many many projects are shown. Beautiful work. Great color use.

The video chapters include the I Drop, V Stitch, Lopsided V Stitch, Slashes, X Stitch, Chicken Feet, Post Stitches, Tunisian Stitch, and Designing on the Computer. Each chapter has a few additional sections in it. There is also a section that discusses using Mosaic Crochet in garments, shaping, sleeves, etc. She does not give a tutorial on how to do these, but shows a number of examples.

If my ears were working right, I think she said purple when she meant blue at the beginning of the Tunisian section. Minor gaff if I am right in what I heard. I've made similar errors in my own videos and heard them in others as well. Sometimes our voice doesn't say what our brains are thinking.

There is a section on how to plan your pieces with the compute which is very interesting.

Each section is fairly short so you could watch each even if you have only a short amount of time if you are not going to work it as you watch.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

granny square blue scarf

2011-07-14T08:19:00.000-05:00

Here is the reversed granny square scarf. Three round grannies with a three round edging. You do have to vary your shells around the joins. Three double crochets is too much in that area. Each round is a little different in how you approach it.

Finished size is 6" x 56".

I used an H hook and made 11 squares as in the previous scarf. Then I joined them using the continuous join.

That is #15 and all the scarves are in plastic bags ready for transport, hopefully tomorrow.

Now I am going to change gears and make that second Doctor Who scarf I wanted to try. I'm going to use Chris Brimelow's pattern this time, with the same Vanna's Choice yarn colors I used in the previous one. (Chris gives different suggestions on his site)

As always I'll keep you posted. I think when I return to the Special Olympic scarves I will be trying the other yarn suggestion Red Heart Super Saver – 387 Soft Navy, Red Heart Super Saver – 319 Cherry Red. These yarns are more readily available locally which is a plus.

For the previous scarves I used Red Heart Soft – 4604 Navy, Red Heart Soft – 9925 Really Red. These were okay but I got a number of thick sections and more than I like of tied together bits. Of course that can happen with any yarn and I may have the same problems with the RHSS. Just fyi, if you're trying to decide which to use, the RH Soft is similar to the Simply Soft yarns IMHO. It has a sheen to it and is a tad thinner than the Super Saver.

Now I'm off to watch a bit more Lily Chin.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

granny square scarf

2011-07-13T06:30:00.000-05:00

#14 is a granny square scarf. With an H hook, I made 11 three-round grannies, joined them with a continuous join, and then added two more rounds of edging. In other words, three round grannies and three rounds of edging.

Finished size is 6" x 56 1/2". The trick in this one was to get within the required size knowing that a good part of that would be edging. I'm happy to say I was successful in that.

The squares were about 3 1/2" individually.

The next one will be blue squares with a red border. I've already got 8 squares made. :-)

I didn't get to watch any more of the Lily Chin video today as I had to take my dog to the vet. He's had his yearly checkup with the added bonus of a flea allergy. Treating that with antihistamines, anti-inflammatory, and topical flea stuff. He's been on heartworm/flea pills since a puppy.

Anyway, I digress. This one is easy if you know how to make granny squares.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

striped scarf

2011-07-12T10:30:00.002-05:00

This is a pretty simple scarf. Plain double crochet in alternating colors or red and blue, two rows each so I could carry up the yarn. I used an I hook for the body and an H for the edging.

I then worked a sc all around, followed by my current favorite (sc, ch 2, sc, sk 1) in same st.

Finished size 6" x 61". The edging made it a little longer than I'd anticipated. (I put a call in and they said the extra inch is okay.) It needed an edging to get it to the 6" and since it is a pattern I had to do xx number of rows to get it to come out. I worked 106 rows but probably should have stopped at 102 (so I could begin and end on red).

This week I received my copy of the video Mosaic Crochet (Lily Chin) and I have begun watching it, but since I'm crocheting along, it's taking me longer than the 2+ hours - remember she is the fastest crocheter! heh

I will review when I'm done, but it might not be until next week as I'm working on SO scarves so I can deliver them Friday. My goal was to have half done, then deliver, which would be 15. I think I have 13 finished and one in progress so I may be just shy of my goal.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Jacob's Ladder scarf

2011-07-08T16:11:00.000-05:00

Here's another Jacob's Ladder scarf. I'm trying to use more blue now since I've done so many where the focal was the red.

Finished size is 6" x 60". I used an I hook. 8dc, ch 8, 8 dc.

For the edging, I worked one round of sc and one round of faux picot (sc, ch 2, sc, sk 1) in same stitch.

That's it!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

granny square and ruffle scarf

2011-07-06T19:11:00.000-05:00

This scarf is a joint effort between my friend Fran and myself. Fran made the squares and sent them to me over a period of time. I assembled them using the continuous join method and will be sending the completed scarf out tomorrow to Threads of Compassion.

Finished size is 8" x 65". The edging is Red Heart dark teal.

Going along with Fran's scarf is this one I made earlier in the year. This is the ruffled scarf. I made a video a couple of months ago to demonstrate how I did it. The video is in two parts. Here is part one. You can find part 2 at my YouTube channel here.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

book reviews

2011-07-05T11:00:00.001-05:00

I borrowed two crochet books from the library and wanted to share my thoughts on them to help you decide if you might like these books. I enjoyed both books and each has different qualities to recommend them.

Both books that I had are in hardcover and spiral binding, making it easy to open the book and look at both pages. I like spiral bound books myself so I took this as a plus.

The first book is Crochet: 200 Q and A by Rita Taylor. This book is written in question and answer format and I do believe it covers the majority of questions a new crocheter (and sometimes a more experienced one too) might ask. The very first question is "What is crochet?" The second is "What is the difference between knitting and crochet?" These are questions I see all the time. There are photographs with many of the answers and there are special tips scattered throughout as needed. I think the author must also be a knitter as she uses knitting terms in some questions - such as "How do I cast on..." and "how do I bind off ..."

Where needed the answer includes a "how to" section. Most answers are completed on one page and some pages have two questions and answers. There are some charts in the back

There is a brief Table of Contents for the entire book with chapter titles, then an individual table of contents appears before each section. The main titles include tools and materials, how to start, basic stitches, decorative stitches, edgings, inserts, and braids, shaping, color work, working in the round, crochet lace, following pattern instructions, other types of crochet, and finishing touches.

I read the entire book from Question 1 to Question 200 and found it very interesting and informative. I was familiar with most of the items discussed but for a new crocheter I think this might be a very useful tool.

[Addition: I just discovered a later edition - 2010 - by the same author called Crochet: 200 Questions Answered. Rita Taylor. I have not seen this book in person but it has the same number of pages as the 2009 version. It is also a paperback, not a spiral bound hardback, and is more expensive.]

The second book is Crochet the Complete Guide by Jane Davis. While this book contains some of the same information, the format is completely different. There are only 3 chapters but the Table of Contents breaks down the chapters by topic. The three main chapters are Crochet Basics, Stitch Patterns, and Basic Projects.

The first section includes a very comprehensive listing of different types of yarn. I found this very interesting and devoured it, but then I believe you can't have too much yarn! LOL I enjoyed reading about the different types and where they come from.

The info on hooks is not as comprehensive with just a simple notation on what a basic hook is (not touching on the specialty hooks), though there is an anatomy on the hook which is very good. There is info on other tools needed in the pursuit of crochet.

The section on Basic Crochet Techniques gives the name of the stitch, the abbreviation for it, and the symbol used for that stitch. I really liked that. In other words it would have "Half Double Crochet (hdc) T". Very useful information especially for someone interested in symbol crochet.

In listing the types of crochet, she only says there are two categories - yarn and thread - and the types listed are filet, Irish, freeform, and Tunisian. If you run by Crochet with Dee, you can see a most comprehensive list of the types of crochet available to us today along with a description of each. I've thought of adding a simple listing to Crochet Cabana as I think that topic is also fascinating. I don't work all of these so unless I take the time to put them into practice, I couldn't expand on them with all the info Dee has. There were a few types listed in the first book by Rita Taylor that were not listed at Dee's, but Dee has more types.

The stitch patterns give a photo, brief instructions and the pattern in symbols. This is the bulk of the book, giving 162 patterns. Then there are a few project patterns - bag, scarf, hat, blouse, sweater, bracelets and granny square coaster.

There is a Glossary, an index, and several charts including a metric conversion chart which would be most helpful to me.

My favorite parts of this book is the yarn section and the anatomy of the hook.

If you're looking for reference books, either as a new crocheter, or as an instructor with a need for reference books to recommend to students, I don't think you can go wrong with these two. Even though I've been crocheting many years, I like to have a few "beginner" books on hand for reference as well.

In addition to reading crochet books, I spent Friday through Monday working on red, white, and blue saltines, yo-yos, and granny's daughters. These are going to Dawn (over at Bev's Charity Challenge) to make into ghans for veterans.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Jacob's Ladder in blue

2011-07-03T08:00:00.002-05:00

Here's the blue Jacob's Ladder scarf.I know it's hard to see the cable/ladder in the center with this dark blue.

I used the 8 dc, ch 8, 8 dc pattern again. Ch 26 to start. For the edging, one round hdc in red and the second in sc in blue. If you work tightly you could use hdc for the second round. I don't think I would have gone much over if I'd done that.

You might like to review Beth Ham's pattern for the Jacob's Ladder, and also the video at Hooked on Needles. Beth's video shows a photo of her Jacob's Ladder completed afghan, but doesn't go into the specifics of how to make it. She gives the specifics on the pattern page. It's a beautiful afghan if you want to see it. It is at about 7:30 on the video.

Well, I guess I should link to my own video, eh?

Finished size of this scarf about 6" x 58 1/2".

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Red Heart Boutique Doodle

2011-07-02T07:06:00.002-05:00

I received my Red Heart Boutique Doodle yarn. How much fun is this!! In just five or ten minutes I had completed a scarf with nothing but my hands and the yarn.

The bad thing about this is that in just five or ten minutes I had completed a scarf! LOL I will blow through this yarn in no time. LOL

For the pictured scarf I used less than a full skein of each of two colors and it is really long (I didn't measure it but it was longer than I am tall). It is extremely warm and soft and cushy. If you need a gift for someone who lives in a warm climate, here's your ticket.

Now I haven't washed it or anything like that. It came in. I pulled it out of the box, untangled it, made the scarf and presented it to my daughter. All of that in less than a half hour.

It comes in 7 colors - black, cream, aqua, purple, teal, lime and hot pink. Great colors for youth. The care instructions say to "machine wash, dry flat, do not bleach, do not iron, do not dry clea". Yarn content is 65% Acrylic, 25% Wool, 10% Nylon. (So if allergic to wool, take care.) Skeins are almost 12 yards and a bit over 5 ounces.

The yarn at Knitting Warehouse was 5.99/skein.

This would be a great yarn to use with groups like Girl Scouts and 4-H. They could make scarves for say a women's shelter. I don't know if men would enjoy the "fluffiness" of it as a fashion statement, but I'll bet anyone in the elements would like the warmth.

If I can figure out what to do with it, I'd definitely make more of these. It was a lot of fun to play with. I'll have to see how it joins together. I would suggest not pulling too tightly on it as it does pull apart if you jerk on it too hard.

I think it would make a really soft, cushy rug with a backing so you don't slip and slide - unless that's the kind of carpet you're wanting. heh

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

blue v stitch scaf

2011-07-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

I've been using up the red yarn really fast so I decided I'd better do more with the blue. Apparently, I'm more of a red gal. :-) Also, the blue being so dark it's harder on my eyes.

Anyway, here is the first of my blue efforts. I worked the V stitch as in the previous scarf, but reversing the colors.

Finished size is 6" x 58 1/2".

The V stitch scarf is so quick and easy! If you've never made one, I recommend it. If you don't like the three round edging, you can just use a longer foundation chain.

Next up will be a blue Jacob's Ladder. I happened across a web site that had a video on a Jacob's Ladder scarf. Mary Grace at Hooked on Needles does things a little differently than I do on the top and bottom finishing, but I like to mix it up now and then so I thought you might also want to take a look and try her way as well. I added a couple of notations to my own video and a link in the notes to her page.

I am quite aware that I don't know everything and my way may not always be the right or best way, so don't hesitate to search out other methods and techniques to try as well. If I inspire you to go further, that's okay with me too.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

v stitch scarf

2011-06-29T14:20:00.000-05:00

Next up is a V-stitch scarf. It is made the same as Kate's V Stitch Scarf, but thinner and with different color use.

Finished size is 6" x 57 1/2".

With an I hook I chained 19 and made the entire center section in red. This came out to about 4". Continuing with red, I then worked a round of sc. For the next round, I grabbed the blue and worked (V stitch, skip 2) all around. I started off on a side stitch because I hadn't decided how I wanted to work the corners yet.

When I got to the corner, I decided on (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, dc).

Then I finished off the blue and picked up the red again. I worked sc all around, but in the corners I went a little bit different. I wanted a more rounded edging so I worked 2 sc in the three middle stitches. I just worked it by eye-balling it and seeing which stitches would work best in that corner. IOW between the stitch or in the stitch. (As you k now, red is terrible color for photography - at least for me - so the photo is not as clear as I might like.)

I liked the way this worked out. The finished scarf looks just the way I intended. Hope the recipient likes it too! Now I need to work on some blue scarves as I have a lot of blue skeins left and not too many reds.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Randy Cavaliere designs

2011-06-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

I thought I had posted this, but I found it in my drafts. *rolls eyes at self*. I'm posting it now to give you something to enjoy while I finish my next scarf.

I got a new Herrschners catalog in and I forced myself not to look at it. LOL Then I got an e-mail from my good friend Randy Cavaliere saying that she had two patterns in the catalog! Well, you know what I had to do immediately! :-)

I had to share it with you all so you can rejoice with us.

Both patterns are in kits on p. 35 of the paper catalog with the granny ripple afghan on the front in fall colors.

The first is Kids' Fun Time Blanket (CH201114). It looks like plaids and is worked using bobbins at the color changes.

The second is Kids' Crochet Blanket (CH200113). This is a very bright, colorful afghan that any kid would love. Finished size according to the catalog is 28 x 28, a great carry along blanket for a child.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Spider Scarf 3 / SO Scarf 8

2011-06-27T21:42:00.000-05:00

Yes, I admit I did another Spider Scarf. LOL I had to do one where I changed color every spider. I couldn't help myself. But that's it. I'm done with spiders. Probably. For now. It really is such an easy pattern to do...

Finished size is approximately 6" x 60 1/2".

There are 11 spiders in this one. The reason for that is that each different color spider begins and ends with 2 dc. The previous ones which were done in one color had 2 dc between each spider. So now there are actually 4 dc between each color which means 20 extra dc which equal two more spiders. So instead of 13 we need 11 to get to about the same size. Which is okay because you have to cut yarn between each which gives you tails to weave in. You know how I love to do that. NOT.

I have found the blue yarn is a tiny bit thinner than the red. Just a teeny tiny bit.

Anyway, you want details. Well, I did this one pretty much like the last one except for the color scheme. Ch 21 with an I hook. 5 dc on either end of the spider rows and, as already noted, 2 dc rows before and after the spider. Not counting the dc rows, the first and last row use triple crochet in the center and the middle rows use sc. So if you know sc, dc, and triple crochet, you're set. Each spider takes 10 rows the way I'm working it.

The edging is one round sc in red, then attach blue for the faux picot round which is (sc, ch 3, sc, sk 1) in same st.

Now I know that spiders have 8 legs and these things have more than 8 "legs" but my spiders are just very special ones. :-)

It sounds complex but it really isn't once you get the hang of it. If I made three of them, it can't be that hard. :-)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Spider scarf 2 / so scarf 7

2011-06-25T22:38:00.000-05:00

Another spider scarf done.

I adapted my adaptation for this one and I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

I used a chain of 21 and worked 5 dc on either side of the spider. Two rows of dc between each spider. The edging is one round of sc, then one round of (sc, ch 2, sc, sk 1) in each stitch around.

Finished size is 6" x 58 1/2". The first spider scarf was longer because of the additional edging rounds.

If you have the book Quick and Cozy Afghans (or can get it from library) and are trying to adapt the pattern and have trouble, holler out. I'll help if I can.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

spider scarf

2011-06-24T21:25:00.000-05:00

I'm calling this scarf my spider scarf because that is what it reminds me of. I saw a similar technique in a scarf at Ravelry and then remembered I had seen another similar one Quick and Cozy Afghans (Leisure Arts #102626) . That pattern is for an afghan called Lacy Blocks and is worked in one piece. It is the first one in the book.

I adapted the one in the book, adding an edging around the center focal piece. The pattern uses chains, single crochet, double crochet, and triple crochet.

Finished size was 6" x 60 1/2". I used an I hook and chained 17. The edging is 1) red- sc, 2) blue- dc, 3) blue- sc.

I plan to do another one with some changes to get it closer to the correct size without the two round edging.

Happy crocheting!

Sandie

Pergola complete

2011-06-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

The Pergola is done. I decided not to put an edging on it as it came out 6" x 56" which is right there within the requirements.

Most importantly, I don't remember if I gave the link to the pattern. You can purchase this pattern at Knit Picks for $1.99. It is a pdf file. That's a very good price for such a complicated pattern and really it is two patterns as you make a solid back piece then crochet the two together. I've not done the back piece though.

As I said in my first post, I found the abbreviations confusing so I made my own little cheat sheet and after working my first scarf following those instructions, I decided to change a few things. When do I not? LOL It's the same concept of ripples separated by other stuff.

I used triple instead of the double triple (abbreviated as Dtc in the pattern). To that end, I used a ch 4 turning chain rather than ch 5.

There is a symbol chart so if you like to use a chart you will feel right at home and have no troubles.

My color scheme is Red - rows 1-9, 2-5; Blue - rows 5-9. Then repeat, ending with a Red section.

I used a chain of 25 to begin.

I think that's it. This my fourth scarf. Now I'm thinking of what I want for #5. :-)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Pergola

2011-06-20T08:47:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd pop back and give a quick update on the Pergola. I think I will be able to finish it today as I'm on the last section. It is taking me a while because firstly the pattern is complicated, and secondly I've been under the weather and have had no energy to think about complicated patterns. heh

When I'm finished this last section, there will be the sewing in of tails and the edging if I decide to put one. I generally do, but the size requirement is 6" wide and I believe it already is that.

I really think this is a beautiful pattern and if you work the back piece it would also be very warm. For $2 you really can't go wrong. If you buy it and have trouble, holler out to me. Even though this is not my pattern, I've made two and I think I'm getting the hang of it. :-)

My best suggestion is to write your own cheat sheet as I suggested in the post on my first Pergola scarf pictured here.

For these I've had to use the specific yarns and colors for the project, but if I were making it for a different project, I might like to use the colors specified in the pattern as I think it is a really beautiful effect.

Speaking of beautiful effects, I just love going to the SIBOL web site and seeing all the beautiful pictures of the squares and ghans Sue has received. They are donated to her local nursing homes. Sue has such a talent for photography. The pictures always highlight the items in gorgeous surroundings. Sue is in the UK, but I've donated to her cause a couple times because I get so much pleasure from her work and I know that the elderly need the extra warmth and comfort.

When I take photographs of my items, I don't pay near the attention to details that Sue does. My purpose is just to have a picture of the item for my record keeping and I am just not that creative.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Knit Your Bit

2011-06-18T07:00:00.006-05:00

You might remember I recently worked on some Knit Your Bit scarves. Well, KYB is in the news. Here's a recent article on the effort. If you want to get involved, you can go to the WWII museum web site Knit Your Bit page. There are patterns there for your use.

I also have patterns on my charity patterns page that you can use for this and other charity efforts. Some of the patterns are adaptations of the KYB designs, done with permission. You actually have many choices with regards to chevrons and ripples particularly. In fact, I just finished a chevron scarf for Special Olympics.

The scarves are sent to veterans around the country to let them know they are not forgotten. Very worthy cause.

I'm still working on the pergola pattern. I confused myself by the way I'm working it, using both colors. The blue is sort of in the middle of the pattern repeat. We'll see if I am successful in getting a pleasing look. You never know until it's done.

Do you ever wish you'd taken a different tact when you've done too much to consider froggin' it, but not so much done that you are excited about going on and finishing it? I think those end up being UFOs, eh? Often I think to myself I should have done it this way or that way. I confess that to you all here so that when I work it again I'll remember what I wanted to change. :-)

In the case of the Pergola, I've reworked my little "cheat sheet" to use a triple crochet instead of a double triple (as noted on my blog about the first one). I find that to work better for me. I also use a shorter turning chain to go with the shorter stitch. I also made a cheat sheet for my cheat sheet noting which color follows which rows. For example,
Red 1-9, 2-5, Blue 5-9, Red 1-9, 2-5, Blue 5-9
You see where I'm going with this. :-) I apparently need all the help I can get with this particular pattern. It's not hard to work. You just need to keep your place, particularly remember whether this is the ch-3, sk 4 row or the ch-4, sk 3 row.

I had also noted whether it starts as an "up" or a "down" pattern, but that rather confused me because it's a "ripple" and part of it is up and part down. LOL If you look at the picture the first row is all dc, then the second gives you the lift stitches. Then the next row is your "going up" row. At least that is how I look at it. You start off low and go up.

If I did another scarf with this pattern, and I might as this is my second one, I would do a full up and down for the blue. The Turqua and Blue one I did looked quite nice. I don't know why I changed it for this one. Silly me. If I were making it for myself or another effort I would use one color. Maybe in another one I could use one color and edge in the second color. Or I could do 5 rows each color. Like 1-5, 5-9. So many choices.

I will definitely finish this one though it might take a while. :-) I messed up last night and forgot the dc row in red, so I had to rip back a whole section. Broke my heart.

You know you'll see the finished product when it's done.

A little OT - if you think of it, please say a prayer for my nephew Alex. He's just arrived at his Navy duty station.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Jean Leinhauser

2011-06-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

I wanted to talk a bit more about Jean Leinhauser. I did learn that she died of a heart attack and that is always a shock to those who care about a person, so unexpected. What is not unexpected is the outpouring of love within the crochet community. She will indeed be missed. My sympathies go out to Rita and all her family and friends.

Although I never met her in person, I spoke to her via e-mail a number of times. One particular instance comes to mind. During the Crochet Cabana 10 year anniversary, Janie Herrin had given me permission to post one of her patterns and to keep it on my web site. Years later I learned that Janie had sold her designs to Jean and Rita. I contacted Jean through Crochetville and she gave me permission to keep the pattern on the web site. I thought that was very generous of her.

Jean also visited the memorial page I made for Janie and was so sweet and complimentary about the page. One thing she said to me sticks out and applies today as we think about Jean herself passing on. She said, "It is really amazing that so many of us who never met her [Janie] considered her a dear friend. She and I spoke on the phone and emailed back and forth, and I truly loved her. She was a beautiful and gentle soul." I would say the same of Jean. Even though I never met her, I know I will miss her gentle soul in my world.

If you don't have a Jean Leinhauser / Rita Weiss book, how can you look at yourself in the mirror?? LOL I'm just kidding. It would be nearly impossible to own them all, though I've made a pretty good start. I have so many and even one that was autographed by the legendary duo. If you need to round out your collection with another wonderful book, Search Amazon.com for Jean Leinhauser

It would be nearly impossible to list all her books, but here are just a few of the books that I personally own. As I went through the list, I thought to myself that I own quite a lot of crochet books! LOL It seems a great many of them are by Jean. I guess I liked her style. :-)
100 Crochet Projects
All About Crochet: The Dictionary of Crochet Stitches and Techniques
Weekend Afghans
365 Crochet Stitches a Year

100 Purses to Knit & Crochet
New Ideas for Today's Crochet
7-Day Afghans
101 ripple stitches: Knit and crochet
100 Afghans to Knit & Crochet
101 Crochet Stitches: With international crochet symbols
50 Crocheted Afghan Borders (Leisure Arts #4382)

So many folks have blogged about her. I thought you all might enjoy reading some of these posts.

CGOA http://cgoanow.blogspot.com/2011/06/jean-leinhauser-rest-in-peace.html

Margaret Hubert http://margaretshooksandneedles.blogspot.com/2011/06/it-has-been-long-while-since-i-wrote.html

Kim Guzman http://kimguzman.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/memories/

Doris Chan http://dorischancrochet.com/2011/06/15/the-passing-of-a-crochet-legend/

Gwen http://qtracregal.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/new-poetry-warm-and-sweet-in-memoriam-jean-leinhauser/

Wheat http://wheatcarr.com/passing-thoughts/jean-leinhauser-irreplaceable-loss.php

Marcy Smith http://www.crochetme.com/blogs/marcy_smith/archive/2011/06/15/farewell-jean-leinhauser.aspx

Leslie http://www.crochetbug.com/square-9/

Marty Miller http://notyourgrannyscrochet-marty.blogspot.com/2011/06/jean-leinhauser-my-friend.html

Jean, you will be forever in our hearts.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

SO chevron scarf

2011-06-16T18:43:00.000-05:00

Another Special Olympics scarf down. This one is a simple chevron. About 6" x 60" The edging is single crochet.

My next one will be the Pergola. I've already started it. Haven't decided how I'll work the colors yet. It's a more complicated pattern so make take a little longer to complete.

I also completed a cotton dishcloth in crochet and attempted a knitted one. I did the knitting part okay, but when I tried to finish it off I messed it up terribly. We (daughter and I) tried to fix it, but ultimately I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. I have one additional stitch now. The knitted part looks fine. :-) At least that is something. The difference in feel between the knitted and crocheted one is amazing to me. The crocheted one is a tighter weave, more sturdy, but the knitted one feels soft and flexible. I like them both in different ways. I think the knit look and feel would be great for a wearable.

Anyway, that is what I've completed. More to come, God willing. :-)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

RIP Jean Leinhauser

2011-06-15T20:34:00.000-05:00

It is with a sad heart that I let you all know that legendary crochet designer Jean Leinhauser has passed away.

Jean was instrumental in putting together the Crochet Masters Class at CGOA. The CGOA blog announced her passing in this post http://cgoanow.blogspot.com/2011/06/jean-leinhauser-rest-in-peace.html

If you google her name you can read all the kind words spoken by those who knew and loved her. I have a book here myself that was signed by her and own many others that she and Rita Weiss authored.

Jean will be missed. My sympathies to her family and friends.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Fibonacci scarf for SO

2011-06-11T21:52:00.000-05:00

I finished the Fibonacci scarf today. You might remember that Fibonacci numbers are 0,1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and 21 for this use and then I go backwards working another 21, then 13 etc.

I put a round of hdc edging but I should have used dc as it was a bit shy of 6". I didn't realize just how much thinner this yarn is. I have adjusted my thoughts though and will treat it much less Wool Ease which is a thinner yarn.

Length is about 59 1/2".

I am presently working on a chevron scarf. I'm using the DC Chevron (two chevron version) on this page at Crochet Cabana. If you decide to use that pattern, how about making one for Knit Your Bit as well?

I'm hearing thunder outside now so I think I'll go crochet. What do those two have to do with one another? Nothing really. LOL I just want to crochet.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

heart square / videos

2011-06-08T15:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I saw a square over at my friend Ghost's blog called Pink Crush. You can find the original pattern here. I decided I must try this square as I love hearts. :-)

The square was very easy to work, but it ruffled on me as I got further along. Not sure why. It is not so much that I think it would be a problem when assembling. Just doesn't lie flat.

I'm still working on videos so if you know someone who needs a quick tutorial and works better by video, have them pop on by the YouTube channel.

I truly enjoy teaching by video. There is only one thing that is bothersome about it. If I make a mistake and don't catch it on the editing, it is there forever! You know I will never be able to find it again even if I realize it. I am apt to say thread instead of strand or yarn and I realized I mispronounced a word in one of the videos yesterday but could never find it today to fix it. In any case, I hope you will forgive me my errors and enjoy the instruction!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

yo-yo day / share a square delivery

2011-06-07T15:31:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was International Yo-Yo Day. They have may have meant the toy yo-yos, but we crocheters take that word a little more seriously. LOL I spent the day working on more videos for the individual tutorials, even though my computer and YouTube got together to make this as difficult as possible. There was a purpose to the madness though as while I waited for the excruciatingly slow process, I made yo-yos. (I don't know if you are supposed to put a dash in there or not, but I do.)

I completed 90 which will be headed to Dawn to make into her beautiful ghans for charity. I also included the saltines I made the other day in this package.

You might recall all the squares I made for Share a Square. I am happy to report that the first bunch of afghans has been delivered right here in my home state of Louisiana to Camp Quality, a summer camp for kids with cancer. You can see photos of the delivery and the details at http://thiseclecticlife.com/2011/06/07/louisiana-afghan-delivery/ . I love photos of all kinds, but seeing these happy kids is surely a blessing and makes one want to continue the good work.

Shelley intends to continue this effort for next summer, but has not begun collecting squares yet. Delivery of the rest of the completed afghans to the remaining two camps will be made during the summer when those camps open.

I have also continued to work on new videos. These have been put on the respective pages at crochetcabana.com and are, of course, on the YouTube channel as well. I haven't added them to the videos page at CC yet though. My computer was soooo slow yesterday, but today seems to be doing a little better. Last night it told me it would take over 100 minutes to upload a video that was only a few minutes long!

Gotta love the 'net. :-)

Anyway, check them out if you like.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

First Special Olympic Scarf

2011-06-05T20:00:00.000-05:00

I have finished my first Special Olympics scarf for the coming year.

As I've mentioned previously, the colors are Red Heart Super Saver – 387 Soft Navy, Red Heart Super Saver – 319 Cherry Red, Red Heart Soft – 4604 Navy, Red Heart Soft – 9925 Really Red.

The only other requirements are:
Length: Approximately 54-60 inches long
Width: Approximately 6 inches wide

This first scarf is approximately 6" x 57".

Pattern notes: with H hook, ch 21, the first two rows and the last two rows are dc. The middle rows are 5dc, (ch 1, sk 1, dc) until you have 5 holes, and finish the row with dc in each remaining stitch. You will have 5 dc at the end of the row. So to abbreviate that you will have 5 dc, 5 holes, 5 dc.

The edging is one round dc working (dc, ch 1, dc, 1, dc) in corners, then one round of sc working (sc, ch 1, sc, ch 1, sc) in the center dc of the previous round. I worked a sc in the ch-1 space of that round also.

Now to decide on my second pattern. I am itching to do another of the pergola scarves even though I remember it was a little complicated to do. :-) But of course I must do a Fibonacci and a Lucas scarf as well. That is sort of a tradition.

I noticed in a blog post about these scarves that I mentioned my measure included the fringe. In the Special Olympic details it does say to include the fringe in your measurements so that is what I will do on those scarves for which I include fringe.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

how to crochet videos

2011-06-03T22:12:00.000-05:00

I've started back to crocheting and am presently working on my first Special Olympics scarf for our Louisiana branch. I am using the Red Heart Soft colors.

I don't want to strain my wrist so today I did a few short videos. Most of the work is done on computer using Pinnacle Studio 12 and of course, the upload at YouTube. I ended up having to upload one of them twice as the first try never seemed to finish processing.

These videos will be put on the individual pages where they belong. Some of the information has been covered in other videos, but those are longer. If you are looking for particular information, now you won't have to go through a lengthy video to get it. That is my thought anyway. I have plans for many more to go with other pages at the web site.

These are the ones I completed today.

First is Getting Started which demonstrated the slip knot and adjustable ring.

This one centers around the foundation chain.

The last one is the single crochet.

I will be working on more of these short videos next week.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

I can crochet! And loom.

2011-05-31T10:43:00.002-05:00

I was bummed because Bev's was having a challenge to make red, white, and blue saltines and yo-yos and I couldn't crochet. Well, God heard me. :-)

I wasn't able to make what I would have normally, but last night I was able to crochet for the first time in weeks. Seems like years. LOL I made several saltines. It may not seem like much, but it was a pleasure to do.

I also did finish a loom hat though I'm not sure it will fit anyone but a cone head. LOL I did learn a lot doing it and that was the intention - to learn how to do it.

You can see the work in progress at the Crafty Corral blog, either at Wordpress or at Blogger. Still pondering changing it over. You see, doing this emphasizes my point. I can't work on Crafty Corral blog and Crochet Cabana blog at the same time because I'd have to sign out of one to work on the other. In Wordpress I can work on both my Shifting Winds and my Crafty Corral in the same session without signing out of either. And could do Crochet Cabana too if I wanted to, but I'm not thinking of moving this one.

Back to the loom topic - It is called a knitting loom so I guess it doesn't qualify as crochet. However, some crocheters do other crafts and I know a lot of you enjoy looming or have wanted to try it. I needed my daughter to actually show me in person how to do it for me to be successful, but I will tell you what turned the corner for me. She told me to do each stitch individually rather than wrap around the entire circle. That works perfectly and I don't get that boing effect which was so frustrating to me. So big thanks to her for that.

If you are interested in trying the loom, the book daughter used was Loom Knitting Primer: A Beginner's Guide to Knitting on a Loom.

Amazon also has several other books on looming.
Learn New Stitches on Circle Looms
Learn to Knit on Circle Looms 1405
Learn to Knit Cables on Looms Real crochet cables are not so easy to do, so I'm wondering if it would be easier on the loom. Haven't tried it so I can't say, but I'm interested.

How to Knit Fashionable Scarves on Circle Looms: New Techniques for Knitting 12 Stylish Designs You know I love to make scarves, so I will probably try this soon. I didn't have enough chunky yarn to do it this time. It seems like most people use either two strands worsted, or chunky on these looms.

I did watch a video of someone making a scarf. It was essentially just working in the round longer and then using a particular method of closing up the two ends. It is almost like making two scarves and joining them in regular crochet or knitting. I would think it would be nice and thick.

I Can't Believe I'm Loom Knitting (Leisure Arts #5250) I haven't seen this one, but I love the I Can't Believe I'm Crocheting! that I have used for years. I see on Amazon that there is an updated version now I Can't Believe I'm Crocheting! Updated Edition. There are probably even more versions since I bought mine.

Of course, you need looms to do these. There are three different manufacturers that I'm aware of.
Darice 1171-58 Set of 4 Round Plastic Knitting Looms
Knifty Knitter Round Loom Set With Hook & Pick Tool - 4 per package
Flexiloom - Mitten Loom Set (Note: I purchased these on Ebay from In the Attic. I have to give a caution though because I have tried e-mailing from their web site with no reply and others have told me they've tried to contact them without reply, so I'd wait and see if I get mine first. I really wanted the flexible looms. They used to sell the glow in the dark ones too. Sad that I missed that. [update: I have rec'd e-mail from Ebay with a tracking number so the Ebay shop IS active.])

Then there are the long looms. I haven't tried those yet but I did watch a video at YouTube on it.
Learn to Knit on Long Looms
Knifty Knitter Long Loom Set

On a video I watched, I saw these loom clips Provo Craft Knifty Knitter Loom Clips . They were being used on a long loom to get a particular hat size. I didn't even know you could make hats on the long looms. So much to learn.

If you have lost your loom hook, do not buy the $5 one at Amazon. It is expensive. I have ordered some from Craft Designs For You for $1 (don't know if they are on the web site as I special ordered them) and I saw them at Hobby Lobby physical store for just slightly more than that. Couldn't find them at the online store, but their search engine is not that great - or my searching skills leave a lot to be desired. :-)

Anyway, more than you wanted to know about looms, I'm sure. I am fascinated by it at the moment, but still hoping to be at full steam with crochet soon.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

new charity Uglee Dolls

2011-05-29T09:47:00.000-05:00

If you enjoy doing amigurumi or stuffed animals, or perhaps might like to try your hand at these, you may be interested in this brand new charity effort by Melissa Lawson. The effort will be sending these to children in Joplin affected by the recent tornadoes. The web site is at http://ugleedolls4kids.wordpress.com/2011/05/. She has a Facebook page as well.

Sorry things are so slow but I'm still unable to crochet. Hoping soon.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Special Olympic Scarves

2011-05-23T21:43:00.000-05:00

Special Olympics has started early for the 2012 scarf project. You can read all about it at http://www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org/ .

There are patterns at
http://www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org/patterns . They are different ones from last year.

The colors are:
Red Heart Super Saver Cherry Red 0319
Red Heart Super Saver Soft Navy 0387
Red Heart Soft Navy 4604
Red Heart Soft Really Red 9925

You can choose to work with the Red Heart Super Saver or Red Heart Soft Yarns - or a combination of both - but they ask that you use both a red and a blue in your scarf design.

Size requirement is 6" wide by 54" to 60" long, including fringe.

If your state is not participating, please feel free to donate to my state, Louisiana. You can find their info at http://www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org/states/view/18 . Special Olympics Louisiana will distribute their scarves for the 2012 Special Olympics Louisiana State Indoor Games in Baton Rouge, LA - Basketball, Bowling and Tennis. Their goal is 1400 scarves for the athletes, coaches, volunteers and supporters.

Deadline to receive Louisiana scarves is March 5, 2012.

Shipping address (for Louisiana only) is :
Special Olympics Louisiana
Attn: Scarf Project
1000 East Morris Avenue
Hammond, LA 70403

Instructions for Louisiana (but I think most states have these same basic instructions).

    Please place each scarf in an individual Ziploc bag for sanitary reasons.
    Multiple scarves may be shipped in the same box.
    Please send via UPS, FedEx or United States Postal Service (USPS) to the address specified.
    Please include one 3x5 card with your name and mailing address clearly legible. (I suggest using a mailing label if you have one - just stick it on an index card)
    You may also include your email address if you would like to receive updates via email.
    You are welcome to include a note of well wishes in the box with your scarf. However, due to privacy regulations, please do not include any contact information on the note and do not enclose inside the Ziploc bag with your scarf. For efficiency in receiving, please do not enclose the note in the Ziploc bag with the scarf, but place it separate in the box.

That's the basics. You can get the yarn from your favorite yarn store. Shop Red Heart is also offering a competitive pricing discount on those colors.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

scarf

2011-05-19T06:50:00.000-05:00

Forgive the abbreviated post. I hurt my hand and am typing with one hand.

This scarf is about 7" x 61 1/2" and goes to http://homelessbridge.blogspot.com

It is wool ease.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

2011-05-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

Another lapghan finished. I had a few squares already done and added a few and there we go. It is about 38" square, assembled with the continuous join method.

The squares are ten-round basic granny squares. Two of them are purple even though they look blue.

Next one of these I make I hope to do a video demonstrating that joining method. I am also thinking of making short little video clips to add to the tutorials right on the individual pages. We'll see how that works out. Always thinking. :)

Good news to impart. I have found my favorite grey Inox made in Germany H hook. Yesterday, I looked down and there it was, right on my desk. I had just been fiddling with some paperwork and I am thinking it must have fallen out of the papers. I am sure my eyes must have opened wide because I was so shocked (and happy) to see it there so unexpectedly. Weird, eh?

That's all for today. Short and sweet. I am working on a scarf for the Bridge project, then plan to do the second Doctor Who scarf. After that I will make squares with the leftover yarn. Then I will start Special Olympic scarves. Nice to have a plan. :-)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

using Jacob's Ladder in the round

2011-05-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

My friend Ghost mentioned round Jacob's Ladder patterns and it sparked a tiny memory so I went searching. I found a number of patterns and thought I'd jot down those links in case anyone else was interested and also to remind me when I get the desire to make one.

First here's a hat
http://suzies-yarnie-stuff.blogspot.com/2009/09/suzies-jacobs-ladder-cap.html

Here's another hat using popcorns and the JL technique.
http://crochetncrafts.com/crochet/jacobsladderpopcornhat.html

And here are round afghans using JL.
http://qualitycrochet4fun.blogspot.com/2010/02/freejacobs-ladder-round-ripple-afghan.html

http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/round-jacobs-ladder.html

You can do a lot with this technique. Really you just do a bunch of chains and skip stitches. Then you go back and make the loops for the cable or whatever you want to call it. I love the technique and plan to use it again in other projects.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Jacob Ladder afghan

2011-05-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

I finished the Jacob's Ladder finally. It was not the actual crocheting that put this behind. I had trouble finding colors where I had enough yarn for the number of rows I wanted to do, that wasn't spoken for in another project. In the end I worked 7 rows for the beginning color stripes and four for the ending. I think it still looks very bright and colorful.

Then just as I was close to finishing, I fell on my hand (yes, you read that right) and could not crochet for a day. Once the swelling went down some, I was able to finish it off. I used a cream for catching the top loop and working an edging around.

Here is a close-up of this one. I did measure it and wrote it down somewhere, but I can't find it and the ghan is gone so ... I think it was about 40" x 47".

If you're not familiar with the Jacob's Ladder I have videos at the YouTube Channel and on the Crochet Cabana video page.

I always second guess myself once a project is done and was thinking I should have used another color for the edging since I have that white stripe in there. But it's done and actually already delivered. I brought it to my mom at the rehab facility. She named just about every relative I have and wanted to know if I'd made one for them already. LOL I have made a lot of ghans and I think most of my family has at least one from me.

I also took a photo of it upside down because I didn't like that orange first row for photographing though it's really nice in the lapghan. Though a bit stiffer and thicker than the other colors, it softened up on washing.

I have some leftover wool-ease from the scarves I made so I am going to go through that and see what I can do with it. I also have some 12" squares made. I need a few more to complete an afghan though. Might work on that as well. Then I have enough yarn for another Who scarf using Chris Brimelow's pattern.

I probably need to rest my hand a little longer before hitting a large project, so I'll do the planning first.

Bookmobile brought me some books on looming so I might pull that out to work with as well. I think I have the same problem with looming that I have with knitting. If I drop a stitch or the loops come off, I am flummoxed and that is that. The actual procedure doesn't seem that difficult.

Oh, I found a new method of casting on in knitting. If you do both crochet and knitting, you might find it interesting. It was in a video at http://vimeo.com/20685066 . I'd never been to Vimeo before, but I saw it mentioned in Kim Guzman's post and went to check it out. Kim is doing a couple of classes over at Crochetville. I'm not sure how it all works though I was tempted to take one. Anyway, I digress. If you watch the video, for the first minute and a half she gives some info and then she goes into the actual procedure. So if you just want to know what to do, start there.

That's all for today!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie