repair job and new hooks

Way back in August 2012 I made an afghan that was given to a friend. Fast forward to 2026. A sweet wee doggy decided that afghan would make a scrumptious meal and did this to it. (No harm came to the doggy though I'm sure he was given a bit of a talking to.)

I was asked if I could fix it. Now this is not a skill I have honed, but I said I'd do my best.

Fortunately, I knew which color the ripped spot was worked in. Unfortunately, that yarn is now discontinued. Bernat Giggles Tickled Pink. I found some on Ravelry but the person never answered my query. I found one skein on Amazon but I didn't know if one skein was enough as in my blog entry on making the afghan I didn't note how much each name took nor did I note the hook size used. Bad me!

I decided rather than try to repair that spot with an off color I would just remake the name. Since I couldn't get the same color I decided to get the yarn used in one of the other rectangles - Vanna's Choice Pink - which is easily found.

I decided to try an I hook first. Bamp! It was too long.I tried an H hook and voila! It was perfect. 

Here's the process. I used an H Hook with Vanna's Choice Pink. I used almost all of one skein for the name. I put a round of sc for a border. The chain was 81. Just FYI with another skein I made two "H" squares with a chain of 21.

Here is the filet part if your name is Beth. :-)

Now on to the repair part. First the ripped bit had to be taken out.

First step... I was afraid to cut too close on this round but got it all out.

Then I went back around and removed the wee bits. Most came out pretty easily.

Now I had to figure out how to attach and with what color. Do I go with the black or with the pink? I'm thinking the black even though I do have a hard time seeing black yarn.

I decided to use a needle and black yarn and sew it on. Here's the result. What do you think? 

There are two "H" squares, one on each side. Those have now been replaced to match the middle name,  with the Vanna's Choice yarn. 

This has been an interesting job. I'm glad I was up to it! At least I think I was. It looks okay to me. I'm going to wash it and see how it comes out.

In addition to that work, today's mail brought a surprise. New Hooks by Laurie Whitaker. The owl is a replacement owl hook for one which I lost. Laurie always includes extra surprises - candy treats, stitch markers and a pretty pen. I didn't take a picture but it was all wonderful.

Happy crocheting!

Sandie

Paint Party scarf

Did you know that all hooks are not created equal? Manufacturers do their own thing. Case in point is the I hook. My understanding is that Boye I hooks are 5.25mm while others are 5.5mm. We also have G at 4.0 but some put it at 4.25. And then there's #7 hooks which are not even given a letter at 4.50mm. It can get confusing, 

The important point is that whatever hook you start a project with you should continue that project with the same hook. If you lose that hook well there's nothing to do but find another. If you don't know the size you can do a few stitches and see if they match up with what you've already done.

Here's another thought ... If you need to do a repair on something you made a long time ago or just want to add to an afghan such as a temperature afghan perhaps ... work a few stitches in the hook you think it might be and see if the stitches look the same size.

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I was reminded of a video I did 13 years ago demonstrating how to crochet left handed. There are much better videos out there today that show left handed crochet but this was me trying to learn it to teach someone else. Because of the trouble I'm having now with my right hand due to arthritis I thought it might be a good time to revisit this. I also have arthritis in my left hand but it's not as bad as the right. So if you're interested just for fun you can find that video here. Then check out some better ones. LOL

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Finally, here is my latest scarf. I love the colors in this yarn, It is Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in color Paint Party. It's made in Turkey. I used an I hook. Finished size if 7" x 60". 

I worked a foundation dc of 20. In the past I shied away from the foundation stitches but now that I've had some experience with them it's really not that hard and saves so much time - not because of the counting as you have to count them too, but because of the time it take to go into chain stitches at the beginning of the process. Going into a foundation chain is slower, to me at least.

Happy crocheting!

Sandie

baby blanket

Here is a small afghan. My goal was 32" but I fell short. The finished size is 30" x 31". I added two rounds of border - first a round of dc and then a round of [(sc, ch 2, sc) in same stitch, sk 1]. I'm hoping this will work for them. 

Yarn is Lion Brand Mandala Ombre in color Mantra. 

I used an I hook and chained 90. The pattern is Bev and Sherry's Baby Blanket . For future blankets I'll need to do a longer chain.

Happy crocheting!

Sandie

fun shirts

Do you remember this handy tip by Hooked by Robin? She demonstrates how to crochet WITH your yarn tails. You need to leave an extra long tail but it will never come out if you use this method.

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I saw these cute crochet t-shirts at Amazon. I've seen them other places as well but these were less expensive.  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FKGS6TVM/ 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXC3YPR8/ 

I am still crocheting but not a scarf. I'm working on a small blanket and will post when it's done. 

Happy crocheting!

Sandie

scrap scarf

I posted a link to this method before but ran across it again today. In this video Donna Wolfe of Naztazia uses Navajo Plying or chain plying.to triple yarn thickness. I used this method to make one of my scarves with a #1 weight yarn. I wrote about it here. 

As noted in that blog entry Fiber Spider, Hooked by Robin, and Briana K have also done video demonstrations of this method. I'm sure there are others out there too.

I finished a scrap scarf this morning. I used an I hook for the body and H for the black border around it. In general, I use a hook a size smaller for borders.

I used leftover balls and just dc until I ran out. I had several balls of the yellow which is I Love This yarn Buttercup. I did 6 rows in black on each end. Finished size is 6 1/2" x 64 1/2".

Happy crocheting!

Sandie