Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving Day. I visited with family at my brother-in-law's and got to hold the newest wee babe in the family. Much fun that. :-) Both my young 'uns were able to make it and most of the extended family as well. Very nice gathering.

Before I forget, I did find out that the Betty Hechtman book  You Better Knot Die (A Crochet Mystery) will be out in paperback in a year. If you don't want to wait that long to read it you can get from your library, or buy the Kindle version (click on link and you can get to the Kindle version from there) which is less expensive.

I also finished the scarf I had started based on a photo I saw in the Special Olympics folder. I don't know what pattern the original crocheter worked from. I just made my own version, but I think it is the same. Anyway, I like it. I chained 19, then worked dcs around the center filet section.

I used an H hook and it wasn't wide enough, so I worked a dc edging around it. I thought that would be enough to get it to the 6" requirement. To the left is a photo of that finished scarf. However, it was 5 1/2", so I decided to add another round in the Turqua. That brought it to exactly 6". The length is just a teeny bit over 60", less than a quarter inch, so I'm counting this one good.

Here is a closeup of the scarf.

I'm working presently on a ripple from the Lion Brand link I gave yesterday. I'll have to finish it before I can see if it comes out the right size. heh I had to guestimate the foundation. I know I cut out at least 50 chains from the 70" one and I worked with an H hook rather than a J. More details on that when I'm done.



To those who asked, my husband's hand is doing quite well from his surgery. He returns to work on Monday.

Happy crocheting!

Happy Thanksgiving

Firstly, I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you had a wonderful low-stress day, visiting with family and friends. Don't forget to help with cleanup if you're able to and thank your host/hostess if you've traveled.

I've finished another Special Olympics scarf. This one is a simple V-stitch scarf similar to the other one I made, but without the stripes. I used the Turqua for the body and the blue for the dc edging.

Finished size was just shy of 6" x 56".

I have another completed except for the hanging tails. I'll sew those in tonight and hopefully have a photo for you tomorrow.

There are at least two other patterns I saw among the other Special Olympic scarves that I would like to try out. One is the Color Waves Reversible Scarf at Crochet Me. The other is a Lion Brand scarf called Bergamot Ripple. It is a pdf file. I will be working on those soon.

Melissa Sinisgalli posted a photo of a scarf she made for this project at the Scarves for Special Olympics Facebook page, but the pattern wasn't listed. You can see the photo at her blog.

If I learn where you can find that pattern, I'll post it. I know of a similar pattern in the book Quick and Cozy Afghans (Leisure Arts #102626). The pattern is called Lacy Blocks. I might give that one a try if I can't find hers.

So many patterns, so little time. LOL

Hope you all 

Happy crocheting!

crochet shopping

This morning I caught a notice of Annie's Attic Lunchtime special. It was only for 3 hours, so I'm sure by the time you read this, it will be over. I did not purchase anything, mostly due to shipping costs as I found a couple items that really interested me.

One of these was a book I'd not seen before called 99 Crochet Post Stitches. Investigation found this book at various prices, with shipping and with free shipping (It's such a chore to shop these days! LOL). I have not purchased it yet, but rather added it to my wishlist.

Anyway, another book I saw was one I'd seen in the past and intrigued me. Learn to Do Bavarian Crochet (Annie's Attic: Crochet).

i was very excited to have also found You Better Knot Die by Betty Hechtman (A Crochet Mystery). Then I saw it was $16.47! Then I saw it was a hardcover. I'm going to add this to my library requests, but will try to find out if there will be a paperback version later. For a novel I'll only read once, that is way too high a price for me. For a crochet reference book that I'd use over and over again I might pay that. Her other books are paperbacks and reasonably priced so if you haven't read any I do highly recommend them. Much fun if you like mysteries and crochet. Be sure to read them in order as there are subplots that progress throughout the series. Not that you couldn't enjoy one if you hadn't read the others, but you'll get the most out of them if you read them in order. Here they are, in order.

Hooked on Murder (A Crochet Mystery)
Dead Men Don't Crochet (A Crochet Mystery)
By Hook or by Crook (A Crochet Mystery)
A Stitch in Crime (A Crochet Mystery)
You Better Knot Die (A Crochet Mystery)

I love the cute title they use in this series. There is also at least one pattern in each book. You can see the projects (not the patterns, just photos) on her web site.

Another thing I happened across this morning that I found interesting is crochet coral reefs. I've seen these before, but found some new info.

First off, Talking Crochet newsletter had an article about crochet being in the Smithsonian. Well, a BIG Bones fan like me had to check out the Smithsonian. You can read about the crochet reef at the Smithsonian web site at http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/hreef/communityreef.html which you notice is not smithsonian.org or anything simple like that! LOL

You can learn how to make your own crochet coral reef at http://crochetcoralreef.org/makeyourown/index.php . There is a pdf file you can download - it's just 2 pages long. You can also purchase the book that is referenced, Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes by Dr. Daina Taimina. I am not sure I am interested enough in the mathematics of it to get that deeply into it, but the reviews of the book are good and if you are a math oriented person or just like to see new and interesting ways to use crochet in the real world, this might be something to pick up or at the least borrow from your local library.

If you want to see a few pictures of the hyperbolic planes you can view a few at http://theiff.org/oexhibits/oe1.html .

You can also join the Ravelry group for the Smithsonian community reef and keep up with what's going on there.

The deadline for submitting your own reef project has passed. I do not know if there will be other opportunities to participate, but if you learn of any, do holler out at me.

I usually try to include pictures when I can, but I haven't finished the scarf I started at the hospital. My husband had outpatient hand surgery. It went well and he's doing okay today. I am going to try and finish the scarf today if I can.


Have a great Thanksgiving week, everyone!

Happy crocheting!

Masters Course

Just a quick note to let you all know that I have rec'd the notice that my swatches are on their way to a reviewer. I am told it takes about a month for the review. If there are swatches to be reworked, I assume the reviewer will contact me directly. If there are more than five swatches that need to be reworked, they stop the review and send you the whole thing back. That's all on the web site on the education page.

That's it. Til next time...

Happy crocheting!

SO scarf with chain fringe

Here's another Special Olympics scarf. Length is 59" including fringe and 54 1/2" without fringe. Width is about 5 3/4". I had intended to put an edging around it with the blue, but I just couldn't get it to come out as I wanted. Kept getting bulging no matter what I did.

I had been wanting to try this particular fringe effect, and I needed to add some blue as the scarves must have both colors. So there ya go. That is how this came about.

The scarf pattern is the faux cable section of the Knit Your Bit pattern #5 for this year. I used an H hook, however, to get a smaller width. The J hook called for in the pattern would give a more flexible scarf. It works well with Red Heart Soft yarn, but it worked just fine with the RHSS as well.

The fringe is made like this: Work a row of sc, then ch 20, sl st in next sc across. If you want longer fringe, make a longer chain. If you want shorter fringe, make a shorter chain. I wouldn't make it too short, however, or you lose your "fringe" effect.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!