three little hats

Today I'd like to show you some sweet little preemie hats. These are made by my crochet friend, Fran. Fran has health issues which prevent her from doing a lot of crocheting, but when she can she works from the heart - and for others.

Fran does beautiful work. Her stitches are perfect.

Besides these pretty little hats - the picture really doesn't do them justice - she makes squares to be put together into a scarf when there are enough made.

This sweet lady's hard work is an encouragement to me. On Bev's we were just talking about this. Though she may not make as many items as some others, every item is made with care and to help someone else. It's not the quantity of items, it's the quality! Items made from the heart!

If you don't have your own blog and have a special project you'd like to show others send it over. I love to see photos of pretty things and I think that is why I have such a large collection of crochet books. I will never make all those things, but I just like to look at the pictures!

Today I will be working on a hat for my hubby as he will be spending time over the next few months in a very cold climate - much colder than we are used to in Louisiana. I don't have any wool, but acrylic should work fine as long as it doesn't get wet. All the wool hats I made over the past few years were given to others who spend ALL their time in cold climates. :-)

Have a nice weekend!

Happy crocheting!

'nother scarf

I finished the Color Waves reversible scarf a few minutes ago. Finished size is 6" x 56".

I did not want fringe so I sewed in the tails and added a sc edging on each end.

I chained 176, which is a multiple of 5  + 1. The pattern specified multiple of 5 at one point and 5 + 1 at another. The latter is correct, but if you miscount, you can always add on to the end similar to when you work the foundation double crochet. If you find it longer than you want, you can always cut off some - just make sure you leave enough of a tail, particularly if you want the fringe effect.

It's a very simple pattern, 5 sc, 5 dc. On the last row I worked hdc in the sc and sc in the dcs. That "evened" it out some (though it's not a perfectly straight edge) so the first and last rows would match. That's not in the pattern and not necessary, but just what I chose to do.

I worked one row of sc, 15 alternating rows of turqua and blue, and the last row as noted above and it is just a tiny tad over 6".

Masters Course news - I received a note from my reviewer that she received my swatches. She estimated a month for the review, though that is just an estimate as there could be some I need to redo and mail to her which would take extra time.

I still have a bit more yarn in these colors, but I haven't decided whether I want to go with the lacy scarf or something else. I rather liked the one I did the other day with the filet in the center. :-) I have the beginnings of a cold and a pulled muscle in my back, so my mind is fuddled. I will think on these things tomorrow (shades of Scarlett O'Hara!) ...

Happy crocheting!

Cabana on Facebook

The other day I mentioned that I wanted to try my hand at a scarf similar to the one that Melissa posted on Scarves for Special Olympics photo page. She did a beautiful job on it!

This morning, I saw that the pattern she followed was Snowflake Scarf by Tricia, a free download at Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/snowflake-scarf-2 . The link at Ravelry sends you to Knottie by Nature here .

I did not know where the pattern came from until this morning, so when I sat down to work on it last night I was clueless. LOL

There is a pattern in the book Quick and Cozy Afghans called Lacy Blocks, which is slightly different from the above one but similar in style. The afghan is not worked in strips or squares, which would have been easy to adjust to a scarf. It is a one piece afghan.

I basically ended up just looking at the design and being creative with stitchery. :-) The two designs - the one at Ravelry and the one in the Quick and Cozy book - are worked similarly, but Tricia uses a dtr and Q&C uses a tr. Each uses a different number of posts and a different hook.

In my work last night, I used a tr, but I can see how a dtr would help particularly in making the "square" taller as the ones I made were not "square".

The first one I did is the one on the left in the picture. It came out too small for a Special Olympics scarf and, as noted above, it wasn't square so not good for Share a Square. I can probably square it up if I decide to do that.

I still want to do the Color Waves reversible scarf, so I might just switch to that and come back to this one. I'll still have to figure out a foundation chain for that one to get to Special Olympics length. It is actually been quite challenging, making these scarves to size. It will be nice to go back to Bridge scarves where I can let myself go with design and size though I've enjoyed making these too. It's good to have a challenge now and then. I do tend to get stuck in my rut and don't like to leave my comfort zone.

I've been working today on my Crochet Cabana Facebook page. That has been another challenge outside my zone, but a pleasant one. I hope it will be useful to those who choose to partake of it.

I'm still mulling over whether I need both the yahoogroup and the Facebook group and which would work best for those who need it. Maybe time will tell.

There are some disadvantages to the Facebook page. Facebook doesn't send notices of posts to the creator of the page, so I'll have to check them periodically for any questions or problems.

Some folks were worried I would use only the Facebook page and eliminate the blog and web site. Not to worry. I have no plans to get rid of the web site nor the blog. Some things take more than a small status line to say, especially for me. LOL

That's all for today.

Happy crocheting!

Correction to ripple fch

I started another reduced length Bergamot Ripple scarf and discovered my figure was one off. You need 195 for the foundation chain. There are 13 repeats with 5 stitches between each hill and valley. I made the correction in the original post, but will explain my reasoning below.

Let me tell you what I did to check this. You will laugh.

I laid out the one row I'd done and tried to count the stitches but got all confused because you know the hill is one chain with three stitches and the valley uses three chains for basically one stitch. So one has to be careful.

I decided to lay it out and put toothpicks for every 5 rows between and count the toothpicks. This looked really funny but worked. I should have taken a photo, but I did not.

Then I counted all the hills, which were 1 stitch.
Then I counted all the valleys, which were 3 stitches each.
Then I had to account for the first four dc and the 3 chains that made up the first dc since the first stitch is worked into the fourth chain.

Got all that?

So I had
(27 x 5) + 14 + (13 x 3) + 4 + 3 = 195

To put this another way:

You are chaining into the 4th chain from hook, so that's 4
Then dc in next 3 chains, that's another 3, so that's 7 so far.
Pattern repeat calls for 3 dc in next ch (1), dc in next 5 chains (5), dec over 3 chains (3), dc in next 5 chains (5), so that's a total of 14. Your repeat is 14 stitches.
At the end of the row, 3 dc in next chain (1), dc in next 5 chains (5), so that's a total of 6

Since the (4 + 3 = 7) at the beginning and the 6 at the end = 13, your multiple is 14 + 13

Let's check it.
14 (pattern repeat) x 13 (repeats) = 182. 182 + 13 = 195

Now see, if I'd done the figuring before the other post, I wouldn't have all these corrections to make. LOL I apologize if anybody started a scarf and got to the end (like I did) to be one chain short! Boo, me. Mea culpa!

Back to crocheting!

Happy crocheting!

rectangles

I finally sat myself down and said, "Self, you're going to make those 9" x 6" rectangles you've been wanting to make." I humbly sat myself down and began. :-) I have now finished 8 and I have another one started. I think that will be the last with this skein.

To my surprise my camera actually showed the purple. To make these, I chained 29 with an H hook. I did 10 rows of dc. Then I worked an edging of hdc all around, working 3 hdc in corners. The size is perfect for me. You can adjust by working a sc edging if you need to. Or if you crochet really tightly, use dc.

These will be going to HAP for injured soldiers. I have been wanting to make these for like forever, but I am so - what's the word? - worried about the size being exactly right. Every time I measure things I get a different measurement. I could never work at an occupation where size is critical. heh But as far as I can tell, these are the right size. However, be warned. Different yarns are different, so if I pick up a new yarn, I'll have to measure all over again.

I also kept getting sidetracked from that effort. That is why I am thinking of organizing my giving in the coming year, so everyone will get a bit of me. :-) I'll be posting about that soon.

With the holidays here, I was thinking - charity giving can be like birthday gifts to Jesus. I think he'd like that, don't you?

Happy crocheting!

police box

police box afghan

The police box is done! Almost. I haven't decided if I am going to attempt to x-stitch the words. The photo shows words, but they were put on using Paint Shop Pro. They are not actually on the afghan.

The finished size is 37 1/2” at widest point x 71” long from below light to bottom. Light is approx. 5 1/2” x 6”. Afghan is lying on a queen size bed with the top propped up so you can better see the light at top.

Here are closeup photos of the light at the top and the windows. I did the windows in grey, but you could use silver or white there if you wanted to, or you could make another choice. Just remember to adjust your yarn purchase for whatever changes you make.

I chose to give it a more realistic look by not doing it in a straight box form but it would, of course, be much easier to do it that way, or even to use a background of whatever color and do the police box as the center of the piece to make a full size afghan to put on a bed.

I used a ton of bobbins making this. I highly recommend using bobbins. I didn't have any when I began, but when I got them I immediately saw a difference in the ease of working. It was still tricky working around all those bobbins, but well worth the effort. I DID write up the pattern so I could make it again if I want to, but I doubt I'll be doing it again any time soon. 

In other news, I finished another scarf.  Finished size is 6" x 57". The pattern is Lion Brand's Bergamot Ripple. I used an H hook and did a smaller chain to get to 57".

How small a chain? Well, of course I've got it packaged and forgot to count them. If I am figuring right, just looking at the picture, I chained about 194. [correction 195] What I actually did was chain the amount called for in the pattern (which was WAY too much for this effort) and started working the scarf for the first row. A ways from the end, I sort of measured it and then cut off the amount I didn't need. Before I cut if off, I did count the stitches left and there were 57 (correction: 56).

Looking at the pattern now, it calls for 251. So if I subtract 57 from that I get .... tada 194 [correction 195]. So my figures must be pretty close, if not exact. If you want to make this scarf, however, I suggest making about 200 just to be sure and ripping the unused portion. I would also recommend that if you do that, cut it after you work the very first row to be sure you don't mess up and cut too much because then you are in big trouble if you've worked half the scarf. Well, not BIG trouble, but you'd have to do it all over and that would be a major pain with such a long foundation chain. Measure at least 6" before you cut.

I worked two rows in each color.

As you can see, I decided to put a small border on each end in the blue. Why? Just because. No particular reason.

That's all for today! Enjoy your week. It's raining here, so not a great start for us.

Happy crocheting!

Cooking a turkey

We are having "second Thanksgiving" today, so I thought I'd share our turkey instructions with my crochet friends. Note that I don't do the turkey, but I do turn the oven on and do the cleanup. :-)

Instructions without commentary is at the bottom for those who want a quick how-to.

Upside Down Baked Turkey
This was originally from my brother-in-law and we have adjusted it over time to suit our needs. I wrote it down one year  under the giddy influence of the Christmas season so besides instructions, it is entertaining? It makes the best turkey you've ever tasted! (Although I don't eat turkey so they could all be lying to me) It will be juicy, flavorful, and falls off the bone!

Ingredients
1stick butter or margarine
1 turkey (fully defrosted)
1 aluminum pan (strong!) with handles (this is important--turkeys are HEAVY)
2 cans of chicken broth
1 jar Creole Butter Cajun Injector (or whatever kind you like)

Directions:
Let's start with the basics: buy a turkey. If it's frozen, check the wrapper and make sure you allow enough time to defrost it. This takes DAYS, people, so don't wait until Christmas Eve. We bought an 18# turkey and put it in the fridge on Friday, to be ready the following Thursday. The wrapper said 5 days. So is that 5 days COUNTING that day? Does it count the day you need it? Just how do you count? Anyway, Friday afternoon to Thursday morning was apparently enough.

Take the upper rack out of your oven, leaving only the lower rack--cos a turkey is big! Preheat oven to 500 degrees while you're doing this other stuff.

1) First you have to remove all that stuff that's inside the turkey. This is one reason you need it defrosted. Okay, well, FIRST you have to cut that netting that's probably over your turkey and any plastic wrap. Then remove the plastic bags containing the neck and giblets. Just feel around inside there. You'll find it.

2) Drain juices, rinse that sucker off, and then, if you want to, you can pat it dry with paper towels (What kind? I can see that you are new at this. I use Bounty Select-a-Size).

3) Place turkey in your aluminum pan.

4) Get that Cajun Injector ready. It should come with instructions, but if not, it's just a big old needle. Be careful! I said it's a BIG old needle. You have to attach the needle to the body. Don't tighten it too tight. Stick the tip of the needle in the jar and suck up that juice. Then shove it into the turkey and inject it--slowly--in the spots it tells you to (the breast, thighs, legs, etc). A full injector into each breast and each thigh, half into the legs. If the turkey moves or makes sounds--it is not dead. You messed up somewhere. (note: If you got a bum injector that won't suck it up, you can use a baster to fill it. *voice of experience*)

5) Now take that stick of butter (or margarine) and rub it all over the turkey. You won't use up the whole stick. When you're done, place what remains of the stick of butter inside the turkey. Yum.

6) Turn the turkey over so it is breast down--this will keep it from drying out and why we call this recipe "Upside Down Turkey." Pour two small cans of chicken broth into the pan with the turkey. Cover turkey with aluminum foil. Leave a little air room.

7) Place in oven (careful, it is heavy) for ONE hour--no, it's not ready yet. This is a turkey. Read the rest of these instructions.

8) Wash your sink, and every place that was touched by the turkey or juices, with hot, soapy water.

9) After an hour at 500 degrees, lower oven temperature 325 degrees for the remainder of the necessary time. I know that's pretty general, but it depends on your turkey and how you like it cooked. Ours was 18#. The infamous wrapper said to roast it for 4 hours at 325. Well, we've altered that. But how often are they right, anyway? LOL For the 18# turkey, bake an additional 4 hours at 325.

10) You thought you were finished, didn't you? Well, you're not. You need to know when the turkey is done. In a perfect world, and if you've done this correctly, you will open your oven to remove the aluminum foil and find a turkey that has pretty much disintegrated. You can forget about carving it. If you grasp the bone of the leg, you should be able to pull it out clean. This will be the most tender, moist turkey you've ever eaten. Let the turkey cool and get two large bowls. Using a CLEAN fork and your CLEAN fingers, begin removing the meat from the bird and placing it into the two bowls (one for dark meat and one for white meat). If it doesn't disintegrate, you might need to leave it in the oven for a bit longer. Now if your turkey was smaller than ours, don't burn that thing! Use the timing suggested on your wrapper for the size turkey you purchased. You can always cook it longer, but you can't un-burn it!

11) Eat.

12) Take a nap. :-)


Instructions without commentary:

Ingredients
1stick butter or margarine
1 turkey (fully defrosted)
1 aluminum pan (strong!) with handles (this is important--turkeys are HEAVY)
2 cans of chicken broth
1 jar Creole Butter Cajun Injector (or whatever kind you like)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees
1) Remove netting and any plastic wrap. Take out everything inside the turkey.

2) Drain juices, rinse that sucker off, and then, if you want to, you can pat it dry with paper towels

3) Place turkey in your aluminum pan.

4) Stick the tip of the injector needle in the jar and suck up the juice. Then shove it into the turkey and inject it--slowly--in the spots it tells you to (the breast, thighs, legs, etc). A full injector into each breast and each thigh, half into the legs.(note: If your injector won't suck it up, you can use a baster to fill it.)

5) rub stick of butter or margarine all over the turkey. You won't use up the whole stick. When you're done, place what remains of the stick of butter inside the turkey. Yum.

6) Turn the turkey over so it is breast down. Pour two small cans of chicken broth into the pan with the turkey. Cover turkey with aluminum foil. Leave a little air room.

7) Place in oven (careful, it is heavy) for ONE hour

8) Go wash your sink, and every place that was touched by the turkey or juices, with hot, soapy water.

9) After an hour at 500 degrees, lower oven temperature 325 degrees for the remainder of the necessary time.

10) If you grasp the bone of the leg, you should be able to pull it out clean. This will be the most tender, moist turkey you've ever eaten. Let the turkey cool and get two large bowls. Using a CLEAN fork and your CLEAN fingers, begin removing the meat from the bird and placing it into the two bowls (one for dark meat and one for white meat). If it doesn't disintegrate, you might need to leave it in the oven for a bit longer.

Happy Holidays!

Happy crocheting!