link catchup

It's another catchup day for the links I've been gathering. I'm going to jump around, just going through my links.

First, I ordered some flannel for a baby gift. I have to commend Hemstitcher as after I placed my order my daughter noticed a mistake in the print on the fabric (in the photo online). There was a grammatical error and the blankie was going to a teacher, so that wouldn't work at all - it says God cares me, instead of God cares for me. They very kindly changed my order to a different print. So kudos to them. I was so pleased with the suggestions they made that I even ordered an additional different set.

If you are going to do some edging on flannel, you might like to have a look at Ammee's Patterns for Crochet Edgings - Berry Scallops. That is the one of several patterns at the site.

Over at the Gingerbread Lady I noticed she suggested that one can make a pdf file uses http://joliprint.com/ . I tried it and it worked wonderfully. So if you have other sites with patterns you'd like to use in pdf format, there ya go. Thanks again to Gingerbread Lady. She is the designer of the button beret I featured yesterday.

I recently discovered, or possibly rediscovered, Jessica Vance's site. Jessica is a young girl who has taken on charity crocheting and is doing a great job at it. Her site is well done and interesting to look around. Jessica received the Prudential Spirit of Community Award in 2007 for her volunteer work.

The topic of felting came up around my house and when I saw this Bernat felting yarn in a newsletter I thought it would make up a nice pretty. :-) I haven't gotten any yet, but I see it in my future. It says, "Space dyed 100% natural wool". I am not sure what space dyed wool is, but I'll let you know when I get some how it works. 2.60 oz / 75 g, 84 yd / 77 m

Another yarn that caught my eye recently is this Superwash Merino Cashmere yarn from Lion Brand. Merino and cashmere in the same yarn. I can't wait to try it.  1.40 oz./40 g (87 yd/80 m), 72% Superwash Merino, 15% Nylon, 13% Cashmere.

I recently ran across these detailed instructions for making sweaters (for babies or small children) using squares and thought it worth saving off for a future date. Have a look at Cozy's Corner for the hexagon sweater, and Bev's Country Cottage for the hexagon granny square sweater and Risna's adaptation of Bev's has lots of pics. More pics at Risna's here.

I have become interested in scarves, hooded scarves, cowls, hats and such - things to keep one warm - with my husband's recent trips into the cold Wisconsin area, though not necessarily for him! LOL Annie's Attic has featured this hooded cowl a few times in the newsletter and it always catches my eye. It is called Chunky Hooded Neck Wrap.

Then, of course, there was the beret search I did the other day. One site I enjoyed was Crochet and Other Stuff. She has links to other hats as well. Another hat I may try is this one at Patterns by Dot.

Over at SIBOL one of the challenges is the Circle of Friends square. I also saw at Share a Square mention of the square used in Lacy Lapghan. Both designs are by Priscilla Hewitt. I like both squares so I've saved those links off. I've made the Circle of Friends (see previous post) and hope to do the other one soon.

Wheelchair caddies were part of the discussion on one of my lists. Suzie has several variations of her pattern at http://suzies-yarnie-stuff.blogspot.com/2010/10/wheelchair-tote.html. This is another item I'd like to make for the local nursing home. My question is can the residents who need these actually work buttons? There is a version with velcro. In the past, I have found that velcro and yarn have not played well together. Nonetheless, I do plan to try this one or this other one at Bev's.

So there ya go. I hope you find a few of these interesting.
Happy crocheting!

beret hat

Over the last couple of days I've been working on a few hats. Two are the regular hats I normally make, but the third is a beret style, which is something different for me. It was a very easy pattern though it took a long time to do because it uses sock yarn.

The pattern is Big Button Beret and it can be found at The Adventures of the Gingerbread Lady blog. The instructions are very clear and there are numerous photos. One of the things I love about this pattern is the start of round. Rather than ch 3 and then work double crochets, the designer has you ch ONE, then work a dc in the same stitch. I love this! I didn't find it made a great difference in being able to see the beginning of rounds (though it might in a solid colored yarn), but when you go to join your rounds, you have an actual double crochet, rather than chains, to join into. Did I say I love this? Why did I never think to do this before? So I send thanks across the water to The Gingerbread Lady for that tip.

Essentially you start out making a regular hat. She starts with 10dc in ring, but after trying that I decided to go with my regular 12 dc in ring. That worked better for me, but 10 might do just fine for you. She makes other suggestions if you have trouble with bowing (or waffling - read the comments section).

Then you just increase as you would normally until you get to 28cm. If you are like me, you never did get use to using cm as opposed to inches. I pulled out my ruler and yes, it did have both inches and cm, but the manufacturers put the numbers opposite. IOW instead of starting at 0 on both, they start at 0 on inches and 30 on cm. AND the numbers are upside down. Why didn't they ask me before they printed up these things? I'm sure they have their reasons, but it annoyed me.

I will make it easy for you. 28cm is approximately 11 inches. Later on the pattern says to work the ending rounds to 10 cm. That is about 4". I didn't work mine to 4" though. I don't have a good reason. I just got tired of working it. heh

I used Patons Kroy Sock variegated yarn in Cyan Stripes and an F hook. It really was easy to do, just took time because of the thin yarn.

bottom (inside) of hat

Top of hat

After you get to the 11" (or however big you want it), you start decreasing. I followed her pattern for the decrease and that worked nicely. I worked until I got to about 72 stitches as when I make a regular hat that is the number I do before I start working even.

When I got to the 72 stitches (or thereabouts) I then worked even (supposedly to the 10cm).

So for specifics of MY beret, I worked the increase rows until I got to 12 dc between increases. That was 14 rounds if I counted right. Then I worked the decrease until I got to about 72 stitches. That was 10 decrease rounds. On the last decrease round, I only decreased 4 because my goal was to get to about 72 stitches.Then I worked even for another 7 rounds (which turns out to be about 2 1/2" - I really should have gone to 4" and suggest that if you want to turn the brim up and add a button). I did a total of 31 rounds.

If you are starting with 10 as in the pattern, you won't be following my specifics. Also if you are working with a different yarn or hook, yours will be different.

Here are some photos to wet your appetite.

You might also wear it as a slouch hat.

Besides that hat, I did make two other normal hats, modeled here by Logan and Megan. Megan is wearing the black cowl I talked about in a previous post and Logan has a scarf made using the same pattern. Lisa's Easy Baby Blanket.

That's all for now.



Happy crocheting!

Heart for the Olympics

Another Special Olympics Louisiana scarf finished. They need a lot more scarves, so if you've of that mind, please do get your hooks and needles to work and send them off.

For this scarf I used Kim Guzman's Heart Sampler Square. I used a smaller foundation chain (21) to make sure it was 6". I put one heart in each color at the beginning and end. The center part is straight dc. At the end I reversed the heart so when the scarf is hanging down it will show in the same direction.

This is not a difficult pattern, but I kept messing up. I guess my brain or my fingers were too cold to concentrate fully. For example, as I was finishing the final two hearts I skipped a row on the second to last one, and didn't notice until I was finished the last one. Of course, I'd already woven the ends in so I had to undo the second one, add the missing row, and rework the second heart. My own fault, but still a pain. heh

Finished size is 6" x 57".


Happy crocheting!

Christmas ghans

My daughter made all her Christmas gifts this year. She did such a wonderful job on all of these, I thought I'd highlight her work now that Christmas is over and gifts have been given. They are pictured below with captions below them.

I've already shown my Doctor Who scarf, ornament and also the hook holders SIL made, but here they are again because I love them so much! :-)

DR WHO scarf

TARDIS ornament and hook holder for large hooks - already have two for my normal sized hooks

35 squares

30 Bobby's Square, laid on Queen size bed

39 hexagons, ruffled edging

Daughter designed her own beautiful color scheme and layout. I know #2 is Bobby's Square, but can't remember if she used a pattern for the other two or not.

Happy crocheting!