Who dishcloths

I had to come back and show off the Who dishcloths made by daughter. Yes, they are knitted but they are COOL!

She also made me a birthday cake and my all time favorite Hershey fudge which is very difficult to make. What a gal! Thank you, daughter!


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

owl cushion review

I'm still working on dishcloths, but took some time out to work on an owl pattern I purchased on Etsy. Owls are really popular now as you probably already know and this was a beautiful pattern.

The pattern I'm working is a gorgeous owl cushion (pillow). Though I think it is well worth the just over $5 (U.S.) purchase price, it is written differently than I am used to and it has taken daughter and I some collaboration to translate it into a form that is easier on my brain.

I have been in contact with the designer and will be sending her my interpretation. I've gotten most of it down now though I can't absolutely guarantee my translation is what she meant. It did seem to work well and looks like the picture on the listing. (The interpretation is just for my own personal use, though the designer can use it however she wishes.)

Let me give a small example of what I mean from the pattern.

Pattern says:
attach a new color between two sc last row, 1sc in the same space (1ch - 2sc) 15 rtimes, (total 16) 1ch, join round with slst fasten off

My interpretation:

attach new color in any ch-1 space of last round with a single crochet, sc in same space, (ch 1, 2 sc) in each ch-1 space around, ch 1, join with a sl st to beg sc (32 sc) fasten off

You can see that all the instructions are there in both cases. The wording is just unusual to me. The designer is from the Netherlands and she says it has a Dutch touch to it. She did a great job in the development of the pattern. It really is gorgeous and looks like an owl when complete.

The pattern itself is not difficult. The body is worked in rounds (not rows as labeled). The side bits and head portion are worked in rows. My numbers didn't come out exactly as hers on one row (I got 37 and she had 38 - could be my error), but otherwise it worked fine. There ARE a lot of tails to sew in if you leave them til last as almost every row is worked in a new color. I suggest sewing over those you can as you go along. On my second one, I wove the strand through the back loop of the next stitches and then crocheted over it. (Yes, I am paranoid and cotton is particularly bad for poking out.)

Here is a picture of what I've done on the first side (tails not sewn in). I used worsted cotton rather than double strand sport so my finished product is larger (15" across the widest part of the round body). I haven't done the surface stitching. It buckles slightly but won't do that once it's in pillow form.

After I finished that one, and wrote up my interpretation, I made a second one and tweaked my written pattern a bit. I will be froggin' the edging and the last couple rows of the first one to match the other one. :-(  I also still need to do the surface stitching. Then they can be joined together into a pillow. The second side does not use the same color combinations. Here is a picture of the second owl (tails not sewn in yet).

I really like the pattern (as evidenced by all the time I spent on making and interpreting it) and think this would be a neat gift to someone who enjoys owls. The pattern is in pdf format and was delivered very quickly even given the time difference. There is also a second option for a medium size owl using the same eyes and beak.

Small side note. Today is my 60th birthday and I thought I'd share the Smartglo hooks I received as part of my gift.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

dishcloths

I'm still working on dishcloths.

As you can see, they are a variety of sizes and patterns.

The green is #7 from 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton. I shortened the square.

The orange is my daughter's cross-stitch square which is part of a 5 square pattern set available at Ravelry or Etsy shops. I worked only the cross-stitch part of the square. This pattern set has additional information besides the actual patterns. A good value I think.

The pink is my bobble scarf pattern made into a square. 

The yellow and white is a combination of front post and back posts which makes it reversible. I put a row of double crochet between the post rows. Each post row has a pattern of bpdc, fpdc.

The green is the smallest at 6 1/2" and the yellow is the largest at 9 1/2".

These were all made with cotton yarn donated by Beth Willenborg.


Happy crocheting!
Sandie