football ghan

Who remembers that old Andy Griffith song "What it was was football"? It came to my mind as I was working on this baby afghan for a friend.

The pattern is one I purchased at Ravelry. It is the Football Baby Blanket by Doni Speigle. I am using thinner yarn and an H hook. I know it's just stripes and I could have figured it out myself, but for $4 she did all the figuring so why bother? *lazy*

The tricky part of this ghan is keeping your yarn from getting all tangled up when you change color. I could do this if I laid the yarns out properly but I was lying on the sofa watching TV *lazy again* so I kept having to untangle them. LOL

I generally try to keep any loose strands to the same side but these two stragglers got left behind. I actually don't have a lot of strands on this ghan so far as I'm carrying up the colors with a little bit of ingenuity. I haven't even had any problem bits in this Knit Picks Brava sport yarn or the Baby Bee Sweet Delight either. Remind me of that when I need more yarn. :-) I particularly like the Brava. I've got more of it for a Who scarf and I would not hesitate to buy more next time I'm in need.

This is really a mindless ghan once you get your first two bits of the threaded part done. It does take a bit of time since it's all sc but you could easily adapt this to dc as well.


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

heart afghan

I finished the heart afghan using the extra heart squares I had made in the Vanna's Choice Aqua. I added some Vanna's Choice Scarlet squares to come up with this ghan which is approximately 34" square.

Combining the red and blue was daughter's idea and I think it came out great! I had two skeins of the red and had JUST enough to make the 5 squares. In fact, I had to redo the last one a little bit tighter than I'd worked the others, but it joined well.

Details on the pattern were given in my 1/25 post but I'll repost them here for your convenience.

This pattern was in a magazine many years ago but has been reprinted in Leisure Arts Book A Year of Afghans book 3 which is available at Leisure Arts web site, Amazon and other places too. Some places incorrectly list this book as Book 2 so here's a picture so you know which one it is.


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

cloths

Last group of cloths for a little while as I have a few other projects I need to get to.

The first one is a dark navy blue. You will recognize the pattern as the one row dc, one row (dc, ch 1, sk 1) from previous cloths. I chained 31 and did 8 rows solid dc.

This is the same pattern but I ran out of the cream color so I added some brown top and bottom and around, finishing off with a round of cream in sc with what I had left. Now that I have mostly small balls left, it's a bit more challenging.

This is one of the small filet patterns from When Granny Meets Filet. I put four of them together using some of those small balls. However, when I was done, I realized the "white" in the variegated ball was not real white, so it looks a bit funny next to the real white. I will probably keep this one rather than sending it to someone else.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

more dish wash cloths

I finished more dish/wash cloths and also made more heart squares to use the last of the aqua squares I made. I'll take a picture of those when I've assembled them. Of course any of these designs can be used for regular squares as well as dish or wash cloths. I have used almost all the large balls of cotton yarn now and am figuring how to use the smaller balls to best advantage.

Here are pictures of the dishcloths.

This white and variegated is one of my favorites. I had a small leftover ball of this bright variegated. I don't know what the color is. I worked long single crochets in the variegated over rows of white in single crochet. I think I worked five rows of white to start with.

The all white is a box stitch. The blue and white, and navy with colors are just stripes. I worked some in back loop to give a little variety.

This pinwheel is from the Annie's Attic book When Granny Meets Filet. There are several pages of filet patterns. What I like about this section of the book is that all the patterns for the small filet start with the same beginning chain, and all the patterns for the large filet pieces also start with the same beginning chain. The small pieces are about 5" with an edging using an I hook. This large one came out about 10". I did make some small pieces which I've put together into one large one but I haven't finished it yet. It will be in the next group.

That's all for now. Have a great day!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

washcloths

A few more dish / wash cloths done. I actually have one more done that escaped picture taking. It will be in the next group.

I'm still using the yarn donated by Beth. Unbelievable how many cloths I'm getting from this box of yarn - and still quite a bit left. It hasn't cost me a cent to make these so the only cost I've incurred has been to mail. (Btw, did you know first class stamp price has gone up?)

Nothing fancy about this group of cloths. I just single or double crocheted, some through both loops, some through back loop only. For the blue and white I combined single and double crochet rows. My goal is not to have a lot of ends to sew in, though on the white and multi I was using up some of the smaller balls so I did end up sewing in a lot of tails. I don't mind the sewing in of them; just hoping they stay put.

If you're thinking of making some cloths for the Bridge and Beyond, and wondering where they're going to be used, here is what is said on the web site regarding washcloths (I use the terms washcloth and dishcloth interchangeably. They are made pretty much the same and can use any pattern. They're just used for different purposes.):

100% Cotton or a Cotton blend works well for both knitted and crocheted washcloths.  We collect these all year.  It's an item always needed at the shelters, and is very much appreciated.

The family shelters, both Faith Mission and The Homeless Families Foundation provide packages to the families as the depart shelter living into "their home."  Washcloths and dish clothes are always a part of these packs.

Sizes and colors appropriate for adults, as well as children; but primarily adults are needed.  The adults who live outside in the elements (primarily men) are also given these cotton wash cloths, so manly colors are needed as well as the more traditional pastels and brights.

I am making cloths right now, but scarves, hats, mittens, slippers, socks, afghans and more are needed for these folks in Ohio. Have a look at the blog site for additional info.


I've had a break from making videos, but I've been thinking of working on some again soon. This week will be rainy and it's hard to videotape with the rain banging on our aluminum roof, but I'm hoping next week I can start again. If you have thoughts on what you'd like to see in a video, holler out. I do have a list but it's not set in stone.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie