Adipose

 Tada! The Adipose (from Doctor Who). The Adipose is basically fat - 1 kilo of fat according to the episode Partners in Crime. You can read about the Adipose here. In reality adipose tissue is "loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes".  You can read about it here.

Size is about 18" x 20". 40 x 40 squares total. The Adipose itself is 36 x 36 squares. I used a G hook and Pound of Love white yarn.

You can buy Adipose toys wherever Doctor Who things are sold. ;-)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

new pattern for sale

I have finished the new pattern, Jeff's Sampler Afghan/Scarf, that I talked about a while back. It is available for sale in my Etsy shop and in my Ravelry shop. There are exclusive videos available giving instruction on how to make the pattern.

Here are some photos of projects I personally made using this pattern.

You can make anything from a square to a full size afghan with the pattern. You can use any hook and any yarn, depending on your need.

You must know basic crochet stitches like the slip stitch, chain, single crochet and double crochet. There will be instructions for the special stitches used and they are shown in the videos on You Tube. You must have the specific URLs to see the videos, which are e-mailed along with the pattern.

I know many folks can't afford to buy patterns or just don't have the need for them, but for those who do I think this is a good value. I really enjoyed working on the pattern and videos.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Crochet Corncupiscence

Back in December Kathryn at Crochet Corncupiscence was giving out awards during the month to blogs she found to be worthy. I was chosen to share a joint award with Sandy over at the Bridge and Beyond and Sue of SIBOL. The award was for blogs related to charity work.

I feel truly blessed to be in the company of these fine ladies. I have donated to both efforts. Sandy at The Bridge helps hundreds (I'm tempted to say thousands and that may well be true!) of homeless in Ohio. Besides collecting and organizing the many donations she receives, Sandy also puts together the squares and makes her own ghans to donate. You can read all about her efforts at the link above.

Sue has assembled so many beautiful ghans from donated squares which she then delivers to nursing home residents in the U.K. Such a sweet lady and you must visit her blog and see the beautiful pictures. She truly has a gift for photography and layout.

Both Sandy and Sue do various challenges to keep the donations coming. This month Sandy's focus is on mittens although donations of socks, hats, and scarves are always welcomed. You can find her calendar and the focus for each month here. Sue (or Mrs. Twins as she is also called) has her challenges listed here.

Before donating, it is always a good idea to find out the specifics of what is needed. Sandy has a general FAQ and also individual sections for the various types of donations such as hats and scarves. The challenge page at SIBOL also lists the requirements for the donated squares. Basically she accepts 6" squares made with acrylic yarn and having a straight edge so they can be easily joined.

If you are looking for a place to donate, you can't go wrong with these two ladies' efforts.

My thanks to Kathryn for allowing me to be in the company of these two worthy efforts with this award. My apologies, too, for the delay in posting about it. I meant to do it immediately and you know how that goes ... it didn't get done.

Kathryn always posts wonderful links to other sites, both charity related and many other topics, but all very interesting. I could spend all day checking them out and sometimes I do! LOL

I hope 2012 is going well for you so far!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Exterminate!

I have happily completed my filet crochet Dalek. For those who are not Whovians, the Daleks are one of the "monsters" from Doctor Who TV series. Their most famous quote is "Exterminate!" which they attempt to do to everything in sight.

I used the pattern chart at http://meredee.livejournal.com/1608.html.

My finished Dalek is 22" x 26". The chart says 40 x 51 squares, but that is JUST the Dalek. There are extra boxes on the sides, top, and bottom.

I used a G hook and some ... uhm yarn. I am not sure what yarn it is. I had almost a full skein of it but no label on the skein. Go figure. It was a large skein, like a pounder, but seems like sport yarn to me or one of the light worsted.

The chart did not include line numbers so I added those to the next two patterns as I found it difficult to keep track of the rows. I also used a stitch marker at the end of rows to help me keep count of which row I was working on.

Well, the Saints game is starting so I'll end.


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

working in the round

Hats and scarves are my go to project when I don't have anything particular in mind. Crochet Me recently talked about hats in their newsletter. They have a page at the web site on this topic. Notice the 3 rules for making hats. I have mentioned these myself in past posts, but they bear repeating. 

When working in the round, whether it be for a hat or any round project like a coaster for example, you start off with a particular number of stitches and you increase by that number on each round as long as you want the work to remain flat. That beginning number depends on the height of the stitch in which you are working.

For example, if you are working in single crochet, you might start with 6 chains in center of ring. How you make your ring is your choice. In future rounds, you would increase by the same number you start off with. So in this case, you would increase in every stitch since you have six stitches and you want to increase by 6 stitches. So work 2 sc in each stitch. In the next round you still want to increase by 6 but you have 12 stitches, so you would increase in every other stitch. And so on...

For half double crochet, you might start with 8. So you would have 16 on the second round, 24 on the third etc.

For double crochet, which is the stitch I most like to work with, you might start off with 12. So your next round is 24, then 36, 48, etc...

For triple crochet, you might start with 24, so the next round would be 48 etc. It would increase more rapidly since you start off with more stitches.

Now, that said, I sometimes like to vary it up and increase half the amount to give a more gentle slope to my hats, and not such a flat top.  But we are talking here of how to make your piece stay flat.

There have been some good articles and tidbits about working in the round in many books and magazines. The one that comes to mind is Pauline Turner's  chart in her book How to Crochet.

Besides thinking about working in the round, today I added a pattern to the Charity Patterns section at Crochet Cabana. It is not a new pattern, but one that was on the site years ago. I did some tweaking and decided it would be a nice pattern to make for needy babies and children. It is called Baby Love and Prayers. Those who have been around a while might remember it.

In addition to that I've been working on a filet piece. It is a Dalek from Doctor Who. I hope to also make an Adipose, an Ood, and K-9. You can find the charts at Meredee's site. I've known about them for a while, but finally decided to do it. I am not using thread, however, but thin yarn. Pictures when it's done, of course!

Happy crocheting!
Sandie