Monday, November 19, 2012

hook and needle club

I've received another Hook and Needle Club kit. I have already begun this one  though I haven't started the last one yet. It just came in at a great time. I had finished the last troop hat I can do (no more yarn) and had nothing of particular urgency to get to at that time of night. On came the Christmas movies and out came the package. :-)

The yarn is Deborah Norville Everyday soft worsted acrylic. It's a Premier yarn. It also says anti-pilling. That's a nice perk if it works. The label on the Lilac Ridge color says there is a pattern inside and you should purchase enough yarn in the same dye lot for your project. It doesn't tell you, however, how much that is (that I saw anyway). Shhh. I'm going to tell you. The pattern shown is a diagonal stripe. Inside it says you need 4 balls in each of 3 colors.

The pattern in my Hook & Needle kit is a striping scarflette. In other words, the yarn makes the "stripes". I like the yarn very much. It's soft, a bit on the thin side of worsted.


The pattern is a nice one too. It is a thinnish scarf using front and back post stitches so far though I see in the pattern there will be V stitches and shells. I haven't gotten that far yet. You can see my progress in the picture. When I finish it, I'll post the completed scarflette. No problems with the pattern at this time.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Crochet Cabana new look

Crochet Cabana has a new look.

I am pleased to announce that the new, updated Crochet Cabana is now live. I hope you all enjoy it.

My thanks to my wonderful daughter, Kate, who did the bulk of the work on this site. She will be helping me to learn the program so I can make necessary updates as time goes on.

My thanks also to my son-in-law who helped with text editing even though I'm sure reading about crocheting was not at the top of his to-do list. LOL

Finally, my thanks to my husband, who has long been my go-to tech support for Crochet Cabana and was an essential member of the team as we got things ready and uploaded the new site today.

I appreciate all the work each of them have done to get this site up.

It's unbelievable to me that it's been 15 years since Crochet Cabana debuted in October 1997. I hope you all continue to enjoy the site and particularly that you like the new look and the changes that were made. I'll be highlighting various pages on Facebook over the coming weeks if you happen to be a member there.
https://www.facebook.com/crochetcabana

Remember that if you have bookmarked any of the old pages directly, those links will no longer work.

Also, I have brought back some very old patterns which have been updated, some with new photos. I have tried to give them all the same basic format as I went through them. I'd like to remake each item in the future, both to verify instructions and to update photos.

You can use the contact page at the site to let me know how you like/dislike the new site, and any problems you encounter.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

on my hook

Here's what's been on my hook... dishcloths and a scarf.

single crochet in blo

my reversible dishcloth pattern

straight single crochet, the yarn made such an interesting pattern

double crochet in blo with a dc edging

Seed stitch scarf

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Monday, November 12, 2012

troop hat update

I ran across Rachel's blog post at Maybe Matilda and thought it an excellent tutorial as an introduction to crochet for those wanting to learn. Thought I'd share the link.

I want to thank Ellen, Judy, and Faye for the troop hats that were sent recently. Our local paper ran an article about the care packages in which these hats will be put. The hats are not specifically mentioned though caps are mentioned as a needed item. Other items that are needed are:

•Socks
•Caps
•Gloves
•Lip balm
•Disposable razors
•Soap
•Body wash
•Foot powder
•Deodorant
•Toothpaste and toothbrushes
•Shaving cream/gel
•Crackers, peanuts, nuts, chips, hard candy, beef jerky
•Q-tips
•Candy (no chocolate, gummy or taffy)
•Toilet tissue
•Mouthwash
•Dental floss
•Newspapers, books and magazines
•Shampoo and conditioner

The article goes on to say:
The gift packages will arrive in time for Christmas.
Items to be donated may be dropped off at one of these locations; at Thrift Village Pharmacy in Luling, Majoria’s Supermarket in Boutte, the West Regional Library in Luling and the Paradis Library.
Additionally, monetary donations towards shipping cost of the boxes is being collected at the Capital One Bank in Luling.
The deadline for item collection is Nov. 25.
I realize most of you are not local, but if anyone is local and wants to save on shipping, those are the places that are collecting.

An important note is that I just received notice that only 75 hats are needed by the deadline, not 150 as I was previously told. One of the units is not going to be set up for mail by Christmas so hats will be sent to them, but not for another few months. I've already got close to 50 hats and have enough yarn to make maybe 3 or 4 more.

In other news, daughter and I are still working on web site. I've put a lot of pictures in the albums and have done the captions on most.There are probably some pictures that didn't get moved over because of the way it has to be done but that's not a critical thing.

Photos in the dictionary will be put up later.

Most of the patterns have been tackled. I am thinking I might make the font size larger on them, but the text has been gone over. I still have one or two for which I need to make the item so I can take new photos. As I might have said before, I hope to do this for more of the projects as time allows later.

That's about it for now. Hope everything is getting geared up for the holidays. It's certainly not too early to think of handmade Christmas gifts.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

troop hats and site update

I am happy to report that I have 33 hats ready to deliver to Donna for the Louisiana troop in Afghanistan. Big thanks to Annemarie, Rosemary, Myrna, Joyce, and Carla. I am expecting more to come in the next couple of weeks as well as crocheters have contacted me for information. I appreciate each hat.



I was reading a guest blog post that Kathryn did over at Stitch and Unwind. I was intrigued by the idea she put forth on cutting up lines of different patterns, putting them together and working the "new" pattern. What a crazy - and fun - idea! I think I must do that soon. I'm curious to see what I would come up with.

I've been so busy working on the web site to the exclusion of most other things. I've reworked some of the old patterns. I'd like to do them all, but of course won't have time to do that if I ever want the site live in this century. LOL

Here are some things I've completed recently.

Chevron scarf

Jamie scarf

Quick Scarf

striped scarf

dishcloth worked in blo

Dinah's Tears square

front post dc hat

Spiked dishcloth
There may be other things as well, but you'll have to wait and see them when the site debuts. (All of the above patterns will be available on site.)

Finally, I hope all my friends out there who experienced the wrath of Hurricane Sandy are safe and dry. My prayers go with you.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie