Crochet A la Carte

2012-01-26T14:06:00.000-05:00

I just finished another little girl's crocheted felted Flower purse! (all except the liner:) This one is a Fairy House Flower:) Most of it is made using the Kertzer Persian tapestry yarn I bought (the big blue bag:)

It started out like my other flower purses, then took on a mind of it's own!! Lol!

Here are some pics of it before felting.
I didn't care for the petals so added to them a bit. Now it reminded me more of Tinkerbell!

Once I got the idea for the handle, it made me think of a Fairy House! What's a Fairy house without a toad stool or 2? A Fairy decided to move into one of them:0) The unattached toad stool on the right is just an experiment. I might put it with the purse as a key chain or something or just keep it to use as a decoration for my plants....

The handle one one side was made to look like the stem and roots of a flower but made me think of a tree trunk and roots.

Here's the curly vine like tip of the stem, just like in the Fairy books:)

Here it is after felting in my front load HE washing machine.

Here's a close up of the lone toad stool. I may have to make it some friends:0)

Here's some beautiful batik material I found that will look great to line it with! The bright pink matches the purse and there's a hint of orange in it to match the purse. The curly lines remind me of Fairies. I'll line it as soon as it is dry.

Once it's lined it will be posted for sale either on my fb page: (Crochet A la Carte (Deidre Eyles) or on my etsy page: (CrochetAlaCarte.etsy.com)

yarn haul of the century!!

2012-01-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

This is my yarn haul!! My lys "Andjareena's" in Carrying Place near Trenton, Ontario, had some Kertzer's Persian tapestry yarn that I used for the first 2 little girl's flower purses I made. Being Persian yarn, it is in 3 lace weight strands that can be separated. I use 2 strands for the felted purses. They are 40 yd skeins and usually cost $3.99/skein. Andjareena's called and offered them to me for $1/skein IF I took the entire lot of 107 skeins! My Mom bought it for me for Christmas!! Happy dance, happy dance, happy dance!!

Look at the SIZE of the bag!!!!

All the colors of the RAINBOW!!!!! (and you can't see all of the colors:0) I have so many ideas for cute little girl's purses that I can't keep up!!! LOL!!

These 2 are reserved for a very special Flower purse. I took a picture of a very unique plant/flower at the zoo a couple of years ago.

Here are some more skeins. The bunch in the left bottom corner are being reserved. They will be made into a special purse for ME:) The comp doesn't do justice to any of the colors. The one color is a gorgeous teal green color!

Did I mention, I love my Mommy? :*) Thanks Mom!!

The drawback to the Persian yarn is separating it. The full skeins have to be separated a foot or 2 at a time, unwound (untangled? untwisted?) and wound into balls or it tangles dreadfully!! VERY time consuming and you get very sore arms and shoulders!

The other skeins come pre-cut in 3' (I think) lengths, which has it's own problems. Much easier to separate, but far too short to crochet with! Therefore it has to be separated then joined and rolled into balls. I tried tying them together, but it was not very secure and I'd have TONS of ends to trim after felting. I was also worried that the ends might come undone before it felts, leaving a large hole in the purse! Yikes!

I tried crossing the ends a tiny bit, then turning them back the way they came and pre-felting them a bit with a felting needle. I held the very fine strands over my left index finger, then VERY carefully used the needle to try to "felt" the yarn together without poking myself! (I kind of poked it into the yarn from the side, then kind of "sawed" at the yarn) It worked, kind of, but again was very time consuming and not always the most secure:(

A friend of mine on fb, Brenda Bourg, reminded me of the "Russian Join" method. Thanks Brenda! :0) I had thought of it earlier, but decided against it as the strands are so thin I didn't think it would work. When she mentioned it I decided to give it a try (anything had to be faster than the needle felting method!) So far, this has turned out to be the fastest method. I leaves bigger loops than I like, but it seems secure and I don't use too much precious yarn (some colors only have a skein or 2, not really enough for a purse, so has to be worked into the design very carefully).

Here are photos of my Russian joining.

The ends are first crossed over each other and the needle is at the very end of one end. Because it is 2 very thin strands held together I can't just go straight up the yarn. I have to weave the needle back and forth through both strands very carefully.

Here's a better photo of the needle going through the strands of yarn.

And this is the finished "Russian Joined" yarn strands! I'm not fussy about the loops it leaves, but I can work with it and it should felt so you don't even see it.

Voila! The finished, joined yarn wound into a working ball of yarn! :0) I already have a Flower purse design in mind for this nice bright salmony pink color:0) (it's a lot brighter in person:)

2012-01-06T13:51:00.000-05:00

These little girl's Flower purses were my 4th order. The customer also requested 2 little girl's matching berets to go with them. They were for a 3 and 5 yr old.

When the polar fleece liner is tucked into the purse, it not only keeps things from falling out, but I think it looks like a rose bud:0)

The hat was lined as well so the wool wouldn't be scratchy.

I always try to add a little Lady Bug button or something else whimsical for decoration to all my purses. After all, Lady Bugs eat nasty aphids:0)

Here's the lighter pink one. I couldn't have made the pattern match any better if I had actually tried to do it! lol What a happy coincidence:0)

Close up of the liner. The wavy part turns up. I just wanted to show that it can be folded down for easier access. This one looks crooked. It looked much better when it was blocked:0)

Here are the matching berets. The little tiny one was my first attempt...a bit too tiny I think! It would fit a doll!! lol. Maybe I could sell matching dolly hats and purses? :*)

This is a tulip that was growing in my garden a couple of years ago. This was the inspiration for the coloring style used for the purses.

5th Little girl's crocheted felted Flower purse

2012-01-06T13:18:00.000-05:00

I have now had orders for 5 little girl's crocheted felted Flower purses!! This is the 5th little girl's crocheted felted flower purse I designed. I did the petals a little differently to change things up. I always try to make each one different so no 2 are exactly alike. This one was worked in Cascade 220 for the pink and green and the purple is Kertzer Rejuvenation.

This is the pre-felted stage.

The petals on this one are a bit farther apart. When it is properly blocked it is nice and round and the petals stand out a bit. It is very cute. Unfortunately I forgot to take pics before mailing it to the customer:(

The final version had a bright pink polar fleece liner.

2011-09-26T13:31:00.000-04:00

I sold my first pattern on Ravelry!! Yay!! It was for my "Quick and Easy Coffee Cup Jacket".

I also wrote a second version of the pattern using UK terminology. It is now available for sale in my Ravelry shop "Deidre Eyles Designs" along with the original version using US terms.

I've also updated my info on my etsy shop: CrochetAlaCarte.etsy.com.

I've set up a Face Book page for Crochet A la Carte. Please feel free to take a look and "like" it if you enjoy it:0) Thank you.

Up-cycled jean bag for me

2011-09-16T11:03:00.000-04:00

I decided my daughter's up-cycled jean purse turned out so well, I would give my old favorite pair of Calvin Klein button fly jeans a new life! They were very old and had been "retired" due to great wearing in spots, but I hated to throw them away. I love the buttons on them!

Here they are after cutting the legs off. I'll probably use the legs to make a change purse and some of those microwave heating pads.

Turned inside out to see how they look and lay before trimming them shorter.

Trimmed and sewn inside out.

And the final look after turning right side out.

This is a gorgeous teal blue Batik material with various shades of greens, browns, blues and purples. Liner sewn and ready to install. I forgot to photograph the next part, but I sewed in several pockets for specific items; ie, cell phone (mobile), a tube of lippy, my business cards, of course!, credit and membership card wallet and a couple extra, just in case!

Tada! The finished purse!

The handle is only temporary. It's a spare handle from something (not sure what) that I found in the house. I haven't decided what I want the handle to be yet... This one just clips on at the ends.

This is a gorgeous wool blend yarn I had on hand. I just did a free form piece to go over the button to close. The colors matched the liner perfectly! It's like they were made for each other:0)

The front pockets are perfect for storing my coffee cup cozies:)

A pocket that's easily accessible for your lippy is a must:)

And of course I couldn't forget my business cards. They need to be in easy reach! I placed it on the front side of the liner.

And there you have it! My up-cycled jean purse. A new life for a beloved pair of jeans:0)

upcycle jean bags

2011-09-16T10:03:00.001-04:00

My daughter had an old pair of jeans that no longer fit and had holes in the knees, and as they had a lot of embroidered butterflies on them, I decided to make her a purse out of them. I cut the legs off, turned them inside out, and sewed across the leg openings. As the material is denim and quite thick, and as the crotch part is an odd shape, I had to fiddle a bit to get it to work properly. Here is the finished product.

I let her pick out the material from my material stash and this is the one she chose.
It looks like a sky with clouds so suits the butterflies really well, don't you think?

The next step was adding a handle. I used 2 strands of embroidery floss, which she picked out, to crochet the handle. There was a bit of miscommunication on our parts; she wanted stripes and I thought she meant across, but after it was done she informed me she meant length-wise like a Rainbow! I did offer to redo it, but she said it was ok and that she liked it anyway:0)

Attaching the handles was the tricky part. I crocheted the handle in sc, 6 sc across. First I worked several rows of sc. Then I worked 2 sc, ch 2, fed the skein of floss through the belt loop, then worked the last 2 single crochet. for the next row, I turned, then worked the first 2 sc, worked 2 sc over the ch 2, then fed the skein of floss through the belt loop again, and worked the last 2 sc. Then I had to repeat the whole process again to finish off on top of the belt loop. Doing it this way, I ended up with a bar of crochet behind the loop so the handle should be pretty secure.

I'm thinking of making another handle and attaching it on the 2 front belt loops as well for added stability when carrying the purse. Maybe I could make them in the longer Rainbow stripes?... There was some embroidery left on the legs as well, maybe I will make a matching change purse... She still has a few more old pairs of jeans with embroidery and embellishments...more purses anyone? :0)

Halloween crochet

2011-09-14T09:25:00.000-04:00

Now that the kids are back in school, I've had more time to get things done. I'm concentrating more on my etsy shop and getting more items made to post on it.

For my cup cozies and coasters, I've come up with some Halloween items.

This is a really cool felted cup cozy for Halloween. The spider's web is hand stitched in a fine weight wool yarn. Each "anchor" line is stitched separately so that if one gets caught and breaks, it won't pull the others. Each line of webbing going across is separate as well. This pin is metal with black and white rhinestones on the body. I found it at my local Michael's craft store.

This is modelled after my Molar Coasters. It's a rotten molar! Every dental care professional's worst nightmare!!

This adorable little fellow is cute enough to make any child (or adult) smile:0)

This cute little guy is the Molar Monster! He's what happens when a good tooth goes bad!

Don't they make a cute pair?

It's Frankencozy! Isn't he just adorable? :0)

All of these frightening little fellows can be found in my etsy shop and I'm listing more every day.

tid bits of info I've learned for selling on Etsy

2011-08-11T08:36:00.003-04:00

In the past couple of weeks I have listed 31 items for sale on Etsy and found out that there is a steep learning curve to selling on etsy!

I thought it would be simple.
Step 1: crochet item
Step 2: photograph item
Step 3: list item on etsy
Step 4: watch the items sell...

Wrong! lol! Silly me! hehehe:0)

After barely any views and no sales in the past couple weeks, I started reading articles on Etsy on how to market your stuff so it sells.

One tid bit of information I learned was that apparently, people who shop on Etsy don't want a "thing", they want an item with a story! They can get a "thing" (read: an item off a shelf in Walmart with a tag that says Made In China), so that when someone asks them "Where did you get that gorgeous purse?" their reply might be something like:

"I bought it in Walmart. It kind of looks like a beach and water with fish in it." (I'm using my Ocean purse as an example, IF I were to sell it. NO, I am NOT selling it:0)

No, they want to be able to reply:

"I bought it on Etsy. Isn't it Unique?! The designer loves the Ocean and would love to live there. She is also fanatical about the Environment and this crocheted felted purse was her way of getting the message out there that we need to clean up our Oceans and beaches and keep them clean if we want to be able to enjoy them! She hates that more and more species of Ocean life are going extinct every day and tries to use her creativity and artistic talent to get the word out there about the dire straights of our environment. The fish skeleton represents the fish that are dying and becoming extinct.

The designer used eco friendly food coloring to dye some of the wool because she couldn't find the colors she needed. She tries to be environmentally friendly by using upcycled materials and found objects in her works when she can."

I did not know that. Now I do. Huh. I guess I have a lot of re-writing of my descriptions to do!

They don't want: "wool, crocheted, felted purse. Looks like beach and ocean with fish charms." That doesn't give them anything to talk about when asked about their wonderful new purse.

No, they want a conversation piece. They want:
"Watch the fish swimming in the ocean and pick sea shells on the beach with this Ocean inspired crocheted, felted 100% wool purse with silver shell charms and delightful fish swimming amongst the coral and sea weed!

I love the Ocean and would love to be able to walk the beaches every day looking for treasures in the sand. I included a fish skeleton charm to the beach to draw attention to the state of our oceans and the sad fact that there are many species of ocean life going extinct every day."

That description gives them fodder for a good conversation! It gives them a very interesting and very unique, One-Of-A-Kind Work of Art to hold all their precious items, that no one else will have! Not a mass produced "purse" that 500 other people have.

There you have it.

I decided that if I am a newbie seller that knows nothing about marketing my works of art, then so are a lot of other people. There is a big learning curve to marketing on Etsy and I thought I would pass along any tidbits I pick up to others in the same position. I hope this helps someone and they find it useful. Now I'm off to re-write 29 listings:0)

updated photos of the crocheted, felted free form ocean purse

2011-08-07T12:19:00.014-04:00

Here are some more photos of the crocheted felted free form Ocean purse I was making myself.

Here's the front with the flap open. The handle on this side was made to look like seaweed or kelp. I even crocheted some free form coral.

Here's the back view. The handle on this side was made to look like different colored coral.

The greeny-brown, orange and yellow were originally the color of the base (off white) the colors were the result of dying the yarn with food coloring.

Here are a few sea life charms I added before felting in the washing machine.

Here;s a cool fish bead I found that I thought would make an awesome button to close the flap on the purse. Too bad it broke apart in the machine:( Hubby thinks he can glue it together with a special glue.

A cool spiral charm makes it look like a swirl in the water currents:)
A little fish swimming in the coral:)

Will post photos of the finished felted purse later. Still needs a liner put in as the finished purse is a bit roomy and is really hard to find stuff in. Also, stuff keeps falling out of the holes in the free form. I've lost a couple of pens this way;0)

crocheted teachers gift

2011-08-07T12:10:00.006-04:00

This is a pashmina style shawl/scarf I made for my daughter's teacher at the end of the year (June 2011). I used a yarn called Midas by herwool. It is a cream colored ladder yarn with a gold thread zig zagging through it. Very pretty and works up beautifully. The teacher loved it and couldn't wait to wear it!

This is a close up of the yarn.

new crocheted coffee cup jacket listings on etsy

2011-08-07T08:16:00.006-04:00

I've been busy the past week or so listing more coffee cup jackets on etsy. The total is now up to 15 ! I have more ready to photograph as well, hopefully today, then I can list them. Here's a few pics of my favorite listed ones:

This one is worked in a unique lacy linked dc stitch I "invented". It reminds me of wicker. I'll make one in a brighter color and post so you can see it better.

This one is a particular fave of mine as it's my favorite color, lime green! The colorful bits of metallic thread in it gives it a bit of sparkle without being overdone.

This one reminds me of the beach! The aqua blue tropical waves lapping the sandy beach with bits of shells in the sand and the blue sky overhead.... can't you just hear the waves? I want to make another one, but add a bit of shell or 2 and sea shell charms...

I've been working on some unique coasters as well. I am making some right now and should be able to photograph and list them today. I won't spoil the surprise, but I will give you a hint....your Dentist or Orthodontist would love it!

The coasters done in the unique ribbing stitch I mentioned are giving me a bit of trouble. I had the pattern down a couple of years ago, but wasn't completely happy with the finished product. It was a bit sloppy looking and not crisp and finished enough for my liking so I decided it needed tweaking before I was ready to publish it. It's proving a bit tricky to get right, but I'm almost there. I will keep you informed of my progress and hopefully will be ready to publish it soon. I am going to try to post a "sneak peek" pic or 2 today:0)

Busy, busy, busy!

2011-07-27T16:55:00.004-04:00

The last few days have been busy for me. First I changed my Ravelry user name from "CreativelyMe" to "CrochetAlaCarte" to reflect my business name.

Next, I crocheted up a few samples of a coffee cup jacket I designed, ready to be photographed for the pattern, plus a few more as ideas hit me on how to change the pattern up using color changes, variegated yarns, furry yarn edges, etc. These will be listed for purchase on my Etsy shop as soon as I get time. My dd helped me with the photography and did a smashing job if I do say! Thank you Alannah!

Next I put my design for the coffee cup jacket into a Pdf file, then uploaded it onto Ravelry and listed it for sale in my Ravelry shop - Deidre Eyles Designs Ravelry downloads.( "Quick and Easy Coffee Cup Jacket)"!! It took a huge learning curve for me to get it there, but now that I have, I hope to list more as I get them written up and put into Pdf's. I'm already working on one for a coaster using a "new" hdc st I "invented" while playing around one day, that looks a bit like surface crochet and is a ribbed stitch. I hope to have the pattern written up, proofed, converted to Pdf and listed in the next week or so.

I also have some more ideas brewing using more "invented" stitches I discovered while playing with yarn and a hook:0)

A few coasters using my new hdc ribbing stitch will be available for purchase on my Etsy shop as soon as I get some made up.

dyeing yarn

2011-04-01T10:59:00.004-04:00

I've dyed some more yarn for my free form crochet felted purse. Here's the yarn soaking in water prior to dyeing. Spaghetti anyone? :0)

Here it is in orange, yellow and red for the coral. The rest is a brown/green mixture to be used as seaweed.

This was all dyed with food coloring and vinegar. I crocheted up a small piece in the natural wool and some that I dyed blue. After felting, there was no color loss to speak of and no real bleeding of the dyed wool. All-in-all, a successful experiment! :0)

I think this wants to be a coaster when it grows up:0)

a very productive day!

2011-03-25T08:42:00.004-04:00

Today was a very productive day! :0) I taught a beginners crochet class at a local yarn/quilting shop, Pine Ridge Knit & Sew. I ended up with 3 students registering and actually teaching 2 ( one didn't make it as she was confused on the timing). It went very well and a good time was had by all:)
One of the students even ordered a child's crocheted hat from me!

We have plans to offer the class again soon, but this time on a Friday as I already have a student lined up. We may even offer more advanced crochet classes if we see a demand for them.

After class I stopped at the grocery store and one of the cashiers was really interested in my crocheted felted purse and possibly a hat as well. I didn't have a business card on me as I had just given out my last one, so told her I'd drop one off later. Later on when my husband came home we popped into the grocery store again (they had chicken on sale at a REALLY good price that we just couldn't pass up:0) and I gave her the card. As we were going through the checkout later she stopped to talk to me for a minute and now had a request for a pillow as well...with the British Flag on it! THAT one will definitely take some creative thinking on my part! lol. But it will be a really fun project that I am definitely looking forward to!

Contract crochet job...finished!

2011-03-25T08:33:00.002-04:00

I just finished a contract crochet job. A lady brought me the yarn and pattern and asked me to crochet an afghan for her. The pattern is a diamond pattern made by using sc with ch's between worked with 2 strands held together. The original pattern was done in one color. My job was to incorporate a second color into the afghan pattern if possible. The 2 colors were black and red. This is what I came up with:)

The afghan is supposed to be approx. 48" X 64", mine turned out slightly larger due to the yarn being used.

The journey of the free form felted purse continues

2011-03-04T14:29:00.005-05:00

Here's an update on the free form purse.... I dyed some more wool yarn using food coloring and vinegar. It is a bit more "turquoise" than the main body color, but not bad. I think once I dye some more yarn in red, orange and yellows and crochet some coral to put on, it should look ok. The color contrast didn't show up as well in pics as I'd hoped:)
Here's a close up.
To finish off, I want to add a coral/seaweed? handle and maybe a few shells / beads in the "sand"....
hmmmmm..... A pocket or 2 might be nice as well, then a lining that will show through the holes and enhance the look. More as the journey continues...

Newest published design and an updated look to my blog

2011-02-25T15:41:00.005-05:00

I thought my blog could use an updated look and the "Old World" / "European" look suited the A la Carte theme nicely, don't you think? :0)

I've recently had a design published in a UK magazine "Inside Crochet"!! It's in the January, Issue 13 copy. It's for an Eco Friendly Bread Bag; a re-usable bag perfect to carry home your long loaves of French or Italian bread or those long baguettes from the Market. It could just as easily be used for long veg or fruit like celery, rhubarb or long zucchini. It would also make a great gift for that Eco conscious person on your list.

wool dyeing experiment

2011-02-15T11:35:00.003-05:00

This is a partial skein of wool (Briggs & Little) sport yarn that I needed to dye to match the free form purse. I wanted to use Koolaid, but the blue pkg of Tropical Punch ended up being red, NOT blue:( So I decided to try food coloring which I had. I used blue, with a couple drops of lime green. The resulting skein of dark teal is what happened! Very pretty. Not really what I wanted for my purse maybe, but very usable anyway, just in another project:0) At least I now know how to dye wool using food coloring. I still have a full skein of bleached white, so I can always try again with just blue and a bit less food coloring:)

Being that it was so easy and very quick, I can't wait to get more wool and try more colors!!

Now for the hard part; waiting for it to dry!!

hats and coffee cup cosies

2011-02-09T13:54:00.006-05:00

What else have I been up to lately? Well, I bought a coffee in a local coffee shop and of course put on one of my coffee cup cosies. The girl behind the counter was so impressed, she ended up buying some! Since then, I've been making and selling more of them. All my own designs of course:0)
Here's a few crocheted hats and extra wide headbands I designed. All different, no 2 alike:0) I've sold 2 hats and 1 extra wide headband.

This one was a custom order for a toddler.

a journey in free form crochet

2011-02-09T11:25:00.013-05:00

It's been waaaaayyy too long since I posted so I thought I'd start with a project I'm doing for myself...a crocheted free form felted purse!

I'm still getting compliments on my small green/brown felted purse I made a few yrs ago as well as my Flame purse (I designed and felted it a few yrs ago for a design contest Elann yarns was having and unfortunately, I missed the deadline). Both purses are fairly small and now that I have a cell phone and iPod, they are really just too small.

That being said, I decided to make myself a larger one. I had a skein each of off white and blue sport wool yarn from Briggs and Little. I decided a beach / Ocean purse was what it wanted to be.

Here you can see the start of it.
Here's a close up of the detail on the "Beach" part of the bottom.

Here it is nearing completion. I designed it to have a slanted opening so that (hopefully) the taller side will be a "flap" of sorts....

I have now run out of blue and am contemplating where to take it next. I think I need to buy more blue and make it taller. After all I don't want one side to be so short that everything falls out...Being free form, it is really hard to tell how it will behave when felted.

Now for some musings.... the handles.... maybe dye some of the left over off white a green and make the handle(s) to look like seaweed? Or colorful and look like coral?....(I have some Koolaid in nice bright colors)...short handle(s) or long to sling over my shoulder?... I've never felted such a large free form piece before, so worried that it had to be big enough to start so I wouldn't end up with a change purse! lol. Now my concern is that I'll end up with a TOTE bag! LOL! Here's the small change purse I experimented with.

Before felting:

And after felting:
I just need to line it and add some sort of closure.

I deliberately made it a bit lacy in places so that the watery cloth I picked for the liner would show through. Here are some options I'm considering...

Once it's ready to felt, I'll look through my beads, shells, etc to see what, if any, I'd like to use. I'll also decide whether to add them pre or post felting, depending on the look I want and what's being added.

I'm off to ponder my purse! I'll keep you updated on my progress:0)

Sold!

2010-07-23T08:42:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update on the 3 beach wrap/shawl/scarves I sold to a local boutique...I saw the owner yesterday and ALL 3 SOLD in the first month!!! Wooohooo!! Happy dance, happy dance, happy dance:0) :0) :0) Now she wants to see what I have for Fall and Winter.

Earlier this week I was in Chapters buying the latest issue of Inside Crochet magazine (it's a fantastic UK crochet magazine, well worth the higher price) and the girl ringing in my purchase exclaimed at how nice my purse was and wanted to know where I bought it! Of course I had to tell her I designed it and made it myself and hand her my business card with my etsy addy on it:0) crochetalacarte.etsy.com

My etsy shop is up and running!

2010-06-16T14:43:00.005-04:00

I finally did it!! I just listed my first crocheted felted purse on etsy! I'm now listed on etsy as Crochet A la Carte ( crochetalacarte.etsy.com ). Here's the one I listed:

Now I'm busily working on finishing a Moroccan themed one to list. ( I am very creative crochet wise, but when it comes to the technical side of listing them, I'm a bit slower:)

Tropical paradise anyone?

2010-06-09T11:05:00.015-04:00

I've been busy lately making beach wraps. "What are beach wraps?" you ask? Well, they are designed to be multi purpose. When you go to the beach, the larger ones can lightly cover your bottom half and help "distract" the eye from any "imperfections" :0) Or they can be made smaller and used only as an accessory for your bathing suit like you'd use a necklace for a bit of glitz at your neckline.
During the day, it's a fun beach accessory, but at night, it's a lacy shawl or pashmina, depending on the style, designed to elegantly dress up your outfit for an eveing out.

Doesn't this one just remind you of frothy waves rippling onto a warm sandy beach in the tropics? mmmmm....Add a few shells and beads and I can almost hear the gentle sighing of the waves on the pristine white sandy beach. Pina Colada anyone? This is being made in Sirdar - Ocean, a nylon/cotton ribbon yarn. Very nice to work with.

Isn't this color just so vibrant and fun? It reminds me of a tropical paradise!

I'm very excited to say that I have just sold 3 beach wraps to a local boutique!! This one is very similar to one of the ones I sold. Same color, same shape, different mesh stitch. Here it is as the beach wrap. It's done in Eros herwool. A ladder yarn by Diamond yarns.

Here it is front and back view as a triangular shawl. I also sold one in a navy/ red/ yellow/ green combo yarn; Lion Brand Trellis.

I didn't sell this one, as it was too small. It would however be suitable for a teen. I love this blue/silver color. This one was in Lion Brand Trellis as well.

Here's a close up of the gorgeous blue/silver color.

This one is the same as one I sold, but this one was too long and narrow. I'll frog this one and make it shorter but wider width to cover more. I like it so much I think I'll keep it for myself:) It is a pashmina style done in the Eros yarn in a black/silver combo. Unfortunately I can't get any more as it has been discontinued:(

I wanted to use very simple mesh patterns for these so as to let the beautiful yarns and colors speak for themselves. I think I succeeded, don't you?

more new-to-me yarn

2010-02-24T09:00:00.001-05:00

Here's another yarn I found in my LYS. Regia sock yarn (approx. 420 m/100g ball. 70% wool, 25% polyamide, 5% acrylic). It's made by Coats.
Don't the colors of this one just make you think of a gorgeous peacock with his tail feathers regally spread? I need to design something using a stitch that mimics the peacock's tail feathers. Hmmmmm...

Here it is in their blue color scheme. The colors are so rich. Wouldn't it look fabulous in a lacy shawl to drape around your shoulders?

My favorite new-to-me yarn

2010-02-23T12:23:00.005-05:00

Lately, I've been seeing a lot more environmentally friendly, sustainable, Fair Trade yarns on the market. Some of them had such rich, gorgeous colors that I decided I just had to buy one and experiment. My first try was a skein of Manos del Uruguay yarn that I found in my LYS. It has approx 150 yds to a 50 g skein. The colors were deep, rich jewel tones of turquoise, green, gold, brown and deep plum. It is a 70% merino extrafine wool and 30% silk blend.

I decided to make a dressy scarf for myself to dress up my wardrobe. I chose a lacy fan stitch to keep it simple and let the rich colors speak for themselves. It is so soft and luxurious that I hate to take it off! I will definitely buy more of the Manos del Uruguay yarn in future.

I enjoyed that one so much, that I decided to buy the last skein of it's sister; a skein of 100% wool in the same gorgeous colors. The colors in this skein are even deeper than the silk blend. I'm not sure what I'm going to make with this one. It's only one skein so it has to be fairly small. To felt...or not to felt...that is the question:) It's so beautiful that I hate to felt such a lovely yarn, but a small felted purse would be nice too...hmmmm...

Time to get back into my blog writing!

2010-02-22T12:32:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I last posted. Well, I'm going to try to remedy that and post on a more regular basis.

My oldest daughter had to do a speech and chose "Mario" from the Nintendo games of Super Mario Brothers. The speech turned out really well and she is back up to go to the gym to present it if the winner backs out or is sick! Yay! Way to go! For her speech on Mario, she saw a Mario hat in Future Shop. Unfortunately, by the time the speeches came along and she decided on her topic, the hats were sold out! Of course her first request was "Mom, I need a hat like Mario's. Can you crochet one for me please?" I responded by asking what I thought was an innocent question; when did she need the hat by? Well, by now I should know better than to think anything with my daughter would be simple. The answer was? Tomorrow!

Well I surffed the internet thinking at that short of notice and not knowing anything about Mario, really, that I could find a pattern to quickly whip up. Wrong! Well, with my red sport weight yarn and my favorite 6mm hook, to work I went, with only a picture to go by:) (should I mention that this conversation all came about in the evening?) After a couple hrs of crocheting like mad and frogging equally maddly, I finally had the finished product! A red Mario hat with a white circle in which a red "M" resided prominantly in the front center! Initially, the brim was very floppy and curled so I grabbed the only thing I could find on short notice; a red pipe cleaner! I held it along the edge of the brim and crocheted over it. Not ideal, but it did in a pinch:)

By the way, the hat was very well recieved at school and admired by all; even the teacher:) I will try to take pics of her wearing it in the next few days and post them.

Brown felted purse

2009-12-03T13:53:00.001-05:00

Here is the first purse, lined and ready to go!

2 more felted purse designs

2009-12-03T10:28:00.006-05:00

This is a purse I designed in Mainland yarn (80% baby alpaca, 20% silk). My local Yarn shop offered to display them in her window to try to sell them. It's crocheted and felted. It doesn't show up very well in the photo, but there are 5 dots above the dark brown botton and 3 at the top. They are actually raised bumps. The handle goes from light brown at he bottom and into dark brown as it goes up.

This one is made from Cascade 220 yarn (100% wool). My idea for this one came from a paint idea card from Canadian Tire!

Here's the sketch and said paint chip! I think I interpreted it fairly well. I love the design idea paint chips, they are a wealth of creative ideas and inspiration!

Notice the 3 handles? I made them using a twisted cord method. Very tricky to figure out, but adds a nice touch I think. I'll try to post pics when they are completely finished. The brown one is just drying, then I'll line it, then off to the yarn shop I go! Wish me luck:)

Halloween

2009-11-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

This was my youngest daughter dressed up for her school Halloween party. She enjoyed herself thoroughly!

This was her actual Halloween costume. She did her makeup herself. I think she did a fantastic job!

This is my oldest daughter. Her 11th birthday was Oct 30. She had a Harry Potter / Wizard party sleepover planned, but due to unfortunate circumstances ( her sister and one of the guests having the flu)it is now rescheduled. Doesn't she make a good Hermione Granger? We even ordered authentic Harry Potter carved wooden wands (she had Hermione's vine carved one from the movies) and the Time Turner necklace Hermione wears in Prisoner of Azkaban. The broom was from Walmart:) The tie was her dad's from his school uniform from England when he was around 7 yrs old or so.

Hallowe'en

2009-11-07T08:14:00.001-05:00

This was my youngest daughter's pumpkin. she decorated it herself.

These were our Jack'o lanterns this year. The girls carved them the beginning of October, so by the time Hallowe'en finally arrived, they had started to rot and mold! Did we ever get compliments on them! It looked like they had been burned and people kept asking how we did it! Lol! Unfortuneately I didn't get a picture before my husband pitched it in the bin:(

This was my oldest daughter's pumpkin. She wanted a horse on hers.

Merlin

2009-11-06T19:34:00.004-05:00

This was Merlin when we first got him at 8 weeks old. We were told he was part Persian.
This is Merlin now at almost 6 mths of age. By the way, I googled cat breeds and he is most definitely a Flame Point SIAMESE!! Crossed with a tabby, hence the stripey tail:)

Witch's Brew

2009-10-06T13:38:00.008-04:00

The little white bowl from a couple of posts ago reminded me of a little fat cauldron. With Halloween coming up I decided to get creative and made myself a black cauldron purse, complete with toxic green witch's potion bubbling in it! I even found some green polar fleece to match for my lining. The liner is just sitting in it for now, waiting for me to finish sewing and installing it. It was giving me grief. I have it cut, but fitting it in properly is proving to be a challenge:) I'm debating on a drawstring in the liner so it can be closed, but you could also just fold it in to keep stuff safe. ...

The liner reminds me of a Kleenex. Maybe it could be made to hold a box of tissues? Hmmmm...

I made it using Black Cascade 220 wool and Patons Classic wool in Leaf Green. It was then felted in my Whirlpool Duet front load washer.

(I really need to get a proper light and set up a nicer area to take my photos!)

I felted another bag at the same time made in Alafoss Lopi. (*Note to self, don't do that again:) For anyone not familiar with Lopi yarn, it sheds dreadfully in the washer and the end result is a purse fit for Bigfoot!

A new adventure!

2009-09-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

They say sometimes opportunity knocks and you should answer the door. Sometimes though, you can get so distracted that opportunity has to knock you over the head to get you to answer it! That has happened to me.

I used to do a lot of plastic canvas a few years ago but got bored with it. I had some left over tapestry wool that I hadn't used and didn't know what to do with it. I thought of crocheting something out of it, but dreaded weaving in all those ends as the skeins are very tiny. I decided to try felting it and made a very colorful fish hot pad and a small purse for myself. That was a couple of years ago.

Also around that time, as I was experimenting with felting, I saw an ad for a design contest on Elann.com. You had to use their yarn. I finally came up with a design and ordered the yarn, however, by this time, the deadline was almost upon me. By the time I got the purse figured out and made, the deadline was waaay past! :( Not to be put off, I decided to use the purse myself.

The purse was made to look like a flame when the flap was opened. I decided to call it "Eternal Flame" and made it to represent the eternal flame of hope kind of like they use in the Olympics.

To make a long story short, I have been using these 2 purses for a couple of years now and I am still getting as many comments on them now as I did when I first made them! The message finally sunk in one day (personally, I got tired of being hit over the head :) and I have decided to design, make and sell my crocheted felted purses! I'm just in the process of making a few purses to start and looking into maybe setting up a web site. I'm taking this one day at a time for now.

This is the first one of many. It's made from Lion Brand Wool in Lemon Grass and cocoa.

felting

2009-09-24T11:58:00.007-04:00

I bought a ball of a yarn called Mainland Earth Collection. It's 80% Baby Alpaca and 20% Silk. I originally bought it to try some free form crochet with, but wasn't happy with the outcome. I decided to try felting it and this is the result. I thought it turned out rather well. I only ended up with a small bowl, but it would look nice on a dresser or table with something colorful in it.

the journey of a free form purse

2009-08-31T08:40:00.000-04:00

Here's the yarn I'm starting with for my free for purse. I want it to be in various shades of green (olive, mossy, lime, etc), browns, tans, oranges and a hint of purples / wines.
Here's a close up of the purse start. The liner is a piece of navy blue valour. If I remember correctly, it was re-purposed from a piece of clothing. I figure I'll just lay the pieces over top as I go along until it's the right size.
Here's a yarn I'm especially fond of. It's Nobo (No Boundaries) purchased from Walmart. I bought 3 balls as I absolutely LOVE the colors in it! Here's a glass pendant I found in Walmart as well that looked like it needed a home:) It will look perfect on my purse as a button I think. They were clearing out all their craft beads and stuff.
Here's a close up of it. The colors in it were really pretty (although the picture doesn't do it justice)

Yarn haul! (aka: pay dirt! or: hitting the motherload!)

2009-08-28T09:16:00.006-04:00

I made a considerable haul last week! A lady I know works at a seniors center and gets yarn donated all the time. Someone donated a LOT of crochet cotton but the seniors have a hard time working with such a small thread due to poor eyesight, arthritic hands, etc., so, knowing I crochet, she asked me to come pick it up! There are 29 balls of it!!

Don't they look like a bunch of pretty jewels? :) There were a few discontinued yarns like the 3 balls of Coats & Clark Speed Cro-Sheen in the top right hand corner.
And some I've never heard of like the 3 balls (2 cream and 1 silver grey) of Bernat Cassino. It's very pretty and has a slight sheen to it. The ball of Red Heart Lustersheen is old as well. I don't even remember the label like that! And the Walmart price tag of $1.44 for 2 oz. kind of gives it away; It's now $6.47 and 4 oz.!

pictures and revision of afghan

2009-08-28T07:40:00.006-04:00

I did it. I actually took pictures like I said:)

I have to make a revision to the afghan I told you I found. It isn't as old as I thought, OR the afghan I thought it was. I took it out and had a good look at it and looked at the pattern; it was from a book of afghans called "Sweet Dreams" 10 Baby Afghans to knit and crochet, by American School of Needlework. Book 1013 (13). It was called "Snowbaby" designed by Joan Kokaska and had popcorn stitches above every shell (which I left off as I wasn't very good at them at the time and I figured if I did them all, I'd never get the afghan done! :) I made a baby sized one for my dd and decided to use some blue and white yarn I had to make a bigger one.

There was another afghan in the book I always swore I'd make, but never got around to it's called "Bedtime Tales" by Julie A. Ryan. It is a zoo theme where the animals have 3-d tails! It's adorable.

sorry for the loooooong delay in posting

2009-08-23T11:04:00.004-04:00

Wow! It's amazing how time can slip away from you without realizing how much time has gone by! I just took a good look at my blog and realized nearly 6 months have gone by since my last post! YIKES!! It's high time I remedied this. Ok. New goal: to try posting minimum of 1-2 times a week.

To update you, personal and family life has been very hectic with a lot of ups and downs over the last few months. Work continues on the basement with the spare room (my design studio:) being drywalled and painted (just have to put on the last coat:) as well as the rest of the basement drywalled.

The last few months of school were busy for my 2 dd's, with the last couple being the most hectic. Now we are in the process of back to school shopping for clothes, supplies, etc.

Family from England were here for 2 weeks in July so time on the computer was limited to checking emails. We spent a lot of time on the beach and boating. Great fun was had by all.

Knight has now started having seizures at a year and a half old (7 in the first month!). Researching seizures in dogs, getting him on meds to stop the seizures (none since he's been on it), researching alternative solutions, etc have taken up a lot of our time and energy.

We adopted another kitten (white with ginger ears, ringed tail and very pale giner marks on the paws) right about the time Knight started having seizures (which didn't help matters any.) Merlin is doing very well and doesn't take any guff from the other 2 cats or the dog! He usually puts the other cats on the run from the food dish, which we are trying to teach him is bad manners:)

On a crochet note, my yarn, patterns, and other crochet supplies and tools are in the spare room for now (until I decide to finish painting the room). I'm in the process of going through everything to see what I actually have. I just found a very old afghan I started 20 yrs or so ago!! It's only 18" or so long with no yarn to finish it, so I was thinking of finishing off the yarn that's there and make it a very short lapghan or shoulder wrap and find a local seniors home to donate it to. I'll try to take pictures later.
I have an idea I will find quite a few goodies I'd forgotten about:)

I've started making myself a free form purse to replace my other 2. One has to be repaired and the other is too small. I used a navy blue piece of valour for the lining. I think it was a piece of clothing in it's last life time:) It will now be re-purposed. I'll try to take pictures along the way so you can see my progress.

I want to make myself a crocheted felted purse as well and have several ideas, but need to find suitable wool yarn:( A local sewing and knit shop gave me the name of one in the area that has lots of wool yarn. I will go check it out once the kids are back in school so I can shop in peace :)

Well, I should go work on sorting my stuff out. :0)

some interesting bits and bobs

2009-03-04T11:36:00.002-05:00

I was cleaning my kitchen book shelf and ran across some items I'd made a few years ago. I thought you might like to take a look.
The first 2 were made entirely out of plastic canvas wool and felted. I used to do a lot of plastic canvas years ago, but gave it up in boredom. I still had a large bag full of the tiny little skeins you get of plastic canvas wool and wondered what on earth to do with them. They are so small, you would be weaving in ends forever! That's when an idea struck me; what about felting? The ends would felt in and you wouldn't have to worry about them. I used a color I didn't like and made a small swatch then felted it. It felted beautifully!!

I had a lot of greens and browns, so designed this fish hotpad. Being wool and really thick, it will resist the heat. (not that I use it with hot pans, I might wreck it!). The second was a small coaster I made out of the left over bits. I still have some of the yarn, but in lots of colors and only one skein of each. No the colors don't really go together.

This pot holder is crocheted in Celtic Crochet technique. It is out of the book "How to Crochet the Celtic Way" by Dot Drake and published by Annie's Attic. It's an old book I got from a Crochet Partners Member a few years ago. I also got "Crochet Celtic Afghans" by Dot Drake from her as well. Another Annie's book.

March is National Crochet Month, so let's CELEBRATE!!

2009-03-03T11:18:00.003-05:00

March is National Crochet Month!! Yay!! There are many ways to celebrate. I am going to look up my magazine that had the learn to finger crochet tutorial in it, and teach my 6 yr old dd. She's been wanting to learn and I can't think of a better time. Can you? (now to find it... I think it was in an issue of Crochet! last year but for the life of me I can't remember which one! If any one knows, please feel free to leave me a comment. thanks!)

Another way to celebrate is to buy crochet books! I think this is the perfect time to get the books I've been hankering after. Top of my list should be Bendy Carter's book "Single Crochet A-Z". I didn't know there were that many ways to do a sc?? It boggles the mind!

Next on my list has to be "Beyond-the square Crochet Motifs" by Edie Eckman. The cover is absolutely gorgeous!

Since we are on the topic of motifs, Melody Griffiths "201 Crochet Motifs, Blocks , Projects and Ideas" should be included in the list. :)

I absolutely have to check out Renate Kirkpatrick's "Freeform Crochet and Beyond: Bags, Cushions, Hats, Scarves and More". Judging by the gorgeous picture on the cover, the inside must be spectacular!!

I could list more, but I don't think my budget would like that!! Lol!!

It's a great day for designing!!

2009-02-27T10:13:00.007-05:00

Some days designing goes really well. I get my idea , start sketching, and grab my yarn and hook. I find the perfect place to submit the design to, and find the perfect yarn! Last week was like that. I had an idea, and sketched it out, wrote notes, etc. I decided what yarn I wanted to do it in and worked on deciding on where to submit. While I was thinking, the perfect opportunity came along!! Yay!! They even use the yarn I picked to do it in! Happy dance! Now to finish up the sketches, swatches and send them off. Then I sit back and wait.

I was just checking out my friend Ellen's blog (GoCrochet) and she had a link to a blog with some very pretty and unusual crocheted items. O fil de lo . The crochet covered rocks is a cool idea. Wouldn't a bowl or basket of them look nice on a patio? Or they could be used as weights to hold down place mats and stuff on the patio table. The pieces of shell, crocheted around and joined into a necklace was very pretty. I have tons of shells I've collected over the years. I'll have to dig them out and have a look. I may have a new piece of jewelry and don't know it! :0) :0)

The Crochet Guild of America just announced the 2009 Design contest! It will be held at Chain Link conference this summer, Aug 6-9th. I'm putting my thinking cap on and deciding what to enter this year.

The weather is miserable today. The "light" showers they said we'd get are turning into torrential downpours! Yuck. The sky is dark gray and it's dark out. Oh well. It's the perfect kind of day to CROCHET!! I think I'll go get my stitch books out and play! :0)

PS - I've edited my last post for clarity and so I don't sound so snitty. I didn't mean it to. I was just having a day of frustrations. I apologize.

Yarn frustrations

2009-02-13T12:27:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd talk about one of the frustrations I face as a designer. I'm talking about yarn. Yup, yarn.

As a designer, I get a great idea and start sketching. As I sketch and brain storm, I get more ideas! Things are going great! I'm on a roll! I can see it in my minds eye. The perfect design in the perfect yarn.

Step 2 is to decide where to submit it. I come up with a publication/ manufacturer that it would fit perfectly! I look at their call for patterns and my design is exactly what they are looking for!! Things are going so well, I'm getting goosebumps! I can feel the excitement!

Step 3: now I have to find out what yarn they want it done in. Yes, they quite often change the yarn color and brand and even sometimes the weight. But, if you submit it to a yarn manufacturer in a competitor's yarn, or use a yarn from someone who doesn't advertise with that publication, YOU WILL GET REJECTED, no matter how great the design is! That's where I sometimes run into trouble, choosing the yarn.

One of several things usually happen. A) the project is an environmentally friendly one and would benefit from being done in an environmentally friendly yarn ie) organic cotton, bamboo, etc, and being able to mention the enviro yarn as a feature would be a good selling point, BUT, the yarns they use/make doesn't include bamboo, organic cotton, or no cotton at all!

B) the perfect color yarn doesn't exist in the yarn they use/ make. They use brand x and brand y has the color you need.

C) they don't make/use the perfect yarn type ie) cotton, felting wool, etc or they don't have a very big color selection. You need felting wool, in specific colors and their colors are completely unsuitable. Sigh!

D) the perfect yarn type and color doesn't exist ANYwhere!! (darn imagination! lol! that's when I'd love a job as a yarn designer :)

I know the way to get a design accepted is to use the yarn they want. It's just frustrating to think that IF you could make it in the yarn you have pictured, it would be the most spectacular design in history. Unfortunately, you have to make it in the yarn available or the yarn they use and it won't show it in it's best light. Sigggghhhh. Back to the drawing board.

(yes, I know I can always submit to someone else who does have/use the yarn I want, but sometimes the project doesn't suit their format, or they use only in house designers. Sigggghhhhh....)

My daughter, the Gold Medalist!!

2009-01-27T12:12:00.004-05:00

I just thought I'd brag a bit and let everyone know that my dd earned 4 gold medals and a silver in her figure skating competition on Saturday!! Yay!! (yes, I'm the proud Mom!)

Today has been getting paperwork and emails caught up and trying to clean off the desk :( I'm still hoping to get some crocheting in today. Tomorrow is another write off as I have to get groceries and get some shopping done. Although...that is ok too. I mean, what if a stray ball of yarn just happened to follow me home :0) I can't tell it to leave now can I? That would be rude! teehee:) I'm hoping to get to Micheal's this weekend. I haven't checked out their yarns lately.

We're trying to get a few things sorted out this month, then hopefully, soon, we can finish the spare room in the basement. That is going to be my design studio! (when we don't have company staying over, of course:) I'll finally have shelves to put bins on with my yarn neatly organized. (I can dream can't I? lol).

It's been so brutally cold here lately, so I've been crocheting hats to donate. I sent several in with my dd to her school for anyone who forgot theirs or don't have one. My daughter said the ladies in the office acted like it was Christmas! lol.

Well, I guess it's back to emails, cleaning the desk and catching up on paperwork!

I'm back in action!

2009-01-23T13:47:00.003-05:00

I haven't updated in "quite" some time and I apologize. Sometimes things get a bit crazy and unfortunately you end up taking a break whether you want to or not :)

I'm back in action and ready to go!

Has anyone noticed that Bernat has redesigned their ball bands on the Bernat Baby Sport yarns? Well, they have AND they've changed their yarn...for the better! Yay! I bought a ball of their Bernat Baby sport in the color Caribbean Sea. It's definitely a lot softer feeling and a teensy bit thinner. I like the new feel. Yay Bernat! (aka Spinrite)

I've discovered a new favorite stitch...a linked dc! It's really cool. You insert the hook into the vertical bar on the front of the last dc made, yo, pull up a loop, insert hook into next stitch, yo, pull up a loop. You now have 3 loops on the hook. Yo, pull through 2 loops, twice and voila! 2 dc sts linked together! It makes for a more solid stitch than regular dc, but with a bit of elasticity. It also gives a slighty different look to the finished product. You can also alter the look further by going into only one vertical bar on the front of the stitch or by going through 2 bars (front and back) of stitch.

Knight (our 1 yr old pup) chewed a small hole in a crocheted cable stitch scarf I made for my daughter. :( I think my friend Ellen's (gocrochet.com) blog post about repairing crocheted items might just help me fix it. Thanks Ellen! (Now I just have to study her post closely:)

I found some old dark blue valour material in my sewing box. Sewn into a "U" shape, it will make a nice liner for a free form purse! :0) I plan on just scrumbling and using the liner as my template. (the template idea is a suggestion Myra Wood makes in her book "Creative Crochet Lace"). I happen to have some odds and ends of yarn that I picked up (1 ball here and 1 there :) because "it was so pretty!" They are in shades of blues, greens and purples, with bits of other colors mixed in, but all in more natural colors and not neons or brights. I think the finished effect will be quite stunning! I may even leave a bit of the top of the folded over velour showing for an elegant touch. Hmmmmmmm....

Well, I should dash for now :0) My youngest dd will be home soon. I need to get her fed and get ready to take my other dd to figure skating practice as soon as SHE gets home. She has a competition tomorrow! We have to be there bright and early at 8:15 am or so.

2008-11-13T13:02:00.003-05:00

As promised, here's the picture of the hats I've done so far. I like doing these because I can be as creative as I want and get to try new color combos and edgings out. The orange striped one in front is one of the ones my daughter laid claim to! :0) As you can see, I've also added a few more since yesterday. I'm just using up scrap yarn, but I'm getting some neat color combos as well. I still have a ton of yarn to use up! A couple of them I did in a spiral instead of joining rounds, which made it go a bit quicker.

2008-11-12T12:06:00.004-05:00

Have you ever found a trick or technique and it was so fantastic, so time saving or made such a nice finish that you wondered why it wasn't standard in all magazines and books?

Well, I have a few tricks, tips and techniques that have become standard with me. I decided to share some of my favorites with you.

1) Crocheting into a ring. Don't you hate when you have to "chain X and join in a ring then do X sc, dc, etc, into the ring? The hole always ends up being too big or too small and there is no way to adjust it (that I know of anyway), and you still have to sew that pesky end in:( And forget if you want a deliberate sized hole in the center and the hole is the wrong size! You get a very stretched out or puckered hole! YUCK!

Well, I found a fantastic technique (forget where, but have seen it many places since then) called an adjustable ring (by some) or magic ring (by others). You wrap the yarn around 2 fingers (I like to do it twice around for a more secure center), then insert hook into the ring, pull up a loop, ch 1, etc (depending on stitch you are making, but another note on that at a later date:0), then do your sts into the ring. When you are done, you pull on the loose end a bit, then which ever loop starts to tighten, you pull on it until snug (or the hole is the size you want), then pull on the loose end until tight, and, voila! a perfect center every time! I crochet the next rounds over the end until it's gone and I have never had an end come undone. Since I found this technique, I have never chained a ring again! You can use this in any pattern where you would crochet into a ring.

2. Here's a trick for new crocheters (which I still use on occasion depending on the yarn:). When you are crocheting in the round and aren't sure which st to join in, count the stitches backward from the hook. Say you have 12 sc on that round. You would count back 12, and the 12th st would be the joining st.

3.) For picots. When I chain the desired amount for the picot, I insert my hook into the front loop and top verticle loop on the stitch the ch's are on, pull up a loop and pull through all loops on the hook. It makes for a nicer looking picot.

I'm still working on the beanies I mentioned. I have 2 schools to donate to this year, so will need more than last year! I have managed to make 9 in my spare time. Unfortunately I only have 7 left as my youngest dd saw them and after "Mommy! They are so pretty! Can I keep these? Pleeeease Mommy? I LOVE them! They are so nice!" how could I say no? Lol! How could I disappoint my biggest fan? I'll try to take pictures later this week or on the weekend. (which reminds me, I still owe you pictures of the Halloween costumes:)

self imposed dead line...met!

2008-10-31T08:48:00.005-04:00

Well, I've done it again! I hummed and hawed about my youngest dd's Halloween costume (plus, she kept changing her mind:) and ended up slipping in under the wire again!

She finally decided on a black cat. I had all day yesterday to go shopping for a costume, but didn't go, thinking I'd make one instead. (riiiight...) Well, other things got in the way (yes, I know, I procrastinated:) and she got home from school complaining that she'd have no costume to trick or treat in. I told her I'd make sure she had one and finally after supper I started! With a very vague idea of what I was going to do, I started with a black yarn and made a beanie style hat to which I crocheted on 2 ears (this morning). I made the tail as a long tube and stuffed it (this morning), making a band across the top to go through her belt loops (this morning). (did I mention I started at 6:30 this morning?? :0) Well I managed to get her costume made and on her, made sure she ate and get her lunch made before she had to get on the bus! Oh and made sure she was dressed! :)

10 minutes before they had to get coats and boots on, I was cutting the seam in the middle of my other dd's vamire cape to make it into bat wings! Yes, they both managed to get on the bus on time and yes I still have my sanity! (barely :0) (shhhh... don't tell anyone. They might think that I do well under pressure and that I'm good at meeting short deadlines! :0)

In all the rush I forgot to get pictures! I'll take some tonight and post later today (if I get time) or tomorrow.

Happy Hallowe'en and Happy Haunting......!!!

2008-10-27T08:49:00.005-04:00

The party went really well! 6 of the 7 girls invited made it and fun was had by all:) I did manage to finish all 8 of the Webkinz witch's hats, just in time! Actually, the 7th one was finished when I got a few quiet moments during the party and the 8th was finished before the last 2 left (they stayed later)! I even managed to buy a chocolate cake mix at 8:30 the morning of the party and get it baked and decorated before the party started at 11 am!! Lol! Here's a picture of the cake. (yes, I know, it looks more like an owl. Shhh... don't tell my daughter. They all thought it was a bat:)

I now have another project on the go. I decided it was time to destash a bit, so I am making hats for the "needy" again. By this I mean that I take them to my daughter's schools and give them to them with the instructions that "any one needing a hat, gets one". This can mean a child from a low income family that can't afford one, or with parents that just don't care that their child doesn't have one, or even someone that just forgot their hat that day. It can get very cold here in Ontario in the winter (-20 - -30 celcius ! -4 - -22 Farenheit!) so some days a hat can be a life saver. (2 yrs ago I made over 3 dozen hats for my daughters school. Even some of the Teachers used them when they forgot theirs and had yard duty that day! Then last year I added to the pile)

I might see about scarves as well. hmmm... My older daughter's school also does a lot of charity work in the community as well as globally, so I will see if they know of any place else that could use them. This will all be done in between getting submissions ready, making Christmas gifts and stuff like that, of course:)

Hallowe'en crochet

2008-10-24T13:42:00.008-04:00

I had every intention of updating yesterday, then had a sleepless night and was so tired I couldn't think straight! So today is much better, or so I thought. I sent both dd's off on the school bus with youngest dd complaining of her tummy hurting. She was going to stay home then decided maybe she felt better and would go after all. I should have listened to my instincts! She no sooner got to school then she got sick! Ugh! Up to the school I went to go get her. She has the flu, so needless to say, I've been busy today. She is finally on the couch watching a movie so have a few minutes to update.

I am supposed to be decorating the basement with cobwebs and spiders and the like as my older dd is having her 10th Birthday party tomorrow! I still have to figure out how to make a "Bat" cake as well. I figured a square cake, cut the corners off (2 bigger and 2 smaller) and round out the left over bit. An oval shape with 2 large triangles and 2 smaller triangles should resemble a bat, don't you think? I told her it would be a brown chocolate bat instead of a black bat and she was ok with it. I also made the daft suggestion of crocheting witch's hats for the kids Webkinz (it's a Webkinz party)! I have a special one for her and 3 others made. I only have 3 more to make.

Here's a picture. Shhhhh, don't tell my daughter! :0)

Her's is the one complete with spider web!

Here's one of Houdini modeling it. Isn't he handsome? :)

This is an unusual picture. I had a small glass dish sitting in the sink and a few drops of water must have gotten under it. It must have made it happy! :0) (no, this is NOT staged! This is how I found it.)

Well, I should get back to seeing to my sick daughter, decorating, crocheting witch's hats and trying to get my submissions ready to send! Thank goodness it's the weekend! :0)

I've been profiled!

2008-10-17T08:40:00.007-04:00

YAY! I finally get time to update my blog!
The past few days have been hectic to say the least. This past weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada, so it was turkey with the in laws on Monday. Being a long weekend and sunny, we tried to get yard work done, etc.

Wednesday was errand day. I had to go into town and get a loooong list of errands done. Whew! Good news is, I managed to accomplish what I need to get done and, hey, can I help it if 2 balls of yarn just jumped into my cart? hehehe. Actually, my dd's 10th birthday is coming up and we are having her party next weekend. It's to be a "dress as your favorite Webkin" party. I thought with Halloween coming up, I needed to whip up some witch's hats and maybe bat wings for the Webkinz. :0) Will try to take pics when done.

Yesterday, my (almost) 10 yr old had her Harrier (Cross country) Race. She came in 7th for grade 5 girls. YAYYYY!! There were approx. 30 or more girls in the race. It was between a dozen or so schools. I'm so proud of her! :)

Today is going to be my "catch up" day. I haven't even had time to blog about my exciting news.... My good friend Ellen at http://www.gocrochet.com/ did a designer's profile on me! How exciting! I love reading Ellen's blog. She always comes up with such interesting topics to talk about. And I LOVE her sneek peeks!

Right now in our area Fall has arrived! The trees are the most wonderful reds, yellows, oranges and rusts. The hillsides look like a multicolored quilt! It would make the most wonderful inspiration for a free form purse, don't you think? I'll have to peruse my yarns later. :)

walking the dog crochet meditation and designing garments

2008-10-07T12:35:00.004-04:00

I had a lady coming over later this morning so decided to walk Knight early. (if I don't walk him, he drives me crazy:) While walking I was thinking about crocheting (what else would I be thinking about? :)

Anyhoo, I was thinking about the recession that seems to be hitting these days and was wondering what it would mean for crocheting? We all know that we can use relatively inexpensive yarns and make gorgeous expensive looking gifts that were really inexpensive to make. Does that mean more people will be buying crochet patterns to make gifts and clothing for themselves and others? Could that mean this could be good for designers, yarn manufacturers and crochet book / magazine publishers? Do any other designers out there have any ideas on this? What do other seasoned designers say? Do things like crochet do better in a recession or worse? Hmmmmmm.....?

I know I plan to make a lot more of my Christmas gifts this year. My wardrobe is in dire need of replenishing and updating and I've been searching for eye catching designs to make for myself. (Although my good friend Ellen at GoCrochet.com brought up a good point about being a designer; you feel like you are cheating if you make something someone else designed! (Thanks Ellen! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one:0) I may have to rethink this and design my OWN clothes:0)

Actually, Dora from Crochet Insider has started a thread in the group Crochet Designers about designing crocheted garments. She is offering to set something up to help designers learn about grading garments, sizing, fit, shaping, etc. The thread was "Are you comfortable designing garments". She is talking about having a maybe 6 wk or so tutorial on designing garments. It would either be free or for a fee to cover her time and efforts. I'm definitely keeping tabs on this thread!

Someone on Crochet Partners mentioned this morning that Lion Brand had new colors in their cotton yarn. Yay! I have some designs in cotton that I couldn't find the right colors for. I'll have to have a browse to see if they have the colors I need now.

2008-09-25T10:49:00.004-04:00

As you can see, Houdini the kitten is growing up fast!

He has no problems holding his own against the Mighty Knight! :0)

Knight is growing fast as well. He is now just over 9mths. Being part Lab and part Border Collie, he is instilled with a playfulness and energy hard to keep up with!

On the weekend, we decided to take him to the Canal where there is a walking trail. Being in far enough and there being no where to really go, we let him have his freedom and let him off leash. He had an absolute blast!! The water dog that used to be nervous of water now LOVES it! If there is a creek or shore to go in, he's in-like-flint! As you can see, he loved the outing! :0)

Being high energy, we have been trying to come up with ways to tire him out. It's not an easy task, let me tell you! When he gets bored and antsy, he gets hyper, barks and scratches the carpet! Not good. I decided to read a book by Cesar Millan, "The Power of The Pack". If you have a dog with "issues" :0) and have never read his book, you should. I highly recommend it! Here is a man that can walk 40-50 dogs AT A TIME, and have NO fights! He is absolutely brilliant! Anyway, to keep this crochet related, he recommends dog back pack for high energy dogs to help drain some energy. Put 10-20 % of their body weight in it, and it gives them something to do, as well as helps tire them out. I've searched high and lo in our area to no avail. Solution? Crochet one!! I am now embarking on a journey to crochet a doggy backpack.

I just happen to have a large 400g ball of Bernat Naturals in a beige color. I think I will start with a band to go around his chest and one to go around his waist, that will button up. I think mesh between the 2 would be good for ventilation (he pants a LOT).and another band around the neck should finish that part of it. If I make 2 mesh water bottle holders, and maybe a mesh bag and attach them, it will give him a job to do carrying it all for me :0) I will post pictures as I go along.

For an extra energy drain, he recommends a tread mill. I'll have to get one of those for our long, cold, snow filled Ontario winters! Hmmmm...I wonder if I could just crochet it! Lol!

free form bits and bobs

2008-09-12T12:34:00.014-04:00

I've been interested in free form crochet for awhile now. My Tranquil Ocean afghan was the first major attempt at it, but I did a few scrumbles before that. Here are a few of my favorite ones:

The pink one in the top right hand corner was my attempt at a free form sea shell. The top left hand corner one in green kind of looks like a pea pod, doesn't it? The tiny round green one was the very first free form thing I did. It was a "dome" and I got the instructions from Bonnie Pierce's website http://members.aol.com/gandal195/elegantcrochet.html . She has tutorials on free form scrumbles. It was seeing some of her gorgeous free form pieces on her website that first got me interested in free form. Her stuff is amazing!

I was browsing on chapters.ca looking at crochet books the other day and decided to make out my "wish list" which is a feature on their website. There are some truly wonderful looking crochet books out there, either out or being released in the next few months. Unfortunately 2 or 3 of the books I wanted to mark were "unavailable to buy new" at this time! Arrrrgh!! One was Jean Leinhauser's new book, due out Jan 2009 "Crochet Master Class". I can't wait to get that one!

Another one was "Free Form Crochet and Beyond" by Renate Kirkpatrick. It's new out as well. Looking at the cover, it looks like a Must Have book for me! The cover shows what looks like rocks and hills with a river running through it all done in free form crochet! Absolutely breathtaking! I am especially intrigued with free form done to resemble scenes of Nature, so this looks like a book for me.

There are a few other books I have to add to my resource library as well. Bendy Carter's book "Single Crochet A-Z" is a must have from all the reviews I've read. (I just can't imagine being able to do single crochet 26 different ways!) I also must get my hot little hands on a copy of "Beyond-the-Square Crochet Motifs- 150 Circles, Triangles, Hexagons and Other Unexpected shapes" by Edie Eckman. I hear it's a treasure trove of ideas! My list is a lot longer, but I don't want this to end up being a novel for you to read :0) Lol!

2008-09-05T09:03:00.003-04:00

I've been MIA the past week or so as we try to get into the school routine thing again :)
First day was "...interesting". My 9yr old woke up with what we thought was an ear infection. As I couldn't even call the Dr until after 9am, and she was insistent on NOT missing the first day of school in her new school, I gave her Advil and sent her on her way, with instructions to CALL ME if the pain returned! The only appt was at 2:30 pm. which meant picking up both girls before the end of the day. I picked up my 9yr old and promply got an "Oh thanks, Mom! Now I will miss a bunch of stuff!" (No matter that there was only 45 min or so left!). We stopped to pick up my 6yr old and was informed there was an "incident". Oh, great. What now? It seems, her friend was running quickly toward her and bumped her head on my dd's front tooth! It is a permanent tooth and it was bleeding...a lot. Great. We finally got to the Dr's to find out it wasn't an ear infection after all, just a swollen lymph node. Hmm. Nothing to worry about apparantly, just keep an eye on it and if it doesn't go away, come back. After all this excitement, my 9yr old still had her 1 1/2 hrs of figure skating lessons. Let's just say, I was ready to get home, get the kids fed and in bed and relax:)

PS: day 2 went much better!

With both girls in school 5 days a week, I am trying to get my submission ready to mail in. It's going well and I'm almost done. Yay! Once I finish that I'm going to work on my dd's Flower Girl shrug.

When we went back to school shopping the week before school, I found and bought Nicky Epstein's new book Crocheting on the edge. All I can say is "Wow!" She is one talented lady! The edgings in this book are phenomenal! I had to get some paper and rip it in pieces to mark the pages as I looked throught it. I had ideas coming out my EARS!! Well worth the price, especially with my 40% off coupon at Michaels! I can see this being one of my "well used" resource books.

back to school crochet

2008-08-29T10:53:00.003-04:00

What else am I up to? Getting ready for school comes to mind:) I have 2 dd's getting ready to go back. One is going into grade 1 and the other is going into grade 5! The difference this year will be 2 different schools. Why? you ask? Well, my 9yr old is going to a different school this yr in order to start Extended French classes! They took core French in grade 4 and now they get to take it further, only problem is, her old school doesn't offer extended French. This means my 6yr old will be in school and on the bus by herself this year. Fun and exciting for them both, but a bit scary too, I'm sure. (even scarier for Mom, because the 9yr old has to go to the High school and transfer buses! Yikes!) Needless to say, the last 2 days have been spent last minute shopping for the last few school supplies, clothing, etc! They officially start back on Tues, Sept 2nd.

As part of my 6yr old's back to school wardrobe, I got her to pick out yarn to make her the Flower Girl Shrug designed by Jennifer Cirka in the June 2008 issue of Crochet World. She picked Bernat Baby Sport in Caribbean Sea which is a dark turquoise color and is also slightly thicker than the recommended TLC Baby, so I may have to adjust my gauge accordingly. Oh well :) The color should match the new skirt and top she picked out for the first day of school.

Home, safe and sound!

2008-08-29T09:58:00.013-04:00

My afghan is finally home!! The poor thing went on a very long journey and is probably tired :0)

It started off in Brighton, Ontario, Canada and was shipped via UPS to Waxhaw, NC. From there it was sent to Manchester, NH to be entered in the CGOA 2008 Design Contest at the Knit and Crochet Show. It was there that it won the hearts of the conference goers and won the very prestigious "People's Choice Award". (I can just imagine the wide smile on it's face that day! :0)

After all the excitement it made the long journey back to Treva McCain in NC again to be packaged for it's long and winding journey home. After lovingly boxing it up :), Treva sent it on it's exciting journey on Aug 21, 2008! It was picked up in Rock Hill, SC, and delivered to Greensboro, NC, only to be picked up and delivered back to SC, at West Columbia! After a very brief stay, it journeyed to Buffalo, NY where it had a rest before going on to Ft. Erie, Ontario, Canada. It then made the last bit of it's journey to Concord, Ontario and finally Belleville, Ontario, where it was sent "out for delivery"! I welcomed it home on August 26, 2008! (if only it could tell me all about it's exciting journey and all it saw!)

Here it is, in all it's glory with it's corresponding winning ribbon! (notice the proud blush on it's face? :0)
I took the pictures outside on a sunny day this time so the colors are much more vibrant!

The picture had an unexpected special effect in it. Notice the top of the afghan? The blue blanket under it is almost the same color as the light blue in the afghan, so it looks like there are darker blue bits "floating" above the water!

And here's a close up of the ribbon.

Here are a few close ups. I had forgotten how rich the colors were!

My 9yr old dd thinks it should be hung on the wall with it's ribbon in a frame next to it. :)

I can't wait to try my next free form project!

2008-08-25T12:03:00.003-04:00

I spent most of yesterday cleaning the basement. Yuck! I say Yuck because it is a partially finished basement and has lots of dust, bugs, and spiders hiding in the dark corners. The walls are framed and most of them drywalled. Only the spare room and laundry room to finish. Then the painting begins!

The reason I was cleaning it out was to get rid of the clutter that was driving me insane. OK, real reason, was to make more room for my stash! (yarn, books, patterns, magazines, etc:) I now have all of my downstairs yarn in the spare room, which will some day be my Design Studio (/ spare room)! It's the yarn I don't need right now, or projects I will finish at a later date. Once the girls are back in school, I will organize my upstairs yarn. That's the yarn I am a)using, b)want to use soon, c) like to take out and look at, pet, fondle, play with, etc, d) ALL of the above :0). It's all in 4 rolling bins with 3 large drawers and 2 small drawers in each one. As well as piled on top :0) along with books, magazines, patterns, tools, etc! (no wonder I can never find anything! :0)

Back to school is fast approaching for my 2 dd's. I found the cutest little girls Flower Girl Shrug designed by Jennifer Cirka in the June 2008 Crochet World I think I'll make for my 6yr old. It will make a nice addition to her school wardrobe for the days when she wants to be a little dressier.

My 10 yr old dd is more athletic. I might see if she likes the hooded zip up Cardi in the Back To School - Smart Set by Jane Snedden-Peever in the Fall 2007 issue of A Needle Pulling Thread magazine.

Well, back to work getting some submissions ready to send in :0) I promised myself that after I get that done, I can take Myra Wood's book Creative Crochet Lace and my yarn and go play!

Getting organized

2008-08-19T12:18:00.004-04:00

I decided yesterday that I needed to get organized if I want to start submitting my designs. I proceeded to comb all of my files on the computer in order to make a list of all the designs I had. I figured I will list everything no matter what state of being finished they are in, that way I'll know what I have to work with. What I didn't realize was how many designs I actually had, especially ones with very little in the way of written instructions! *sigh..* I found a few in my projects bin as well, that I haven't found on the computer yet. (this could be harder than I thought!).

My next problem was finding a document with a design name, but no, or very little instructions and NO picture! Arrrgh! And, by the way, I seem to have a few of them. I think they multiply when my back is turned:0) Now to figure out exactly what they are, considering some of them I'd completely forgotten about. My next idea was to make thumbnail pictures of all the projects and put that beside the name on my list, that way at least I'll know what on earth the design is! I guess my camera will be busy for awhile. Once I have most of them recorded, I'll sit down and try to match up pictures and designs and put notes on each one as to what the status of the design is. (this could take a while! :0)

On a good note, it was just like Christmas! I never knew what surprise I'd find! LOL!!

I'm back, and we have a new addition to the family.

2008-08-18T11:57:00.010-04:00

I've haven't blogged for the past couple of weeks, as hubby was on holidays and his cousin from England and her husband are out visiting so we have been busy. I'm just trying to get caught up on emails, blog entries, ravelry, etc!

I'd like to thank Dee at http://www.crochetingwithdee.com/ for her very nice blog entry about me and link to my blog. Thank you Dee! :0)

I'd also like to thank everyone who left me a comment for their nice comments:) It makes my day:)

PS. I bought Myra Wood's book "Creative Crochet Lace" from her website listed to the right of my posts.

With hubby and the girls home on holidays, I haven't had much time to crochet :(

I did manage a bit more on the new design I'm working on though. I can't say too much yet, as it is going to be submitted.

Well, we're at it again! Last time we went to the city for a new printer and came home with a puppy! lol! This time the girls and I were grocery shopping and came home with a kitten!!

Here's his sad story:

As we were going into the grocery store a cashier was coming out with a small cardboard box. She said someone found a fluffy black kitten in the parking lot and was anyone interested? As we have 1 cat and 1- 8mth old puppy, I kept walking. Well, it turns out I was in her checkout to pay for groceries. I asked about the kitten and she said it was at the Vet's getting examined and that she'd "probably end up with it. but with 4 cats already and 1 allergic to fleas...! She said it was available for adoption if anyone was interested. She said it was very fluffy, all black and very cute.

The girls and I decided to just "take a look". hmmm... Well, when we saw the poor little guy, he was adorable! And nothing but skin and bones, poor thing! I enquired what the Vet's clinic would do with him and was told that they usually check them out for health, then put them in a kennel in the clinic and put them up for adoption, but...they had 3 litters in there already and had been there for over a week and they were starting to sneeze, so....!! I didn't stand a chance. How could I leave the poor fellow to an unknown fate??!

I present to you....Houdini! (so named because we couldn't figure out how such a tiny frail looking thing could jump into the tub!)

He's: 1.4 lbs, all black except a small white spot on his tummy, approx 7 weeks old (by guestimate of the vet), is extremely friendly and purrs non-stop!! He is my youngest daughter's pet. He and Knight seem to get along well.

My major project...revealed!

2008-07-30T07:52:00.010-04:00

Well, I promised you all the juicy details on the "teaser" pics I've been showing, and here they are! But first, a few more "teasers" to pique your curiosity some more :0)

Here's an especially lacy, spiral scrumble, with a hint of fuzzy green. Hmmm...what could it be?

Here's a bit more of the picture. Any ideas yet? No?

Here's the project from a different angle. Getting the picture yet?

By now you should have some ideas..:0)

And one last peak before I reveal all.....

Have you guessed yet? Yes, it's my entry for the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) Design Contest held in NH at the Knit and Crochet conference July 24-27 ! (Sorry about the partial pics. I couldn't fit it all in the lens :0) I promise when my entry is returned in the next couple of weeks that I will try to get better pictures of it:0) and it's ribbon.

It's called "Tranquil Ocean" a free form look at life under the Sea.

Did my mention of a ribbon catch your eye? Are you curious yet? What did it win?!... Well, as a matter of fact, I was informed that it won "People's Choice Award" !! I was so shocked you could have knocked me over with a feather!

My 9 yo daughter told me this has to be hung on the wall along with it's corresponding ribbon :0)

I'm really glad I purchased Myra Wood's book "Creative Crochet Lace: A Free Form Look at Classic Crochet". It showed me that free form isn't scary after all:0) Now I can't wait to do more of it!

Playing with Free Form

2008-07-22T14:32:00.007-04:00

This has been a busy summer so far. The new boat is fantastic and has been taken out on the lake every chance we get! My husband has definitely gotten his quota of Bass, Walleye and perch. The weather has been cooperating nicely:0) Rainy days, best for hubby to fish and sunny for the days when we invite friends to the sandbank islands for a day at the beach.

This free form scrumble I did for the "major" project I told about earlier (don't worry, the time has almost come for me to reveal the juicy details:0) reminds me of the waves on the water on a windy day.

This one almost reminds me of a crocodile's eye! Can't you just picture him, eye watching you as he swims with his head just poking out of the water!

This scrumble was a particularly pretty one. Very lacy looking. It reminds me of a swirl in the sand at the beach.
This little guy was supposed to be a bit more 3-d for my project. Unfortunately, he ended up looking more like the ones you find flattened on the side of the road! He might make a cute sea life coaster though. I think he needs some googly eyes :)

I've just recently taken up free form crochet. I was always hesitant to try it as I thought there were certain "rules" you had to follow. Then I purchased Myra Wood's new book "Creative Crochet Lace" which explains free form in such a fun and easy to understand way, that you can't wait to grab your hook and yarns and start playing! She really makes you look at crochet in a whole new way.

My first published pattern!

2008-07-15T15:02:00.008-04:00

This is a baby afghan I designed when one of my best friends had a baby 3 yrs ago. I finally mailed it the beginning of this year! By the way, Sydney LOVED her new blankie :0)

Last year I decided to submit the pattern for publication and was accepted by none other than Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss for their new book "Afghans for All Reasons & All Seasons", published by Leisure Arts, November 2007! (ISBN - 160140672X - Item no. - 4422, "Spring Flower" baby afghan) I modified it slightly for the submitted version. www.leisurearts.com

This was my very first published pattern!

I designed it to have no sewing. I love crocheting, but dislike having to sew everything together after. It could also be made in brighter colors for an older child's room.

Hats

2008-07-15T14:50:00.005-04:00

This is a beanie I designed a couple of winters ago. I made several for my daughters in various colors and styles. I also made over 3 dozen to donate to their school to be used by anyone who didn't have a hat or had forgotten theirs. This was a mauve one I made with a simple white border. My daughter still wears it...even in the summer!

Grocery bag finally finished!

2008-07-14T15:21:00.002-04:00

I finally finished my Mom's grocery bag. Here it is. It does look a lot different from the last picture. The reason is I had to frog the last couple of rows, as it was ruffling terribly :0)
It's only a small bag, but does stretch considerably. You can fit a fair amount of groceries in it.

I even have enough yarn left to make at least one more bag for her. :0) The final design ended up with ch3's instead of ch 2's for the body of the bag. I made short handles as well. I learned the hard way on a bag I made for myself, that the handles will GROOOOOW! You can end up with your arms really high in the air trying to keep the bag off the ground:0) Lol!

Using up more "scrap" yarn

2008-07-08T08:59:00.002-04:00

I'm on a kick lately, trying to use up yarn that I bought for whatever reason and now don't know what to do with it. I bought this to make my Mom some potholders as her kitchen is in red and white. It's "Eco-fil - Earth friendly recycled yarn". Only problem is, when I read the label later, it is part acrylic. NOT suitable for anything hot, as it will melt.

I finally decided to make her a couple of small mesh bags, suitable for grocery shopping or maybe to store her onions and potatoes in. I will make it so it can be hung up to allow air to circulate.

I started with a 2 rnd circle in hdc, then did (hdc, ch x, sk x sts, hdc) around. (the ch x and sk x is due to increase rounds). After the first round it is ch x, hdc in ch x sps. After it is large enough, all subsequent rounds will be (hdc in ch 2 sp, ch 2, hdc in next ch 2 sp). I hope to get 2-3 small bags out of this ball of red yarn.

What do you do when...?

2008-07-08T08:29:00.005-04:00

What do you do when you buy a yarn you think you like the color of, only to get it home and think "What was I thinking?"

Well, I bought 2 balls of "Red Heart - Cotton Twist" in a limey/sagey green that looked kind of light olive green at the time. They were on sale. Only, when I got home, the more I looked at them, the more I didn't seem to care for the color.

Hmmmm.... What to make? Well, I thought of a tank top, but not enough and do I really think I would wear it? Especially considering I don't care for the color.

Next idea, hat? Nope, too soft. Scarf? No. No stitch I tried really did it justice. Nothing I would wear. (remember, I don't like the color). Not enough for a lapghan even. Hmmmm.... No stitch pattern really worked to my liking.

I finally decided on a really simple bag. I started with a circle the size I wanted in hdc. I tried every type of mesh stitch I could think of to no avail. Finally I decided on (hdc, ch 1, sk 1 st, hdc) around, then (hdc in ch 1 sp, ch 1, hdc in ch 1 sp) for as many rounds as I wanted. I then did a strap of 5 hdc across long enough to reach the bottom slacked, then decreased to a point, and sewed it on the bottom, but over top of the other side so it kind of helps keep it closed.

The opening will get a draw string of some sort when I find something suitable.

I'm still not keen on the color, but the bag does look nice :0) It just may make a nice gift some day.
And the best part is? I used up all but the last couple of inches of the yarn! Yay!!

New toy

2008-07-08T08:15:00.004-04:00

Finally! I have time to update again! Summer is turning out very busy. Youngest dd has soccer games once a week and practices once a week. Hubby loves fishing, so lots of our time is spent on the water in our boat, or shore fishing. It didn't help me find any time when we unexpectedly traded in our old boat for a new one :0) (I say unexpectedly, but really, hubby has been debating the issue for the past 2 years, and researching the last several months) With errands to run taking in the old boat and picking up the new one, transferring trailer plates, Insurance, etc and, of course, trying out our new toy!...I didn't get time for much of anything! How does this relate to crochet, you ask? Well, it just so happens, that the new boat has a huge glove compartment in it, cavernous enough to hold a good sized bag with my crochet in it! :0) YAY!! There also happens to be lots of room and areas for me to sit and quietly crochet while hubby fishes and the kids play. Perfect for everyone :0)

Here's a picture of our new toy.

It's even covered so I can still crochet even if it's raining :0)

And finally, the last Field trip!

2008-06-24T11:11:00.009-04:00

The busy weeks are almost at an end and summer vacation starts this Friday! YAY! (still busy, but in a different way:0)

This time I went with my other daughter's grade 4 class. After a 1 hr bus ride (I tried to crochet, but being placed at the back of the bus where the bumps were intensified, I didn't get a lot done:0), the first stop was to Queens University's Geology department, where we got to see rock and mineral samples as well as learn about the robotic landings on Mars! What an interesting time it was!
Here are a few interesting samples we saw:
This one was such a brilliant blue! It was so striking with the yellowy tan that I thought it would make a nice free form crochet piece.
Another beautiful color that makes me think of a free form piece of crochet.
Wasn't this a ripple afghan pattern I saw somewhere? LOL! :)

I think Carol Ventura must have been here. Doesn't this look like one of her Tapestry crochet pieces?Lol. (just kidding:0)

After the University, we went on a 2 1/2 hr boat cruise through the 1000 Islands. The views were incredible, but the best was this one I got of a Seagull taking bread from a woman's hand! He had to fly hard and fast into the wind to catch up to the boat to get his treat!

After all the excitement, I decided to try my luck crocheting in the bumpy back seat of the bus on the way home. I had a cream colored Lustersheen with me to try some free form crochet with. I started a motif, frogged part of it and was trying to decide what to do next, when my daughter told me how nice it was and asked if she could have it. She was upset at the time because her 2 friends were playing a hand game and she felt left out. When I gave her the motif I had been working on, I told her it looked like a skeleton key. She was happy and showed it to her friends who immediately asked for one themselves! I ended up making 3 of these, all similar but slightly different, on the bus ride home! They loved them and are using them to show that they are in a club. Now they want to know how they could make it a necklace :0)
It just goes to show, it's all in the eye of the beholder!

Another day, another Field trip!

2008-06-24T10:57:00.005-04:00

The next field trip was to the Zoo, again with my daughter's Kindergarten class. This was a pair of swans with a batch of 2 wk old babies. They were spread out so I only got 1 parent and a couple of the babies in the picture.
Later that week, I had to take Knight to his puppy Kindergarten classes. Isn't he handsome? And so well behaved :0)

I've been so busy the past couple of weeks, I haven't even had time to check out my garden. Imagine my surprise when I stepped out in my back yard and saw my climbing roses! The weather has been very favorable for them :0)
I finally have time to enjoy them :0)

Nature's Inspiration

2008-06-24T09:54:00.010-04:00

The past couple of weeks have been spent going on year end class field trips, getting year end teachers and bus drivers gifts, taking Knight to puppy Kindergarten and practicing with him, finishing a couple of projects up, etc...!

The first Field trip we went on was to a local Conservation area with my daughter's Kindergarten class. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. It started off with the kids being different kinds of animals.
Here's my daughter being a turtle :0)

Later on, we went for a walk across a field. This butterfly was beautiful and made me think of a delicate flowing crocheted shawl.
As we meandered across the field, I came across these tiny white flowers. They made me think of a fine weight green yarn with a very light sprinkling of white flecks. I would use it to make a delicate lace tank top or maybe a wispy flowing shawl.

After the warm field, we took a hike through the cool shade of the woods.
This spot looked so peaceful with the warm sunlight, cool shade and softly babbling stream, that I found myself longing for a soft mossy stump, my hook and yarn and a bit of time to enjoy what Nature had to offer...... maybe another day......

Both my daughter and I immediately thought of Harry Potter when we saw this knarly tree branch. :0)
This flower was so lacy looking. It reminds me of the big clumps of fluffy snow we some times get in the winter. It would make a nice pattern for a soft fluffy afghan.

Even the mosquitoes inspired me....to figure out how to crochet mosquito netting!!! LOL!

Christmas in June!

2008-06-13T08:42:00.002-04:00

My aunt sent me a parcel the other day, talk about Christmas in June!
In it was:
1. Masterpieces of Irish Crochet Lace - Techniques, Patterns, Instructions -Dover Needlework Series copywrite 1986.
2. Edgings to Crochet and Knit - Book No. 149 - The Spool Cotton company copywrite 1940. (Price 10 cents)!
3. Magic Crochet - June 1992.
4. Olde Time Needlework Patterns and Designs - July 1975.

I am in Heaven! I haven't had time to look through them thoroughly yet, but had a quick browse. The Irish lace one is absolutely gorgeous! And the edgings one has so many nice ones I can't wait to get out my hook and thread! My Aunt is a SWEETHEART!

I've been experimenting with Free form crochet lately so the Irish lace book has given me some great ideas! Some of the edgings I could see on a beautiful sweater or scarf or maybe a hat. hmmmmmm.......!

I had a Field Trip to a conservation area with my daughter's kindergarten class yesterday. (even with bug repellent we got eaten by skeeters!) I knew the 2 other moms knew each other and would be chatting, so I brought my crochet for the bus ride. I managed to get a few more rounds done on my bag I'm working on. The other moms even commented on it saying it was really nice:0) Next Tuesday is another field trip with her class to a local Zoo. Hmmm...even more time to crochet on the bus ride! :0) The following week, I go on my other daughter's field trip. Can I crochet on a bus full of 9 and 10 yr olds for an hour!?! Maybe not, but I am sure going to try! :0)

Well, I'm off to town to shop for my daughter's 6th bday party tomorrow! Wish me luck :0)

Major Project finished!!

2008-06-09T13:30:00.002-04:00

I am now finished the huge project I was working on and my back, neck and shoulders are relieved I tell you! It had to be laid flat on the floor to be worked on, which meant leaning over to work :0( I can't reveal anything yet, but if all goes well, I should be able to spill the beans in August!

One thing I will say, I did learn a lot of new crochet techniques on this project!

Some things I've learned on this project:
-I've learned and perfected the 2 color spiral
-how to do cable ribbing
-I've learned an immense amount about free form crochet and I've also learned that I have a LOT more to learn about free form crochet!
-I've learned that your body can endure a considerable amount of discomfort when you are totally engrossed in a mesmerizing project!
-I've learned that no matter how much you think you know about crochet, a piece of yarn can humble you and bring you to your knees.
-I've learned that when you have a tight deadline, that one small area left to do, will grow bigger when you aren't looking :0)
-I've learned that you should start with a template for free form crochet, and if you are going to use one, it's easier to make it first rather than try to make your project fit the template AFTER you've already started :0)
-I've learned that if you insist on beginning a huge project in a technique you've never done, you will need an inordinate amount of patience! (as well as a very good reference book!:0)

Now that the project is finished, I'm in limbo. I want to relax and not have to think about anything, but on the other hand, I want to start a million other projects! I probably should work on a few other projects I have started, but now that I've done free form, I want to start on something right away! I might have to get out my unassigned yarn and play:0)

Talking yarn

2008-05-30T12:46:00.004-04:00

Well, my best intentions are, unfortunately, not panning out as hoped. :0( I had intended to post several times a week, but due to a very pressing deadline on a very large project, my time has been very limited. I promise, after this deadline is done, I will try to post more often. :0)

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a ball of a very pretty yellow green Debbie Bliss yarn called Stella. I can't wait to play with it! It tells me it thinks it wants to be a free form scarf :0) Doesn't YOUR yarn talk to you? I have very interesting conversations with my yarn all the time.

Like the skeins of Berrocco, Cotton Twist yarn that called out to me in my LYS. One was a very pretty yellowy/ivory color that said it wanted to be the sand in a very nice shawl. The beautiful purple variegated skein piped up, "Yes, that's very nice and I would make absolutely gorgeous undulating waves in the ocean!". Well, after that, how could I NOT buy them?

After trying, unsuccessfully (the yarn was MUCH too heavy for the light, airy shawl I envisioned, AND there was no way the 2 balls I bought would make a decent sized shawl. Being a bit pricey, I decided something more special was in order. "Well", said I to the yarn, "what now?". The yarn thought about it for a while, then said "I think a nice evening purse, done in a nice wavy ripple pattern, with the sandy color on the bottom for the beach, and the purple waves rolling over the horizon would do very nicely!". I thought about their request for awhile, then proceeded to fulfill their wish. The body of the bag is finished. I am still debating the handles and I have yet to get to the fabric store for a suitable lining for it (I'm seeing a nice dark purple or light blue...), but it is looking quite nice so far. The yarn has good taste :0)

Gratitude...with a capital G

2008-05-22T13:02:00.005-04:00

My 5yr old daughter had a dental appointment yesterday in a city 1 1/2 hrs from here. Since driving on the highway petrifies me, I took along my crocheting to keep me occupied while hubby drove.

I already had a couple of my Molar Coasters made to take to the Dentist as a thank you gift and took along more yarn and a hook and made some more on the way. As my daughter is only 5, they were to give her a sedative, then an hour later they'd proceed with the fillings which were also to take an hour. Needless to say, I got a few more done :0)

You know when you have a great idea, then you start second guessing yourself? Well, after making 8 or 9 of these, I started to wonder how they would be received. Do people even use coasters any more? Or would they think I was off my rocker? Well, I finally decided to bite the bullet and gave one to the receptionist we had been dealing with. She was totally amazed and LOVED it! She went around showing every one in the office! I then gave her 2 more for the other 2 girls in the office. She was going to go straight in and show the dentist, so I told her, "Here is one for the dentist as well". She said it would be nice if my daughter gave it to her herself, so we decided to wait.

A short time later we went in to see how she was doing and how much longer it would be. She was finished...and FAST ASLEEP!! When we woke her up, I handed her the Molar Coaster and told her to give it to the dentist. She was very surprised and asked if I made it. I replied that yes, I did and I designed it as well and that I was a crochet designer. Well, she gave me a huge hug and said thank you! Now I was the one to be surprised! When I explained to her that it was a "Molar" Coaster, she laughed. She said she didn't want to put her cup on it because she didn't want it to get dirty so she was putting it on her desk. When we gave the hygienist one as well, I got another big hug. Now THAT'S what I call gratitude:0) It makes up for all the gifts that get thrown in the closet with out a second glance.

I was really glad I decided to give them out after all. Everyone got a chuckle when I told them it was a "Molar" coaster! :0)

Necessity...the Mother of creativity!

2008-05-18T10:44:00.004-04:00

Have you ever had one of those times when you were thankful you had your hook and some yarn with you? I had one of those this weekend. This weekend is a long weekend in Canada, so my husband and daughters decided we should go to the canal and fish. When we stopped at the small convenience store across the road to get some worms, I decided to get a coffee, but when I tried to drink it, the cup was really warm. Being a crocheter (and we know how creative crocheters are!) I grabbed my hook and some really nice cotton ww yarn I had brought along and proceeded to make a cozy for my cup! We also had a couple of friends along, who were suitably impressed that I could "whip something up" so quickly :0)

Here's my cozy. I was in a hurry to drink my coffee, so didn't even bother to weave in my ends:0) I figured I could do that later.

All I did was chain long enough to go around my cup near the bottom, then hdc in each ch across in the loop on the back of the chain and joined when I got to the end to form a circle. Then I would just ch 1 and hdc in ea st around for 4-5 rows. Usually I would then switch to 1 size larger hook for the next 3 rows or so, but didn't have the next size so just crocheted REALLY loosely instead. For the finish, I just did slst in next st, ch 1, all the way around. Quick, easy and best of all...no burned hand!

Inspiration can come at any time...literally! A few nights ago I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. While I was laying there tossing and turning and thinking about how tired I was going to be the next day, it hit! Inspiration that is. I had been puzzling over how to do a certain area of the project I'm working on, when all of a sudden it hit me! I saw exactly how to proceed. I then proceeded to squint in the dim light from the alarm clock as I roughly sketched out my idea. (I have learned the hard way to keep a notebook and pen beside my bed. Yes, this has happened before and it is really frustrating when you wake up only to discover you've completely forgotten your wonderful idea!:0) I've also been known to buy a sketch book and pencil while I'm out shopping because I got a great idea and didn't want to forget.

Inspiration can come from anyWHERE as well. You wouldn't believe the amount of times others have seen a nice China pattern or tiled floor, and I've seen a nice afghan or scarf! My husband sees a fish he's just caught and I picture a really cool Amigurumi toy! My husband looks a little less confused these days when he sees one thing and I see something crocheted. :0)

Happy Mother's Day! Nature's Beauty.

2008-05-11T15:12:00.003-04:00

Today is Mother's Day, so Happy Mother's Day to all Moms and Mom type people!

My husband and daughter's took me out to a nice area. He fished, dd #1 ran around and dd #2 went for a walk with Knight and I. I had a chance to play with my camera some more on our walk and managed to capture these pictures of some wild grape leaves just opening!

The colors were really pretty and made me think of a very wispy shawl done in these colors in a fingering weight yarn...
This one was very interesting, as you could just see something in the middle that looked like very tiny salmon eggs.
Actually, now that I look at it, it reminds me of the scene in "The Little Mermaid" where Ariel is talking to Morgana the Sea Witch. Morgana picks up a small sea creature and squeezes it and out comes something that looks like salmon eggs which she then uses as lipstick.

Hmmmmm.... salmon colored yarn, fingering weight, bobble sts, maybe the start to an afghan square? Oh, the possibilities.....truly mind boggling!

sneak peek as promised :0)

2008-05-09T11:44:00.007-04:00

Well, I finally got to play with the new camera for a few minutes. Here are the sneak peek pics as promised yesterday.

Do I have your curiosity yet? Sorry I can't say too much about it yet. But one day, all will be revealed! Let's just say...I've learned a LOT from this project!

Have you ever started to learn a new skill, gotten so excited about it that you started a huge project only to decide maybe you've bitten off a rather large mouthful?

A couple of years ago I decided to learn tunisian crochet in order to do a graphed afghan. I got a hook and tried the stitch I'd need to learn in order to do this afghan. So far, so good. I went to my computer, made the graph, bought the yarn, and couldn't find a hook long enough. So hubby went to the hardware store and bought a long dowel for me, carved the end in a hook the size I wanted and I sanded for all I was worth!

Now what was so special about this project? It was supposed to be for hubby's Christmas present which was only a few months away. The graph I made was of the BRITISH FLAG !! Yep. This will be a cinch, right? WRONG!! It was going swimmingly until, on row 37, I found the blocks weren't lining up properly. Hmmmm, Must have missed a stitch. So a hunting I go, looking for the wayward stitch or extra stitch that is messing everything up. After much eyestrain, growling and general grumbling, I find it. ON ROW 11 !!! Arrrrrrrgh!! (the rows are worked the LONG way) So a frogging I go and "rip it, rip it" back to row 11. By the way, there are 14 color changes on the busiest rows, which means 14 balls of yarn!

After the flood of tears finished, I reprint my graph a bit larger, then PAINSTAKINGLY write it out in color in long hand. Red-5, blue-50, white-23, etc. You get the picture. Needless to say, hubby saw his gift early as I needed to work night and day on it to finish it. No, it didn't get finished,... yet. I'm waiting for him to finish the spare room in the basement so I can work on it without Knight's help. :0)

2008-05-08T09:45:00.003-04:00

My book arrived! Thank you Myra! I ordered Myra Wood's new book "Creative Crochet Lace" on April 24th and it arrived on May 6th. Not bad since it was going from California to Ontario, Canada!
The customer service was excellent. Myra emailed me the same day to let me know she had shipped it.

The book was even better than I expected. The photography is absolutely gorgeous. The instructions are very clear and easily understood. Her way of writing is very informal and fun, not dry and boring like a lot of books. She explains free form in a way that makes you want to grab your yarn and get to work! The olive green tank top on the cover is what first caught my eye when I saw her book on her web site. It is even more lovely up close. It is the first free form garment I want to try! All of her projects in the book are ones that you would actually use and wear. If you haven't taken a look at it yet, I encourage you to do so. Here's her web site. www.myrawood.com

Well, thanks to Myra's book my very large free form project I'm working on is now going much faster! I'm going to try to get a couple of sneak peek photos for you this afternoon. :0) Thanks to her tips, I now find it much easier to work on it on the kitchen table rather than the floor (where Knight attacks it!) or the bed (where my back HATES it!!).

The new camera is working out great now that I'm getting the hang of it (slowly:0). You can really get some great close ups with the zoom lens. Now to invest in a good light source!

2008-05-05T11:21:00.001-04:00

It's been a hectic week around here! First my 9yr old dd gets the stomach flu on Tues and is better by the next day. Then, low and behold, my 51/2 yr old dd wakes up and promptly gets sick on Friday! She had it worse and needless to say, I spent the day looking after her. And to top it all off, we had an appointment to take our newest member of the family to the vet's to get "snipped" on Thursday! Not much time to crochet needless to say!
Say hello to Knight ! He's a 20 wk old Yellow Lab X Border Collie X Shar-pei (we think) X. And thanks to him, I have the carpet guys coming in tomorrow to steam clean the carpets! :0) Oh, well, he's cute!

Our money from the taxes finally came in so on Friday we went to Future Shop to get my belated Birthday present..a new digital camera!! Yay! Happy Dance!! Now, in order to see why this has me so excited, you have to know a bit about my old camera. It was a Kodak Easy Share, 3.1 mp, with a broken LCD screen. The new one is a Canon EOS Rebel XSi 450D ! It is 12.2 mp, and has more features than I know what to do with! We even bought the extra Zoom lens to go with it! Now instead of blurry, out of focus pictures of my crocheting, I can get sharp, clear, beautiful color photos of great detail! ...just as soon as I learn how to use it! (actually, I usually leave that up to hubby, then he explains it to me :0) My garden has been the happy recipient of my learning so far :0)

I've been trying to work on my freeform afghan...wall hanging (?) without Knight's help, so I decided to put it on our bed to work on it. "Not a good idea", said my back. I might have to block off part of the living room...

It's funny how things have a way of turning out in unusual ways when you least expect it. I started out using up some yarn someone gave me. It was a fine weight wool, with a twist of silk. It was also very old and the wool was falling apart :0( "Well", thinks I, "The only thing to do with it is to felt it. That way the felting will help hold it together." So I make a bag and decide it should be a decent size, but not too big as I'm thinking this yarn isn't going to felt much. Wrong! I ended up with a bag perfect for my 51/2 yr old! Well, she loved it and wanted it, so I figure, why not? Then my 9 yr old decides she loves it and wants one too. OK, I have enough of this yarn left. With the silk thread twisted around it, it gives it a very speckled look. The yarn is in a light minty green color and the bag is a round tote style with a slit in either side for handles. Then with the blue yarn I make a square style purse, also very tiny (they are all around 10" high approx. )

Now I still have some of each color left so I decide to make a basket or something. I start off with a round circle in blue, then, when the bottom is big enough, I do a ripple stitch around the bag for 2 rounds, then 2 rounds of green, then 2 blue, then 2 green and finally a round of blue. (I don't remember what ripple I did and now that it's felted it's hard to tell) I throw it in the wash and wait. The resulting basket it very unique, and quite cute! I'm really proud of my experiment and when my 9 yr old walks in I show it to her saying isn't this a cute basket. Well, she asks me to hand it to her and promptly puts it on her head and says what a cute HAT it is!! ROFLOL!! Every now and then she will pick it up and wear it around the house for a bit. Funny thing is, it DOES look nice as a hat!

Well today promises to be sunny and warm after our Saturday of torrential down pours!, so I think it might be a good day to play with my new camera... and get a few shots of my crocheting of course! :0)

Molar Coaster Pattern

2008-04-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally re-wrote my Molar Coaster Pattern, so here it is.

Molar Coaster
Deidre Eyles, copyright, July 3, 2007

Yarn: I used white ww cotton, but you could use any yarn. You could even use thread for a pin.

Hook: suitable for your yarn.

Make an adjustable ring by wrapping the yarn around 2 fingers twice. Ch 2 (does not count as 1st st), 12 dc into the ring, then pull tail tight. Join with a slst in 1st dc.

Roots- Ch 11, (working in bumps on back of ch) sc in 3rd ch from hook and next 2 ch, hdc in next 3 ch, dc in next 3 ch, sk 1 st, slst in next st. Repeat.

Sc in next 2 dc, (sc, hdc, 3dc) in next dc, slst in next dc, 3 hdc in next dc, slst in next dc, (3dc, hdc, sc) in next dc, sc in next 2 dc, hdc in next 9 sts (along root), 3 sc in tip of root), hdc in next 9 sts (along root), sk 1 st, hdc in next 9 sts (along 2nd root), 3 sc in tip of root, sk 1 st, hdc in next 13 sts, 2 hdc in next 2 sts, (hdc, sc) in next st, slst in next st, 2 hdc in next 2 sts, slst in next st, (sc, hdc) in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 4 sts. Slst in next 2 sts. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Enjoy!

PS. This pattern has not been tested except by me, so please let me know if you encounter any errors. :0)

more of my creations

2008-04-28T08:28:00.000-04:00

Well, it was another busy weekend so I didn't get a chance to update my blog. Today is a dreary rainy day so what better time to Blog:0)

I thought someone might want to see some more of my creative moments! So here's a look at another creation of mine. Elann had a contest on their web site to create a bag. It could be a purse, tote, or what have you. It just had to be a bag of some kind. You could also use any yarn from their website, which meant it could also be felted, or not. By the time I came up with the idea (to create a purse to look like a flame to represent the Eternal Flame of Hope), ordered the yarn from them, and started designing, the contest deadline had arrived!...and GONE! Oh, well, I decided. I can always use a new purse :0) Little could I have imagined all the compliments I'd receive on it!

It's made of wool and felted. The dimensions were approx. 11.5" h x 14" w before felting and 8" h x 10" w after felting. I used a magnetic clasp (which I have yet to cover some how.), and made the handle to look like flames as well. The yarn was Elann -Peruvian Highland Wool and felted wonderfully!

Here's the front of the bag with the flap open.
Here's the back. As you can sort of see, the handles are made to look like flames as well.
I did sort of write out a pattern, but as of right now, it is pretty much chicken scratch notes :0) ! One day, I hope to make another one and write out the pattern properly.

Note to self: I think I finally figured out how to add photos properly!! (there's hope for me yet:0)

A couple of winters ago, I designed a beanie using all hdc. My daughters wore them to school and my 9yr old came home telling me that the kids LOVED them and that she told her class that if they wanted one, her Mom would make them!! She also informed me that she already had 3 orders and that several more kids were deciding what colors they wanted!! Yes, we had a talk about volunteering Mommy's services without her knowledge or consent. It turns out that one boy wanted blue with flames on it and one wanted orange and red. I made the blue one with flames and the boy who "ordered" the orange and red, promptly sent his back and ordered flames be added to his!! Now how cheeky can you get! I have NEVER received so much as a thank you or by - your - leave from the boy (or his parents!) who wanted flames added to his orange and red hat!! My daughter has also told me she has never seen him wear it. Guess what? He will never get another thing from me! On the other hand, the boy who ordered the blue with flames will get anything he wants. His parents called to say thank you and he has thanked me several times himself! His parents have also told me he will not wear any of his other hats, including his favorite hockey team hats and will not take his hat off. He even wears it in the house! His Mom has to sneak it away to wash it! Now that's gratitude.
I don't have a pattern per say (sp?). I just made a beanie in hdc (staring with 8 and increasing as per the usual way) then used sc worked in the rows below the row I was working on and varied which row I used, to get different heights. (confused yet? :0).

Here's a pic of it. No, it's not a giant mushroom:0) That's my banister it's resting on. This is the one that didn't say thank you.

Well, that's about all for this morning. I hope to get some more pics this afternoon and post some more.

A new book purchase

2008-04-25T19:53:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to work on a large crochet project, but with a new puppy in the house (he's an 18 wk old golden lab/ border collie/and maybe sharpei cross), it's been a bit tricky! It's a freeform afghan (or maybe wall hanging...) that has to be laid out flat to work on. He learned the hard way yesterday that Mum's crochet and yarn is OFF LIMITS!! He did ok until my girls got home. Then I had to rescue a piece of crocheted kelp! I got it back though, not too much the worse for wear.:0)

I ordered another book on Friday. Myra Wood's "Creative Crochet Lace" . I can hardly wait for it to arrive! I've been drooling over it for awhile now. I ordered it from Myra's site and received a very nice email the same day from Myra saying thank you for ordering and it was shipped that same day via Priority Mail! Thank you Ellen for blogging about her book on your blog. It was the info I needed to make the decision to buy!

The other book I have my eye on is Belinda "Bendy" Carter's latest book "Single Crochet A-Z". I really can't imagine 26 different ways to make a single crochet! This will be my next purchase. I really like her book "Crochet on the Edge" ISBN -13:978-1-59635-113-4 / - 10: 1-59635-113-6. The photos are clear and the instructions are easy to follow.

Market bags, experiment

2008-04-22T12:17:00.000-04:00

Well, a busy weekend is over and a new week on it's way! I didn't get a chance to blog over the weekend, as my allergies have started kicking in again and my head is so stuffy I can hardly think :0( Will give it a shot this morning anyway and see what happens :0).

I am getting more and more into Environmentally friendly crochet such as re-usable Market bags, beach bags, eco-friendly yarns, etc. However, I live in a small town and don't have a huge selection of stores where I can get yarn so I'm limited to what I can get in Walmart, Zellers and the like. So I try to make a difference for the environment any way that I can.

Here's a re-usable felted tote I made. It has a tree on it to represent the trees I'm saving by not using paper. It also represents what the Earth should look like with no garbage. Green and with lots of trees. The tree trunk and leaves are made to be pockets (note to self: make leaf pockets much, MUCH, deeper before felting! :0)

Here's the front before felting.

Back, prefelting.

Unfortunately, after felting, the details kind of melted together. :0(
See what I mean about the details disappearing? The trunk pockets are ok, but the leafy pockets shrunk and are now too short to hold anything! Arrrrgh!! The handles remained cool though! They are supposed to look like tree branches. I think this would be awesome in a non felted version.! hmmmm.... The hardest part was getting the colors I needed.

The multi color blobs were supposed to be bushes, also made into pockets, also too shallow.

The roots of the tree were so cool before felting! They were very 3-d and had a mossy green, pinkish novelty yarn mixed in for moss, flowers, etc growing amongst the roots.

However, after felting, they became indiscernible blobs! :0( (note to self: make one NOT felted!)

Even the base of the handles were made to look like tree trunks. This was before felting.

I still think I ought to make one NOT felted! :0)

Unfortunately I do not have a pattern for this. The bag itself was made with mostly hdc. The tree, bushes, etc was done freeform style and crocheted onto the bag as I went along, mainly because I hate to sew! In hind sight, the next one will be made and sew on after. The join as you go method was too tricky and time consuming :0(

Oh, well. Back to the drawing board!

It does make a very nice STURDY tote bag and I use it all the time.

Molar coaster

2008-04-18T09:34:00.000-04:00

Uploading pics to the is proving very difficult! The first pic took over the whole page! Yikes!!

Fun crochet!

2008-04-18T08:39:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm starting to get the hang of this :0)

One day when my daughter had a dental appt, I was looking at the Dentist's card, which was in the shape of a tooth. Well, the wheels started turning and I got out my hook and some yarn and crocheted a tooth. I gave it to the receptionist who loved it and showed it to all the patients coming in! She even showed it to our Dentist who laughed and said "Oh, a Molar doily!" The wheels started turning again and a couple of days later when we were back in the office for another appt, I brought along my hook and some ww white cotton yarn and voila! The "Molar Coaster" was born!! Everyone in the office LOVED it, especially the receptionist who howled with laughter when I told her it was a Molar Coaster!! (pun definitely intended!!)

Here's the cavity free version now :0)

I hope to post a pattern for this later.

My first blog

2008-04-17T16:23:00.000-04:00

A la Carte- "according to the menu".

So how does this relate to my new Blog about crochet? As a crochet designer, I never know what interesting crochet "dish" my creativity will have on the menu :0). It all depends on my mood that day, hour, or even minute! (There's also the fact that, yes, even food and dishes can spark a new design idea! :0)

As this is my first ever attempt at blogging, you'll have to bear with me through the learning curve.

This will be a family friendly Blog. I have 2 small children myself and will not put anything on here that I wouldn't want them to read. My idea for this blog is to have a place to ramble on about crochet to someone who's eyes don't glaze over when crochet is mentioned :0) I also hope to learn how to post pics of designs I'm working on, new yarn finds and anything else crochet related. Once in a while I might stray off topic temporarily, but it won't be for long. (I promise! :0) I promise I will try not to bore anyone to sleep either!

Well, that's about all for now.
Back to designing!