Just Buy the Pattern!

You know, they say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. And sometimes life just makes sure I don't forget it.

I've been crocheting fairly consistently now for about 30 years and I consider myself at an intermediate level, although I've certainly not had much of any experience making clothing. You know, the kind that actually has to fit. So every now and then I'll be perusing Pinterest and I'll find a photo of an item that I fall in love with, but then I find out I'd have to pay for the pattern. Since I have a very small budget, I try to be frugal. And sometimes I'm arrogant (and silly) enough to think that I can just figure out the pattern on my own.

Such was the case of the Metro Kerchief by Yuliya Tkacheva. Even though I am a lace fan at heart, occasionally when I see a beautiful geometric pattern I fall in love. And I fell hard for this one. But since my budget is tight, I thought (after looking very carefully at the scarf) that I could figure it out on my own. HA!

Metro Kerchief by Yuliya Tkacheva

First off, you have to be careful to choose a yarn that has quite a bit of body to it because a soft yarn won't hold the design. That was my first mistake, so I had to start over with another yarn. Next, after you figure out how to do the pattern, you have to figure out the correct increases/decreases, otherwise you will end up with either a VERY long scarf, a very short scarf, or a very lopsided scarf.

I won't bore you will all the details, but this scarf took me almost a month to finally get right (and with a lot of mathematical help from my husband, too). Looking back on this now, that's totally insane. Of course, when I started out I had no idea it would be so difficult for me (that arrogance again!), but at least the experience has taught me a lesson. Unless an item is super-super easy, JUST BUY THE PATTERN!

                    The Urban Kerchief, now available in my Bonanza Shop

I have since completed my version of this scarf, and even though it took me forever, I am very happy with how it turned out. It is currently available for sale at my Bonanza booth - only $21.99 and free shipping! (Christmas is coming faster than you know....)

I am SO Frustrated!

You know, technology is wonderful - when it works.

If you've been following my wondrous blog, you'll know that my nephew and his wife are expecting a baby girl in December. So of course I have been in the process of making crocheted items for the newcomer, and spending waaay too much time looking through patterns. So. Many. Patterns.! Thus the lack of posts. At this point I have made a Caron Simply Soft Baby Hoodie, booties (sorry, I can't find the pattern), a Cuddly Baby Amigurumi (which I've decided I need to remake because I didn't put safety eyes on it - silly me) and I have designed a Baby Unicorn Lovey. I am in love with this lovey. I was having issues with the head when I first started, which took me about 3 days to finally work out. The rest all went pretty smoothly until I got to the mane. I did curly-q's and sewed each one one separately, which was really tedious. But the lovey is done.

As i was creating the lovey, I was using the OpenOffice program I have on my laptop to type the directions. Of course this was just a scratch copy. So yesterday I went to put the official pattern together on my business stationary, correcting all my shortcuts and abbreviations (so people could actually understand what I had written) and arranging all the photos with their captions. Then I saved it. This took me about nine hours to do.  (Side Note - I don't have a tester for my patterns, so when I write the final draft, I go over what I have written several times to make sure it is correct, concise, and understandable. I haven't gotten any complaints so far, so hopefully I'm doing something right!)

For some reason, no matter what I try to save something as, my computer wants to save it to Word, which I don't have on the computer. So I get up this morning and see that it was saved as Word, and the format is all wrong and the pics are all on top of one another. !&%$#@&^!!!! I had Word on my old laptop, but when it crashed we couldn't transfer the program. The Microsoft Office Suite is so expensive that my IT Guru son downloaded OpenOffice for me. It's ok but not nearly as good for my purposes as Word, and has always been rather frustrating for me to use. At this point I'm so frustrated I'm really ready to go back to Word. I see that there are some older versions that are for home/student use that could be used for my laptop and don't cost extraordinary amounts. Well, I've decided that I'm going to see if my son is free this weekend and pay him a visit. HELP! Obviously, I am NO computer whiz, and no doubt some of my issues stem from the fact that I flounder around a lot. I won't be surprised if my son finds out I screwed something up.

If you all would be kind enough to remember my computer in your prayers, I would certainly appreciate it. Now I'm going to fix myself a very large drink.

Hoodie sweater and booties for the newbie!

I've Been Busy

I have totally fallen off the track with posting as I had promised myself at New Year's. I went to a wonderful 4th of July/family reunion party and had a great time, but within a couple days the weather went to 112 degrees and I didn't handle it well. (Neither did several of my plants, and I am afraid I've lost at least two of them.) Then last Tuesday my husband went in for surgery (all is well!), but I had to get up at 3:30 am to get ready to leave with him, which really threw my routine in a tizzy. Silly me, I brought a shawl to work on while I was waiting, but I was so tired I ended up having to rip out all that I had done. Oh well, it kept me busy. I've since caught up on my sleep and I am back with the living now!

My husband was just recently notified that his family is going to have a new addition. The nephew and his wife had a gender reveal at the July 4th party - it's a girl! So if course that means anything I was currently working on or planning to work on has been set aside for now. There are so many wonderful things to crochet for babies - it's so hard to choose! However, I remembered a particular doll that I had seen a while ago that I fell in love with, but it was a paid pattern so I took a pass. But now I have the perfect excuse for buying it! So I did. It's called "Cuddle-baby - amigurumi doll" by Lilleliis and it cost about $4.68 in US dollars (4 Euros). The pattern is well written and easy to follow; it was me who screwed up, so of course it took forever to make.

Cuddle-Baby - Amigurumi by Lilleliis

My suggestion is to make sure you have all the same weight yarn to make this doll with. I thought I did, but it didn't take me too long to realize I didn't. You see, I'm still trying to keep with using my stash, so I worked with what I had. I started with the head and then went on to the body. The yarn I used for the head was at least a DK and the body was definitely sport weight. The head was huge! So I had to unravel half the head and figure out how to make it smaller, which was time consuming. Then I realized I hadn't worked the invisible decrease correctly on the body, which left odd little indents (they didn't show until I stuffed it). I tried to fix it with a needle and thread, but it didn't work. So I had to redo the body. Then I realized one of the hands was bigger than the other, but I was able to fix that with needle and thread. Geez, you'd think I was a novice crocheter for as much as I messed up!

I did decide to embellish a little, so I gave the hat a crab stitch edging with a pink whipstitch in between the grey stitches, and I added a triple heart applique to the body. Even though this little doll ended up taking a lot more time that it should have, I'm still happy with the outcome. I may add the stitching around the wrists and ankles, though - it does give a more finished look. That is, of course, if I can keep myself from starting the newborn booties, baby blanket, 12M sweater...well, you get the idea!

My version - not a bad runner up, hey?

 

 

There is one thing I found out that made me sad, though. While I was looking for the pattern on Ravelry, I found another person's version of the same pattern for sale. It wasn't done nearly as well, and now I can't seem to find it. I can only hope that the original designer found it and told her to take it down. The nerve of some people! Another person was trying to crochet this doll from the picture (hadn't bought the pattern) but was having problems figuring out the arms and legs, so she was asking for the directions on the pattern's forum! The designer replied that what she was requesting was illegal and she was shocked that someone could do such a thing. Listen, I've made things from photos, too, but  I would never have the gall to go on the paid pattern's site and ask for free directions! So sad this stuff goes on. And one word to the wise - unless a pattern is VERY simple, you're going to spend A LOT of time figuring it out on your own. Trust me - I know! So you'd better think twice if it's really worth saving a few bucks, IMO.

Till next time, keep on hookin'!

Slight Change of Plans

As much as I love designing crochet items, I just have to give myself one long cold hard look in the mirror and be honest with myself. I love crocheting much more than I like having to write the patterns out. There, I said it. So I have decided to start using OP's patterns and crochet! This doesn't mean I won't ever design anything anymore; it just means that I'll have a "products" section in my store.

Autumn Red Cowl

 First up on this new(er) venture is my version of the Rose Lace Cowl by Alyssa Titus of Undeniable Glitter (free pattern can be found here). This was perfect for me because of all the Caron Simply Soft yarn I have in my stash, and it did take a little over one skein for the cowl (one skein for the body of the cowl and the "little more" for the edging). What a perfect and economical present! The pattern is written well - I didn't have any issues following it at all - and the cowl works up in no time. My only disagreement with her description is that I think this cowl could be very warm and just fine for winter, as well as spring and fall. IMO!

 I did run into one problem, though. My little picot points on the edging all swerved to one side, and I wanted them to point straight. Silly me thought that this would straighten itself out in the blocking, but it didn't. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not blaming the designer. It's very possible that the way I crocheted the points made them swerve - I don't know. Anyway, I took some thread and sewed the top loop of the picots down on the opposite side of the swerve, and this straightened them out. It was a pain, though. So if I ever make this cowl again, I'm going to find  way to crochet those points straight or consider the swerved points part of the design!

Till next time, happy crocheting!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, including mothers-to-be, mothers to fur-babies, and mothers in spirit! I believe most women have a nurturing aspect to their personalities, and I like to take Mother's Day to celebrate this. I know this is a rather broad definition of this holiday, but I think the world would be a very different place without the caring  of women. So I hope all of you have a wonderful day!
I won't be able to spend Mother's Day with my Mom, but of course we'll talk and I sent her a card with a little contribution to her pig collection. I took the Little Crochet Bunny Pattern from Amigurumi Today.com and did a few tweaks to the pattern to create the girly-girl piglet for my mom.

The little dress is technically removable. I tried using tiny snaps but it didn't look right, so I just sewed the pearls to the dress. Looking at the dress now I realize I should've blocked it, especially the hemline. Oh, well. I'm sure my mom will excuse me. Other than that faux-pah, I was really happy with how she turned out.

Till next time, have a great day and happy crocheting!

It's About Time!

I've been a little sluggish with my crocheting lately (and my posts!). I needed to take some pics too, and of course "sunny" California decided to be grey and drizzly for the past few days. However - TA DA - I have a few new things to show you. One item isn't totally new, but I've finally completed it and have the pattern available now in my store, which you can find here. This is the afghan I mentioned in an earlier post, and I've named it Aqua Dreams. The Caron Simply Soft yarn is so pretty and the sheen is really nice. I was very angry at myself for making my traditional mistake of crocheting the beginning rows loose and tightening my tension as I go along - yes, I did it again - but I was able to work it all out with the single crochet/crab stitch border, so everything is fine now. And I am very proud of myself for using up an additional 10+ skeins of my stash!

Aqua Dreams Afghan

 I was so happy with the way the Caron yarn looked that I decided to make another item with it - a long cowl with a lacy edging that you can double loop for added warmth. That's still on the blocking mat, so you'll get to see it in my next post.  I've also finished my version of the Metro Kerchief by Yuliya Tkacheva. I didn't design these two items, so they'll be going in my store as 'products for sale', a new category I'll be adding shortly. I've also designed a scarf/shawlette, I'm working on a summer cowl, and I've finished my mom's Mother's Day present, but I'll have more on those later. By George, i think I'm out of my slump!

My version of the Metro Kerchief

     Till next time, happy crocheting!                                

I've Been So Bad...

Well, I certainly hope that all of you had a wonderful Easter and didn't go overboard on the sweets, like I did! I had plans of showing gorgeous carved eggs (that you can see here), or at the very least sharing a cute GIF (which can be seen here). Somehow those never came to fruition. I think I've been stuck in some kind of slow-motion gear that I can't seem to get out of. However, I did get into the Easter spirit and decided to try out a pattern that I fell in love with some time ago. It's the sweet "Little crochet bunny pattern" from Amigurumi Today (available for free here).

Little crochet bunny from Amigurumi Today

 

I do have yarn appropriate for making this, but I ran into a problem. The yarn is fuzzy and I was having great difficulty seeing the stitches. So I decided to switch to another yarn I have - sock weight without all the fuzz. Even though my version isn't quite as cute as the original, I still think it turned out ok. Mine just looks a bit sleepy!

 Arthur took pity on my Sleepy Bunny and shared one of his heart pillows with her, originally seen here. I decided that Arthur shouldn't have to sit on a box anymore, so I ordered a comfy retro-modern chair for him. However, I need to find a way to wire him, because Arthur has a terrible problem with falling apart. (The chair, while being very stylish, won't give him a lot of support.) I did find a site that showed how to make an "upholstered" chair and I think Arthur would be ecstatic if I could make one of those for him - but crocheted, of course. Perhaps this will be my next project? But only after I finish the current WIPs.....

Easter is Coming...

I always seem to be "a day late and a dollar short" when it comes to holiday themed posts. I know that St. Patrick's Day is on March 17th, but I think I'm going to take a pass this year for posting wondrous Irish things. If you have an insatiable desire to see these lace beauties, please refer to a previous post of mine here.
Lately I've been working on an afghan that's almost complete (yes, really!) and the Metro Kerchief by Yuliya Tkacheva (see pic below). I love the design of this kerchief, although if you make it slightly larger it would really be a shawlette, and I'm about halfway done. I know, I know - I'm supposed to be designing my own items - but sometimes it's nice just to go with someone else's pattern. If I don't find someone to give this to I'll probably just list it in my shop.

Metro Kerchief by Yuliya Tkacheva

 But I digress. Easter is coming, and I think I've been looking at this adorable bunny for so long that I must make her. There is no designer listed that I can find, but the free pattern is available at Amigurumi Today. If you are a Pinterest Peruser, I'm sure you've come across her - along with a million other items we all would like to make. Well, enough with the talking. I've got the yarn - I've got the hook - now wish me luck!

 PS. I want the pattern for that little bear, too!

Pretty in Pink

I'm late.  As some of you that follow me may have noticed, I have done several blog posts using a "national day" as a theme. Well, March 1st was National Pig Day and I missed it. The reason this is a big deal is that my mom loves pigs (Hi, Mom!) and has a wonderful collection of them. They're mostly ceramic figurines, but she has a few other items too - like the iron flying pig doorstop or the pig-weighing-herself salt and pepper shaker, for example. Quite a while ago now my mom told all of us not to give her anymore pigs because she felt she had more than enough. I don't always abide by that wish, but I'm sure she'll find this "ode to the pig" blog post quite acceptable!

Baby pig found on Pinterest - inspiration only, darn it!

Pig Amigurumi CAL by Brenna Eaves

Adorable key ring by Duls Stuff, inspiration only

Clown pig - inspiration only

Willie the Pig by Lan Lien, free pattern

Sweet Pig Lovey by Maiko

Friends from Instagram, inspiration

Pippa Pig by Little Aqua Girl

Pig bookmark I gave my mom, pattern from Ashlea of HeartHookHome

No post about pigs would be complete without Piglet! Free pattern from Holly's Hobbies

 Hope you all had a wonderful National Pig Day, and celebrated it by enjoying our porcine friends in whatever way you deemed appropriate!

To Granny or Not

Just the other day I received an email form Allcrochetpatterns.net describing their Granny Square Design Contest (find details here). I like granny squares. I have many granny square designs saved on my computer; I enjoy seeing posts with new designs; I even designed a square once (see below). However, I have never made anything with granny squares - but I was interested to find the history behind them.

I found an article from Etsy Yarn-A-Holics' Confessions of a Yarn-A-Holic blog about the origin of the granny square (here): "According to a 1946 article attributed to the Oregon Worsted Company, the thrifty women of early America would carefully save scraps of yarn and fiber unraveled from old sweaters and socks. As these scraps accumulated, they were crocheted into small squares...sewn together to make a blanket which was both functional and colorful. Because grandma was no longer up for manual labor, she was often the one to sew the squares together, thus they became GRANNY SQUARES." Makes sense!

Since the design contest sparked my interest, I took a little trip around the internet and found a wonderful post from Dorianna Rivelli of The Lavender Chair showing lacy crochet squares here. If you are not familiar with The Lavender Chair, please take a moment and visit the site - you will be delighted at Dorianna's wonderful designs!

Visit The Lavender Chair by Dorianna Rivelli for the patterns here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are all sooo pretty! But then again, I do have a major soft spot for all things lace. I don't know if I'm going to design an entry for this contest because I currently have so many other things buzzing around in my head, but I certainly wish good luck to any crocheters out there that are willing to take the leap!

Whorled Crochet Hook Organizer

While perusing the internet, I saw the concept of using a crochet-covered can for a hook holder/organizer and I thought I'd give it a "whirl" (sorry, I couldn't resist!). Anyway, I decided on a spiral design so that a person could put their smaller hooks near the middle and work outward as the hook sizes increase. For the can I just used a regular vegetable can, about 14.5 - 15.5 ounce size, cleaned with label removed. I used scrap sport weight yarn (although the pink had to be doubled) with an E hook. The nice thing about this design is that you could use a smaller or larger can, just make the initial spiral smaller or larger to fit the opening; the rest of the pattern would stay the same. I've always been in favor of flexible patterns, when possible! So without further ado, here is the pattern -

Whorled Crochet Hook Organizer  -  Skill level: Easy

Materials -
Vegetable can, cleaned and label removed
Scraps of sport-weight yarn (colors called A, B, and C)
Size E (3.5mm) crochet hook

Pattern -  Worked in the round with front side facing you at all times.

1. With A, create a magic circle, ch 1. In the circle work 1 sc, 1 hdc, and 2 dc. Do not finish off.

2. With B, attach yarn to circle and work 1 sc, 1 hdc, and 2 dc. Do not finish off. Repeat with C.

                                   Instructions 1 and 2. Yarns knotted on right side are just the tails.
3. Tighten magic circle. With A, work 2 dc in each stitch of color B. With B, work 2 dc in each stitch of color C. With C, work 2 dc in each stitch of color A (8 dc of each color). You will continue to work the colors over one another till the end of the crochet piece.

                                   Progression of spiral

4. Continue working 2 dc in each stitch until you have a total of 14 dc of each color.

5. Work 1 dc in each of the next 15 stitches with each color.

                                  Spiral after Instruction 5.

6. Now begin working 1 hdc in each stitch around with each color. You won't do any increases from this point on; this is the part of the crochet that will slip over the sides of the can - it will fit snug.

                                   Hdc's fitting over side of can.

                                           Crochet over can.

7. Continue working the hdc spiral until it just comes over the edge of the bottom of the can. Finish off two of the colors. Leaving a long tail with the third color, whip-stitch around each hdc and pull to tighten every few stitches. The piece should fit tautly over the can; finish off.

                                  Instruction 7 completed.


 8. Ta-Da!

                                               Fini!

Just a couple more thoughts. If you want to make sure your hooks stay upright, putting some scrap yarn in the can to act as a cage style of "frog" device could work well.  Also, this pattern won't work with hooks that have comfort grip handles (Clover, etc.) or even smaller thumb-hold type padding because 1) the spaces in the crochet aren't large enough to accommodate the extra bulk, and 2) the hooks don't slide in/out well because the padding hangs up on the yarn. But if you're like me and have a bunch of the good 'ol aluminum hooks, this is the organizer for you!

For the Penguins

Yes, today is Penguin Awareness Day in the good old USA. See how enlightening this little blog can be?! Anyway, people are encouraged to think, read, discuss, or watch programs about these delightful creatures, but you are not required to dress in a tuxedo. There are even a whole array of jokes about penguins - most of them real groaners - such as "Q: What's a penguin's favorite relative? A: Aunt Arctica!"  (more of those available here). 

Of course, my interest lies in the crocheted versions of the formally dressed flightless birds. So, without further ado, I present ..The Penguin -

So cute! Paid pattern from Make It Easy here.

Just adorable hat, but inspiration only - photo here

Cute and comical trio from Stephi's Koestlichkeiten, free pattern in English here

Baby set from Missy1107, product only here

Precious baby penguin from Havva Designs, paid pattern here

Delightful kiddie clutch from Sarah at Repeat Crafter Me, free pattern here

Skipper of Madagascar fame from World Dreamer, free pattern here

Sweet little applique! Product only from Savo Designs here

Charming micro family from SuAmi, product only available here

Darling rug from Irarott Designs, paid pattern here

 Have a jolly (crocheted) penguin day!

Happy New Year!

Yes, I know the title isn't exactly that original, but I do want to wish all of you a wondrous new year full of all good things - health, fortune, beautiful yarn, and of course crochet! Arthur wishes you a happy new year also, but he enjoyed much merriment and is now in the process of sleeping it off - as I'm sure a certain portion of America is doing, too!

Since my mom reads my blog - Hi Mom! - I couldn't post her Christmas present till now. When visiting last fall, I noticed that her lapghan had really seen better days and needed replacing. My mom has a TV room with olive-colored recliners and a neutral beige/brown couch, and since this room is where she usually uses the lapghan, I wanted to get colors that would coordinate. After returning, I found myself wandering in the yarn section of Walmart and I discovered Lion Brand's Mandala there, and at a great price too! I chose "Chimera", which is a beautiful blend of brown, teal, olive, yellow-olive, gold, orange, and fuschia. I used two skeins and mirror-imaged them. What I love the most about Mandala is that the colors are nicely hued - there, but not too bright - and it's a DK weight, which is fast becoming my favorite. I do wish that it was a little softer, but I guess we can't have everything. I wanted to make her lapghan out of a no-pill acrylic, but fell in love with the Mandala chimera colors - what can I say?

People have asked me about this stitch and I will be making a video to post to YouTube on how to do this. I need to come up with a name (the ones I thought of had been taken) - I think I'll call it the Diamond X Stitch. It's reversible, a little stretchy, and a little squishy.  Oh, yes - Mom loved the lapghan and she especially liked that it was light-weight - go DK yarn!