Vanna's Wrap

I have yet to create a triangular shawl, but I love crocheting wraps! This one was made from the oh-so-pretty Vanna's Glamour yarn, Diamond colorway with a beautiful silver metallic thread running through it; #2 weight, 96% acrylic / 4% other. Sadly, most of the pictures I took don't show the glimmer of the silver strand, but the second photo is better. Trust me when I say that this yarn makes a very pretty evening/date/party wear accessory.

 

I used a very simple stitch because I wanted a lacy look plus have the beauty of the yarn dominate. It was a V-stitch (dc, ch 3. dc), skip 3 chs, in 4th ch work v-stitch, repeat. In the second row you work 5 scs over each ch 3 of the V-stitches. In the third row you work a V-stitch in each 3rd sc of the scs worked in the 2nd row. Repeat rows 2 and 3. The edging was ch 3, ch 3 picot, ch 3, sc in 3rd sc of 5 scs; along the other three edges was just a simple ch 4, skip 2 chs, sc in next ch. Just for any of you that might be interested!

It's always so nice when you like what you've just made and I'm very happy how this turned out. Now that my latest creation is complete and ready to find a home, you can find it for sale in my shop here. Happy crocheting!

Ode to the Granny Square

As pretty as the traditional granny square is, it seems that in the past few years that there has been an explosion of absolutely magnificent designs. Personally, I've never been really into motif-type designs (although I have made a couple of blankets with them), but with the designs I'm seeing now, I might just have a go!

Some designs are so detailed with many color changes, I'd think for time's sake it would be best to work squares for the parameter of a blanket versus every part of it - but that choice is up to the crocheter, of course. I also love how some squares have been enlarged to make a throw pillow or miniaturized to make coasters. Without further adieu, here are my picks for some of the most beautiful of the designs available -

Very appropriate for this winter! Blizzard Warning from Polly of Every Trick on the Hook, free pattern here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victorian Dream Square by Cindy Arman, free pattern here. You know I had to include a little lace, right?

Dainty, detailed, and delightful! The Pondoland Square by Jen Tyler, paid pattern here

Love Ladder Square, free video instruction here. Even though this isn't the most elaborate square, I really liked the twist on the basic design!

Absolutely sumptuous! Diagram #19 from Crochet Kingdom, free chart here

One for the babies! Monkey Square by Caitie Moore of Thoresby Cottage,  paid pattern here. She has collaborated with AllCrochetPatterns.net with many more animal squares. Visit her blog for more info.

Love the colors in this Amazing Star Square offered by Kathy B from Queen of All Crafts, paid pattern here

And last but not least, the Elements CAL from 2017 that gave us such dazzling patterns! Designed by Sandra Kuijer; free pattern here

 

 

 Hope these have given you some inspiration - happy crocheting!

Chain8Designs

In my last post I discussed my attempt at trying to be more organized with my blog posts by coming up with categories. When I can, I'd like to showcase a designer that I found while perusing the internet that I think is really good and that you will enjoy, if you aren't aware of her/him already. Today I would like to introduce you to Jennifer at Chain8Designs.


I belong to an email group called Bloglovin', where you can sign up to receive posts from blogs you wish to follow - and they usually throw in a few more they think you might like. This Magical Unicorn headband design showed up in my feed, so of course I had to find out about the designer.

She doesn't have a large assortment of designs (but then, neither do I!), but what she does have is wonderful. Jennifer also has Holiday Mouse and Festive Reindeer headbands, plus a fantastic Twitterpated Heart Beanie just in time for Valentines Day! And best of all - her patterns are free! So hurry and get over to see her work right now. You can also follow her on Instagram, facebook, and Pinterest. BTW, Jennifer's pinterest boards are terrific, so make sure to check those out too.

I hope you enjoy Jennifer's work as much as I do, and, as always - Happy Crocheting!

Crystal Waves Crochet Stitch

I've been trying to get myself out of the "blahs" lately, plus trying to get myself a bit more organized. So I came up with a plan to try to categorize my posts. You see, I don't always have something new on the hook every week to show you - sometimes my best might be once a month! However, I'd prefer you not get bored and drop me altogether, so I've come up with categories of posts to find fresh material that will keep you interested. Sounds good anyway, doesn't it?

One of these categories will be crochet stitches. Most of us crocheters like discovering new stitches, and even though I'll do my best to find "new" ones, my main goal is to spotlight interesting textures from lace to bulky.  My latest find is the Crystal Wave stitch. It is a really simple stitch but creates a beautiful texture, and I'm currently using it to make a baby blanket designed by Crochet for Baby (you can find the free pattern here). Below are some examples of the stitch -



                           Crystal Waves Baby Blanket by Crochet For Baby

Crystal Wave stitch blanket by Crafting4You, here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Found on Pinterest here, no identification given

                                                                                                           

 

My version of the stitch  

 Crochet for Baby has a video of how to do the stitch plus an extra video on how to do the last row of single crochets here. If you do a google search, I'm sure you'll find many more tutorials on this wonderfully textured stitch - Enjoy!

  

A Bad Case of the Doldrums

For whatever reason, I've been dealing with a rather long period of the "blahs". It's not often I get this way and usually after a couple weeks I snap out of it, but this time it's lingering. This is how I felt by Christmas, and I ended up spending most of that day in and out of sleep on the couch. 

Perhaps part of it is because SoCal has been getting a lot of rain lately (our winter), and rain always makes me want to curl up under some blankets and just watch tv or read a good book.

Anyway, I have been making a valiant effort. Since my YS took his paper Christmas tree present with him when he moved out, I began a crochet tree to replace it. I've written down the pattern for future reference, I'm almost done with the crocheting part, I have a pretty filigree star to go on the top, and I bought lovely gold pearls to decorate the tree with - and then I ran out of steam. So it is currently sitting on top of my entertainment unit, mocking me every chance it gets. Plus I'm still working on my Nest Stitch Shawl.

Then I decided that I should make something out of the two skeins of Mandala Sparkle that I couldn't resist picking up. I can't tell you any more at this point, because I'm hoping this will be a present - sorry, you'll have to wait. But now I've gotten bored with this one too.

I've been told that two more women of the family are pregnant and due in June and July. I bought a wonderful pattern from Kate Wagstaff called the Queen of Hearts Afghan (paid pattern here), which I think would make a great wedding/baby shower present. I plan on using Caron Simply Soft in white for the base, and blue mint, blackberry (a pink), limelight (a green), and persimmon (an orange) for alternating heart colors to give to the 1st-timer due in June. The woman who's due in July already has two girls, so I'm not sure if we'll be having a shower for her yet, but I'll make something for her anyway.

Queen of Hearts Afghan By Kate Wagstaff

I know this is rather late, but I hope that all of you had a wonderful New Year's. I won't be doing a "resolutions" post this year. The fact is that my resolutions are still the same - keep using my yarn stash (ok, I'm trying!), post three times a month, make my quilt afghan, and create my butterfly box. I did use some of my stash last year, but I was very bad and bought more yarn. I did finish the Martha Stewart fabric balls craft AND I finally finished organizing my bedroom/craft room - Yeah, two off the list! And of course there's always the loose 10+ pounds, eat right, exercise more, and establish world peace. Maybe I'm just dragging my heels because if I actually finish the resolutions I'd have to come up with more (although the last one might take a while...).

Till next time, happy crocheting!