Sunday afternoon crochet-

a quick beaded crochet bracelet

 Creamy cotton yarn, 6/0 beads and a little flower button...

A very pleasant and delightful afternoon!

Hope yours was also.

crochet

a cowl, dish scrubby & flower

During a long wait at the airport and some yarn doodling I crocheted a  little flower, brought it home and added a few embellishments: lime green cord, beads and one of my Gram Davis's orange buttons. Cute enough to crochet up a garden full.

A long, lightweight  three season cowl with a simple stitch pattern-  three rows of single crochet and two rows of treble.  It's made from Premier Yarns Wool-Free Sock and the colorway is Grand Canyon.

A simple, functional dish scrubby... the two layers of acrylic yarn and edging are all single crochet.

Easy and fun summer time crochet.

random photos of green

 

Everyday, useful, favorite, vintage, green. 

How would you describe where you call home?

February dishcloths

 The ladies in my family really like my crocheted dishcloths, so my goal is to crochet some each month. Posting them will help to me to keep track how many I actually get done and it's likely I'll make more than if I didn't record them. Three of these four will be on their way to new homes soon.

Sugar 'n Cream- Earth Ombre
stitch pattern- alternating rows of single and double crochet

Peaches & Cream- Burgundy
stitch pattern- 4 rows single and 2 rows double throughout

Sugar 'n Cream- Renegade
stitch pattern- alternating rows of single and half-double




Peaches & Cream- Psychedelic

stitch pattern- single crochet throughout



Hope everyone is enjoying lots of needlework this winter. Stay warm!

project box

Someday I'm going to sew up a bunch of drawstring or zipper project bags, but until then I've been needing something to store my crochet projects in that would be around-the-house portable. This dark olive tweed vintage Mendel train case will be just the ticket. It's from an estate sale in Florida.

 I'm glad it has the original tray, perfect for notion-keeping. The tin 'love' box was used as a  favor at my daughter's wedding, which held M&M type candies in the wedding colors. Now it holds...

...my stitch markers.

The main compartment will easily hold 3 to 4 skeins or balls of yarn. I really enjoy being able to reuse and repurose objects from days gone by.

 Do you have favorite vintage 'lovelies' that you have put to good use?

 

a success because...

this is the first item I have crocheted by reading and following written instructions. A simple cowl yes, but a victory! If you struggle with reading written patterns then you know exactly what I am talking about. Only within the last while have I discovered that I am a visual learner. Learning to read charts and watching You Tube videos have been super helpful.

I love the way it wants to naturally roll around upon itself. It's so complimentary to the diagonal rows of stitches.

Yarn Bee, Effortless from Hobby Lobby in bone.

 I made it narrower  by using a size P hook and the circumference is 27" instead of 30"

 

 

 Diagonal Cowl, by Amy Polcyn.

 The pattern is from Love of Crochet magazine, Winter 2014. 

Two hearts

I  thought I would try my hand at 
crocheting a couple of simple hearts today.
 They were very easy and I will be making more.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and 
Happy Valentine's Day! 

Start the year with a bang!!

Chandi at Expression Fiber Arts is having a fabulous giveaway!! Yarn, needles and more! You'll need to see it to believe it. Go on over and sign up... lots of ways to get extra bonus entries via social media. Thanks, Chandi!

crocheting scarves

One down...

A man scarf, with a single request to be very warm. Since there were no frills required, I used basic black and brown super bulky weight (6) yarn with a single crochet through the back loop only which creates a nice ridge. It turned out to be quite heavy and chunky and has surely met the requirement. Here in Northeast-Central PA we are to have more cold weather so it will be put to the test.

This natural colored cotton skinny scarf (only 2" wide) is also crocheted through the back loop only... I love texture! The plan- for it to be very, very long- 90"(?), we'll see how it goes. It's currently 27". On the ends of this scarf I see a possible tiny tassel fringe.

This variegated green scarf started with a double crochet row and the remaining pattern is a trellis stitch using a fine (2) weight yarn. I really like working with this soft yarn and easy stitch. I'm planning on added a simple beaded fringe on the ends, but I haven't determined what the length may be.

Do you have any crochet projects that you are currently working on? I would love to hear from you!

an Iowa vacation

Plantoir Sculpture

 I was so excited to see this- a giant garden trowel sculpture, located on the grounds of the Meredith Corp. offices. Of the many magazines they publish, Country Gardens is my favorite and I was leafing through a previous issue- and there it was! You can read all about it here.

Off to the Prairie Pedlar at Odebolt, which was also featured in Country Gardens magazine many years ago. I'll share some photos from here later.

Living History Farms-  "Living History Farms is an interactive outdoor museum which educates, entertains and connects people of all ages to Midwestern rural life experiences." I don't have any photos from here, but if you enjoy American history, you'll have so much fun!

Historic Valley Junction in West Des Moines 

is home to some great bead shops.

 Vacation should also include some relaxing and a bit of needlework...

And last but not least, lots of visiting and catching up!

Love you both!

How are spending your summer vacation?

Learning to crochet

 

 Such a time I'm having learning to read patterns, so I've been making pot holders and dish cloths just to practice different stitches. A recently crocheted cotton 6" x 12" rectangle mat to fit under a 9" x 13" cake pan. To make it thick and chunky it's made with 2 strands of cotton- one green and one ecru.  I used a half double crochet stitch, going through the back loop only. I love the extra texture the ridges make. 

Underneath the white ironstone vase is a green and and white vintage doily I found thrifting.

The large, round ecru doily on the bottom was made by my Mom. She made it much larger than the pattern (a happy accident!) and it fits just right on my square coffee table.

What are some ways that you have learned to crochet?

Patti