Afghans for Our Wounded Soldiers

Here are some 6 x 9" rectangles I made for HAP, Handmade Afghans to Thank Our Armed Forces Project. Since I am close enough, I'm going to go the PTE, put together event, in MD this Sunday and take these, and more with me. My friend from church is going too. I've done about 12 and hope to have at least 25 by Sun.

To find out more about HAP click here.

Crocheted Hat on Doris Day Show

I was watching one of the episodes on DVD tonight and she was wearing this cute hat!
I wish I could have taken a better picture...it was really adorable.

Pine Ridge

My mil gave me a HUGE tub of yarn the other day and I used several small balls and came up with this scarf:


I used HDC in the round, changing colors as one ball ran out. First I used the single crochet foundation stitch, where you chain and sc at the same time until it is as long as you need it. See here for instructions with pics. I LOVE that way of doing it...I won't go back, I won't!!

I did this scarf, and started another, for a charity for Pine Ridge. See here for information.

Pattern Arrived!

I finally received the Cathedral Rose Window Afghan pattern last night! I started on it right away...completely dropped the gloves I was working on too! I'm using thicker yarn than the pattern calls for, and also a bigger hook, so I'm trying to make each piece a little smaller so the afghan won't be too big. Hope I can get it all to work out.

You can find this pattern on www.anniesattic.com.

Finished!

It measures approx. 4 1/2 ft. wide by close to 6 ft. long. It took 12 skeins of chenille. This will look great in our log home!

Christmas Hats

A close up of some of the hats I crocheted for Christmas gifts. I used the same pattern as the blue striped one below. My favorite is the one on the lower right. All were made using two strands of yarn.

Sparklies!

A glass blown sea turtle that I covered in Swarovski crystals. You should see him sparkle in the light! It was fun to do, but time consuming and it takes a steady hand. I did several different small, glass animals...not all the pics came out. The only other good one was this hummingbird ornament:



My mom loved it so much, I gave it to her for Christmas.

Awwww!!

My two babies Shadow (left) and Sylvester. I got Shadow when he was a kitten and Sylvester from a family when he was 1 yr. old. They are actually brothers from different litters. I caught on camera one of the rare moments when they are being this affectionate...not that they fight a lot, they are both very sweet kitties.

Finally chose the colors...

Above are the colors I chose for the Cathedral Window CAL. All are Lion Brand Homespun: Cobalt (lt. var.), Corinthian (dk. var.), Grape (instead of black) and Golden (instead of white). I was notified today that the pattern is on its way!!!

I just finished this hat tonight...


I used two strands of Caron Simply Soft held together as one. The colors from left are, Grey Heather, Lt. Country Blue & Dk. Country Blue. The pattern is called Boyfriend's Hat from the book "Cozy Crochet" by Melissa Leapman, ISBN 0-8118-4079-4; www.chroniclebooks.com.

The Seesaw Stitch

This is the first crochet stitch that I designed. The picture doesn't really do it justice, you'll just have to try it for yourself to see how you like it. It is a very versatile stitch...check out the many variations you can do with this at the bottom of the instructions.

THE SEESAW STITCH

This is a very elastic stitch. Try a smaller hook or make tighter stitches for a little less elasticity. This stitch produces the same pattern on both sides.

Multiples of 4 chains +1

Row 1—SC in ea. ch across, total of sc's must be multiple of 4
Row 2—Ch. 3 turn (your 1st DC). DC in FLO of 2nd st. DC in BLO of next 2 sts. *DC in FLO next 2 sts. DC in BLO next 2 sts.* repeat from * across ending w/DC in BLO of last 2 sts.
Row 3—repeat Row 2

Variations
The instructions above use DC’s, alternating by two’s—two in FLO, two in BLO, etc. You can vary this in many ways by using SC by three’s, HDC by four’s, TR by two’s, etc. Here are some different multiples:

Alternating by two’s—multiples of 4 +1
Alternating by three’s—multiples of 6 +1
Alternating by four’s—multiples of 8 +1
Alternating by five’s—multiples of 10 +1, etc.

Always do a row of SC for your first row, hence the +1

Row 2 is your pattern row:
Ch. 1, turn for SC
Ch. 2, turn for HDC
Ch. 3, turn for DC
Ch. 4, turn for TR, etc.

See here for standard crochet abbreviations.

Chenille Afghan

Here is the Chenille Thick & Quick afghan/throw I'm working on. I'm not sure it'll be big enough to call it an afghan, but definitely big enough for a throw. I love working with Chenille, it's so soft and squishy. I here some people don't like it because it breaks on them??? But I crochet a might on the loose side so I don't have any problems with it at all.

The stitching is called the Slant stitch, which is all I can say about it because it is copyrighted pattern from a book called Crochet Collection, by Leisure Arts; ISBN 0-942237-55-2. I'm about half way through with this 'ghan and then I'm going to start on the Cathedral Window afghan...I should have the pattern by then. Can't wait!!!

Now that Christmas is over...

...I can crochet some things for myself! I made several gifts for the holidays:



And not everything made it into that picture!

Now I'm working on an afghan to keep using Lion Brand Chenille in off white (antique white), browns (desert print, khaki, chocolate) and black. I'll post a pic soon.

My next afghan will be the Cathedral Rose Window Afghan. I discovered this gorgeous afghan on a Crochetville CAL (crochet-a-along). I ordered the pattern and already purchased the yarn. Can't wait to get to work on it and see if I chose the right colors! After agonizing all day this past Saturday at three different craft stores, I finally decided on using Lion Brand Homespun in blues and purples - Cobalt, Grape and Corinthian. I also got a skein of Hepplewhite, but might change that to a light gold if I can find one.