GIFTY SURPRISE... Crocheted Spool Pin Doily

Because I was a couple of weeks tardy returning a Siggy recently, I am also sending a little giftie.  A hand crocheted Red Spool Pin Doily is on its way to Julia in Spain. Hope she likes it.

Spool Pin Doily. Red for a FW machine

Crocheted Spool Pin Doily: about 1.5 inches across

Pink SPDoily on my Janome6500

Thank you for popping in to visit.  Until next time. . . I will be re-organizing my pattern files and finishing up a DJ block. What are YOU up to??

Quilty Hugs,

HOOKY... Some Ripples

Missy needs an afghan for her new bed in the RV.  Enter a new hooky ripple project: Ripples For Missy.  I enjoy crochet a lot... a whole LOT! lol. It is relaxing and keeps my hands busy doing something constructive.

The repeat I am using is 12 stitches: 4 dc on each 'side,' 2 ch to skip for the decrease,  and the increase at the 'point' is 3 stitches in the center stitch. There is no pattern; I just made it up.

If you are interested in the ripple stitch, there is plenty of info on the Net -- Google: Attic24 -- and YouTube. I've learned a ton on YouTube, especially from the CrochetGeek. [the link will take you to a tute on ripple crochet]

Both quilts for the people beds in the camper are coming along pretty well. Thirty crumb blocks are done and today finished up 31 string blocks -- just 30 more to go.  I'm so happy I decided to add string blocks to the crumb blocks... so much more interesting... I think.  I love string piecing. It is time consuming but I really like the visual results. Won't be long now... fingers crossed!

Thank you so much for dropping by to visit. . .

Quilty Hugs,

LONG TIME NO POST... coming back real soon

It has been just over a month since I posted. Thank you for hanging in with me. I've had two surgeries I wasn't expecting and a few other life hiccups! Things are smoothing out now and it feels good to be getting the wind back into my sails.

Like most of you, I am currently busy with visiting family and friends and enjoying the beautiful summer weather. This is such a wonderful time of year.

Missy 'helping' with a small Minky Project

I've done a little 'hooking' while I've been MIA from BlogLand, and also designed a couple of small quilted projects. This is what I'll be sharing with you soon. Until then. . . I hope you are having a wonderful summer with loads of time to stitch!

Quilty Hugs,

QUICK POST... Tiny Shirts & Little Bags

Our area is gearing up for a Quilt Run - sort of like a Shop-Hop. Many of us are helping ARETOY, our favorite local quilt shop, get ready. The Run opens June 20, but there is lots of prep work to do.

The Rotary Cutter in the pic shows how small the shirts are... cute!

This summer's theme is: Hawaii Five-O!  We are all making aprons for the staff to wear from Hawaiian fabrics. From the cut-a-ways and scraps, I have been making tiny Hawaiian shirts that will become holders for purse-size Kleenex packages. High on the cutesy meter!  Also, some of these shirts will be hung around the shop for decoration.

Close up of a shirt and a few bags

The other current project is making small bags to hold Crushed Walnut Shells that so many of us love using to stuff our pincushions with. My friend Joy [no blog] is creating gorgeous lined baskets to hold these little Chotskies [can't spell it; can barely say it! lol]... let's call them Doo-Dahs! I have about 50 bags completed so far and about a dozen shirts. I need to get a picture of the first basket Joy made... it's stunning!

My fave fabric is the one on the left... I'd love to have a dress from that!

Sew. . . I've been sewing like mad and that's why you haven't heard from me. Next time, I'll share another small project and then give an update on my Never Ending Granny crochet project which is coming along pretty well. Pat and LuAnn are also making a NEG.

Thank you for popping in to visit. I hope you'll come back again real soon.

Quilty Hugs,

HOOKY BUSINESS: the Never Ending Granny Afghan

Like I need another project? Really! Can't help it... the yarn called to me; I grabbed a hook and off I went! I guess it's a disease... sort of like quilting. lol.

Skeins in a tote so I can be portable

 

The center: can just see the spiral beginning

My method for NO tangles!

To keep the yarn strands from tangling: First, I keep the skeins/balls corralled in a tote [a basket would be great, too!], then I crochet across each side with ALL 5 strands -- see pic above. Now turn corner and repeat working all 5 strands across the next side; turn corner, etc. The yarn strands never tangle this way, even as I am stuffing the project in and out of the tote as I carry it around and work on it. Try it; you might like doing it this way, too.

So far, at least two other blogging friends are making this afghan: Check out Pat and LuAnn to see their progress. We also put updates on FaceBook.  If you need particulars on how to get started, I recommend this great tute from Mikey of The Crochet Crowd. If you want to join us in our little CAL [Crochet A Long] that would be fantastic!! The more the merrier.

Thank you so much for popping in to visit. Hope you will come back again. If you are making this afghan too, please say so in the comment section with a URL to your blog - I'd love to visit and see your project! Until next time. . . this ol' lady is heading to the sheets. Tomorrow is another day.

Quilty Hugs,

MAY DAY & HOOKY STUFF

MAY DAY, MAY DAY! It's hard to believe it is the 1st of May already! Sheesh, where does the time go?!

Sorry I have been MIA again. The Hooky Group I belong to has been in high gear to finish up several projects to send overseas to our Troops. Today's package will have tons of Scarfs, Hats, and Socks! All desperately needed by our Military serving overseas.  These items give comfort to our deployed Troops - I'm happy to contribute.

Crocheted Crib Afghan

Speaking of hooky business: I put the final edge on a crib-size Afghan. I like how it turned out. It's mostly white with some fun colors. The "puff" stitch was fun to do.  Takes a lot of yarn! Our group also makes baby items for Military families who are waiting at home for their loved ones to return.

The pattern comes from this book

To make it a good size, I made it a bit smaller by removing one of the horizontal 'repeats,' and reducing the number of white rows in the center. Easy to do.

There are several quilty projects that I am looking forward to sharing with you soon. . . Until then, I hope you have a lovely day. Thank you so much for dropping by to visit.

LINKING: to Connie at Freemotion by the River. Click over to visit and see what others are doing.

Quilty Hugs,

MORE TINY STUFF: Crocheted squares

Attic24 had a cute post recently about making tiny crocheted squares and sewing them together to make dolly blankets for a UK Charity Drive. Mine will be a kitty-blanket for Missy. Check out Lucy's post at Attic24 HERE for the *pattern* which is really a few guidelines as it's only one round of crochet. I'm making mine a little differently, but that's the beauty of this project... you can just wing it!  What a fan-tab-ulous way to use up all the tiny little yarn bits I have.

Yarn, Hook, sm Scissors... everything needed in one small bowl!

The little bowl shown above now sits on my nightstand next to my bed so I can play a little hooky while I am relaxing and getting ready to go to sleep. Love little projects and with tiny bits of time here and there, all of a sudden you have a finished project. Love that!

Until next time. . . I am off to do some marketing and then hope to sew this afternoon and evening. What are YOU up to today?

Quilty Hugs,

YARN, HOOKS & FMQ CHALLENGE

Happy Saturday! It's a good day to finish up some more small projects. First up: another small afghan to line Missy's bed. I love these. Way easier to wash a few small afghans and quilts than to clean her beds! This one has a center of afghan stitch in variagated cotton, and the borders in various washable wool blends using hdc, dc, and final round of dc shells. The big deal with this project is what I used to create it. An antique hook that was hand-made by my Mother's Father. It was made about 1910. I came across this hook early last week while cleaning out some more boxes of my Mother's things. It called to me, so I grabbed a ball of cotton and proceeded to begin crocheting. You know how these things go, right? I've just been missing Mom a lot lately and using her hook was comforting.

 

Missy seems to like her new bed.

Note the awful interior corners of this afghan. I inadvertanly picked up an extra stitch for the corner when I began the borders. I didn't discover this error until I was finishing off the shell edging. Nope! Wasn't going to take it out... so it remains a little wonky looking. Missy doesn't seem to notice or care so it will stay this way.

Another afghan covered bed atop Missy's 'tree house' perch where she loves to lay in the morning because the sun streams in right on her bed... so warm.

I drew my first scribble this morning in preparation for the new FMQ Challenge 2013. Libby Lehman and the TQS has graciously offered Libby's Thread Play tute on their website and it is FREE to view for all of February! Big thanks to SewCalGal who is organizing this once again. Click over to her site... she has all the info listed including links. I learned so much last year. This year I plan to put more effort into the tutes that are offered every month. If you haven't checked this out yet, go have a look. It's super! Oh... and it's fun!

Until next time. . . I have a doodle-cloth to batt up so I can practice some FMQ. I still have those placemats to finish, but I need to "warm up" first. What are YOU up to?

Quilty Hugs,

FRILL, FRILLS, FRILLY... it's all in the yarn

Today saw another finish. Yippee Skippee, love that! I had some Sashay yarn by Red Heart that was calling my name.  I had already made one frill scarf by crocheting it [sorry no pic], but I wanted to try a knitted version.



So fun to throw around the neck and over the shoulder



Lay across neck front [ends will be in back]; bring ends to front... see pic below for the final twist



... now just flip the ends together and voila! a nice jabow [probably didn't spell that right]



The frills on this scarf are more plentiful and pleasing to me than the crocheted version I made previously

I used my metal, size 9, 'square-shaft' straight needles. These needles are fun and so easy to hold!  So, I knitted and knitted and... well, I worked on it off.n.on for just over a week. Whew. Finished today. Result? I prefer the knitted version b/c it is so soft and the frills are really frilly! But if I needed one fast, I would crochet it!

Oh, please do not mind the old, droopy and wrinkly neck in these photos. I had to use myself b/c my gorgeous DD wasn't available. And, btw, that's what happened to the other scarf... she modeled it for me and then it went to live with her! lol. I never even got a picture of it. The pic is in her phone! *big sigh*

Until next time. . . what are YOU working on?

Quilty Hugs,

Surprise Gifts from Germany... & Photo u/l problem solved!!

Friends are so wonderful! Not too long ago a surprise package arrived from Germany. Brigitte had knitted a beautiful shawl for me- see below - and our mutual friend Katrin made me a Pouch and hand crocheted Key Cover to tuck inside the package! Big surprise!
The darling pouch holds my new iPhone perfectly and safely - the front pocket holds the 'ear buds' or the charging cord.  I just love the fabric Katrin used!

See my iPhone - the black, just barely peeking out the back pocket??

I just love the darling lime green closure snap. Not sure what it is made of... plastic maybe? Never seen them before. Because it is soft, there are no worries the phone screen will get scratched.

Hand crocheted KeyCover - created by: Katrin /Cattinka

The beautiful shawl below, was knitted by Brigitte. Isn't it gorgeous?!! Thank you so much. This lovely shawl is the pefect size to wear draped over one's shoulders, or looped and secured with a shawl pin [like a scarf]. I've worn it both ways and absolutely love it!

A big hug to my DD Laura who agreed to model the shawl so I could get some pictures. Thank you, Laura!

This great pic really shows off the beautiful yarn Brigitte used.

Thank you again, Brigitte and Katrin. I'm overwhelmed by your generosity and I will always treasure these lovely gifts.

Blog photo u/l problem solved: A HUGE Thank You to Cath, Mary and Tina who offered excellent advice in their comments regarding the photo uploading problems many of us have been dealing with lately. Today's fix turned out to be a very simple one: I tweeked Tina's suggestion and just toggeled between "compose" and "html" in the post editor. Select 'html' to u/l pics, then toggle back to 'compose' to move pics around, add captions, edit/write the text, etc.. Worked like a charm!  One note: b/c I am a novice with HTML, I found it easier to select/copy/paste and move the text around... NOT the photos. Was pretty easy.  Thank you again, ladies... aren't bloggers wonderful?!

Until next time. . .

Quilty Hugs,

How it turned out. . .

Remember the afghan/bedspread fiasco that I shared? The original post is here. Well, after it dried I layed it on the bed. It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. It is no longer a king-size. It shrank to a Queen, but it is useable. Relief.

Hand crocheted bedspread with embroidered florals

Above is just a quick picture. The bed doesn't have the matching bedskirt or proper shams sitting on it, because it takes two people to lift the mattress and put the bedskirt on. It's fine the way it is for now.

Until next time. . . I am making some DJ blocks and triangles. What are YOU working on?

Quilty Hugs,

TUNISIAN CROCHETED BEDSPREAD: How NOT to clean it

This is the story of how NOT to wash a large hand-crocheted project in one's washer, when all the yarn type/content is not known:

partially re-blocked after 'felting'

How it came out of the machine, before blocking attemps

Trying to pull/stretch the felting out somewhat - first efforts not so good

Story:  In the Spring of 1981, I finished an almost 9 year project for a Bedspread, Dual-King size, Tunisian Crochet - aka: Afghan stitch, covered in detailed Cross Stitch using more than 200 colors of yarn. Nice. I was happy with the outcome and satisfied with my efforts. It was a gift to my DMIL. She and Dad used it on their dual-king bed as a spread for several years. After they passed, the 'afghan' went to my DD Laura who stored it in various ways for about 10 years, 5 of which were in my garage under less than perfect circumstances.  So, naturally it required cleaning. No local cleaners would guarantee the outcome. I cut some bits off of the gold fringe and did the "match test" to determine what kind of yarn it is: natural/wool, or acrylic/mix. It passed the test and told me with a hardened nub that it was indeed washable yarn -- the GOLD was! My mistake, I did not test ALL the yarn. I should have. Great Grandma bought all the yarn, all I did was make it and that was so long ago, I couldn't remember any details. Anyway, long story short. . . don't let anyone tell you that you cannot FELT wool in a front loading washer b/c I am here with the results that it is indeed possible!

"blocked" afghan drying under sheets to keep my Kitty off!

A huge thank you to a new neighbor and sweet friend Marge, who came to my house late last night  to help me - these things never seem to happen in the afternoon! And we proceeded to try and "pull it out" to some kind of shape. Only somewhat successful, but way better than what we started with. I'm going to steam the gold strips after the afghan is all dry and try to coax the extra back into itself. May work, may not. I figure if all else fails, I can remove the 8 gold strips, make new strips, crochet them back in place. This afghan will never again be what it once was, but it has been saved to a certain extent. I'm grateful my mistake didn't turn into unrepairable disaster.

Good news: somewhat successful - gold strips can always be remade/replaced

Thank you for listening to my rant and sad song. Normally I try to keep my blog happy and up-beat because that is usually how I feel, but if I "own up" to my boo-boo and share what happened when I tried to wash this afghan, it might save someone else the grief and disappointment that I am experiencing. So. . . with all this behind me for now. . . Until next time, I am going to go sew on a DJ block; I'd like to console myself with some pie, but that's not gonna happen! lol.  What are YOU going to do today?

Quilty Hugs,

HOOKING ALONG . . . A New CAL Has Begun

It's nothing official, just an informal CAL - Crochet A Long - with a few friends.  Want to join in?  Jules is writing up some directions. Katrin wrote a great post about this blanket - that's how I learned about it. Sounded good to me and I told EllyD and LuAnn about it... now we are all crocheting up a storm!

Mixed Stripey CAL

 What else is a gal to do with huge Space Bags FULL of yarn??

Part of my Yarn Stash

Missy - if there is a box around she will find it!

Missy 'observing' from her new-found box

I've been clearing out and de-stashing in order to re-organize my sewing space. This box was supposed to hold a lot of fabric and several books and magazines. It was headed to my Guild for our donation table. Guess I better find another box!

Until next time. . . what are you doing today???

Linking to Connie at Freemotion by the River.

Quilty Hugs,