Love these pillows!

I just love this basketweave pillow pattern. The pattern I have for it calls for a G hook, but I didn't like the way it came out using four-ply yarn with a G hook, so I use an I hook. I made this to fit an 18-inch pillow form, and I love the way it came out. LMHO So much so that I now have two more on my hooks, one in gold, and one in off-white (RH Aran, to be precise). They work up fairly quickly, too, just four or six hours apiece. It's a nice mindless pattern to work while I'm watching TV or whatever.....

Y'all have a great day.

David's Latest Hat

Well, here is the Acrobat Hat from Shannon Mullet Bowlsby's "Heady Affairs". The picture, of course, does not do the pattern justice. It has a great post stitch texture that is so cool to see, and just wonderful to touch. I just know David is going to love this hat. There is so much to keep his fingers busy.

I made it with ILTY Ivy League print. That yarn is so gorgeous, I love the combination of colors. They are all so vibrant and beautiful. I made a little shoulder bag with this (I still have to finish that off, with sewing and adding little notions and a handle.) yarn that I am going to love when it is finished. It's one of those multi colors that is just so wonderful.

Now David wants the Steam Punk hat. I'm trying to decide what colors to make it in. This is a really good book, and the patterns are easy, too.

Finally a FO!

Ack, this is a terrible picture. I finished my Christmas afghan, a round ripple in ILTY Cranberry, Linen, and Dark Olive. Oh, this thing is beautiful, if I do say so myself. I bought three skeins of each color, and only used two of the green and the linen, and have most of the third of the Cranberry left, so it didn't take a lot of yarn. I worked four rows of each color per repeat (seven rows of Cranberry to start, I like the center bigger so it doesn't get lost visually) and the finished product is about sixty inches big. I'm loving this.

It's only October, heck, I may make two Christmas afghans this year! Ha ha ha!

Y'all have a wonderful day!

I love me some Ellen Gormley!

Red Heart is one of my favorite websites. I love to go there and browse the patterns. They add new ones all the time, and even though I will never make all the things I have saved, I keep saving more! LOL

Today, among other things, I found this cool Ellen Gormley design, called the Slouchy Beret. Cute, isn't it. Looks soft and very touchable. I love me some Ellen Gormley. Her designs are just great, so textural, and I don't know, we just must have the same taste, because I love just about everything she designs. Among other running WIP's I have going is her Sunny Spread, which I'm making in a beautiful gold yarn. Another of her designs I want to make is the Brocade Throw. Man, that thing is gorgeous! Frankly, I like to just do a search of her designs, because she adds things on that site a lot. She also has a wonderful book out that I want, called Go Crochet Afghan Design Workbook that I want so badly! I should just order it online, but I've been hunting for it in the bookstores and craftstores, and I soon as I order it, there it will be on a shelf, and I'll have to wait.... you know how that goes. I'll probably order it anyway...... Eventually. Ha!

One thing I am discovering lately, as well, is that Red Heart has some wonderful yarns. I do like their SS for a lot of projects, though it's not one I like for snuggling up into a soft afghan. I do like it for its durability, washability, color choices, and ability to hold a shape. I like anything molded with SS, and if I'm making a blanket I'm going to take outside, yep, it's Red Heart SS. But go to Michael's or JoAnn's, and they have Red Heart Soft, and Red Heart Shimmer, Red Heart Super Tweed (I've got a couple of skeins of red that I know will make a gorgeous pillow), and all different kinds of Red Heart yarns that I just love to run my hands over. So much more than I ever thought of when I thought of Red Heart in the past. I have several skeins of different Red Heart yarn that I am just looking for the perfect project for, notably some Red Heart Soft in 'Embers' that is just gorgeous, and feels soooooooo goooooood in my hands. I want to find just the right pattern for it, because I want to make an afghan that I will reach for every day with it.


Okay, my little love fest is over, hope y'all don't mind. I'd better run, today my plan is to go to the Southern Living idea house here locally. Y'all wanna see pictures of that?



Have a wonderful day.

Interweave Crochet Fall 2011

Oh, the sneak peaks of the Fall Interweave Crochet have got me drooling. That cover is the shawl I want to make out of the black sparkly yarn I have. I want to make my black sparkly shawl for New Year's Eve, so it has to be able to provide some warmth, so the right shawl has been hard to find for me, but I think this is it. And the design is so pretty. Now the interesting thing is, it's more than a shawl. The picture is below. But if I want to make it as a shawl, you know I can do that, just use the flat part of the pattern and stretch it out. Of course, with warmth being the idea, I don't know, I may want it made as the pattern has it. We shall see, I guess. It hits newsstand September 20.

If you want to see a proper preview of the issue, it's here. Of course there are lots of other gorgeous patterns in it. I like the little Turtle Tracks Blanket, and the Trailblazine Tote as well.

The hat, the hat.............

Well, I guess we all know by now that I am in love with this Drew Emborsky hat. I made another one, but this was an experiment to see how it came out using Red Heart Super Saver yarn. I don't like it. The Red Heart SS doesn't have the softness and give of the ILTY, which we knew, but I guess I didn't realize just how different it truly is. To me, this hat is not nearly as enjoyable, in fact, like I said, I don't care for it at all. Don't get me wrong, the SS is a good yarn for many projects, just not this hat. LOL I'll stick with the softer yarns.

Just piddling.........

I crocheted pretty much all day yesterday, and did not work on a single WIP, how terrible is that. Ha ha.

I was looking through Robin Chachula's Baby Blueprint Crochet, and noticed the stitch pattern above. It's a very simple stitch, just a single crochet, chain two, single crochet pattern, but it works up so cute! And it's very stretchy, even in cotton yarn, that really has not a lot of give normally. I made this panel of it, fell in love, and made another to match. Think eventually I'll work those up into a little clutch. Then I made a little dishcloth out of it. I made half of it, then finished off, turned it around, and made the other half. I like it, and there's no need for a border, because it creates a nice edge. I'm trying to decide if the center stands out too much..........

After I made that, I made a red washcloth, using that Sedge stitch. I like that a lot, just the single and double crochet in the same stitch repeat. It makes such a nice texture. I finished that off with a row of white, then a row of gold in that nice stitch that I just discovered, the single crochet, chain two, single crochet repeat. I like how it turned out, too. I'm thinking this would be a pretty placemat for Christmas. I'm thinking about Christmas projects a lot these days, time to get them going so they're done in time, you know.

Y'all have a great day.

From across the pond.....

Look what arrived last week! All the goodies I ordered from Alison. I just love them. My favorite is, by far, this wonderful nativity. Isn't it great? I just love it. All the work that went into it, that's just awesome.

Of course, this is beautiful, too. William and Kate. I have in mind to maybe display this in a little cloche.

What a sweet friend Alison is. She threw in two cute little ornaments for my tree. Are they sweet or what? Alison knows how much I love my Christmas tree, and this is just so sweet of her.

Y'all have a wonderful day.

The Christmas Afghan

Well, I have started work on this year's Christmas afghan. (Work......... hmmmmm, funny I call it work, when it's fun.... but I digress.) This is being made in ILTY in Cranberry, Dark Olive, and Linen. I love the color combination, kinda country and rustic. And warm. These colors really make me think Christmas this year. I also think this round ripple is a great Christmas afghan, you know, star-like. Kinda apt. Every year, when it comes Christmas time, or time to start with the Christmas afghan, I know what I want to make. Usually have the idea way ahead of time, in fact.

It's funny, isn't it, how our tastes differ from year to year. I wish I had my Christmas afghans from previous years. One year I made one out of Red Heart, in Cranberry, a gold, and a color called eggnog. Ater that year, I think Red Heart quit making that color called eggnog, and that is a shame, because I loved that color. It was a warm cream, not a cool cream.

Next I need to figure what I'm gonna make for Christmas presents. You know, in case I actually send them out this year............. yeesh.

Such talent!

I 'met' one of my favorite on-line friends on a message board for the Wiggles, a children's group, a few years back. Little did I know then, she's a fabulous crochet artist, and further, she designs many of her creations. I admire her so. Her name is Alison, and here are some of her creations. She has a website here, if you care to check out more of her work.

These are so cute. I must say, I want to make a bunch of these for myself, for my Christmas tree, and maybe to tuck into the odd present here and there, or use to enhance a wrapped gift. Cool, yes. I love these.

Her Nativities are so awesome. I personally think they are better than the one that was in Crochet World last year. I have ordered one from her, and I can't wait to get it.

She was generous enough to share this pattern with me. I have yet to make the little monkies, but I do plan to. My cousin wanted a set. I don't do much amigurumi, or really much little work at all. Though it would seem to be great for instant gratification, I do prefer bigger projects for the most part.

Now how gorgeous are these! I love them so much!

These are cute, too. Ali asked me to mention that they were made from a pattern by Lucy Ravenscar. Too cute!

How beautiful are Prince William and Kate! I saw all the 'knit your own royal wedding stuff', but never saw any crocheted stuff except Ali's. I love these!

More wedding couples, which are adorable.

Gotta have the dog in the wedding, right? Bow Wow!

See why I admire her so? These are all so cute, aren't they?

Never ending to-do list..... sigh....

I have so many pictures saved on my computer of crochet work I want to try. Man, the amount of patterns and books I buy are seriously ridiculous, too.

Anyway, one day I was thinking about pillows, and pillows I want to make. It occurred to me that what might be fun for my boys might be hamburger and hot dog pillows, so I went searching. Because what do you do when you get an idea? You Google it, right? I found these. Why, oh why, didn't I make a note of where I got them? Sometimes, it's hard for me to figure out who owns the pictures, and sometimes I forget to make the note. If any of these pictures are yours, let me know, please. Anyway, I found these hamburger pictures. All of them, so cute. Never found a hot dog one. I'm wondering if I'm clever enough to wing it........... but I do think Jon and David would like them........

How fun is this one! Makes me think, do I want it this size, or bigger? This is so cool, though, isn't it?

Seriously, adorable aren't they! Love them! Wish I could design like this..........

Happy hooking, y'all!

I wish I had more time....

Ah, I can't take a picture that looks good, and today I am done with trying. All the same, isn't this square pretty? I set it on top of one of my pillows, so it wouldn't blend into the swing fabric. It ends at the end of the paprika color. It's in the latest issue of Crochet magazine. It's done in, I think, a pink and a blue in the magazine, but I did it in my paprika. It's a Hot Mat, for putting your bowls and plates on, to protect your table. I think it'd make a pretty pillow, though, or something like that. I don't even have it all shaped out pretty yet, either.

I wish I had more time to crochet. I see y'all with all your wonderful projects every day.... heck, sometimes it seems all I do is sleep and work. Ah well, bless God I got a job, that's what I say. LMHO

Y'all have a wonderful day.

Nasty storm out........

.....so I couldn't take pictures of my pretty pillows and share them with y'all. The weather is too overcast, and the pillows are kinda white (they're made of Red Heart SS in Aran) so I couldn't get a shot that shows them off nicely. And they really did turn out very nicely, I'm kinda proud of them, so I want to show them at their best, you know. ............. So today, you just get this lil potholder. It's kinda cute, I don't think I did a good job with it, but it gives me some ideas for some other lil potholders I'd like to make.... these are made with Sugar and Cream naturals - that nice Chocolate Toast (really, it's called Terra Firma, but I think Chocolate Toast is more apt) and the white is called Sonoma Print. I think it's pretty, too. I think a nice spa set would be really cool in that Sonoma Print, I may have to make that...............

Anyway, we really needed the rain, and at that, I'm not sure we got enough, but the storm was kinda wicked. Not that we got the righteous part, that was mostly Austin proper....... ah well.

Y'all have a wonderful day!

I made me a little hat.

Well, the pictures aren't very good. I took them with my DS! LOL (Yep, I have one, the XL, for old tired eyes. Ha!) I got this pattern from the Red Heart site. It's called the Brimming with Fun Cap. I think it's a really cute cap, though I'm not crazy about it made with this color (Red Heart Buff). I'm thinking I'll try it again, in a light blue. It's a cute cap, I particularly think my sister, Linda, would like it. It really didn't take a heck of a long time to make, either. I should have paid more attention to how long it was that I worked on it, but ah well.
In looking at this view, I see one of the rib stitches is a little 'off', though not extremely so... I'll fix that next time, yeah? LOL

Y'all have a great day!

Chocolate Toast

Do you like Chocolate Toast? Man, I do. I spread me some Nutella on toast, and that is wonderful! It kinda justifies chocolate for breakfast, I think. LOL

This potholder reminds me of Chocolate Toast, or even maybe of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, or other chocolate/peanut butter treats. I loved this yarn the first time I saw it. It's Lily Sugar 'n Cream. The color is Terra Firma, which I guess should make me think of those pots for plants, but nope, it just makes my mouth water.

I needed some potholders, and figured I should make me some, just like I need to make me some more washcloths. I thought this yarn would be good made into something simple, because I like the color so much, and didn't want to muck it up with a fancy stitch pattern that wouldn't show in a blended yarn anyway. Little projects are rewarding, too, to just pop something out in a few minutes - well, less than an hour anyway............ alright, maybe it was an hour or so, heck, I don't know. I'll make a few more little projects between all these big ones I'm working on. It gives me a break.

Quick Granny Pillow

I work on so many projects that take a while to make, that I wanted to make something I could finish up quickly. I decided to make a quick Granny

pillow. I figured it wouldn't take long to make, and it didn't, just a few hours. I made the pastel colored side first, then I really didn't care for it. I just don't have the gift of color, much as I may wish I did. What I wouldn't give to have an eye for color, and to not have to ask 'Does this go?' So for the other side, I just put three colors together. The pillow is quite pretty, despite the terrible pictures. I am trying to work on getting nice pictures of my work as well.

Now back to the many unfinished projects I've got going!

Honeybee Scarf

I am calling this my Honeybee Scarf. The name of the stitch is actually the Honeycomb Trellis. I like this stitch, it's fun, and it goes quickly (if you're not making it in black, that is...) and it creates a very pretty fabric, I think. I may make this again, in a gold or yellow or cream, to really carry that Honeycomb theme. I love this yarn, it's I Love This Cotton, and I think the color is black sparkle. It's got really cool little green shiny flecks in it. This picture seriously does not do it justice, it looks like a fly here, and in real life, the yarn is just so cool, the green really does sparkle in the black. I got a lesson here, making something in all black. I guess I didn't realize I've never done that before, but boy, black is hard on your eyes. The stitches are harder to work into, just because they're harder to see. That's a bummer, because I have more of this yarn, and because I have some wonderful black shimmery I Love This Yarn, that I want to make a shawl of, something for a New Year's Eve-type party. I love to sparkle for a nice party now and then. I look forward to owning the shawl made of the black sparkly stuff, but at this point, I don't look forward to making it. Ha! And when you think that it will be a shawl for a prospective New Year's Eve, it should be something in a kind of closed pattern, so that it will be somewhat warm, so it will, of course, take longer to make than this scarf did..... ah yes, sounds more inviting with every thought, huh? Ha. Ah well, I'll think about that later.................. Y'all have a wonderful day!

Catherine Wheel

Well, I have actually been crocheting lately. LMHO I actually have enough to do a few posts at this point. Ha ha. This is Catherine's Wheel. I got it out of a book. I notice it in quite a few of the books I have. It makes a fairly heavy fabric, so I'm not sure it would make a really comfy blanket. I'm exploring a lot of different stitches, and trying to make different things with them, you know, to expand my knowledge. I'll get there. I'm not really sure if I like this pillow or not, though I may try it again later, in maybe three colors, and maybe some of the reds, gold, and browns that I love so much. This is a nice nubby pillow, I think David will really like it under his fingers next time he visits.

I'm still working on that granny stripe. Man, I don't think I've ever spent so long making one item. Of course, it'll sure be worth it, that thing is gonna be gorgeous. And, of course, when you get down to it, I have way too many WIP's..... I went through and finished a few things yesterday, maybe I can finish a few more directly......

Y'all have a wonderful day.

Still working on that Granny Stripe

I don't think I have ever worked longer on the same project. Of course, this will be beautiful in the end, and I can't wait to have it finished. I finally got all those ends woven in, what a job. Now I'm working on the edge. It takes a while. The other night I crocheted for so long that by the time I was done, my hands were sore. Funny, my left pinkie was the most sore, I guess from holding it whichever way I hold it when I crochet.

The corner doesn't look as pretty right now as I would like it to. Hopefully that will resolve when I get a few more rows on it. I'm still trying to decide how I'm going to do the border, and mixing the colors up, deciding the order to put them, is always a challenge for me. Still, I can't wait for this to be finished. It is going to be beautiful.

Little Motifs

I have been inspired by some of the sweet garlands I have been seeing on various blogs, and looked around my house, and I thought "Yeah, a garland would look nice there. And there. And maybe even over there." Ha! And I buy so many crochet books, particularly books with various motifs in them. My favorite is Beyond the Square by Edie Eckman, of course, doesn't everyone love that book? And there are 144 different motifs to try in there as well. So now and then, I pick up a hook and make a motif or two. I tend to make big projects, that take a long time to complete, so a motif here and there lets me say 'Oh, look what I made.' LOL

Oh, look what I made! The little one above is cute, I haven't finished off the ends. I'm still debating it... kinda simple, huh?


I am really liking this pretty little heart, though. I'm thinking I'll make several of these, they'd be cute in a little garland. You could do the garland with all hearts, all one color, or several, or you could mix other motifs in there as well. I'm thinking I'm gonna do several different-colored hearts and alternate them with several of another motif. You know, when I pick the motif I'm gonna use. It's nice just playing for now.

This one is cute, too. This is not from Beyond the Square. In fact, I think it's from the Christmas book that Crochet or Crochet World magazine put out this past year. I'm thinking these would be cute hung on the tree.

I'm still working on that granny stripe blanket. I finally got the ends woven in. That was a chore. And a lesson. Never again will I just leave that many ends hanging. Yeesh. I'm working on the edge now. I'll post pictures of that in a day or two.

I also got a pillow cover or two done, and I need to put pillows in them. I'll post them soon as well. I'm working on a pretty scarf, but man. That thing is done in a predominantly black yarn, and if I work with black for too long, it gives me a headache. I worked on that think for a day or two straight, then the headache didn't leave for like three days. Yikes. So I'll take that in small spurts. It should be done soon, though, not much more to go. I've got a lot of posting to do in the next few days. That's good, because I haven't posted much lately at all........... yikes.

Anyway, y'all have a great day. Happy hooking.