August 12, 2015 by goatsandhounds

Hungry for Color…

It took me the entire month of July to knit an eyelet curtain panel for my kitchen window. I had intended to make two. However, once finished, it was discovered that the one panel stretched across the length of the window.

I had used Red Heart Super Saver in white and my size I knook.

The pattern used was this one and I used the five-eyelet chart. I cast on 170 stitches, did 10 rows of garter on the bottom and 5 garter stitches on each side. The rod pocket was created by making 5 rows garter, 5 rows stockinette and another 5 rows garter I then sewed the last garter row to the first.

After hanging the curtain, it doesn’t perfectly fit across the width of the window. But, it’s good enough. I might make another one someday, but probably not for a while. It was a lot of work and pretty boring stuff.

All that white yarn made me want to work with some color. I joined a couple of knit-alongs and crochet-alongs on ravelry.

The first challenge was to make something related to the TV show Outlander. This show is based on some of my favorite books, which were written by Diana Gabaldon.

I decided to modify my MacLean Clan Tartan found here. I made a cowl. This was my first try at knitting with color and my first try using the Intarsia technique (for the vertical stripes). I made yarn butterflies to contain the lengths of yarn. It worked pretty well! I figured that since this was a Scottish clan tartan, it would qualify for the -along.

I cast on 65 stitches and used my size I knook.

Handsome model is my son.

The next -along that I got into was the August challenge in the Cowls group on ravelry. This month’s challenge: color work. I found what looked like a cute and simple pattern called Alba, by Greta and the Fibers. I believe it would be considered a Fair Isle technique, as you are only doing a few stitches at a time in one color, with two colors per row. Just so you know, the website is in Spanish, it is an unsecured site and they require a LOT of personal information before you can download their free patterns.

It was a simple pattern and I really enjoyed the stranded technique (another first for me) – much more than the Intarsia. I made several mistakes (that I didn’t notice until I was finished). Despite the fact that it is terribly imperfect, I love this cowl. I absolutely adore the colors. I knew from crocheting another cowl that I liked these two colors together. But in this cowl, I like it even better.

The pattern is simple and charted. It’s a 10-stitch repeat. I cast on 80 stitches. I used Red Heart Super Saver in Black and Macaw. I did a seed stitch border, which I’m really not happy with. I think I much prefer the look of garter borders.

The next -along I was involved in was on the Red Heart Lovers group on ravelry. It was the August Square of the Month. I followed the crochet pattern. It made a 12-inch afghan block. I used a K hook and Red Heart Super Saver in Shocking Pink, Perfect Pink (I think), Gray Heather and Black. It is the pattern See How They Run, pattern found here.

The Alba cowl inspired me to work on another stranded knitting project. I downloaded the Spirit Cat chart a long time ago and had intended to work it up as a filet crochet project. I never got around to doing that. So, I decided to knit it in the same colorway as my Alba cowl. I’m about halfway done, at this point. To be continued…

June 20, 2015 by goatsandhounds

Grandniece Baby Blanket

My sweetie’s nephew (I claim him as my nephew, too) and his girlfriend are having a baby. Her name will be Kaylynn.

I haven’t yet met her mama. But if my nephew loves her, then she is probably a sweet girl.

Naturally, I had to make a blanket for the new arrival.

Their nursery colors are pink and gray. I had purchased some gray ribbon to embellish this blanket, but I don’t think it would add anything.

I’m thinking of making her a little cardigan, booties and diaper cover set. I think I’ll make that in pink and gray.

For this pattern, I’ve used the Victorian Lattice blanket instructions from here.

I improvised a border.

It is 43-inches square. The blanket was crocheted using a 5.5mm hook with Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn! in the Pink colorway. It took 3 skeins of yarn.

This was a fun project. I learned a new skill – the flat braid join and I really like that join. It takes longer to do than my usual join-as-you-go way of doing things, but I absolutely love the effect and will definitely be using it again in the future.

I hope mama likes it.

May 16, 2015 by goatsandhounds

Grandson Baptismal Blanket

Most of you know the story about my grandson; it’s pretty much all I’ve talked about on this blog for the last few months… He will be born and will die soon afterward (if he survives his own birth). My son and his fiance decided that they are going to have him Baptized as soon as he is born. I knew I had to make his Baptism blanket.

I used the Baby Counterpane Christening Blanket pattern written by Kay Meadors.

I’m not a proficient knitter; in fact, I haven’t actually knitted much… Two socks, a kerchief, a little decorative owl and a hat. The socks were actually done with needles. Everything else has been done using a knook.

I had some problems with the edging portion of the original pattern. And since I don’t have much knitting experience, I didn’t know what changes I should make, to make it work. So, I frogged the edging and switched to crochet.

For the edging, I used the Lacy Vs and Picots Edging pattern written by Amy Solovay. Because I had done one row of SC all the way around, I skipped straight to round 2 in the pattern. I completed two rounds of round 2, one of round 3 and then the picot round.

Aside from the fact that this was a sad project, I really did enjoy the process of making this blanket. It was a fun knit, with lots of different things to do. But, because it was fairly repetitive, it was also easy enough. I put in a lifeline every 10 rows. I think it is a great beginner’s lace knitting project.

I used my favorite baby yarn – Red Heart Soft Baby Steps – in white.

Each of the four panes took less than a skein of yarn; I started a new skein for each pane. The edging took the better part of a skein. I started a new skein for the v stitches and then started another for the picot round. I would say that it took five skeins of yarn, even though I opened six.

Because I’m a slower knitter, I’d estimate that this took me close to 50 hours to make.

It is a little over 3-feet square.

Mom loves it, and really, that’s all that counts.

December 30, 2014 by goatsandhounds

Grandbaby Fibonacci Sequence Blanket

Hi!

For a while now, I’ve been wanting to make something using the Fibonacci sequence in stripes. I’ve always liked the way it looks, but I’ve always dreaded making a blanket in some sort of solid fabric.

I’m the first to admit that I get bored easily. And while I love afghans, I tend to put them on a shelf when they’re only part way finished.

That said, I’ve found that baby blankets are doable. Especially when they’re blankets made for my grandchild who is due in June.

I did get a bit distracted from this blanket, but that’s only because I have been trying to stock my etsy shop. I figure that one blanket for my grandbaby and one or two for the shop would be good.

For this blanket I did double crochets in rows of: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 13.

I’m still waiting to find out the gender of the baby.

For my etsy shop, I’m currently working on a filet argyle blanket. For the baby, I haven’t decided yet…

Oh and here’s my latest addition to the shop! I seem to have neglected to make a post about it, earlier!

December 19, 2014 by goatsandhounds

Drumroll Please!

Well, after pretty much EVERYONE telling me to get an Etsy Shop and start selling my crochet stuff, I’ve finally done it!

It’s really scary! I’ve never sold anything, except commissioned pieces. I’m afraid that no one will buy anything and that will hurt my feelings, because I’ll think that it’s because they don’t like it. Which is completely ridiculous, I know…

I’ve talked to my friends about pricing and I guess that’s the hardest part. So, I’m going with the fairly common practice of taking the cost of materials and multiplying it by three. Then I’m adding to that the cost of listing the item and the cost of shipping. We’ll see!

If you’d like to see the first item I’ve ever listed for sale, it can be found in my Etsy Shop here.

And if you have any feedback about my listing – the price, the pictures, the verbiage, please tell me. I need all the advice I can get!

December 2, 2014 by goatsandhounds

Grandbaby Granny Square Blanket

First of all, I have to apologize for the colors in these photos. The colors I used are purple, turquoise and white. However, it was snowing and I had a heck of a time getting adequate lighting. Of course, I’m impatient and wasn’t going to wait another day to take pictures. I’m actually impressed that you aren’t seeing horrible photos that were taken in incandescent light – I finished the blanket the night before.

The purple and turquoise yarn was part of my fantastic gift of yarn by the parents of this child. I was eager to get it finished and photographed so I could send them the pictures.

It’s just your standard Red Heart Super Saver yarn. I found a pretty cool granny square generator – here. And used this to help me make the blanket look more random – because I completely lack imagination and would pretty much just make diagonal stripes or something. Yes, I’m truly that boring.

This is a very simple double-v-stitch edging that I think is pretty perfect for granny square blankets. I found it here. The blanket is just a simple square of two rounds per color. I used the join-as-you-go method for joining the squares. I had forgotten that I wanted to try the Celtic Lace Join – found here – for my next project that included squares. Ah well, maybe I’ll remember on the next blanket.

Tah-dah! It took me about three days to finish.

Mom and dad tell me that they love it. That makes me infinitely happy.

By the way… See how it’s kind of ruffled? That was not on purpose. From what I understand, it has to do with how many clusters are put into the adjoining corners of the squares when doing the border. I don’t usually put borders on blankets, so I didn’t realize that this would happen.

November 27, 2014 by goatsandhounds

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving Day here in the United States. We have celebrated the holiday twice in the last seven days. Needless to say, we are feeling fat and happy.

I’ve been holding on to some good news. But, now that it has been officially announced, I am free to tell the world… My son and his fiance are having a baby! I’m very excited!

Naturally, I immediately began searching for crochet and knitting patterns.

I’ve started a crocheted blanket based on the “Drunkard’s Path” quilting pattern. But, with 120 squares to make, it is turning into a tedious project. Of course, I’ve been sidetracked a couple of times.

The kids were here for our turkey day celebration last weekend, so I had to really work fast to get their first blanket finished.

Their favorite color is purple. Since we don’t yet know the gender of the baby, I thought purple would be a safe color to use.

I had never done a Bavarian project before and had to watch some YouTube videos to learn the technique. It is so easy!

I wanted to make the blanket a little bit bigger, but I was running out of time. I had to stop where I was the night before the kids left. This not-so-big square took the better part of a full skein of yarn in each color. It really is a wool eater!

But, it is super thick and it will be very warm for the little one. I figured that it really doesn’t matter how small it is, they are going to be getting more blankets from me. This one will take the child until he or she is 4- or 5-years old.

My sweetie likes the look of the reverse side and wants me to make one for him. I guess that will just be plain Catherine Wheels. I’ll probably just make it rectangle and work it back and forth, rather than in rounds. I think that would be easier.

I have been having some trouble finding a baby booties pattern that I like. Most patterns out there are really geared towards either male or female. There are some super-cute patterns and I can’t wait to find out the gender of the baby…

I found a pattern that met my preferred criteria: crochet, worked flat, and uses big yarn. Not that I’m completely opposed to knitting in the round with sock yarn… I’m just a slow knitter/knooker.

And, the kids brought me my Christmas present when they visited and it included a skein of Bernat Baby Blanket yarn (in the Pink/Blue colorway). I know that I don’t have the proper size knitting needles or knook to use this yarn and I knew it had to be turned into booties.

You may recall my previous experience with this yarn… I’m not a fan. Though, at least this time, the yarn doesn’t smell weird. This skein is the 100% polyester version and I wonder if the last stuff I used was the 100% nylon… This yarn is still stretchy and I still had a hard time identifying my stitches half the time. But, it took me less than an hour to make a set of booties (even with this difficult yarn), so that’s a huge plus!

The pattern is Bev’s Baby Cloud Booties. I like Bev’s patterns; they are simple and usually pretty quick to make.

I think next time I make these booties, I will just hold a few strands of a different yarn together.

November 3, 2014 by goatsandhounds

Hello!

Well, it has definitely been a long time since I’ve posted anything. There hasn’t been much to report…

The kitchen remodel stalled due to health and financial constraints. However, laying of the new floor has begun. Nothing else has been accomplished on the island, but sweetie says he intends that to be his winter project.

I’ve been employed and and am once again unemployed. But really, I’m actually enjoying being home.

I’ve been doing some crochet and knooking.

I finished this crocheted item back in September:

It is 42-inches wide. I intended it to fit one of my coffee tables, but it is much bigger than expected. I’ll need to make something else for that purpose. This will look lovely on my black-lacquer dresser, or as a centerpiece on our dining table. BTW, I have no idea what’s up with the alignment on this paragraph, but no matter what I do, I can’t fix it…

I’ve been re-learning to knook (knitting with a crochet hook) and I learned a different technique. The Leisure Arts way works best for me. I made a mini photo tutorial for myself (being a crocheter I need reminders of how to create the knit and purl stitches because it is similar to crochet) and I’ll make a separate post for that – just in case anyone reading this is interested in learning how to knit with a hook.

I have joined a mystery one-skein knit-along on ravelry. I have no idea what we’re making, but so far this is what it looks like:

I’m guessing that it is going to be a hat. Please excuse my imperfect stitches. I’m still learning tension control. I think that after blocking it will look much better.

Before starting the above-mentioned KAL, I knooked this little guy up real quick:

I absolutely adore him! I have no idea what I’m going to do with it… Just add it to the owl collection, I guess.

In addition to the KAL, I am also working on a crochet project. Here is the chart:

This thread beast is going to be huge. This photo was taken after the first ball of thread was gone:

Unblocked, it measures 53-inches wide. I believe that the unblocked finished object will fit our dining table. I’m going to finish it and decide whether or not I want to block it. I will post photos with each ball of thread used.

I hope this post finds you and yours well. I’m off to make a knooking tutorial!

March 29, 2014 by goatsandhounds

Injury, Illness and Productivity…

Well, it’s been over a month and I figured I’d better post something…

My dad got the island shell finished and we got it into the kitchen. Here’s a picture. Please excuse the mess, we don’t have anyplace to put anything at the moment.

You may be able to tell, we added another cabinet on the end (the left side of picture). It just wasn’t quite long enough. It is now 10-feet long.

One evening, right after my last blog post as a matter of fact, we decided to put it in its permanent spot on the floor. I was on the left end, walking backwards. Sweetie said that was a good spot and so I let the cabinet drop. It landed on the big toe of my right foot!

I’m still not convinced that the toe hadn’t been fractured. I couldn’t walk for several days and only this past week and a half have I been able to wear something on my feet other than my snow boots.

I thought I was going to lose the nail on that toe, but I haven’t yet. Thank goodness! The thought of that just really gives me shivers!

The week I was home with my toe, sweetie came down with the flu. He promptly gave it to me and then he developed pneumonia. I developed a serious sinus infection and ear infection and have been off work ever since. My boss won’t let me come back until my symptoms are gone. So, basically, I’ve been off work for a month. This is seriously painful for the bank account! I went to the doctor about two weeks ago and he gave me antibiotics. They didn’t work. I go back again on Tuesday. That too hurts the bank account, because I don’t have insurance.

Well, one positive thing about being off work and not feeling like doing much is that I have plenty of time to play with yarn!

I finished up the afghan that I started months ago…

The afghan block is called Arches and it is available here.

It’s the perfect size for me to use on the couch. Sorry I didn’t get any pictures that show the size, but after putting it through the washer and dryer to block, the squares are 10 inches. I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in the colorways Buff and Cafe Latte. It is soft, squishy and oh-so comfy! Acrylic yarn really has come a long way since I first learned to crochet in the 80’s!

Next up, I made this shrug… I needed a cover-up to wear over tank tops at work (tanks aren’t allowed to be uncovered) and I was tired of wearing the same old, plain cardigans. I designed this simple shrug myself. The only pattern I used was this stitch pattern: My Picot #2049.

Starting chain 99 + 1 (tripled pattern horizontally). Repeated 13-row stitch pattern 3 times to create large rectangle. Single-crochet border around raw edges. Sewed 20 stitches up sleeve. After sewing it up, I did 3 more single crochet rounds around the cuffs and edge. Hand washed, dried in dryer. It took me about 10 hours to finish this project. I used Red Heart Super Saver acrylic yarn in White. Again, it washed up nice and soft.

And my most recent project comes from a booklet that I inherited from my mother in law. It’s the Coats & Clark Pineapple Doily A-1067. This can be found in the Learn to Crochet booklet.

This is my first pineapple project. It took me about three days to finish.

Well, that’s about it for now!

February 23, 2014 by goatsandhounds

Another Cowl and Other Things

So, I made another cowl. Big surprise there, eh? I don’t know why I’ve been in such a cowl-making mood…

It is crocheted with Red Heart Soft yarn in the Turquoise colorway.

I just love that yarn. The color is lovely and it is wonderfully soft, if a bit splitty to work with.

The pattern can be found here. I changed the pattern in that rather than making another chain to work into for the second half of the pattern, I just used the foundation chain. This allowed me to not have a visible line bisecting the main flowers.

I made the small version of this cowl and it is a bit too long for my tastes. But, it is very pretty and I’ll wear it when warmth isn’t the goal.

The kitchen re-do is coming along nicely. My father finished the island shell and it is in the house. Next weekend we will be facing it with the blue and buggy and then it will be on to the top! We found a gas cookstove (as opposed to a range that includes both the cookstove and an oven – this is just the stovetop portion) that we are going to install after we get the tile laid. We decided that we would prefer gas to cook with and are going to get a big propane tank for it. We may need to convert it from gas to propane, but I doubt it. Natural gas is very rare in our area and we got the stove – used – from our local ReStore.

I finally got around to starting to process last spring’s fleeces. Well… I made a mistake and they felted. I was pretty upset. Sweetie told me that next time, I’m sending them out for processing. *sigh* At least I tried.

Goats and Hounds!

fun

Tag Archives: Crochet