Celebrating – Page 18

Finally Celebrating Springtime

May 17, 2010February 19, 2024Celebrating, Crochet Design, Pattern4 Comments

What most folks consider spring weather is a bit different from what it is like here on our mountain. In fact we had 14 inches of snow and temperatures below freezing on May 11th and 12th.

Today was sunny and the temperatures are on the rise. According to our local climatologist we should be seeing real warming trends for the rest of the month. In celebration of this I have a fun little pattern to share with all of you.

During those cold days I was comforted by my hanging basket of miniature petunias that my sweet family had gotten me for Mother’s day. They inspired me to create this little crocheted flower.

Pretty Petunia

This pattern is text only currently, I may add a hand drawn stitch diagram later. I worked the sample in some scraps of Caron’s Simply Soft with a G-6 (4 mm) hook. My finished flower is 2 inches in diameter across the open blossom and about 1 inch deep.

The flower is worked in the round starting with the base and creating a trumpet shape. I began with an adjustable slip knot, though you can do Magic Ring if that is more comfortable for you. Each round is slip stitched to the first st of the round instead of working in a spiral.

Blossom:

Round 1: Ch 2, 5 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sl st in first st.

Round 2: Ch 1, 5 sc worked evenly, sl st in first st.

Round 3: Ch 1, 2 sc in each st around, sl st in first st. [10 sc]

Round 4: Ch 1, 10 sc worked evenly, sl st in first st.

Round 5: Ch 1, (sc in next st, 2 sc in next st) 5 times, sl st in first st. [15 sc]

Round 6: (hdc in next st, 3 dc in next st, hdc and sl st in next st) 5 times. Fasten off.*

Stamen:

Ch 2, work 5 sc in 2nd ch from hook. Fasten off.

Finishing:

Weave tails in both pieces. Use needle to pull tails of stamen thru bottom of blossom trumpet. Snug up stamen into bell of trumpet.

Back-of-Flower — Tails pulled thru Base of Blossom

*You can use a needle finish for last round of blossom for a neater look, just skip last sl st in pattern instructions.

I hope you enjoy making a garden of pretty petunias.

Lace Hat

May 9, 2010Celebrating, Crochet, Crochet Design, PatternLeave a Comment

I’m excited to announce that my Lace Hat pattern is now available on the Coats and Clark website.

I designed this Hat to go with the Crochet Lace Fingerless Mitts. The great thing is that 2 balls of the Heart & Sole yarn are just the right amount to make both patterns. You can work the mitts first doing 2 at a time using 1 ball for each mitt, then use the left over amounts to stitch up a matching hat.

The pattern is for a deep hat that can be worn slouchy or pulled down “Cloche” style with the ribbed band providing a bit of extra warmth over your ears. The open work of the stitch pattern in the crown means that this is a great hat for transitional seasons. Like Colorado’s unpredictable mountain spring time.

Construction Zone

May 6, 2010May 7, 2010CelebratingLeave a Comment

Time keeps marching on as I work toward converting my former massage office into my design/writing office. Currently it is a bit of a construction zone.

Office-in-Transition — The Jumble of Transition

A generous friend is getting rid of some office furniture and has kindly offered it to me. So part of the work has been to dis-assemble it at her house, which I did the last bit tonight. Next will be to transport it to my office and re-assemble it. Of course before I can re-assemble it in my office I have to get things shifted about.

That table under the window is one of my new additions from my friend. It is a wonderful drafting table that can be tilted numerous degrees from horizontal to vertical. I will be getting lots of use of it as a tilted drawing surface and a work table. Especially as it is a lovely waist high work suface at one of it’s settings. I got it moved in this past Sunday.

Office-in-Transition-2 — Work Counter before Disassembly

Hoping to have the entire furniture thing done by the end of this coming Sunday.

Now for the Next Thing

April 24, 2010Celebrating, HumorLeave a Comment

So it is official. I just packed up my Massage Table into it’s storage case. Today was my last massage appointment. I am now a retired massage therapist.

Guess that means I’m serious about doing all these creative things I love so much as my main income now. Deep Breath Time.

Crochet for Crochet’s Sake

March 24, 2010March 30, 2010Celebrating, Creativity, Crochet, Crochet DesignLeave a Comment

March is National Crochet Month and I’ve been giving some thought to why I love crochet so much?

FreeFormNoroDoodleLace1 — FreeForm Doodle Lace

Is it the enjoyment of the action of crocheting itself? Or is the attraction having a lovely item to wear or use? Do I crochet for it’s own sake or to create an object? Basically it comes down to a question of Process or Product.

For me there is added to the concept of process the allure of designing. Much of my design work is process. Swatching and experimenting with various yarns, hook sizes and stitch patterns just to see what I get. I may have absolutely nothing in mind when I start this process, my only goal is exploration. Often times these experiments add to my knowledge, but that may be the only gain.

Does that make the process a waste of time? Personally I don’t view knowledge or entertainment as a waste, so for me the process stage of design work is very rewarding. As I like to tell my students in the various art and craft classes I’ve taught, “There is no such thing as Failure, there is only Discovery.”

The process of crocheting is one that I have always enjoyed as well.

My return to Crochet as my main hobby came about 12 years ago when I hurt my ankle and was forced to spend a great deal of time off my feet. I found crocheting and it’s rhythm to be very soothing.

I was also re-intrigued with the idea of “weaving” with a hook, using a single tool to create fabrics in a variety of dimensions and shaping. All these years later that fascination is still fresh for me. To suspend expectation and just revel in what comes off my hook.

Taking your Yarn for a Walk Fragments — FreeForm fragments from Jenny's Class

Maybe this is one of the reason’s I love to play with FreeForm crochet. Gathering up a variety of harmonious colored yarns of various textures and weights and then creating “fragments or scrumbles” is very relaxing to me.

Often I am asked what I am making, or what will those become. Most of the time I have no idea. Seems I may be deeply entrenched in the process side of crochet. Eventually I do make a product with my hours of stitching, but the joy in the process is why I continue to crochet.

If you are curious about FreeForm crochet and have never tried it there is a great CAL/Game going on in the NatCroMo Party group on Ravelry. It’s not too late to give it a try, and it’s a wonderful introduction to freeforming.

Or check out some of the beautiful and inspiring books out there. I recommend, Jenny Dowde, Myra Wood, Prudence Mapstone and Renate Kirkpatrick as great authors to start with.

Yarn!!!

March 21, 2010April 7, 2010Celebrating, Crochet1 Comment

I already have a stash that is, shall we say, a bit out of hand. This problem is not helped when I go down once a month for PJ Jam at the LambShoppe in Denver.

Playing for hours in the shop with my stitching pals surrounded by glorious yarn enticingly displayed. Let’s just say….Resistance is Futile.

Alpaca-Yarn-and-more-001 — My treasure pile of Yarn

Somehow these 6 had to come home with me.

Berroco won the most attention. 2 hanks of the luxurious Ultra Aplaca, a wonderfully affordable Aplaca/wool blend. Also the gorgeous glowing blue hank is Berroco’s Lustra, a wool/tencel blend that has a beautiful sheen.

Still in an Alpaca mood I found a beautiful hank of Misti Alpaca Chunky in a light lavender color. This is 100% baby alpaca and so soft that I just want to use it for a pillow.

Next I was attracted to the display of sparkly mohair blends (remember we discussed this novelty yarn addiction of mine in a recent post). So Trendsetter’s Dune was added to the pile.

Now a bit of green was needed to balance the purple alpacas and the sparklies. So I added the ball of Frog Tree sport weight 100% Alpaca.

Alpaca-Yarn-and-more-2 — 4 Hanks with a Destiny

Amazingly enough there are valid reasons they all needed to be added to my stash (well, maybe not the Lustra). Currently the destiny of the 4 hanks above is a secret, but I hope to give you some clues soon.

The Novelty of it All

March 12, 2010March 13, 2010Celebrating, Creativity, Humor2 Comments

It is the outcast. The “red-headed stepchild” of the yarn and fiber world. But I love it. You know what I’m talking about…Novelty Yarn.

There is Fun Fur and Sparklies and combinations of both. There is Ribbon and Boucle’ and Pom-poms. I revel in it all. I have a supply of novelty yarns that is bordering on the ridiculous in my stash, and I am completely unapologetic about it (I actually don’t have any Pom-Pom yarn…may have to correct that next shopping spree).

Sadly, some of my recent most favorite novelty yarns are now discontinued. Occasionally I find them on sale somewhere languishing un-loved and under appreciated in a sales bin. A few of them always seem to find their way home with me.

Some of them can be a bit tricky to crochet with. But I love the special effects that can be quickly added to a project by using some novelty yarn.

After all, one needs Novelty yarn to create a Pocket Monster…..

Or the fuzzy fringe for a Felted Fiery Bowl….

Or adding sparkle to a Free Form Lace Shrug….

According to a friend of mine that went to the January TNNA show there was talk that novelty yarn is making a comeback.

Be still my heart!

2010 – A Yarn Odessy

January 4, 2010Celebrating, HumorLeave a Comment

Here I am a few days into 2010 and trying to fulfill one of my New Year’s Resolutions–namely, to update my blog every week. We will see how well I’ll pull this off.

January should be a good testing ground to see if I can master the time management skills needed to stay on top of submitting design proposals, swatching for new designs, and meeting deadlines for designs that have sold. And these are just the work related items on my to-do list.

A piile of various Big Box and LYS yarns from my stash — A few skeins from the Stash

Another personal resolution is related to the quantity of yarn that is slowly taking over every corner of my home. Thus the Yarn Odessy title of this post.

The yarn stash needs to be inventoried. I have a bad habit of purchasing yarn because I have no idea what I actually have on hand. Then there are the times when the “Oh Shiny!” reaction kicks in and I have to adopt at least one ball of that yarn.

The yarn stash needs to be sorted into storage containers and matched with the inventory. I have attempted this numerous times in the past with minimal success….Okay truth be told, it only stayed manageable for about 3 weeks…then it all started to unravel (and the stash has never been matched with any sort of inventory).

The yarn stash needs to be sorted by usage-Free Form projects, design swatching, and project completion. This is the point where I completely lose momentum, even when I make progress with the other 2 ideas.

It’s a faulty system. Digging thru the yarn to decide its ultimate destination becomes far too seductive. All I really want to do is start playing with the yarn. Before I know it, the 2 hours I scheduled to sort are past and it is time to make dinner for the family.

Well, now you see why I call this an Odessy. Ulysses had better luck with Homer than I likely will have with my Yarn. At least I will have a great time.

Happy Hooks – or Why I’ve been ignoring the Blog

November 16, 2009January 23, 2010Celebrating, Crochet Design, Health and Self CareLeave a Comment

Approximately a month ago I purchased a set of Etimo hooks. You may have heard of these wonderful hooks when Doris Chan blogged about them this past summer, or read about them recently on the CLF group at Ravelry. They are from the Tulip Company out of Japan.

They are a lovely light weight and very comfortable in my hand for hours of happy crocheting.

I had purchased 3 of them at Chain Link in August and have really loved them. In fact, I had been kicking myself for not purchasing a complete set when I had the opportunity. So when MissJulep tweeted that she had sets for sell at her Etsy shop I was on it!

A few days later my package arrived. It was like Christmas coming early!

The set is in a lovely carry case that neatly and compactly holds the full set of hooks (plus 2 of my extras), and comes with small scissors, 2 yarn needles (large and medium size) and a 4 1/2 inch ruler. I added a few of my Clover locking stitch markers and now have a great go-anywhere crochet kit.

Instead of keeping my blog updated I have been a crocheting whirlwind with these lovely hooks. I hope to soon have lots of new crochet projects to show you, if I can tear myself away from crocheting long enough to take some pictures!

Ooooo…It is so Cute!

October 19, 2009Celebrating2 Comments

I didn’t blog last week because I was having a week long celebration of my birthday. And look what I got!

My darling new little HP Mini. It will take me a while to get the hang of the smaller keyboard, but I think Mini and I are going to be very good friends.

What I really love is how well it fits into my project bag. I can take it with me when I am out and about running errands with my kiddos and anywhere there is WiFi available I have access to Ravelry.

It was already a big hit this past weekend while I was at The Lamb Shoppe for the monthly Pajamma Jam. Had all kinds of fun looking up projects and profiles on Ravelry. Plus tweeted! I know I can do that on my phone, but I like keyboards.