Mamas2Hands

Little Bumpy Bag

November 18, 2013November 17, 2013Crochet, Crochet Design1 Comment

This fun little baglet pattern I designed for Red Heart Yarns is now available as a free pattern on their website.

When I was first coming up with this design I had my own clutzy tendencies in mind. I tend to get distracted and set things down in a spot where they get bumped or knocked onto the floor. So I wanted to use a stitch that would create a fairly “cushy” fabric.

This little squished cluster stitch was ideal. Using a single crochet st on either side of it gives the mini “popcorn” look. It reminds me a bit of the doilies my grandmother had on the kitchen table with bunches of grapes decorating them.

I also used a smaller size hook than I normally do, because I wanted a denser fabric. The fabric is still elastic enough to fit snugly around the phone, but it maintains the “cushion” effect with the tighter stitch work. So if you are substituting yarns, remember to adjust your hook size to get a firm fabric.

I liked how this little bag came out so much that I decided to make a slightly larger version in Red Heart’s Boutique “Unforgettable” for my phone (minus the strap). If you need a larger version of the bag for your phone, just add chain stitches to the beginning foundation in groups of 2 until you reach the width you want your baglet to be. To fit my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone I made my foundation chain 30 and worked 5 extra rows on each side.

A smaller version works great for a business card case. I made the example above in Aunt Lydia’s Size #3 Cotton Crochet Thread using a size E-4/3.5mm hook for the foundation chain and a D-3/3.25mm hook for the baglet. I followed the same instructions for the original baglet just leaving off the chain handle.

You could even make the original baglet in the size it is written for and use it to hold a gift card this holiday season. The baglet is the gift wrap and part of the gift.

I hope you enjoy making this fun little project as much as I did designing it.

What’s This?!

November 16, 2013November 17, 2013YarnLeave a Comment

One of the fun things about being a designer, is sometimes you get surprises in the mail. Such was the case for me this past Wednesday, when I checked my mail that afternoon there was a package for me.

Of course, I ended up giving a lift to a neighbor, so the box got moved to the back seat of the car and I forgot about it. The next morning I drove my boys to school and when I was unloading them from the car I noticed the box. “I wonder what is in there” went thru my mind as I walked the boys into school. Once I was back home I grabbed the box and headed up the stairs into the house to open it.

The wrapping for the package was a bit banged up from it’s journey to reach me. Since the flood mess in September all our mail is being forwarded, so items sent to my Jamestown PO Box take a little longer to reach me. As you can see there were bits of black and red showing, which made me very curious.

This was the box inside the brown paper.

And this is what was inside the black box.

I’ve already worked with all of these yarns a bit, but I am excited about these colors. Especially the Red Sassy Lace. I can see something very fun for Valentine’s Day out of that.

I scanned the yarn information from that long card so you can see what a gorgeous variety of colors are available in each of these yarn lines. Click on the image to see it larger, or check out these yarns and the other new yarns for 2013 on the Red Heart website.

One of the easiest projects to make up with all of these yarns is a ruffled scarf. You can see them everywhere. If you haven’t tried making a scarf like those yet, Mikey from the Crochet Crowd has a great video showing a super easy way to crochet one with Sashay yarn (Mikey also has videos of how to crochet a scarf with the Sassy Fabric and Sassy Lace). I really like his technique for this as it gives lots of ruffles.

Only thing I would do different to how Mikey shows you is to start my ruffles a little further in from the beginning to leave a tail, then weave the beginning tail like he shows you to weave your ending tail. Just cause I am fussy about raw edges in my work.

With the holidays rapidly approaching these yarns would be great to work up gifts with, or make a snazzy scarf or pin for yourself to dress up your holiday outfits.

Front or Back?

November 14, 2013November 12, 2013Crochet, Crochet Design, HumorLeave a Comment

Back when I first began to sew and crochet my mother and grandmother were my tutors. One thing that was always emphasized was that your work should be finished nicely. The back (or wrong side) of projects needed to look just as nice as the front. I have always tried to continue in this tradition with my work, sewing neatly and tidying up all ends of thread and yarn at the completion of a project.

Photo courtesy of Crochet World/Annie's Publishing — Photo courtesy of Crochet World/Annie’s Publishing

This year I found this habit to be rather a minus instead of a plus, when my “Greek Squares Afghan” was photographed for the August 2013 issue of Crochet World. If you look at the photograph above you wouldn’t notice, unless you knew, that it was photographed from the wrong side. So my take is now that it is a reversible afghan.

If you are wondering what the afghan looks like from the “right” side the above photo shows you. The crocheted joining (in brown) is supposed to create ridges that emphasize the multicolored blocks.

This is a surprisingly speedy project to work up. The afghan is made with 25 rectangles that are then crocheted together. All worked in bulky weight yarn so progress is quick for a generous sized afghan. Could even be made with only 16 blocks as a nice sized “lapghan” or child sized blanket. Each block is approximately 8 x 5″ and are easy to carry with you to work on individually.

My friend and “secret weapon” Val actually crocheted up all the blocks for the sample and I did all the joining and tail weaving. When I got the sample back from Crochet World I spent an afternoon snuggled up in it crocheting in my design office. It is super cuddly.

If you are wanting to make this afghan you may not be able to find the August issue on newsstands any longer. You can get back-issues or subscribe to the digital version of Crochet World at their website. A digital subscription gives you access to 2 year’s of digital back issues as well as the current issue.

Ruffled Rose Pin

November 12, 2013November 12, 2013Crochet, Crochet Design, How Tos2 Comments

So November is zipping along already and that means big holidays just around the corner. I’ve been preparing for our Thanksgiving, ordering our turkey and coordinating with family members for getting together.

Thanksgiving is the usual starting gun for me for my Christmas panic. Suddenly it’s time for Holiday parties, school programs, and family coming to visit. This year Thanksgiving is falling a bit later in the month, so I am trying to get myself motivated early.

I was very excited to be reminded of a design I created for Red Heart Yarns: Ruffled Rose Pin. This fun little pin takes about 4 yards of smooth worsted weight yarn (sample used Red Heart Soft Yarn), and 15 yards of Red Heart’s Boutique “Sassy Fabric” yarn. You can get 2 pins out of one skein of the Sassy Fabric, and it comes in 9 different styles/colors.

You could even substitute their “Sassy Lace” that comes in 7 different colors.

Working with a “yarn” like these is a bit different. I’m always fussing at the raw end of the fabric strip, I like my projects to look tidy and neat when I finish. I discovered some nifty tricks as I developed this design, I hid the ends inside the backing.

As you can see in the above photo the back of the pin looks as nice as the front (my grandmother would be so proud of me).

Even with the finishing work on the back of the pin, this is a quick little project, perfect for a last-minute gift. It took me about 30 minutes from start to finish to make the Lace version of my Ruffled Rose Pin. Granted, I am a very speedy crocheter, but even someone working at half my speed can finish a couple of these in an evening.

Edited to add: You can find the pattern at RedHeart.com in their Free Patterns.

Unforgettable Granny Fans

November 10, 2013September 29, 2015Celebrating, Crochet, Crochet DesignLeave a Comment

It is fall and the trees down in town have been putting on a show with colorful leaves. I couldn’t resist taking some photos this week when I was off my mountain.

With Fall adding a chilly nip to the air (and the snow we have had up here on my mountain) I’m definitely feeling the holiday season just around the corner.

MainlyCrochet Photo — Photo courtesy of MainlyCrochet.com

Which is why I’m so excited to share my design the “Granny Fans Scarf”

It is available thru the MainlyCrochet.com website. If you haven’t had a chance to check out MainlyCrochet.com you will be delighted with all the wonderful patterns you can have access to for a small annual subscription fee.

This is a really fun to stitch scarf that I designed especially to work well with color changing yarns like the lovely “Unforgettable” from the Red Heart Boutique line. The finished scarf looks like painstaking color changes were worked and all those lovely little tails were tidied away. Instead the yarn does all the heavy lifting and you get the accolades.

This is a super fast project to work up for a holiday gift. You can make it as the scarf length in the pattern. Or work fewer “fans”, add a button and you have a lovely neck cozy.

Just be warned though. This is a rather addictive project to crochet. I found myself happily lulled along as I stitched up the sample.

Update September 30, 2015 – The pattern for this scarf is now available thru my Ravelry Shop as “Granny Fans Redux” as well as thru the MainlyCrochet.com website. You can see the pattern page on Ravelry by clicking this link, and you can read a few more details about the new version on my blog post here.

Good-bye Joey

October 19, 2013October 19, 2013In Memory2 Comments

Loss is a part of Life. I understand that on an intellectual level, but accepting it on an emotional level can be a bit challenging.

This past month has been one very long lesson in the acceptance of loss and the acceptance of reality.

The night of September 11th and into the early hours of September 12th, everything changed dramatically for my beloved little town of Jamestown. The rain that had been with us all week became a torrential downpour and the steep hillside behind Joey Howlett’s house lost it’s grip. Joey’s house and Joey were lost in the resulting mudslide. Miraculously, his roommate Miles survived.

I’m not completely clear on what happened next. But the first responders (the Jamestown Volunteer Fire Department) got Miles out and realized that the whole town was in danger of flooding. Thru reverse 911 calls and knocking on doors they got everyone to safe shelter on higher ground.

The first thing I knew anything about this was the following morning. The power was out in our neighborhood, but our phone was working. We had gotten emails and phone calls in the early hours of the morning that school was canceled due to flooding. The news was that Jamestown had been badly flooded and that there was one fatality. My youngest son was sick, so that was a bit of a distraction from my worry about who had been taken from us.

When the power finally came on late that afternoon my husband and I turned on the news. Unfortunately we couldn’t find out much more than we had already learnt from the radio earlier in the day. Then the power went out again.

The next day the phones wouldn’t work to call out of the neighborhood, but I could call my immediate neighbors and they could call us. Later that morning I got a call from one of my friends in the neighborhood. We talked about what we knew of the flooding. I told her I knew there was a fatality in Jamestown, but not who. She said she knew who, but did I really want to know. I was very worried about the answer, but told her I wanted to know. She told me it was Joey.

My heart felt like it was suddenly filled with lead. Joey and Jamestown have been linked in my mind since I moved up to this mountain community in 1997. He was one of the first people I ever met in Jamestown and his smile and laughter were as much a part of the landscape of the town as our beautiful mountains.

My fondest memory of him is when he would have spaghetti dinners at the Merc right before Christmas. Joey would suddenly disappear and a few minutes later Santa Claus would arrive. This was the first Santa Claus my youngest ever met (he wasn’t too sure about the whole business) and the only Santa Claus that my oldest wasn’t afraid of.

The other losses are smaller in many ways for my family. But the devastation in Jamestown has been surprising in the losses newly discovered each day. Just the loss of anything remotely approaching “normal” for any of us has been a new test of our resiliency on a regular basis. The new normal will be absent Joey’s smile when it does finally come, but his memory will live on in all our hearts.

If you would like to learn more about Joey and our wonderful little town you can visit the Jamestown Connect blog. There you can see what Joey looked like when he wasn’t disguised as Santa.

Good Morning Winter

October 18, 2013Crochet, Latest NewsLeave a Comment

The weather adventures continue up on my mountain. Though at least this one doesn’t seem to be having too negative an effect.

This isn’t actually our first snow of the Fall, but it is the first one of any significant amount that is sticking to the roads. Found myself wishing I had gotten my snow tires on already, fortunately my all weather tires handled it well on the way to drop off the boys at school.

The weather adventures for my area have been a little extreme this past 1+ month, but this is fairly mild compared to the flood on the 11, 12, & 13 of September. That may be our metric all winter with storms, “Not as bad as the flood”.

Of course the snow and wintery feel of the day is putting me in mind for the Holidays and the gift-giving that leads to gift-making. If you are crocheting or knitting gifts for folks this holiday season you are almost into the “last minute” phase. October always feels a bit soon for thinking about Christmastime, but if you are making anything large or complicated it is often too late.

When I look at crocheting gifts this time of year I look for quick projects. Hats, fingerless mitts and scarves are my “go-to” projects for gifts. I also like the smaller gift items because they are easier to ship. Most of my extended family is out-of-state, so that puts in some restrictions. This year I am hoping to make some slippers, as my younger brother and his girlfriend were wanting some.

Photo courtesy of Leisure Arts Publishing

If you are looking for patterns for fingerless mitts grab yourself a copy of my “Texting Mitts” booklet from Leisure Arts. You can find it in some Joann’s stores or even LYSs. It is also available online from Leisure Arts as either a hard copy or digital copy.

The gift I seem to make for my family the most is hats. It’s getting to be a tradition with my boys that every Christmas morning they get new hats crocheted by me. Last year I made them Monster Hats, which were a huge hit.

My husband also loved his “Dog Walker” hat, which was blue with a wide band of white. The white band included a carry along thread of Kreinik’s Reflective Yarn.

If you are local to the Longmont/Boulder area, I will be teaching classes at the Longmont Yarn Shoppe on November 9th. “Crochet the Perfect Fit Hat” (from 9a – Noon) all the tips and tricks you need to learn to crochet hats that fit every time., and “Flowers, Flowers, Flowers” (from 1p – 4p) that is all about crocheting flowers to embellish other items or be stand-alone pins.

And for those of you that have been concerned about the Jamestown community and our re-building efforts, thank you for your kind words and thoughts. If you are looking for a way to help Jamestown you can visit the RebuildJamestownCo.org site.

Too Many Thoughts

September 24, 2013Latest News1 Comment

A month ago I realized I was seriously behind on my blog again. I vowed to be better about it.

This past summer has been very exciting with lots of blog fodder. A quick run-down of the summer:

Went to the Estes Park Wool Market, where I finally caved in and learned to spin using a drop spindle.

Drove to Dayton, Ohio with stops in Kansas to visit my family and a side trip to Columbus, Ohio for TNNA.

Went to Indianapolis for the Summer Knit & Crochet Show (a.k.a. Chain Link), where I did my first ever PDD presentation, took some marvelous classes and laughed a lot with my wonderful stitchy friends.

My friend Jan can out for a week long visit and amongst the other fun we did our first official yarn crawl “Hot August Knits”. We managed to visit all 9 shops involved and also spent some quality time in Denver visiting antique shops and the Denver Art Museum.

Then my boys were back to school and it was all the busy work that is always involved in that.

Just as we started to settle into a regular routine and I thought I was going to get caught up, it began to rain.

It rained for 5 days and on the 3rd night our little town flooded. Badly. My family and I live about 4 miles above Jamestown, Colorado and our house and property are un-touched. Not so lucky were many of our dear friends and neighbors, especially those further downhill. You may have seen footage of our mountain town and the roads around it on the national news.

Pretty much all of Northern Colorado was badly flooded by Saturday morning (9/14). The worst and heaviest rain fall hit a narrow band that stretched from Estes Park to Boulder, with Jamestown the unfortunate middle location.

Lefthand Canyon Road, the main roadway up to our town from Boulder and Longmont, is 60% destroyed. At first the predictions were that the road would take a year to repair, now they are saying more like 2 or longer.

So our reality has undergone quite a change. Everyone is wondering what the new “normal” will look like. Each day as I see more of the damage first hand I find myself shocked anew. Yet I also find myself in deep admiration for all my fellow community members.

When my thoughts are a bit more settled I will be blogging again. I will be keeping this blog as my place to discuss crochet, art and crafting health. But I may need to start another blog for a space to write about our life after the flood. Stay tuned.

Rainbows

August 21, 2013Celebrating, Latest NewsLeave a Comment

I’ve lots to write on here about the wonderful time I’ve been having with Jan’s visit. But we are having so much fun it may have to wait until she is headed home.

We have been on the go everyday since her flight landed in Denver. There has been Vera Bradley, Yarn, Antiques, more Yarn, Glass Galleries, some more Yarn, Hiking, and Yarn. Yes, you are seeing a trend there. Of course, considering how we met originally it is no surprise that yarn is the common thread.

Today there was a lovely rain storm in the early evening, pouring rain with bright sunshine. So of course, there was a gorgeous double rainbow. I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to catch the double, but the remaining rainbow was pretty spectacular by itself.

More soon, including pictures of my lovely yarn and other goodies.

Running Around

August 15, 2013August 15, 2013Celebrating, CrochetLeave a Comment

Yes, I was running around like a crazy woman today. Trying to get things finished up because….

Jan is coming to visit starting tomorrow thru the 24th!

Since I want to be free to play and sight-see with her, I’m trying to have all my projects work and household caught up. Of course, trying is the key word there. Those old sayings about Murphy and no rest for the wicked seem to be quite true.

Good thing Jan is a crochet yarnie like myself, so I can do some “work” whilst we are playing.

We will be going down to PJ Jam at the LambShoppe this Saturday, then joining my Mountain Top Stitching Group on Sunday. Clearly getting the visit started off with some fun yarn stuff. Then hopefully part of our week will involve making stops at the various yarn stores that are part of the “Hot August Knits Yarn Crawl”

A couple of the shops involved are in Wyoming, so we may be re-tracing some of our travels from last September when we drove to Reno for the Knit & Crochet Show.

Will try to get some blog posts up about our adventures as the week goes along, but we might be having too much fun.