Tag: Crochet

Crocheting Again
Afghans · cross stitch · Mermaids

Crocheting Again

My Time Stitching12 Comments

In my last post I mentioned working on the baby blanket that wasn’t going so well.  You’ll be happy to hear that I finished it!

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I am actually pretty pleased at how it turned out, even with all the mistakes.  The picot stitches were new to me.  I really like the way they made the border lacey. Before finishing this blanket, I decided to participate in a Crochet A Long that I found on Cherry Heart’s blog.  It is called the Spice of Life blanket and I immediately fell in love with the vintage look of it and all the different stitches that I will be learning 😉

Cherry Heart
If you want more information on this amazing blanket, you can click the button above.  The first pattern section was just released this past Tuesday (September 22, 2015) so there is still time to catch up.  I didn’t order my yarn until Sunday, and so far I have only received a partial shipment.  I am using Stylecraft Special  DK yarn that I ordered from Love Knitting.  A lot of people are using this yarn, hence the backorder.  But the rest of the yarn did ship the day after my original shipment, so hopefully it will be in this week so that I can continue.  Yes, I did start already!  Here are the colors I have received so far:
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I made my swatch.
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Not perfect, but will be ok for a blanket.  Had to go down a hook size. And here is my start:
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A lot of the gals were posting their starts rolled up like this, so I thought I would, too :). I am very pleased with my start.  So far my edges are straight and I have the correct amount of stitches after 6 rows.  I learned about those neat little holders (you can see a little of them in my picture, the greenish things poking out of the top) and they really helped me out a lot.  I placed one at every 25 stitches on my chain and into the end stitch.  I did that every row and I didn’t make any mistakes!  So proud of myself.  My next color is supposed to be a turquoise, which I don’t have yet.  So while I wait, I will be working on cross stitching Mermaid Azure.  Here is how she looks after last night:
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She is taking me longer than Coral, but I had a vacation and all this crocheting.  But I am loving stitching on here.  She will be done in no time, I am sure.
So what are you spending your time on these days?
Crochet · cross stitch · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mermaids · Mirabilia

Life is Changing…Everyday

My Time Stitching29 Comments

Hi!  I know, it’s been a while.  As my title says, Life is changing.  I am changing and just doing things differently. Nothing major, but there just comes a time, or times, when I just have to change it up a bit. I won’t bore you with details, but all is good.  And I have been stitching. Always stitching.  That is one wonderful constant in my life.  I can’t imagine my life without stitching.  So here is what I have been working on.  First up, The Raven Queen, by Mirabilia.

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This is where I left her a few weeks ago.  From the middle down is finished and now I am working my way up to her sweet face. I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Twixt N Tween from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie.  Love the Queen on this fabric.  I have put her away, for another new project; yes, another project.  I can’t help it!  I saw someone stitching 3 little mermaids on one piece of fabric and I just loved it!  So here is my first mermaid:

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It is Nora Corbett’s Coral Charms.  I stitched her in 12 days.  Just finished her last night, minus the beads which I will add when I finish stitching the other 2 mermaids.  Mermaid Azure will be stitched on the left and Mermaid Verde will be on the right.  I am stitching them on 16ct Aida Summer Showers from Sunny Dyes.  Teri, over at Sunny Dyes, switched my fabric up a bit from her normal Summer Showers.  She made it more blue for water and since 16ct Aida doesn’t come in opal, she added glitter and big glitter rain drops (or water bubbles in my case) and it shimmers and sparkles just perfectly!  Sorry I couldn’t capture the sparkle in my photo, but trust me, it is sparkly!  I love the idea of the mermaid trio and the Summer Showers fabric so much, that I ordered another piece so that I can do the other 3 La Petite mermaids to match this piece.

The last project I have to share is a crochet project I have been working on and I must say, it is a mess 😦

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I only have 5 more rows to go on this Citrus Stripe Blanket.  I will finish it, but I am not pleased with it.  It seems that I still have an issue with turning and starting in the correct stitch. The first row of each color is a stitch that leaves big holes.  I am still not sure I like them.  I keep having visions of a baby getting their little toes stuck in them.  Anyway, when I started, there were 25 of those holes across. After the first yellow stripe, somehow I did something wrong and only have 24 holes.  Where I have stopped, I only have 22 or 23.  So clearly, my crochet skills are not getting any better.  And if I were to do another one of these (not saying I will, but I have lots of yarn left) I would not use the Taupe yarn again.  The pattern called for Bernat Baby sport 300 grams and I barely used any!  And the yarn is quite scratchy compared to all the other Knit Picks yarns that I used.  They are so soft.   I would definitely get another color in that yarn to replace the Taupe.  I also have the border to do.  We shall see how that goes.

So, that is what I have been spending my time stitching on.  What are you stitching lately?

 

Crochet · cross stitch · Mermaids · Mirabilia · Queen

Cross Stitching, Beading and Crocheting, Oh My!

My Time Stitching33 Comments

I have forced myself to put down Mirabilia‘s Raven Queen to get back to beading on mermaid.  This is how she looked last night after 10 evenings of stitching:

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I know it’s not much, but it is a pretty good start.  I have enjoyed stitching on her and will get back to her real soon.  Right now I am getting to the beading on PR Under the Moonlight.  Here is what I did last night:

beading on Under the Moonlight

There are going to be a lot of beads on this project!  I managed to make them fit along the top border by omitting a few and and then taking my needle through the entire length to try to get them as straight as I could.  The corners were easy and look very cool.

close up of beading on Under the Moonlight

I hope to get a lot of beads stitched on tonight.  Over the weekend I started another project.  I know, like I really need another project.  But it’s not a cross stitch project.  It’s a crochet project 🙂

Crochet Stripey Blanket

I have been wanting to do a crochet project for quite some time now.  After seeing the Citrus Stripe Blanket on Not Your Average Crochet, I knew it was time to get started.  My Step-Mom taught me to crochet when I was 12.  And I was pretty good at making ripple afghans and over the years, a lot of Bed dolls.  But I wanted to get that hook out and do something current and have a “quick, go-to project, that can go anywhere”. The only problem is, I can’t remember a lot of how to connect rows and turning is the biggest problem for me.  So, I started with the peach stripe, and decided to sign up for a crochet class.  I go next week at a local yarn shop.  By then the other colors of yarn that I ordered should be in and I can continue on with this baby blanket.

So, that is all of my stitchings for this week.  What are you stitching on?

Crochet · Give-away · Uncategorized · yarn

Beautiful Result From a Yarn Give-away

My Time Stitching2 Comments

A while back, Katherine, Pillows-A-La-Mode, won a yarn give-away I had.  Here is what she created from one on the skeins of yarn:

scarfIt’s beautiful!  And the colors have that retro-Christmas look.  Great job Katherine!  Go here to read more about it.

Crochet

Surviving Afghan

My Time Stitching10 Comments

I learned how to crochet when I was 12.  I wasn’t the best of students and had quite a time picking it up the way my sweet instructor was teaching me.  But I stuck with it and one day picked the crochet hook up in a different way than she had been holding it  and I was off and running!  This is one of my very first afghans I crocheted up about 31 years ago.

crocheted afghan

I made this for my mother when I was 18 and in the Army in Germany.  I ran a one-man post office for a time and during my down time I crocheted afghans to mail home at Christmas time.  I must say that it is still in great shape.  I had been wondering if any of my crocheted afghans were still around after reading this post at Not Your Average Crochet by Hannah.  Amazingly, I went to over to my Mother’s house the other night and this afghan was folded up on the floor.  I was ecstatic!  I told my Mom I had just been wondering if any of the afghans I had made years ago were still around.  It does look a bit felted, but I guess that means that the stitches are truly locked in now.  The Ripple afghan was the first thing I learned and I have made several ripple afghans over the years. I’m pretty sure this afghan was made using Red Heart basic worsted weight yarn, as that was what was quite available back then.  Seeing this afghan really made me feel good.   Not only to know that it had stood the test of time, but that my Mom had kept it all of these years.  I really need to pick up a crochet hook again.