Grumble, grumble, pattern, grumble

All right, I would just like to state for the record that the fact you can't copy from Word, Works, or Notepad and paste into Blogger is frickin stupid, annoying and useless!

Okay, got that off my chest. I'll feel a little better still after pouting and complaining about it for the next week and a half, but what can you do? So, because I love this pattern so much and want to share the love, I'm going to type this pattern out again. Now please go to my shop and buy something so I can tell that you all love me for doing this ;)

Old is New Again Shawl(ette)

I made my shawl with lace weight yarn and an F hook. Pretty sure it would work with other yarns/hook sizes and plan to experiment to that end myself. I'm not giving a gauge because, frankly, I'm too lazy to go measure it on the finished shawl or work up a swatch. Play around with it until you get something you like.

This pattern is an adapted version of shawl 7b in Beehive Knitting Booklets No. 9, A Practical Guide to Knitting and Crochet c. 1915. It has been tweaked to no longer be a full circle and written more simply.

Special Stitches:

Dc cluster: yo, pull up a loop in st indicated, yo, pull through first two loops, yo, draw up a loop in same st, yo, pull through first two loops, yo, and pull through all loops on hook. Counts as one st.

Beg dc cluster: ch 2, dc in same st. Counts as one st.


Ch 4, join with sl st to form ring.

Row 1: Ch 4 (counts as first dc and ch 1 now and throughout) (dc, ch 1) five times in ring, dc in ring. 7 dc with ch-1 spaces between.

Row 2: Ch 4, (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1) in each ch-1 space across, dc in last st.

Row 3: Beg dc cluster, ch 1, * dc in next ch-1 space, ch 1, (dc cluster, ch 1) twice in next ch-1 space, ch 1. Repeat from * across, dc cluster in last st.

Row 4: Beg dc cluster, ch 1 *(dc in next ch-1 space, ch 1) twice, (dc cluster, ch 1) twice in next space. Repeat from * across, dc cluster in last st.

Repeat in this manner with one additional dc being worked between clusters in each row until there are 22 dc between clusteres. Begin edging.

Row 1: Beg dc cluster, ch 1, *skip next ch-1 space, [(dc, ch 1) twice in next space, skip next ch-1 space] twice, (dc cluster, ch 1) twice in next space. Repeat from * across, dc cluster in last st.

Row 2: Beg dc cluster, ch 1, *skip next ch-1 space, (dc, ch 1) in next two spaces, (dc, ch 1) four times in next space, (dc, ch 1) in next two spaces, skip next space, (dc cluster, ch 1) twice in next space. Repeat from * acrooss, dc cluster in last st.

Row 3: Beg dc cluster, ch 1, * skip next two ch-1 spaces, (dc, ch 1) in next two spaces, (dc, ch 1) four times in next space, (dc, ch 1) in next two spaces, skip next two spaces, (dc cluster, ch 1) twice in next space. Repeat from * across, dc cluster in last st.

Row 4: Beg dc cluster, ch 1, *skip next two ch-1 spaces, (dc, ch 1) in next two spaces, (dc, ch 1) six times in next space, (dc, ch 1) in next two spaces, skip next two spaces, (dc cluster, ch 1) twice in next space. Repeat from * across, dc cluster in last st.

rows 5-7: Beg dc cluster, ch 1, *skip next two ch-1 spaces, (dc, ch 1) in next three spaces, (dc, ch 1) four times in next space, (dc, ch 1) in next three spaces, skip next two spaces, (dc cluster, ch 1) twice in next space. Repeat from * acrosss, dc cluster in last st.

Row 8: Beg dc cluster, ch 1, * skip next two ch-1 spaces, (dc, ch 1) in next three spaces, (dc, ch 1) six times in next space, (dc, ch 1) in next three spaces, skip next two spaces, (dc cluster, ch 1) twice in next space. Repeat from * across, dc cluster in last st.

Rows 9-12: Beg dc cluster, ch 1 *skip next two ch-1 spaces, (dc, ch 1) in next four spaces, (dc, ch 1) four times in next space, (dc, ch 1) in next four spaces, skip next two spaces, (dc cluster, ch 1) twice in next space. Repeat from * across, dc cluster in last st.

Finish off, or continue in this manner for desired length. I did a row of beg dc clusters along the bottom to add little scallops before I finished off. Weave in ends and enjoy!

Happy stitching!

At Last! I'm Popular!

Take that everyone who was snotty to me in high school!

Okay, I'm not Prom Queen popular or anything, but I did sell two copies of this pattern in one day! And I've sold two sets of Juggling Geese within a week. Makes me feel pretty good. Now, if only some bigger ticket items would become popular ;)

After working on tatting projects for about a week, my tatting calluses are finally starting to build up again and the thread isn't cutting into my fingers as much. I really need to stop letting the calluses soften and heal. It's a pain to build them back up, in more ways than one!

Hooray!

I sold my first pattern today! I've had a few original patterns up in my shop for a while now and I finally sold one today! I was starting to doubt that it would happen. I'd dropped and raised the prices a few times. So excited! Can't wait to tell hubby when he gets home!

Knit a hat to show your support

I recently worked up this hat for a breast cancer charity challenge. If you can't knit and would like one, please go to my shop. All proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.

It occurred to me though, that the pattern was so simple, I'd like to just share it with everyone who would like to make their own. I would request that if you make a hat from this pattern that you would please make a donation, no matter how small, to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

It's a very simple variation on a hat knit in the round from the top down. I made my hat out of sport weight yarn in two shades of pink with a set of 5 size 5 dpn and a 12" circular needle size 5. You can vary the number of stitches and round depending on your gauge, this is just an outline. Keep an eye on how your hat is looking as you work it and adjust the pattern as necessary.

With darker pink, cast on 4 sts.

Work I-cord for two rows (any more and your hat will be too "perky" thanks MissKnits for helping me figure out a way to describe that ;)

Round 1: Knit into the front and back of each stitch (knit increase). Divide evenly on four needles. Place stitch marker on first needle to mark beginning of round. I recommend that you place your marker between the two stitches so that it doesn't fall off and you can easily identify how many stitches are in each section.

Round 2 and all even rounds: Knit even.

Round 3: Knit increase in each st around.

Round 5: *K1, knit increase, repeat from * around.

Round 7: *K2, knit increase, repeat from * around.

Round 9: *K3, knit increase, repeat from * around.

Work from Round 10 on with lighter pink yarn. (If you're making a smaller hat, you may need to switch colors earlier.)

Continue working in this method increasing at the end of each of the 8 sections of the circle until there are 13 to 14 stitches in each section. Work even until hat measures 9" from the top or for desired length. Cast off in knit. Weave in ends.

Success! . . . So far . . .

Well, I ran out of the other hand-painted thread I was using on the bottle necklace again, but this time, I'd planned the pattern to be salvageable in spite of it!

It's been a while since I worked on a pattern using the needle tatting method. I think it's because I can't always seem to keep track of my needles, but I can usually scrape up a shuttle. I'm planning to add more along the edges of the split rings I'm using to create the necklace. Probably in black because it will be easy to get a hold of. I'll also add beads because I wasn't able to get the split rings to travel far enough up before I ran out of thread. So far, I like it.

Struggling for inspiration

Well, I finally finished and felted these two bags:

The pastel one is done with hand-painted yarn and the red and teal one was an experiment to see if what was in my head would work in the end. It did.

I only wish that was the story with the project I'm working on now. A few months ago, I noticed some tiny little bottles with corks in the jewelry aisle in the craft store and thought that I wanted to tat something around them to create a necklace. So I finally broke down and bought some the other day:

I have two of these cute little guys and nothing I've tried so far is working. I can't figure out if it would be better to do something around the top or some sort of motif that kind of cradles the bottom of the bottle. I hate it when something looks so good in my head and I just can't seem to get my hands to accomplish the finished result! I guess I'll have to keep trying and make something work. Updates to come.

Aren't they sweet?!

I love this pattern. I love it so much, I'm going to start selling it! Of course everyone I know who crochets seems to be busy in the immediate future, so I found a couple people on etsy who are willing to test the pattern for me. It works up so fast and is so much fun to experiment with.

But seriously, don't you just love this afghan?

This is the first one, Creamsicle Dreams. The orange yarn came from Big Lots! Awesome deal! It has a pearly white stripe running through it and it just made me think of a Dreamsicle (Chris insists they're creamsicles not dreamsicles, hence the name).

Someone liked it so much that this one is a special order! My first custom order on etsy! This one is Bubblegum Dreams. It made me think of bubble gum sherbet and those Pink Panther pops I used to get from the ice cream truck with the bubble gum eyes. I miss those.

So there they are the first two afghans made from one of my patterns and the first pattern I'm going to start selling on etsy, as soon as it goes through the editorial process with a few sets of eyes other than mine. I just hate getting patterns with typos or that don't make sense!

Easy Slippers

So . . . . been searching everywhere for a pattern easy enough for everyone I'm teaching to crochet at church for our shawl ministry. We've decided to do slippers to send to all the nursing homes in the area around Christmas because they're quicker and take less yarn than the shawls (though I'm still doing several shawls myself). I haven't been able to find something that felt quite quick enough so, based mostly on one pattern I found, I came up with the following:

Easy Beginner Slippers

Supplies:
2 balls Jiffy yarn (or hold two strands of worsted weight yarn together)
Size K hook, or size needed to obtain gauge

Gauge: 10 sc x 11 rows = 4” square

Special Stitch:
2 sc tog – (uses 2 sc, counts as 1 sc) [Insert hook in next st, yo and draw up a loop] twice, yo and pull through all 3 loops on hook.

Sole:

Ch 4

Row 1: Sc in second ch from hook and in next 2 chs. (3 sc)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next sc, 2 sc in last sc. (5 sc)

Row 3: Ch 1, turn, sc in each sc across. (5 sc)

Row 4: Ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 3 sc, 2 sc in last sc. (7 sc)

Rows 5-11: Ch 1, turn, sc in each sc across.

Row 12: Ch 1, turn, 2 sc tog over first two sc, sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc tog over last two sc. (5 sc)

Rows 13-22: Ch 1, turn, sc in each sc across.

Row 23: Ch 1, turn, 2 sc tog over first two sc, 1 sc in next sc, 2 sc tog over last two sc. (3 sc)

Now we’ll work around the sole and create the body of the slipper. The remainder of the pattern is worked in rounds, but we will still turn our work over at the beginning of every round.

Round 1: Ch 1, turn, slip st in first sc, [slip st, ch 1, sc] all in next sc, sc in next sc, working in edge of rows 22 sc along side of sole, 1 sc in free loops of beginning 3 chs, 22 sc in edges along side of sole, sc in first slip st, join to first sc with slip st. (52 sc)

Round 2: Ch 1, turn, working in back loops only sc in each sc around. (52 sc)

Round 3: Ch 1, turn, sc in each sc around. (52 sc)

Round 4: Ch 1, turn, sc in next 20 sc, [2 sc tog, sc in next sc] 3 times, 2 sc tog, sc in next 21 sc, join with slip st to first sc.

Round 5: Ch 1, turn, sc in next 22 sc, 2 sc tog twice, sc in next 22 sc, join with slip st to first sc.

Round 6: Ch 1, turn, sc in next 21 sc, 2 sc tog twice, sc in next 21 sc, join with slip st to first sc.

Round 7: Ch 1, turn, sc in next 20 sc, 2 sc tog twice, sc in next 20 sc, join with slip st to first sc.

Round 8: Ch 1, turn, sc in next 17 sc, 2 sc tog four times, sc in next 17 sc, join with slip st to first sc.

Round 9: Ch 1, turn, sc in next 15 sc, 2 sc tog four times, sc in next 15 sc, join with slip st to first sc.

Round 10: Ch 1, turn, sc in first sc, 2 sc tog, sc in next 10 sc, 2 sc tog four times, sc in next 10 sc, 2 sc tog, sc in last sc, join with slip st to first sc.

Round 11: Ch 1, turn, sc in next 10 sc, 2 sc tog 4 times, sc in next 10 sc, join with slip st to first sc.

Round 12: Ch 1, turn, sc in each sc around, join with slip st to first sc. Finish off, weave in all ends.


So far, I haven't worked out any other sizes. I'd call this one average women's slippers. (They fit me). I had a couple skeins of Jiffy and I like it for beginners because it doesn't split very much, so I thought this would be a good pattern for everyone to make their first pair and then we can use it again holding two strands together of something like Red Heart Supersaver when everyone's a little more comfortable with what we're doing. Anyone out there who wants to test this pattern and make ure it makes sense to someone other than me, I'd appreciate it!