cozy

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Since wearing braces, our daughter has chapped lips constantly. To alleviate that, she carries lip balm everywhere. It often gets misplaced, flung on the floor by the cats, or just lost in the contents of her mom's purse (ahem).
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So I was tickled when I spotted this darling, darling pattern for a crocheted lip balm cover. And Kristy's pic tutorial is amazingly wonderful & helpful!
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The yarn is some of my favorite: I LOVE THIS COTTON! #8 Carousel Ombre -- and yes, I really do think that I love this cotton.
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The pattern is so quick & easy & she has one of the most 'a-ha!' techniques for using floss to adhere to the button to the side of it.

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I found the perfect button for the closure & attached a metal finding so she can easily clip it onto her school bag, belt loop, or whatever....

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...and she now has a super cute cozy for her lip balm!

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eggplant sweater purse (and no more whining...)

Spoiler Alert ---> again! Kris from Quilted Simple --read no further!

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My very funny blogirl-friend, Kris has (I'm pretty sure) had enough of my whining.
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Whine? Me? Why, yes. I do tend to go on and on and on ( read ---> whine) about not being able to knit. So, either fed up with my continuous rants to not being able to knit, or just being the true friend that she is -- she has been very busy, pain-stakingly knitting me a cardi (and oh, my! I can't wait to see it!!) Just the idea of a lovely knitted cardi that someone is making me -- well it simply warms my heart.
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But now the problem. What could I possibly make for her that would equal such a thoughtful gesture?
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Well, it was time to hit one of my favorite books:




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And having made this luscious sweater purse once before, I decided to make this one for Kris in a yummy eggplant colored yarn and shorten the length of the purse to be more sporty.
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And the timely appearance of autumn gourds makes for a very fall-ish look.
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I actually purchased a small leather purse and tacked it to the inside of the crocheted one. I wanted Kris to able to tuck a whole bunch of stuff into it and utilize the convenience of so many pockets, but still have the look of a hand-made sweater without smaller items spilling out between the stitches.
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I do hope she likes it. I know that I will just be bursting at the seams when the mailman brings that lovely knitted cardi from her.

spirals

*Please note! -- This is not a tutorial for this spiral technique.  It is just pics of my progress in making this pot holder.  Sorry for any confusion!

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Main Entry: 1spi·ral
Pronunciation: \ˈspī-rəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Medieval Latin spiralis, from Latin spira coil — more at spire
Date: 1551
1 a : winding around a center or pole and gradually receding from or approaching it b : helical c : spiral-bound 2 : of or relating to the advancement to higher levels through a series of cyclical movements
— spi·ral·ly \-rə-lē\ adverb

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I am winding myself around hooks & yarn and participating in this lovely Christmas potholder swap. And how much fun to be crocheting this for Diana!




Seeing this fabulous potholder & washcloth in one of my favorite books, Kitchen Basics in Cotton --- okay. you must think this is the only crochet book that I ever crochet from --- but once you got a good thing going, well -- the patterns are so appropriate, so easy & so timely.


I have never done this technique before using 3 safety pins. It was a bit confusing at first when reading the directions -- because I am such a visual learner. But once I stopped making it so dang confusing, it stopped being so dang confusing.




Starting from the center point, each row is crocheted in a spiral fashion. After a certain number of of dc, the stitch of each color is dropped, adhered with a safety pin and then picked up once again once the stitches of each previous color has been completed.



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And hands down, I used my absolute, most favorite cotton for making these durable potholders & washcloths ---> I Love This Cotton!

This cotton is not so bulky like other cotton yarns. It does not split when crocheting and everything I have made using this turns out soft, creamy -- yet oh, so sturdy..

And doesn't this potholder almost look like an ornament?
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Hmm.
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Just what would my family think if the Christmas tree this year was decorated with only crocheted potholders?....

irish rose potholder

Crocheted potholders always evoke a strong feeling of simple living for me. Walking into the kitchen of my grandmother's farmhouse, I could smell the freshly brewed coffee and home-made bread baking in her oven. She would be hovering over pans and a skillet and always -- a crocheted potholder tucked into the strings of her apron.

These are the fondest of memories for me. I cherish them & try to recreate them.

Using this same book -- Kitchen Basics in Cotton, I crocheted this Irish Rose Potholder.

With Peaches n Cream crochet cotton and a size H hook, I used colors that bring to mind those images of a simple, country life.

An irish rose is such a gorgeous, intricate flower. And when given a pattern that somewhat replicates that beauty, well -- I honestly may never use this potholder (ha! can't imagine gooey cheese from an oven-baked pizza all over this thing......)

But hanging from an apron string, now that might just be the thing.

sock school

Yes, I am going to school. Sock school. And no it's not an actual building, but a place where I am learning, learning, LEARNING.

(I spotted these flowers roadside while my husband & I were out driving)

The class is called Silver's Sock Class and she presents it here with the best directions for knitting a sock. I almost gave up in this endeavor, but after viewing the pics and her outstanding instructions, I. am. actually. knitting. a. sock!
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(Okay. Don't look too closely. I may be getting an A for effort, but about a C- in technique. I have purled when I was supposed to knit and I do have some huge holes/gaps where the dpn's are separated when knitting the round. There is room for improvement, but I'm hoping my enthusiasm will smooth any knitting rough edges.)

There is ribbing, a heel (that I actually turned! yippee!) and gusset 1 and gusset 2...




and very soon a toe and a finish.

I love school.

crochet motifs

Earth tones seem to become more obvious when autumn nudges summer to an end. In fact, while grocery shopping today, I noticed on the end aisle a display that involved those deep autumn tones. And honestly, I don't even remember what the product was -- but I do remember those rich colors.

And it set a smile on my face.

So when I got home, I found one of most favorite crochet books:

....and set about crocheting motifs.

This is motif #107 in Edie Eckman's book

And motif #2

I used a G hook and the yarn is just scraps from my stash. I have yet to know what these will become. But just sitting and seeing what comes from my hook can easily get the design juices flowing. And man, oh, man! Edie has the most delightful motifs to choose from --- goodness! you'd be hard pressed not to be inspired by her book.

a knitted apple a day

Well. After frogging my knitted socks about 14 times, I figured maybe I set my sights a little too high with those pointy needles and a sock pattern that is geared for experienced knitters.

So, I downsized my expectations and started an easier knitting project.

A knitted apple cloth which can be found here. And I don't know if it was this gorgeous-ly soft cotton yarn that I used -- or this ultra-easy (but still manages to look stunning) pattern or a mind-set that I finally hit upon:
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This is not crochet. It does not involve the same tools. It does not involve the same stitches.

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So ---> stop comparing it to crochet!

And just enjoy this for what it is:

a relaxing, soothing way to create cloth with just yarn & needles.

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