Crochet Swap!

I got my crochet swap partners for the Crochetville !!!

I was confused at first, cuz she gave me two names, and I thought that I just traded with one other person, but apparently it's a circle thing. So I'm making a bag for Stephanie :) I'm still kinda trying to figure out what to make, although I have a few possibilities. Her form she filled out says she wants a Tote. Hopefully I can pick something she'll like :)

Christmas Stocking - Finished!

It's done! For the second photo I stuffed it full of plastic sacks to get what it will look like filled with Christmas presents!

I'm really happy with how it turned out :)

If anyone wants the pattern, it is at FreePatterns.com. You have to have an account to see the patterns, but it's free. Just go to the Crochet section, than Special Occasions; I think it's on the 3rd pages of patterns. I made a couple modifications, but it's basically the same.

Stocking Update

An updated view of the stocking:



I wove in all of the ends so far and sewed on the Christmas trees. I also made the little tree that will hang from the top. I am going to e-mail my aunt and ask her about the extra motif before I do any more.

EDIT: I got the OK to do the extra checked motif, so I'll probably be finishing up the stocking tomorrow!

Christmas Stocking - In Progress

So I've gotten really far on the Christmas Stocking. This is how it looks right now: (Sorry the photo quality is kinda bad; I'll get a better photo when it is done, tho; it's kinda angled, too, so the top looks smaller than it should.)



I had some trouble figuring out how to do the name. First I just crocheted it in, but it wasn't very legible. So then I decided to try to crochet over the top of that to make it more legible, and this is what I ended up with:



Ugly, huh? I thought so, lol. So then I decided to try to do just that part of the stocking with Afghan Stitch. The name was perfectly legible, but I stitched it WAY too tight (wish I could show you; I frogged it to save yarn; I can't believe I didn't notice it until I had finished the name...). I didn't have a proper hook for that, which is probably why it got so tight. So then I decided just to crochet the part white and cross-stitch the name over it. This is how the pattern had you originally doing the heart design that was meant to be on the white band. So I'm thoroughly chastised for not trusting and following the pattern, lol... Anyways, here is how it looks now:



Much better, eh? LOL... Teach me to not trust a pattern...

I still have the Christmas Tree to crochet and sew onto the big white part, and the little Christmas Tree that will hang from a string off the top, and the top has a little bit more that the pattern has you add at the end (another row of red, then two rows of white). I've actually been thinking maybe I should do another checked motif above the name, but I've gotta get my Aunt Sue's okay on that first. Then I have to sew the side up and weave in all the ends!

Beginning Commissions

So I began some of the things that I HAVE to do, since I'm going to be paid for them. I am almost done with the dog pillow for Donovan's mom. It's taking a little while longer than the others, since I'm giving it fur by latch-hooking. I started it last night, tho, and am almost finished. Pics when I'm done :)

I also began the X-mas stocking tonight during K&C Club. It's progressing amazingly quickly! I am already halfway down the shaft of the sock (or whatever it's called; that's just how I'll describe that part of the sock).

More flea market finds!

Hubby & I decided to check out a nearby flea market, and I hit the jackpot with crochet magazines/booklets! There were TWO stalls with them, and one had a corner FULL of them. I sat there all happy looking through them for quite a while :) Found some good stuff.

• Coat's & Clark's "Baby Fashions to Knit & Crochet", Book No. 191 (co. 1969) - lots of cute baby patterns


• Woman's Day "Granny Squares" (1974) - this one has a lot of promising patterns in it! :)


• "Smart Crochet: Fashions & Home Decorating" (1955) - more cute baby patterns


• "Modern Needlecraft" (Fall/Winter 1966) - has a cute top and some cute baby things


• "Woman's World Knit & Crochet" (Spring 1973) - has a cute top I want to modify


• "Smart Crochet" (1953) - more cute baby things


• Leisure Arts "Christmas Stockings for the Family", Leaflet 301 (1984)


• Leisure Arts "Crocheted Potholders", Leaflet 281 (1983) - some really cute potholders, including a chicken, a pig, an apple w/ a worm, a rainbow, slice of watermelon, a heart, and a few more

I'm quite thrilled :) Now I just need time and my shoulder to heal! LOL :)

There was another woman who came in and was looking for poncho patterns to make for her grandaughter. She didn't have time to stay and look thru them all like I was, so I told her to ask her daughter to look up patterns on the internet, and told her to have her pull up CrochetPatternCentral.com, and she wrote it down. Hopefully she'll find some things she likes :)

Daffodils!

So I found a bunch of crocheted flower patterns, and I've made two daffodils:



The stems were a PAIN. I bought floral wire stems and some of that floral tape, and the tape was all sticky and annoying, so I coated them with a thin layer of glue. The center part of the daffodils isn't as 3D as I would've liked. Oh well!

In other news, I talked to Emily (the K&C Club president), and she agrees with me about the name for the sale, and we are going to change it. Yay!

Headscarves!

I've finished 3 headscarves so far! Here are some photos. There is a pink one, a black one (which you can't really see, sorry...), and a blue one with a white ruffle.



The blue one with the ruffle is my favorite :)



Whatcha think? Think they'll sell?

Magazines and K&C Club Sale

So I sent in a little while ago for a free issue of Crochet! magazine to see what it was like. It is awesome! It is totally packed with patterns! So I've signed up for a years subscription *grin* Hopefully it will be as wonderful as I think it will be! There's a dress called "Nightfall" in this issue that I'd like to think I'll make some day, and I'd like to try making the curling ribbon flowers.

So the K&C Club has set up a date for our next sale. It has been decided that we are going to give a percentage of the money to breast cancer research. Guess what they've decided to call it? "Knits for Tits"... No, this was not voted in, it was one of those spur of the moment jokes that someone decided to keep. I personally think it's a bit offensive. Donovan felt it was very offensive, and said that if he had a friend or family member with breast cancer he would be very offended and upset. What do you guys think? I think I'm gonna try to broach this topic with the club president, since she's one of my good friends... I don't think they'll change it, tho. Despite the derogatory name, and even tho I'll feel ashamed to sit behind the table running it, it is for a good cause so I am making some things. I've gone thru my patterns to find some simple things I can make up quick, because I don't have time to make any more major things. Today I whipped out a couple of headscarves (in solid colors, tho, not multi-colored like in the photo for the pattern). They each only took me a little over an hour. I'm gonna make more of them. I'm also thinking of trying a hacky sack, and if it's not too hard I'll make a few more, cuz I'm almost positive those would sell. We have some avid hacky-sackers in the art department here! If I have time I might also make some simple stuffed animals, like the Amigurumi Bunny & the Hello Kitty doll. If I can figure out where to buy flax seed I might make some Comfort Packs. I dunno how much of this I'll actually get done, but we shall see.

My shoulder is still bothering me... I really need to go into the health center, but I'm afraid I'm gonna sit in the waiting room for 90 minutes to have them just give me a pain killer and say to wait it out, even tho it's been 5 1/2 weeks since it started hurting & it isn't any better... I should drag myself in their tomorrow before my painting class... I need to pick up a prescription anyways... *sigh* I want it not to hurt when I crochet! I could get SO much more done...

My new books, etc!

So now I'm gonna show off all of the new books/booklets and magazines I got last weekend! I took some photos of the things that I really want to make. Of course, there are more things. Here is what I got from the flea market:

• "Ponchos & Parkas" - has 8 patterns; I'm not much of a poncho person, so I don't know if I'll ever use this one; I don't know what year it's from, but it's gotta be the 70s or 80s from the hairstyles
• "McCall's Needlework & Crafts", Summer 1978 edition - this one it one of my favorites that I got; it has a lot of neat stuff!
• "Craftworks for Home" August 1992 edition
• "Crafts", September 1986 edition
• "Better Homes & Gardens: Needlepoint" - don't know if I'll ever use this one, but who knows?
• "Paula Vaughan's Rose Garden" - a very cute cross stitch book with flower patterns
• "Pansies in Profusion" - very pretty cross stitch patterns
• "Inspiration for Everyday" from the Stoney Creek collection - cross stitch
• "Noah's Ark for Baby" - really cute baby designs; I might use this one some day!
• "Sunbonnet Babe" - cross stitch patterns
• "Think on these Things" - cross stitch booklet with verse-inspired patterns
• "Cover Your Buns" - cross-stitch designs for cloth napkins
• "Just CrossStitch", March-April 1985 issue
• "Just CrossStitch", August 1993 issue
• a leaflet for an "Old-Fashioned 'Windowpane' Knitted Afghan"
• "Christmas Cross-Stitch Decorations & Gifts" - 1997 holiday issue of "The Cross Stitcher"
• "Kitchen Stitchin" - cross stitch & needlepoint designs
• "Shaker Apple Basket" - cross-stitch pattern
• "Country & Colonial Stitches: Winter Solstice" - cross-stitch pattern
• "Colonial Fruit Theorem" - stylized cross-stitch patterns of fruit
• "United in God's Love" - 11 cross-stitch marriage samplers; I might make some of these
• "Omnibook of Florals" - an awesome cross-stitch book of flowers

I might be interested in selling some of these, so if you are interested leave me a note and I will contact you.

The things I got from my grandma:

• "The Workbasket", Aptil 1984 edition
• "Coats & Clark's: Old & New Favorites" - some gorgeous crochet patterns for table linens and bedspreads; I don't know if I'll ever have the patients to do anything so intricate!
• "Festive Tatting" - snowflakes and ornaments
• "Woman's Day Book of American Needlework" by Rose Wilder Lane, 1963 (daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder!) - very awesome, and sure to be useful, book!

So I'm excited. Here are some photos of some of the patterns I want to do:

Cute stuffed toy patterns! :

I love the pink and white dress on the right! :

New Stuff!

I was down in Louisville over the weekend and went to their flea market at the fair grounds. I was just kind of looking around to see if I might find some crochet pattern books, and I found one table that had a small stack of crochet, cross-stitch, and embroidery books and magazines. The woman there saw me looking through them and said she'd sell all of it to me for $2! So of course I took it, hehe. There are some cute patterns I want to try :) My grandma (who I was visiting) also gave me some old books that belonged to her mother. One of them was on tatting. Today when I was at Hobby Lobby I bought a tatting instruction book and a bobbin and some crochet thread and am gonna try it. Something new :)

First Swap!

I signed up for my first swap yesterday! I'm doing the purse/tote swap at Crochetville. I thought it would be really cool :) We don't get our assignments until October 1st, tho, so I have some waiting to do. By then my shoulder should be all better and I can work on stuff! It hasn't hurt at all today. I'm just gonna keep avoiding overusing it. I tried to crochet two days ago and made it hurt again... Blah, this is so annoying! There's not K&C Club this weekend cuz the school is locking the Student Center for Labor Day weekend. Phooey on them. But it's okay, because my hubby and I decided last minute we're gonna go somewhere, so it's all good!

Oh, I also signed up for some crochet blog webrings :) I want to find other blogs to look at and have people come visit mine! So far I've been officially accepted into one of them.