Wrist is healing! Started new simple scarf

Finally started a project I think I can finish.  It is a simply hdc (24 stitches across) and am using a Chroma fingering weight for the project. Nice yarn…love the color changes.

It is a bit larger now…the purple changed to a pink purple then back to the purple and now going to the blue…sort of reverse look.

Now THIS is the thing I really love!!!  I do not like the huge desk that was here in the house when I purchased it.  Am converting the shed in back into a room for all my crochet and sewing, so will have the desk put in there.  I bought a roll top desk that is being made special for me in Indiana by an Amish company.  I'm really excited to have something so beautiful (with matching file cabinet) with lots of storage. It will make my living are less cluttered and more beautiful!

Matching chair, too…will be in a tealish green leather.

Stitches, etc.

A present from my wonderful brother! The flag is almost larger than the pole, so think I will put another pole in nearby and use this one for those pretty garden type flags.  This really is beautiful!! I am proud to finally be able to fly the flag to honor our military.

STITCHES

This is the basic simple stitch in Tunisian - TSS.

I have been going through my numerous crochet books looking for a stitch I would like to use for yet another scarf.  I saw that in several books by different authors they listed the same stitch pattern, but each gave it a different name.  It makes me wonder if the stitch pattern is copy right material, and if it is, is it okay to change the name of the stitch and that would make it "different."

"Anywho" I had written to Doris Chan one time about how the "new" foundation stitch is in one of the Weldon books as a Double Chain, so wasn't all that new.  The funny thing was that the Weldon book states "Double chain is seldom, if ever, employed for a "foundation" - Now that tickled me! (Note Weldon is a UK magazine and Double would be Single here).  

Of course, I received no answer.  Seems several people claimed it as their own from what I gathered. Sort of like making claim to my discovery on how to make a beginning stitch I called Air Crochet - when Interweave gave credit to Doris on what the stitch was named.  

One of the interesting stitches in the book, that has been called Solomons Knot in recent years, was name the Lattice Stitch by Weldon's.  I have no clue what it was named years before Weldon's printed their book, but it does give pretty clear instructions on a stitch I found not so easy (but is!).

Of course, there is the 'article' that is called "A Question that all Stout Persons must weigh."  The first sentence states, "The question we would respectfully ask our stout friends is, do you know that you are seriously jeopardizing your health and running the risk of a grave disease by remaining in an obese condition?"  Things certainly haven't changed much as we continue to "grow" as a society when it comes to being overweight - I am a prime example. It turns out it is an advertisement for a book!!

I apologize if I have posted this photo. Yep, it's me.  My hair is getting almost to my waist now, and although it is probably 50% grey/silver/white it doesn't seem to show up unless it is a sunny day. I have lost 15 pounds since this photo and am continuing (finally) on my quest for a healthier, lighter weight body.  Going gluten free which isn't so hard now that there are so many products on the market now.

Happy Crocheting!!!

More scarves…….

This is the latest addition to my Christmas yarn from my wonderful step-daughter and son-in-law. Every month I receive one skein of Madelinetosh Vintage, a worsted weight super wash yarn. I hope to mix this with another skein later this summer - assuming I get one that will go with it - and make a nice large cowl for myself.

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Below is the cowl I made for my DSD with one of the Christmas skeins. This skein was right up her alley and wanted to thank her for the gift of skeins each month.  I can't make 40 scarves just for me, ya know. This Vintage color is called Crysocolla and only available in the kit for now.

Now, for the next round I received a bundle of yarn for Mother's Day.  Do you sense a theme here?  Yarn for me on all occasions!  This is Knit Picks Hawthorne fingering weight.  The set she sent me are all named for neighborhoods in Portland, OR.  This one is called Mt. Tabor.  It is a deep forest green with some dashes of teal green.  Very pretty.  I am making myself a cowl as wanted a deep green yarn and this is just right. It's simple V stitch done backwards. Will post more on it later.

This birthday bouquet is about the prettiest I have ever seen. Note the odd bright green fuzzy looking plant in the middle right of the photo.  No idea what it is but will look it up.  Looks like a flower from the makeup of it.  These lovelies were from my DSD and his lovely wife for my birthday.  It's just gorgeous!  

My DSD and son-in-law gave me this beautiful hanging plant.  It is just now coming into it's own, and assume it will be flowering profusely during the summer months….and trailing. I just love it!  They also gave me a gift certificate to the yarn shop here in town, so will be going over there today to see what is available. YAAAARRRN!!!

All in all it has been a good week. My baby brother (in his 60's!) came up for a visit last week and I really did enjoy his company. Brodie went into another funk when he left. Brodie loves company.

Lemons!!

So this is the yellow beanie I finished first.  I messed up on the brim/border.  I turned it the wrong way so the post stitches, which are now INSIDE the hat, can't be seen.  It still looks cute, and I gave it to the new owner.  This is "When Life Gives You Lemons" beanie hat pattern on Ravelry by Elitza. Chernaeva. Her "handle" on Ravelry is RubraC.   

The photo below not crochet. The "little" gem is my new lawn mower!  They were supposed to deliver it last Friday, but now it won't be delivered until late this week or early next week. I'm not sure. It's just another example of the lack of customer service in the NW area (little rant for the day)…where I am. Not everywhere.  I don't think many of the people think professionally and I'm quite sure people around here have grown used to the lack of customer service.  I find it hugely frustrating. Especially since I have had some problems with the flooring people not ordering my floors and now I'm out a month past the estimate.

Here is the beanie again in blue, and it is made correctly.  You can see the difference in the brim…or whatever you want to call it! This one was super easy after finishing the yellow one.

Now this is my new rock collection from the waters near here. Nice quiet rocky beach. My brother promised me a rock polishing kit so I can shine them up into beautiful pieces. Maybe string up for necklaces. Two are red, but the photo doesn't show that.

My beautiful Rhodie!  I can't believe how gorgeous this plant is…radiant. And attracts bees like crazy, so I have to dodge bees going in and out of the house!

One big Phlox…it's lovely.  Needs some other plants around it as after it grew a bit more it started leaning over, plus the wind will take it down.  I will be happy to have the yard looking good!

Last, but not least, a photo of the two dogs in the yard.  The yard that is behind the reason I bought myself a riding lawn mower. 

😎

And a Fine Vacation it was, too!!!

SAVANNAH, GA

I had a chance to get away and fly to Georgia thanks to my best friends husband! He wanted to do something special for her so gave me tickets to fly there for a week.  Oh, my! It was super special! I visited there a month or so ago.

This is a look out their living room window.  Lots of Spanish moss, beautiful green golf courses, and lagoons.  There are alligators in there somewhere, but I have visited many times and have never seen one yet. There has only been one incident in all the years they have lived there.

This is from the Air Force Base nearby…great big plane which flew very VERY low to the ground. When it swung by it looked like you could almost jump up and touch it.  Made several circles, so guess it was doing touch downs or something like that.

We ate out at several special Southern places, but this one had the best BBQ.  Although I lived in the South for many years I never realized that the BBQ, at least in the southern part of GA and SC, was more mustardy.  I'm used to the sweet Texas BBQ, or the North Carolina spicy Lexington.  The BBQ in this Charleston restaurant tasted like mustard relish you would put on a hot dog.  However, it was super good! Below is the appetizer menu from there,  the Swig and Swine near Charleston, SC. YUM!!!  Good to be back in the South!

This is a REAL alligator….however, it isn't in her backyard. I took this when we went out to eat at Tybee Island. It was a huge sprawling restaurant called The Crab Shack.  Like little houses all put together one after the other and joined by porches or the like.  Reminded me of Aunt Fannies Cabin in Atlanta area.

I started a cowl for my DSD, Heidi, from one of the Tosh Vintage skeins she gave me.  This does not do the color justice….or the pattern.  I am close to finishing so after I block I can post a better photo. The stitch is a simple sc-ch1-sc V stitch going back and forth using the ch1 below for the V stitch above.  Looks really nice blocked….more lacy, although NOT lacy.  Nice texture. I'm using a J hook for the worsted weight Vintage.

My neighbor to the south of me has finished his fence on the property line.  I put my fence five feet inside my line so will make a change this summer and take my fence down, then finish the back with this kind of fence.  Note the concrete…I'm thinking water protection and perhaps it helps keep the voles out?  Would have to be fairly deep for that I think. It's beautiful!

The Rhodie out front is blooming…it is BEAUTIFUL!  

The bees love the flowers so it is rather like "running the gauntlet" getting into the house.  Brodie, my big (big) Lab mix, wants to chomp on them which scares me.  

I finished a hat for a designer on Ravelry.  Just waiting for her to publish the pattern so I can post photos.  I made two and they really are lovely beanies! One yellow and one light blue. Gave the yellow one to the "other" grandmother.

😍

Crochet Blues….

Just started this a couple of days ago and should have take another photo as it is about twice this size now.  Just a simple sc/ch1/sc stitch.

I haven't crocheted a thing in the last two weeks or more.  Have been traveling and also getting the house in Oregon ready to sell, as well as having doctor appointments.  Life has been a roller coaster, so did not feel much like adding to the stress in trying to figure out what to crochet and what yarn to use.

This is a yarn by Ancient Arts Yarn Company called Tortoiseshell. They make a super darling yarn  series of "cat" colored yarns. I had a Tortie - well actually two, and both were named Pumpkin, Punkie for short. I love Torties and Calicos.

I decided to make a scarf….tentatively for me.

My DSD and DSIL gave me a subscription to Jimmy Bean's yarn series by Madelinetosh.  I receive one skein a month for a year…last month's skein and this months skein came at the same time.

This is Madelinetosh, Vintage Tosh, in two of their exclusive colors for this yarn series for JB.  I love them both but am thinking of doing up a scarf of some sort for my DSD with the one above.  I purchased a skein of yarn that is very very similar to the one on the bottom so will have to dig it out and if it is the same weight perhaps I can make a stripped zig zag scarf with it for me!

Musings…..

Finished….not my cup of tea but several family members like it!

Brodie is growing again….his back seems to hurt. I hope he hasn't really injured himself.  Poor Maggie has arthritis which seems to be worse. Looks like we are all on the downhill slide!

This is a carpet in my best friends house.  I'm hoping I can sort of duplicate it in crochet this Fall maybe. It would be (I hope!) a fun project!

Happy Easter Blessings to all!

Mandala Scarf

Lion Brand came out with a new yarn…well, new to me this year. Could be a year old for all I know!

This yarn color is Serpent, I believe.  I'm using a simple shell pattern from the cowl pattern called Astrantia by Nanna Gudmand-Høyer.

The color starts with a medium grey, then blended in with yellow, then the bright yellow blended with the grey…then the yellow itself.  It seems to blend all the colors along the way so the actual color changes are fairly gradual.   

The yellow is now giving way to a cream, then tan….eventually back to the grey and darker grey.  I hope it comes out looking okay and will be long enough. The skein holds over 500 yards.

My BFF hates the yarn, but I am working with it and having no preconceived ideas or desires. I just wanted to see how it works up.  It isn't "soft" like some of the other acrylics, but for me that is almost a plus.  Like VC - very soft (except for some whites) but because it is made up of short strands, it sheds in the air a lot while making it so it ends up making me stuffed up and sneezy. This doesn't do that…at least so far.

Also the instructions (below) say to wash in hot water and dry it hot…must soften it a bit?  I will do that when I am finished.  I want to give it a chance. Since I am going to stock pile scarves to give away to shelters here, so it doesn't matter to me if I love the colors or not. Just want it to keep someone warm! Below are the care instructions from the Lion Brand site.

Care	Machine Wash, Machine Dry
Care Detail	Items made from this yarn may be laundered through the use of hottest available water, detergent or soap, agitation, and a machine designed for this purpose. A machine dryer may be regularly used at the hottest available temperature setting.

Peachy Keen Scarf

This scarf is about 6" wide.  I used a textured stitch to create a nice soft hand.

The yarn is Madelinetosh in Pashmina. I really love this yarn! It is a sport weight yarn. I used a G hook.

The basic stitch is sc, ch1, dc.

Base is a multiple of 3 stitches plus 2.  Ch however many you want, turn. 

Row 1:  sc in 3nd ch from hook, ch1, dc in same stitch (the other two chains will count as a sc). *Sk2, [sc, ch1, dc] in next stitch.   *Repeat to end where you will sk2 stitches, sc in last stitch, ch1, turn.

Row 2:  sc in first sc, [sc, ch1, dc] in ch1 space from the row below.  *Sk first dc stitch [sc, ch1, dc] in next ch1 space. *Repeat to end, sc in top of the beginning chain (first ch skipped), ch1 turn.

Repeat Row 2 until you have the length you want.

I hope you can follow the instructions.  I used this same stitch in the Rainbow scarf which looks better blocked and stretched a bit.  I don't think this scarf looks better opened up, but rather as a textured scarf only.

Let me know!

Soft Wide Scarf

I decided to use one of my many skeins of the Cascade Heritage Silk (fingering weight) just to see how I like the yarn.  I purchased several skeins in different colors, but have never found a pattern to use.

This is a stitch pattern, not a formal downloaded pattern.  It's pretty simple, and very much like many of the stitch patterns I use…just a slight variation that has a profound impact.

In this variation for the beginning chain you need any multiple of 3 stitches for how wide you want the pattern, plus 3. (Some patterns say add 2 for the starting chain and add one to start…that's 3 isn't it!??).

FYI: After the starting chain each side is a chain one on each row.

The beginning pattern (Row 1 after you chain the appropriate amount) for me is dc in 3ch from hook, and dc in each chain after that. If you want a wider border, do a few rows of dc.

Row 2: ch1, sc in first dc. 2dc in same stitch. Skip 2 stitches [1sc, 2dc] in next stitch. Repeat to end, with 3 stitches left, sc in last stitch. Ch1, turn.

Row 3: sc in first sc (first stitch), 2dc in same stitch. [1sc, 2dc] in next sc. Repeat to end, sc in last stitch.  

Repeat row 3 until it measures however long you want it.  Last row is dc in each stitch.

If my instructions are a bit confusing let me know and I will clarify them.

My scarf is about 7" or 8" across, very light-weight, and feels super soft.  I am using a G hook.

"Rainbow-ish" Scarf with Noro

Above one 1/2 skeins used.

Below the second skein finished and ends sewn in.

I had some left over Noro yarn from something….don't remember what. Might be what Nancy sent to me.  I have a hard time crocheting with Noro as it is wound funny…I think it is wound just the opposite of what other European companies wind theirs because while using it the yarn gets more and more wound up.  Drives me a little crazy.

I used both skeins to make the scarf.  I used the same stitch as I did on the Peachy Keen scarf (Posted above).  It is 3 stitches for each patterned stitch, plus1, plus 2 for the base. The stitch pattern is sc, ch1, dc.  Each end has a sc at the beginning and end. Turn, ch1. Simple.

This scarf should be blocked as the stitch doesn't look quite as neat and textured as it does in the DK yarn.

It goes in the gift pile!

A Blue Jean Scarf for the Girl

I made this infinity scarf for my DSD.  I'm not all that sure that I like it, but it did block out looking much nicer than NOT blocked.  I love the material and colors, but not thrilled with the stitches I used. No pattern.

It is on it's way to it's new home, so hopefully she will like it better than I do.

With Love Shawl

My shawl made from the Anna shawl pattern on Ravelry.  

This will go to charity.  I plan on making several to take to a cancer clinic for the mom's of the children with cancer, per the designers wishes.