Art, Craft and Needlework, May, 2014

[Ivy]

I made my Christmas crochet gift list:
These are for dgd-16 mos., dgs-3, & dgs-5:
1- 1 afghan each
2- butterfly pillow for dgd
3- frog pillow for dgs-5
4- lion pillow for dgs-3
5- butterfly stuffed toy for dgd
6- puppet for each of the 2 dgs
7- scarfs with hand puppets at the end of each scarf, for the 2 dgs
8- a vest or sweater for dgd
9- a kitchen crochet P 'n' C Christmas colors set for BFF: Hanging dishtowel, multicolor fancy decorative-only potholders (an old pattern), dishcloths, & perhaps a hot pad.

We give $ to all our grands, adult kids, d-i-l, & DH & I didn't exchange last year. But we feel the little 3 grands don't have the "concept" of $$, so allow their parents to buy them what they need/want. This is why I do the gifts crocheted for them, because they don't understand being handed a bill inside a card. The pillows are adorable, dgd's butter fly afghan, pillow, & toy will all match that "theme." The kids love what I make & BFF ADORES my crochet work! She love-love-loves items crocheted for her kitchen, too. I'm being extra generous with her this year because we've become so much closer now.

Occasionally, I'll mail dishcloths, a hat, or potholders to a pen pal, too. I feel much more relaxed about Christmas now that I've written my list on a "December" Christmas-theme list pad, too. It's in my end table drawer on top of list pads, so I see it DAILY, to keep me motivated & reminded, too.

Oh! I wanted to post that so far, with my latest new cone of P 'n' C kitchen 100% cotton yarn, I've gotten 11 facecloths. I'm crocheting #12 right now. I "might" be able to get 15 - 18 out of the cone. I enjoy the feel of cotton against my fingers, as I crochet. The natural fiber is soft & feels good, to me.

Dgson-17, was 16 last summer. He has a iPhone. (I think it's called.) He went to You Tube, to watch demos of BFF DMC cotton embroidery thread bracelets being made. They looked like Native American patterns. One was MC white with red & black CC. It was so very beautiful. He's amazing. He started college at age 16.5 in Sept. 2013. He's studying to become a pharmacist.

[Nancy]

Ivy dgson 17 amazing!
ToddlerN handed my the gizzmo to make friendship bracelets today she wanted another one so we did tie yarn collars on some of the stuffed toys!

I am trying to do a crocheted triangle shaped shawl that I started? Ivy thanks for the input about having beige yarn on hand to mix in it is perfect for this one!.

Make mittens and socks is on tbe Christmas list.
I have fiber to spin and more on order to blend.

[Ivy]

Nancy, I had a friend who's dog was hairy, but had the most beautiful coat. She'd brush him nightly, saved his hair & took it to a lady who spun it into yarn for her. My friend is a prolific knitter, knitted a wonderful cable knit afghan from the dog fur yarn & oh, my! What a beauty it was! Grey, so beautiful with the different shades of grey in it, very heavy & very warm to hold.

Yarn collars on some stuffed toys sounds cute. It'll add personality.

I'm glad you had beige yarn on hand for your triangle shaped shawl.

I crochet on a facecloth, but haven't finished it, since I've been writing letters.

I got out a legal pad, to make the title: BUTTERFLY AFGHAN on it. Then, I'll write an itemized list, step by step, from beginning to the end, what all needs to be done to finish this project. I feel by taking bite-sized pieces of it, it'll not be as overwhelming as looking at the whole tote full of yarn & the pattern. With the boys' afghans, I'm just using a variety of "stash yarn" here, to stripe a 50" x 50" Easy Patterned Throw, from "Crochet Me," website. It's a tight weave, it's a no-brainer to do it, I can memorize it easily, & doing it in random stripes takes the monotony out of it for me, & makes it more fun to do. If I find there's a color I could use, I'll go buy a pound at Joann's. I, too, like using beige, off-white, black on boys' afghans like this, to make the yarns go a bit further. Also, I've found, if I have 3 Lbs. of 1 color, I can use it as a MC on an afghan.

[Harriet]

Have pressed
a mystery flower from a pretty yellow bush,
also honeysuckle,
"sweet bush" white flower blossoms,
and an unusual purple flower of a little weed.

Never could find the bit of fern again, even though I went over that low section while out walking several times. And then, lo and behold, was weeding near my front steps and there is a little fern, volunteering! What a present! But it is so tiny that I hate to bother it. I may just take one leaf (frond ?) and leave the rest to grow. This would be called a "native woodland fern", very tiny and not cultivated. They make wonderful additions to bookmark pressed flower arrangements because they are long and thin.

[BookSaver]

I have crocheted a few more dishcloths using the "tulip" pattern I posted at the beginning of the month.

The original hook I used was not comfortable to hold. The smaller hook I had on hand was too small for the yarn. I don't want to make a special trip out of town just for a crochet hook, so I have been adjusting the pattern with a larger hook.

It's a pretty pattern and I like the bright colors in the variegated yarn. It is nice hand work for when I'm watching something on tv.

[Nancy]

I spun up dog hair washed it and it smelled like a wet dog ugh! The triange was not turning out so I have been reworking it.

[Ivy]

I'm nearing the end of my one-Lb. cone of P 'n' C yarn with crocheting facecloths from it.

[Ivy]

I got out cones of Christmas colors for BFF's kitchen. The kitchen set will consist of:

- 1 hanging dishtowel in variegated green-red-white.
- 1 pr. of fancy decorative-only (they're too holey to use!) potholders in red, green, & white.
- 2 - 3 dishcloths
- 1 possible hot pad

I continue to crochet on facecloths. I believe I have only 2 to go & then I'll have a drawer with 2 stacks of them in it, for my face! The color's are so pretty! Mainly white, then every 1" or so, there is 1/2" of yellow, or deep cobalt, or bright apple green. It crochets the facecloths into such a beautiful color.

I'm finding that Joann's, here, charges double what Walmart does for their 1-Lb. cones. It makes going to Walmart a treat to find a new color. I enjoy making those origami fold-in-on-itself potholders, too. They can have a round Cobone ring sewn to them, for a professional look or a crocheted loop. When I do my loops, I chain about 12 - 14 chains, then slip stitch in the same stitch as the beginning chain or as close to it as I can get; then I turn my potholder, add as many SC's as I can, over the chain, to make a more rugged & stronger loop, rather than by just leaving it a plain old chained loop. I sometimes think, I wonder what wooden rings sewn to the potholders would look like, too. I bet it'd be nice. I've heard that Cabone rings can wash & dry just fine in the washer & dryer, too. Does anyone know for sure?

[Nancy]

I like the quality of sug. & cream better than the last p & c that I got. I do like to find new colors too. I need a new pattern that I can do. Sigh the last two did not workout had to frog 'em.

[Ivy]

Have you looked at Ravalry for new patterns, Nancy?

I got 14 facecloths out of my 1 Lb. cone of P 'n' C. I'm so HAPPY!

I printed up a scalloped potholder pattern by Priscilla's site, from Ravelry. There are 8 rounds. Here's the pattern of colors of each round I'll be doing:
Rnd. 1: Red
Rnd. 2: White
Rnd. 3: Green
Rnd. 4: Variegated red-white-green
Rnd. 5: Red
Rnd. 6: White
Rnd. 7: Green
Rnd. 8: Variegated red-white-green
Joining edging will be variegated red-white-green.

If there's enough Christmas kitchen yarns leftover, I'll make a hanging dishtowel. If there's not enough, I'll need to go buy a Christmas color. I'm thinking about solid red & solid white to make it with a red or white big button.

I hope to finish BFF's holiday gifts first, before going on to do the dgd's or dgsons' afghans. One part of me wants to do the 2 grson's afghans before the complicated-looking dgd afghan. But, too, since it's squares, I can do squares at random to break up monotony of other projects. The sky's the limit.