Tunisian Crochet

While I was looking to brush up on my Tunisian crochet skills so as to be prepared to help members of my knit & crochet group as they learn, I stumbled upon a great pattern/tutorial. It is a Tunisian Washcloth Sampler, complete with links to videos showing how to do each stitch. Not only did I get to practice my technique, I got to try some new-to-me stitches. The results are wonderful with an edge of single crochet.

 

Tunisian Washcloth Sampler by Maxine Pike on Ravelry.

Lunch time

...and this little piggy went to lunch. He was not happy when someone at the table was eating bacon on his hamburger, but otherwise he had a good time sneaking sips of Dr. Pepper and generally being cute.

And it might be coincidence, but the wind picked up fiercely the night he was completed. I think there may have been a big, bad wolf lurking outside and attempting to huff and puff and blow the house down.

This small crochet pig was finished in a few hours. I think I spent way too much time figuring out how I wanted to embroider the eyes. I will have to break down and purchase some cute embellishments for the stuffed animals I knit and crochet.

Project updates

I've been doing a lot recently. I finally finished my spider socks for Gregory.

I learned that it's pretty easy to add a design to a basic sock pattern and have it turn out great. Purling in the round on two circulars is just as easy as easy as knitting in the round, but I have to keep tension when I switch needles to avoid getting a 'ladder'.

My cabled gloves are also done. The hardest part was figuring out how to make the left glove properly since the pattern did not make it clear.

Now I have gloves, a hat, and a scarf all in the same color! And since brown goes with just about any color, I should be set no matter what color coat I end up with for next winter.

So, I'm still in the middle of several projects. I've got a blanket I'll probably be working on slowly when the weather isn't too warm. Plus, I'm trying toe-up socks with the yarn left over from making the spider socks. I still need to finish up the spider bag. And I've started to crochet Benny the Monkey. I did this pattern once before so I know it will turn out great.

Blankets for charity

Monday night was 'charity night' for The Cuyahoga Falls Knit & Hook Group. In the spirit of things I brought two blankets to donate. One was a small blanket done in Tunisian crochet. I don't think I have any pictures of that one, but I made it last year and haven't found anyone to give it to, so to charity it goes. The other blanket was made specifically for charity. I started making granny squares and discovered I had made enough for a good size blanket. I was eager to try out a different edging, and the bows came out wonderfully. They really added a nice touch.

Cold Weather Inspiration

The recent bout of cold and snow has inspired me to finish up the blanket I've been working on since before Christmas.

Slippers for Charity

After finishing the first pair of slippers for the crochet along The Cuyahoga Falls Knit & Hook Group, I decided to whip up a second pair really quick.

Another finally finished project

It has been quite some time since I undertook the task of sewing together squares crocheted by someone who passed away. One of the main roadblocks for me was when the project was no longer portable. I do a lot of my crafting away from home, so portability is a plus. I also found myself a bit too perfectionist with matching the squares up and trying to make the whole thing perfectly rectangular. In fact, I was unhappy with the results until I finished putting a slightly ruffled border around it, which made me forget it was not perfectly rectangular.

Blankets for Christmas!

I was able to get three blankets done in time to give away as Christmas presents. One was knit with Patons Mosaic yarns. I was quite pleased with the result. It took the most time of the three.



The other two were the Waterfall Throw from the Lion Brand Yarn website. Since they were made with the ridiculously large crochet hook, they were finished rather quickly.





As if that was not enough of the blanket mania, I'm crocheting a zigzag pattern. Plus I'm working on sewing some square together. My next project should be something different.

So, what have I been doing?

I've been knitting and crocheting.

My knitting has been socks lately. I whipped up a couple pair for me, and now I'm stalled on a pair for my husband. But I shall resume work shortly on those. Once I finish up the first, the second should go quickly.

Here is a picture of one of the socks I made two at a time on circular needles.


Here is my Socks A La Carte creation:


The past couple of weeks I've been crocheting up a storm. Well, more like a picnic. My son took a liking to crocheted food items and I've been going to town.


And, I crocheted a monkey. Monkey, monkey, monkey!

Flower Time

Here are my creations for the Cuyahoga Falls Knit & Hook Group's flower exchange.  I did a project for both the afternoon and evening group.

The first project came about when I saw a pattern for a small bag with a leaf pattern down the center front.  I went ahead and did the pattern on the back as well (why make it simple?).  Then I added some little flowers to the front.  Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome.  The drawstring is a crochet chain instead of ribbon.




The next project came about the opposite way.  I started with a crochet flower, then wanted to add it to a plain pouch.  When I started knitting the pouch, it turned out quite by accident to be credit card size.  I'm thinking I may do some of these little pouches with flowers or other decorations for gifts. 

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Pumpkin glory

In a flurry of knitting and crocheting, I created a pumpkin patch:



It won me the cute scarecrow next to it!

Finished!

He really did offer to wear it while I took a picture. He doesn't look thrilled about it, but he did volunteer. I finished up the Feather and Fan Scarf that I've been working on. I like the colors. The only problem was my tension loosened up as I worked so one end is bigger than the other, but it isn't too noticeable.

I've got a couple projects going right now. I'm still working on my crochet shirt, and I just started a poncho that will hopefully turn out the right size to fit my son. I did check my gauge, so as long my tension remains constant I should be okay.

Bookmark swap

Here are pictures of the bookmarks I got from the Cuyahoga Falls Knit & Hook Group bookmark swap.


I made two bookmarks for the swap (one for the afternoon swap and one for the evening swap). I improvised a pineapple design, each a bit different.

Stack O' 7x9

Here's a stack of squares for Warm Up America. I finally weaved in the ends today. Some were crocheted, some were knitted.

Crochet Time

I finally picked out a crochet project to work on. It feels like all I've been doing it knitting lately, and this makes for a nice change. I picked out a top to make for me. The back is coming along nicely.

Knitting Christmas

My knitted and crocheted gifts were well liked, or at least that is what everyone told me. My aunt Pat and my cousin Cheri got knitted wash clothes. My nephews got scarves (Dustan already got his and Josh will be getting his soon). Dustan also got a crochet blue dragon like he asked for, and my son got a green one. The kids were driving me nuts claiming they asked for different colors, but at least they like the ones they got. My niece got a scarf that my sister says she really likes so I'll be knitting one for her also. Jay got a crochet heart ornament from me.

The only thing I did not finish was the scarf for my son. I'm all scarfed out at the moment.

Also, the sock puppets are missing in action. I have a feeling they are in the yarn stash somewhere....

Hip to be square

The Cuyahoga Falls Knitting Group is working on mitred squares. Here is my contribution so far. My nephew helped pick out the colors. I started this today, so it comes along rather quickly. I've started one that I think I'll make white and a darker blue. I've got the white started, I just need to pick the other color.

I've got a crochet project that is in progress as well. It's a multi-colored poncho. I haven't decided how long I want to make it, so it is stalled until I decide.

I'm on the lookout for what will be my next project, but I'm not looking very intensely. I'm just sort of keeping an open mind. I don't have time to start another project at the moment, so it's just as well.

Crochet

Here I am modeling the poncho I crocheted using the Town and Country Poncho pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. I just used some yarn I'd been given by my aunt, so I'm not sure what kind it actually was. And I went with a chain fringe. My sister ended up liking this one, so it went to her.