Crocheted Thimble Bag

One of the comments on my old Fabric Follies blog asked for the pattern for the crocheted thimble bag that I made last winter for Grandma Ingram's thimble. Since I have never gotten around to writing down the pattern, I will put some links up for crocheted thimble bags.

There are a couple found at CQ Mag Online . The pattern is here. It is not shown with beads, but could easily have beads added. Another is by Becky Dwyer and also is not shown with beads, but here also the beads would be easy to add. The pattern is shown here. I hope these help.  And perhaps now I will make more of an effort to get this pattern down in writing..grin

Pinky Has A Brain...Free Recipe for Home Made Starch

I'm trying to finish up all the projects and get everything packed up for the Show tomorrow.  In the process of gathering up the doilies I found that some needed some quick work.  I tried the sugar syrup thing a few days ago and Boy! What. A. Mess. I. Made!  Will try that again when I have more time..;o)

I remember going with my grandmother to the laundromat when I was a little girl and the lady there would ask her if she needed starch...which of course she always did..  That lady would mix up some mystery concoction on the stove at the back of the laundry..(wringer washers..;o)  .. and voila'.. starch. 

Today I thought about that and did a quick google search... Here is what I found..  A wonderful, easy recipe for home made starch.. Can be made a quickly as boiling water.  Pinkyhasabrain.com  ... wonderful site for all the old home made recipes used for cleaning..and etc..

Have a great day!

September 2006... Crocheted Slipper Patterns

I was wandering back through my old Fabric Follies blog from September of 2006 and came across a pattern that I have used several times over the years. It bears re-posting since it's coming soon...ta da... the Holiday Season!

These easy and quick house slippers are a great stocking stuffer.  They are called Abi's Slippers and the crocheted pattern for them is on her website.. Crotiques.com .  Hers do not show a tie, but I found that with the kind of yarn that I used the slippers were a little too stretchy and required a little help to stay on my feet. (Never let it be said that I would just crochet them a little big...;o)

I found another pattern in my look back to 2006.  It's one that I came up with in an effort to re-do some slippers that I had years ago.  I'm not sure it's exactly the same, but I liked them anyway.  Here's the original blog post from September 2006.  And here's the pattern.  (This pair is truly ugly, but I got that Homespun yarn at the thrift store...tons of it for about $2.00 and I thought I would never get it all used up. ;o)

Well...that's my "Blast from the Past" for today.. ;o)  I think I'll start doing this more often just to see what's been happening over the years..

Have a wonderful day.  They say our 100° days will be back soon, so I'm going to enjoy these cooler days while I can.. ;o)

Creating A Home... Free Thread Holder Tutorial

One of the most popular posts on this blog concerns a thread holder that my sweet DH made for me a few years ago.  It's made of wood and is really good for use with a side table.... However, if there is no side table and you have to either hold the thread/yarn in your lap or on the floor, this may not work too well.

 Jim, from Creating A Home , has posted a wonderful tute using the most basic thing on the kitchen shelf... a coffee container.    I had to make me one.  I use it not only for crocheting, but also for needle tatting, holding the thread/yarn when I am warping my Kromski Harp, when I'm measuring thread/yarn for my tablet weaving loom..and any other time I need to pull a continuous length of thread/yarn.  Love it...

I think the heat has finally pushed my bad mood buttons.  Been a little funky for the last few days... my poor sweetie..sigh  So I think in response to the cold wave pushing through that will bring the temps down to 97° (we can only hope) today, I will be looking around and appreciating all that I have... my sweet DH, those warm snuggles in bed in the mornings, even the gray in my hair.. ;o)  Soooo.... for a few days we will be playing Pollyanna around here... it never fails to make me realize that bad moods are just that... not even a reality... just a passing fancy...

Have a really good day.. ;o)

Kitchen Towel Holder Pattern

I was wandering the web the other day looking at some of my favorite craft sites and came across a pattern for something almost like this.  For the life of me I cannot remember where it was.. sigh  If any of you know where to find that pattern, please let me know and I will give the author of that post the credit she deserves.

I did make one change to the pattern, but this one is almost completely the same...

What I needed:

1 metal clothes hanger
Cotton yarn ... I used Sugar and Cream Cotton  Yarn by Lily but this pattern would work with acrylic or wool in either sport or worsted weight
Crochet Hook  size I

The first thing I did was have my DH cut a metal clothes hanger to a length of approx. 10 inches.  Then we curled the 10 inch length into a circle with the ends overlapping about 1 inch.  I used tape to hold the ends together.

Row 1:  Starting anywhere on the circle, attach the yarn.  SC as many stitches around  the metal circle as it takes to hide the metal circle. Join with a slip stitch to first sc.

Row 2:  Ch 1, sc in same stitch and in each sc around the circle.  Join last sc with a sl st to first sc of round.  Ch 1, turn,

Row 3: sc in same stitch, sc in next 11sc,  ch 1, turn.

Row 4 thru 14: , sc in same stitch, sc in next 11 sc,  ch1, turn,

Row 15: sc in same stitch,  sc in next 4 sc, ch 2, skip next 2 sc, sc in next 5 sc, ch 1, turn, (The skip 2 sc and the 2 ch stitches make your buttonhole.)

Row 15: sc in same st, sc in next 11 st, ch 1, turn,

Row 16:  sc in same st, sc in next 11 st. ch 1, but do not turn.
 Now sc in each stitch completely around the piece.  Fasten off.

I used a button about 1" across.  Fold the top of the piece down until it just touches the circle.  Find the button hole and use that as a guide to place your button.  Sew the button on using either the same yarn as what was used in the piece or any sewing thread that you like.

Now sit back and enjoy your Kitchen Towel Holder.. ;o)

This is a really quick project.  This was crocheted in about an hour last night while watching tv.  I hope you enjoy it.  It would make great quick gifts for Christmas... throw in a couple of kitchen towels, a few hand knitted dish cloths and there ya' go.. ;o)

The summer sun is still hanging in there giving up 100+ temps every day.  Even the birds get all their running around done in the morning or evening..

Have much to do today... Hope your day is good and that you are staying cool.. ;o)

Christening Gown

The christening gown pattern for the new grandbaby due this spring has finally been chosen. I started it a couple of days ago and have worked on it a bit sporadically, but it is coming along. I thought perhaps I would knit it, but am just not good enough and confident enough about it to make something that I hope will be an heirloom.

I found this pattern at Angel Crafts where Lyn has links and patterns for personal and charity use. It's a lovely site. Pop over and have a look. This is her pattern for a Christening Gown and has a pattern for a matching cap.

Of Dish Cloths and Christening Sets...

Had a couple of great visits yesterday.... youngest son (who let me know really quickly that he is NOT...and I repeat NOT... 35 years old! grin Only 34... see this post..) and his very talented wife (see her quilts at Black Cat...click on Handmade and enjoy her wonderful quilts). She brought me one of her crocheted dish cloths that I have heard about but never seen. I love it! It is about the size of a scrubber, but is actually single crochet back loop only, then folded and edged with single crochet... so wonderfully simple. Done in an acrylic yarn, it cleans dishes, pots and pans, cabinets.. so beautifully... with no danger of scratching. I must make a pile of these.

Later in the day a dear friend from around Joplin, MO stopped for a while. We had a lovely visit sitting around the kitchen table. Just doesn't happen often enough. His daughter is having her first baby soon ( a little girl), so this Christening Set that I crocheted a while back will be sent to her with the best of wishes. Don't you just love little girls?

Crocheted Footies & 'Possums

It's cold again..ughh Last night I couldn't get my feet warm, so I crocheted me some footies from some left over Wool Ease yarn. The basic pattern is actually a sock pattern and I just left off the top of the sock. I didn't add any embellishment because I wanted to be able to slip on my house slippers when we go onto the back porch. They are quite warm, but I do want to learn to knit socks soon. I have put off buying the knitting needles necessary for socks... if I get them I will be obsessed with learning how and I have enough projects going ... and the stitching classes will begin within the week.

I had to laugh when I popped over to Sharon's blog. What does she have up but a pic of a possum. And what a cutie pie. He looks almost nothing like the one we are trying to bribe into staying in our back yard. We think ours has moved in under the shop and comes out every night to feed on the seeds the birds drop every day. Ours in America are solitary little guys and everything we have read says they don't stay long in any one place. I think this one is an immature youngster, so he will probably move on as he reaches maturity. This picture is not the one we are trying to bribe...grin This one was around last summer and didn't seem to mind having his photo taken at all.

Blue Basket Weave Stitch Afghan Finished

The blue afghan is finished. I find that I like this one better than any I have made because of the size (smaller) and the feel. The basket weave stitch has always been the warmest that I have found, but it always seemed a little stiff...perhaps that was the yarn I was using. This one, with the pattern laid in from the top to the bottom, is softer and drapes better. I wanted to put a larger white border around it, but alas... I was too frugal when I bought the yarn. So I opted for a crab stitch border that makes a wonderful cording around it.

Now I must find another evening project...grin

Evening Crochet Project & "Birds on a Limb"

I did get a little work done on the "Birds on a Limb" wall hanging yesterday before I took to the workroom to work on the Split Rail Fence Quilt. The embroidery around the birds is simple back stitch. There will be another round using a darker thread to bring them a bit more forward into the foreground and emphasize the beaks a bit more. The leaves are bonded on for now, but will be completed with a blanket stitch. For a larger pic, click on pic and it will take you to my Flickr site.

Another project in the works... for the quiet evening of watching television with DH... crochet in a basketweave stitch using Bernat Camouflage in Blue Frost and Natural. I find it very interesting that the Natural is much softer and has a more pleasing hand than the multi-hued Blue Frost. This one is being crocheted along the length instead of end to end and has a much softer drape than the last one I did. Using this pattern, I crocheted one side to the half size mark, then turned it over and using the beginning chain, started again to work the other side in the opposite direction. The joining is invisible, but the basket weaves are going in the other direction. This is quite pretty. I like it....