Crochet Multi colored star blanket

I've always liked the star pattern. This is a 5 point and based on a pattern tutorial by Mikey. Its really easy and once you get it started its one of those repetitive, relax and do on auto pilot patterns. What I was looking for was a project to use up the many balls of yarn I have collected. After doing many "tapestry" style blankets I have an over abundance of Sm , med, and lg balls of many colors of yarn

That is my bag of balls AFTER completing the blanket to the size you see in the pics. Its what my sleeping bag came rolled up in, like the bags that comforters and bed sets come in. They are perfect for projects as you can see exactly whats inside even if their stacked in the closet or something.

The first thing I did was dump all those balls on the floor and separate by color, then by shade. I picked out several balls of ascending size that would make up whole rounds of the center few rings. I got 14 rings out before I used most of the large balls, There where a few colors like blue and black that I had alot of small balls for I saved those knowing that from the middle out I was going to use up the one or 2 small balls of color that wouldn't make a full round of the blanket. But then I knew I could make a band of blue of progressing shades and a band of black. After round 14 I began to use all the small balls of color. color changing whenever the ball ended. I did a complete round of white then faded the blue light to dark then made the 3rd variegated round which used more then one yarn as opposed to the 2 smaller rings made of one color variation. After that came black to set of the variegated yarn. Which is where I'm at. I cant decide weather this should be done. Its the size of a lap or couch blanket but I still have a bag of balls I could go through and the brown yarn in the center was the only yarn from a skein and I could always finish it off in a solid round of the brown. Hmmm cant decide, I was going to give this as a gift to my uncle but although I really like the "granny" older style feel of the color changes in the blanket I'm not sure anyone else would appreciate it. I don't want to give it only to be seen and that ugly old blanket I got from my niece. Sigh.

Wrist warmers in brown

Well these are the wrist warmers I made for my aunt to go along with the infinity scarf n purse. This is a different yarn and not the same color, but it is heartier that I think will suit itself to more use.

My aunt is small so these are purposely smaller then I made my own warmers.
The design is also slightly different. I made the cuff first. It is dc front post stitches, the starting chain I measured to be 7 inches long which tuned out to be 30 chains for me. It's 5 rows tall with each row slip stitched to join. After the 5th row, not detaching the yarn although you could, I made a foundation dc chain of 19 dc long. repeat that back n forth for 12 rows. Use an even amount of rows so you can slip stitch the piece closed from finger tips to wrist. (5 sl st, then only slip stitch on one side leaving a hole for thumb, then finish to end. The two "gloves" are made exactly the same except for the sl st for thumb hole I always made the single sided sl st on the top side of glove, which you just reverse sides for other glove) At that pt I flipped the cuff inside out and whip stitched the cuff to the hand piece. I finished the top edge with a smaller hook and one row of single crochet. There is also 2 rows of sc with two dec in second row around thumb hole, just for comfort and look.  I noticed on my own pair the last 2 stitches under the thumb pull open, which is fine but I'm thinking the sc around with hold those stitches in place or perhaps if I make myself another pair I will leave more then 5 stitches for the thumb, 7 I would guess. The gap may be to large then though. :) Do whatever you think best the stitches aren't pulled entirely apart they are just loosened.

Cd Carry Case

Look an original design! Wondering what my other grandmother could want for Christmas, I decided to make her some Cds. She has eye issues and I figure somewhere online I can find some books on Cd to download. But I didn't just want to hand her some lonely Cds. So... tada my Cd carry case. This would have looked so awesome felted. But I didn't have all wool yarn. I used scraps and made a circle increase. Oh how i hate the slip stitch line.

The case is 71/2 in wide and 7 in high with 2 in extra for the handle height. It's large enough to hold a Cd player and headphones and couple of Cds. Since she listens to books and not music I'm not worried about her having massive amounts of Cds to tote around. But you could line this and provide separate pockets. I may still add a small pocket to the inside to carry extra batteries It will probably just be a circular piece sewn to inside center.

I was originally thinking of something expandable with sleeves for the Cds. I did make the sides larger at the top then the bottom. I'm quite proud of how that came out. The lg section is a double crochet join and it goes to hdc, 2sc join and a reg sc join and then back up the other side.

The join is like your crocheting down the middle of the above stitches. it leaves a ridge like a reg sc join but I joined with right sides together and then turned right side out so you don't see the ridge. It's not terribly unsightly. I can imagine a project or 2 where I would want to leave it visible. So now all I have to do is find some content to download and I can strike another grandmother off my Christmas list.

Multi colored round Cd carry case

Scraps of yarn  - I used 8 different color scraps
Med to small ball of MC color for boarder, join, and handles
I* and H hook

* you don't have to use the I hook, I just began the project with that hook and realized it was larger then I wanted. The centers only (R1&2) were made with the larger hook in my version

Bobble stitch : (yo, insert hook in st, pull up lp, pull thru 2 lps) repeat 3 times total in same st, yo, pull thru 4 lps on hook

You will be using dc joining and sc foundation stitches- both can be found in tutorials online.

Also note my bag has a bit of buckle in it, probably too many increase rounds, you could try adding a sc only round somewhere  between 3 or 5. But there was also a suspicious yarn, the yellow was from my mom's stash and could well be older then me and god knows what its made of.

Pattern:

My version has a color change every row from R2 to R10

Front (make 2)
ch 4, join with sl st to form ring
R1: ch3 (yo, insert hook in ring and pull up lp, pull thru 2 lps on hook) twice - semi-bobble, yo pull thru 3 lps on hook, ch 3, (bobble in ring, ch 3)3 times, join with sl st in top of semi-bobble
R2: ch1, sc in same st, (5 sc in ch space, sc in bobble)3 times, 5 sc in last ch space, sl st in first sc to join
R3: ch 1, sc in same st, (2 sc in next st, sc in next st) around with 2 sc in last sc, sl st to join
R4: ch1, sc in same st and next , (2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 st) around 2 sc in last st, sl st to join
R5: ch 1, sc in same st and next 2 st, (2 sc in nest st, sc in next 3 st) around 2 sc in last st, sl st to join
R6: ch 1, sc in same st and next 3, (2 sc in next st, sc in  next 4 st) around 2 sc in last st, sl st to join
R7 & R8: ch1, sc in every st around, sl st to join
R9: ch1, sc in same st and next 4, (2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 st) around 2 in last st, sl st to join
R10:(with MC) ch1, sc in every st around, sl st to join, fasten off

With right sides together you will need to mark off where your handle opening will be and mark each st change for the join.
Lining up both sides mark the same st at the top(12 o'clock), 11 st to the right was where my joining would start with marker 1. 5 st to marker 2, 10 st to marker 3. 10 st to marker 4, 10 st to marker 5, 10 st to marker 6, 10 st to marker 7, and 5 st to marker 8. It's very important to have your stitches from both pieces lined up. If for any reason there are extra st we would prefer those be under the handle.

Join MC with sl st in side 1 the first marked st, ch 2, dc in side 2 first st. Using dc joining method go back n forth from said 1 to 2 completing dc, when you reach marker you will switch to hdc, then 2 sc, then sc, then back up to 2 sc, hdc. and finally dc at each marker. fasten off

Handles:

You could crochet a single strap. 3 or 4 st wide as long as you desire and sew it into top of join on either side.

I preferred 2 handles.

from the original 12 o'clock marker , mark 9th st from center thru both sides, left and right of center. You should use 4 separate markers, as we will be crocheting each side separately.
Join with sl st in any st outside of marked area, ch1, sc in same st, sc around to first marker, you will be making 20 sc foundation stitches. (see mention of stitches above for links to tutorial), insert hook in bottom of last foundation ch, insert hook into first st past marker, you pull thru st and bottom of foundation ch, yo and pull thru 2 lps left on hook, sc around to 3rd marker for next handle, 20 sc foundation st, join as before to first st past 4th marker, sc around, sl st to join in first sc
ch1, sc in same st and each st around. (around sides and in sc over handles), sl st to join, fasten off

Make sure all your ends are hidden and you're done

This project would look so awesome felted that I'm tempted to go buy the wool just to see. Even small skeins would make a few of these to give as gifts

Baby Christening Robe

 Well it's done. I really want to sneak it into their doorway. We shall see. If i catch them tomorrow or the Christening is on Sunday were good!
With more time I would have added the baby mitten and thread bib I found to match

Winter Weather Set in Pink

So the neighbors gave my parents a "Thanksgiving Day' gift. So maybe they aren't as bad as their hellion of a daughter. So I decided that the blanket for the baby would come as a Christmas present and I'd make the girl a little something. Why I have all this pink yarn I don't know. I hardly ever have pink projects. I have 2 boys. Blue I could understand but alas I have an over abundance of pink yarn so I hope the kid next door likes pink.

I was going to make a cowl just because it seemed faster but I found the center piece of this scarf in my yarn bin. It was a test piece for a mile a minute pattern for an afghan. It was just a series of popcorn stitches I probably intended to unwind, its been like that for over 2 yrs, so why waste it. Add a few shell stitches in white and pink and then a darker border and there is a nifty scarf...in pink.

I'd been making my mother headbands which I'm sure she didn't appreciate when she told me I ought to make them wider to cover the ears for winter. I've seen these online and they happen to be very fashionable. So I altered what I was already doing and added 2 buttons in the back to adjust for size a bit and a pretty rose on the top...in pink.

I made my son try that headband on. HAh! So now I'm not sure if it's a tiny bit small or my son has a big head. So I found a nice fashionable hat to add to the set. It's called a Kingston hat and I figure with the 6 in fro my Lil friend next door sports on occasion this might work for her. It's really cute...and it's pink

Lastly we have Mittens! I really liked these. I think my son's are getting pairs maybe even a pair for me. A nice pair to match my wrist warmers and I could wear them over top. Or maybe I could just make a mitten end to attach to my warmers. I had a nice fleece pair like that once but everything of mine disappears. Hazard of being a mother I think.  So I think it's a nice set. Stuffed into one of the traditional Stockings I made. I'll make a first Christmas stocking for her new baby brother but I don't think the blanket would fit inside. I am working on a Christening Shawl for him but I don't think I'll have it done in time considering I'm now procrastinating on here and tomorrow I have an early meeting about my son, which will be Friday and all I know is that he is to be christened this weekend. And I'll probably play WOW after this. So there is a 60/40 chance that project will end up in the missed gifts bin. Shrug.

Twist Christmas Gift Bag

There is an older video for a Peppermint twist hat at Mikey's youtube site. It's made to be a baby's hat but I don't have too many of those around to crochet for. Mikey mentions in the intro about it possibly being a Candy dish and the more I watched the more I thought I could make cookies and give them in it.

As the piece progressed I thought to add a simple drawstring and make it more of a gift bag. My project used Red Heart worsted 4 ply yarn and  J hook. I did not use a starting chain but a foundation chain which is basically the chain and 1st row of sc in one. Variegated yarn looks better when done this way you don't have the mismatched edge. If you want to use this method there are plenty of tutorials out there just search 'foundation crochet' 

                                    

My foundation was 35 st and I had 37 rows, following Mikey's pattern. I also left off the very last row of the brim although you could use it and make your chain drawstring pull from the inside so as not to mess up the look of the edging.

The gold, drawstring, is just a chain. I lost count somewhere after 120 but I'd say it's likely 150 ch's long, threaded through every forth space made by the 2sc in the end rows. You could make that row 2 dc's to make it a larger gap but I didn't see the need and the ruffle hides most of it. There ends up being a loop on either side and I pulled them up and looped them in a lose knot. The ends of the chain are just woven together. This pattern would look cute any time of the year done in different colors. make a purse for every outfit. Christmas colored or not I know this one will be well used even after the holiday.

Infinity Scarf finished

Yay! It's finished. I should get a foam head to show this stuff off. The stitch is great. I may make another one for my other grandmother. I also finished the croc stitch purse in the matching yarn they will both go to my aunt for x-mas.

Croc Stitch - Exp. 3 Yellow Drawstring Purse

 Yeah I like the croc stitch in baby weight yarn. I know the lighting sucks on my pics I'll have to make more of an effort then taking shots right in front of the PC from now on. This turned into a really cute project. Shame I have no little girls to give stuff like this too. The yarn is an old skein of Jamie baby yarn in pastel yellow. It was used and I still have a bit left so I'd say 3/4 of the 1.75 oz skein for the body of the project.
I started with a ch of 80 and joined in row 2 into a circle.

 There are 4 rows of petals (scales). 3 rows of dc. 2 rows of open patterns(dc, skip, 2 dc, skip, repeat)
The first row of the open pattern at 4 equal distant stitches I used 2 dc of the row before to make a petal stitch. It's tighter and more pulled in on itself then the others but it looks nice. I may use sewing thread to put one stitch in the lower end between 5th dc and first dc of next side. But I like the look of a more immature petal on the top

 There is a slight ruffle along the top edge. Simple ch 3 st repeat around. The pull string is a long chain. I was thinking of something else but wanted something to have in there for the pictures so I took apart a small granny square I had of the same yarn and chained the whole length so I wouldn't have to cut it. But ya know I really like the long chain in there. I may add something petals, leaves to the end of the chains and just have a sliding slip knot in it.

The bottom is done in a worsted weight wool yarn. Dec dc around till the hole is about one inch in diameter and then dec sc until your down to a few stitches then sewn closed with a yarn needle. I'll place something round and stiff in the base because the bottom is a different color yellow then the rest I don't want it to sag down with the weight of anything in side and be seen

Infinity Scarf

Wow. This is turning out really nice. I hope I have enough yarn to make the project a decent length. I plan to join the ends but I'd like it to be able to lay across the shoulders to look a bit like a wrap as an option. Christmas gift for my aunt. Hope she likes it
Promo Fil yarn in brown. Same stitch as purple infinity scarf but with 10 repeats of x stitch across. I hook. Still a wip

Granny Slipper

 Well It's definitely granny squarish. The pattern is available at Bernat's free pattern page, search Granny Slippers.
I used a size larger hook and to start my ring was 3 ch. 5 left a large hole. With a re enforced or even better those rubber soles you can buy for crochet slippers in the craft stores, these would be something you could putter around in with socks on. Not quite as warm as I'd like and floppy.

Narrow Infinity Scarf - Cowl

 The purple dollar yarn from walmart, Promo Fil, made this. The stitch is 2 tr and a dc made around them in sort of an x pattern. This scarf is 4 repeats wide with a tr on each end. This is a neat clean stitch. Very defined edge. Un bound the piece was 4 ft long. I joined the ends with a whip stitch to create a circle. My grandmother can use this as a scarf or wrap it around her neck twice  as a cowl.  I like it. Hope the yarn holds up.

Croc Stitch - Exp. 2 brown purse

I was at Walmart the other day and while exploring clearance end caps while waiting for my son's prescription I found a bit of yarn for $1 a skein there were 5 in brown and a couple blue and one in light purple. My grandmother likes purple so I picked that up and grabbed the brown because hey it was a dollar. The yarn is Promo Fil and although its extremely soft (dk weight) I don't think I would have bought it if it wasn't on clearance. Below the tiny print that says hand wash only it also says, "Do not mix colors in same knit." Huh.
The skein is  2.47 oz or 197 yards the above swatch is nearly an entire skein. Its not quite what I wanted. This croc stitch consumes massive amounts of yarn. I have a feeling this will get absorbed into another project. I prefer the more delicate look that lighter weight yarn gives the stitch this would make a hefty scarf although I'd go for a much more narrow look perhaps only 3 or 4 scales wide even.

Croc Stitch - Exp. 1 Pink Purse

 This started life as a test swatch for the croc stitch. I was following a tutorial by Teresa (link is a video). My starting ch was 40. I used some scraps of yarn so the most I can tell you is the actual "scales" were made of a baby weight yarn with a slow variegation. It just so happened to be the dk pink came out in the middle there. Totally unplanned but looked so nice I thought I'd make something of it. The back is a panel of dc along with handles made with red heart worsted weight in pink.

The purse ideal actually came from someone else who used the same video tutorial for a babe hat. While looking through her blog I found a tutorial for a Bag handle the front of which was a croc stitch panel. My handle is a bit thicker but you get the general ideal from the video. I would have made both sides the croc stitch if I'd had more of the yarn. The silver there is an old fabric I had that will someday be a lining for the purse. perhaps a zipper as well if I'm feeling adventurous.

I've seen other ways of doing this stitch and I have to say Teresa's version is so far the best, for me. Maybe it's easier for some to make a whole line of V stitch and skip every other one but with all the yarn you use, and this stitch uses alot of yarn, why waste any when one dc will do. I suppose there may be confusion over the ending as well but all I can say is practice. Use old yarn and work it out over a few rows. You'll find what works best for you and you'll see the pattern at the end of rows.

Easy Slippers

These were definitely easy. Basically a rectangle folded in half with one end cinched together. I found the pattern at Bev's Country Cottage . My version uses an I hook. My starting chain was 36. I increased to get a larger size but with the bigger hook I should have stayed with 32 or 34 as the slipper is slightly large for my ladies size 10 foot. I used 2 strands of worsted weight yarn for rows 1-5 and 11-15 and added a third strand for rows 6-10(which ends up the bottom of your slipper). Cinch the end and turn inside out. A single row of sc around opening with my off color. I considered the cuff and though perhaps to add a ribbed larger cuff, which I was going to do after seeing how it fit. But I decided I like it as is. With the extra yarn they are quite warm. I'm not sure how bl only stitches would be warmer , wouldn't that pull the stitches further apart then both loops? I don't like the ridged look it would have created hence mine are worked in both loops throughout. They work up extremely fast. I can see how these would be a good project for donation.

Finished second pop heart

Nice tight stitches...

Pop Heart

Why am I crocheting hearts in Nov? I thought my Mom would love this. I had some bright green yarn, mom's fave color, and this sure looked like a stocking stuffer.

The bear from last post is holding the pop heart. The pattern is currently free at Diana Buss's blog site. It's copywrited, which is too bad these would have been really cute for my Son's school craft fund raiser(Jan-Feb). I made a second for a friend but I think I'm going to leave it unstuffed with a tail. She likes to do things with scents, oils, potpourri, ect. I'm sure she will find a way to incorporate that into the stuffing.

There are some things I'd like to note to help you along. The pattern is simple and straight forward. I almost wish american patterns were written this way. But incase you need the extra words m2 = 2 sc in same stitch. LOL I printed my copy out and added stitch counts for each row. It helped a little. Unless your capable of keeping perfect count of stitches I firmly recommend you use something to mark your rounds. I found if you leave long enough tails you can use the center string for each cup and then after you join use the tail from joining the 7 stitches. All I do is pull the yarn a bit through the first stitch or each round. Normally I would use a bit of yarn of some contrasting color making it easy to see. All those pins and clips just get in the way. You dont have to use something fancy to just mark a stitch. At the bottom of the post I'll leave a list of end counts for the rows. Even with the counts and marking my stitches I still messed up both hearts somewhere between rows 15 and 20. The first time I kept unraveling the work. I think I was just tired. cause I never figured out what I did wrong. The second heart I was like pfft. When I came up with 1 extra st I worked in and extra dec. no biggie the heart still looks great. I originally counted the stitches because I couldnt find my error and wanted to make sure the counts were right. Make sure your making the stitches relatively tight. The dec and the stitch after tend to have a longer loop and any loose stitches will show the stuffing thru.

The last pic is up to the 25th round. I'll stuff and shape the cups and finish it to 28. Then I'll weave the ends to make it more of a drawstring closure. That way my friend can add whatever they like and or change it.

BTW the double ring at the beginning made a nice job of closing up the ring, I'll definitly be using that elsewhere.

Round / ending stitch count

cup A

1/6

2/12

3/18

4/24

5/30

6/33

7/36

8/36

9/39

10-11/39

cup B

1/6

2/12

3/18

4/24

5/30

6/36

7/39

8/42

9/45

10/45

11-13/48

14/73

15/69

16/65

17/60

18/55

19/49

20/42

21/36

22/30

23/24

24/18

25/18

26/12

27/12

28/6

29/5