What are you working on right now? It can be any kind of craft in progress.
I posted this in another thread but thought it would be fun to see what everyone is working on right now.
Mine is an afghan for Dan. I am using two strands of yarn and it is 3 1/2 feet wide.
The colors are coffee, ranch red, carrot and cafe
And the project so far
I am working on deciding what to make! That can take me longer then project sometimes!!!
American Idol is coming and I always make an Idol Afghan ... Decision time...
Triss, what are you doing?
I guess I can call this my Idol Afghan as well since I will be working on it as I watch my evening shows.
Thats so pretty Triss and i am an Idol junkie too....need to start painting again, i miss it!!!
I just finished 5 scarves and started a sixth.
4 in 4 different colors crocheted
a lime green knit one with fringe (no pic yet)
and started a purple crocheted one
That is so pretty Wrennie!
Very pretty scarf Wrennie!
Well after 2 nights of American Idol and here is as far as I have gotten. This will be the 1st half of the pattern plus its reverse to make a block, the orange being the middle of the block and I will put a total of 3 blocks so that the orange is also the middle of the afghan. (Does that make sense?)
Very nice, Wrennie and Triss!
Wrennie - what stitch is that, and will you sell it in your store? May I ask how much you get for your nice work?
Triss - also, what stitch is that? I have seen some pieces finished on the diagnol like that, but not instructions. It does look very warm with the 2 yarns being held together.
Lynne, it is a double crochet on a "G" hook and it is a ripple pattern. Ok I just tried to write it out and confused myself. If you google Crochet and ripple pattern you can find lots of them.
It is thick and heavy and I love how warm they are. Lys and Jonny both have one in 2 strands of yarn but not a ripple pattern.
Thanks, Triss!
Looks like that's another project I'm going to work on soon!
Originally posted by plants 'n pots:
Wrennie - what stitch is that, and will you sell it in your store? May I ask how much you get for your nice work?
That scarf is crocheted with Lion Brand jiffy thick-n-quick yarn, a Q hook (very big) in rows of DC (double crochet) 1 skein makes 1 scarf. They sell for $20- The yarn is usually $7.99
Hey Lynne,
I love your idol afghan. Not bad at all. Were even still in the lousy audition stage!
I have a few things going, but have not settled into anything quite yet.
I'm going to go take some pictures of my workds in progress.
thanks for sharing you guys. I need to be energized to make something beautiful. Or at least finish a few things. I have lots of stuff not done to do!
Jane - that was Triss' blanket...
Wrennie - that is a great deal for you!
And a Q hook, huh? I don't think I've seen one that large - I bet it makes the project go very Quickly huh? (get it - Q for quick?!?
)
(I tend to get a bit punchy when soooooo very sleep deprived!
)
Actually it is Quite Quick with a Q!
That one takes me from 20 minutes to an hour if my arm isnt feeling speedy
Wrennie - I was looking up that yarn, and found it for sale on Lion's website for $2.99 a ball, and there is even a 15% sale right now if you are interested.
Look for the Jiffy yarn in the column of yarns for this pattern
Ok,
Here is what I have going on. (well some of the unfinished stuff)
My married daughter, Kerry, loves hanging kitchen towels. I am trying to hit all the holidays for her. What makes these special is they actually have the buttons on them!! I have lots finished with no buttons (mostly christmas ones)
Kohls had a great sale so each towel was about $1.50
This next is one of my favorite patterns. The back is the front. It has the coolest ripples - pictures won't do it justice.
I've made a few of these. I stopped this one when the cotton yarn I ordered came - about three years ago now. I have one put away in this pattern - it's a lovely soft pink cotton baby chill chaser -- now all I need is the granddaughter!!
Ok, now here is the sampler that I can't remember what year I started and stopped. It was either 1998, when I first found this pattern - or maybe around 2001. Got me. I did this first as a wall hanging in number 10 crochet string and a tiny hook. My sister has it - which means I'll never see it again as her kids are quite greedy. I can't give her things anymore. Her kids inheritance is beefy enough - they get most of my mother treasures... well, that's another story.
Right now it is about 4 foot square and I had decided I wanted it atleast 5' square and I ran out of pattern. I have to go it alone. I recounted last night - each side has 208 stitches - design time!! Or maybe not.... I have so many undone things.
There is a baby blanket half finished that's probably too big. It's a funny pattern to. It's made from corner to corner - Increasing until you have big triangle and decreasing until it becomes a rectangle. The problem with it is - it's more like a junior bed afghan. I can't decide whether to finish it or not. No baby could drag it around!
Lynne, I look forward to seeing your afghan unfold. I also look forward to this evening when we can all settle in and crochet a bit.
Well, thanks for your time. As you can see, my problem is my start has poor finishes!
Jane - your work is very nice indeed!
What a great idea to do with the towels!
And your other pieces look very special!
That last piece is amazing!
(again... it is not I who is doing the afghan - it's Triss!
)
How pretty....great job!!
Ok.
I think I knew it was Triss. She has six kids? Lots of boys and Alyssa? I was wondering when she could crochet at all.
so far, here is what I think I know -
Lynne, you make the cute knitted bears and other tiny things and write good narratives.
Jenn does quilt making by sharing - How cool is that? But, I don't know her name here.
Wrennie, she does all kinds of stuff. She runs circles around me! What an undertaking - planning the big meet!
Penny you're just a doll baby. Mostly so far I remember you took pictures of packages and you live in Ontario... I've never been to Canada, but I've never met a Canuk I didn't like
Oh yeah, and each of you has a willy or two.
Am I on track????
Crap! I meant to tell you I have a great Q hook afghan recipe. It takes about 8 hours or so to make a full afghan. The hitch is it's about $25-30 worth of the big fat yarn.
It's a great pattern. It has cool give and stretch. Everone loves it and I can push and make it in a day. Q hooks are cool with the right big fat yarns. Great big knitting needles are the same - fast and fun.
I'll try and find it. I am missing two of my favorite books. The fire restoration people moved stuff all around cleaning the fine layer of soot. I still can find things.
I'm off to find that pattern. It's a very simple one.
Holey moley!
You guys really should subscribe to Herschners.com
they have remarkable clearance sales. Especially you wrennie, if you are selling things - I hope you'll check it out
Thanks wrennie for telling me who jenn is..I really didn't know.
Did I get the other folks right?
I found my special Q pattern!! Hooray! The scanner won't work..booo! That is still a hubby job around here, so I will post it this evening. It calls for a q hook and double strands of regular yarn. I use the thickest stuff at walmart (I can't check the name of it - I packed all away)
Here is a big swatch I made one night (or maybe two) while playing with big knitting needles
As I said, I have a lot of yarn and I just play a lot. (Not as much today as a few years back.
Everyone fights over this blanket. It is not too hot or heavy and it's fun to play with. There are places that stitches are getting big and I play with fixing it when I sit down. I also try to hide it a lot. the baby colors don't exactly go with the rest of the family room.
I love the colors Jane, its so pretty and delicate looking
Great stuff Jane I love that sampler! Looks like you got us all right now!
I am going to have to invest in a Q hook, that will make my double stranded afghans a lot "lacier" but still warm. *mental note* for the next project!
Wrennie, Ok I know the DC stitch. How many chains do you do in the beginning to get the width?
8 or 9?? The instructions are on the label if you get that exact yarn from Lion Brand
There are 7DC's across
Just 7, looks like more than that. Will look for the yarn (and hook) when I can get to WM next, though I dunno when that will be.
my WalMart didnt have the Quick-n-thick
I pm'd you the instructions. Theyre on the lionbrand website
the $2.99 yarn is the regular jiffy not the thick-n-quick
I got the instructions, thanks. I could also check next door at Michaels. I checked out Ebay and they have a couple of auctions going on that yarn right now.
Wrennie - I'm sooooo sorry - I didn't realize that we were talking about different Jiffy yarns until I was in Michael's this afternoon!!!
Their regular price for the plain Jiffy is $2.29, so I thought that was wrong - went around to the other side of the aisle and sure enough, there was the Jiffy Quick and Thick for $6 and change! Waaaaaaaaaah!
While I was there, I was able to get 2 skeins of Bernat Baby Boucle' for $1 each - they were closing it out, and only had 1 skein of the pretty blue "waterslide" color, and a few of the lavendar "violet blossom" - so I got one of each - don't know what to do with it, but couldn't skip that bargain!
Ohhhhhhhhhh, I also got an email from ACMoore today - they are having a Warm Up America session tomorrow from 11-3 - "bring your own needles and hooks and we provide the yarn". Not a bad deal at all, since I've been using my own yarn for WUA through Michaels - which seems to have petered out for now.
This is supposed to be in all their stores. And... they are having a storewide yarn sale of up to 75% off - hope there's something good left when I get there!
Oh I hope a lot of peopel show up for you Lynne. That would be so great if you could find a group after all of the hard work you have put into this project.
I have yarn...
What project. What is Lynne up to?
What kind of yarn?
I have bags of yarn - mostly acrylics bought from Ames, woolworths and McCorry's back in the day.
I have blacks I will never use.
I just donated three big bag mostly whites. The mission store lady promised it would go straight to the ladies in Kentucky to make Christmas crafts ( I threw in reds and greens) I hope it did.
I also have chunky skeins leftover.
I have always been looking for a good charity for yarns. I tried to connect with Project Linus here, but so far no real luck. I get people who will "think of charitable uses"
I also have tons of new white yarn I don't like. I would love to sell it or donate it. It is baby cotton but it has a white thread through it. It's hard for me to work with, but, it will make lovely delicate baby stuff. Great Baptismal stuff.
I overbought baby cotton a few years back - so I have yarns that I've just made enough things out of.
Also, I have more than 100 pairs of knitting needles. I have many crochet hooks..(at least 4 Q's for example - those I like
Anyway, what is the project. Please send me to the thread that says who is coming to see whats!!!
I also talk to much
Lynne is working on rectangles for Warm Up America. I have made a bunch of squares for that as well but as of yet have not found a place locally to donate them to. Lynne was hoping to find a group at her local Michael's but it ended up being only herself and one of the managers there.
I would love to see a list of stuff you may want to sell. I could always use mroe yarn! Planning a black and white afghan for my next project, or it is in my head at least!
Jane - you crack me up!!! Are you always this hyper???
The program is called Warm UP America, and one only needs to knit or crochet rectangles that are 7x9, in any type of yarn in any type of stitch. They are then sewn into blankets that are donated to local places in need - such as hospitals, nursing homes, women's shelters, etc.
Triss is correct in that I was hoping that Michaels would carry this program out, but it seems that the activities coordinator has too much on her plate right now and I've not heard back from her about the next meeting. I've already made 35 rectangles towards a blanket - they need a minimum of 42 for a full size - that's the smallest they can make. OR... you can make your own baby blanket - any size - or a lap blanket like I did when I was learning to Granny Square.
So... I'm excited that ACMoore is jumping in now, and hoping they have a better turnout than Michaels has!
Do you have an ACMoore near you?
They are doing it tomorrow from 11-3.
Nope.. no ACMoore near me, the closest is 30 miles.. The closest Michaels is almost 15 Miles. In town we have Wallyworld and that's it. Thus, my on line yarning.
Lynne, I have been looking for a good purpose for all this yarn for a long time. It's exciting to get to know other crafters. I tried to find good uses for it on rycyle.com and got a bunch of crack pots. In other words, Lynne, yes ma'am, I'm usually hyper
That's great that you are working on a charitable project.
I'm not much of an organizer or participator -- I'm more of a donator
I got some fun fur at Michaels for $1
They were out of all the baby boucle when I went
The fun fur was $2 at my Michaels!!! NO fair!
Hey Hey...Tuesday morning has 10 packsd of bernat fun fur for $10. Of course, it's 10 of the same the color. Tuesday morning just got in other yarn too.
If you have a Tuesday morning it is definetely a place to check for yarns. And, as I said Big Lots has been getting tons (way lots) of cool yarns for a $1 a skein.
I love bargains
Oh those are way awesome deals. That is the kind of deal I need! I sure wish I had one of those stores close by. I am stuck with WM and Michaels for any craft items.
Thanks for the heads up, Jane, but my Tuesday Morning is the pits!!! It is the dirtiest, smelliest store I've ever been in, and when they do get yarn in, it's only a skein or two and usually really ugly colors and/or unraveled!
Sorry to be a downer, but I really dislike that store! :p
Our Tuesday Morning is only a few years old. I don't like the older ones either. Tuesday Morning is hit or miss... but I do love ours. But, I know of those smelly ones you speak
I stopped by Big Lots.. They have a lot (whole bunches) furry yarns for .$79 - $1.
Triss, I'd kill for a Michaels. Michaels is 15 miles in a crappy direction. All of have close is Wallyworld
I have to go about 15 miles for our WM and Michaels as well. At least they are next to each other. Not much is closer than 15 miles anyhow.
I also have to go about 15 miles to Michaels and a bit further to ACMoore, but I don't mind - it gets me out of the house!
The stores that are
close to me are 35 miles away!
May have mixed up the name
again Fun fur is just furry right?? So it was the fancy fur, with the little 'pompoms' in it that was $1 the plain fur/eyelash kind was $2.
The fun fur was $1 at JoAnnes over Martin Luther king weekend.
Wrennie, you inspired me. Though I did not have any really chunky yarn, I did have some nice soft fluffy stuff and made a scarf today for Lys. It actually goes with the fingerless gloves that Lynne showed us how to make a while back. Working on my 2nd one which will be a birthday gift for my niece. I added strings to the bottom cuz Lys asked me to.
Lys and the matching scarf and gloves. And notice Lynne she is wearing the shirt again.
Triss - you did a TERRIFIC job on both the scarf and warmers - they fit her so very well!
And I'm chuckling, because I would still call it a dress - even though I know she wears it over pants! I'm so glad that she likes it so much. Does she ever wear the matching headband? Has she gotten any use out of any of the other stuff?
That is really nice, Triss. Lys is a happy looking kid.
I wish Jonni still wanted my home-mades. Well she does but the things she wants, I won't bother with. I'll let her earn the money to buy the things I won't allow her to wear to school.
She wears the headback every time I let her wear it to school which is about evey 2 weeks... hence she wears it every weekend. I just pulled it out of the dryer last night and it was on her again this morning. She wants to wear it with no pants but it is too short!
Tina, would she wear something like this in black? It is so soft and silky, very girly for sure!
Hey Crafty ones,
I can't remember if I got this idea from something new or from the 100 or so vintage copies of WorkBasket that I have (1960-80's).
It's a kitchen towel holder. So the towel can be switched out. The loop inside is an old mason jar seal. What do you think?
I made the stitches up as I went along. They are a picot (blue) and a bigger modified double crochet picot (white).
I wil give this one to my daughter to see if it is functional. I don't use hanging towels -- Kerry is a freak for them (like her Mom-mom who helped raise her)
I hope everyone is having a great day!
Terrific Job Triss and those are cute Jane...what a great idea and i am sure Kerry will love them too!!!!!
Those are great Jane! I love hanging towels as well but the kids only take them down now so I rarely use mine.
And did you see the pattern on the towel...how cute is that...and very appropriate too
I love that idea, Jane - you did good!
I never heard of that pattern book - sounds like it was pretty good!
Good eye on catching the towel design, Penny!
How cute is that?!?
Started a couple more things as I use up the yarn I have in my stash while waiting to go yarn shopping again.
The yellow will be a crib blanket. It is just over 2 feet wide and will be about 3 feet long.
The blue is the baby yarn I have been having so many problems with. The white threads catch constantly but I think I will stick with this one until it is done.
Very nice blanket Triss - how do you do borders like that?
And I LOVE the color and look of that blue yarn, even though it's a pain for you to use! Is that a scarf, or the beginning of a blanket?
I did the width across all in DC for 2 rows and then at the beginning of each row after that I do 4 DC's all together, in the middle of the blanket I am doing a DC, chain, DC, with the DC is the space where the chain is in the previous row. At the end of each row is 5 DC's. Never have done this before but it is cool.
I am doing a little throw with the blue, same design as the yellow only with a thicker border and wider.
Last weekend I was able to get to WM and get some yarn, yippee!!!!
I made myself finish up the baby blanket I was working on. I did not at all care for working with the yarn but it turned out nice. No one to give it to yet but it is done.
Then I finished up Vanessa's 2nd blanket. She should be getting it any day now.
And I finished up 2 scarves, for 2 of my nieces who have had birthday's this past month.
I still have yarn left and am working on some black scarves and then I will continue work on Dan's blanket.
Show off!!! I can see you won't be joining UPA (unfinished projects anonymous)!!!
They are all great! I am working on finishing two things... but I could just start another
I have a ton of white yarn with that thread through it like the blue you used. Triss, I probably have enough of it to have made even all your kids Babtismal blankets!!! But, I can't even make myself finish a square in it!
I am going to make myself go to crochetpatterncentral.com and pick an border for this dang blanket!
That is one yarn I do not wanna work with anymore Jane. It was not fun at all.
I did join the club though cuz while I may have finished those things, I have loads others left to finish! I have managed to almost clean out my yarn bin though and that feels good!
It is nice to use up some old yarn. That way you don't have to feel guilty when you go buy more
Very true, and it is making a wild looking blanket for sure!
I actually sold a boxful of yarn on an online yardsale. The girl who bought it crochets alot. She designed a cool daisy square she makes charity afghans for a childrens hospital out of.
http://krochetkrystal.blogspot.com/
WOW, very cool link Wrennie. She is doing so much work and it looks like most of the putting together on her own for these afghans that she donates. I cannot wait to read more on her site.
Wrennie, I just read through that whole blog. She has done some great work. Were the squares she got from Phonecia yours???
Triss - I've been meaning to tell you how much I like the way Vanessa's blanket came out! That's the ripple stitch, right? Do you use 2 yarns at a time? The instructions I found online said to do that, but I don't think I'm going to try my first with 2. How large is that blanket? And how do you keep track of how many rows you've done for the color changes? Do you know the color changes?
So many questions - sorry!
I do not mind the questions. It is twin sized, maybe a bit bigger but I do not know on the rows for the color change. Lemme look at it and see if I can figure it out. I don't keep track of that stuff usually.
Ok it is
9 rows cream
7 green
5 cream
3 gold
5 cream
7 green
5 cream
3 gold
5 cream
7 green
etc until I had a total of 5 gold rows and then at the end I put 9 rows of cream.
Does that help?
Also this was 15 stitched in each part of the ripple. A lot of patterns I have seen use 10 or 12.
Actually, I wasn't asking so much the actual color changes that you did, just how you kept track of the rows to change, and how do you start, end a new color?
Sorry to have put you through the trouble of counting them all!
Oh gosh it was no trouble at all. For me the rows were pretty easy cuz with the stitch you can tell exactly how many rows there are as it is a taller stitch (DC). I just kinda played with the pattern on excel until I found what I liked and went from there. I like doing odd rows so that I am starting a new color on opposite sides of the blanket each time. All I have to do is make sure I pull the new color through the last part of the last stitch on the last row of the previous color.
Then tie a knot and on the first row back I weave in the last color under the stitching and then pick up the new color under the stitching on the way back. That saves me from sewing the ends all in once the blanket is done.
Lynne,
There and back again is two rows
Beyond that I use small safety pins if I need to mark it. But, for what you are doing - if you are there it's an odd number row and if you are back again it'even :grinn:
I can't wait to hear Triss try to explain changing the colors
You're right I had you all wrong --
Me or Lynne???
Triss,
We were posting at the same time!!!!
Your explanation is great!
I was laughing at Lynne - because she keeps telling me she is not as good at crocheting as I got the idea she is.... and she was right!
Triss... When changing colors you really don't need knots. Just loop it around the hook and use it for that last pull through and and tuck in like you are doing (even though I way prefer tucking things away permanently with a tapestry needle)
Ahhh ok Jane, gotcha!
I have seen too many blankets get pulled apart by not having knots so I always use them. Just a personal preference on that one.
Triss, I've never had one fall apart
and it's so hard to know where to put the knot
If I'm worried it won't hold I tighten it nice, thread it and bury it the other direction for a good inch or two.
I bury most of my threads that way. I actually embrace that part. It's a zen almost done thing. God Bless Aunt Lu - to her it was the only way!
My Hubby, the fisherman, also taught me a knot for joining on a new skein of yarn. With this knot I can clip the ends to the quick. I don't have to bury any ends at changing yarn. God Bless Aunt Lu - she would have loved this knot.
Sometimes it pays to be married to a fisherman (besides the good eats that is)
Have a great evening and keep crocheting!
I have never had one fall apart either but the lady who taught me to crochet showed all us girls how it could be done when she told us how important knots were. So I use them.
Hope you are having a good evening too, I finished up another scarf tonight, need more yarn again.
My latest creations.
Just finished up the grey on the right tonight.
And the black ones I finished up last week.
Started work on yet another project. This is going to be one of two lap blankets that I am making for Van and Carolyn as part of their wedding present.
I am using Lion Brand Wool Ease (color Wheat) and a size N hook for this one. I am also grabbing the back of the loop in one direction and the front in the other so that I get all of the raised stitches on one side. I have no idea what that is called but it looks neat. The front of the afghan is on the right and the back on the left.
Very nice Triss!
Can't wait to see the finished product.
Those look like they are going to be very nice and warm.
What size are you going to make the lapblankets?
Oh ya, Dan and I have already decided that we want one for ourselves eventually.
It is about 4 1/2 feet across and will be square. The next one I make will be a dark color. They can choose who gets which one.
pretty! I'm allergic to wool and cant even crochet with it.
I am glad I am not. I did not realize when I picked it up at first that it was wool. I am really enjoying working with it though. So no wool scarves for you, right Wrennie?
Cool Triss, I only know 2 stitches and one of them is raised stitches like that that makes a line.....I've always liked the looks of it!
I like it too. Do not do it very often cuz it does not go as fast as the every other row line or no lines at all. But I do like how it looks for this really think stuff.