Category Archives: Crochet & Yarnies

Crazy Calming Crochet Stitch

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My apologies on this photo, the sun went behind a cloud as Sheli posed perfectly and I took the photo. The dark blur sort of in the upper left side is a bumblebee that has taken up residence on our back porch. Sheli was watching it fly around.

This is my finished crochet project that I mentioned the other day,  a 56 inch x 44 inch blanket.
I got the idea for this blanket from my Blogging Buddy Charlotte. I’ve always wanted to try this pattern, but I didn’t think I could do it. Then Charlotte posted a beautiful baby blanket she crocheted by this pattern. She said it was calming work and not too difficult. She gave a quick and easy explanation of the stitches. It clicked hope in my heart that perhaps I could do the stitch and make something pretty too.

I spent 30 minutes trying to make the pattern work for me, but I’m not skilled enough for free-hand on such a lovely stitch, so I went and looked up a pattern… well, I found some, but I couldn’t make them work either. I felt like such a gourd-head.

I was about to give up when I saw a link for a vintage pattern supposedly written as it was in 1899 and 1917: How To Crochet The Crazy Stitch. I thought it couldn’t hurt to check that out… wow, I took right off following the pattern… now what does that say for my mentality? lol The only change I made to the pattern was, instead of using the 3 double crochet that it calls for, I used 2 double crochet. The 3 double crochet made it look too bunchy.
There’s a few patterns on that page for the crazy stitch. The one from 1899 calls for treble crochets.

Sheli fell in love with our new blanket of course. I let him pose with it while I took photos.
The first person that used this blanket was my grandson, he snuggled underneath it to watch movies this weekend.

It’s a nice size blanket and not too difficult to make. I think it went quite quickly, but then I love to crochet.

I echo Charlotte’s words that it’s “Calming work”
Thanks Charlotte for inspiring me once again. I’ve really enjoyed making a bright new blanket for my family to enjoy. ((hugs))

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I hope you all have a great week
& can do a craft or activity that you find calming & fun.

crochet
3-spcbg

Happy Spring!

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Happy Spring!

Well we made it, finally the first day of Spring.
~happy dance~

In my first post about my making a ‘Wreath of the Month‘, I mentioned that some months may have more than one wreath, this month is one of those months. I made this wreath for the first day of Spring.

The sun is shining, it’s 60° and the wind is quite calm. The flora and fauna are waking up and it looks like winter is officially over both season-wise and weather wise. Okay I know we have a few heavy frost to go and some quite chilly weather, however snow and ice isn’t as big of a worry as it was. 😉

Wishing you all a glorious Spring,
filled with sunshine and joy.
🙂
IMG_83730One more thing…
I thought I’d give you all a side view of how the middle of the daffodil & jonquil blooms trumpet out.

3-spcbg

WIP Wednesday – Crochet Flowers

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IMG_8077Look at all these unfinished crochet flowers. I plan on making more. I don’t use a pattern, I crochet them freehand. Some are quite wonky. However, when I put them in a basket they don’t look half bad.
These are quite addictive little darlings to make. I’ll go through and pick out the better ones to use in crafts and You can almost bet that there’s another flower ball in Sheli’s future.  😉

IMG_8102One good thing about crocheting flowers is that they’re helping me to use up my odds and ends of yarn that I’ve acquired over the years. I like that. Oh and they’re fun too.

This is all for me at the moment. I just wanted to post a WIP for Wednesday.

I hope all your projects are a success.
Have a great rest of the week.
🙂

3-spcbg

Sheli loves crochet

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pf1I accidentally made Shelibean a new toy. I call it a puff because it’s soft and puffy. Last night while trying to design some crochet flowers, there was some that I didn’t like. To keep them together to throw away, I started tying them together. By the time I had added the 3rd flower, a cheerful looking flower ball was formed. I decided it’d be a cute toy to give to Sheli, but he was already in bed asleep, so I’d wait until morning to give it to him. I continued on crocheting flowers and two more of them didn’t turn out right, so I added them to the flower ball.
pf2I really like the look of this flower ball. I think it would make a good bath scrubby if it was made of cotton thread.
I gave Sheli the puff this morning. He chewed on it a bit and then snuggled up to it while laying on his favorite afghan, and took a nap.
When he woke up, we played a bit of fetch with it. I guess it passes the muster of Shelibean’s high standards for quality control. 😉

Here’s a photo of Sheli sitting on my Candy-corn afghan when I first made it last summer. He took such a shine to it that he claimed it before it was a 1/4 of the way finished. I crocheted many of the rows while Sheli sat on it and played or napped. I guess he loves the bright colors.
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Sunday it was 70° and would have been a really nice day if the wind hadn’t blown so wild and if the sun had of shined. My hubby mowed up the fallen leaves that were scattered across the yard.  Sheli and I tried to sit for awhile on the porch but the wind gusts were too uncomfortable for us.
Last night it was stormy with thunder, lighting, rain and heavy winds. Part of our region got a coating of ice. We were fortunate that we only got a smidgen of snow. It’s in the low 20’s, overcast and colder than all heck.
Was Sunday’s warm temps only 24 hours ago…
3-3-2014-snwWhile searching my old files I opened my folder for last March out of curiosity about the weather then. As it turns out, our cold weather last year was pretty much like it is this year…
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Dear Blogging Buddies,
You may remember my 2013 photos from my ex-blog. I hope you all don’t mind my re-posting them. I enjoy sharing them again so my new blogging buddies can see them too. 🙂

This is all for me at the moment.

I hope you all have a pleasant week.

🙂

 

 

Just Hanging Around (clippy hanger hints)

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1-hngrYesterday I gathered ingredients together to make a loaf of strawberry bread.  I set my recipe & stuff up like I always do and then it occurred to me that I wanted to make a post about a few of my favorite hints for re-using/recycling clippy hangers or pant hangers.

These are not my ideas and they’re not new ideas. You may have seen them or read of them before. I still want to share them since they’ve been a help to me.

I’m very grateful to clever folks who shared these hanger ideas on the web. I surfed around and tried to find the earliest posting of these hints on the web. I posted the links and dates with the hints. (If you know of an older posting, let me know and I’ll edit it in.)

Now without further ado, here’s a few clippy hanger hints.
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Use the clippy hanger as a recipe book holder. Just clip it on the book and hang it from your cabinet door.
It keeps the book off the counter and helps to allow more counter space to use for making foods.
I really enjoy this hint. I use it alot.
2-hngrThe hanger cookbook holder – February 06,2009
~*~

Cut the clips off the hangers and use them for bag clips or like clothes pins, paper clips, chip clips or clips to help hold things together in crafts, such.
I tried and failed miserably to cut the clips off with huge industrial scissors and with a wire cutter. My compliments to whoever designed the hangers, they are super sturdy and hard as the heck to cut. I didn’t have a saw, so I used my craft drill to cut the clips off with it.
I really like having these inexpensive clips, they’re super handy to clasp on to a bag or hold a craft together or papers together. There’s so many uses for them.
3-hngrUnexpected chip clip – August 19, 2009
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Cutting the clips off the hanger came from a forum and as I read further down the thread, someone suggested putting magnets on the back of the clips for refrigerator clips. There was mention of how to decorate them, but I chose to wing-it and do it my own way.
flwrlmI got out my flower loom and made a flower. I intended on having one simple flower on the clip… well seeings how it’s the unwritten duty of a crafter to over embellish, whenever the opportunity is there, and I take my crafter duties seriously, I made a couple more flowers and crocheted 4 leaves. I’d of added more, but I ran out of room on the clip. lol It’s quite cheerful looking and I’m surprised happy with the gawdy fun results. (I may decorate my recipe book hanger too. )
flwrs01  Refrigerator clips – August 19, 2009
~*~

I think those hints are clever ways to recycle and reuse clippy hangers. I used the leftover part of the hangers to hang up a couple plastic bags of craft supplies in the closet. Storage space is dear in my craft room and I’m always happy to figure out new ways to hoard store supplies.
I’m fortunate to have dozens several of these hangers on hand from buying clothes for my grandson over the years.
I’ve given several away while passing on the hanging recipe book hint. My grandson really got a kick out of that idea and even took a couple hangers home to his Mom to show and give to her. I love that he enjoys sharing fun helpful ideas. He’s such a sweetie.

Next time you have some extra clippy hangers laying around, I hope you’ll consider giving one of these hints a try.

Do you know any helpful for re-using or recycling hangers? You’re welcome to share them, if you want.
Here’s hoping that you’ll have an enjoyable rest of the week hanging out waiting for warm weather.

🙂
spcr1