Chloe's "Almost a Rainbow" Poncho

A week ago, Chloe was home from school because she wasn't feeling well. She found Caitlin's poncho (not the one I made her, but another one that she'd gotten from one of Chloe's teachers last year) and was messing around with it. One minute she was wearing it, and the next it was her "hair." *lol* But after playing with it a while, she came to me and asked me if I could make her one like it. As it's a simple granny square poncho, my response was "what color?" :)

She decided that she wanted it in "rainbow colors, like Syrina's [scarf]." So I got started that night. I had kind of hoped, since it would be such a small poncho, that I could get it finished that night, because Hubby was due to take her out on a little "field trip" to Newcastle to see the Castle Keep on Saturday. Unfortunately, I only got to the end of the yellow band by the time I went to bed.

When they got back on Saturday, I tried it on her to see how many more colors I could fit into it, and she wanted me to just stop at the green! I told her it would be a little too short if I did that, so she changed her mind and decided I could put purple on it. That's why it's an "Almost a Rainbow" poncho - I had to skip over blue and indigo and go straight to purple.

Ah well... she loves it, I guess that's all that matters. :)

Wild & Woolie Swap Items Revealed

I finally got around to resizing my photos so I could show y'all in blogger-ville what I made for Angie, my swap partner, for the Wild & Woolie Swap over at Crochetville.

The drawstring pouch is made with size 10 cotton thread, using my one and only thread hook. It's alternating rows of dc with shells. The lining is white satin.

The purse is made with chunky acrylic yarn, using an H hook. I had originally planned on putting some of that novelty yarn (I seem to have misplaced the yarn label and I forget what it's called) all the way down the purse, but when I got as far as the picture shows, I decided that looked perfect, so I stopped. It, too, is lined with white satin. I had considered making a small cell phone pouch for the inside of the lining, but my sewing skills aren't the greatest (huge understatement there! *lol*), so I didn't.

The bookmark is again made with size 10 thread - the same thread I used to make my pincushion, actually - and again, with my one and only thread hook.

The scarf is made from 100% Bamboo yarn. Oh. My. God. This stuff was a DREAM to work with! You'd think that, with it being made from BAMBOO, it would be rough. Just the opposite, actually. It was SO soft!!! And I just picked the colors at random - I didn't really think about which colors they were, I just wanted colors that looked good together. It wasn't until I finished the scarf and had hubby inspect it that he pointed out that it looked like Neapolitan ice cream! *lol* So I have to give him the credit for actually naming the scarf. *wink*

I made a little sachet for her, with Lavendar essential oil in the stuffing. Apparently she plans on using it for a pincushion. I didn't even think of a YARN pincushion! *lol* Whatever - I don't really care, as long as she USES it! *grin*

I picked up a few "extra goodies" as well. I wanted something that screamed out "Sunderland" - since that's where I live - but I didn't want it to be huge. So I went over to the tourism office and had a look-see. When I saw the magnet, it shouted out "pick me! Pick me!" So I did. :)

The Galaxy chocolate bar... well, if you'd ever HAD Galaxy chocolate, I wouldn't HAVE to explain why I sent it to her! It's absolute heaven!! I got her the hand cream because she said she liked hand cream (and I happened to need some, too, so I got her some when I got ME some), and the tea... well, again, she said she liked tea. And if I'm going to send her tea, I want to send her something that says "British." How much more British can you GET than Yorkshire tea? *grin*

But can you believe that I forgot to take a picture of the actual WOOL I bought her? *LOL*

I had a lot of fun in this swap, and knowing that I got everything out on time and didn't have a problem being able to afford the supplies I needed made it SO much better!

Comfortghan Package Has Been Sent!

1. one of the girls' ghans
2. one of the girls' dolly ghans
3. stuffed toys for the girls
4. cards for Jessie and the girls
5. the other girls' dolly ghan
6. the other girls' ghan
7. One of MY squares!!!!
8. Jessie's 'ghan

Just look at that!!! I'm just glowing with the love and pride I feel for having been a part of making those gorgeous items up there. Krystal got them completely finished and sent off today. As it's only Tuesday, it's quite likely that Jessie could get them by the end of the week!!! I can't wait to hear what she thinks of them!

I definitely think I'm going to keep a better eye on the comfortghans forum from now on. All it took was 2 hours of crocheting time and less than £2 in postage for me to be part of this (not including the $$$ donation I put in there, but this was a special case... I wouldn't be doing that every time I sent out comfortghan squares). It's an amazing feeling, knowing you've been a part of something like this. Something meant to bring love and comfort to somebody. This time it's been somebody I know (albeit not WELL, but still...). Next time it might be a stranger. But the intent behind it would be the same, and this is such an awesome natural high I just can't even describe it!!

"Shades of the Rainbow" - a scarf for Syrina

I just started this on Tuesday evening, and finished it last night. All I had to do today was weave in the ends.

The scarf in its entirety

A close-up... but fuzzier than I would have liked.

Syrina with her new scarf!!!

You'll have to excuse the way Syrina's looking in the picture. She's not been feeling well lately. She's stayed home from school for the past 2 days, and I have a sneaking feeling that she'll be staying home again tomorrow too. I was lucky I got her to sit still with the scarf on and look in my general direction to get the picture in the first place.

I hadn't actually planned this particular project. It all came from Syrina "stealing" a scarf from the hat/scarf/glove box in the front hallway on Tuesday morning. It was one of my scarves (I have several). I asked her if she'd like to borrow it for the day, and she nodded yes at me. As Syrina is severely autistic and completely non-verbal, a nod is a BIG deal when it comes to communication. It isn't the first time I've gotten a nod (or a shake, for that matter) when I've asked her a question, but simply asking a question doesn't necessarily mean that I'll GET a nod or a shake. So when she so obviously wanted to borrow it, I couldn't NOT let her.

That evening, when I was cleaning up after the kids having dinner and such, I found it on the floor of her bedroom. I picked it up to put it away, and the lightbulb went off over my head. "You really like this scarf, don't you, Syrina? Would you rather have one like this instead of a furry scarf?" (I asked this because I had plans to make her a furry scarf, because she'd seen me making her sisters' and seemed to like it.) I got ANOTHER nod - even more emphatic this time. "I can make you one if you want. Would you like that?" Yet another emphatic nod.

So I grabbed a few balls of yarn out of my stash to try and figure out what kind of color or color scheme she liked, but to be honest, she looked like she couldn't care less. What she really likes are the patterns and the textures of the stitches. I don't think she CARED what color it was.

So I got the idea to make a rainbow scarf. But seeing as I had 2 shades of pink, 2 of green, and 3 of blue, I figured I'd make it with every shade of every color I had. The one color in the rainbow I didn't have was orange, but rather than go out and buy a skein of orange just to make the scarf, I figured I'd just leave it out. Considering all the other colors I already had, I didn't think it would make a difference.

I really thought I would have it finished all in one night, but it took me 2 days. However, seeing as she ended up staying home from school and didn't really need to wear it anyway, it was just as well.

I'm thinking I might add something to it, though. It seemed almost TOO plain. I asked for suggestions over at the 'ville, and somebody suggested I do curly fringe. I did something like it for an amigurumi I did last year (if you search through the archives I'm sure you'll find it, because I posted it), but I just didn't think of it when I was looking at the scarf trying to figure out what to do. I'm seriously leaning towards doing that. I may change my mind, of course, but ya never know. :D

Jessie's Comfortghan

Krystal's almost done putting the comfortghan together. Isn't it beautiful??

I gotta tell ya, I get a warm fuzzy feeling all over knowing that I've been a part of this. And the outpouring of support from the members of the 'ville has been astronomical. Krystal has had so many squares sent to her that she's got enough to make a 'ghan for Jessie, each of her 2 girls, AND Jessie's MIL!!!! And not only that, but a lot of members have sent money that Krystal is going to give to Jessie to help take care of the girls until they decide what to do (apparently they're considering moving after the girls' school year is out, to be closer to family).

I am just in awe at the amount of love and support that has gone into this thing. It's the first time I've ever been involved in a project of this magnitude, and I'm just amazed.

Caitlin's Purse

The whole thing...


Close-up of the body of the purse...


And an even closer close-up, so you can see the cute little button I found for it!!!

Caitlin had gotten a little craft kit from one of her friends as a late Christmas present, and we were both disappointed to find out that it was for nothing but making pom-poms. Pom-poms are okay for certain things, but what the heck is a 10 year old supposed to do with a BUNCH of them???

So I came up with the idea of using the yarn inside to make a purse for her (which she'd been dying for anyway) instead. She absolutely loved that idea, so Saturday night I sat down with the box and started crocheting away.

She didn't even see the entire completed project before going to bed (because I still had to finish the lining) but already she kept asking me "are you going to finish that tonight, Mom?" So I'm guessing she likes it.

And really, that's all that matters. It's HER purse, so as long as SHE likes it, nobody else's opinions matter worth a damn anyway. ;)

Ellie's BICO

Hayley asked me a few days ago to make Ellie a cardigan. I explained to her that I'd never done one before, but that I'd seen the posts on the 'ville about the BICO (Baby It's Cold Outside) cardigan from Crochet Me!, and it was supposed to be super-easy, so I'd try that one first.

Well... here we are!

I used a different yarn and hook than what the pattern calls for, mainly because there's no way I could GET the yarn the pattern calls for (sold only in the U.S.). I ended up using baby dk yarn (slightly thinner than regular dk yarn) and an H hook. I made the pattern as indicated for the 12 month size, due to the changes in hook size and yarn.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks to me like this is something Ellie will be able to use now, instead of having to grow into.

I'll find out soon, though... I'm going to wash it tonight and hopefully I can get Hayley to bring Ellie over tomorrow for a fitting. Maybe she'll even let me take some pictures of Ellie in it! :D

Circle of Hope Tutorial

A lady over at the 'ville tried to make my Circle of Hope pattern as written... but ran into problems. So I thought I'd create a pictorial tutorial (try saying THAT 3 times fast! *lol*) to help her and anybody else who might have a problem with the pattern as written. So here it is!!

Circle of Hope
Suzanne Barrow’s Version
February 2007

Largely based on Melissa R. Green’s Circle of
Hopehttp://www.geocities.com/alyssa5000/circle.html

Materials:
Size H hook
About ½ oz. yarn

Makes a 7 inch square

Ch 4, join with a sl st to form a ring

Rnd 1: ch 3, 11 dc in ring, join





Rnd 2: ch 3, dc in same sp, 2 dc in next st and in each st around, join





Rnd 3: ch 1, sc in same sp, [ch 3, skip next st, sc in next st], repeat from [ to ] around, join.





Rnd 4: sl st into ch-3 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in ch-3 sp, [3 dc in next ch-3 sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same ch-3 sp, 3 dc in next 2 ch-3 sp], repeat from [ to ] around, join.




making the first corner

starting to look more like a square
There you go! From a circle to a square!

Rnd 5: sl st in first 2 dc and in the sp between 2 dc clusters. Ch 3, 2 dc in between the two clusters, [3 dc – ch 2 – 3 dc in next sp, 3 dc in next sp], repeat from [ to ] around




starting the next round

Round 5 all done!
Rnd 6 – 8: repeat pattern from Rnd 5, putting 3 dc – ch 2 – 3 dc in every corner.




Round 6

Round 7
Round 8

Rnd 9: sc in each st around, putting 3 dc in each ch-2 sp in the corners.Fasten off, weave in ends.



Round 9

I hope this helps. If there are any other questions, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment!!

Thread Pincushion

Made with Aunt Lydia's size 10 mercerized crochet cotton - "Ocean" color - using a Boye size 6 (1.80 mm) steel hook.

After making some of the "fun stuff" for my swap partner, and realizing I needed to buy straight pins, I realized I needed a pincushion. Hubby said to me "I can buy you one at the pound store, complete with pins and everything." But what fun would THAT be? Besides, I already BOUGHT the pins... I just needed something to stick them in!

And I just LOVE the color of this thread. I was dying to make something for myself with this stuff, but didn't know what. I need to make a pincushion, I have this thread that I want to use... make the pincushion with the thread!!!

I did take one suggestion from the hubby, though. He suggested I make it "smelly." So I put 5 drops of lavendar essential oil in the stuffing. It smells heavenly!!!

Wild & Woolie Swap

Angie's swap package went in the post today. I'm SO relieved!! It was getting WAY too close to the deadline. I didn't think it would take me so long to finish, but then again, I made certain things for my swap partner that I'd never made before, and I underestimated how long it would take me to do them. I can't wait until she gets it, so I can show off what I've made. I'm very proud of them, even if I DO say so myself. Hey - they MUST be pretty good, because my SIL has requested exact duplicates of 2 of the items, and a 3rd thing to go with one of them.

I'm just glad I finally got it all off to her. It was fun shopping, planning, and creating for her, but with the deadline fast approaching, I was starting to stress.

Comfortghan Squares for Jessie's Girls

These are the comfortghan squares I've done for Jessie's girls, Rory and Lori. Rory is around my Lexi's age (Lexi's 6), and Lori is only 2 1/2.

I know this isn't enough to take the pain of losing their father away from them, but I hope it helps even just a little bit. Hopefully when they're older, they'll understand what it is we're trying to do for them.

What they will never understand is that this is as much for us - those of us who are donating squares - as it is for them. Crochetville is a wonderful place, where people you don't even know will rally around you in your time of need, all you have to do is say something. I'd be willing to bet a lot of us are like me - meaning if circumstances allowed it, Jessie would have a huge group of people at her front door, asking what needed to be done. But we can't all do that, and so we've got to do SOMEthing. It's just the way we are.

Comfortghan Squares for Jessie

Jessie, a woman I've been getting to know recently on the 'ville just lost her husband yesterday. She's a SAHM with 2 small children, and she's already had a lot to deal with lately. The timing of this couldn't be worse.

So another lady on the board immediately started organizing a comfortghan for her and her kids. I've still got a few finishing touches to put on my swap partner's package, but I decided this was important enough to put it off for just one day to get some squares done.

I'm going to do a couple more for the kids as well, but as it's already well past late here, they're going to have to wait until the morning.

My heart hurts for Jessie. She's been so supportive to a small group of us who are trying to do some "self-improvement," and like I said before, she's been through so much lately. It's times like this when I wish I was lucky enough to be rich. If I had an unlimited supply of money, I'd be on a plane right now. I'd just show up on her doorstep and say "what do you need me to do?" - AFTER I gave her a big hug, of course.

But I don't have an unlimited supply of money. So the closest thing to a hug she's going to get from me is to know that a couple of the squares in her 'ghan came from me. So I guess that'll have to do. It's not enough, but it's something.

WiP Wednesday, March 7, 2007

I've been so busy working on my Wild & Woolie Swap partner's items that I haven't gotten anything else done this past week.

But I am really pleased with how they're turning out. They're nearly done - just a few finishing touches left that I need to do. Hopefully I'll be able to get her package out by this weekend - Monday at the very latest. Once I know that she's received it, I'll be posting pictures of what I've made her.

Also, I've had a request from Ellie's mom (Hayley) for a cardigan. I showed her the BICO, because I've heard they're super easy - and I've never actually DONE a wearable before that wasn't a poncho or a shawl. So I'm going to be starting that soon. I've already got the yarn for it, I just want to make sure I get this swap stuff done before I start on anything new.

Crochet is definitely "IN"!!

I snapped this pic in the window of Monsoon in The Bridges today. From what I understand - from my SIL, and from the various people I've spoken to around town regarding shopping and fashion trends, Monsoon is one of THE places to shop. I'm talking like I'm a total freak of nature because I DON'T shop there.

But I happened to walk past there this morning on my way to another shop, and when I saw this, I just had to backtrack. I wasn't sure at first if it really was crocheted or not, but when I looked a bit closer, I saw that sure enough, it's definitely crocheted. So I had to whip out my phone and snap a pic (aren't camera phones great? *hehe*).

If they're putting things like this on display at a shop like this, then crochet is definitley "IN"! Now if only people would realize that these things ARE crocheted, then they wouldn't look at me like I've grown a second head when I tell them I crochet, NOT knit (or more accurately, I crochet WAY better than I knit!).

WiP Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Sorry, photophiles (is that a word? *lol*) no pics this week.

Why?

Well... I'll tell ya! If you'll look to my sidebar on the right over there ~~~>, you'll see that I've joined another swap. The Wild & Woolie Swap over at the 'ville. I was reluctant to join another swap after the fiasco I made of the last one, but right before the signups opened, our financial situation changed drastically, and I knew I wouldn't have a problem being able to get supplies or getting it out on time.

So now that I've got all of Ellie's gifts done and out of the house, I've been concentrating on getting my partner's items done. She's getting some wool (obviously!!), and I'm also making a few little "extras" to put in her package. So far one item is about 30% done, another is 90% done, and another is 99% done (just need to weave in ends). I have TAKEN pics, but I'm not uploading them until I know my partner has gotten her package. Don't want to ruin the surprise!!!!

I'm having fun, though. A lot more fun than I did last time, because I don't have to worry. "Am I going to be able to get this done on time?" Yup. "Am I going to be able to get this OUT on time?" Yup. The only worry I have is whether or not she's going to like it, but then again, other people who have seen the items have had nothing but good things to say about them. My SIL wants an exact duplicate of one of the items, and even Hubby says I should make more of one of the other items and try selling them! So... *fingers crossed*... my partner (Angela) SHOULD like them.

I hope!!

Blue and Yellow Rectangular Granny Afghan

Made from Erin Lindsay's rectangular granny square pattern, using baby dk weight yarn... although I can't remember what size hook. Because:

This is actually quite an old one. I started it back in June/July, and had it finished by mid-July. It was for my neighbor's niece (Ellie's mom's cousin), who had a baby boy in July.

I told my neighbor that it was done, and told her that when Gemma (her neice) came over to visit, to have her stop at my house and get her blanket. She never came. (Methinks my neighbor forgot to tell her.)

So while cleaning and organizing my stash, I put all of my FO's in a storage box, and this happened to be one of them.

Well, I happened to run into Gemma a couple of weeks back while the kids and I were out shopping, and I thought to mention this afghan that I have had for months... and months... and months!

Tonight (FINALLY!!), Hayley (my neighbor's daughter, Ellie's mom) came over and said that her aunt Carol (Gemma's mom) was over and had asked about the blanket.

So now I have a little more room in my FO box... what to put in it next? Decisions, decisions. *lol*

Ellie's Baby Granny

I **FINALLY** finished it!!!!

This was, of course, made without a pattern. Just make-up-as-you-go.

There are 3 squares each of purple, pink, green, and yellow, sc'd together (as you can see if you look at the pictures above). I prefer to sc squares together - it's quicker and seems stronger to me.

The border is 4 rounds of sc and 1 round of 3sc, ch 3, 3sc (without skipping any sc's). that's what gives it the ruffly/key-hole look.

The whole thing was made with dk baby yarn and an H hook.

Ellie's Baby Bonnet

Made from this pattern here.

I hadn't actually PLANNED on making a bonnet... but I had a pretty long bus ride to my oldest dd's school, and went looking for a small and quick project I could take with me to work on during the ride. I found this and just could NOT resist.

It's made with dk baby yarn and an F hook. I finished most of it on the bus ride and only had a few rows to do when I got home that afternoon.

As you can see, her baby doll is the model, as Ellie herself hasn't even seen it yet. I just washed it and it's in the dryer now. As it's already 9 p.m. here, I'll give it to her in the morning.

Ellie's Baby Doll

This is, of course, her head

And her bod.

A leg.

Her hair (as cute as it looks, it's a pain in the ASS to do!!!).


And here she is in her entirety.

I didn't follow a pattern when I made her... I made up my own!!! *yay me!!* *lol*

I wrote it down as I went along, and I'm going to share it here, just in case anybody's interested in making one like it.

Ellie – a baby doll to crochet
Suzanne Barrow
© 2007

Materials needed:
Yarn of your choice
Complimentary hook (you don’t want to wear the skin off your fingers trying to push the hook through your work, but you DO want your stitches nice and tight).
Stitch markers
Stuffing

Notes:
Use your stitch marker to mark the first stitch in the ring.
The adjustable ring can be found here.

Head

Using an adjustable ring, sc 6 sts into ring, and pull to close.

Round 1: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts)
Round 2: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st}, repeat from { to } around (18 sts)
Round 3: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts}, repeat from { to } around (24 sts)
Round 4: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts}, repeat from { to } around (30 sts)
Round 5: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 4 sts}, repeat from { to } around (36 sts)
Round 6: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 5 sts}, repeat from { to } around (42 sts)
Round 7: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 6 sts}, repeat from { to } around (48 sts)
Round 8: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 7 sts}, repeat from { to } around (54 sts)
Round 9: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 8 sts}, repeat from { to } around (60 sts)
Round 10: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 9 sts}, repeat from { to } around (66 sts)
Round 11: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 10 sts}, repeat from { to } around (72 sts)
Rounds 12 – 23: sc in each st around (72 sts)
Round 24: {sc 2 tog [sc dec], 1 sc in next 10 sts}, repeat from { to } around (66 sts)
Round 25: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 9 sts}, repeat from { to } around (60 sts)
Round 26: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 8 sts}, repeat from { to } around (54 sts)
Round 27: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 7 sts}, repeat from { to } around (48 sts)
Round 28: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 6 sts}, repeat from { to } around (42 sts)
Round 29: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 5 sts}, repeat from { to } around (36 sts)
Round 30: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 4 sts}, repeat from { to } around (30 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Body

Using an adjustable ring, sc 6 sts into ring, and pull to close. Use your stitch marker to mark the first stitch in the ring.
Round 1: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts)
Round 2: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st}, repeat from { to } around (18 sts)
Round 3: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts}, repeat from { to } around (24 sts)
Round 4: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts}, repeat from { to } around (30 sts)
Round 5: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 4 sts}, repeat from { to } around (36 sts)
Round 6: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 5 sts}, repeat from { to } around (42 sts)
Round 7: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 6 sts}, repeat from { to } around (48 sts)
Round 8: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 7 sts}, repeat from { to } around (54 sts)
Round 9: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 8 sts}, repeat from { to } around (60 sts)
Rounds 10-34: sc in each st around (60 sts)
Round 35: {sc 2 tog, 1 st in next 8 sts}, repeat from { to } around (54 sts)
Round 36: sc in each st around (54 sts)
Round 37: {sc 2 tog, 1 st in next 7 sts}, repeat from { to } around (48 sts)
Round 38: sc in each st around (48 sts)
Round 39: {sc 2 tog, 1 st in next 6 sts}, repeat from { to } around (42 sts)
Round 40: sc in each st around (42 sts)
Round 41: {sc 2 tog, 1 st in next 5 sts}, repeat from { to } around (36 sts)
Round 42: sc in each st around (36 sts)
Round 43: {sc 2 tog, 1 st in next 4 sts}, repeat from { to } around (30 sts)
Round 44: sc in each st around (30 sts)
Fasten off

Arms (make 2)

Using an adjustable ring, sc 6 sts into ring, and pull to close. Use your stitch marker to mark the first stitch in the ring.
Round 1: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts)
Round 2: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st}, repeat from { to } around (18 sts)
Round 3: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts}, repeat from { to } around (24 sts)
Round 4: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts}, repeat from { to } around (30 sts)
Round 5-9: sc in each st around (30 sts)
Round 10: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 3 sts}, repeat from { to } around (24 sts)
Round 11: sc in each st around (24 sts)
Round 12: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 2 sts}, repeat from { to } around (18 sts)
Round 13-29: sc in each st around (18 sts)
Round 30: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next st}, repeat from { to } around (12 sts)
Round 31: sc in each st around (12 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Legs (make 2)

Using an adjustable ring, sc 6 sts into ring, and pull to close. Use your stitch marker to mark the first stitch in the ring.
Round 1: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts)
Round 2: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st}, repeat from { to } around (18 sts)
Round 3: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts}, repeat from { to } around (24 sts)
Round 4: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 3 sts}, repeat from { to } around (30 sts)
Round 5: {2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 4 sts}, repeat from { to } around (36 sts)
Round 6-10: sc in each st around (36 sts)
Round 7: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 4 sts}, repeat from { to } around (30 sts)
Round 8: sc in each st around (30 sts)
Round 9: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 3 sts}, repeat from { to } around (24 sts)
Round 10-30: sc in each st around (24 sts)
Round 31: {sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next 2 sts}, repeat from { to } around (18 sts)
Round 32: sc in each st around (18 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Sew head to body; arms to body; and legs to body. If you want to add hair, add it any way you want. If you want to make clothes for your doll, by all means do so. But if you prefer your dolls nekkid, that’s okay too.

Comfortghan Squares

I decided to whip up a couple of squares for a comfortghan for a lady on the 'ville whose mother has been diagnosed with cancer.

I was trying to make the Circle of Hope square, but wasn't having much luck. It didn't matter how many times I frogged it and started over, it just never looked right. I don't know if there's an error in the pattern somewhere, if I kept making the same mistake over and over, or if I was just having a really long blond moment. *lol* Whatever it was, I just could NOT get it, no matter what I did.

So I had the wonderful idea of frogging back to a certain point and making it up on my own as I went. That worked! And I liked the "Circle of Hope" idea so much that I ditched the idea I'd had for the second square and just made another one in another color.

I've written up the instructions for what I did in case somebody would like to copy my idea. I really just followed the original pattern for the first few rounds, but rather than send somebody flipping through 2 different patterns back and forth, I wrote it all down. I have to give credit where credit is due, however, and reiterate that the first few rounds are NOT my creation. It's only from Round 4-on that is MY creation. It's not exactly a difficult pattern, but ya never know when some crochet newbie might stumble along on my blog, see this and think "I wanna do that!" In that case, a pattern would be a good thing. :)

Circle of Hope
Suzanne Barrow’s Version
February 2007

Largely based on Melissa R. Green’s Circle of Hope
http://www.geocities.com/alyssa5000/circle.html

Materials:
Size H hook
About ½ oz. yarn

Makes a 7 inch square

Ch 4, join with a sl st to form a ring

Rnd 1: ch 3, 11 dc in ring, join
Rnd 2: ch 3, dc in same sp, 2 dc in next st and in each st around, join
Rnd 3: ch 1, sc in same sp, [ch 3, skip next st, sc in next st], repeat from [ to ] around, join.
Rnd 4: sl st into ch-3 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in ch-3 sp, [3 dc in next ch-3 sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same ch-3 sp, 3 dc in next 2 ch-3 sp], repeat from [ to ] around, join.
Rnd 5: sl st in first 2 dc and in the sp between 2 dc clusters. Ch 3, 2 dc in between the two clusters, [3 dc – ch 2 – 3 dc in next sp, 3 dc in next sp], repeat from [ to ] around
Rnd 6 – 8: repeat pattern from Rnd 5, putting 3 dc – ch 2 – 3 dc in every corner.
Rnd 9: sc in each st around, putting 3 dc in each ch-2 sp in the corners.

Fasten off, weave in ends.

That's it. Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy, as they say out here. Once I decided to do it MY way, these two squares took me less than 2 hours to complete, including weaving in ends and everything. Not bad for a night's work. I just hope the recipient likes them as much as I do!

The Round Ripple is FINITO!!!!

Finally!!!

Of course, to be honest, it really didn't take me all that long. But it FELT like it took forever. Now that I think about it, the baby afghans that I made for my children and my niece and nephew took longer, but this one seemed to drag on and on forever.

Now that it's finished, I'll tell y'all the details. It's made from dk (double knitting) weight yarn, with an F (Susan Bates) hook. Since I used 2 partial skeins for the 2 different shades of pink and not even a whole skein of the white, I can't be absolutely certain, but if I had to guess, I'd say it used about 1 1/2 skeins of yarn (100g skeins). It's not very big, but it's not supposed to be. The baby granny is going to be much bigger. I'm thinking this one would be great to use in her buggy when it starts getting a bit warmer out, but it's not so warm that she wouldn't need anything at all. (Of course, to be quite honest, it rarely gets that warm here anyway.)

I got the pattern here. I have to thank the ladies of the 'ville for that - I kept seeing these round ripples all over the place, and didn't know where to find the pattern. But the 'ville has this really nifty search option, so I did a search, and whaddya know? Somebody had posted the link to the pattern. Lucky me! *lol*

It still needs to be washed (I ALWAYS wash items before gifting them - it softens up the yarn and they get the delicious smell of my fabric softener! *lol*), but I'm not giving it to Ellie until I get her other stuff done anyway. I may start assembling her baby granny tonight, if I have time. Regardless, it should only be a few days more before I've got everything finished (I'm making her a little stuffy with the scraps left over as well) and can take it all next door.

WiP Wednesday - February 7, 2007

I'm nearly there!!!!





The baby granny is ready to assemble. That's all that needs to be done, aside from a border - but I can't put a border on it until I ASSEMBLE it! *cheeky grin*





And the round ripple is well on its way to being done. I've got another row to do of the white, and then I think I'm going to do one row of the coral/peachy-pink, one white, one light pink, one white... and then that's it. This one isn't going to be very big - but it's not SUPPOSED to be very big. I'm thinking it'll be good for use on the buggy, especially when it gets warmer but not warm enough to go without anything.

I've also done a bonnet for the baby, but I need one of the kids to find me a model (read: baby doll) before I can take a proper picture of it.

And I've decided something. For every project I finish, I'm allowed to start a new one. BUT... I ALSO have to work on a UFO while I'm working on the new project. I used to be able to just work on one project at a time, but nowadays, I get bored working on the same thing day after day after day. Which is why I've had so many WiPs going at once. But I've got a few things that have been sitting in the UFO pile for almost a year. So this way, I get to work on more than one thing at a time, I DO get to work on something new, BUT I also get some of my UFOs out of the way, too.

I think the green & white shawl I started back in AUGUST will be the first UFO to be pulled out of the pile. I've got some that have been sitting there longer, but if i don't get this shawl done soon, then it's going to be too warm for the person it's intended for to USE. But... it's getting frogged before it gets finished. I've decided I don't want to do it in the shape I have it now. I want to try a half-moon shape instead. It looks better, in my opinion, and it looks like it would be easier to wear at the same time. So (hopefully) that'll be on my WiP Wednesday page for next week.

Happy Hookin'!!!