Crochet Rag Rug

Ever since I found out that you could crochet a rag rug I have been dying to figure out how. There is an adult education class devoted to that in Lincoln, ME but that doesn't help me down in Boston. Again Ravelry comes to my rescue! It led me to Vintage Chica's tutorial. Rag Rug Tutorial


I immediately went to work cutting up some old stained outfit that I had stashed away. I love the idea of recycling some of my favorite slightly damaged outfits. It was really easy to make, the tutorial explained the process very well. I used one skirt and three t-shirts. It took longer to cut up the clothes into strips then to crochet the rug. Rug measures 2’ by 1.5’

Ingredients:
Hook - 15.0 mm (P/Q)
Fabric - 1 skirt and 3 shirts cut into 1.5 inch strips

Warm Winter Cable Hat

I have been way into crochet cable lately. I really wanted to make something for myself and loved the scarf that I made for Jeff but I have a lot of scarves. I found this great cable hat pattern on Ravelry and wanted to make it instantly . . . so I did.


Ingredients:
Hooks: 5.0 mm (H) for brim and 6.0 mm (J) for crown
Yarn: 3 Balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

The pattern was not clear on how many chains to make for the ring, so I ended up making the ring too big. That gave me a great opportunity to practice making another pom-pom to cover the hole in the top. I think it turned out better than the one I made for the Jayne Cobb Hat but it may be a bit small for the hat. The cables are made using front post double crochet and by using back post double crochets for the background. The hat is pretty loose fitting and I would go down a hook size if making it for someone with a small head. The pattern also used a lot more yarn than I thought it would and I had to go back and pick up a 3rd ball.

Jayne Cobb Hat

I am a geek, I understand that . . . . but I blame this particular proof of my geekdom on Jeff. He has managed to hook not only myself, but my whole family (even my little grammie) on the ill-fated series Firefly. In the episode "The Message" Jayne Cobb gets a package from his mother and in it is this hat. I was glancing through the new patterns on Ravelry and found this little gem by Kim Werker (creator of Crochet Me and editor of Interweave Crochet). Apparently she is trying to get Firefly creator Joss Whedon to do an interview with her.





Ingredients:

Hook - 9.0 mm (M/N)
1 ball Garnstudio Ice - Yellow
1 ball Garnstudio Ice - Rust
1 ball Garnstudio Ice - Red


Free pattern:
http://crochetme.com/patterns/jayne-cobb-hat


I used the Garnstudio Ice (cotton/acrylic) instead of the Eskimo (100% wool) so that it wouldn’t be too warm. Jeff has a big head so I increased to 46 stitched on round 6. I crocheted the earflaps directly on the hat. This was my first attempt at a pompom so it’s a bit wonky.

Anything you can do I can do better!

Crochet gets a bad rap. In reality crocheters can do anything knitters can do, and most likely they can do it faster. I have wanted to cable for the longest time, I knew it was possible, I just didn't know how. Three words: Front Post Stitch!



What better way is there to practice a new skill then to make a scarf? I found this awesome pattern in Crochet Today December 2006 issue.
http://www.coatsandclark.com/NR/rdonlyres/A871F022-8B5C-404F-8942-32C8ADFD3086/54630/cables.pdf


Ingredients:

Hook - 6.0 mm (J)

Yarn - Manos del Uruguay Manos Silk Blend

3 skeins = 450.0 yards (411.5m)

Color - Olive

Sassy Crochet Flower Pin

Working at Spark Craft Studios I have to occasional design new classes and events. I was recently asked to come up with a Crochet Wine and Craft project and developed this gorgeous flower pin.



Ingredients:
11 yards Manos del Uruguay in Flame (flower)
Five yards Worsted Lambs Pride in Kiwi (leaves)
Crochet Hook - Size G
One pin back
One decorative bead for flower center
Coordinating embroidery floss or thread to attach components
Hot glue gun (optional)

Flower Pattern:
ch 5 and join with sl st to form ring.
Rnd 1 – make 10 sc in ring. Join with sl st.
Rnd 2 - Working in front loop only of ea sc in previous rnd, ch 8, sl st to same sc. *Ch 8, sl st to next sc. Repeat from * to end of rnd. Join last ch 8 loop to first with sl st. (11loops)
Rnd 3 - Sl st to back loop of sc *ch 3, skip 1 sc, sl st in back loop of next sc. Repeat from * four more times
Rnd 4 – *Sl st into next ch-3 space (1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 3 tr, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc ) in same ch-3 space. Repeat from * four more times. Sl st to first sl st. Fasten off.

Leaf Pattern:
ch 12
Row 1 - *Sl st in 3rd ch from hook, sc in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, dc in next 3 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next st, sl st in last st. Rotate work to crochet down opposite side of foundation chain.
Row 2 – Sl st in first ch, sc in next, hdc in next 2, dc in next 3, hdc in next 2, sc in next, sl st in last ch

Do NOT fasten off. Continue to make second leaf. Ch 12, turn. Follow directions for first leaf.

Finishing:
Weave in ends. Attach flower to leaves with a few tacking stitches, keeping the leaves evenly arranged behind the flower. Attach decorative bead to center of flower, working through all layers of flower and leaves and pin back. Hot glue gun threads around pin back for extra strong attachment.

Wabanaki Basket Weekend

I took my friend Cheryl home to Maine for Presidents Day weekend and we had a basket themed weekend.

Saturday we went to the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance in Old Town at the Wabanaki Arts Center Gallery. We learned about the basket makers, materials and techniques. We were able to view antique baskets as well as brand new baskets of every shape and size (berries, corn, acorn and pumpkin shaped baskets). All the basketmakers use traditional materials like sweet grass and ash. For more information and pictures visit the Alliances website. http://www.maineindianbaskets.org

The next day Cheryl and I tackled our berry basket kit made by Basket Weaving 101. The kits are very nice and have great supplies except the photocpied instructions were a bit hard to follow. We are the strike out on your own type of people and really enjoyed the whole process. (Jeff was of course a hindrance to our crafting, but we persevered.) We tried to incorporate some of the design elements that we saw at the Gallery and were happy with the loops and twists that we made. You really have to soak the reeds well, and the colors bled a little in our hot water, but that made it that much more fun and colorful. The trickiest part is finishing the top of the basket, it took me several tries but I am very happy with the outcome. Here are our baskets. (The pink one is Cheryls and the green one is mine)

Christmas Decorating

We decorated for Christmas early this year, so I have had a lot of time to put stuff up and adjust so that it is nearly perfect.

Mom bought us a artificially Christmas tree last year for Christmas. It was the perfect gift! Last year Jeff loved our live tree so much he could not bear to part with it (it sat out on our porch until May). So now we can leave the tree up as long as we want.

The tree is a pre-lit 7.5' slim mixed pine. Our color theme this year is Champagne and Gold. We used wide gold and champagne snowflake ribbon as garland, as well as a couple of strands of white metal doves from Possibilities. Over the years we have collected a spectrum of beautiful matte, shiny and sparkley glass ornaments of all shapes and sizes. We used gold, white and champagne glass ornaments in bell, ball and icicle shapes. Jeff and I have taken up the tradition of buying a Hallmark decoration for the tree each year, we read the poems on the back of the box for each Hallmark ornament as we put it on the tree. We also purchased some vintage inspired Martha Stewart metallic glass clip on bird ornaments with real feather tails. Tucked in among the branches are gold and white silk poinsettia blossoms and gold and pearl berries. Topping off our tree is the beautiful cream metal star Mom gave us.

My tablescape starts of with my white jacquard tablecloth as a base. Over that is a red, claret, burgundy and maroon stripped table runner. Each place setting has a burgundy place mat and gold charger. On the charger is a white jacquard napkin in a red berry napkin ring from My Favorite Things. The centerpiece is a twig and red berry wreath from My Favorite Things and a pumpkin spice birch bark candle that I made with birch bark mom gave me.

I made a wreath for our front door, that matches our tree, using the grapevine wreath I re-decorate each season. I used the same wide gold and champagne ribbon as I did on the tree as well as the gold and white poinsettia blossoms and a couple of gold sparkley twirls.