Skipper's dress

I haven't felt like writing the past few days, I pulled a muscle in my hip last week-end. Don't ask me how, it just happened. lol Didn't feel much pain in the hip but the pain shooting down my leg kept getting worse as the week went on. Not too bad until I start walking. Finally went to the dr and he said to stay off it as much as possible. I really am trying, but its hard.

Today I didn't feel like crocheting so I made Skipper a Christmas dress. Sewing on a small scale really is a challenge. I did part by machine and part by hand. I lined the bodice as I figured that would make the armholes and neckline look better. I think I will go back to crocheting doll clothes, much easier. :)

I am proud of the dress though, I made the pattern myself as I don't have any patterns for Skipper. I guess I prefer making my own patterns anyway, I started doing that when I was about 10 years old. I grew up watching my Grandmother make quilts and clothes and knew I wanted to learn how to do both.

Skipper's Christmas dress  

Button Crochet Angel 2

Today turned out to be a beautiful day, the temps were in the high 70es and the sun was shining...one of those days you would like to sit outside and soak up the sun. However, reality is going to work at 7am and getting off at 4pm and missing the experience. Ah well, thats the way it goes.

Good news though, Trixie came home! Biddy, her mom took her off last month because she got jealous of the other cats playing with Trixie. There was some other people feeding Trixie but this weekend they went off somewhere and haven't come back so Trixie came home to eat. Trixie is the youngest of our foster cats (that's the cats that we feed but tell ourselves they don't belong to us. Lol After eating, Trixie and her older brother CW had a nice reunion and started playing like they haven't been apart. Trixie was shy with us at first then got over it and I got to hold her. She is such a pretty kitten--she is also the last cat we are going to feed, honest! lol

I made another version of the button angel today. I added beads to the edging of this one. Beads aren't hard to crochet with, two rules--1st, string the beads onto your crochet thread or yarn and the 2nd, add the beads when you are working on the wrong side of the item you are adding them to so they will show up on the right side. I also expermented and used black velveteen for the background when I scanned the angel to see if it showed up better. I also took some pictures of it with my digital camera, but my camera froze when I tried to upload the pictures to my computer and still hasent unfroze. I have no idea how to get it to unfreeze. Oh wait, I can take out the batteries and put them back in. Yeap, that worked. :)

Now its late, and I work tomorrow so I better go to bed. Until next time...keep on crocheting.

Button Angel 2 

Button Crochet Angel

I finished crocheting this angel today, it is very fast to make. I was going through my junk box when I found some buttons I had put there and came up with the idea to make an angel with the button. Its probally been done before, but this one I made up as I went along. It is very easy to make, I'll try to write down the steps and post the pattern soon. I was working on the angel at work during lunch and two women wanted me to make them one. I told them that I didn't know if I'd have time before Christmas. I want to make about 6 more for Christmas ties for some of the Christmas presents I am giving. Um, yes Sheri, you are the first on my list. :) This one is actually yours...sorry I ruined the surprise but I had to add this to my blog.

Update on the Christmas tree--Dh did fix the base and it is standing tall now. I still need to put the garland and beads back in place though. Katie was funny this morning. She sat and stared at the leaning tree like she was thinking, "poor tree" I really do wish cats could talk. Their expressions speak volumes. If there are any cat pyscologists out there, please comment... Meanwhile, back to making angels. I'm planning on making each one a little different.

Crochet Button Angel 

Mishap of the Christmas tree

This week-end I finally decorated the Christmas tree. We decided not to get a real tree because it dies too quickly in this Texas heat and we didn't feel like vacuuming pine needles out of the carpet every day. Actually I was relieved. I love the smell of pine but this year my allergies are acting up. Ok, they act up every winter, with the smell of Christmas potpourri in every store you go into and the dampness in the air.

We still had a perfectly good artificial tree--well except for the slightly broken base from the year Katie (our oldest cat) was a kitten. She couldn't resist climbing up the tree and it fell over a few times...I'll hunt down a picture my husband took. However, the tree will stay standing if we take a strong nylon fishing line and tie the tree to the wall. This was Wednesday when dh brought the tree out of the shed. I came home from work and looked at all the branches waiting to be put on the base and ignored it. I was tired and didn't feel like dealing with it. Thursday, I came home from work and the tree was put together. My husband smiles at me and says, now all it needs is some ornaments. They were sitting inside the back sun room in the boxes. I ignored the hint and started supper. After supper, dh says, "well you can decorate the tree tomorrow after work." lol

Finally on Saturday, my day off I started decorating the tree. When we first got together, my husband would put the lights and garlands on the tree and I'd put on the bulbs and my crochet decorations. Then one year my husband worked late so I did everything. He was impressed and realized that I was better at stringing the lights and garlands and left the tree trimming to me every year.

This year the tree turned out nice. As I was putting on the garland, then the strings of beads, Katie sat behind the tree watching me. Her eyes were glowing and I knew the minute my back was turned, she would be playing with the garland and boxing the Christmas balls. Dh said that after the tree was decorated, he'd fix the tree so it didn't fall. Well the tree wouldn't wait for him to get around to it, it started falling so I grabbed it and wondered how I was going to be able to keep it from toppling over. I found my answer, two crocheted bells joined with a long crochet chain. I quickly tied one end to a branch and the other to the nail on the wall. Problem solved until it could be fixed better. It almost did stay too, however my husband liked my solution and never bothered getting the fishing line out. We were watching tv this evening and my husband was admiring the tree saying how nice it looked when the base cracked some more and the tree went toppling down. lol This may be an interesting Christmas. Dh leaned the tree in the corner until he could fix the poor tree. I can't help but wonder if it will take him 3 days to fix it now? I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, I am crocheting an angel without a pattern using thread, buttons and beads. I want it to be a lapel pin. I'll post a picture when I get done.

Finished Block 

Basketweave start 

Baby blanket so far 

The Baby blanket continues saga

Thought I'd share a picture of the baby blanket. Still have a lot to get done but its getting there. The 2nd picture is a close-up of the stitch. If anyone knows what this pattern is really called, please leave a comment. Comments are welcome anytime anyway even critism, just keep it friendly. :)

I wrote down the steps for making the pattern.

Row 1: Chain 6, dc (double crochet) in 4th chain from hook and next two chs. Chain 6, turn.

Row 2: dc in 4th chain from hook and then dc in next two chains.
Skip next 3 dcs and sc in chain 3 from the last row, chain 3 make 3 dc in chain with the
sc. Chain 6, turn.

Row 3: dc in 4th chain from hook and then dc in next two chains.
sc in next chain 3 space, ch 3 and 3 dc in same space, sc in next ch 3 space, ch 3 and 3
dc in same space. Chain 6, turn.

This establishes the pattern, each row will have one more group of 3 dc. (see picture)
Work Row 3 until you get the size you want. You can make small squares and sew or crochet them together or you can make one large square. This would be good to use up left over yarns. You would change colors at the begining of a row.

When your square is the size you want, you will decrease as follows:

Work the blanket as before except when you get to the end of the row, do not ch 6. Instead ch 1, turn, slip stitch on top of the dcs and then sl st in the ch 3 from the last row, ch 3, 3 dc in same space, continue across row as before, when you reach the last ch 3 of the row, slip stitch to the top of the ch 3, ch 1 and then repeat the last row. You will now have 2 groups of 3 dc together on each end. Eventually you will get down to one block again. (see Pic) If you wanted a rectangle blanket you would continue to increase on one side while decreasing on the other side until you reach the size you want then decrease on both sides to get back to one group.

If you have any questions or problems with my directions, leave a comment and I will email you back.

In the Beginning

So many blogs have been popping up on the web and at first I thought, what is a blog? After a little research, I found my answer then I started seeing blogs on crochet and knitting and my interest perked up...this might be fun. My interests are many, crochet, knit, tatting, too many crafts to name. lol Also I draw, paint and do computer graphics. However, I decided to limit it to one subject, crocheting which I think is so creative as an art form. Basically you are limited to your imagination and your skill level. To improve your skill level, you keep pushing yourself to learn more. I first learned to crochet when I was 20 by a friend who taught me the chain stitch and the double crochet stitch. That wasen't enough, I found books on crochet and taught myself the rest. I learned how to make a granny square by looking at a friend's work. Many years later, and I am still nuts about crochet.

My projects at the moment are a baby blanket for a friend done in a stitch that I call a basket-weave. I'm not sure what it is really called, I first did this from a pattern and made an afghan then after that I lost the pattern but I knew the pattern by heart anyway. I'll post a picture of the project soon. Another project is 6" squares for an exchange which are done, I just need to get them in the mail. I'm also working on some Christmas gifts. My worst enemy seems to be time, or the lack of time. I work full time and am married so there seems to be little time for crocheting. However, I found that I can get a lot done by crocheting on my lunch hour at work. I think I need to find a time management course. Lol