Crochet Frenzy - Day 3

The last of the photos of the donation scarves and hats.




If you are curious, most of the yarn was acquired at BIG LOTS for $1 t0 $3 a skein. A steal for the Lion Brand yarn, as well as some of the other yarn. Some items were made from yarn I purchased for another project. I counted 19 scarves, 1 hat, and 12 hat/scarf combination's.

Now all I have to figure out is how to get them to Paula in Devon by the end of October!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Yesterday I asked about your WORST memory of a handmade itemfrom childhood. How about telling me about your BEST today? I think mine were the smocked dressed my aunt Emily made for me when I was six to nine years old. How about you??

Crochet Frenzy - Day 2

MORE examples of hats and scarves made for donation. More to come tomorrow before we get back to sewing!

More hat and scarf sets for donation.

Hard to tell on the one below, but there is a hat on the left.

QUESTION OF THE DAY - I remember a wool knit hat when I was a kid that itched and scratched and was terrible - even worse, it tied under the chin and scratched there. That was the worst hand-crafted item I've ever owned. What is your WORST MEMORY of a handcrafted item from childhood?

Crochet Frenzy - Day 1

I've spent a lot of the summer in a crochet frenzy! My friend Paula in Devon is part of a group that prepares holiday boxes for children in eastern Europe. A local charity actually travels there and presents the boxes. They usually include a scarf and hat in the box.

SOOOOOO I decided making hats and scarfs would be a great way to practice my crochet again. I've gone a bit nuts, so this is going to take a few days to show. First up, the sets of hats and scarfs I've made.






QUESTION of the Day: Are you donating your handwork to to charities? If so, which one and what are you doing? Share your work by putting a link in comments.

Projects for the Boys

More from my summer crafting.

Little Eman has a "D" - we don't know why he calls the blanket his D - that he won't let go of. It is routinely dirty from being dragged around all day. I washed it last weekend and he was very upset. So grandma got her fleece out, and made some letters to make him a small blanket that might help when his original "D" is dirty. Not sure how he feels about it, except that he yelled "MINE" quite loudly when his big brother tried to take it away! I wanted it to be different from Z's, so I also used the pinking shears on all edges, and cut some fringe below the name.


Two crocheted hats for the boys. I actually had to remake these both at least twice. The hats were too large originally, then Z took one as I was working on it and decided to run through the kitchen, dining room and living room, just about taking out every stitch. I did finally get the two hats the right size. I had a cute photo of Eman with his on - but when I downloaded it was out of focus. So you just have to take grandma's word that they are cute on the boysl


Finally, guess what this is? The perspective is a bit strange, as I had to lay it on the floor and stand back to get the photo.

It is going to be a dinasour sweater. I'm planning on one for each boy before Halloween, so tey can both be monsters. I crocheted from the side to get a ribbed look, and have half of a hood done in the photo above. I'm using the Lion Brand suede yarn which is just lovely to crochet - a wonderful feel.

Question of the Day - Tops and Dress - Simplicity 2836

I posted about this pattern earlier this year. I am finally getting around to showing the results of the three items I made with it. Somehow I'd forgotten them last week when I posted about my summer sewing.

First up is a tunic in a semi-sheer muslin. This fabric is from deep, deep stash - I may have had it since the late 70's, or maybe the early 80's. I know I had it before I got married in 1986! I just loved the combo of the fabric and tunic - put me in mind of the "old days". I've worn it several times, and it looks good with khaki Capri's as well as jeans.

Then I made a second tunic using a pre-crinkled heavier cotton from Fabric.com. It is so warm, I haven't really been able to wear it anywhere as yet - I've put it on twice and felt too hot to wear it. So it may be a transitional item. You can't see the detail, but I put on aqua ric-rac at the yoke, then beaded each point with a teal bead on the inside points and a yellow bead on the outside points. The yellow are quite tiny and are hard to see.

The third item was a dress from the same tunic/dress pattern. It is in a polished cotton, in a wild combo of bright pink and yellow with a few touches of green. I've worn it several times and it is cool and comfortable. On the neckline, I inserted a double piping. I've never done it before. I ended up sort of "rolling" the facing over the edges of the piping to create a third line of piping with the garment fabric. Don't ask me how I did it, I don't think I could repeat it! 8-))



So the question of the day: What sewing "misadventure" that you thought was a mistake turned out to be a good addition to the garment??