Holiday's are over - Prayer Shawls as gifts to family

We are knee deep in snow here - what's new - we have snow every winter.  This winter offers more snow that past two years, and sometimes it is absolutely stunning.  Other times is is several feet of snow.  We live on a hill, and not so easy with our small town car (Scion) to navigate up and down the hill so sometimes we are 'snowed in'.

Making good use of the holiday time, I was able to make eleven prayer shawls this season, using Lion's Brand Homespun yarn which makes the experience of wearing them warm and toasty, comforting.

Adding pictures of the different shawls.  Credit to Zooty Owl crochet pattern Cosmos Fields Shawl.  Used a portion of her pattern to create these different prayer shawls.  And of course, in no way does the colorful beauty match up to her original work.  As time saver, I used the core part of the pattern to create the shawls.

Autumn Gems Button Scarf

Crocheted in a simple V stitch, it is easy and quick to work up too.  Two lovely buttons hold the scarf in place and it can be worn a variety of ways, making it very versatile.

Link to site of origin

Note *  See additional Free Patterns at Fiber Flux site.  Link. 

Note to self, projects from the free patterns that I might want to do this holiday season.  Several choices for flower, dishcloth, scarf, neck warmer projects.
-- Granny Gift Card Holder
-- Layered Ruffle Flower
-- One Round Flowers

Autumn Gems Button Scarf

By Jennifer Dickerson

Materials:

• 6.5 mm K crochet hook
• 1 ball Lion Brand Landscapes in "Tropics" (147 yards)
• 2 Buttons
• Tapestry Needle
• Scissors

Sizing:

• 5 inches wide
• 55 inches long

Abbreviations and Tutorial Links:

• Chain (ch)
• Double Crochet (dc)

Instructions:

Ch 18 

Row 1: Work a dc in the 4th chain from hook then ch 1. *Work a dc in the next ch. Skip a ch, and in the next chain, work (dc, ch 1) . Repeat from * to end.

Row 2: Ch 3 and turn. Work (dc, ch 1, dc) in each of the chain 1 spaces from the previous row (center of each "V"). At the end of the row, finish with a dc in the last space (turning chain space from previous row).

Repeat row 2 until scarf measures about 55 inches long (or desired length) and fasten off.

Finishing: Using a small piece of matching yarn and a tapestry needle, sew buttons to bottom edge of scarf equally spaced apart.  Weave in any ends that remain and you're finished!

Seahawks Time

Ahhh, lookie there .... it's been a few years since I've been back here, and here this beautiful blog still sits. Awesome. Between last post of 2010 and this post Feb 2015 is a long time, and too much to update in one post.

 I didn't get the online business completely off the ground, although I still do have the acquired scarves and purses, and vintage items, and collectibles. I still love the repurpose, diy ideas, and Etsy is still out there. E-bay too and the shop I put together online at ecrater, and that has not materialized as a popular place for people to shop.

 For this post, sharing the popular this year crocheted lacy scarf. Learned to make them and they work up quickly, made several for the Super Bowl game for the women in my immediate family with the primary Seahawks colors of blue and green. My two daughters are obsessive fans of the Hawks, and one son-in-law is crazed as a 12 fan about them. Seahawk fans will understand and appreciate the 12 and I'm sure there is much online. The contribution I make is tiny in a comparative sense.

Crocheted Open Weave Mesh Scarf for Spring

Looking for a light weight spring season type scarf to crochet, I came across pattern for open weave mesh scarf.  First I tried the pattern on some ribbon yarn my mother had brought for me, but I would have needed about two more balls to get the scarf to a long enough length.  The ribbon yarn made up into a neck scarf and that may work well too.  I had some lemon colored light weight acrylic yarn that I used and it gave me the longer length scarf I wanted.  It does crochet up quickly.  I’d like to make a few more of these mesh scarves.

Another placemat purse; crocheted fingerless gloves, crocheted wrist cuffs

Got the packages out in the mail to my older daughter and her family.  Pictures of the tote/purse I made for her; again using placemats and napkins for the interior pockets. 

  I adapted the many patterns I found on blogs, to make some simple channel pockets for the interior of the purse. 

  I crocheted 2 pairs of wrist cuffs (above) using fun fur yarn for my two teenage granddaughters. 

 

And I crocheted each of them a pair of fingerless gloves (below)

I made a bunch of these using 'The Crochet Dude' travel jewelry bag pattern

Last year I bumped into a crochet blog by a Guy!  Yep, and he calls himself  'The Crochet Dude'.  His crocheted creations were different and fresh.  I was quite taken with them, and the idea of a guy who not only could crochet but come up with his own creations was enchanting!  He had a few free patterns, and I was happy to try his pattern for 'Travel Jewelry Purse'.  I liked it so well, that I made several and gave them as belated Christmas gifts.  I may have taken a couple of photos and posted, but I gave away more of the cute little purses than I had taken photos of as a record.  So I made some more and this time took photos.  

As for 'The Crochet Dude' -- well he was snapped up by the industry pretty quickly - I mean what's not to like about his creations and work!   Now he appears on radio and television shows, has his own website, books, and has left his humble beginnings on blogspot.  But he didn't kill the blog, just moved on to other things, and here is the link to some of his free patterns that got me going on making these adorable little travel jewelry bags.  They are entirely useable for other things besides just jewelry.  I like to tuck one in my purse to hold some of my cosmetics.  

Love the finished purse with it's ruffled top.  I played around with making several layers of ruffles because I so liked the look of the first one I finished. 

  And for a dual-colored purse, it was fun to put colors together and see the results.  This is one of several I worked up using different color for outside and inside.  Above is the black outside of the purse closed up.  Below is the purse opened to reveal a contrasting color of orange inside pockets.

Then I wanted more pockets, so I adapted the pattern to make an outside ring of pockets, along with the inside ring of pockets. 

Soft chenille makes warm crocheted scarf and hat set

Among my completed crochet projects, here is a long scarf and matching hat that I crocheted from the chenille yarn. I was showing my basket full of finished crochet projects and my mother was taken with this set. I rather had it in mind to gift it to her when I made it, so I'm pleased she was happy with it.

Crochet Market Bag, one for baby too!

I made a wee little market type bag using baby yarn, a bit of a diaper type bag for extra diapers, bibs, a bottle, an extra outfit, maybe. Should tuck nicely into Mom's purse.








And then I made another adult size market bag but not for marketing, to hang on my bedpost as a place to tuck away my nightclothes.

16th Grandchild and another crocheted baby blanket

Another new grandchild and the family continues to grow. This is our 16th grandchild, and to welcome him, I got busy crocheting a baby blanket.






Close up view

Christmas in February - finally got my handcrafted gifts into the mail

I'm late (as usual) getting Christmas and Birthday gifts out to my kids and grandchildren. There is my son, who also has a birthday two days before Christmas; my two grandddaughters who were born in a set 2 months apart and turned Sweet 16 this year in November and in December; my two daughters and my two sets of two grandchildren in age sets of 7-8 yrs old and 2-3 yrs old.

Well, I did get the gifts to my husband, mother and step-daughter timely - before Christmas. But the delay in getting out the gifts to my kids and grandchildren took me into February. I really had wanted to do some homemade craft type gifts this year along with purchased gifts. It took me a bit to get all the handcrafts done and I finally got all the gifts wrapped, packaged up and into the mail by this week, Feb 10. My daughter's birthday Feb 13, and the packages for her family arrived today - just in time for her birthday. Woo Hoo.

Slideshow below of the completed crafted projects I made to include in their gift boxes this year.