The latest things I made.......

I was wandering in Joanne's one day and thought Id buy some crochet thread to work on. I spotted this stuff..........its an organic bamboo thread. The colors were so soft and muted and old fashioned looking, I just had to have some! I looked thru my books for a pattern when I got home and saw this one, ironically done in soft colored threads too. This was an old book tho from the 70s so I dont know where they got those colors from but I thought it would be perfect for me.

So I made that doily up there for my bedroom nite tables. I was sorry once I did cuz you have to make many pieces. And it wouldn't have been so bad but this bamboo thread with a small needle splits at times and can be hard to rip out when you make a mistake. I finished one and now I knew I HAD TO  make the other to match.....sigh. So I plodded thru. They look awesome tho. And I will say this.........not only are the colors they sell this in.....stunning.............but the feel of this is so soft. It would make amazing clothing I think.

 So then I needed another one, a bigger one for my dresser. I was NOT going to make those stupid motifs again. And so I found this pattern and decided to use the same colors so it looked like a set. It starts with 5 motifs but that's it. OMG I adore...........this piece. Its soft, girly, old fashioned and if it was bigger would make a stunning shawl. Much easier to work with too when you use this kind of pattern.

This is the close up of that piece. I love, love, love it. But I bought blue thread too. And right now my bedroom has blue and white pillows on it for the summer. So I think Ill make some with the blue and cream and white next.

I finally finished this runner.

I finally finished the embroidery on it. Its huck toweling that was stamped with a pattern to embroider. Swedish weaving on this type of fabric is what is usually done. But I had know idea how to handle this. I just know I saw a couple of these on Ebay and had to have them. One was a grape runner that Ive finished awhile ago, one was a rose runner that I lost out on :( and then this one with violets.

Here it is completed. It runs the length of my couch. I didn't measure it but I think its a 72in. runner.

Here's one end with a closer view. I searched for a nice old fashioned crocheted edging. Found 3 that were possibilities and ended up using this one. I think its the perfect choice.

A little bit closer shot. Sorry I didn't iron it. Since I'm not gonna use it right now and its only going to get packed, I figure Id skip that for now.

Close up of the embroidery. Don't know if this is how you do this but its what I decided upon. I used variegated threads to give it some shading and depth. I really like how it turned out.

And here's the next project in the works. This one the pattern is wrong so I'm having some trouble with it. Thank God Ive been crocheting for yrs or I would have dumped it by now. I wanted to make two but now I'm not so sure. I can't sit still at nite watching tv with empty hands. And apparently I crochet really fast so I figure its a good way to get these things done eventually. Problem is I get bored ez too so I have a million projects going and I'm always adding more!

Crocheted Dishcloths

Ive been on a crochet kick lately and found these crocheted dishcloths in cotton yarn. I thought Id make a few and see how I like them. With everyone going greener I thought this would be a good idea. I use sponges now but why buy sponges that need to be replaced often and are not natural anyway? Or paper towels, how much of that do we use?

I saw on another woman's page that she made colorful ones to use in her kitchen and plain white ones for cleaning. The white ones could be bleached if needed. The colorful ones you can make to match your kitchen.

So what you see up there are the ones Ive made and the one I'm working on.

V-Stitch Granny (Dishcloth)

For the dishcloth I used 3 oz. Sugar & Cream variegated worsted weight cotton and 1 oz solid. I used a J hook and finished size is about 12" square.
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Starting V-stitch: Ch 4, dc in same stitch
V-stitch: dc,ch1,dc in same stitch
Corner: in corner space 2dc, ch2, 2dc
Start Dishcloth
Ch 4 and join.
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Rd 1: ch3 (counts as dc) 2 dc, *ch 2, 3 dc* 3 times ch 2 and join
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Rd 2: ch 3, dc in each dc work corner into each ch 2 space and join
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Rd 3: Make sure you are in the center dc of the side make a starting V-stitch, sk next dc, 2dc, work corner, 2 dc, skip next st, V-stitch, sk st, 2 dc, work corner, continue around join to 3rd chain of first V- stitch and sl st into V-stitch
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Rd 4: Starting V-stitch, skip next st, dc in next 4 dc, work corner, dc in next 4 dc, V-stitch, work all the way around in this pattern, join in same manner as above, sl st into V-stitch
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Rd 5: Starting V-stitch*sk next st, dc, sk next st, V-stitch, sk next st, dc in next 2 stitches, work corner, dc in next 2 st, sk st, V-Stitch, sk st, dc, sk, st, V- stitch around and join
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Rd 6: Starting V-stitch, dc in every dc V-stitch in every V stitch and work corners around
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Rd 7: Starting V-stitch, *dc in every dc, V-stitch in every V-stitch to the last V- stitch of that side, sk1 of the side, dc in next st, sk 1, V-stitch, dc in next 2, corner, dc in next two stitches, sk 1, V-stitch, sk, continue around from * Join
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Repeat rds 6 and 7 and end
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Solid Border (optional)
Rd 10: Join solid color to any corner, ch3, 4 dc in corner, dc in every dc and in ch 1 space of V- stitches to corner, 5 dc in corner and continue around

Round Dishcloth/Washcloth
G hook, Scrap 4 ply cotton yarn like Sugar n' Cream

Round 1: Chain 4, slip st tog,

Round 2: Ch 3 and 11 dc in ring. Slip st tog. (Count the first ch as 1 dc, now and throughout)

Round 3: Ch 3. Dc in same stitch as ch 3, then 2 dc in each st around. *Dc in next st, 2 dc in next st. Repeat from * around, slip st tog .

Round 4: Back Loops Only from now on: Ch 3. *Dc in next 1 st, then 2 dc in next st. Repeat from * around, slip st tog.

Round 5: Ch 3. *Dc in next 2 stitches, then 2 dc in next st. Repeat from * around, slip st tog.

Round 6: Ch 3. *Dc in next 3 stitches, then 2 dc in next st. Repeat from * around, slip st tog.

Round 7: Ch 3. *Dc in next 3 stitches, then 2 dc in next st. Repeat from * around, slip st tog.

Round 8: Ch 3, sc in next st. Repeat around to make edging. Fasten off and weave in ends. (I changed this and added a couple more rounds of just double crochet and didn't stitch in the back stitches to make that ridge you see for these. Then I added a shell stitch in a contrasting color to the edge. The shells are 1sc, 5dc, 1sc to the end, then slip stitch in first sc and tie off.)

Solid Shell Dishcloth

Materials :
Worsted weight cotton yarn Peaches & Creme brand 4 ply cotton
US size I hook

Starting chain: Chain 26.
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in ea ch across. (25 sc)
Row 2: ch 1 to turn, sc in first sc, *skip next 2 sc, 5 dc in next sc (shell made), skip next 2 sc, sc in next sc **, repeat the directions between * and ** 3 more times.

Establishing The Pattern Design:
Row 3: ch 3 (counts as first dc), make 2 dc in the first sc (which is at the base of the ch-3 just made), * skip next 2 dc, sc in next dc (which is the dc in the center of the shell), skip next 2 dc, 5 dc in next sc **, repeat the directions between * and ** 2 more times, then skip next 2 dc, sc in next dc (which is the dc in the center of the shell), skip next 2 dc, 3 dc in last sc.

More Shell Rows:
Row 4: ch 1 to turn, sc in first sc, skip next 2 dc, 5 dc in next sc (shell made), * skip next 2 dc, sc in next dc (which is the dc in the center of the shell), skip next 2 dc, 5 dc in next sc **, repeat the directions between * and ** 2 more times, then skip next 2 dc, sc in the last dc (which is the ch-3 turning chain that started the previous row, which counted as a dc).
Row 5: Repeat row 3.

This Row Is Designed To Bring The Wavy Shell Edge Back To A Straight Edge:
Row 6: ch 1, sc in first dc, * hdc in next dc, dc in ea of next 3 stitches, hdc in next dc, sc in next dc **, repeat the directions between * and ** 3 more times.
Row 7: ch 1 to turn, sc in ea stitch across. (25 sc)

The Repeat Rows:
Row 8: Repeat row 4.
Row 9: Repeat row 3.
Row 10: Repeat row 6.
Row 11: Repeat row 7.
Row 12: Repeat row 4.
Row 13: Repeat row 3.
Row 14: Repeat row 4.
Row 15: Repeat row 3.
Row 16: Repeat row 6.
Row 17: Repeat row 7.
End off. Weave in ends.
(I changed this pattern too and just did the shell stitch rows until the very end. Then I used row 6 to give me a straight edge. Now I'm doing single crochet around the edges, 24 sc with 3 sc in each corner. I haven't decided what else Ill do to it yet)