Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Bakery Bears


Hi everyone!

I found this British husband and wife team that knit on http://www.ravelry.com/. They are the Bakery Bears. The wife, Kay, wrote a patterns for Bakery Bears a few months back and it and their podcast have just grown like crazy in just a few short weeks. Watch their podcasts below and you can see why. By far the best podcasts I have every come across! You get knitting, comedy, history, and a vacation all in one. They take you to and show so many beautiful places! They show you what is now the catch phrase “What’s on your needles” and “What’s off your needles”! Just take a peek. I know you will be “hooked” just like me!

 

What I am working on… well I am currently in too many swaps! So many, that I can hardly keep up. I am busy making granny squares for 4 different swaps. I have buttons and a swap-bot swap wrapped and ready for the post. I will take pictures of the squares as I complete them.

 

My two Aunt Sandy’s and my cousin Debbie arrive tomorrow from Indiana to visit for a few days. I am very excited. We are going to ride the old train from Historic Van Buren to Winslow and back, which I have always wanted to do. It should be beautiful. You can find out more about that here http://www.amrailroad.com/html/reservations/pricing_specials.html

 

Happy Crafting

Cindy

Monday, July 28, 2014

till the cowls come home!

As promised... The pattern is crochet shell twisted cowl by Amray2007 at crochetjewel.com
I actually made seven this weekend. Two pink, two silver, teal, red, yellow.



Cowls, cowls, cowls and more cowls…


Hi from Arkansas ya’ll! It was miserably humid here this weekend! It was not good to be outside at all. I worked in the house and organized my sheets into sets and wrapped the sets in ribbon and labeled them. I saw someone do this on TV and always wanted to get that done. I tend to just take the sheets off the bed wash them and put them back on, but no matter the sheet closet looks better anyway. Enough about me, on with the crafting…


I found the cutest little twisted cowl pattern for free! It is not only cute, but so quick to whip up. I can whip one up in about an hour and half! It uses very little yarn which is always great! I was able to accomplish so much this weekend and still had time to whip up 6 of these. I will post pictures later tonight as well as the pattern. I found that I really liked this in Simply Soft Caron Yarn. It has a shine and was very pretty. I tried different lengths and decided that I like it shorter but not as short as the pattern called for. I did try blocking this with the euro steam iron, but I actually like this unblocked because you can see the dimensions when it is not pressed flat.


That’s all for today. Again, I will post these pictures and pattern tonight.


Happy Crafting!


Cindy

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Twinkie Chan style slouch beanie


I tried my hand at a Twinkie Chan style slouch beanie for my granddaughter. I love it! It was quick to whip up and cute as a cupcake! I have included the pattern that I used.

 

Posted by on 

I wanted to create a cute cupcake hat that looked a bit different from the ones you see all over. I wanted to play with the swirls and ridges of a beautifully frosted cupcake. There is a lot of working in back loops in this pattern in order to create the swirly frosting texture and the ridges in the cake bottom, but you’ll love the end result.

Adapted from "Twinkie Chan's Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies: 20 Yummy Treats to Wear" by Twinkie Chan / Andrews McMeel Publishing. Images by Stephanie Lee.

Ingredients
- 1 skein Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Baby in Aqua 102 (Blue)
- 1 skein Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice in Chocolate Cake 128 (Brown)
- Small amount of Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice in Scarlet 113 (Red)
- I hook, or whatever size needed to obtain gauge
-Whatever mini pom-poms, beads, bows, or felt cutouts you want to use for cupcake decorations!


Step 1

Gauge:
Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice and Vanna’s Choice Baby: 14 sc = 4 inches

Frosting:
Unravel about 16 inches of Blue for sewing later. Do not break off. With the I hook, ch 26.
Row 1: Sk first 2 chs, (2 hdc), hdc in next 21 chs, hdc2tog. (24 sts)
Row 2: Ch 2, turn. Work in BLO, except work in both loops for the first and last stitch of the row. Hdc2tog, 21 hdc evenly, (2 hdc). (24 sts)
Row 3: Ch 2, turn. Work in BLO, except work in both loops for the first and last stitch of the row. (2 hdc), 21 hdc evenly, hdc2tog. (24 sts)
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until you have 42 rows (or until the long edge reaches your desired unstretched-hat circumference).

After Row 48, break off and leave 16 inches of yarn. Use this yarn to sew Row 48 to Row 1 to form a tube. Thread your tapestry needle with the yarn tail from the beginning and weave it in and out of the top of the tube, all around, spacing your stitches about 1-1/2 inches apart. Then pull on the yarn to draw the top of the hat closed. Tie down and weave your end through.

Step 2

Cake:

With Brown and the I hook, ch 12.
Row 1: Sk first ch, and sc in 11 chs. (11 sts)
Row 2: Ch 1, turn. Work in BLO, except work in both loops for the first and last stitch of the row. Sc evenly across. (11 sts) Repeat Row 2 until you have 82 rows (or until the long edge reaches your unstretched-hat circumference). Break off and whipstitch your last row to your first row to form a tube.

Step 3

Cherry:

With Red, ch 4, and sl st to make a loop.
Round 1: Ch 1, 6 sc in loop. Don’t join your rounds. Use a marker if necessary. (6 sts)
Round 2: (2 sc) in each sc. (12 sts)
Round 3: [(2 sc), 1 sc] 6 times. (18 sts)
Rounds 4–6: Work 18 sc evenly around. (18 sts)
Round 7: [Sc2tog, sc] 6 times. (12 sts) I prefer for the “right” side of the stitches to appear on the outside of the cherry, so you probably need to flip your cherry inside out at this point. Weave the yarn tail from the beginning and sew the opening loop up a little if needed. You may also begin stuffing the cherry.

I prefer to use yarn of the same color you’re working with instead of polyfill. This way, no white stuffing pokes out! You may want to unravel some red yarn before working your cherry so that you can just stuff the cherry without having to break off and get more yarn. Wrap yarn around 2 fingers over and over to make a little yarn wad to easily fit into the cherry.

Round 8: Sc2tog 6 times. (6 sts)
Break off, leaving about a foot and a half of yarn for sewing. Thread through a tapestry needle and weave through last 6 sts. Pull together to close up, tie off.

Step 4


Zoom

Assembly:

The brown cake will form the brim of your hat. “Pin” it in place to the bottom of the frosting by using scrap yarn pieces to loosely tie the cake onto the frosting in various places. Then, with Brown, sc the two pieces together, first inserting your hook into the cake, and then through the frosting. It’s okay that your stitches show here because this is actually going on the inside of the hat. Turn the hat inside out to reveal the new outside!

Sew the cherry to the top of the hat. Secure it by sewing it down in a small circle rather than just at one point.

Decorate! I prefer mini pom-pom sprinkles!

Saturday, July 19, 2014

First Dotee Doll Complete!

My first Dotee doll is complete! My "blue haired gran it's all about yarn" is a representation of me! I'm an old soul and this is how I see myself. It is complete with beads, bobbles, crochet, yarn, needles, and sweet French knots! I just love her!

Friday, July 18, 2014

Standard Yarn Weight System


Standard Yarn Weight System posted on the craft yarn council website. I always find this helpful and keep a copy in my email so that I can access it by my phone while I am at the yarn store!


 

Standard Yarn Weight System

Categories of yarn, gauge ranges, and recommended needle and hook sizes

Yarn Weight Symbol
& Category Names
lace
super fine
fine
light
medium
bulky
super bulky
Type of
Yarns in
Category
Fingering
10-count
crochet
thread
Sock,
Fingering,
Baby
Sport,
Baby
DK,
Light
Worsted
Worsted,
Afghan,
Aran
Chunky,
Craft,
Rug
Bulky,
Roving
Knit Gauge
Range* in
Stockinette
Stitch to 4 inches
33–40**
sts
27–32
sts
23–26
sts
21–24
st
16–20
sts
12–15
sts
6–11
sts
Recommended
Needle in
Metric Size
Range
1.5–2.25
mm
2.25—
3.25
mm
3.25—
3.75
mm
3.75—
4.5
mm
4.5—
5.5
mm
5.5—
8
mm
8 mm
and
larger
Recommended
Needle U.S.
Size Range
000–1
1 to 3
3 to 5
5 to 7
7 to 9
9 to 11
11
and
larger
Crochet Gauge*
Ranges in
Single Crochet
to 4 inch
32–42
double
crochets**
21–32
sts
16–20
sts
12–17
sts
11–14
sts
8–11
sts
5–9
sts
Recommended
Hook in Metric
Size Range
Steel***
1.6–1.4
mm
2.25—
3.5
mm
3.5—
4.5
mm
4.5—
5.5
mm
5.5—
6.5
mm
6.5—
9
mm
9
mm and
larger
Recommended
Hook U.S.
Size Range
Steel***
6, 7, 8
Regular
hook B–1
B–1
to
E–4
E–4
to
7
7
to
I–9
I–9
to
K–10 1⁄2
K–10 1⁄2 to
M–13
M–13
and
larger
* GUIDELINES ONLY: The above reflect the most commonly used gauges and needle or hook sizes for specific yarn categories.
** Lace weight yarns are usually knitted or crocheted on larger needles and hooks to create lacy, openwork patterns. Accordingly, a gauge range is difficult to determine. Always follow the gauge stated in your pattern.
*** Steel crochet hooks are sized differently from regular hooks—the higher the number, the smaller the hook, which is the reverse of regular hook sizing