SillyGeese Designs Crochet-Along!

Join my friend Shannon of Sillygeese Designs for a fun baby blanket crochet-along!

Today's Plans

Just thought I'd share, LOL!!

• finish Heather's Halloween costume-Bella Sara Generosity
  
• dehydrate carrots from the garden
• go to Micheal's for supplies
• one load of laundry
• kickboxing tonight
• make healthy food choices

Have a great day! :-)

Guest Blogger - Crochet Concupiscence

Today I'd like to welcome Kathryn from Crochet Concupiscence as my guest blogger! If you are interested in guest blogging for me about something crochet-related, please contact me at jaybird [at] acsol [dot] net with your ideas! I look forward to hearing from you!

I am trying to spread the word about three of my big crochet projects and I thought you might be interested in any or all of them.

The three crochet projects are:

1. Swaddle! A Crochet Art Project. Swaddle is a crochet art project exploring the ways in which women nurture the men in their lives. It looks at silent forms of nurturing but specifically delves into the way that women communicate. Swaddle looks at the positive ways that female approaches to communication improve relationships but also looks at the darker side of how differing communication styles can suffocate relationships. It does so using crochet, which has stereotypically been considered a female craft. It will include 12 – 24 works of crochet art incorporating a range of crochet types including hyperbolic crochet, mosaic crochet and granny squares and using yarn from indie dyers, sellers and small yarn stores. I am trying to crowdsource funding for the project and all people who contribute will be represented in the project. Learn more here.

2. The Health Benefits of Crochet (a book). I am writing a book about the mental and physical health benefits of crochet. Crochet is such a healing, soothing craft and can provide significant mental health benefits for people dealing with depression, anxiety and stress-related illness. It can be used as a form of both long-term and short-term pain management and also as a form of occupational therapy for people with various hand ailments. What I’m spreading the word about is that I’m still interviewing people for this book and I’d love to hear from anyone who feels that crochet has helped their health and who would like to complete an email interview for the book.

3. Hooked Together! (a blog project). Hooked Together is my huge crochet blog project designed to explore the connections within the crochet community. I have a list of 270 crochet / fiber / yarn blogs that I read. I am going through the blogroll for each of those blogs and exploring what they read, sharing their links to crochet, craft and other blogs on my blog every Friday so that my readers can find other blogs that they’ll enjoy. In the end, I’m going to put all of this together into a big display so that we can all see how the crochet community is connected within itself and to the larger craft community.

Stop by and check it out tomorrow! I'll have some great items for sale at the Mesa Fiber Arts Guild table!!

Half Price Sale!

Making room for more inventory! Half price sale on all Ready2Ship women's fashion accessories until the end of the week! Lots of great items for your fall wardrobe!!

Check them out HERE!!

Guest Blogger - Sillygeese Designs & FREE Pattern**

Today I'd like to welcome Shannon of SillyGeese Designs as my guest blogger! If you are interested in guest blogging for me about something crochet-related, please contact me at jaybird [at] acsol [dot] net with your ideas! I look forward to hearing from you!

I made this pumpkin applique a few years ago then never used it. Since it is Fall Harvest time I decided to recreate it and practice my pattern writing skills. I'm going to sew them onto a onsie for my youngest gosling

Of course she just wants to chew on them, but that is quite all right with me, it is washable after all
so I used cotton yarn, you can use what ever you have on hand but different yarns may need different hook sizes and will result in differing finished product. Mine is less than 3 inches long by 1.5 inches at its widest point.

I used mercerized 100% cotton yarn.Sinfonia from Hobby Lobby
ch 15,turn
Row 1: sc in first ch from hook, sc in next 5ch, hdc, dc in next 2, hdc, sc in next 4 remaining ch, (14 total)ch 1 turn,
Row 2:( Back Loop only for whole row)sc in next 4 sc, hdc, dc in next 2, hdc, sc in next 6 sc., ch 1 turn,
Row 3:(in Front Loop Only) sc in next 6ch, hdc, dc in next 2, hdc, sc in next 4 ch, 1 turn,
Rows 4-5: repeat rows 2 and 3.
Row 6:repeat row 2, except do not turn add 2 loops to your hook on the end of your piece, then pull a loop thru all three creating a decrease along the end, repeat , bind off.( I do this by cutting my yarn a couple inches longer then slip stitching and pulling the yarn all the way thru framing a knot, then taking a darning needle and burying the yarn into the piece.

Add stem
on the opposite end from your decreases, pull a loop thru and chain 6
sc in first ch from hook, sc in next 4ch, sc into pumpkin. bind off and bury tail of yarn.

**Copied with permission from http://www.sillygeesedesigns.blogspot.com/

Too Cute!

I just received this sweet sweet photo of my Angel Cloud Cocoon!! A BIG thank you to Tierra Kendrick Photography for sharing this adorable photo with me! Be sure to check out her website and Blog!

And just FYI, I'm currently swamped with work, so I have disabled all my custom listings in my etsy shop. I hope to be able to resume making custom items for you in a few weeks. In the mean time, if you are interested in a custom order...still contact me. I know some other crocheters who may be willing to make your items for you.

Guest Blogger - Sharp Crochet Hook & FREE Pattern

Today I'd like to welcome Jessica, creator of the Sharp Crochet Hook as my guest blogger! If you are interested in guest blogging for me about something crochet-related, please contact me at jaybird [at] acsol [dot] net with your ideas! I look forward to hearing from you!

Modern X's and O'x Crochet Edging

Today I am going to show you how to crochet a cute edging on a baby blanket and burp cloth. This tutorial is a great project for a beginner because it is quick, easy, and a lot of fun! This is an appropriate edging for a boy! Not to frilly or lacy.

Materials Needed:

*1 1/2 yards of flannel

*1 Sharp Crochet Hook.

You can pick this up at www.sharpcrochethook.com, shipping is free through the end of the month. The advantage to using the Sharp Crochet Hook is it will go through the fabric much easier than normal crochet hooks because normal crochet hooks have rounded heads.

*1 Package of Crochet Thread. I prefer size 3 because I think it is softest for babies.

*Rounded Corner Template

You can print this from here (it's free): http://sharpcrochethook.com/faq.html

*Scissors

Step 1.

Unfold your fabric. Measure off 11" and cut. This section will be for your burp cloth. The rest will be for your blanket.

Step 2.

Cut out the rounded corner template you want to use. I will be using the 3" rounded corner template today because our border isn't very wide. If you were doing a wider border, I would suggest using a larger round.

Trim off the edges of your fabric. Use the template to cut out all four corners on your burp cloth and the corners of your blanket. I left my blanket folded in half and cut the corners of two layers at once.

Step 3.

Get your crochet thread and Sharp Crochet Hook. Make a loop (slip knot) and single crochet all the way around your fabric every 1/4". (Poke your hook through the fabric.)

When you've finished this first round, start on the second round. You will need to know how to chain(ch) and how to do a double crochet(dc) stitch.

The pattern is: *do 5 dc, skip a stitch and do a dc, then ch 4, then dc in the skipped stitch.* Repeat from *to*.

Here is what it looks like:

If you want to change up the pattern a little, you can just do less (or more) than 5 dc. Here is what it looks like if you don't do any dc in between the "crossovers." In my opinion, it would be perfect for a girly blanket, but since this is for a boy, I like having the 5 dc as a spacer because I think it looks more masculine.

Here is the finished blanket folded.

Any baby would love this handmade gift!

HAPPY CROCHETING!

Oct 2011 - Ruby for Women

Open publication - Free publishing - More crafts