Housekeeping for Lazies Tip

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Furry Crocheted Christmas Ornaments

It's beginning to look a lot like ... Christmas Ornaments! I know, crazy to be thinking about Christmas when the high today in Phoenix is 111 degrees, but I'm on to another destashing project. Glanced at a shelf in my craft studio this morning, saw these yarn scraps ...

and thought Furry Crocheted Christmas Ornaments would be just the thing to think cool!

I still consider myself a novice crocheter, not too confident with any pattern that has stitches to be counted but, I promise you, this is so easy -- seriously, if I can do it, I believe you can too!

The white yarn with a metallic strand shot through it is a #2 Fine/Baby on the Standard Yarn Weight Chart and must be left over from a baby item made years ago (I no longer have the identifying ball band). The fancy yarns are both Lion Brand: Martha Stewart Glitter Eyelash in Brownstone #526 and Fun Fur in Sapphire Blue #109.

Furry Crocheted Christmas Ornament

This ornament can be very organic with whatever yarns you like or have on hand but for the blue ornament, I used:

White #2 Fine/Baby Weight Yarn for the main color
Lion Brand Fun Fur in Sapphire Blue
H/8 Crochet Hook
Yarn Needle for weaving in ends

- - - - - - - - - -

With main color, chain 5 and join

Single crochet 12 times in circle and join end of round with a slip stitch

{I like to crochet over the tail of the yarn to omit weaving in the end later}

Chain 2 (which counts as first Half Double Crochet {HDC}

HDC in each stitch with 1 chain stitch between each HDC

Join end of round with a slip stitch

Chain 2

In each space, make 2 HDCs and chain 1 between each space

Pick up the strand of fun fur and, together with the main yarn, chain 3

Because the 2 strands of yarn together can be a little difficult, keep your stitches slightly loose to make it easier on yourself

{You will weave in the fun fur tail later}

Between every HDC, do a Double Crochet, chain 2

Here is the round half done ...

Slip stitch to join end of round

Bring both yarns through last stitch to knot them, but do not cut yet

Drop the main color yarn and chain 22 with the fun fur to make the ornament hanger

Connect the last stitch to the ornament at the beginning of the chain with a slip stitch to make a loop

Cut both yarns leaving a 3" tail, draw them through the working stitch and tighten to knot them

Then weave in all loose ends with yarn needle

Now wait patiently for the holidays to hang it on your tree or use as a present topper. The granddaughter asked if I could make her a black one with red fur. Hmmmmmm ... off to check my stash.

128 days until Christmas!

So many projects, never enough time ...

Great Tip for Flawlessly, Easily Connecting New Yarn in the Middle of a Row

My Mom sent me a link to this YouTube video recently that blew my hand-knitted socks off -- go take a peek, I'll wait ...

How to Join Your Yarn by Making a Double Knot

No kidding! You can connect new working yarn in the middle of a row and the result is fabulous. I have been working on a crocheted red and black afghan and this weird nubby chunk of yarn about 3" long appeared in the middle of a row.

I crocheted on with it and, believe me, it was super ugly. About 6" later *sigh, why do I do these idiotic things*, I realized I could not live with the bumpy blob and then, as if by magic, Mom's email appeared in my inbox. So I frogged back to just before the blob and tried the magic double knot join.

Here is the knot made after cutting out the blob and rejoining the yarn ...

The tip of the scissors points to the stitch where the knot is buried. It does not show on either side. If I squeeze the stitch between my fingertips I can feel it, but you would never know it's there to look at it.

Just had to share this amazing tip and give thanks to the clever Jane Richmond for providing it!

So many projects, never enough time ...

Patchwork Afghan

As I write this, it is 10:00 pm and over 100 degrees out. Still, I find myself imagining how cozy it would be to curl up under this handmade afghan with a book and a cup of coffee.

I started this patchwork afghan over 2 years ago with 7 blocks -- 6 knitted and 1 crocheted -- quickly got tired of it and shoved it in a bag. Then about a month ago, I found it again, started pulling all of my bits and pieces of leftover yarn off the shelves, picked up a crochet hook and can finally call it done. From this ...

to this ...

Just laid out without blocking, it measures about 50" wide by 61" long. Each individual square took between 1-1/2 to 2 hours to make and there are 49 total. Made of worsted weight acrylic yarn, most squares are done in half double crochet with an H/8 crochet hook. I single crocheted each row together, then each column. Last, I went around the whole thing 3 times, in single crochet, then half double crochet and, finally, in double crochet. The outer black border is an inch wide and really brings the whole thing together. I love the way the black yarn borders make it look like stained glass.

I have to say, it has been a wonderful, satisfying project to work on. Making the squares was just plain fun, switching colors with each new block, and destashing my yarn-filled shelves. This afghan took me over 120 hours to complete, but every stitch was joyful and I would highly recommend making one if you have your own destashing to do.

Just for fun, I took pictures of my progress along the way and made a slide show so in 34 seconds, here is How to Build a Patchwork Afghan ...

I used the free ProShow app on my iPhone to create the slide show.

So many projects, never enough time ...

Coco Bag Love

Found a wonderful {free} sewing pattern online last week for a gorgeous handbag that is surprisingly simple to make. The directions are so clear, well-written and easy to follow. I am completely in love with the Coco Bag by Chris W. Designs!

Let me preface this by sharing that I am in total destashing mode. The shelves in my studio are crammed full of fabric and yarn and scrapbooking supplies and I have vowed to use what I have, only buying necessities for a while.

The fabrics I chose to use for my first Coco are a woven green home decor with brown dots along with a couple of quilting cottons -- the question mark swirly pattern is the accent fabric and the tiny white on brown polka dots is the lining fabric:

Christine's pattern is a downloadable PDF, very easy to follow ...

I adore the way the tiny darts shape the beautiful bag bottom ...

This is the first time I've used a magnetic snap. Had some on hand from a store that closed a while back ...

I did make a few changes to the original instructions and materials. I interfaced all pieces with heavy-weight 809 Decor Bond and omitted the fleece interlining. The bag is sturdy and stands up on its own.

Rather than the hollow piping called for in the handles, I used cording and attached the handles to the bag flat since I did not have the hardware Christine used.

It's a beautiful bag, a brilliant pattern and I can't wait to make another one!

So many projects, never enough time ...

Patchwork in Yarn

Ashley was sweet enough to lay out the 49 squares of mostly crocheted patchwork. I tend to over think projects like this and want to rearrange and rearrange and it would never be done so I promised myself that I would run with her arrangement and not change a thing. Soooooo much easier this way!

I am so pleased with the the colors and variety and especially using up so much yarn left over from projects over the years.

And I have the first row crocheted together with black yarn ... love it!

Along with being a superb stash buster, I think this will eventually make a nice gift. And it's a great project to work on in front of the TV. I'm on season 3 of Downton Abbey -- spoiler alert if you haven't seen it yet -- I cannot believe they killed off Sybil, the nicest person on the show!!! I may have cried.

So many projects, never enough time ...

49 Squares

I have a Yorkie sized stack of afghan squares ... count 'em, 49!

This is a stash bustin' project that will result in a patchwork afghan and several empty shelves where yarn used to hang out.

Miles cannot believe his eyes. Seriously, this pile of tiny blankets is the reason you've been unable to scratch my ears while we're watching TV?

Now comes the laying out of all the pieces -- I'm hoping to coerce the granddaughter into this portion of the project. ;-)

Then the assembly. I'm going to try crocheting them together rather than whip stitching, but we'll see how it goes. I'll let you know.

So many projects, never enough time ...