Yay! I finally finished! This one has been a work-in-progress for a really long time. My family has been finding these little crochet squares all over the house. I stitch them up whenever I have a spare minute or two and then I just leave them behind
. We will probably be finding these little squares well into summer--kind of like the pine needles from the Christmas tree.
Check out the stitching of the individual squares. They are made entirely of slip stitches! Really!
I decided to share my first ( and probably only ) attempt at crocheting with jute. I actually finished this up around Christmas time and it's been patiently waiting in my closet for a trip to the beach (i.e. summer). This stuff is very scratchy, and pretty darn rough on the fingertips. 
When I showed it to one of my daughters, she said "EEww it's so scratchy!" I told her, "Chill out, it's just a bag. It's not like I'm going to make you a pair of underpants out of it." Hmmmm. An idea was born.This came in handy right before Christmas. Whenever the kids started fighting, I would remind them in a pleasant sing-song voice, "jute underpanties." It usually did the trick. Mainly because these dear children have lived with me long enough to know that "Mom's a little off her nut" and would actually do it.
I will post the instructions for my overnight bag soon. I have some pesky deadlines coming up, but I will post it as soon as I can!
I've been thinking real hard about trying to make a crochet box that isn't all floppy. I've been doing some experimenting with jute, but honestly, it's been a bit rough on the fingers. Cotton is my hands down favorite---so I had to get a little creative. The base is one of those 5"x7" wooden plaques you can get at craft stores. I drilled small holes in each of the four corners and then slid a dowel rod into each hole ( they form the inside supports ). Next, I slipped on the crocheted box and topped the dowel rods with wooden balls. The liner is simply two long rectangles that criss-cross the inside bottom of the box. Easy peasy! And it's the perfect size for holding Cd's!
My daughter's crew team is having a Spaghetti Dinner/Silent Auction this Friday. At last--a way to use up one of those quilt tops stacked up in my basement! I picked this one because everyone liked it the best (not my personal favorite, though!). I have to cater to the crowds since we want to choose the one that will bring in the biggest bucks.
All pinned up and ready for quiltin'.
I have been wanting to share this for a while. I found the pattern on the internet years ago and I can't seem to find it again! I did find a pattern that was very close. You can check it out here.
I love it when I can combine recycling with crochet! Here's my latest creation. I was recycling pop bottles recently, pulling the caps off before putting them into the machine, thinking to myself--What could I do with all these little caps (apparently they aren't recyclable).
Let me explain. Meijer threw me for a loop. I hardly ever go there preferring my nice close, familiar Kroger instead. But a few days ago I found myself at a Meijer, along with about 7 hefty bags of empty pop bottles. I was mindlessly plopping them in the machine when I noticed the Meijer recycling person standing there with his arms crossed and continually harrumphing in my direction. I must admit that I have been known to elicit this response in people from time to time, but his actions seemed totally unwarranted to me. It was then I noticed the sign over the bottle plopping chute that said "Please remove caps from the bottles before inserting...blah...blah" So I'm thinking to myself:
So, here you go. These little boxes actually use a pop bottle cap for both top and base. The inside liner is crocheted also. I used a fine cotton thread yarn with a 2.55mm crochet hook. Three little stitches in the back hold the top and bottom together like a hinge, and it's topped with a combination of buttons and beads!
I've been asked very nicely for the pattern for these "flower pillows", so here you go! Wouldn't a whole bunch of these in bright colors look so cute on a little girls bed! It would look like a little flower patch!
Please keep in mind that I was winging it throughout the process, adjusting things as I went along. If you're not liking the way yours is turning out, feel free to make any adjustments to the pattern that you like.
For this particular flower I used an H hook with two different colors of Homespun yarn ( I think it's manufactured by Lion Brand ). You will also need a little bit of stuffing for the center of the flower and a yarn needle for closing off the center ball section.
The flower is made in two parts-There's the center ball section and the wildly convoluted outer section that I like to think of as the "petals".
Let's start with the center ball. Here we go:
Chain 2.
Round 1: 8 sc in the second ch fron the hook. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn. (8 sc).
Round 2: 2 sc in the top of each sc around. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn. (16 sc)
Round 3: *Sc in first st, 2 sc in next st.* Repeat from * to * all the way around. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn. (24 sc)
Round 4: *Sc first two sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat from * to * all the way around. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn. ( 32 sc)
Round 5: *Sc in first 3 sts, 2 sc in next st* Repeat from * to * all the way around. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn. (40 sc)
Round 6: *Sc in first 4 sts, 2 sc in next st* .* Repeat from * to * all the way around. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn. (48 sc)
Round 7-8: Sc around. (48 sc). Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn.
Round 9: (Beginning of decreasing rows) *Sc in first 3 sts, decrease one st over the next 2 st* .* Repeat from * to * all the way around. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn. (40 sc)
Round 10: *Sc in first 2 sts, decrease one st over the next 2 st* .* Repeat from * to * all the way around. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn. (32 sc)
Round 11: *Sc in first 1 st, decrease one st over the next 2 st* .* Repeat from* to * all the way around. Join with sl st to first sc. Ch 1, don't turn. (24 sc)
Round 12: Make 1 decrease over every other stitch all the way around. (12 sc)
Round 13: Repeat round 12. (6 sc). Break off leaving an 18" tail.
Using a yarn needle threaded onto the tail, make a runnuing stitch through the tops of the 6 sc in the last row. Stuff the cavity witha little bit of stuffing, then pull up on the tail to close off the opening. Securely close with a knot. Leave the remaining tail for attatching this section to the Main Flower.
Main Flower:
Note: Change colors as often as you like to get the desired stripe effect.
Chain 2.
Round 1: 8 dc in the second ch fron the hook. Join with sl st to first dc. Ch 1, don't turn. (8 dc).
Round 2: 4 dc in each stitch around. Join with sl st to first dc. Ch 1, don't turn. (32 dc).
Round 3: 2 dc in each stitch around. Join with sl st to first dc. Ch 1, don't turn. (64 dc).
Round 4: Repeat round 3. (128 dc).
Round 5: Repeat round 3. (256 dc)
Round 6-11: 1 dc in each stitch around. (256 dc)
This is where I fastened off and wove in the loose end. Dig down to the center of this convoluted wad and make room for the center ball. Use that length of yarn you left attatched to it along with the yarn needle to secure the center in place.
You can make your flower larger or smaller to suit your needs. Have fun with it!
I'm so excited about this one! When I was a little girl going to sleep-over parties, one of my friends had a duffel bag like this. Hers was made from an old quilt. It had a drawstring on two sides so that when she pulled upon the strings, it formed a nice little bag for carrying all of her sleep-over necessities.
When it opened up, it was her blanket. Genius, eh? I remember wanting one just like it, but since nobody in my family really sewed, I had to give up on the idea.
But yesterday, when I was picking my littlest one up from preschool I saw one of these lovely bags over by the cubbies. The owner was happy to let me study it a bit to see how it was made. This is my attempt -- based entirely on memory. I had to estimate sizes and shapes, but it was really incredibly easy, AND just in time for a sleep-over party yesterday evening!
I've begun taking classes so chaos is once again reigning under this roof.
Well, with three kids, it seems like it's always simmering happily in the background anyway. My mom once remarked that she thought I spent my life constantly "putting out fires". Sigh... Yes, it's probably true, but that's where crochet comes in. 
It's such a wonderful meditative tool, and a bit of a metaphor too ( transforming chaos into order). When I start a new skein of yarn, I can never, and I mean never find that single strand of yarn in the middle of the skein that magically "starts" that free flow of yarny goodness from the center. How do they do that? 
Nope. I end up pulling out a semi-huge wad of yarn that I try and try to get going in the ahem, intended way. Well it just ends up a tangled mess and I fight the good fight. So you see? Order to chaos. And when you finally achieve that free flowing yarn bliss you can reach that elevated state of being where you can say "Yes, I am truly happy!" Us "yarn-gals" are very "deep". And then, of course, at the end of a project you get to wave it around and proudly shout, "Woo Hoo - looky here what I did!"
Speaking of "Looky here..." I've been experimenting with yarn and coffee cans. My bright idea was to line these with linen and add a strap for hanging. I want to have a flap of linen lap over the edge on the outside so I can embroider the names of my kids. It's my bright idea for organizing bathroom doodads. With a 4, 10 and 17-year-old, each with their own special set of doodads, the bathroom vanity can get very cluttered indeed. I'll never forget the day that my littlest one walked out of the bathroom with a disposable razor sticking out of her mouth like a lollipop stick. Blade side in the mouth, with the little plastic cover off, of course. Yes, we all need our own special doo-dad space!
