I Have a Dishcloth Thing Lately

My latest hooking obsession has been making dishcloths as you have probably figured out from a few posts ago and today's post. The first dishcloth is made from a new-to-me pattern. I have a hard time with the reverse single crochet and crab stitch so I modified the pattern's edging by alternating triple crochets with slip stitches all the way around with the wrong side facing me.

The rest of the dishcloths were made from my favorite dishcloth pattern to make and do dishes with. The main color I used was a soft green and I used a contrasting color. With the green coming from a cone, there was no shortage of that color. I used the small balls of peaches and cream also. From 1 ball, I was able to make 1 dishcloth out of the small ball of yarn with 2 rounds of the green to edge it. There was enough yarn from the small ball to do 2 rounds of edging on one green dishcloth, and 1 round of edging on another. Only a tiny bit remained that I will probably use to make a scrappy dishcloth somewhere down the line. I hate to waste yarn and for everyday use, scrap dishcloths are ok with me.

Think I'll make 1 or 2 more dishcloths and then it's on to a different sort of pattern.

This is all I have that is new for now.

God Bless,

Sharon

New Snowbird Kitchen

I have been asked several times recently about how the remodel on our snowbird kitchen turned out. It turned out GREAT! Husband did a fantastic job with some assistance from our neighbor. Everything had to be done on the "cheap." The sink and faucets are "hand-me-downs" from someone who had recently remodeled their kitchen. The cabinets mainly came from a scratch and dent store and a few were unfinished ones from Home Depot. The flooring was purchased with a military discount. The original cabinets were warped and sagging. They were made from particle board and had been water damaged. The original counters slanted. The flooring was in bad shape both functionally and aesthetically. I had tried to "dress things up" a bit with my red accessories and small appliances but it didn't help much. The following slide show video gives you a look at how things ended up. Enjoy!

Hugs,
Sharon

Kitchen Stuff!

Greetings y'all. I've been a bit scarce here lately but I have still been working with my hooks. I made a few things for the kitchen. I tried Scrubby yarn by Red Heart and it's okay to work with but I'm not totally thrilled with it. Here's what I have for you:

• 2 Bubble Dishcloths. When you get to the link for this pattern, it "blacks out" and gives an error message. You will notice that the blacked out area has an "x" in your upper right hand corner. Just click on the x and then the pattern is visible. The only change I made to this pattern was to make 2 rounds instead of 1 to make a border.

close up

• Bumpy Dishcloth. I like this dishcloth but it is hard on the hands making it because it calls for a small hook (E) and the stitches are tight. However, I will probably leisurely make it again because I am happy with the end result.

close up

• Scrubby Pads. I used Red Heart Scrubby Yarn. No pattern. I used a G hook and chained 21. I crocheted 22 rows of single crochets on 20 stitches. Easy to make.

close up

This is it for now folks. Hope you are staying comfy-cozy. Take care my friends.

Sharon

Back From Illinois and a Few Projects

I went to Illinois last Thursday for an extended weekend. I only wish that I would have had more time there. I went to visit an aunt who has some health issues, a cousin and was able to visit another cousin (once removed) while I was there too. I stayed with a very good friend from my high school days. I have a couple great friends from those old days that I am very happy to say we have remained very good friends now that we are very close to 60 years old. Unfortunately, I was very talkative and didn't take many pictures.

One thing I always do when I go to Illinois is place flowers on my mom's grave and the graves of other family members who are buried close to her. They were very special people and deserve to be remembered.

It was cold in Illinois when I was there but the day I left became frigid. I didn't think about having to scrape the windows on the rental car so when I went out to drive to the airport I had to scrape ICE not snow off the windows. I stopped on the way to airport to get gas and the pump said my debit card was defective. The clerk tried to manually input the number and it still wouldn't work so I used a credit card with no problems. Unfortunately, the pumps needed a kick in the oomp-tee-doo to work because it took 8 minutes to pump in $15 worth of gas. Finally got underway and made it just in time to the airport as the plane was boarding. Whew--barely made it! I am happy to be back in Florida but I always feel like I've left home after leaving Illinois, probably because I grew up there.

I always have many pairs of ladies slippers stockpiled but this time I didn't so I didn't have as many pairs to pass out in Illinois as I wished. While I was there, I made a red pair for my friend.

Pattern

I am getting a few pairs socked away and here's one pair:

Pattern

I got some Hometown USA yarn and looked high and low for a pattern I'd like to make out of it. I wanted something simple but not too home-made looking. I liked the Snap! I Lost My Hat pattern. I made it twice, once in size medium and once in size large. The medium is more child-size than adult and that's why I ended up making the large size too.

size medium

size large

I made an infinity cowl to go with the hats.

cowl pattern

This is all for now folks. Hope you are staying warm.

Hugs,

Sharon

Found a Freebie for Crocheters

Kindle has the book Easy Hat, Scarf and Neck Warmer Crochet Patterns in 4 sizes: Baby to Teen/Adult FREE! I don't know how long it will be free so if you want it, I'd hurry over there and get your copy.

Your cheapskate friend,
Sharon

2015--It's a Wrap

Here is a look at what I made out of crochet and with a loom (1 scarf) last year. Seems like an awful lot of hats, slippers and dishcloths. I can't keep slippers in my gift drawer--they get given away almost as quick as I make them. That's fine with me because I can give a little bit of love to everyone who wears a pair of my slippers. I do have many of these items in my stash at the Kentucky home because one of these days I'm going to have enough things made to participate in a craft show. I wonder how many items I would need???

I used the free Picasa software to made this slideshow video. I merged some royalty-free music together at the audio-joiner website. There are many sites to find royalty free music, just do a google search and you'll find quite a lot to use in your video projects and slideshows.

Thursday I'm heading for my old hometown in Illinois. I have an aunt in poor health and I plan to spend some time visiting with her and bringing her a pair of, you guessed it, slippers. :) I'm going to be staying with a friend from back in high school. I will definitely enjoy having a good visit with her too.

Stay warm and safe....

Sharon

Some Finished Items

Hello everyone! I hope your new year has started out in wonderful ways. I have some finished items to share with you. I didn't want to share things made with the same ol' patterns I usually use so I waited until I made something from a new to me pattern. Here's what I have:

• Made from the Urban Shells Beanie pattern that is new to me:

This hat is very similar to the Rubylene hat pattern that I enjoy making. 

• The next hat I made from the Amazing Grace Blissful Slouchy pattern:

This was going to be for a woman but I think the colors are more manly so it's going to my son who works outdoors.

• Hat for Santa's elf made from this pattern:

I've made quite a few of these hats and they seem to have gone over very well and I get requests for them from time to time.

• And of course, I made some slippers from my favorite slipper pattern:

The first 2 pairs are made in the woman's size and the 3rd and 4th pairs are made in the man's size. I had given a few pairs to a friend and someone asked if I would make some to sell so my friend sold them and gave me the money and that's definitely a nice way to start out the new year.

This is all I have for now. See you later...

Sharon

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Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (04 January 2016)

Today's link is to a free pattern for a practical item that will save you money. Many of us would like to use Swiffers to dust our floors with. The disposable "cloths" are expensive and just another item that ends up in landfills. Here's a pattern to crochet your own. Crochet a few of them and just toss in the wash to have clean ones for the next time. Make them out of cotton and they'll be environmentally "green."