Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (27 July 2015)

Today's link will take you to a pattern for a beautiful baby sweater with a pineapple design. It is dainty and pretty and has a traditional baby look about it.

Enjoy and have a great week!

Sharon

WIP--Shades of Purple

The project I'm currently working on is another lapghan for the vets. This one, as you can see, will be in shades of  purple. Still making squares for this one. All the yarn is from odds and ends of scraps to make this one and most of it is from what son and daughter-in-law picked up at a yard sale for me. Love it when they do that; I can play it forward with lapghans.

Been fighting a nasty summer cold. The upside of this is that I've lost 10 pounds! I don't think I care for this method of weight loss. I'm looking for a weight loss that involves a magic wand,

Have a blessed Sunday and a super week. Be cool everyone!

Hugs,

Sharon

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (20 July 2015)

It's not too soon to start thinking of projects for Christmas. Today's project is for Christmas decorations. You'll find this pattern booklet has a chubby Santa and Mrs. Claus plus more characters too. Benefit to working on these projects now is that they're small enough to work on during the hot summer days. Here is the link to download the booklet.





The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

New Crochet Gadget

I bought these crochet gadgets the other day. I thought they would be handy for traveling.

I tried one of them out this morning. I like the feel of holding this device as I'm crocheting. What I do not like is the fact that it repeatedly folded back in on itself as I crocheted. I think I expected it to be like pocket knives that are a bit stiff to operate and this is very loose. At the present time, these items are only available at select Walmarts (per a post on Boye Facebook page). The cost for one of these is almost $8.

Granny Mandala is Finished!

I finished the granny mandala that I started last night. I love the colors--reminds me of the 1940s and 50s. The yarns I used are by Peaches and Creme and the colors I used are chartreuse, peace (a multicolor of chartreuse, yellow and red) and a bit of red for the border. There seems to be some activity in the online crochet world where crocheters are making mandalas in memory of Wink who became known for the beautiful mandalas she made.Unfortunately, depression came down extra hard on Wink and she lost her battle with it. In memory of Wink, here's my mandala--

Pattern

Lapghan is Finished

At last, it is finished.  It is time to launder it and put it with the other lapghans that are designated for donation to the veterans' home when it opens.  The new project that I'm working on is a granny mandala that I hope to finish tonight.

Take care y'all and stay cool and dry...

Hugs,
Sharon

Still Working on Lapghan...

I'm still working on this lapghan.

I have all the squares crocheted together and I'm enlarging it a bit by crocheting around the assembled squares. I have gotten a bit frustrated with this project. The squares were obtained by my mil at a thrift store or yard sale or someplace like that. All the squares have round of single crochet around them and a very small tail. I did my best to get a weave or 2 with the tails done but I'm not happy with it. I should have removed the rounds of single crochet. Anyway, I was almost finished and noticed a pretty bad case of the "ruffles" so I undid the rounds and redid with fewer increases at the corners (2dc, ch2, 2dc for 2 rounds and 1dc, ch2, 1dc for 1 round). This seems to be working out better. I want to do a few more rounds, then weave in the ends and launder before putting in with my donation stash.

I needed a break from this lapghan and made, what else, a pair of slippers! My stash of slippers for gifts had zeroed out so I need to start replenishing them. Here they are...

pattern 

Guess this is it for now. Take care and keep on hooking!

Sharon

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (13 July 2015)

Today's link takes us to a wearable pattern for women. This is a cute sweater that would be nice worked up in a fancier yarn for dress-up days or a plainer yarn to wear with jeans. Sizes S-XXXL are included so this pattern will work for many people.

Not much else to say except to wish you a good day.

Hugs,
Sharon

An Old-Fashioned Dessert

Here's a yummy old-fashioned dessert that was published in a newspaper back in 1934. Sounds like good summer treat.

 

Source:  The Evening Review (East Liverpool, Ohio), Monday, October 22, 1934; page 15.

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (06 July 2015)

Actually, we have 2 links today. The patterns are a hat and a set of mittens that seem to go together so I thought I'd link to both patterns. I especially like the mittens because they do a good job of covering the wrists. I'm tall and some winter coats have sleeves that creep up on me just a little bit and skin is exposed. These mittens take care of that problem. Items are made of aran/worsted weight yarn so there isn't a problem finding yarn to use.

Have fun my friends...

Hugs,
Sharon

Shop Now - Introducing Amazon Echo

My Current Project

...is a lapghan made of granny squares. There is a story behind these squares. My mother-in-law had bought these squares at a thrift store and there was matching yarn included with them. I made a bunch of new squares to add to these sqares make an afghan and discovered that I had used the wrong size hook. I then made a bunch of black squares to coordinate with some of the squares and alternated black and multi-color squares.

The afghan I made in 2013--

I ended up with a bunch of odd squares that literally "didn't fit."  Fast forward to yesterday, and I started to use these squares to make a lapghan. This is one that I hope to donate to the veterans. What I do not like about these squares is that whoever started making them put a single crochet around each square and only left an inch of yarn that really doesn't weave in nicely.

Here's what I have so far--

That's all for now folks...

Sharon

Pretty Pink Lapghan--Finished

Hot off my hook last night is this pretty pink and creamy white lapghan. This would also work out as a toddler blanket too. No pattern just solid granny squares in 4 rounds and 12 rounds. This is a gift for an older relative. Now I need to figure out my next project.

Have a great 4th of July!

Hugs,
Sharon

Patriotic Popeye

For your 4th of July holiday pleasure, here is a Popeye cartoon "Patriotic Popeye."  There aren't many places that you can live that you may protest the government and openly work to change it. God bless all our veterans who have fought or been ready to fight for all the freedoms we enjoy. Have a great holiday and remember the foundations our country was built on.

 

WIP is Pink...

I'm finishing up a project and should be able to show it to you in a day or two. I'm making use of some pink yarn that I had gotten a sale on a few months ago and added too many (ten) 1 pound skeins to my stash. 

Stay tuned...

Sharon

TropiShade 9-Feet Bronze Aluminum Market Rust Polyester Umbrella cover (Base sold seperately)

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (29 June 2015)

I love the look of crocheted doilies. They're pretty and add a lightness to the decor. Today's pattern link isn't for a doily but rather for a doily-ish rug. It is made out of t-shirt yarn but you might be able to "fudge" and use several strands of worsted for a different look. Whatever you do, have fun!

Hugs,

Sharon

Amazon Echo

In a Crocheter's Ideal World...

In a crocheter's ideal world, they will never be told by the recipient of a crocheted gift that said gift was tossed in the trash. When a crocheter makes a gift, even a small object such as a hat, much time is spent making said object. Love is worked into the stitches and a bit of the crocheter's affection rubs off on the person every time they use the item. If the item is not wanted or doesn't fit or some other reason, please donate it or give it away but please don't trash like-new things such as hats and slippers. It doesn't take much to put it in the donation box at Goodwill and someone else can be touched by loving stitches.

Our Nellie Belle

Nellie Belle will be 10 in August. That's not too old for a chihuahua because life expectancy is about 16 or more years. Nellie started hobbling on 3 legs and developed a cough that sounded very similar to a cat trying to bring up a hairball. So, being the good mom that I am, we went to the vet. Nellie was all happy to be going bye-bye in the car (she loooves going for rides).

Diagnoses
*Arthritis in her rear right leg
*Heart murmur. The cough is a classic symptom of heart murmur in canines.

The vet prescribed a pain killer for the arthritis to be taken as needed and Lasix for Nellie. The Lasix has eased her cough by removing fluids from around the heart. She drinks like a gazillion gallons of water and pees like a race horse but she is doing better. There is no cure for a heart murmur other than very expensive surgery and it was not offered for Nellie. On a scale of 1 to 6 with 6 being the most severe, Nellie's murmur is at a 4. We learned that even though she may still like to play like a puppy, we have to try to keep her from getting over stimulated. About 2 weeks ago, she was running the fence line while the neighbor was cutting his grass. She has done this for almost 10 years every time he cuts his grass. Now, the exercise is too strenuous for her and she fainted. I never heard of a dog fainting before and I rushed her to the vet and that's when I learned that even though our Belle-Belle is playful as a pup her health is fragile and she has to take it easy. A murmur can develop fast. Just a couple months ago she was at the vet in Florida and her heart sounded good. Nellie has become a bit picky with her food and treats but otherwise she is very playful and active.

I wasn't going to post about this but I decided so that if any of your fur babies has an innocuous sounding cough, you might want to get it checked out because there may be a more serious issue.

Hugs,

Sharon

Sharon's Clothespin Bag

Per request, here is the pattern for the clothespin bag I designed. If you find any problems with the pattern, please let me know and I'll see what I can do to fix it or explain it.

Here's the link to the pattern --> LINK

Hope this pattern suits your needs.

Hugs,
Sharon

Monday's Link to Free Crochet Pattern (22 June 2015)

In some areas, stores are starting to charge for shopping bags. As we know, crocheters are not only talented they are also thrifty and there are many patterns available for crafty crocheters to make their own bags. Here's one that I like the looks of.

Sending you wishes for a great week.

Hugs,
Sharon






Ikea 172.283.40 Frakta Shopping Bag, Large, Blue, Set of 5

Mostly Green Charity Lapghan Finished

Here's the latest lapghan that I'm hoping to donate to the veterans home when it opens here later this year or in the spring. Most of the yarns, with the exception of the "checkerboard squares," were from the batch of yarn my son and daughter-in-law picked up for me at a yard sale. I just played around with graph paper to make this arrangement of squares of 4 rounds, 6 rounds and 12 rounds.

Thanks for stopping in and looking!

Hugs,

Sharon

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing