Blue Bunny

My 5th crochet animal, for my 3yo son (his yarn choice) .... I made SO many ears trying to get it right. Finally messaged a crochet friend in AU for input. <3 She helped me. :)

He's smaller than I expected, but I REALLY like how he turned out in the end. <3

This pattern.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bunny-rabbit-4

I finished my second bunny

The little one, made with super-soft, 2.75mm Clover hook.

Will be going to live in Arizona. Baby gift for a rainbow baby pregnancy. <3

The YarnIt!

Got one of these. It's SO amazing! :)

Not my doilies but worth sharing :)

This first doily, I am told, was made by my dh's grandma R. Isn't it pretty? :) I have found many pineapples but I'm not sure I've found a pattern with that open center. Or 7 petals? It intrigues me. :)

I am a bit in awe of the use of color in the next two! I don't really like switching colors.  So, all of this color is somewhat dazzling and impressive to me. :) If they were blocked they would be a bit more impressive, but I think the top one especially would be tricky to block with the motifs.  Let alone crochet it ... I almost wonder if it's a made-up pattern?  Probably not; but ... I just haven't seen anything like it that I am aware of - or I skipped over it in my mind because it looks complicated.....

I wonder if the inner ring is crochetted first, then each individualflower, then  the border was added? I suspect that is how it has to go together. I dont' think there is any way to do it in rounds!

Of course, I could be wrong. :)

I'd like the pattern for this one. Only I wouldn't use all those colors. ;)

I like the result, it's beautiful, but it's a lot of ends to weave in for my taste! :)

~Ashley~

Amineko - attempt #1

He's not perfect, but lovable anyway.

I had no idea how big he would be, so I just used scrap yarn, and ran out 90% through. Oops.

Half his head and one leg is different yarn. :P

I also learned a lot about weaving in yarn ends .....

I had to sew on his face as fast as I could because prying him out of my 2yo's arms produced tears. ;) Which is my excuse for why it looks so amateurish. ;)

I bought safety eyes for the next one!

Pattern:


http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~mite/diagram/crochetedCat.html

~Ashley~

Table Socks

It's warm (tis July after all), and I haven't done much crochet, but I have the itch!

And it hasn't waited for cold weather, which is new. :)

I made some table socks, to protect our new wood floor. I had to make 3 before I really figured out what I wanted to do. :)

The table is very old, and removing the wheels makes it even shorter. So, the solution was "socks".

(We tried Velcro/felt and it fell off rather rapidly, think hours, not days.)

So, walla, tiny table "socks" .... the 7 that I made (3 experiments, 4 functional) only took about an hour. :)

*****************
And, just for fun ... we were watching the first season of Jeeves & Wooster, and when Wooster spikes the lemonaid, he removes a beaded cover. I do NOT think it was all crochet, only the edges, but it was a pitcher cover, sort of like mine!

Now I'm dying to make another one, only with larger, glass beads which will "clink" like the one I saw in the J&W episode. LOL

Mother's Day Doily #2

Blue Pineapples pattern. (Though, obviously, I used white thread.)

I really, really, REALLY liked how this turned out, although the tiny triangles were a bit of a pain. Honestly I was also grateful for a fairly big image of the finished doily as the last few lines of instructions were not that easy to decode.

At least for me. YMMV.

All in all I think it was a nice gift for my second mama. (Dh's mom)

~Ashley~

Other bookmarks ...

The "Easy" Doily - finished

I'm not thrilled with it. I think I'm too annoyed with this doily to even give it away.

I'm convinced there are mistakes in the pattern, and that it could be edged better.

Ugh!

It was VERY hard to block. I would have loved to have stretched it better ... the edging overlaps in the grooves; which maybe I'm just too up-tight but it bothers me. :P

This is about as good as I can make it look.

As a bit of a perfectionist, it's not enough to make me happy.

And, I retract my earlier statement about making this pattern again! I can't. I just can't. It's pretty, but knowing what went into it, and how difficult the pattern was to understand ....nope. If I did it again, I'd have to try to re-work the edging to lay better and there are too many patterns I want to try to fiddle with such a thing.

Still, it's an old nemesis conquered.

~Ashley~

Mother's Day doily

This is for my mom! <3 She has decided she loves my work enough to want to take even scraps I'm not happy with (if she sees it before I unravel it!), but this is my very first two-tone doily.

She knows she is getting something for Mother's Day, but not exactly what. :)

Made from this design. I really really like working from charts!

From here: http://www.smart-knit-crocheting.com/crochet-doily-pattern.html

I'm very pleased with how it turned out, despite the fact my count was off on one of the pink fans, it wasn't obvious to me until the final row and it blocked OK anyway. I don't think anyone could tell unless they went looking for it, and I hope my mom enjoys it! :)

~Ashley~

A few bookmarks

Just a few of the other bookmarks I've made. The blue one is a make shift tail - not crazy about that one. ;)

My favorite pattern is:

http://crochetroo.blogspot.com/2006/05/fan-bookmark.html

I have probably made at least a 100 of them!

Spider stitch bookmark

That I made for my brother. 

The pattern is from here: 

http://lacycrochet.blogspot.com/2012/05/spider-stitch-exploration-lets-make.html

Beginner's Doily Pattern? Really?

I must say, I haven't made a whole lot of doilies, but this one is something else:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy-pineapple-doily



I mean, it's beautiful and all. REALLY. I suspect I will make it again. :)

But the name is: Easy Pineapple Doily

And then further on it says: "Beginners can learn the basics...."

Huh?

To me, it's NOT a beginner doily. Case in point; it's the VERY FIRST DOILY I ever tried to make. Ever.

I started it 4 yrs ago and got discouraged.

Why?

Those petals are added on ONE AT A TIME. Really.

Leaving the "beginner" crochetter to start, stop, start, stop, and with about 18 ends to weave in. O.o

That's just so wrong, IMPO. I stuffed it in the core of the thread spool and gave up for 4yrs.

Then I decided I would "finish" it, except ... the hook called for is a "Number 5". I don't have a 5? Nor do I crochet this loosely after more experience.

So, I saved this little momento and started over:

And this is where I am today. 5 "bumps" - I mean, petals in .... and I hardly think it's a beginner pattern!

My second attempt is going to be made with a No. 2 - or 1.50mm hook. Size 10 thread, and is going to be in the region of about 8" across.


It's very pretty. I even like the pattern; but looking back I'm not suprised I gave up. It's not a starter pattern. A true beginner pattern, IMPO, would go around and around and around - and stop. LOL

To me, this is a beginner doily; or at least easier than this "easy" pineapple.
http://lacycrochet.blogspot.com/2013/06/small-doily-in-cream-color.html
Or this, with the symbol chart (I find those easier to read, personally):
http://lacycrochet.blogspot.com/2011/12/mini-doily-symbol-chart.html
Here is a tiny one, like a coaster!
http://lacycrochet.blogspot.com/2013/05/small-flower-doily-my-first-written.html
Or even these, I'd like to make some of these:
http://crochetartblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/crochet-doilies-free-patterns-beautiful.html

After I finish up this doily I plan to try a different pineapple pattern, which I'll link to if it is as easy as I think it will be. I suspect this "easy pineapple" should be considered more of an intermediate level doily. ;)

~Ashley~

Thread Crochet ....

My very first two doilies!

I found the patterns HERE - 

The small pink one is made from this symbol chart:

 http://lacycrochet.blogspot.com/2011/12/mini-doily-symbol-chart.html

And the larger doily from here: 

http://anabeliahandmade.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/tapete-paso-paso.html

I don't plan to keep any kind of schedule with this blog, but I do want to keep track of my projects because I intend to give some away and the like.

I've made a lot of bookmarks, and will post previously completed projects as I get time.

Thanks for looking.

~Ashley~