Square and Round Crochet Basket

These are the last two crocheted baskets I will be making for a while. I have moved on to something else using yarn instead of thread.

I made a square one and put a little flower and some color into the round one-

The square one took a little longer to make and I wasn’t too happy with the end results. I couldn’t find just the right molds for the square.

I was happy with the little flower on the cover and the added color to the body of the round basket-

Without the covers-

All in all, I had fun making these and haven’t decided if I want to post the pattern.

It was such a beautiful day today that I sat outside on the front stoop and crocheted.  I am working on a crocheted pillow.  Last night, I finally came up with a design after 5 attempt.  I was getting so frustrated.

BTW.  I frogged that shawl that I was making.  I just didn’t like the bulkiness of it or the yarn.

Colorful Crocheted Baskets & Covers

Brian’s school projects are finally finished and I was able to think of nothing else save crocheting.  So, I whipped up a few crocheted baskets.

These baskets are similar to the basket that I made last month, but are smaller and colorful.  I used size 10 crochet thread for my other basket.  With these baskets, I used size 3 thread.

I was pleased with the way these baskets looked after I finished them.

Sorry about the blurry pic.  Sometimes I have a hard time seeing with these glasses.

Callie Co Cat

I have a few crocheted projects put on hold.  Brian has two big school projects to do and I have devoted my time to helping him with those projects.

As I am getting very tired of doing research and coaxing Brian to get going on his project,  I finally sat down (last night) and finished one of the projects that has been on hold.

This cat I call “Callie Co Cat.” I used that dreaded “Caron” yarn to crochet this cat. I stuffed it with poly-fil.

The reason I don’t like “Caron” yarn is because I crochet fast and the yarn splits on me every time. Also, it has a tendency to lose its shape.

Here is one of the other two crochet projects that I need to finish.

I got my inspiration from the two owls I crocheted last month.  This owl will be stuffed with poly-fil.

And, last but not least, some squares from a pattern that I designed. These squares are intended for a pillow.

On And Off The Hook

I am always afraid that I am going to lose my yarn needles. One of them (my favorite one) I have had for over 30 years. I got an idea to make a small pincushion to hold my yarn needles.  It was an easy project done in sc rounds. I added a couple of sl st rounds to embellish, then stuffed with poly-fiberfill

Then I got another bright idea to make a pillow using the same sc rounds only bigger. I added a floral motif and a button.

My stash of yarn is very low to none existent. So, we took a trip to Michael’s so I could buy some yarn. Money being as tight as it is, I was reluctant to spend on yarn.  But, Michael’s was having a sale on the yarn that I like.  When I got there, the color selections were limited.  Therefore, I ended up buying Caron Simply Soft yarn.

Years and years ago I swore that I wouldn’t buy Caron Simply Soft again.  And, what did I do?  I bought too many skeins of Caron Simply Soft yarn.

Now, what am I going to do with this yarn I don’t like?  

I scanned through all of my patterns and decided on a shawl. Although the material for this shawl calls for crochet thread, I am using the Caron’s yarn since it is so “simply soft” it should drape just fine.

This is the WIP (Work In Progress) of the shawl.

This pattern comes from the book “Total Crochet Fashions“

The pattern is fraught with errors. Either that, or I am just stupid. I have come to the point to where I am doing it the way I think the pattern is intended to be written.  The shawl is half-way finished.

Today I did a few more rows and I am afraid that I am going to run out of the green.

OMG!

Do I have to buy another skein!  I hope not.

After this shawl is finished, I will more than likely put it away and fuhgeddaboudit.

It’s Not The Best Of Decors…

Years ago, I used to do a lot of woodworking. Most of the things that I made, I threw or gave away when we moved last year.  At the time, we were thinking that we would be able to replace them once we got settled into a better life.

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry]
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promised joy.

Before we moved, I gave Carrie these three, little, door toppers that I made. I cut them from birch wood then painted and decorated them. Now, that we are back, we have hardly any Christmas decorations, etc. left.  Before Carrie left for Texas, she gave them back to me.

I was so grateful to have them back. They are something familiar in my somewhat unsecured existence.

I really like how this santa turned out. At one time, I had a steady hand and a sharp eye. LOL

I also crocheted two little Christmas trees, added magnets to them and to the other
crocheted pieces I made.

As Christmas gets closer, I wish for a pocket full of miracles (even one will be just fine). And, I pray that we can put this past year far behind us. I want last year to be but a distant memory and not a continuous open wound. I want the past year to be a lesson learned and not a daily reminder of emptiness and regrets.

And with that said, I wish you all a-

Colorful Floral Motifs

These cute, little, colorful flowers only took me a little more than an hour to crochet.

They only took a small amount of yarn to make one and were fun to make.

Hmm!  Back to my yarn basket.  I wonder what else I can make with small amounts of yarn.

A few years ago I made a lot of computer graphics when I hosted my own website.  The little fairy below is an animated one that I made using psp7.  I just added my name to it to make it a little siggy .

Freddo Snowman

Having a lot of white yarn and not knowing what to crochet with white, I designed and crocheted a little snowman.  Add a magnet to the back and use it as a refrigerator decoration or use it as a tree ornament by tying a ribbon to the top or crochet a chain to the top to hang.

I call him Freddo.  In Italian, freddo means cold.  Not to be confused with Fredo Corleone. Hah, hah!

I have posted the pattern here for Freddo.

Give A Hoot Or WhooToo

Over at Pinterest, I saw some cute crocheted owls and other things.  I clicked on the link which took me over to ATERGcrochet on Etsy.  The photos of the patterns and crochet items that this shop owner were selling were so precise and clear.  It would have been easy to copy her work without bothering to buy the patterns.  But knowing how hard it is to design and write a crochet pattern  I couldn’t consciously make the little owls without buying the pattern.  To me that would be stealing.

I wanted to make those little owls so badly, that with my last few dollars, I bought an owl pattern and a star pattern.  I am glad that I did.

The other night, I gathered my scrap yarn and got busy. This is the first one I made.

The next one I made, I loosened up a little and instead of adding the crocheted eyes, I added some googly eyes.

These were fun to crochet and a cute project if you want to use your scrap yarn.

Check out all the cute patterns and items over at ATERGcrochet on Etsy.

Frames provided by: Icey Tina Deviant Art.

Beaded Ornaments

Over a year and a half ago we had plans to start a new life in a place where we thought we wanted to return.

As usual, with our life, things didn’t work out the way we planned.  Since ridding ourselves of most of our Christmas ornaments, decorations and other possessions last years, and not able to buy these things, I made a few ornaments from some plastic beads and craft wire that I had on hand.

Years ago, I made quite a few of these.  I remember sitting on the living room floor, in dim lighting making them.

When I made these four, it was late morning into the early afternoon.  I sat at the kitchen table, by a sunny window, with a light on and I still couldn’t see the large holes in the beads very well.  After making these four, I quit making more.  My back, legs and neck were screaming for me to stop!

I think maybe these four will be enough for now.

Crocheted Trinket Basket

I got an idea to crochet a little trinket basket, with a cover, using crochet thread.

As I was crocheting, I added tiny, glass beads.

I stiffened basket and cover with fabric stiffener than formed them until stiffened and dried.

I wasn’t doing well taking pictures of this basket.  I was getting frustrated and gave up trying to adjust the setting on my camera.

Think natural light!  No!  not the beer…but, umm, them again… *smile*

Frames provided by: Icey Tina Deviant Art.