Crochet of Many Colors
Handmade with love and worn with pride
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Thursday, January 02, 2014
Monday, March 01, 2010
Knitting and the Olympics
I decided to participate in the Ravelympics this year. The object of the Ravelympics is to cast on a project that is challenging to you during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and complete it by the end of closing ceremonies. The project is supposed to be challenging to you personally, for example: a technique you've never done before. I chose to make a pair of felted slippers. These are knit holding two strands of yarn together for the sides and three strands for the bottoms on very large needles. They are knit to what appears to be a very ridiculous size and then felted in the washer. Felting binds the stitches and shrinks up the fabric. My family looked at the completed knitting and said there was no way they would shrink enough to fit. It took two full agitation cycles on my washer, but I think they came out just fine.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
One Hell of an Accomplishment!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Lessons Available!
1st lesson is $15 for one hour.
This lesson is hands on instruction to get you started.
You will need one skein of worsted weight yarn in a light color, wool or acrylic.
For crochet you will need a Size I hook, for knitting you will need a pair of Size 8 needles.
2nd lesson is $20 for one hour.
With this lesson I will give you handouts on yarns, we'll discuss different weights, fiber types and their various uses. We'll also continue your hands on instruction.
3rd lesson is $20 for one hour.
Basic pattern reading, stitch abbreviations, difficulty scale and gauge. Continued hands on.
Additional lessons and specialized instruction $20 for one hour.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Royal Braid and Diamonds Dishcloth
Royal Braid and Diamonds Dishcloth
12” square
Worsted weight cotton
Size 8 needles
CO 53 sts
Knit 4 rows in Garter St
Row 1: (right side) Sl 1, k7, *p1, k7; rep from *4 more times, p1, k4, p3, k2, c4f, p3, k4.
Row 2: Sl 1, k6, p3, k3, p3, *k1, p1, k1, p5; rep from * to last 10 sts, k1, p1, k1, p3, k4.
Row 3: Sl 1, k5, *p1, k3; rep from * 6 more times, p1, k2, p3, c4b, k2, p3, k4.
Row 4: Sl 1, k6, p6, k3, p1, *k1, p5, k1, p1; repeat from * to last for sts, k4.
Row 5: Sl 1, k3, *p1, k7; repeat from * 3 more times, p4, k2, c4f, p2, k4.
Row 6: Sl 1, k6, p6, k3, p1, *k1, p5, k1, p1; repeat from * to last 4 sts, k4.
Row 7: Sl 1, k5, *p1, k3; rep from * 6 more times, p1, k2, p3, c4b, k2, p3, k4.
Row 8: Sl 1, k6, p3, k3, p3, *k1, p1, k1, p5; rep from * to last 10 sts, k1, p1, k1, p3, k4.
Repeat row 1-8 till piece measures approximately 11 to 11 ½ inches, end with 4 rows garter st.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Holiday projects
The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Tropical Storm, knit on size 2 dpns. No alterations to the pattern. I'm thrilled with these.
I still have to finish a stocking for my friend's baby.
As you can see, this is croche, I'm not only knitting these days. :) The yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease in worsted weight and I'm using a G hook. The colors are Navy, White Frost and Blue Heather. I need to go get anogther skien of the Blue Heather. I think I've made the foot a little too long, obviously I've been making too many socks. :)
The two remaining projects are also socks:
This one is Hedera from Cookie A. The yarn is Koigu. I'm very happy with the way these are turning out. I'll tell you all about the modifications I made later.
And this one is Monkey, also by Cookie A. This yarn is Claudia Hand Paints in Chocolate Cherry. I'm still waffling on this one. It's hard to tell here, I had to lighten the picture a bit to make the colors show up properly, but the colors are creating a sort of wide striping effect. I'm not sure I like the striping with this pattern. I did look at some of the projects on Ravelry and I see a lot of people have used stripy yarn. But..I'm still not sure. What do ya'll think?
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Good idea!
These are all made from cotton flannel. The ones with the two different prints used are panty liners. The ones made from a single print are pads, they have two layers of terrycloth (recycled from old kitchen towels). They also have a pocket opening that allows the insertion of additional terrycloth layers.
These are the terrycloth inserts:
They all have snap closures. I was afraid the snaps would be uncomfortable, but I can't feel the snaps at all. I have used them (after the pics were taken) and am very happy with them. I've purchased a few more flannels and some fleece and I plan to make lots more. I'm planning to have enough of these to stop using the paper ones entirely. Just a little less trash in our landfills.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
In case your wondering...
Anyhow, on a happier subject, I just discovered this. Dudes, I really wanna go. I'll have to work on that.
I am still knitting, lots. I don't have any pictures to show you because my laptop died and that's were the pictures are. I am working on a pair of socks for my good friend Jo, who we all lovely refer to as Ma. I am making Sock Bug's River Rapids Socks. You may recall I attempted this pattern once before and it didn't go so well with the yarn I was using. This time the yarn is working out much, much better. I am using Cherry Tree Hill in the Tropical Storm colorway. This time...it's the pattern that kicking my ass. Which I have to say is just stupid because it's really an easy pattern. I have had to frog sections of it three times so far for dumb mistakes. Apparently, I just can't seem to remember where I am in the pattern repeat. I'm still on the first sock and really the pair ought to be done by now. I have two more pairs of socks I really want to have done by the holidays for gifts, so I have got to get a move on.
Since the socks were beating me up so badly, I decided to cast on something new. I am making a pair of Knucks for my hubby. I love the yarn, it's a grey color, with some white flecks and a few little random flecks of light blue. You can only see the blue bits if you look really close and under the light. The yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed, I think the colorway is Whisper. This is some of the yarn a bought when I went to Pennsylvannia for my job training. I like the way they're coming out. I started out using DPN's, but I only have a set of four. When it turned out I really could use an extra needle I got out my Knit Picks set and used the circular needle to help me get all the little fingers in order and joined together. Now, I'm using the circular and magic loop to work the hand portion and I'm really much happier. I'm hoping to finish the first glove by the end of the week.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Just a little rant on the subject of insurance
Now assuming you have this, did you read it or did you throw it in a corner to collect dust? If you didn't at least look it over, you should. These documents contain very important information you need to know. Among the things you should know are:
1) Do you have a deductible? If, yes, how much is it? Is it based on a calender year?
2) Which services does it apply to?
3) Do you have a copay or coinsurance?
4) What is the percentage of your coinsurance?
5) Does your plan have a wellness benefit?
6) Does your plan have a pre-existing clause?
7) Is your plan an HMO or a PPO?
8) Is your plan fully insured (expenses paid by the insurance company) or self-insured (expenses paid by the employer itself)?
9) Are you covered if you travel from home?
10) If you are admitted to a hospital that is contracted with your plan and they call in a specialist who isn't, will his services be covered?
There is so much more you should know and it's all contained in those documents. TAKE THE TIME TO READ THEM. If you don't understand something, by all means, please ask for clarification. All I'm trying to say here is, take the responsibility and educate yourself so that you are not surprised next time you receive a denial from your insurance company. Also, if you have educated yourself, not only will you understand their reason for the denial, you will also be in a better position to refute the denial if the insurance company has made a mistake. You may even be able to avoid getting denials entirely, just by following your plan's guidelines.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Would you like to know what I did a couple of weeks ago?
I went to the hospital at 12:15 on Monday and left at 6:00 the same day. He did a bit of –plasty here and some resection there; some balloon inflating, and then of couple of splints to hold it all in place. (Hey, Margie, I’m really noticing a trend here, medical people are really into putting balloons in strange places.) Anyhow, after all that they gave me a refillable ice bag and some gauze, along with an elastic sling to hold it perfectly in place under the nose, they sent me on my way. They also gave me strict instructions not to blow my nose for two weeks.
After a few days of napping and recovering, I went back into the doctor’s office to have the splints removed. That was a strange sensation, and I won’t tell you about the little, itty, bity, vacuum he used. I am doing well, my nose is still a bit sore and it feels a little like the inside of my nose has been painted with superglue and allowed to dry. A few more days should resolve that. The doctor also gave me a bottle and some saline solution mixing packets. I have to rinse my sinuses twice daily. It softens up the dry crusty stuff and feels much better for about 10 minutes...until everything dries back up.
I don’t yet know if the surgery will get rid of my headaches yet, still too sore to tell. I will say that sneezing is incredibly painful, not as bad as when the splints were still in, but still.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Mi Vida Loca
Everyone in Dave's family is so wonderful, I just adore them all. Do to some unfortunate circumstances, our weekend in Utah wound up being very stressful and we were forced to stay an extra day to resolve some issues. Dave's family was incredibly helpful and supportive throughout the ordeal. We will be eternally grateful to them. Sorry about the vagueness here, but the details are private.
Me and Lynn
The following weekend we drove to California for Dave's Mom's wedding. Another lovely ceremony and both brides were lovely. Yes, I said both, it was a lesbian wedding. They have been together for about 18 years and they decided to take advantage of the new law in California and make it legal. I'm thrilled for them.
Kathy and Peggy
I apologize for the crappy quality of this picture. I took it on my cell phone. Thankfully, the trip to California was better than the one to Utah, no unexpected ordeals.
I have a couple of new projects started. One is a Seraphina for a dear friend who is having a really rough time right now. (It seems as though everyone is struggling right now, hopefully things improve soon.) I'm using Jo-Ann Sensations Rainbow Boucle in pink/white. I've lost count of how many times I've made this pattern, it's definately one of my favorites. The other project is a Plastic Bag Tote. It's made from "yarn" created by recycling plastic shopping bags. There's a link on the pattern page on how to cut the bags up and turn them into the "yarn". Dave and our friend, Terri, did all the work cutting up the bags and rolling the yarn into balls for me. I should have enough to make a few bags, I'm not sure yet how many though. I'll be giving one of them to Terri for helping me out. :)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Good news!!!
I have some excellent news about my nephew's condition. Here is the email I received from my brother explaining the situation.
>>>>I can't say enough about the fact that God is faithful to his people when they pray. We just got Parker's bloodwork back from 2 Sundays ago and the genetic disorder that the Dr's diagnosed him with we found out that he does not actually have. It was explained to us that the hospital just looks for indicators and he had all the indicators of this genetic disorder. But I truely believe it was each of your prayers that led the Great Physician to heal Parker from the 1st blood work done at the hospital to the 2nd set of tests run by the genetics dr. We are truely a blessed family and I think each of you for everything you do for us. And if you have had to deal with me and my wound up self throughout this ordeal I apologize if I have been a bit on edge. I can truely say that this is a huge monkey off of our back.
Sincerely,
Steven Liles <<<<
I'm very happy this came out OK for Steven and his baby. This is a huge relief for our family.