Nat Red Knits @RaineyDayFibers: Crochet

Showing posts with label Crochet. Show all posts

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Recapturing my youth?

You know how that goes. Talking to your girlfriends you start playing the Remember When game, you know ' Remember when we used to wear this and we wore that... and we made some of what we wore. Kinda like now right?

Yeah...not so much.

That's kinda what started me on this latest project. First it was because I needed a new belt, and true to form, I can't find one I like. Then it was, ' oh- remember when we used to wear those cool macrame belts, and have you seen how much one of those costs now??? Remember when we used to make them??'

Well you know me... I can make that!!!

Well here is the one I started, nice little 2 inch wide macrame belt on D-rings made from hemp.

Yeah right.

You know what I don't remember about all the cool macrame plant hangers and bags and what-knots I used to make??? I don't remember it ever being tedious!

Well guess what! I find it tedious now!!! All those butterfly strings hanging down and trying to get your knots to lay flat and not tangle up ( and naturally I am doing this with out a pattern) and trying to remember which way the knot went, and the hemp is just as unforgiving on your hands as jute! Even with bees wax.

Screw that...I'll just crochet one!

Crochet cotton...much much easier on the hands!

See??? Much quicker too!! Of course not as intricate looking, simple half double crochet. Easy stuff, done in no time!

Practice, it is a practice one, yeah that's it.

The next one I'd better practice not making it so damn long! Oh yeah, and don't forget about the extra yardage added from actually wearing it. It stretched ...alot.

That's ok... 3rd time's a charm!

This one has a little sompin sompin going on. Well, some texture anyway. D-ring again, I crocheted it right to the rings for better stability, and gave it some texture and density with front and back post stitches. And a smaller hook helps too. THIS one did turn out to be a keeper!

It still has a little stretch to it but I paid closer attention to what I was doing this time. You need that stretch...for those big holiday meals!! The brown belt, well, I could use it as a sash, or I can take out some of the stitches... or a lot of the stitches.

And because my hands are in hooking mode... I threw together these Mary Janes for a quick gift.

Well so much for recapturing my youth! I still have the hemp belt hanging from the curtain rod in my room to keep my butterfly strings from getting tangled but I don't see it getting finished anytime soon.

Hey.. do you remember when we used to lay on the bed and zip our painted on jeans with a fork...???

Just sayin'

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

BFF's dot dot dot

When your BFF since you were 10 years old calls you up and says "can you make...?" Pretty much you do it ...right? Well that's what I have been doing, making dot dot dot.

The conversation went something like this:

"Nadine (sister) is in AZ taking care of Mom and Dad for a month. "
"She is? that is sweet of her. "
"Well you know how dad's feet and legs are all swollen and stuff.. right?"
"yeah"
"Well, Nadine texted me to see if you could make dad something that would cover is toes 'cuz they are ugly and then she could take him out in public. She texted me THREE TIMES to text you! Like I didn't get it the first two times"
"Why didn't she just text me?"
"I dunno...You know Nadine"

(insert laughter)

I immediately dig through my stash to find enough yarn for a pair of slippers (not toe coverings). Eureka! I do have enough of this Wool of the Andes that I have been carting around for several years. I begin my pattern search (on Rav of course). It took me a couple of trial and errors but I managed to find one that would serve my purpose.

Tam said Dad's feet are pretty big and swollen (he is wheelchair bound), make them like a size 12ish she says. Erm, okay

Not having made any this size posed something of a challenge for me.

Based on these ribbed slippers by Marlo I made these. I did an extra increase row and tried to gauge by my foot how it would fit. Hopefully I got it right, because one they were done I was like "holy crap these are big".

The other difference is I used single strand and Marlo uses double. I figure he is in AZ that should be fine, that and I didn't have enough of one color to double. *shrug* you know my middle name is Improvise, among other things...LOL

So I washed them of course and then...hmmm maybe I should throw them in the dryer for a bit. I had a load going so I tossed them in for a few.

WOW I forgot how quickly Wool of the Andes felts. I got them out in time and and blocked them. They are still big enough ( I think) and should still fit Tammy's dad.

Finished post- frantic felting.

Here they are, dot dot dot, They kinda look like clown boots to me.

So Nadine here they are, if they don't fit let me know I will make him another- it is always better the second time around anyway ...right?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Sarah's Patriotic UFO

My daughter, the poor kid, asked me about a year and a half ago to crochet her a red white and blue afghan, like the one I made for my house and this one that I made for her Auntie Pam, by the 4th of July. Of course I say I will. No problembo!

But then, as things would turn out, it was suddenly 900 degrees outside (and we have no air) and it quickly became too hot to work on this afghan, never to be picked up again.

Poor Sarah, always the last to get something from Mom. So since my ploy with myself worked so well with Raines tv blanket, I decided to use the same tactic. I put Sarah's RW&B in the big basket next to my chair! The next UFO to be taken off the list!

It is an easy enough plaid to make, all chain 1, double crochet 1. Could not go quicker once I sit down to do it. The woven portion is more work, in my opinion. I thought about making her help me with that part, but that probably isn't fair.