Random Felted Potholders

I have an aunt who always appreciates hand-crafted gifts so I try to make something special for her each Christmas. This year, since I had some extra Cascade 220 left in my stash, I decided to make her some felted potholders.

Before felting, this is what they looked like. It's a super-easy pattern. I used a J hook and did 50 rows of 40 single crochet stitches. To make the hanging loop, at the end of the last row I made a loop of 20 chains, turned and did 24 sc in the loop. I used the Random Stripe Generator to create the color scheme.

(Actually, I just discovered the Random Stripe Generator and I've been playing with it all weekend. It's a fun and useful script so I've bookmarked the site.)

I threw the giant squares in the washer with a couple of towels and, using the hot water wash cycle only, I got felt! I ended up having to run the wash cycle twice to get fully felted. They have been drying all day. These are large potholders which I really like. They measure 9-inches high and about 8-inches wide.

I've still got some yarn left so I'm going to make up a few more of these for me. An important note for future reference - When using white towels in the washer with the crocheted item, always put the crochet inside a pillowcase. If you don't do this, you will have lot of white lint to pick out of the felt.

Wednesday Washer - Idiot's Dishcloth

I've had this idea, that since I have Tuesday Tomes (or books) I could also start a Wednesday Washer with dishcloths. There's a lot of free patterns on the web. I can always use more dishcloths and they are a quick project to do in the midst of the larger projects I've got going.

So I present here **Ta-Da** the first project!! This is called "Idiot's" Dishcloth. I've seen these made by other knitters, it's a basic pattern which can be found here. It's knitted from Sugar & Cream yarn and I really like how the variegated version worked out.

Fashion Crochet by Caroline Horne

In my never-ending web search for interesting crochet books, I often stumble across older titles that sound good but there's no picture of the cover and no real information about what is in the book. This is one of those books. Really, that is why I decided to just list my books here as I attempt to get some sort of organization to my pattern stash.

Back in 1969, Coats & Clark revised a little British book and brought it to America. It is the book shown here - Fashion Crochet by Caroline Horne. Caroline Horne introduces herself as a teacher of Fashion Crochet and I know she put out a couple of crochet books.

Fashion Crochet contains 14 patterns of "attractive chic clothes". And it does have a good list of items with instructions of how to make a handbag, pants, hat, coat, dresses, and slippers. There's even a pattern for a pair of stockings!

But readers of modern pattern books would be surprised to see how the projects are presented. There's no full-color pictures here. Just black-and-white drawings, although there are also some small B&W photos of stitch samples. And the directions include a period after each abbreviation, something that modern books don't do.

It's an interesting book but I probably won't make anything from it. Although...if I do get really bored one day, I might try the stockings. The gauge is 5 grps. to 2 inches.

Happy Hooker - Debbie Stoller

Truth be told, I almost didn't purchase this book. I'm not a big fan of the title. I get the SnB thing and the HH pun, but I didn't look at it and think "Oh, how cute, I must buy this."

However, this book contains the pattern for Stitch Diva's Baroque Jacket which I was planning to buy anyway. And there's more really neat patterns inside, including Julie Holetz's Fat Bottom Bag and the most adorable pink fuzzy bunny slippers designed by Shannon Murphree. So far, I've made the Baroque Jacket and the Fat Bottom Bag. I plan to make the Li'l Monkey afghan soon.

Actually, there's 40 crochet patterns here and they are all really good. One pattern, the One Skein Scarf, has turned up as a free pattern on Patons website. There is a major list of errata though and you can find that here. .

And if you want to learn to crochet the first 95 pages are full of instructions.

Calorimetry Finished

Although I'm still working on the tree skirt, I needed a quick project to take to a get-together at the new LYS in Jackson. (It's called The Knit Studio and it is in Canton Mart. It is a really nice store and Judy, the owner, is very friendly.)

Anyway, I had the Calorimetry on my to-do list and I found some Noro Kureyon in my stash. I know some folks had problems with the width of this, so I went down one needle size and used a size 7. It is still a little wide, but it fits well. And I really don't have a problem with this width, it will keep the top of my head (and my ears) warm should we every have any cold weather here is Mississippi.

Book: our best Baby Afghans

This book was copyrighted in 1996 and I've probably had it about that long. This is one of my favorite crochet pattern books and is most definitely the one book that I have used the most. It's so well used that it is now falling apart and I'll have to pick up a new copy before long.

Our Best Baby Afghans is put out by Leisure Arts and contains 54 crochet patterns for some wonderful baby blankets. There's small blankies and larger afghans, one-piece patterns and motifs to sew together.

This is the book I go to again and again when I need a gift for a new mommy.