spring

We are having lovely spring weather in our part of the country.  I thought I would share with you the flowering plants and shrubs that are blooming in my yard. These pictures have been taken over a two week period of time.  Enjoy!

March 7, 2012

Today I will show you my favorite pattern I make for afghans.  The pattern is called:  Fan and Feather.

This is knitted and takes me a month to knit.  It is an easy pattern to work, but I do use a lot of markers for the one pattern row that I have to pay attention too.   It is a pattern that I knit only when I am alone.

This is a baby blanket using a pattern very close to the above afghan, but just a bit different.  There are many fan and feather patterns on the internet as free downloads.

March 6, 2012

I made these sweaters using the Bond Knitting Frame, the original frame.  My son is such a big man, that it would take me forever to knit him a sweater by hand. He would check my progress each day when he got home from school.  Some days he would tell me that it wasn't growing very much.   I got so tired of him asking if the sweater was done yet, that I bought the Bond. .  With the Bond, I could knit a sweater and within two days he would be wearing it.

Both of these sweaters have the yarns stranded behind, which makes them very heavy and warm.  My son loves wearing these instead of a jacket.  He has often requested for me to make him one that had a zipper down the front, but I just never seemed to have had the time to make one of those.  Maybe some day I will surprise him with one.

March 4, 2012

This is one of my favorite bags.  It is called a No Sag bag.  Meaning that it is so constructed that it won't sag.  I made the bag from denim, which I quilted, then cut the bag pieces.  Inside, there is a zippered pocket that is built into the bag itself, that gives the bag the the strength to never sag.  It took some bit of sewing to get it done and if I remember correctly, I said I would never make another.  But, I like the bag so much, that I am willing to try making it once more.  Besides, enough time has passed since making this one, that I have forgotten most of the frustration in the making. 

This was a bought pattern called:  No Sag Bag from Oregon Treasures.  It had a tote bag as well as a diaper bag pattern.  I believe the pattern was published in 1983.

March 2, 2012

This winter has been spent doing knitting.  I like the fact that knitting and crocheting doesn't require as much stuff  laying around, like what sewing with the sewing machine does.  The knit or crochet project can be kept in a pretty basket, ready for pickup work. My daughter requested some dishcloths and hot pads or potholders.  Here is what I came up with for her.

I like to use the Sugar & Cream kitchen yarn.  It seems to hold up for me a lot longer than the other kitchen yarns, but then, I have not used many of the other brands that are out there.  I am so satisfied with Sugar & Cream, that I buy it whenever on sale.

For years I searched for this pattern but could never find it.  Yet, I knew the pattern was an old one, for I would find these potholders made up and in public.  One lady made a box of them and passed them out to the guys who meet for coffee. My husband brought home two for me.   That generous lady passed away before I got to meet her to get the pattern.  By chance, on a blog, a woman put up the directions on how to do them.  There were no actual stitch instructions, just a picture tutorial, but I got the idea of how they were made and after a bit of fiddling, came up with these instructions, which I will share with you.  This makes for a nice thick potholder that can also be used as a hot pad.

Diagonal Pot Holder
Sugar & Cream Yarn
Chain 40 if using size G crochet hook
Chain 45 if using size F crochet hook
Make your chain and crochet in each loop on both sides of the chain just made.  Crochet around and around, without increases until, when the piece is put on diagonal, the sides meet.

I wish that I could remember the website where the picture pictorial was on, but I can not.  It has been some years since I saw it.  As you crochet around and around, two opposite corners are made/turned, and the other two opposite corners are made when you stitch down the center to join the two halves. 

I stand corrected.  I just did a search for the "Diagonal Potholder" in Yahoo, and find that there are many patterns  up for this type of potholder.   Where were they all when I needed them?