Anchor Pot Holder

Pretty sweet anchor potholder. I finished making this blue and white some-what time consuming color change piece of work and hang it up to show off in my kitchen and it falls behind the stove! RRRRR! So I made another!

Lacy Shell Clutch

Doily Canvas

The idea for this came out of the Jul/Aug 07 issue of Crochet Today! I really wish that I had come up with this myself because it is so original and adds awesomeness to any room. I used Royale Crochet Thread size 3 Color Teal and a D hook. I got a 24" square canvas and actually used Elmer's glue to keep it on the canvas. I feel like an idiot now because I have found this great craft spray glue which would have worked wonders and not have taken so damn long! I used a gold acrylic paint and put one coat on. Then I got black acrylic paint and just doodled some lines here and there, then put another coat of gold over the black. I think its a pretty neat effect.

I hung this in my bathroom.

Lacy Tank Top

This is the product of one of those free patterns at Michael's. I've been saving it for a few years and finally decided to make it. It calls for two whole 6 oz skeins of Caron Simply Soft and I had just picked up the last two clearanced balls of Rubine Red which I had been wanting to make something with for the longest time. Perfect.

I made the front and back using not even one whole skein! How was the pattern that far off? I don't know what to use the rest of the yarn for now, because I can't get anymore. Whatever.

I love the lacy shells on the bottom. They were really fun to make; I think it was only a 4 row repeat. It took me forever to find the right ribbon to match this top. It's a skinny silky tubular rope kind of ribbon. They untie a lot, but it looks really cute with a black tank top under it.

Half Circle Crop Top

Oh man was this top tricky. I had started making this top a few years ago with a ball of blue Lion Brand Baby Soft (which I didn't realized I used so much), but never finished it because I just wasn't feeling it.

The pattern in Jul/Aug 07 Crochet Today called for Red Heart Luster Sheen and I just really don't like that yarn. Poking around in the Yarn Outlet I found some Mahopac Yarn Mohegan. It's a beautiful linen/cotton blend. It came out great.

I had so much trouble trying to figure out how to sew all of the pieces together. You make the front and back half circles and the sleeves, then crochet around the neck and bottom. I took the pieces apart a few times before I finally got it. Then after I had finished everything, the next night Knit and Crochet Today! came on Create and they featured this piece. I was so upset, but after they finished with the tutorial, they never even discussed how to sew them together. And I really think the yarn I used looks better than the Luster Sheen.

The pattern has an option to add a skirt to make a dress. It's really gorgeous, but I think it would be pretty expensive to make. I think I used about 6 balls of the Mohegan.

Purple Tank

This is the third time I have made the Cupcake Top from Happy Hooker and I think I finally found the yarn for the fit I want. It's Lion Brand Yarn Baby Soft in Lavender. The five ounces crochet this top without the sleeves perfectly with no yarn left over. I don't like the fit of these sleeves because I think that they are too big and I like the top without them anyway.
The pattern is super quick to work up and pretty hott to wear!

Knit Bag

I found the pattern for this bag on the Drops website. It was incredibly easy to make using 10.5 dpns and 2 balls of a variagated di.ve yarn. The pleats were pretty easy; all you do is knit a few stitches together off two needles. The strap is seed stitch and that really helped strengthen it. I think that the Drops knit patterns are a whole lot easier than their crochet patterns.

I never lined the bag and am really upset about it because I still used it and stretched it out quite a bit. I will eventually line it. It's a great bag and a decent size. I love the way the yarn worked up. The colors are very jewel toned.

Lacy Shell Scarf

I remember that I saw this on a website somewhere and just jotted down the stitch pattern repeat. I used Lion Brand Yarn Soft Baby in white and an H hook. I had intended to give it to someone for Christmas but was running out of time. I did finally finish it after Christmas. My daughter and I went to the movies to see some silly movie where apes save a planet and it was the best project to take. The stitch repeat is really easy and since the scarft was white so I didn't have a problem seeing it.

It's really nice to wear because it is light and really soft. It's a little fancy so its a great holiday dress up scarf.

Kitchen Curtains

I bought an issue of Better Homes and Gardens Crochet issue a few years back and it had a pattern for a little lacy cotton bistro curtain. The colors were bright sunny yellow and royal bluish. I liked the style, but couldn't think of making them because of the colors. There is also a table runner and chair cushions to make a really cute set.

I recently painted my kitchen. It was a terrible brown color with gorgeous white cabinets. I had been using this kitchen for almost a year and decided to paint it and make it brighter. I painted the walls white corn and the cabinet doors key lime. It looks really vintage. The pattern popped into my head immediately. I didn't really want to use the variagated cotton, but it was the closest color that they had. After I finished, the color tones really did mesh well.

The actual making of the pattern was really simple. Shells and dc, ch 1 mesh. The size of the first curtain fit perfectly in my smaller window, but had to do a little sizing to increase the second one to fit into the larger window.

I used peaches and cream cotton and an H hook.

Magnolia Runner

Somewhere along the line I came across a pattern for a bedspread on LionBrand.com. It's the Magnolia Afghan using Homespun yarn. I loved the magnolias and wanted something to cover the plastic drawers I use to store all of my yarn and whatnot. I decided just to use the panel with the flower squares, sew them together, add a little trim, and crochet some beads around the edging. I used a couple of balls of Gold Red Heart super saver and an I hook. It took 5 squares to evenly drape to the floor after blocking.

You have to croche the magnolia first which is a bit tedious, but once you get the hang of it, the magnolias become octogons and you're done. You sew the sides together into a strip. The pattern for the triangles was absolutley absurd. I do not appreciate having to "evenly sc" around anything. It just never comes out right. I came up with an even more absurd method. I started at the base of the triangle (made by the octogaons being sewn together) and increased single crochet up the side edges. It came out pretty even. The edging is a basic dc, sk 1 sc, ch 1 rep with beads evenly spaced in the ch 1 sps around.

I still need to make another runner for the other set of plastic drawers but have been completely swamped with other projects and experiments! Another idea i had was to use a much lighter weight yarn and small glass beads to make a more delicate and fancy dinner table runner.

I'll get it done sometime this year!