My craftiness slowed down this week due to the fact that I lost my crochet hook. Wouldn't you know, with all the crochet hooks in my house, I only had one of the size needed for my fidget hedgehogs.
After searching on and off for two days, I ordered a new hook from Amazon. Right after I opened the package, I found the missing crochet hook! Isn't that the way it always goes?
We had an exciting weekend here on the farm. We hosted our step-granddaughter's wedding. Everyone had a fantastic time, but setting up and cleaning up for a wedding with 260 guests is quite tiring. By 3:00 Sunday afternoon, no one would have known that a wedding had taken place here the day before. Many hands make light the work!
Needless to say, it took me a couple of days to recover. My mind says that I can do things that my body disagrees with!
Part of my recovery process was to choose a new tatting project, a Curds & Whey bookmark, and catch up on YouTube videos that I enjoy.
One of my favorites is Fruity Knitting, and I was thrilled that this week's episode #157 included tatting! Madeleine married recently, and she learned to tat so that she could add a bit of lace to her wedding dress. She learned to tat by watching a class on Craftsy hosted by my dear friend Marilee Rockley! I was so excited, I messaged Marilee right away.
I've been a fan of Marilee's hand-dyed threads ever since I discovered her when I started blogging years ago. My daughter Alison and I even drove to Wisconsin to meet her at a craft show. I felt a bit like a stalker, but I had to meet the lovely lady who provided me with so many gorgeous threads.We attended Palmetto Tat Days together one year with our friend Sue Anna, and we get to see each other on our Tollway Tatters meetings.
In other news, construction on our new room addition is well underway. This is something I have dreamed of for years. We finally had the money saved up to move forward, and we started the process in January. We're hoping the room will be done by the end of October, which is possible if the weather holds out.
Life is good!
There wasn't much time for crafting today, but I did manage to finish one dishcloth and one hedgehog. I guess I can only really claim the hedgehog for today, because the dishcloth was nearly finished. Still, that's two more completed projects.
There will be very little crafting over the next few days, if any. Why? We're having a wedding here this weekend!
and we hung lights. There will be so much more to do tomorrow. The rehearsal will be tomorrow evening, and the wedding will be late afternoon Saturday.
It's going to be a busy weekend!
I can't help myself!
With so many pony beads and so much acrylic yarn on hand, it's easy to keep crocheting fidget hedgehogs.
They're so much fun to make!
School has started, and I am in the mood to make gifts for kids. Right now I'm in hedgehog mode. I know I'll be making gnomes at some point, but my gnome supplies are all packed away, so hedgehogs win!
It was too hot and humid to do much of anything yesterday. I did shampoo porch cushions early in the morning, but I was done working outside by 7:30.
I have several shuttles with bits of thread left on them, so I spent the evening working on another Curds & Whey bookmark from Mary Konior's Tatting with Visual Patterns. The thread is size 20 Lizbeth #710 Bright Blue Lt.
I think I have enough of this left to tat two more bookmarks. We'll see how that goes!
Ever since I figured out how to tat Mary Konior's Curds & Whey from Tatting with Visual Patterns, it has been a favorite for using up thread on a shuttle.
This was all I had left of my hand-dyed Peach Pandorea from LadyShuttleMaker. It's a little shorter than I like my bookmarks, but it will be perfect for someone!
I didn't intend to crochet another hat, but I wanted to see if using the same pattern and going up one hook size would make a hat that fit me well.
Success! This hat fits me perfectly. Now I need to find the perfect pom pom to give it a feminine touch.
Next up... finish the bookmark I started tatting the other day!
After finishing my Clematis1 doily, I went back to working on an afghan I started last spring. It's a stitch sampler afghan, and the stitch I chose to use was too tight. So, I ripped out the section I had finished and decided to work on something different.
It's been a while since I've crocheted a hat. I thought that I might get on a roll making hats, but I don't feel inspired to keep going. So, I'm moving on to a new project!
I just finished Renulek's Clematis1, and I'm thrilled with the way it turned out!
As I feared, I did not have enough of Sunshine from Snapdragon Lace to complete the last round. I did find a skein of Pear Glacé from LadyShuttleMaker, which is a very close match. If you look really closely, you will see that four of the pattern repeats do not have the touch of orange. However, I don't think too many people will look that closely.
The colors used for this: a partial ball of size 20 Lizbeth #628 Salmon Med, 1 skein Peach Pandorea hand-dyed thread from LadyShuttleMaker, 1 skein Sunshine from Snapdragon Lace, and a partial skein of Pearl Glacé from LadyShuttleMaker. The finished size is 13" diameter.
I haven't decided what my next tatting project will be. My sister has asked for a Concentric Rectangles doily. She'd like it in either white or ecru. I'm not sure that I'm ready to work on an all white project right now. Maybe it's time to make some more bookmarks!
Round 9 went very quickly, probably because the rings were much smaller than in the previous round. I sure hope I have enough of Sunshine from Snapdragon Lace for the final round!
Round 8 of Renulek's Clematis1 was very simple. It was perfect for pick-up tatting over a busy weekend. I really like the color I used for this round, size 20 Sunshine from Snapdragon Lace.
I only have two rounds to go!
It took me quite a while to finish round 7 of Renulek's Clematis1, mainly because I was concentrating on finishing the Pizza Rat bag. I'm quite happy with the way this is looking.
The Drama Club summer production is this weekend, so I really don't see myself getting much more done before Monday. Still, I never know what I'll be inspired to do!
My former boss asked if I would crochet this Pizza Rat bag for a friend of hers. Almost always up for a challenge, I said yes.
It's crocheted with worsted weight yarn and a 2.5 mm hook, would it was very hard on my wrist and hands. It took me three and a half weeks to make, mainly because of the small hook size. The instructions were very clear, so following the patterns was not at all difficult.
If I'm ever asked to crochet this pattern again, the answer will be NO!
