I guess I'm not going out today.

The forecast said some snow, but this is insane. Where is yesterday? I want my weather how I like natural women, leaning more towards the plus side.  Women are beautiful and social stereotypes and expectations are totally ridiculous. But that is off topic.

I didn't work on this current shawl at all on Monday, I had to clean and steam clean... Insert grumblings and mention the definition of insanity here.

So It's taken me about 3 days of work to get to where I am right now, I am estimating it will take me about 10-12 days of work to finish.

I am still debating if I should make the pattern available to this. Someone who I assume knew very little on how to crochet mentioned I should just sell the pattern and not try to sell the shawl, because people want a taste to do this themselves. That maybe true, but I am not sure how I would show the design without a example to go with and what about for those who aren't handy at crafting?

I am not going to post the entire design until I am done. So back into crocheting I go, while I glare out my  back door cursing Monday's and Tuesdays tease weather.

Motif for sale

please see my Etsy shop to buy my newly made motif called Star of Bethlehem

You can find it here Star of Bethlehem listing.

Go to my shop, it accepts credit cards, debit cards and Etsy gift cards!

I'm on Etsy

Ok, so I am making this super easy for y'all and just putting my stuff on Etsy. Please feel free to look and buy. I am trying to keep my prices reasonable. I know I am not going to get hourly rates for the stuff I made. But I need to make room for more things to make and would appreciate the cash flow to feed my habit.

Find me here on My Etsy. I am still working out the little details to my shop

Hairpin Rose Shawl -With Complete Instructions!

Ok so I have been trying to instruct as I go.  Here it is, done. Let me know if this makes your eyeballs bleed.

Pink rose hairpin shawl
Light (3) yarn, Approx. 700 meters
3mm hook
Hairpin loom 3 inches wide.

4 strips of hairpin needed
10 rose motifs

first strip crochet 285 loops on each side of the loom, centered.
I normally put a bread tag in the middle every 30 loop seeing as this is done in multiples of 30+15

Side One
Note:normally when I am working the first side, I don't take it off the loom all at once before I crochet it together, I take it off as I crochet.
chain 4 and sl st into fist chain, then ch6.
**sc 15 loops together, ch4 picot in the sc, ch 5 *sc 3 loops together, ch5. Repeat from * to make 5, 3 loop clusters, repeat from ** until the end. Ch6 sc into middle of strip ch4 picot in sc, ch6 and start on next side.
Side Two
*sc 3 loops together, ch5. Repeat from * to make 5, 3 loop clusters, sc 15 loops together chain 5 and repeat from * at the end ch6 and sl st in very first picot made, fasten off.

Make two of these strips. Set aside.

Rose motif
Chain 8, sl st into fist chain
Rnd 1: ch2 3dctog as your first cluster, *chain 4 and dc4tog, repeat 4 more times until you have 6 clusters, chain 4 and sl st together in the first cluster made. This makes the inner petals
Rnd 2: into each -ch4 space of rnd 1, sc, hdc, 2dc, trbl, 2dc, hdc and sc into each of the 6 -ch4 spaces. The will make outer petals of flower
Rnd 3: sl st into next 5 of previous round to top of trbl, *chain 9, sl st into trbl of next petal, repeat 4 more times, ch 4 and trbl crochet into the sl st of trbl of first petal worked from
Rnd 4: ch3 trbl2tog in same space as ch3, ch4 and trbl3tog in same space as previous cluster, *chain 6 and sl st into each sl st of previous rnd, chain 6, trb3tog in 5ch of previous -ch9, repeat from * 4 more times, ch6 sl st into sl st of previous rnd, ch6 and sl st into first ch3, trbl2tog cluster.

Round 5 is where you star joining the first two hair pin strips together. The outer two roses to the shawl only join 4 out of the 6 picots on the motif to the lace strips, the other 8 use all 6 picots on the motif. Please see figure A

Figure 'A'

Rnd 5 of outer rose motifs: ch1 *3sc into -4ch sp ch 1 sl st into picot of first 15 loop cluster of one strip ch1 and sl st making a picot into rose motif 3sc in -4ch sp, sl st into top of trbl cluster chain 8 and sl st into first of the next 2 trb clusters, repeat from * but skip on the hairpin strip, 2 picots and join in the middle (3rd) picot of the 5-3loop fan cluster.
Repeat from * 2 more times but joining from 4th picot in on second hairpin strip and then the 15 loop cluster picot. **sc3 into -4 ch sp ch3 and sl st to make a picot, sc3 into -4ch sp, sl st into trbl cluster, ch 8 and sl st into first of the next trb cluster repeat from ** and fasten off.

Rnd 5 for the inner 8 rose motifs: Ch1 *3sc into -4ch sp ch1 sl st into picot of middle loop cluster already joined with previous rose motif, ch1 sl st making a picot on rose, sc3 into -4ch sp, sl st into trbl cluster and chain 8. Repeat from * 2 more times but work picot into 15 loop cluster, and next middle cluster picot in next fan. Always skipping 2 picots on each strip of lace
repeat from * 3 times on other stip, but working from the 6th picot away from the fan cluster working towards last cluster worked on strip. See figure 'B"

Figure 'B'

Now I added an extra 2 strips of lace to make it wider.

Two more strips done the same as the first two but when you make the picots, ch2 sl st into picot of strip next to it as shown in figure C

Figure 'C'

If it helps, after chain 4 and sl st into fist chain, then ch6. instead of starting with the 15 loop cluster, start with the 5-3 loop cluster as in side two first, to finish one side before joining the strip to the rest of the shawl.

When I fasten off, I generally hide those ends as I go. I am not sure if I want to make tassely bits on the ends, The raw look on the ends kind of looks okay they way they are.

Let me know what you think,I hope this wasn't confusing, Email me: raynecrochet@gmail.com. Again I would like to mention that I got the rose motif from Donna Kooler's Enclopedia of Crochet, amazing reference and pick it up if you don't have it.

Bud's new hammock

Over the years I have always made bud a hammock to sit in his cage. We have had him for almost 5 years, and he was so tiny he sat on my thumb, but he didn't stay tiny.

He actually has another bed I crocheted a while back when we put him in the cage, it's the blue and white thing he is sitting beside. He has been sitting in his bowl because he is protesting. He wants more food, but feeding him is not what I do, it's the man-unit's job.

I never have a pattern I make his hammocks from, they are usually just whatever my mood is for the time.

I generally make a new hammock once every six months, because he slowly felts them over time. Currently they are both cotton.
Never had a problem with them, I was a bit scared that he may have a reaction to the material but they seem to help him when he is in a shed cycle.

He seems to like it. I think I have to put more chill space in for him.

Pink Rose Shawl

I am going to try to give you a walk-through to this pretty piece. I have never done instructions before soo... Okay, here it goes.

First off I do not have a hairpin loom, I have a cut coat hanger, shaped into a U. 

It's 3 inches wide from one prong to another. A friend was asking how I kept count of the loops well, I keep the tags from my bread. I am using a size 3mm hook with a light (3) yarn.

 

Crude, but effective

This fan pattern is done in multiples of 30 +15 to make it begin and end with  the large 15 loop groups on one side, and the 5 clusters of 3 loops each on the other side. I am working so that there is 225 loops on each side, the finished project should be about 8 inches for every 45 loops.

The original pattern I have used once before for a shawl I made a few weeks ago, but I modified how many I chain at the ends of each 225 loop sections for this one. I don't take it off the loom I am using before I start making the clusters I take it off the loom as I crochet up one side so I don't twist my work. Right after making the right number of loops I chain 4 and SL ST into the first chain to make a Picot, chain 6 and start making the first 15 loop cluster SC them together and chain 4 to make another Picot, chain 5 and SC in the first set of 3 loops and make another Picot. Always chain 5 between each each cluster.
Side 1
**sc 15 loops together, ch4 picot in the sc, ch 5 *sc 3 loops together, ch5. Repeat from * to make 5, 3 loop clusters, repeat from ** until the end. Ch6 sc into middle of strip ch4 picot in sc, ch6 and start on next side.
Side 2
*sc 3 loops together, ch5. Repeat from * to make 5, 3 loop clusters, sc 15 loops together chain 5 and repeat from * at the end ch6 and sl st in very first picot made, fasten off.

Make two of these strips.

Now onto the middle I wasn't exactly sure if I can use this diagram (I prefer using diagrams over written instructions,) but I will give credit where its due This is from Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet. If you do not have it, I suggest you get it. More so if you are a lefty (like me) because of the left and right hand stitch instructions. I have seen others on many websites post other materials from this book.

Before you finish the fifth row, you join 3 picots to one strip, and 3 to the other strip. I will get to the picot, ch1, then sl sp into a picot onto the stips [the picot above the 15 loop clusters and the 3rd, 3 loop clusters for the fans.] 8 of these motifs are needed for this. Unless you are making the pattern longer or shorter.

I think I may add one more hairpin strip to each side to make it wider. I will let you know when I get there. I still have 3 more roses to add.

I hope this made sense. and sorry it took a little longer to put up. Little man let me sleep in for a change.

UPDATE:http://youtu.be/EsXYFV-SyVE

Finished Gift

I am happy that this has turned out, seeing as I have not done anything like this before.

I was originally to make a few dresses, but my sewing machine seems to be picky at what it sews, so I made a matching stuffed animal instead. The stuffed animal is currently being test run by my son before it goes in the wash, I am figuring if it can withstand an active 16 month old, it can withstand a little girl.

Video Tutorial can be found from The Crochet Crowd's video. However, since I was working in the round, I did not have that extra stitch to keep it even looking, There are 15 scales for each row.

I actually took a chance and sewed the fabric under the wings with my machine, leaving room for me to attach the wings on like I would normally attach two pieces of crochet together.

Now to wash the dress and owl and put them aside for the next week.