rose hip

Eureka!...

...the crochet pattern for the flower squares is finally written out for you to try out...To those of you who have been waiting for it -- thanks for your patience! So, here goes:

With the color of yarn you wish to use for the center of the flower, ch 4 and join with a sl st into the first ch to form a ring. Continue working in the round as follows:

Round 1: Ch 4 (counts as 1 dc, ch 1), * 1 dc into ring, ch 1 ** repeat from * to ** 6 times. Join with a sl st into 3rd ch of the ch-4 made at the beginning of this round. (There should be 8 ch-1 spaces in the round.) Fasten off and break off the first color.

Round 2: Join the color you wish to use for the petals into any of the ch-1 spaces, ch 1 and * 1 sc, 3 dc, 1 sc ** into the same ch-1 space; repeat from * to ** into the next 7 ch-1 spaces. Join with a sl st into the first sc of the first ch-1 space. (There should be 8 petals around the center.)

Round 3: Ch 1, and working behind the petals now, sl st into the base † of the last sc made in round 2. Ch 4, sc into the base of the next sc (between the next 2 petals) and then * ch 3, sc into the base of the next sc (between the next 2 petals); repeat from * to ** 5 more times, ch 3, and then sl st into the first ch of the ch-4 done at the beginning of this round. You should now have a ch-3 space (or loop) behind each petal made in round 2.

Round 4: Ch 1 and work * 1 sc, 5 dc, 1 sc ** into the first ch-3 space and repeat from * to ** into all the next ch-3 spaces; sl st into the first sc of the first petal made in this round. You should now have another 8 petals behind the first 8 made. Fasten off and break off this color.

Round 5: Still working behind the petals, join the yarn you wish to use as the background for the flower to the base † of any sc of round 4, and then ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 2dc into the same sc, and ch 1. Into the base of the next sc of round 4, * 3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc to make a corner, ch 1, 3 dc, into the base of the next sc, ch 1 **; repeat from * to ** 2 more times, and then 3dc, ch 1, 3 dc into the base of the next sc , ch 1 and sl st into the 3rd ch of ch-3 done at the beginning of this round.

Round 6: Ch 1, * 1 sc into each of the next three dcs done in round 5, 1sc into the ch-1 space that follows, 1sc into each of the next three dcs, 3 sc into the ch-1 corner space, 1sc into each of the next three dcs, and 1 sc into the ch-1 space that follows **; repeat from * to ** 3 more times, join with a sl st into the first sc made in this round. Fasten off and break off yarn.

ch = chain stitch; sc = single crochet stitch; dc = double crochet stitch; sl st = slip stitch.

† Note: the base of an sc refers to the actual part of the single crochet stitch which attaches the stitch to the ch loop or space made in a previous round.

I hope some of you do try out this pattern; if you do, and should find something wrong with it or something which is unclear, please write me a note about it. I'd also love to hear what you make with the squares...Happy crocheting!

ruffles again...

... I never seem to tire of ruffles! Above is a closeup of the cushion I mentioned in my last post; as you can see, it is definitely on the ruffly side! I just had enough time to take a few detail shots of it when the sun popped out for a brief moment this week. (I like taking my indoor shots when the sun is shining so I don't have to fiddle with lighting...) I hope to take some more photos of the cushion soon so I can show you what it actually looks like... (To all you fabric junkies: yes, those are bolts of Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party in the background -- I am absolutely smitten by a few of the prints and color schemes in this new line of hers...aren't you?!...)

Well, my computer has done it again: I have lost all the emails I received prior to last week! -- my computer is hitting old age and I won't be surprised if it crashes in a major way soon.. Anyhow, between my general lack of time and lost emails, I'm sure I've missed out on replying to some of your messages -- I do apologize and I hope to get better at it! (If you are reading this Amber, who left a comment here, I was hoping to reply to you, but because of my email fiasco, am unable... I'd love to get your email again so I could write to you...)

Halloween hangover...

...too many gooey candies, too many sickeningly bad Halloween chocolate bars, too many late nights trying to finish Halloween costumes, too many projects started all at once, too many unanswered emails -- all topped up with a good dose of PMS... Ugh!.... I really had to regroup, reset my priorities straight by mid-week because I felt like I was totally spinning out of control! You've been there, right?!.... Halloween hangover is what I call it!

I know I promised you some photos from my owlie class project, but, in one of my dumb moments, I unfortunately deleted all of them... I also struck out with the photos I took of the Halloween costumes I put together for my kids: I had my camera on the wrong setting and none of them turned out.... I will try to get some more shots of the costumes as soon as we get a sunny day around here -- who knows, the way the weather's been around here lately, that might take us to April!

In lieu of all that, I thought I'd show you the photos I took of the blue owlie I made using the same pattern I put together for the class project; in this case, I used felted wool from a thrifted sweater instead of the black store-bought felt. I thought I could whip these up pretty quickly, but of course it's never quite that simple; I still have to make little detail changes to the pattern before I'm fully satisfied with it... Because I was spinning out in too many directions, I decided to file it away for the time being and revisit it as soon as I finish some of the projects I started before all that Halloween hoopla. So, I'm back on the bedding assignment and I am starting to make some progress -- I have a very fun cushion that I'm almost done making and hope to show you in the coming week...