Star Stitch

So for anybody who actually does follow this blog I apologize that it's been almost a YEAR since I last posted.  In the space of 9 months (April 2015-January 2016) I had 9 people in my life pass away, 4 of whom were close family members.  Needless to say this blog wasn't my priority and I decided to take some time to heal.  I won't say I'm "there", but I am better, and now that I've mostly settled into my new place I'm getting back into crafting so here I be! :)  I'm not going to post a tutorial of my own of this stitch, the lady who runs the blog I found it on does a really good job in her video tutorial, so I'm just going to post the link to her page.

https://bookpeoplestudio.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/stitch-of-the-week-star-daisy-stitch/

If you are like me and prefer just reading written directions let me give a few notes on hers that will help them make sense.  1st, watch the video.  :)  I'm not usually one to watch the video, but the nature of the stitch is such that written directions are bound to be confusing, and as I followed them I became frustrated and ended up watching the video and it made much more sense.  Now onto some real notes ;)  I've never done or seen anybody else crochet into a chain like she does, I've probably missed an important lesson in crocheting somewhere but oh well, she crochets into both loops of the chain for the first row, I've only ever chained into 1 loop.  That said, when she says to pull a loop through the chain directly next to your hook (the one everybody always skips because it's a pain), going through both loops is a TON easier!!!  Mind blown.  I also experimented with just doing the other chains (in the rows after the first row) and looping over before I pulled a loop through the hdc stitch and it seemed to work fine, but I was using my scrap yarn at the time to work out kinks before I started an actual project, so I'm not 100% sure if it would over time affect the height of the piece or not (because you're not getting the extra loop at the top of the star but at the bottom).  I decided not to risk it in my project because I HATE having to go back and fix something, so I'm double looping it, but if anybody tries it the other way and it works out let me know :) Next, when she says to pull through the "5th loop", she means the 5th loop you personally pulled up, which in reality is the 6th loop.  It makes a difference.  My scrap piece's edges were all wonky because the stars were squished.  The edges on my project are beautiful.  Next, at the end of the star row when she says to chain 2, I've been chaining 1.  I found that 2 made a hole that was harder to hide and 1 seems to be doing a good job of blending everything in.  Next, this is just a personal preference note so-to-speak.  My scrap yarn was variegated, and I wouldn't recommend it for a project.  The stars look a bit choppier because of the hdc row, some looked ok, but others the colors were polar opposites and it didn't look smooth, and also the back of it looked awful where it should look very similar to the front.  Mine didn't...just the nature of the yarn given the pattern.  Good luck if you decide to try it!! I'm using this pattern to make the other baby blanket for my twin nieces born in April of this year, so I need to get back to it lol :) Here's a picture of what mine looks like so far.

My Green Bean Casserole

Had this for supper tonight and decided to share what I add to it :)  I always make a double batch so i get the 4 cans of green beans, 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, and 2 cans of french fried onions, and you'll also need 2 cups of milk.  I add chicken, mushrooms, and onions to it though to make it a meal instead of a side :)  I cube up 2 good sized chicken breasts, chop up a whole small onion, a pre-sliced package of mushrooms from the store (easier lol) and a couple teaspoons of garlic and oil to fry that all with.  As soon as it's all cooked I add it to the normal mixture for the casserole and cook it like normal.  Not a whole lot different, but it's sooo tasty and I don't have to worry about making a main course to go with it ;) Let me know if you try it and what you think of it.  Do you have any classic dishes you've spiced up and would like to share?  Would love to hear about them!!

Crocheted Washcloths

I found the pattern for this washcloth here, but I only cared for the first pattern so I thought I'd give a tutorial for it.  It's all single crochet, but it creates a nice basket weave look that is really pretty.

Chain 32, sc in 4th chain from hook, and chain 1.

Skip next chain, sc in next chain, chain 1 and continue pattern until the end of the row.  Chain 2 and turn.

For each row you'll be doing a sc, chain 1 pattern, but you'll be sc in between the sc from the previous row.  Go right between the stitch under my finger in the first picture, and the stitch under my finger in the second picture.

As you're going along you should notice the upright stitches move closer together, which will form the basket pattern.  Be careful not to go between these upright stitches, it will separate and not look quite right.  Here's two pictures of the difference.

When you've gotten it to a square (about 24 rows total of the pattern) you'll sc all around the edge, with 3 in each corner.

When you get back to the beginning of your edge, slip stitch into the second sc and finish off.  I whipped out these 3 in just a couple hours, and that was including me doing it for the first time and then taking pictures through one of them.  The last one I had no interruptions and it took me probably about 30 minutes.  Super easy once you have done a couple and pretty quick too.  Good for gifts ;)  Or, you know, dishes...but I prefer gifts haha :)  Try it out, and check out the other patterns too, you may like them more than I did, her instructions are very easy to follow.  Hopefully going to be making some scrubbies I found a pattern for as well soon, but that's for another night.  Later! :)

Spring Happenings

I've been so busy with actually doing things I've completely forgotten to post about doing things - whoops! I've actually taken a bit of a break from doing crafty things because I've been busy with getting my vegetable garden going for the summer and trying to clean up the flower gardens around the house.  This is the first time I've done it all by myself so we'll see how it turns out, so far things are going well, so we'll hope and pray it continues that way :)
I recently held a Mother Daughter Tea at my church just before Mother's Day, my Nana took pictures but I've not been able to get them from her yet so I don't have anything to show you just yet.  However I'm also holding a Father's Day Pancake Breakfast the morning before Father's Day so hopefully I'll remember to take pictures of my own that day and I'll be able to post pictures of both events at the same time!  The tea actually went over very well, considering it was the first time I'd ever done anything like that and also for not having a lot of people show up (due to my not advertising very well, still learning).  I also held this event in the fellowship hall at my church; I used pink tablecloths for all the tables, I used a few old books topped with flower filled tea pots for centerpieces.  I got the tablecloths and the flowers from the dollar store, and the books and most of the teapots came from my Nana, and a few teapots came from another member from my church.  I made tea wallets for all the mothers that came, and I'll be making a gift for all the fathers for the upcoming breakfast as well, but that's a secret for now ;)  I also have another little party in the works that I'm planning, but that's an even bigger secret.  Coming up shortly I'll be getting back to doing crafts as I have to start making all my Christmas gifts (I have to start early when I hand make all of them).  Hopefully I'll actually get the other site really going as well soon, I'm such a bad procrastinator lol.  Out for now, but not for long :)

Cable Crochet

I don't know about you, but I don't like to knit.  I'm rather fond of the little hook to help keep the yarn on the needle, I still haven't figured out how to start the knit - stick me in the middle of a project and I'm fine, but the beginning? forget it - and purling is of the devil.  Not my thing.  Sadly, I've been cursed with a deep love for cable knit things however.  I just think the pattern/look is absolutely beautiful, I've even tried to knit it before but it turned out disastrous.  And then Pinterest happened.  I found a pattern to CROCHET a cable pattern!!  It's just as beautiful and super easy to do.  The only thing that I didn't like about this tutorial is that it doesn't explain how to crochet around a post, so let me try to briefly explain. She does have some pictures at the end but they're not very clear as far as how to do that.  It's easiest on a double crochet because you have more room to work with (but I suppose in theory you could do it with a hdc as well).  Basically, the double crochet itself is a "post", so a "front post double crochet" (fpdc) would mean that you stick your needle through the pattern on the right side of the post and back up on the left side and bring your yarn through there to do another double crochet.  This is opposed to going through the top of the double crochet.  It also has you doing a "back post double crochet" (bpdc) and you would do the same thing but from the back side: push your needle up on the right side of the post from the back and down again on the left side to bring your yarn through for the double crochet.  The only other thing it doesn't explain (which, granted, is far easier) is a triple crochet (sometimes called a treble crochet): yarn over twice before you go through the top of a stitch, but you still only pull through 2 loops at a time, meaning you will do it 3 times, thus it's called a triple crochet.  I'm going to try and figure out how to expand the tutorial I found to have 2 smaller cables on either side of the middle one but so the twists are off set, I think that would look super pretty!  When I get it figured out I'll sit down and take pictures so I can get a tutorial on here for you all :)  Until next time! :)

Baby Blanket #2

When I was a little girl I had a blanket that my Great-Grammie had crocheted (I believe it was my mom's first), and it was my FAVORITE blanket for AGES.  I still have it actually :) It's packed away now for when I (someday, maybe) have a little girl.  So when my nieces piggy blanket kept coming out of the wash with a slightly gray tinge to it (it's supposed to be pink and white...yikes!)  I decided to make her one as well :)  It's basically just a granny square that I've kept going, and I change periodically between pink and purple.  I have a feeling I'm going to have to buy yarn for it a couple more times, it's no where near big enough yet lol.  If you don't know how to do a granny square here's how:

1. Chain 4, slip stitch into the first chain.

2. Chain 2, 2 double crochet into hole formed by making the circle.

3.  Chain 1, 3 dc into hole, repeat 2 more times.

4. Chain 1, ss into first chain 2, turn.

5. Chain 2 (will count as 1st dc), dc 2 times into corner hole, chain 2, dc 3 times into same hole.

6. Chain 1.  DC into corner hole 3 times, chain 2, dc 3 more times into same hole.  Repeat all the way around.  

7. At end, chain 1, ss into first chain 2.  

This is your basic granny square.  These are so much fun to make by the dozens and then sew together into a scarf, blanket, whatever you want.  What I am doing for the blanket for my niece is to just keep the pattern going.  The pattern is the same no matter what row you're on, the only thing different is in all the rows after this you have to do a dc cluster (3 dc) in each chain one spot along the flat sides as well.  Here's what her blanket looks like so far.

I'm just alternating the colors I use every so often to get a pattern.  Once I get it as big as I want it I'm going to use both the pink and purple at the same time (you need a good size hook to do this) to create an edge for the blanket.  It'll be thicker than the blanket itself, but it will give it a nice finished look.  Depending on how ambitious I feel I may try to make a hood for this blanket because she likes the one on her piggy one so much, but I may decide not to so that she can use it as she gets older too.  I have plenty of time to decide that though, so for today I'm just going to keep going around, and around, and around...Oh, and to the store for more yarn haha!  Do you have anything passed down through your family that means a lot to you?

Earring Backs

When I first started making jewelry I got some things that looking back I probably should have avoided buying, but now I have them so I am trying to find ways to use them.  One of the things I got are these beauties, which are, plain and simple, a pain in the butt to wear once something is on them. 

So I decided to transform them into normal earring wires, and it works splendidly, so now I have about a gajillion more earring wires than I did previously :)  

If you find yourself in the same boat as me and wish to make these more useful and less annoying for the general populace here's what you do:

1. Cut off the little loopy part at the bottom.  It's useless.  

2. Squish the remaining loop (the part you attach the actual earring to) together, and slip a small gold bead and a gold crimping bead on from the back all the way to where it meets the loop.

3.  Crimp the crimping bead in place.  DONE!!  SOOOO easy, and you have a perfect earring wire.

Snip, Squish, and Crimp.  Now you can make as many earrings as you want, without the annoyance of the earring not actually staying in place while you try to find a loop behind your ear...  

This also (I would think) would be easy enough to accomplish if all you had is wire.  I haven't actually tried it yet, but I'm about to embark on a wire making journey and try to make lots of fun little findings for jewelry.  But that's for a later post :)