Variety Is the Spice of Life

I decided to try something new -- a video instead of photos.

Gift Bags

Before leaving for a three-week trip to visit grandchildren I found myself making bibs and gift bags for new arrivals (my standard baby shower / new baby present).

Of the four I made, each was different, though they all used size 3 crochet thread and a 3/8" mesh stick. I seem to have a problem repeating a pattern (unless it's a necessity) when there are so many potential combinations in my mind.



This lovely bag started at the bottom with a 28-loop grommet. The two handles are each twisted into a moebius. That means, technically speaking, the bag has only one surface and should really not be able to hold anything - except it does. I still have a hard time understanding that, when it holds the baby bibs so nicely.























This pretty-in-pink bag started with a grommet of 13 loops. The Medieval increase stitch doubled the number of loops to 26. The single handle is 13 loops wide.

























This light blue bag starts at the top with the handles. While I could have joined the handles with a twist to create two moebius handles, I decided to make these handles straight. The bottom of the bag had a couple of decrease rows to bring the number of loops from 24 to 12 and finally to 6. The grommet at the bottom is the last thing formed.



























The dark blue bag started out like the pink bag, but with 16 instead of 13 loops in the grommet. It's a bit hard to see, but half way up the bag (right where the green bib is) I added a few rows of the eyelet stitch. The single handle is 16 loops wide.

Shrugs - Knit and Net

About Christmas time I found a shrug pattern I wanted to try. It looked quick and easy. It also looked like a shrug I would wear. I mentioned it to my husband and, wonderful man that he is, he bought it for me. I was right. It was quick and easy to make and I love wearing it. In fact, I've made more than one.

So finally, here is my version of Sherry's Easy Shrug.

When I visited my daughter-in-law in Missouri this past July I gave her the green shrug I had made and asked her if she would like a light weight net one as well (similar to the one I blogged about in April ). She wanted one! She even found me some yarn to make it. It's only taken me 2 months to get the photos from my thumb-drive to the blog. Much faster than Sherry's Easy Shrug which only had to move from my computer to the blog.

Here the shrug is viewed from the back.
The arm is stretched out to show the continuous flow from back to sleeve.

Above is a front and back view of my daughter-in-law wearing the shrug.


Below is a front and back view of me wearing the same shrug.


The color of the blouse under the shrug appears to change the color of the shrug.

Because of the yarn used, worsted weight for this shrug and Red Heart's Light and Lofty for the previously made one, the plain netting stitch shows more clearly in this shrug. That makes it looks like a different pattern. I also love the fact that netting stretches so easily. We can both wear the shrug even though I am smaller than she is.


It appears that my blogging time is gone, gone, and really gone. So the net Klein bottle bag, also from my Missouri trip will have to wait until next time.

Where did the summer go?

I left for a short vacation just after my last blog - a visit with a new grandson. When I returned I could never seem to catch up with what was going on. After I sent my youngest daughter across country to college a couple of weeks ago, I was sure I could find time to make a blog entry. Alas, even with just one child home, and in high school at that, time vanished faster than freshly baked cookies.

So today I decided to just grab a few minutes while no one else is around and show off some photos that have been waiting way too long in a folder on my desktop.

Several months ago I became fascinated with reversible cables. I made a hat and a couple of scarves.







The Palindrome Hat, shown here with the brim up ...



















and here with the brim down, was fun to make. It is slated to be given away and will probably go to Warmer Winters.












Having tried one version of reversible cables I wanted to explore some more. I looked online and found several. Some of the reversible cables I looked at were Tangy, Reversible Cabled Brioche Stitch Scarf, and Irish Hiking Scarf.

I designed the cables for this scarf using some of the principles I learned through browsing online. I really liked the fact that they were reversible, but they required a bit more concentration than I wanted to exert when needing to do mindless knitting.

Then one day I noticed a friend wearing an elegant looking scarf. When I asked her about it, she told me that it was very simple to make and reversible. So I tried it. It's called the Wexler Scarf.

That's all the time I have to spare today. Netting show and tell (such as a klein-bottle bag)will have to wait until I can find or make a few spare blogging moments.

Scarves using a variety of netting stitches

I wanted to try some different netting stitches. Scarves are the perfect way to do this. So, here are five more scarves with different stitches and with different edges on the ends of the scarves.







This scarf is made using a combination of the Crisscross Stitch and plain netting, with a pointed end.













Here are two scarves made using the Lantern Stitch. Each has a different edge stitch at the end.



The Narrow Lantern Stitch Scarf on the left ends with a Sawtooth Edge.









The Wide Lantern Stitch Scarf on the right ends with an Acorn Edge.








This scarf uses the Spike Stitch.

The edge is the Lacy Pointed Edge.

















This stitch is called Diagonal Netting.

In the photo on the right, the stitch is stretched out more than the one on the left.










The edge is similar to the Ice Cream Cone Edge, but the ice cream part is longer and the cones start right on the edge of the row instead of 3 loops into the row.

Teacher Gifts - part 2

My youngest son and I negotiated. Doilies for his teachers - smaller and fewer knots. He also suggested that 5 would be great (instead of 9). So I have been netting doilies. The first doilies were finished on schedule.

Ruffle (small)

Foxfire

Chocolate Chip Cookie

I was ready to continue with the 7.5" doilies that he had selected when I received a new book in the mail. Malla was filled with gorgeous doilies having a different look than mine usually do. Though I loved the style, they were much too time-consuming to make right now with an end-of-the-school-year deadline. So, for the final two doilies for my son's teachers, I based the designs on the style of the doilies found in Malla.

Fireworks Display

Waterfalls

They were a bit larger, with more knots, than the other doilies, but I told my son I would not hold him responsible for my creativity. They were also finished in plenty of time for him to deliver them to his teachers.


Another wedding announcement arrived in the mail from a nephew. Fortunately, I was almost done with a doily using one of my grandmother's patterns.

Center Star

I quickly finished it and sent it with my husband when he traveled west for his mother's 90th birthday celebration.

Caul

Several weeks ago I was sent a link to this lovely caul. Although I am still trying to figure out how to make the stitch, I was interested in making something similar -- and simple. So I called upon a friend who is involved with SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and together we came up with the following caul in plain netting





as seen from the back and the side.

It was fun. Now to try some different stitches







and wait for my hair to grow out again. Yesterday my youngest daughter and I donated our hair to Locks of Love. Her hair was barely the required 10 inches, mine was well over 12 inches. It's been almost two years for my daughter and close to two and a half years for me.

Now I either have to figure out how to attach a caul without braiding my hair first, or wait a year or so until it is long enough to play with again.