Tag Archives: variegated yarn

December 26, 2010 · 10:54 pm

Copy-Cat Pansy

I was visiting my husband’s family in Iowa for Christmas this weekend.  While there, my Mother-in-Law showed me some doilies she had picked up at a thrift store.  This multi colored pansy doily was one of them.  I had brought some thread with me to work on making some crocheted snowflakes and I thought this was so pretty I decided to try to see if I could replicate it.

This is what I ended up with.  It was such a lovely idea and I enjoyed the challenge of seeing if I could reproduce the piece.  I left both the original and the copy-cat version with my mother-in-law, but I will see if I can write the pattern down and add it here.

I will also be posting quite a few Christmas presents given this year.  I haven’t been able to post them until now because I wanted them to be surprises for the recipients!

Stitched in Love,

Tatha

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December 18, 2010 · 10:29 am

Variegated Ripple Wrap

I am always cold at work.  For years I had been meaning to make myself a wrap that I could leave at work to help keep me warm and I finally did it last year.  I have several crochet books that just have pattern stitches in them.  They’re really great because they give me ideas for projects, but  I don’t have to be limited by a specific project.  These pattern books provide instructions on the stitches for the pattern but then they tell you how many stitches to do for one repeat, allowing you to make your project as big or as small as you want to.

This pattern called for an open stitch with alternating chain 1 spaces made on one side, but I wanted this wrap to be warmer so I modified it slightly.  I made the open stitches  for the first three rows for decorative appeal, but then I changed to making the closed stitches for the length of the wrap.  Then I changed back to the open stitches for the last three rows on the  far end to finish it off.

Like I’ve said, I just love variegated yarn.  The gradual changes in color are what makes this piece really neat, not  really the pattern.  And the yarn does it as if by magic.  I could not have planned the width of these ripples and how often the color changed to make the color pattern here. 

I made this wrap super long so that after I wrap it around my shoulders, I can also wrap it twice around each of my arms for extra warmth if needed.  I will add another post here shortly with the modified pattern I used to create this wrap.

Stitched in Love,

Tatha

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December 13, 2010 · 8:04 am

Super-Long Scarf

My boss is moving to our office in Rockland, Maine.  So I made him this scarf to keep warm.  He had mentioned that he used to have this really long scarf that was very thick.  He said that he could fold it in half, wrap it around his neck and thread the loose ends though the folded end.  So I made him one that he could do just so with.

This monster is 58 inches long, folded in half! 

It is made with a bulky yarn by holding two strands at once to make it extra thick and warm.  But to keep it flexible, I used single crochet and chain 1 stitches.  The ends are made in single crochet stitches with a two stitch increase (at the beginning) or decrease (at the end) for 4 rows.

That ought to keep him warm!

Stitched in Love,

Tatha

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December 12, 2010 · 12:28 pm

Original hDc

 I started this afghan when I was somewhere around 13 or 14 years old, just after I had first learned how to crochet.  I guess you could say it was the first design I ever made.  I’d decided to make an afghan and just did row after row of half-double crochets with a variegated Red Heart yarn named Wedgewood. 

I love variegated yarns.  I love the crazy patterns they end up making.  So many times I am surprised at what comes out and I never could have planned it to come out better.  I have some other pieces I’ll post shortly that demonstrate this even better. 

So, I worked on this afghan off and on over the years.  It started as a way to explore crocheting further and I soon went on to working from patterns and started making all the gifts I came to love to give.  But every once in a while I would pull this back out and work on it some more.  The row after row of half-double crochets was pretty dull to work on, but the patterns that developed as I worked and changed skeins helped.  The hDc stitch makes a very warm blanket too.  I finally finished it just a couple of years ago. 

It’s just a simple blanket for under the comforter on the bed.  You can see the fading at the top of the picture from the yarn I started with 15 years ago, and the difference from the more recent yarn.  I don’t feel it’s gift quality, but that’s ok because I really just made it for myself anyway.  For me it represents getting past the initial stages of doubt as I learned how to crochet and moving on to having the confidence in myself to be able to crochet anything I set my mind to.  Not to mention, it has been the longest running, unfinished project I’ve ever had.

Stitched in Love,

Tatha

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