Back to the Kitch-en

I was inspired by a very nice lady on Ravelry named Kim, who featured the Strawberry Potholder in her projects. I thought it was terrific, so I asked her where she got the pattern. She wrote and told me it was from the Leisure Arts Leaflet # 851. Somewhere in the back of my mind, that sounded familiar, so I went into my pattern file and, lo and behold, I HAD that leaflet! So I made the Strawberry Potholder, but I couldn't stop there. I also made the Rose Square and the Ridged Hexigon. I dug deeper into my patterns and found the #281 leaflet and made the Heart Potholder. I also did the hexigon potholder from leaflet #429. These are all older leaflets from the 80's and I dont think they are still in print but you might be able to find them on E-bay or a similar site.

And then I thought about one more. So I went into my copies of free online patterns and I found the Polish Star Potholder. Something tells me I tried this one years ago and gave up. Well, this time I was able to figure it out and I have to admit it came out pretty nice. You can find the pattern for that one at http://www.freepatterns.com/ . It would make a nice afghan if I had about 10 years of my life to devote to it...LOL!

I will probably sell these, since I already have plenty of potholders. Or if I end up involved in a potholder swap, I am all set. :)

Crochet, Away!

12 to 24 Point Round Ripple Afghan

Ever since I saw this design about a year or so ago, I have been wanting to try one of these. Its not as elaborate as some I have seen, but I didnt want to drag this project out too long. I bought the yarn months ago....the Bernat Chunky was being closed out and the price was great for those 11 oz. skeins. I finally decided to give it a go about a couple weeks ago. And you see the result. I think it came out rather nicely. I used the round ripple instructions on Crochetville as a guide but the increase they use from 12 to 24 is to make small granny squares, sew these on and then continue in the ripple pattern. I am way to lazy to bother with that :D So I improvised a way to stitch diamonds into the ghan for the increases. It worked. I found out later that someone else did their increases in their ghan in a similar fashion. You can find the proceedure HERE.

I gave the ghan to my b/f.....he really liked it. I only wish the Bernat wasnt discontinued....it was a great yarn for this project. If I can find a similar yarn, I may make another one. My son has a round bed and can you imagine how cool this would look on a round bed? :)

Crochet, Away!

Sweetheart Ripple Afghan

I have the flu......lucky me. So I am housebound again...sigh....

But that made it a perfect time for me to start working on this ghan. I am making it for my mother for Valentines Day, so that forces me to finish it :) This design can be found in the current issue of Crochet World Magazine.....its on the cover. Kim Guzman is the designer......she is so clever! I love the fact that this ghan is reversable. The heart design is so cute....I know my mother is going to love it! I had to use different yarn because the specified yarn (Simply Soft Heather) wasnt available so I went with RH Soft and its working up just fine.

I didnt work to gauge so this ghan is smaller than it should be, but thats ok because I really want it to be a coverlet for her bed in the nursing home. Because its a hospital bed, everything has to be tucked under the mattress so there is nothing interfering with the bed guards and the mechanism. I didnt want this to be tucked in, so its just wide enough to lay on top of the sheets.

Go out and get this magazine if you can and give it a try. I will post a photo of the finished ghan when I am done.

1/27 - Here is the finished afghan!

Crochet, Away!