Crocheted Infinity Scarf

A couple of years ago, I bought some yarn that I had not seen or used before.  It's Lago brand and it's very pretty.  It's also very small.  It sat in the stash until I rediscovered it a couple of months back.  I finally decided to use it and I picked an infinity scarf pattern.  I used the pattern on the mink yarn scarf and a scarf for Otter, but they were regular scarves.  I used a very small hook on this yarn since it's small gauge.  I finally finished it today.  It's double stitch and is about 75" long, then joined at the ends with single stitch.

It turned out well.

Close up of the stitches.  It's a silvery blue color.

While it did work, I don't think I really like this yarn.  It's a small gauge but it's not easy to work with.  I used both skeins I had as they are small, and I still have two more in another color.  I don't know if I'm going to use them on another one of these scarves or if I'm going to find something else to make.

March is International Crochet Month!

My favorite month!  Not just for the crochet, it's also Otter's birthday on the last day of March.  But this post is about this:

Which means this:

(This is just a very small sample of my yarn stash)

(Yes, everywhere!)

(Yes, great pain.)

Just a few thoughts!

National Sewing Month (September)

September is National Sewing Month.  I'm not big on sewing, but I do occasionally sew.  I leave that to Froggy and Otter, and occasionally to Bill.  I am planning a lap quilt for Bill, but I'm looking for fabric that fits him.  I have a lot of patterned fabric, such as tools, chocolate chip cookies, many TEXAS related items and also bandaids - if you know him, you know why bandaids are appropriate for him.  I'm trying to find fabric that at least resembles pachinko/pinballs but that might be a wasted effort.

Sewing machines have changed a lot since this, but the basic principal is the same.

This was one of Otter's early sewing projects, she made a fleece scarf.

She also made the pants in the pirate costume she's wearing in this picture, after she'd had a little more experience sewing.  I think it was originally a pattern for pajamas but it worked for what she needed.

Bill made this quilt, it's the one we refer to as mine and we use it in the spring and summer.  His quilt is the camo pattern and we use it in the colder months.

This was also one of Otter's early sewing projects, zippered pouches.  She made this one for me to keep my crochet hooks in and that's what I use it for.

So, get busy sewing!  And have fun!!

March Is International Crochet Month & International Craft Month

So you'd better get busy, either crochet or crafting!  It doesn't matter, as long as it's craft-related. :)

(Obviously, crochet is my first choice.  But it doesn't really matter what you choose.)

Autumn Red Soft Scarf & Hat

Otter found some yarn when we were shopping one day, and it's not a color I ever thought she would have any interest in.

It's red.

Redheads don't generally wear red, but this is a rust shade or red.  It's actually called Autmn Red and it is very pretty.

Otter requested a scarf and hat made with it.  I used my standard scarf pattern, although this one is 6 rows instead of the usual 5 because the yarn gauge (size) is smaller)

It's sitting on top of my washing machine since I wanted a white background.

Here's a close-up of the stitches.  It looks orange, but it is actually a dark red.

The scarf is triple stitch on a row of foundation chain, three rows done on one side and then three more rows on the opposite side.  It's a very soft yarn and feels very silky.  The color is actually much closer to the first picture, which is a little dark but is better than the close-up picture as far as color goes.

Hippie Snake Crochet Scarf

Otter loves scarves, that is certainly no secret.  She also likes "different" animals, which is also no secret.  Let's just say that she's very much her mother's daughter in that respect!

Anyway.  I had some yarn left from a scarf/hat combo Otter gave to a friend for a birthday present and Otter really liked it.  It was sitting in the stash closet, awaiting an opportunity to be crocheted into something.  I found a really cute pattern for a snake scarf, and Otter (because she IS her mother's daughter!) immediately asked for one.  She originally wanted a Diamondback, but then she remembered the Red Heart Brand yarn known as "Bikini" and that's what she decided on.  The original pattern was for a green snake, which was cute, but let's face it - it was also boring!  So, Otter's got a new scarf and she decided that it's blog pattern name should be Hippie Snake.

So, here it is:

It's about 5" wide and 52" long.  It's all single stitch.  The head and tail ends are increase/decrease stitches and the tongue is a chain stitch.  Because every self-respecting snake has a tongue sticking out!

This is a closer picture of the head.  The tail is the same pattern, and I did offer to crochet a "rattle" for the snake but Otter decided against one.

Here's the eyes.  Because this was for Otter, they are what is known as "derpy."  :)  Also, because this is for Otter, there will be purple in there somewhere!  The centers are white.

Fleece Scarf

(I didn't realize that the picture wasn't really clear when we took it.)

Anyway.  This is Otter's latest sewing project.  It's a fleece scarf.  She made it for BF's Christmas present.  It's about 58" long, she was aiming for 60 - 65" but the day we went to buy the fleece happened to be the day that the store had fleece on sale for 50% off, and the pickings were slim.  It's a nice chocolate brown color, about 5 - 6" wide.  I think it will be really warm.

Otter made the pattern up herself out of some thin posterboard we have, then she got busy with the sewing machine.  It took her a couple of hours, start to finish.  The end seam is hand sewn.

Soft Colors Scarf

This is the second of the two gift projects I made.  This one was for Toadles' wife.

Her favorite color is purple, but I made a couple of solid purple things for her previously.  I wanted something that included purple but had other colors as well and I wanted soft, feminine colors for her.  This is actually yarn sold for baby projects, but it worked wonderfully for this.  It is a very soft yarn.  Lavender, yellow, blue, pink and white are the colors in this.

It's triple stitch on a foundation chain.  This is my "standard" scarf pattern, but it's one of my favorite patterns to make.  It's very quick and easy, as well as a whole lot of fun.  5 rows of triple stitch, it was a fast scarf to make.  I made it in a couple of hours.

A closer picture of the stitches.  Sorry it's a little blurry!

Fall Colors Scarf

This is one of the two projects that I've recently done but not posted, although I have mentioned that I made a couple of items for gifts.  Here's the first one:

This was a gift for Bill's mom.  It is all horizontal single stitch.  It's some of the yarn I bought on clearance after lusting after it for months.  This took about 1 1/2 skeins, single stitch looks wonderful and is very dense but it uses more yarn for larger projects.

I really love these colors.  They remind me of Fall leaves.

Here's a closer shot of the stitches.  I don't remember how many rows, but there were a lot.  Probably around 20.  It took me most of one day to make this.

Marble Scarf

I found this yarn in San Antonio last summer, when I was visiting Froggy.  At the time, I was thinking that it might make a good scarf but it was such a fantastic yarn that I bought it without really knowing what I wanted to make.  It was $13 for the skein, which is a little higher than some yarns but in the grand scheme of yarn-related things, it's not a bad price.  It was a larger ball and in colors that I don't normally wear - oranges & pinks mostly, with some blue, lavender and cream colors.  But it was very soft and fluffy and I knew it was coming home with me as soon as I saw it.  I have since seen the brand in the local yarn specialty store, but they don't have a large selection of it and didn't have any colors I really liked.  Yesterday, I finally made up my mind and decided that yes, it was going to be a scarf.  I made it in one day, it took me a couple of hours and my shoulders & hands are still sore and cramped - but it was so worth it!  I haven't fringed the ends and I'm not sure that I'm going to.  I still have plenty of this yarn left.

This is the yarn, after I made the scarf.  It's hard to tell the size, but there is still quite a bit left.  Sorry that it's blurry, it's also on the brown leather couch so it might not look as bright as it actually is.

It's the "standard" size I make, about 60" long.  5 rows, triple stitch.

A close-up of the stitches, again sorry it's blurry!

The yarn is by James C. Brett.  Brett uses a number as opposed to a color name, this one is MC4.  Brett is based in Yorkshire, as in England.  I'm not sure, but I think the yarn is a relatively new yarn to this country.  Or at least I haven't seen it before.  I found it in SA months before I ever saw it in my area.

The specific style is Marble, chunky weight.  It's 100% acrylic, but it feels like silk.  It's about the softest yarn I've ever found that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and works well with crochet, although I think it's probably intended for knitting.  It's machine washable, which is nice since some yarns just don't work in the washing machine.  It's lovely and I'm seriously considering using it for the afghan I have planned for the (very) near future.

Black & White Crocheted Scarf

 A while back, the middle of the summer actually, Otter asked me to make her another scarf.  After several trips to look at yarn, she finally decided on black & white.  But she wanted sideways stripes instead of lengthwise.  I started the scarf and then realized that I'd forgotten to count stitches and after several rows of black & white color changes, I wound up frogging the entire thing and starting over.  And this time, I made sure that my rows were al lthe same size!  It was a pretty basic mistake, but it meant that Bill's blanket would be getting some black & white yarn on it since I now had several pieces of black & white yarn in varying but small sizes.  Here's the finished result of the second attempt:

Close up of the stitches.  There are 15 across and it's 3 rows of each color.  Well, it was supposed to be - a few of the sets are actually more than three rows because I wasn't paying attention!

This picture was taken before I got finished tailing it.  Tailing means that all the little end tails are woven back into the body of the piece so that they don't show.  Tailing sometimes takes longer than the actual work to make the piece, especially with small sections like this.

A slightly better close up of the stitches.  It's all single stitch which is fast and easy, but smaller.  Otter didn't want fringe on this one.  I enjoyed making it, but I prefer the lengthwise, triple stitch scarf that I usually make.  Just because it's easier!  But I did enjoy this one and I'm pleased with how it turned out.  Once I got my brain engaged, that is.

Blue & Green Triple Stitch Crochet Scarf (EDITED)

Ignore the fact that this picture was taken on top of my washing machine!  It was the closest spot with a light colored background.

This is my standard scarf pattern, it's a foundation chain with 5 rows of triple stitch.  The yarn is blue & green variegated with some transition colors including a yellowish green and teal.  It's very pretty and I have a little left so I'll have to find another project for it.  It's Red Heart Kids yarn, which is softer than their regular yarn and it was very easy to work with.  I can't remember the name of it for anything, but it's a one-word title and is ocean or water related.  I'll eventually remember, and then I'll post it on here.  (EDIT:  The color is called Beach).

This is the entire scarf.  It's just over 60" long, the fringes on the ends are 9" but are doubled so they only extend about 4".

This is a close-up of the stitches.  The colors in this yarn are absolutely beautiful.  It's a gift for my friend Virginia, I asked her for her two favorite colors and she said green & blue.  All she knows is that I'm crocheting something for her, but not what it is.  She doesn't have internet access so I think I'm safe posting it on here before I actually give it to her.

It was an easy project, it only takes me a couple of hours start to finish on these.  I've made several of them  and they are quick.  I really enjoyed making this one.