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Sunday, November 7, 2010

Center-Pull Skein Part 1 of 2: Make Your Own

You love to crochet. And you love your yarn! But face it, yarn can be downright FRUSTRATING. Most yarn in the stores are sold in long cylinder-shaped skeins that are bulky and get tangled at the end. This may lead you to wind your yarn into balls before use, which is equally annoying when they roll all over the place.

This is where the SUPER MAN of a crocheter's heart comes to save the day: and its in the form of the center-pull skein. Learn the easy way to wrap your yarn into a tidy little ball that wont roll everywhere because it pulls from the center, not the outside. Just follow these simple steps below.

1. Start by wrapping the yarn in a figure eight around your thumb and forefinger. Make sure you hold on to the beginning peice with the rest of your fingers, as shown.


2. Continue wrapping until the bulk of the yarn reaches to about the midsection of your forefinger.


3. Slide the yarn down your fingers and hold the two sections together. Make sure you are still keeping track of your strand of yarn and that you have your thumb in the hole where it is coming from.


4. Holding the strand, with your thumb still in the hole, begin to wrap your yarn around in a ball.



5. Eventually, as you ball gets bigger, it can get tiresome keeping your thumb in the hole and holding on to your strand. You can solve this by sticking a pen or a highlighter in it and tucking the strand into the clip.

 6.  When you are finished winding all the yarn, congratulations! You now have a nice center-pull skein of yarn!


Any questions? Please comment!

Want more fun tips on how to keep your center-pull skeins organized and travel-friendly? Be sure to check back for Center- Pull Skeins part 2.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Gobble-Gobble Turkey Applique

Where has the year gone? It feels like just yesterday I was at the beach in flip flops enjoying the summer breeze, but now the colorful leaves on the tree are falling, and its time to think about Thanksgiving! Heres a great pattern for a this cute turkey applique to get you in the mood!



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Friday, October 29, 2010

Wintry Patterns, anyone?

Sooo...I've got a few small ideas for wintry pattern to write for this year. I've concocted some ideas not only for myself but for Christmas gifts for family and friends too. I would love some more ideas.

What Christmas/Winter patterns would you like to see here this season?

Please comment!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Elegant Wrist Warmers

Its been a bit nippy outside lately, and my hands easily get cold when I'm typing or playing the piano (or crocheting!). So I made these elegant little wrist warmers to keep out the chill! These are easy and fast and are great for unpredictable fall weather.



Thursday, October 7, 2010

Lacy Shell Doll Dress- a project completed!

I have a lovely surprise this morning! Diane, one of our readers, has already made two dresses from the Lacy Shell Doll Dress pattern, and was kind enough to share pictures! She agreed to let me share them on this site, so here they are! I love Diane's creativity, and how she really made the pattern her own! If you ever make something from one of my patterns, feel free to send me pictures of your work here.










Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Crochet Humor

Time for a laugh! Enjoy these funny crochet jokes I found.


Why is it that a ball of yarn can't walk?
Because its all tied up!

Why do crocheters make good comedians?
 Because they keep us in stitches!


What do you call an unmarried stitch?
A single crochet!


What happened to the naughty little afghan?
He got into treble!

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How many crocheters does it take to change a

lightbulb?

 Just one, but when she's done, she's going to want to crochet a cord pull for it, and a light cover, and then she'll need to make matching valances, and of course the whole room will need new doilies and chair covers, and...
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A woman is crocheting as she drives (which is totally unsafe, and I don't advocate it). Pretty soon, her speed has crept all the way up to 95 mph--and she passes a parked police car. The car gives chase. Officer Bob turns on his siren, but the woman, oblivious, doesn't notice him. Finally, he pulls up alongside her car and yells, "Pull over! PULL OVER!"

She looks at him, looks at her crocheting, and yells--

"NO! It's a CARDIGAN!"

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Did you know the art of crocheting is mentioned in documents dating back to Bible times? In the Book of Genesis, chapters 40 and 41, it tells the story of Joseph, and how his father had a coat of many colors made for him. Well this is obviously some ancient-times crocheter's attempt to use up her stash of yarn!!

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There was once a man and woman who had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. Nothing was held back. Well, almost nothing. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the old man took down the shoebox and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted doilies and a stack of money totaling $250,000. Holy Moly! He asked her about the contents.

"When we were to be married," she started, "my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doily." The old man was so moved, he had to fight back tears. Only two precious doilies were inside the box! She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness. "Honey," he said, "that explains the doilies, but.... what about all this money? Where did it all come from?"

"Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling the doilies.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Knifty Knitter Love


I'm in love with my new Knifty Knitter looms! I've been wanting some for a long time, and finally got around to buying some at the local A.C. Moore. They're great because they make knitting ten times easier, and because I can make hats and other dimensional things with them (when I knit, I only knit flat things, like scarves and squares). Plus they are totally portable! I've enjoyed taking mine to the beach or on long road trips. I can even see them being tools for teach younger kids to enjoy knitting. What do you think? What's been your experience with the Knifty Knitter? Please comment!

For more information on the Knifty Knitter visit: https://www.myknitter.com/
For Knifty Knitter patterns, visit: http://www.provocraft.com/projects/projects.php?dsp=list&prdindex=kniftyknitter