Check This Site Out

Check out this cool web site my husband found for me here.

It is the Lion Brand Yarn’s web site and they offer many free crochet, knit and yarncraft  patterns. I searched for amigurumi and found lots of fun patterns for many different animals for me to crochet. I read several of their patterns online and even downloaded a few to try.

The patterns seem easy enough to follow. I also checked out the other patterns offered like baby blankets, doggie sweaters and scarfs and there are many great designs for those too. I am very excited to try some of the patterns and have been keeping a close eye on what’s new on the site.

So, I guess Lion Brand’s advertising worked. Because of the free patterns, I have been taking a closer look at Lion Brand Yarn in the store, and I would buy it over other brands as a thanks for the free patterns especially it the colors were right. I have found their yarn at my local Walmart and Joann’s/Michaels Stores.

(Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with the Lion Brand Yarn Company and I make no money by you clicking on the link above. I just thought others like me would enjoy a great new source of FREE crochet and knitting patterns.)

Black

I laughed the first time I heard my mom say it. Many years ago, but really not that long ago, I sat next to my mom at her sewing machine and she said, “I just can’t see black anymore.” What an odd thing to say. The black fabric and the black thread was right there in front of her. She was sewing just fine. Well, I am here to tell you that as I hemmed my black pants, I learned that I too can no longer see black. As I serged the side seams, I had a hard time seeing the sewn seam to keep the serging straight. I stopped sewing and laughed as I said to my husband, “I just can’t see black anymore.” 

I bought these pants on a super clearance sale, paying far less than it would cost to make them. Of course, they needed hemmed, but the hemming turned into a little more than a simple seam around each leg. I took the pants with me when we went to see the parents so Mom could help me measure for the new hem. Mom helped me measure the pants but then showed me about measuring the outside seam on another pair of pants so I can hem other pants myself. I find it difficult to stand in front of the mirror, bend over, pin, stand straight, look at the length, bend again, pin again, straighten up again, look again… Measuring the side seams told be how long I wanted my pants for my waist to the hem. Easy. 

 

In the process of measuring, we decided to take some of the fullness out the bottom of the legs as well. Mom then unpicked the side seams and show me how to take out the fullness but keep the side seams straight. If I had been left to my own devices, I would have just sewn the side seams in, but Mom pointed out that the front and back were not equal, and that the fullness needed to just come out the front, thus the unpicking of the side seams. Mom had the seams all unpicked and pinned where to sew when I packed the pants up and brought them home. I finally finished the hem and only had to do it twice. I let the fabric slip on the left leg as I sewed making it longer then the right leg so I had to try the hem again. The pants are now hemmed and ready to wear. I only have about another two weeks to wear them though before the weather here gets too hot for black, but they will be a great pair of work pants for next winter.

Comments?

I know a lot of people read this blog because my stats page tells me they do. I am a little hurt that I never get any comments on any of my posts encouraging or otherwise.

So if you like or dislike what I write here please leave a comment or two every now and again so I know I’m not just writing for myself here.

Thanks!

PS: If you have tried to leave a comment before and wordpress wouldn’t let you please try again as it was probably a wordpress problem and has been fixed.

Picking Out Fabric

I got a good laugh out of this. While visiting my parents, Mom had a few boxes of fabric from her stash she had decided to part with. My sister arrived before I did and had looked through some of the boxes. She picked out a piece of blue fabric. When I saw which piece she had chosen, I started to laugh. I pulled from my bag a piece of blue fabric I had gotten from Mom’s stash on my last visit. I had brought the piece back to make a shirt out of after Mom helped my adjust my arm’s eye. I had to smile at our similar tastes. Sisters will be sisters. Yet, I had to smile even more when my sister pointed out that both pieces were originally from Mom’s stash and she had picked these pieces of fabric out first. Like mother like daughter.

In the Car

 

I had to spend a lot of time in the car last week. We made a trip to see family and friends and in the process traveled about 1600 miles. Although this was a lot of time in the car, it was a great time for me to crochet.

My trip project was to complete “Monkey”. This is the second crocheted animal from my Amigurumi book that I have finished. He was a lot of fun to make. I started on him several months ago and just worked on him here and there in between blankets, but with all the time in the car I had, I was able to finish him up. There is a lot more to him than just the crocheting. It took a fair amount of time to sew all the parts together. I ran out of the brown yarn so I had to switch to another color but I think he turned out fine. There are a couple things I would change if I make another monkey though. On the next monkey, I am going to leave out a couple of rows on the head to try to get it more round like a ball. The picture on the pattern shows a more round head than I ended up with. I also think I will make the arms a little shorter. The arms seem so long on this one. I am also going to put a small wire in the arms and especially the tail so they can be shaped. I think this will make the monkey more fun to play with as long as the wires don’t make there way through the yarn. Even as is, my nephew seemed to enjoy playing and laughing with Monkey.

My next project was to complete the edge on the flannel blanket I started. After determining how I wanted the first row done, folding the edge over and using the brighter, heavier yarn and doing a single crochet instead of just a chain stitch, it took some time to complete the first row because this blanket is larger than the fleece blankets I have done. For the second row, I did a chain three and skipped every other stitch. Upon completing the second row, I tried a third row of scallops, but I did not like the results and so I took them out. I decided to stop with the second row of chains. With the heavier, brighter yarn and the larger drop in the skip stitch cuts, I felt I had enough of an edge with just the two rows. I am pleased with the end results and with all that I have Iearned. I won’t be afraid to try another flannel blanket rather than the fleece I had been working with.

 

 

The last item I took on the trip was a piece of fleece that I had picked up to make a blanket for the the a new nephew due in April. Before leaving, I ran the skip stitch blade 1/2 inch from the edge of this blanket. After doing this I wished I had cut at 3/4 inch because I wanted to fold the edge over. Mom and Dad made part of this journey with us and Mom did not have any crocheting to do so I passed this blanket over to her. On the first row, she tried not to fold the edge, but as she crocheted the blanket folded naturally. Since the stitches did not look too small with the fold and a 1/2 inch cut, she decided not to fight the fold and let the fleece fold over as she crocheted the first row. She did a chain stitch in between each drop stitch on the first row. For the second row, she did a stitch called X’s and O’s. It turned out really cute. To do this pattern, you skip a stitch, single crochet in the next then do two chain stitches, then single crochet the stitch you skipped.  The two chain stitches make the O at the top and crossing back over to the stitch that you skipped makes the X. Mom finished the blanket during our travels, so now I just need to get it mailed off. It’s a good thing he is not due until the end of the month. With all the traveling I am a bit behind.