Pinwheels and Posies Tea/Coffee dyed Doily

When I was shopping for furniture in Amish Country this Fall, I found a very pretty doily that was either dyed with coffee or tea. I never thought I would like them dyed like that but I thought it was lovely. So I went to work creating another one for me. I have spent about a month on this trying to work out a pattern the perfect size and a fairly simple edging. After re-doing it several times, it finally came together. I love the uneven nature of the dye process. I at first tried coffee but it seemed more brown. Tea was lighter and more red. So I mixed coffee AND tea. Here is the final product.
Tammy

Crochet Honey Bee Tutorial

     I am starting on making an embroidered pin cushion with emery filled part for needle sharpening. I want it to be a nature theme. One of the parts I am attaching is a small honey bee. I am including the pattern below if anyone wants to give it a try.
Materials:
      1 mm / USA 10 crochet hook
       size 10 crochet thread in black, white, and yellow

I will embroider legs when I attach to the pin cushion.

1. With black thread, ch 4, 8 half double crochet (hdc) in 3rd chain (CH) from hook. 

2. Slip stitch to join (ss) in top of turning chain (ch) . ch2

3, hdc in next 2 hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc. hdc in next 2 hdc, 2 hdc in next stitch (st). 2 hdc in last st. Join with ss to turning ch.

4. Chain colors to yellow. ch2. hdc in next 10 hdc and ss to join in urning ch.

5. Attach black again. ch 2. hdc around and join.

6. ch 1 , *sc in next st, skip 1, sc in next.* Repeat from* to * around. SS to join.

7. ch 2, 2 hdc in each st around. ss to join. 

8. ch 2 , 2 hdc in each around, ss to join.

9. ch 2, hdc in each around. ss to join

10. ss in second st , skip 2, ss again  in next st. skip 2 and ss again in next. pull end of yarn thru loop snugly.

wings: make 2 in white)

1. ch 3, dc in 3rd ch from hook. 

2. ch 3 and turn work. dc in middle dc below, ch 2 , dc again in same space. ch 2 and ss in turning ch. pull end thru loop. 

make two and tie together. Then attach to top of bee body. Pull some black thread thru head to make antennas. 

I hope you find these instructions helpful. i would love to see how yours turns out.

Handmade Ric Rac

      Well it snowed all day yesterday, and was bitterly cold. Much colder this morning tho. News said it was -5 degrees but feels like -22 degrees. Too cold for me. I got bored yesterday, and thinking about my planned crazy quilted pillow. I started thinking about the samples I have seen done that used the wide ric rac then embroidered over it. Couching, I believe its called. I dont have any large ric rac on hand.  My crochet hook ,however was handy. So I got to work on my version of ric rac. I think it worked out pretty well. It will however require a little guesswork for length. I think I crocheted a chain about double the length I wanted finished.

I used a size 6 crochet hook and size 10 crochet thread. It is slightly less than 1/4" wide. About 1/2" overall.

I simply made my chain. Then turn, and sc in second chain from hook. Then sc in next 2 chains. Now do 2 more sc in the same space as that third sc. You will have 3 sc in same chain.

Now sc in next 2 chains.  Then skip next 2 chains, and sc in next.  Sc in next 2 chains. Now for the top peak again, do 2 more sc in same space as last sc.

Basically, to form your peaks you will have 3 sc in one chain, then to form the valleys you skip two chains and sc in the next. Cute Huh?

Pretty Crochet Heart & Crazy Quilitng

        I have decided to finally give crazy quilting a try. I thought about it many times in the past, but always shied away because it seemed like to much work for a quilt. All the beautiful hand stitches people put on these are just stunning. I love doing handwork in front of the TV of an evening, but this just seemed like way too much work.
         I dont know why I didnt think of it before, Looking back on it, I was "crazy" for not thinking of it. Yea, pun intended. I was emailing back and forth with an internet friend who is extremely talented. She is the one that mentioned trying crazy quilting on a small pillow. Duh! I should have thought of that. This was about a month ago. Since then she has frequently been sending me emails with wonderful tips. I have been saving those, and hitting Pinterest, pinning all the beautiful pieces I seen, embroidery stitches, and ribbon embroidery. Check out my pins HERE. For ideas check out  my boards titled Crochet, Crazy Quilting and Embroidery, and Ribbon Embroidery.
         Now that the holidays is over, I have buckled down and started thinking of things I want to add to my pillow block. During one of my many pinning sessions I found this pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/chalklegs/heart-in-crochet
You may have to sign into ravelry to get it. However its simply the pattern found here:  http://www.freecraftunlimited.com/heart-crochet-hot-pad.html
With a different border. The lady on ravelry has you sc, ch 2, sc in each loop around the edge. I wanted a little more ruffled look so I chained 3. Here is my cute little block. It measures about 3" wide by 4" high. It was done is crochet thread that was size 12 I think.

  

Little Crochet Acorns

My daughter showed me a pic of some crochet acorn's that she found on the computer tonight. She fell in love with them, and wanted some. She asked if I could make them. well a couple hours later while watching a Christmas show on TV, this is what i came up with:

They work up very quickly and easily. here is basically how i did them.

1. Ch 2, 4 sc in first ch , join to first sc and ch 1

2. Sc in same joining space, and sc in same space again. Continue with 2 sc in each sc of row below.Join,

    ch 1

3. Sc in same joining space, and sc in same space again. 2 sc in each sc of row below. Join, and ch 1

4. Sc  in each sc in row below. Join, ch 1 . Repeat this row 6 more times. Tie off.

5. Now for the cap. Ch 17, and join. Make sure this loop will fit around the top of your acorn. if it doesnt 

     easily, separate and add or subtract a chain. Ch 1

6. Sc in each ch, join, and ch 1. repeat this row once more.

7. Skip next sc and sc in next one. Skip one sc, and sc in the next. Continue around , not joining, just 

     working in a spiral.

8.Continue  step 7 until you reach the very tip, and creat a little nub at the top, cut, and pull end thru loop.

9. Put a little bit of glue around the inside edge of cap. Stuff acorn, and push cap on and let dry.

Wouldnt these look adorable strung on twine to form garland and hung on the tree, or mantle? Or how about filling a little basket or bowl?Or even in a small nest and placed on the tree?

German Lace Tutorial Series 3

      Well, its getting late, but I thought I would try and add a few more steps in. So here we go:

Now we are going to work our way back in the direction of the red arrow, beginning at the blue arrow.
Ch 3, dc in the first ch 1 space below. make a picot at the tip as you have done before. ch 1, dc in the next ch 1 space, and picot again. Ch 1, and repeat until you have completed 5 dc with picot's at the tip. End with ch 1. Do 12 dc into the next ch 7 space below, and ending at the tip of the red arrow.

Your piece should look like this.

Now ch 7 and turn. You will be working in the direction of the red arrow, beginning at the blue arrow.

dc in the 7th dc from the hook in the row below. ch 1, dc in the next dc, continue until you have 6 dc made, and with the dc. You will now be at the tip of the red arrow.

Now you will start at the blue arrow and work in the direction of the red arrow. Ch 3, and dc into first ch 1 space below. make a picot at the top, ch 1, then dc in next ch 1 space,picot and ch 1. Continue until you have 5 dc with picots, end with ch 1.

Complete 12 dc in ch 7 space below, and end at the tip of the red arrow.

Your piece now looks like the one above. 

THERE WILL BE AN OPTIONAL STEP HERE

Work the following part in black print, or skip this section and go immediately to the red print

According to the  chart above you will start at the blue arrow and work in the direction of the red arrow. 

Dc into the end of the 12 dc group as indicated by the green arrow. You may need to slide the group back a tad to make room. Then ch 2 and 3 dc back into ch 3 space between cluster group of row 4, ch 3, and 3 more dc in smae space to form another cluster group for row 5.

Your piece will look like this:

Note, I did not care for the way this last step layed. So I made a slight change. You can do it either way, But since we are also learning to read charts, I wanted to show you the way the chart indicated too. 

above in the chart method, you started with the 3 dc into the end of the 12 dc group as indicated by the red arrow in the green piece above. Instead, make this 3 dc group in the space indicated by the red arrow. No ch 2, and do 3 dc into ch 3 space between cluster group of row 4. Ch 3, and do 3 more dc in same space. Ch 3, sc into 3rd  ch of  row below. Ch 3 and do 3 dc into ch 3 space between cluster group of row 4 below. 3 more dc into same space. You have just completed row 5. 

I think this change makes it lay a little flatter, and a little nicer.

Now we will continue to follow the chart. Start at blue arrow, ch 4 and turn. Work in direction of red arrow. 3 dc into ch 3 space of cluster group below. Ch 3, 3 dc in same space. Ch 5 and 3 dc in ch 3 space of cluster group. Ch 3, 3 dc in same space. End at tip of red arrow.

According to chart above, ch 1 and ss into 7th dc of 12 dc group to right as indicated by red arrow. Ch 2, working in direction of blue arrow, 3 dc into ch3 space of cluster group. Ch 3, 3 dc back into same space. h 3, sc into 3rd chain below. Ch 3, 3 dc into ch 3 space of cluster group, ch 3, 3 dc back into same space. You have just completed row 7. 

This shows two repeats done. Tomorrow I will get a pic of just the first repeat in the blue. Congratulations, you are doing very well. You have gotten this far on a pretty complicated pattern. hang in there for the next series and you will learn how to join the first row of the next repeat to your last (8th) row.Then you will be able to start your next repeat, and make this baby as long as you need.

PS, The link for each series will be listed under the "Tutorials" tab above so you can easily go back and forth between them as you need.

German Lace Tutorial Series 2

   Well, I hope you werent too intimidated by series 1. Just keep at it, and reading the steps. It will click and you will have some beautiful lace to work with. Now for the next steps.

Beginning at the red arrow from previous steps, ch 3, and turn work to move in direction of blue arrow.

Now dc into first ch 1 space of row below. The circle at the tip of the dc symbol indicates you will make a picot at the tip of 5 dc. It is done as follows: ch 3, slip stitch (ss) back into top of last dc just completed.

Now dc into next ch 1 space, and make another picot. Contine until you have 5 dc with picot's as indicated by chart. Ch 1, and complete 12 dc into ch 7 space below. You will end at tip of blue arrow.

Your piece should look like the above pic. Click on it for a close-up view.

Now ch 7 beginning at blue arrow. Move in direction of red arrow, and dc into 7th dc of 12 dc group in row below. Dc into next dc, ch 1, dc in next dc, ch 1, and continue until you have completed 6 dc. End with 6th dc at tip of red arrow.

Now beginning at blue arrow in chart above, and moving in direction of red arrow, you will ch 3,and turn

Now you see the same pattern of 5 dc with picots at the tip again.

Dc in next ch 1 space below, ch 3, ss back into tip of previous dc completed, and ch 1, dc into next ch 1 space, picot, and repeat until you have 5 dc with picots. Ch 1, and 12 dc into ch 7 loop below, and end at tip of red arrow. Another segment completed.

Sorry for the blurred pic. I must have moved when I snapped. But your piece should look like this now. If not....its just thread....pull it out and practice again. Remember......Practice makes Perfect!

Beginning at blue arrow and working in direction of red arrow, ch 7, and dc into 7th dc from hook of previous row, ch 1, dc in next dc, and repeat until you have completed 6 dc with a ch 1 between. ending at tip of red arrow.

Your piece will now look like this.

Tutorial Series for Crocheted German Lace Edging

       I recently posted in Knitting Paradise forum with questions on how to figure out crochet charts, and this beautiful edging done with crochet thread. I used number 10 size.
http://www.katiagreen.ru/forum/download/file.php?id=4236
The above link should take you to the very talented designer's site.
NOTE: here is the corrected link to this pattern and many more:
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/larisa_lebedeva/post241907107/

      I have never done crochet from charts before. Knitting from charts was a feat I learned last winter. I love to challenge myself with new things, and absolutely hate doing more than one of a design. Short attention span problem. Anyway, once I got this edging figured out with help, a few others have asked for a tutorial. So here we are. 

      I have crocheted since I was in grade school, and usually from my own patterns. Thats what I like about crochet, I know how to make it do what I want.This chart thingy was a little confusing to say the least, especially with this design.This takes some time, so it will have to be done in a mini series. I am trying to create the tutorial so that it not only teaches you how to make this edging, but also teaches you how to read charts,so if you do a search online for edging and find say a beautiful Japanese one, You wont be stumped by not being able to read Japanese. Google translator isnt much help here either.  I couldnt make heads or tails of a translated pattern. So grab a size 6 crochet hook, and some number 10 crochet thread, and lets get started.

  The "dots" you see in chart represent chain (ch) stitches. The long bars with a slight slash across are dc, and circles (you will see later) are picot. The straight lines with no slash are single crochet (sc).

 Starting at the bottom right, chain  16. Then double crochet (dc) in 4th chain from hook. Then do 2 more dc in same ch stitch. Ch 3, and do 3 more dc in next ch stitch. To create a cluster group. Now  ch 3 and single crochet (sc) in 5th chain from previous dc. ( note the line between the cluster groups that doesnt have a dash thru it)  Then ch 3 and 3 dc in 5th chain from last sc. Ch 3, and do  3 dc in last chain.This completes row 1 and you should be at the left corner of the chart above. Your piece should look like this:

You can click on pic for a close-up view.

*Now ch 4 and turn piece. Do 3 dc in ch 3 space between cluster group. ch 3, then 3 more dc in same space. Now ch 5 and dc in next ch 3 space of next cluster group. do 2 more dc for a group of 3, then ch 3, and do 3 more dc in same space.* 

#Now ch 4 and turn. 3 dc in next ch 3 space between cluster group, ch 3, and 3 more dc in same space. ch 3, sc in 3rd chain of ch 5 below. ch 3 and 3 dc in ch 3 space of next cluster group.# This completes row row 3.

Now repeat from * to * above to complete row 4.  Ch 7 as in first chart above. Then slip stitch (ss)  into 1st dc of row 2 below as shown in diagram directly above.

Your piece should look like this now:

This pic taken just before joining the long ch 7.

Now ch 3 as in diagram from chart above, and then 12 dc into the loop made by the ch 7, going in the direction of the red arrow above. It will then look like the above pic.

In chart above you will see the dots at top right indicating you now need to ch 7 and hold so that you will be crocheting in the direction of the top red arrow.Then dc into 7th c of the 12 dc row below, where the yellow arrow indicates.( You now see the dots in between each of the dc symbols indicating you will ch 1 between each dc. ) Now ch 1, and dc in the next dc below, ch 1, and repeat so you have 6 dc going in direction of bottom red arrow. This is what your piece will look like now:

Now look at chart below:

according to above chart, you will now ch 2 and slip stitch into first ch of beginning foundation ch as shown by yellow arrow. Then at small red arrow at bottom left you see you will ch 3. Now dc into first ch 1 space between dc's of row below, indicated by long bottom red arrow. Now the chart shows the dc symbols with a circle on the tip (looks like a straight pin). This means you will form a picot at the tip of the dc's indicated. Five of them actually. So now ch 3 and slipstitch into top of dc, ch 1 and dc into next ch 1 space below, again ch 3 and ss into top of that dc, and ch 1 again forming another picot. Repeat these so you have 5 dc with a picot at the tip and a ch 1 between each. ch 1 after last dc and picot. 

Moving in direction of bottom , right, red arrow.

Your piece will now look like the piece above.

Now do 12 dc into ch 7 loop.

Your piece now looks like pic above.

Now according to chart above, you see you will ch 7, then dc into 7th dc of row below as indicated by the yellow arrow. Working in the direction of the red arrow. Here again you see the dots between the dc symbols indicating a ch one between each. So after the first dc, ch  1, then dc in dc below, ch 1, and repeat for a total of 6 dc.

PS: I think Google translator made a mistake in showing me this was a German lace, because now it says its Russian, and I believe that seems more accurate. I would change the title of posts, but I am afraid that would mess up the links for people following.