My latest bag design…..a sassy little tote for city girls or country girls. These totes are made in one piece, so they’re easy peasy. And, depending on the choice of yarn, they can be made extra dressy or laid-back casual. The bag shown in unlined (I don’t have the patience) but would be simple to do so.
Click on that big ‘Etsy’ button in the sidebar to see my listings 🙂
Crochet has been showing up alot lately in stores. One of the current trends I’ve noticed are crochet purses and totes. I love the look and the added texture adds lots of interest.
My latest design is a handy tote that’s small enough to be manageable while offering plenty of room for the essentials like keys, phone, lipstick and wallet. While the purse shape is relatively simple, the colors and stitch pattern kick the design up a notch to become a sassy fashion statement. It’s a quick project that can be completed in 8 hours or less and requires intermediate crochet skills. You can create totes to match different outfits simply by changing the colors…the possibilities are endless.
I named it ‘Tahiti Tote’ because it reminds me of summer breezes and tropical beaches. The finished size is 9 1/2″ x 9 1/2″. The pattern is for sale at my shop, Crochet Cottage.
As I was saying…….
LOL, I told you I was going to be busy. I didn’t expect to be so busy that I didn’t post for over a month! But a farm in the springtime can be a busy, busy place. During my silent interim here, I’ve canned 37 pints and frozen 2 gallon bags of snap beans and frozen 2 gallons of yellow squash. The tomatoes are beginning to ripen, but we eat them so fast there’s not enough left to can, although I’ve promised DH at least a few cans of salsa. I expect the okra will be the next to be harvested and canned/frozen, followed by the corn. And when that happens, you won’t hear from me again for awhile 🙂
BUT…..there has been crochet!! I did manage to design this hat during those rare times when I wasn’t picking beans or canning or dead asleep from sheer exhaustion. I’m proud to introduce the Loxodrome Hat.
 A loxodrome is a spherical spiral and what better way to translate that than into a hat. The pattern is easy enough for a beginning crocheter and produces a whirling (heh) fashion accessory.
I’ve several more ideas waiting to be worked up as time permits. There’s a bag on one hook and a baby cardi on another. All I need is more time……….
My Dad always made pancakes on Sunday mornings. It became a tradition that I carry on to this day. When I was a kid, I had a dog named Lucky who was a medium-sized terrier with boundless energy. Our eat-in kitchen had a picture window that was about 3′ above floor level…meaning that the window was about 4′ from actual ground level. I’m convinced that terriers have springs in their hind legs, because Lucky could jump high enough to look in that kitchen window as we were eating Sunday breakfast. We’d sit there, laughing between bites of pancake, as Lucky’s black and white head would appear just over the bottom of the window about every 15 seconds. This only happened on Sunday mornings, mind you, and the reason is because Daddy always cooked a couple pancakes for Lucky, too. These many decades later, I still smile when I think of that head popping up and down to see what was going on in the kitchen and if his pancakes were coming soon. These days, my dog Pepper sits between our chairs, on his hind legs, begging for his Sunday morning pancakes 🙂
I’m sitting here with the window open to a symphony of birdsong; cardinals, bluejays, sparrows, purple martins, woodpeckers, mockingbirds….all seem to be rejoicing for the return of Spring. I had to cover the tomato plants Friday night for fear of frost and hopefully that’s the last of the serious cold weather. I’m hoping to plant beans and squash this week; corn, okra and melons will have to wait for warmer temps.
My sweetie is building a kitchen pantry for me….an upright, shallow depth, 2-door, freestanding pantry 🙂  I won’t have to hunt for canned goods or lose a box of crackers that have been hidden under piles of other groceries. We’re planning to start full-blown kitchen remodeling in the coming months and the anticipation is killing me. It’s definitely time for change.
I’ve almost completed the baby project I wrote about in my last post. My crochet time will probably get cut in the next few weeks with gardening and remodeling projects taking more of my time. Even with the days getting longer, there still doesn’t seem to be enough time to do everything.
I’m glad for the time change. My body seems more in tune with daylight saving time, I can’t seem to stay awake past 8 p.m. during standard time….which makes for very short days, indeed. But now,  the clock says it already after 9 a.m., which means it’s time to go cook pancakes.
After a few days of Spring-tease weather, it turned windy and gloomy again today. The rain was blowing nearly sideways as powerful thunderstorms passed through. I had to bring my little garden seedlings indoors so they wouldn’t get beaten to death. Thankfully, the storm passed quickly and did no harm but it’s put a damper on outdoor activities, at least for today. In the meantime, I’ve been doing some blog browsing and thought I’d share a couple of things that caught my interest.
 Are you getting a little tired of winter gloom and want to see something bright and cheerful? Check out Laura’s Flower Garden motif blanket. She found the pictures buried in her Flickr collection while doing some Spring cleaning. And don’t miss her handy Tutorials page. We love tutorials 🙂
For more bright cheer, check out Alice’s Rainbow Blanket. The colors will surely bring out the kid in you and put a smile on your face.
Don’t miss Kim Guzman’s latest designs in her Kids Collection. She’s offering the patterns at a special pre-publication price through February 20. These designs are done in traditional crochet (rather than Tunisian crochet) and her talent clearly shows in her pieces.
Here’s wishing for sunshine tomorrow and an early Spring, in spite of what a stupid groundhog says.
 My latest design project is a pattern for a one-skein scarf that’s easy enough for beginning crocheters.
The model was made using Caron Simply Soft in Country Blue. Gauge isn’t critical for this pattern, but I wanted something with good stitch definition and CSS fit the bill.
The pattern is for sale at Crochet Cottage.
An interesting read on Amy O’Neill Houck’s blog about designers/artists trying to make a living. Don’t miss her link to Kim Guzman’s blog for an eye-opening perspective. Check it out at The Hook and I.
    
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 The projects I most admire in knitting are the delicate scarves and wraps worked in lace and fingering weight yarns. Sadly, there aren’t many comparable patterns in crochet. I’m not sure why that is but, hopefully, more crocheters will be inspired to experiment with designs in these lighter-weight yarns.
In the meantime, this is my first (humble) design attempt using lace weight yarn. Technically, the pattern would call for fingering weight as I used lace weight doubled. The yarn I used in my project is Knitpicks Shadow in Lost Lake Heather colorway. I have nothing but praise for the yarn….it’s a breeze to work with and the scarf is delicate and soft. I just might keep it for myself 🙂
Be forewarned, the pattern hasn’t been tested, so if you run into a problem, let me know.
Ziggy Lace Scarf
Materials used: size H hook, approximately 440 yds. Knit Picks’ Shadow.
Finished size: approximately 4 1/2″ x 57″.
[ETA: I used the lace weight yarn doubled for this project. You could substitute with 220 yds. of fingering weight yarn instead.]
Ch. 25.
Row 1) 2 dc in 4th ch from the hook, ch 1, sk 2 ch, sc in next ch, (ch 2, sk 2 ch, 3 dc in next ch, ch 1, sk 2 chs, sc in next ch) 3 times, ending with sc in last ch. Ch 3, turn.
Row 2) 2 dc in same st as turning ch, ch 1, sk 2 dc, sc in next dc, (ch 2, 3 dc in next sc, ch 2, sk 2 dc, sc in next dc) 3 times, ending with sc in top of turning ch. Ch 3, turn.
Row 3) 2 dc in same stitch as turning ch, ch 1, sk 2 dc, sc in next dc, (ch 2, 3 dc in next sc, ch 1, sk 2 dc, sc in next dc) 3 times, ending with sc in top of turning ch.
Repeat rows 2 and 3 to desired length.
 | Meditations on the f… on Foundation/Base Chain |
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| Link Blast: 16 Free… on Ziggy Lace Scarf Pattern | |
 | Yvonne S Finne on Ziggy Lace Scarf Pattern |
| Yvonne S Finne on Ziggy Lace Scarf Pattern |
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