The Hannah Sweater

Well, I'm hoping for a grand daughter in November, and for Autumn to her Hannah. That's not too much to ask for is it? Since Craftster was running a challenge for the shell stitch in their crochet forum and I had never entered one before I thought this would be a good opportunity. I used 2 skeins of Bernat Cottontots, I love the feel of this, it is so soft. But with this stitch it made the sweater feel more like a jacket. Oh well, it's still cute, I just wish I had a new born handy to try it on.

This is called a Ripple Stitch, it's a form of a shell stitch. I love this yarn so much I may just have to make me something out of it.

Blocking A Finished Item

I've read many ways on how to block an item after it's finished. I still like the way my dad used to block his crocheted items though. This scarf I knitted, YES, I KNITTED, what a feeling, really needed some blocking done to it as you can see.
I just use a big towel to lay it on, pin it in place, get a damp cloth to lay on top of it. Then use the iron on the steam setting to press it flat. This scarf was really curled, so after steaming I let it cool while still pinned in place.

On items that are not out of proportion too bad, a lot of time I don't pin them down, and just shape them when they are warm from the iron. But always use a damp cloth between your iron and finished product so you don't scorch all of your hard work.

I think this scarf will be used more as an accessory instead of warmth. I used Jaeger Roma yarn that I had bought online at Smiley's Yarn I didn't realize I would LOVE this yarn as much as I do, and now I'm kicking myself for not buying more. Of course they are out of this now at the price I got it at, but I will keep checking back.
Like Frank says, at least my holes are where I want them now!

Fuzzy Feet

These are some of the cutest booties and slippers I make, I think anyway. They don't take that long and don't take much yarn either. I can't figure out why all the little ones I know don't have these on their feet though. I really don't like to mass produce anything, so that's probably it. My daughter, who has the same size foot as me, thinks she would like a pair too, (in pink, of course!) I haven't made adult sizes yet, but they might be kind of cute. If nothing else it's a good way to use up any fun fur you may have laying around.

To Market, to market

I just finished this market bag for a personal swap I'm doing. Last week I received from my chocolate swap, and the bar lotion I got I just love. And being the greedy gus that I am, I want more! Actually, I'd like to use some for presents, so Shadeweaver from Craftster agreed to do a personal swap for some more. This is the bag I came up with:
I got the stitch from my dads old (1979, has it really been that long ago?) Reader Digest book, Complete Guide to Needlework. I love that book! It has a lot of stitches, but not a lot of patterns, so you have to figure that part out for yourself. This is the "Bushy Stitch", very easy. I just used cotton yarn.

Chain in multiples of 3, plus 1
Row 1: sk 3 ch (1 dc, ch2, 1sc) in next chain, *sk 2 ch (2dc, ch2, 1sc) in next stitch* , repeat after * to end, ch 2, turn.
Row 2: *(2 dc, ch2, 1sc ) in each 2-chain space*, repeat to end, ch 2 turn.
Repeat from Row 2