Travel Jewelry Pouch

Little projects like these are when I sometimes have the most fun crocheting. I love reading the pattern, crocheting, assembling and then figuring out who will be the recipient (like most crafters I've met, I rarely keep the finished item for myself -- it's all about the giving.)

The designer is The Crochet Dude and it's a free pattern that you can find here.

I didn't have any problems with the pattern until Round 10 which I rewrote to get the symmetry that I am so obsessively compulsive about. Here is my rewrite and a photo of how the round begins (my version):

Rnd 10: Ch 5, *(skip one dc, dc in next dc, ch 2)repeat from * up to the ch-2 space; (dc, ch 2) twice in ch-2 space; dc in next dc, ch 2, repeat from * around ending with a slip stitch into the 3rd chain of beg ch-5.

Finally, I had a problem interpreting the assembly instructions, which read: "Attach the layers together by stitching through (it is odd wording .... what did he mean by through??) the ch-2 spaces and creating V shaped pockets". I got the gist of it (make V shaped pockets!!!) but was there something special being done by stitching through the ch-2 spaces??? I finally just whip stitched together the 12 sides which were formed by the ch-2 spaces.

Maybe I was just being dense in thinking that there was something special and/or different being done with the assembly but the real disappointment was that I made two posts for help on the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) membership message board and received NOT ONE reply.

By the way, the Travel Jewelry Pouch went to my granddaughter :)

Homespun Afghan

This is the last of my planned projects that involve working with Homespun yarn from Lion Brand. Once again, working with Homespun presented a problem. This time it was the consistency of color between skeins. Some skeins had much more in the way of lighter highlights and other skeins were mostly grey (I used the color Edwardian). Thank goodness I noticed it fairly soon (not when I was buying it but at least early on in the work.) I alternated lighter and darker skeins to get a striping that looks fairly natural and planned. All's well in the end but just one more annoyance to add to the Homespun saga (see blogs Plaid Baby Blanket and While You Recover Afghan.

This afghan was a thank you present to my daughter for her help getting me through an English Composition class. Thanks sweetie!! I couldn't have done it without you. It is also the biggest afghan I've ever done (60" x 72") -- a snuggleghan for her and her hubby :)

Homespun Afghan pattern
I don't have any Homespun patterns on my wannado or my wips's and I'm going to swear off working with it until memory fades.

Plaid Baby Blanket

I haven't been able to get away from working with Lion Brand's Homespun yarn. I keep finding patterns I like for it and projects I need to make.

This little baby blanket should have been done quickly and with no problem. However, like any project of mine, *#%@ happens. First, I couldn't find Homespun baby at my usual haunts of A.C. Moore or Michaels (I later found it at JoAnn's). So I needed to switch to the regular Homespun line and pick colors. There are two things that terrify me the most about any project, the first is picking colors and the second is embroidering faces onto dolls. Usually when I'm picking colors I bring along my husband who has a good sense of matching colors (left on my own I just pick tone on tone or exactly match pattern specs.) Luckily this time I had talked my daughter into coming with me (Frappuccino's at Starbuck's are wonderful bribes) and she guided me through my color psychosis.

That should have been the end of it. It was an extremely simple pattern and therein was the problem. The pattern was so easy I worked it while not really paying attention and crocheting with Homespun and not keeping my eye on the stitches is a recipe for disaster. Once again, I kept missing the turning chain and sundry other stitches. And once again, I ripped as much as I stitched. *HUGE SIGH*

The pattern for the Plaid Baby Blanket is here. However, it appears you need to have signed up with Lion Brand to see it. My advice -- MAKE IT UP. You do not have to give these people real information in any way, shape or form. I have an internet persona made up just for this purpose and I hope if mucks up the demographics of every site I use it with.