Patterns are like recipes. If you have an understanding of cooking and what flavors you like then you can make some changes that would suit you. The same goes for patterns. I was looking for a simple newborn baby hat online that I was going to use to teach a group to crochet. I was overly ambitious in what I thought we would be able to accomplish in an hour and I researched several baby hat patterns online. Though I have made dozens of baby hats, I don’t necessarily follow a pattern anymore. There are times when I make what…

The afghans are finished and ready to go. So am I. There are so many skeins I want to use and new patterns and techniques to try. I’m interested in cables. Technically, this wouldn’t be simple postwork, frontpost/backpost, because they twist and turn into cables. I’m quite sure that cabling patterns will be yarn eaters, but I have a lot of yarn.  I also have plans for some striped scarves akin to their mystery yarn relations but with black, a couple of rows of color, then black, more color and maybe even fringe or tassels which I haven’t done in a…

My first day out after the Polar Vortex and I have something to show for it - a new hat!

Today is definitely the day! Since the temperatures are sub-zero in Chicago (-22 degrees F as of this writing), my office is closed for the next two days. Initially, it was only Wednesday, now we are closed for Thursday as well. Many places of business are also closed. Even Hamilton cancelled its Wednesday shows and museums are closed. It’s that cole. The farthest I would even venture out would be to the local coffee shop about a block away and they announced yesterday on social media and at the café that they were closing because of the temperatures today. Mail…

My grandmother would call it mismatched. I call it colorful. Two full balls of mystery yarn and an additional handful has allowed me to make this interesting afghan. After a couple of false starts I really like what I see. There are a lot of colors and after a few rows of black, I think it needs some a few more rows of color then finish it in black. Previous afghans that I made from mystery yarn, I did two stranded which ended up being too bulky and I didn’t like working with two strands of worsted. The initial color…

Working toward my 2019 scarf goals

My goal this year was 40 scarves, as many hats and I could make from the red yarn I purchased for the baby hats and make enough afghans for each person in the shelter that my church supports. I will have enough afghans to donate, but the shelter closed, so we are choosing another and I have decided to round the number up to 20 afghans for the shelter (along with 20 scarves). Little red hats were a priority since the deadline was December 31, but since the office is closed and my last day of work for the year…

Red is the color of giving. My first shipment of red items is out the door. My maternal grandmother’s favorite color was red. Even her kitchen was decorated in red and white. She was a very generous person who taught me that regardless of how much or how little you have, you can always help others and spread kindness. I think of her often when I am working on the red scarves and hats because of the color association, but also because she taught me to give to others. I prepared the scarves and added notes of encouragement. The next…