Shawl for a Wedding Guest

I wanted a shawl to wear over a dress I bought for a July wedding. I found the Five Point Diamond Shawl in the Leisure Arts leaflet Make in a Weekend Shawls that I had picked up a while back. This was a great choice for the wedding. I normally don't wear sweaters, but there are times when a light shawl is welcome when the A/C is a bit cool.

The shawl worked up quickly using Caron Super Soft. The one adjustment I made for myself to make following the pattern easier is I put the repeated rows in pencil for rows 21-41 at the bottom of the second page. This way when I finished a row I never had to think about which row I was supposed to be working on next. The book says rows 21-41 repeat rows 15-20, which are repeating rows 9-14. It was easier just to write it out, rather than trying to look back after finishing each row.

I didn't end up wearing this dress to the wedding. As I was getting the pictures taken for this post prior to packing it for the wedding, I realized the dress had several flaws and returned it for something that still allowed me to use my shawl. Do to time issues; I didn't take a picture of that outfit.

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Scrubbie

Around my birthday, I received a wonderful package from a Crochetville fairy godmother that included a scrubbie. DH really liked the pot scrubber and urged me to discover a pattern to make more. I found a free pattern on Ravelry here.

The pattern works up quickly. The author includes a link to a video that shows how to make the scrubbie from crocheting to sewing it together. Never having made one of these before, I found the video important to understand how the scrubbie is put together. I took pictures so I'd remember the how to put it together the next time.

Just one note, in order to get the spiral look for my scrubbie, I did have to mold it a bit when I was done, but it has held its shape. At first, I thought I'd made a mistake, but I realized in looking at the one I'd received that it also had to be moved into the spiral. It didn't naturally fall that way.

I plan to make more of these and may throw some into Christmas packages this holiday season. I was impressed with how well they cleaned.

It has been a busy summer. I have several shawls to post. I fell behind with Blogging as I prepared to travel to a family wedding. The wedding was wonderful, but distracted me from many of my normal summer activities. I just need to get the crochet pictures uploaded so I can post them.

I finally started working on learning Tunisian crochet. I've been working through a dishcloth with assistance from a DVD and books. I have been researching my options to take a local class. I have videos, but I have decided I need a teacher I can interact with to make more progress. I also located my local chapter of the CGOA, and am hoping to get involved starting with their meeting next month.

If you arrived here looking for free patterns check out the following blog pages:

Kitchen, Bath and Home

Dishcloths

Happy Independence Day

I hope everyone has a happy, safe, and fun July 4th holiday. We have lots of fun planned with family today.

My Mom started a holiday project for me back around Christmas. She bought pillows and then made holiday covers. Right before my birthday, she sent the final set. In honor of the holiday I thought I post the Patriotic pillow covers she made.

This is actually a great gift idea if you have someone who likes to decorate for the holidays as I do. My Mom waited until the holiday fabric was on sale and then picked up the patterns she liked best. I now have holiday pillows for every season. It is also a nice reminder of my Mom during the holidays, as we don't live near each other.

Independence Day Wish List Granted

A wonderful MO Fairy Godmother from Crochetville sent me a package of July 4th goodies yesterday. I got a beautiful holiday dishtowel with a crocheted dishtowel topper. I keep promising I'm going to learn to make these, but I've yet to do so. I also got a pot scrubber that can easily double as a hot pad for my busy July 4th kitchen. The thoughtful FGM also included a set of note cards.

I can never say enough about the thoughtful people I encounter at Crochetville. There are many kind and generous souls who reach out to each other to make them feel special and though of when they least expect it.