Shamrock Crochet Dishcloth

It is wonderful to see my own holiday creations hanging in my kitchen. This pattern comes from an out of print pattern from Leisure Arts, Holiday Pot Holders, 2560. I have found the pot holders often make great dishcloths. If you do not make the second half, you have your dishcloth. While there are many free patterns on the Internet, I find lots of out of print books that provide me with creative patterns.

My suggestion is to shop around, but do not wait too long if you have your heart set on a specific vintage book. As I have mentioned before prices can range widely. However, kitchen items are popular and they can disappear quickly. Check the prices and then buy if you want the pattern.

Free Holiday Patterns Available on the Following Blog Pages:

St. Patrick's Day

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines


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St. Patrick's Day Projects

With more time than I had previously thought, I am working on some home projects for St. Patrick's Day. I posted earlier about a Granny Square Shamrock Dishcloth. Now I almost have one crocheted in the shape of a Shamrock finished. It is fun having your own hand made decorations to put up. Perhaps I will even finish some Easter ones this year.

The second Hello Kitty is just about completed and ready for her photograph. This one looks completely different from the first. I have to check on a Barbie pattern I downloaded, as I believe I am missing a page. I started reading it yesterday and it looks like half a pattern. I am going to have to go back and check it out. That set me back as I was ready to get that started.

I still have some bears to make. This will be a busy crocheting season.

Thank Your Favorite Pattern Writers

I am constantly updating my blog with new free patterns I find and I try to leave thank you notes on their blogs. I also go back and thank people after I have made something and the pattern was the great gift item I needed.

Far too often I get complaints that X pattern did not work out or I do not have patterns to make X item. I read on another blog recently a theory that part of the problem is people are so used to getting things for free that they fail to appreciate the wonderful gifts people give them by sharing their gift for writing free patterns with those of us who are constantly looking for them and using them to create new projects.

Recently one of my favorite doll pattern writers wrote that she was burnt out and stopping her work for a while. It was wonderful to see how many people wrote beautiful notes of encouragement and thank you's for all the work she had shared.

People have a right to charge for their hard work in designing. I buy patterns all the time new and used. There is no expectation that because we want something others should give up their hard work with no expectation of payment in return.

However, we can and should stop to say thank you for the MANY generous designers who do share their hard work with us at no cost. Leave a positive comment the next time you stop on a blog and download a free pattern. Say thank you. It is not hard to do, but it does demonstrate that people appreciate the hard work and are grateful for the gifts that are shared.