Lesalicious

 

I got my Swap Swap Gals package from Lesa!  She made these amazing sewn bags with dragonfly and butterfly fabric.  The dragonfly bag is really roomy with an oval shape bottom. 

Book bag-size is actually my favorite size bag for everyday use.  I like the circle handles, too.  They’re big enough I can fit my arm through and carry the bag on my shoulder (a definite plus!)  On a side note, I wonder how she managed to cover the handles with matching fabric without it being loose.

The smaller butterfly bag has this great diamond shape sewn on with gold glitter added as an accent.  The style is great!  This is a really nice evening bag that can double for daytime.  The handles are black on the outside and butterfly-print on the inside. 

Both the butterfly and dragonfly print bags are lined with matching fabric and magnetic closures.  I’m so impressed with all the professional sewing!  Plus, I have not tried magnetic closures yet, so I really appreciate them!

Lesa also included this ruffle top crochet clutch with a gusset bottom.  The jewel-tone yarn feels like suede or chenille to me.  Whatever it is, the yarn is really soft and sturdy.

The clutch has a magnetic closure also.  With Lesa’s magnetic closure tutorial for crochet purses and a real life example, I think I might be brave enough to try it out on my next purse. 

 

Along with the purses, Lesa also sent me this light pink candle.  The scent is really mellow, but sweet.  The candle says strawberries, but I think it smells like strawberries and cream. 

Anyway, it smells wonderful and candles are always useful in this area since we get lots of blackouts with the summer storms.    

Along with the purses and candle, I got a nice card, a set of pens, and matching memo pads.  I love the colored patterns on each of the pens and the flower-shaped memo pads are so cute! 

Finally, Lesa sent me a skein of baby blue, light weight yarn.  I’ve never seen this brand before, but the yarn is really soft and the color is really pretty. 

Thanks again, Lesa for the fantastic purse swap package!  I’m so happy to be your recipient this time around; I hope to get you as my recipient in the future.  Swap Swap Gals is so much fun and I’m so glad that you started the group!

 

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Dishcloth-o-rama

Maybe it’s because I spent so much time restitching the border, but I really do like this Lacy Round Dishcloth.  I frogged the last two rounds a few times trying to match the pattern to the picture beofre I gave up and wrote my own border pattern.

The directions are clear until round 9 when the pattern directs you to put 9 dc in every ch-5 sp.  This will give you twice as many shell lobes as the actual dishcloth has.  Plus, round 10 is missing brackets around “ch 1, sc in next st”.  I’ve written the last two rounds according to how I crocheted them:

Round 9: sl st in ch-5 sp, ch 3, 8 dc in same sp, *ch 1, sl st in next sc below in round 7 and around ch 5 of round 8, ch 1, 9 dc in next ch-5 sp, rep from * 6 times more, end ch 1, sl st in next sc below in round 7 and around ch 5 of round 8, ch 1, join rnd with a sl st to top of ch 3.

Round 10: ch 1, sc in same st, *[ch 3, sc in next st] eight times, sl st in ch-1 sp, sl st in next ch-1 sp, sc in next dc, rep from * 7 times more, end [ch 3, sc in next st] eight times, sl st in ch-1 sp, sl st in next ch-1 sp, join with a sl st to sc. 

These pattern revisions are probably a little more complicated than they could be, but I liked the slip stitches in round 9 to accentuate the shell curve.  (Beware: these directions are not tested!) 

Also, if you’re past the ‘beginner’ stage of crocheting, it’s not impossible to come up with your own guess-timation for the border rounds.    The extra work was well worth the final product though and the border reminds me of Lion Brand’s Sweet Scallops Shawl.

This Textured Stripes Dishcloth is one of the most durable, functional dishcloth patterns I’ve crocheted.  The crunch stitch rows make this dishcloth very sturdy and the size is big enough to get a grip without being overly large.   

The only downside to the crunch stitch is the difference in gauge compared to single crochet.  The crunch stitches are very compact and single crochet is comparably loose, making the two of the edges curve.  I used a crochet hook two sizes smaller for the single crochet rows, but I could have gone down another hook size. 

You can see in the picture below that I accidentally crocheted the border facing the wrong side. Oops!  Next time I’ll pay closer attention to which side I’m on. 

Overall, this pattern makes a great little dishcloth.  I’d love to see a matching Swiffer cover.  The crunch stitches would be perfect for catching dust bunnies. 

If you don’t like, use or enjoy crocheting dishcloths, but still want to try the crunch stitch, check out the Pirate Clutch on Craftster.  It’s an easy crochet purse with a shell detail. 

Finally, the Simple Dishcloth uses v-stitches and shells in the round.  This pattern really is easy and the resulting lacy dishcloth is very pretty.  I would use a smaller crochet hook next time because the stitches are not as solid as I expected. 

Also, I’d like to try using stripes of different colors.  The first three rounds would be perfect for a flower and leaf color.   

Watch out for my next post!  Katrina got my swap package, so I’ve got the go ahead to blog about all the crochet goodies I sent her.  Check out her blog, Sewalicious Designs for a sneak peak of her Swap Swap Gals package.

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March of the penguin

Zarah sent me some beautiful crochet gifts for my ‘All About Hearts’ themed Swap Swap Gals package.  This cute little penguin has got a lot of character to him.  Must be the eyes. 

From foot to hat he stands about ten inches tall.   I like his heart-shaped tummy; that is so creative!  Plus, the scarf he’s wearing is really pretty.  Anyone know what yarn it is?   

These heart coasters are really pretty.  They are serving as a center piece on the table right now.

On top of all the crochet goodies, I got a bunch of gummies.  Yum.

Thanks, Zarah, for the fantastic Swap Swap Gals package!

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Mishmash of color

More dishcloths today.  These are a quick distraction from other projects I’m working on, but can’t show.  First of all, I’m crocheting some top secret items for my Swap Swap Gals appointed recipient Katrina.  We’re not technically swap partners since each person delivers to next down a list.  Most of the projects for Katrina are crochet, but there’s also an intermediate knit piece that I’m excited to finish. 

Also, I’m spending some time on a picture tutorial for the Through Any Window Baby Blanket.  I’ve got about half of it photographed and, as usual, I’ll have left and right handed photos included. 

And there’s good news about the camera: my brother had a look and ‘broke’ the lens back into place.  Was that all?  In any case I’m happy to get my little PowerShot back in working order!

So, about the dishcloths.  This Sunshine Dishcloth by Drew was interesting to crochet.  I like the multi-layered effect and the unique shape the border forms using shells.  I had to block it lightly to get the ‘pointy’ effect, but this turns out well without any help.  I want to make another in a variegated cotton like Andrea on her blog Knits and Knots.   

James G. Davis adapted this design for a twelve inch Sunny Skies Square.  So, if you’re not a dishcloth kind of person, you could still try this pattern to include in a blanket or comfortghan.

 

Here’s another design by Drew called the Pentagon Dishcloth that does require blocking to get the right shape.  In it’s unblocked state, the pentagon looks more like a miss-shaped circle.  

The dishcloth is made with Lily’s in Soft Teal.  (Can you tell I have a lot of Sugar and Cream in my cotton stash?)  The pattern itself kept me on my toes, but I like the overall design and I learned a few crochet lace tricks along the way.     

 

The Lacy Honeycomb Dishcloth is made with Lily’s Sugar and Cream in Over the Rainbow and Hot Orange.  I’m thinking that this color scheme would have worked better if I used the orange as the main color.  The pretty crochet design is lost in all that mishmash of color in the center.  This dishcloth  is on the small side (not necessarily a bad thing) but turned out to be a satisfying little project.     

 *That’s cool* a random fact

The bumblebee moth has transparent wings and a black and yellow body that makes it look like an ordinary bumblebee.  This disguise allows the moth to infiltrate a bee’s nest and lay it’s eggs in the honeycomb.

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Swap swap gals

 

I’m joining Lesalicious‘ Swap Swap Gals blog and these are the required survey questions.  Enjoy!

hobbies : digital photography, guitar hero, reading (esp. non-fiction science, trivia and ‘book club’)

crafts : crochet, knit, bead, cross stitch, paper crafts, book binding (learning), latch hook rugs, paint-by-number, origami

favorite colors: deep blue, aqua, turquoise, lime, heathers, the cottonease colorway or anything bright and cheery

favorite animals: penguins, frogs, jack russells, goldfish, octopi, koalas, hamsters, orca whales

all dislikes: not a fan of royal purple, denim, dusty pinks, lemon yellow, caramel candy, lots of fun fur

favorite candies: peach, gummies, cinnamon and dark chocolate, coconut, hazelnuts, basically any nuts. 

favorite smells: linen, lavendar, cinnamon, pumpkin, butter-cream, honeydew, watermelon, lilac, anything that doesn’t smell like a disinfectant

other: have a jack russell terrier, The Office fan, thread work is beautiful, always on the lookout for good recipes, enjoy trivia/flash cards, ribbons and buttons, listen to music in the car, like playing video games, puzzles/card/board games are fun, handmade is the best 

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