Mimi's Crochet Page

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yarn with hook

Gothic cross bookmarks [with tassel | two crosses] -
Here is a few cross bookmark I made recently. The pattern is called Fancy Crocheted Cross Bookmark and was designed by Cheri Mancini. I'd been looking for a nice, gothic cross and hadn't found any I liked until this one. I love the way this one's made, plus it's only two rows! Works up really quickly. I starched it very lightly (perhaps too lightly), using a spray stiffener, then ironed it a bit. Wasn't whole lot stiffer, and it's even less stiff now. Maybe I'll have to redo it. The tassels were graciously made by Sis (I hate doing tassels, so bribed her). So far I've made 4 of these, but I'll likely make many more.
Awareness/support Ribbon [a bunch of ribbons] -
I just designed this ribbon. I know awareness ribbons have been designed before but I was looking for a ribbon that you don’t have to glue in the center to hold it together, so I came up with this one. One ‘leg’ has a gap halfway up, and you pass the other leg through it when you’re done, so everything holds together without the help of any props. It’s worked in #10 thread with a #7 hook, and done in very short rows. Comes out to about 2 in. high by about 3/4 in. wide. I made them in cancer awareness colors, plus red for aids and yellow for the troops. I will post the pattern on my free patterns page shortly.
Set of 3 small floral doilies [blue | pink | yellow] -
I just completed this set - sort of an in-between project. The pattern is from a Japanese book. This one just screamed color at me (well, it actually screamed 'different colors!'), so I obliged. I stopped after the first part of the (much larger) doily. Revamped the last row so it would better cover the petal color, made the last row green to make it more floral, and added picots to give it a more finished look. I used Royale bridal blue, pink and maize; and America's Best white. They're each about 6" across - ideal for a bud vase or as coasters, even.
Goosie's June outfit -
This is Goosie's outfit for June. She was finally able to graduate. Been meaning to crochet her cap and gown for several years and I never got around to it! Poor thing was really itching to 'walk' in her graduation outfit. You can see Goosie's (mostly) complete outfit gallery here.

I'm making a special note about this outfit because I designed most of it myself, so I need to write down some notes. Plus, Goosie feels really special, being mentioned on this page and all.

Anyway, you can't really tell but her sash says USF on one side (her alma mater) and the name of an honor society on the other. I embroidered them using Royale green thread. The sash itself is made with Red Heart sport yarn - just straight sc, except for the back where I decreased a bit so the two sides would hand straight. The medal is a simple round of Simply Soft Brites 'lemonade', with a small picot to insert the 'ribbon', and an extra row of sl st in Wool-Ease 'caramel' to highlight the edge. The 'ribbon' is made with Wool-Ease green. Just a few ch stitches which increased to a sc then 2 sc, then straight sc all the way to the other end, then a decrease to ch stitches again. The skirt is the same one she uses for Halloween.

Now, for the mortar board, I used plastic canvas (7 mesh) and cut out a square (35x35 little squares), then made two matching black squares using Wool-Ease (if I recall, 20 sc x 24 rows), whip-stitched them together with the plastic canvas in the middle. Then I added a little button at the top, where I hung the tassel made out of Royale off-white (tan?) thread. Did I mention I hate making tassels? Anyway, then I made a small tubular black piece to go under the cap, and sewed the cap and that piece together. Added a strap, and voila!
Tiny Thistles doily [from side | displayed] -
I made this doily as part of a 'crochet-a-long' (CAL) in my eBay group. It's called Tiny Thistles, and measures about 21" across - one of the larger ones I've made. I used almost a whole ball of Grandma's Best, so about 500 yds, give or take. Mine is slightly different from everyone else's because, well, I missed a repeat on the first round, so I ended up with 9 'leaves' instead of 10. Still looked pretty good, so I just kept going. I think the pattern is from Magic Crochet.
Seraphina shawl [modeled] -
Here is a beautiful shawl I made for a friend's birthday this Spring. I used this pattern created by Doni. I used Joann's Rainbow Boucle in dark blue (the only one on sale at the local - tiny - store at the time), which is a self-striping yarn that makes its own color pattern. Neat, huh? It's a pain to work with, to be honest, but you do get used to it after a while, and the result is certainly worth it. I actually finished this in a few weeks but only mailed it recently. My friend is thrilled with it!
Shell baby afghan [whole | folded | close-up | stitch detail] -
This is a baby afghan I made for a friend of mine who just had a baby. The pattern is a pretty standard shell pattern (I made up my own, but I've seen this pattern elsewhere, so I'm sure I'm not the first one to come up with it). Anyway, the afghan came out to about 30 in. x 32 in. I used Patons Beehive in Hush-a-bye Ombre with a 4mm hook. I love this yarn. It it soooo soft - a real pleasure to work with. I had bought 6 skeins so I'd have enough for sure, and ended up only using 4.
HAP 6x9 rectangles [stitch detail] -
Here are some 6x9 rectangles I made for HAP (aka The Handmade Afghans to Thank Our Armed Forces Project). The rectangles have to measure 6 in. x 9 in. and use a simple stitch that's not too lacy. I chose crossed dc's for mine. I think it goes faster and it's more fun than straight dc's. I made these 4 (my first!) for the April PTE. More info about the project.
Friendship squares: clematis square, daisy square, diagonal square
[daisy close-up | daisy back | daisy back close-up | diagonal square closeup ] -
Here are three squares I just finished for a Crochetville member who's been diagnosed with cancer. The first two are 8" - one's a clematis which I found in my big collection of afghans (the binder collection thingie - forget what it's called), the other is Krystal's daisy. I'm pretty happy with how they came out. I think I'll definitely make more of the daisy. The last square is 12" and uses a diagonal block pattern. In case you can't tell, the color is teal.
Applique daisies [Daisy close-up] -
These are daisies that were commissioned. The person I made them for will sew them onto something. I liked making these. Two are just the flower itself, and one has added leaves. They come from the Flower Bouquet pattern I did a while ago (see below). The yellow and green are either Royale or Aunt Lydia's (removed the labels so I can't tell). The white is America's Best. They did need to be blocked after completion. Without blocking, they look like a chaotic bunch of thread!
Rhapsody doily [detail] -
This is a new Japanese doily from an Ondori book I bought. I just love the design. I used Grandma's Best for this one, and sold this one to one of my eBay customers.
Granny scarf and hat [scarf | hat | detail] -
I first made the hat from my own pattern, adding some Fun Fur around the edge. I then realized I should add a matching scarf, so I went looking for a pattern. Something not too lacy since I was using a self-striping yarn, but something not too dense either because I had bought the last skein of that dye lot, so I didn't have a whole lot of yarn to make this. I eventually decided a granny type pattern would be ideal. Not finding any pattern I really liked, I decided to make my own. If you like it, you'll find the pattern on my Free Patterns page. I made this with Simply Soft Shadows in 'soft merino' (i.e. mostly blue). It was really easy to do and pretty quick, too. It came out to about 50" long by 4" wide. I added a couple of sc rows of Fun Fur at each end, to match the hat.
Woodland Symphony doily [center | detail | end | side]-
Here's my first try at an oval doily. The pattern is from an Ondori book, with diagrams (which is just as well because I don't speak Japanese!). It measures about 11" by 21.5". I used Grandma's Best with my regular #7 hook. I call it Woodland Symphony because I think the leaves demand an earthy name and this is what I came up with. It's for sale on eBay. I love this pattern. It seemed to go pretty fast, and the result is just beautiful (IMHO of course).
Applique roses -
Here are some roses I made for the Spring. They are the same as the roses I made for the Holiday Rose doily last Fall - roses are those of the Rose Garland vintage doily, leaves are my own design. There's one for Valentine's Day, one for St. Patrick's Day, and one for Spring.
Crown Jewels doilies, 2007 - I made 3 more of these for Christmas. Same pattern as before, different recipients. This one always turns out great, and it only takes about 2-3 nights to make. That's why I love this pattern!
Scottish Flag pillow [with seam visible | seam detail | stitch detail] -
I made this pillow for this year's Secret Santa. Since my Santee is a proud Scot, I decided to go with a flag pillow - I like making flag pillows, can you tell? . Anyway, I bought a rectangular 12x16 pillowform, and proceeded to graph said flag. I used a diagonal block stitch, which was a little harder this time because of the rectangular shape. I couldn't just do one simple white diagonal. Instead, I had to gradually move the diagonal to the other corner. I think it turned out ok, overall. I used Simply Soft for this. The blue is new yarn, and the way SS has changed lately, I wasn't thrilled about it, but having already started, well, I finished. It's a nice color, just doesn't feel great to work with. The white SS I bought online. It's older yarn, from back when it was still spongy and soft. The seam is the same I always use, a crab stitch in a contrasting color. This time I chose a darker blue (dk country blue, if memory serves).
Christmas angel [3/4 view | back | sides] -
Here's a small angel I made for a friend's Christmas present. The angel is called Joy, and I got the pattern from my Vanna White binder collection. I really haven't mastered the whole 3-D stiffening thing, but I did my best. The angel shape is more like that of a bell, but it's actually kind of pretty! The finished size was around 6 in. I used Grandma's Best thead (I think) and my trusty #7 hook. I didn't like the halo they had, which was crocheted over a plastic ring, so I made my own. It's basically just a few chain stitches joined into a round, then followed by slip stitches on the next round, and then stiffened. I used gold metallic thread for the halo, and I added a little red ribbon to finish the piece. I added a couple of mini mittens to the gift, too.
Child mile-a-minute afghan [other view | whole | folded | rounded end | center | seam] -
I made this for a friend of mine whose little boy is 4 years old. It was a Christmas present. I'll have to look up where I got the pattern, but basically it's a regular mile-a-minute afghan pattern, which I made in a smaller size - about 30.5 in. x 43.5 in. I used Simply Soft in Country Blue, Sage (I think), and white (i.e. boy colors). The pattern uses a basic mile-a-minute center strip, with crossed dc's all around. I think it turned out pretty well, overall. I really like this pattern.
Victorian Christmas Ornaments [another batch | gold | off-white | white] -
This was the 2007 annual Christmas project. These are from the Big Book of Scrap Crochet Projects, published by the House of White Birches and edited by Vicki Blizzard. The pattern is called Holiday Scrap Ornaments. I made 35 in all - mostly assembly line style.

I made them in a variety of colors, mostly green inside and red outside (those were easier because the green is thicker), a few red inside/green outside, and then I varied the middle rows - gold/gold metallic, gold/off-white metallic, or silver/metallic. The edgings are made in a darker color that matches the last row on each square. I even made a white/gold one for someone whose Christmas decor is, well, white and gold.

I used Royale and/or Aunt Lydia's for the colors, Knit-CroSheen for the metallics, and Grandma's Best for the darker edgings (which worked well because GB is thinner so the picots were better defined). They do look much better in person. It's hard to capture the shimmering metallic thread on camera.

The great thing about these is there's absolutely no sewing involved. Each ornament has 2 little squares that are crocheted separately - just 3 rows/colors each time, which makes it really easy to memorize the pattern. The squares are then crocheted together (the picot row) with a darker color and the handle is worked as part of that row. And because it's double thick, there's no stiffening involved. The only downside is the number of ends to weave in.
3D angel -
Here's my first try at a 3D angel. More on this later.
Winter's Light doily -
Here's another version of the Crown Jewels doily I've made in the past (twice in all white, and once in blue/white), this time in white and gold for Christmas. I was looking for an interesting name, and ended up with Winter's Light, because it reminds me of light (the gold) illuminating fresh snow (the white). Not thrilled about the name, but it'll work. I love this pattern. This one was also an eBay sale.
Christmas Lights doily [from side | detail | center detail | edge detail] -
This one I call the Christmas Lights doily, because, well, they look like strings of Christmas lights. It's actually from a pattern I found in Magic Crochet. I used victory red, myrtle green, and white. The white is America's Best, the rest is either Aunt Lydia's or Royale. The border screamed gold at me, so I used gold/gold metallic thread for it. It's about 16.5" across, so a nice size. I did adapt the pattern very slightly, adding a row of white sc after every row of 'lights' so as to cover the link between the bulbs (bulbs don't usually connect through the top). In the original pattern, only half those rows are followed by sc. Not sure that makes sense. I can try explaining it better if needed. It also sold on eBay.
Christmas Trees in the Snow doily [edge detail | whole doily | center detail]-
This a new Christmas doily I finished a little while ago. It's from a Japanese pattern published by Ondori. Originally all white, but it looked like little Christmas trees to me, so I made the trees green, kept parts in between white (to represent the snow) and added a gold highlight toward the outside. I omitted the very last row which added nothing to the doily, IMO. I used America's Best for the white, Aunt Lydia's for the green, and Knit-CroSheen for the metallic gold. It came out to about 16". It sold on eBay.
Sea Aster doily (peach) [whole doily | top detail | bottom detail]-
This one is a repeat of the Sea Aster doily I made a while ago, except this one's done in peach (by request). I used Knit Cro-sheen for this one. Peach is such a beautiful color. I should make more things with it. This one was sold to an eBay customer.
Handbells Christmas doily, take II [detail] -
I decided to make this one again this year, except this time I made it with America's Best cotton thread. It was still about the same size as last time. It sold on eBay.
Pineapples in Bloom doily, take II -
This is a repeat of an earlier doily, made to order. This time it was about 22" in diameter. This one is pretty time consuming, but I love the result.
Baby hat -
I made this lovely little hat and sold it through my Creations site. I originally wanted to use Bernat Softee Baby but was very disappointed with it. I've used it before - a lot - but they seem to have changed the way it's made. It's now much less soft and it also seems to have lost much of its elasticity. Horrible to work with. So, I went to the store in search of a soft baby yarn. I was going to try Red Heart Baby until I stumbled upon Patons Beehive Baby. It is the absolute softest yarn ever created. Cloud soft. I think this will become my new favorite baby yarn. I had to adapt my own pattern a bit, since this yarn is a bit thinner than Softee.
Crown jewels doily (white) -
This doily is one I've already done in the past, except this time I made it all in white. I used Grandma's Best (always a delight to use), and gave it to a friend of mine for her birthday. Then I decided to list another one on eBay, and to my surprise, I ended up selling two there. This is one of my favorite patterns. Pretty easy, quick, and always looks good. It's about 11".
Fall Flower Bouquet doily - [top | side | bottom | edging]
After seeing the success of the first Flower Bouquet, I went ahead and did a Fall version of it. It did turn out to be a bit easier than last time, because I now know to weave in the ends as I go, and to make the flower centers ahead of time, etc. Plus I've got detailed pics of all the joins! It is still time-consuming, but at least not so much of a challenge.

This time, I used pumpkin, frosty green, golden yellow, white, burgundy, fudge brown, and maize for the flowers and leaves, and natural for the edging. I think the colors worked well together and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It sold on eBay.
Baby Ripple afghan [folded | close-up] -
I made this afghan as part of my Crochet Creations site, for a lady who wanted to buy her daughter an afghan like the one she had lost. She sent me pics of it and asked that I reproduce it as much as possible. I used Softee Baby in pastel green, yellow, and white. It's sc throughout; 12 stitches for each hill/valley; 4 rows of yellow, 3 of green, 2 of white; and in back loops only for ridging. It was for a 9-yo, so I made it about 30 x 45 in. Took about 3 weeks.
AFATC Anniversary -
A Fine Art Thread Crochet (AFATC) is an eBay group I'm part of. We are all thread crochet fans and sell our doilies on eBay. This August, the group celebrated its 1 year anniversary. As a way to do that, we all made flower doilies. I made three myself, two that were pretty straightforward, the third which proved to be quite a challenge.

Flower Bouquet doily - [daisies | forget-me-nots | edging | close-up #1 | close-up #2 | close-up #3]
This was the first flower doily I made for the anniversary. It is the famous "flower bouquet" doily (I bought the pattern from Maggie's Crochet). All the flowers are crocheted individually and joined in 'as-you-go'. The first few joins were tough (I thought) but then I got used to joining and it got a little easier. I actually changed the joining method on everything but the daisies - it was distorting my petals! Pretty happy with the joins I ended up with.

The biggest issue was the thread ends to weave in. I didn't weave them in at first and I ended up with a big mess of thread, to the point where I couldn't see what I was doing! I spent a day weaving everything in, then started to weave in ends a little at a time, as I went, and it helped a lot. I blocked this thing 3 times, I think, so I could see where I stood and where to join the next flower.

I missed one of the first joins on the forget-me-nots, and joined to the wrong petal, so I adapted a bit as I went and got back on track after a while, then of course at the end, I didn't have that free petal anymore, so adapted there too, and replaced some pansies with forget-me-nots. I think it worked out pretty well. Oh, and I changed the last row of the border because I didn't like the original. Took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do, but I'm happy with this edging.

I was going to buy some more colors, but ended up only buying the shaded purples. For the rest, I used what I had on hand. I decided to use cream and bridal blue for some forget-me-nots, and gold and orchid pink for the others; shaded pinks and shaded purples for the pansies; gold, white and myrtle green for the daisies. The colors were Aunt Lydia's (and maybe some Royale). White was America's Best cotton thread.
I then took lots of detailed notes and photos so I could re-do this if needed. And re-do, I did! Turned out to be really popular on eBay, and I ended up making 3 of these.

Rose garland doily [whole | quarter view | center | rose close-up] -
This one is a repeat of the Rose Garland I did last Christmas. The second time was a lot easier. Same pattern, same colors, same results. This one was sold to one of my eBay customers.

Holiday Rose doily [plain | Halloween | Thanksgiving | roses] -
This is Ruby's Pineapple, which Crocus58 on the Crochetville forum had adapted. I tried to match her adapted version from the photos. Since it's rather plain and the center is pretty dense, I decided it was the perfect place for roses, so I made 3 roses, and just set them on the doily (i.e. they're not attached). The roses are the ones that I made for the Rose Garland doily I just finished. The leaves are my own design. The 3 roses are for Halloween (pumpkin/frosty green), Thanksgiving (maize/brown), and Christmas (red/myrtle green). Each 3-layer rose has 8 petals and 8 leaves. I used Royale and Aunt Lydia's for the colors, and America's Best for the white. Came out to about 16". It sold on eBay.
Pretty Pinwheel doily -
While I was waiting for more thread to come in for the Pineapples in Bloom doily below, I started this one with remnants of Baroque thread I had in stock. This is a pretty simple pattern and I'm about 2/3 of the way through, but I've put this one on hold for now, while I do other things (see above).
Pineapples in Bloom doily [from side | stitch detail | center detail | displayed] -
I just finished this one and sold it on eBay. I call it Pineapples in Bloom because of the little "leaves" at the bottom of the pineapple "blooms". This one's got everything I like in it: pinwheel center and pineapples around. It was a fun pattern. 32 rounds, 20" across. I used America's Best #10 thread again (love that thing) and my trusted 1.5mm hook. The pattern was in Diana magazine.
Diagonal pillow [diamond side | seam | stitch | thickness | squares | diamond squares | x squares] -
A pillow I just finished for Sis' birthday. I used Patons Grace 100% cotton in blue and white, and worked the squares in the diagonal box stitch. Then I whipstitched the squares together into two different patterns (Sis couldn't decide which looked better), one for each side. I joined both pillow sides with reverse sc (aka crab stitch), as I always do. I used light blue for this so as not to detract from the pattern, and also to soften the blue/white contrast. You can see the whipstitch a bit on the white but I think overall it looks ok. The yarn, unfortunately, is hand-wash only, and pretty expensive. But it's also pretty soft.
Watermelon kitchen set [hotpad | potholders | the whole set again] -
This is a set I made for a friend's birthday in May '07 - she loves watermelon. I used Sugar N Cream cotton yarn in red, green and white. They are my own design, but the idea is that it's just a basic circle, made with dc, hdc, and sc in varying amounts. Nothing fancy. The hotpad is double stranded throughout (still not overly stiff, so you can roll it up); the potholders are single stranded, then folded in half and sewn. I added little hangers which were sewn at the same time as the rest of the potholders so they're secure. For the seeds (visible on the back of the hotpad, but hidden inside the potholders), I used several strands of black Royale #10 thread - 2 strands on the potholders, and 4 on the hotpad, if I recall.
Sea Aster doily [detail | displayed] -
I've wanted to do another pineapple doily for some time, and since my favorite pattern was the Sea Aster I'd made years ago, I decided to do that one again. This time though, I made it in bridal blue entirely. I figured it matched the "sea" theme of the doily. When I originally made this doily (my third one ever), I crocheted loosely. This time, the finished doily measured about 15.5", about 2/3 of the one I made before! I also took out the last row's picots (which didn't really add much to the piece) but kept the ones atop the pineapples. I used Royale for this one. The pattern, for reference, was found in Decorative Crochet, January 1998 issue.
Calla Lily doily [lighter background | top flower | side flower | bottom flower | top flower] -
I made this doily for an Easter Exchange. I honestly didn't think it would be this complex. The doily part itself was pretty easy - I used Aunt Lydia's frosty green for this (strangely, the one I bought at Wal-Mart was buttery soft, while the one I'd bought from Herrschner's was horribly rough). Anyway, I used America's Best in white for the flowers, and Royale yellow for the pistils. The hard part, for me, was sewing the pistils inside the flowers, sewing the flowers' tubes, and then sewing the flowers to the doily. In case anyone missed this, I *hate* sewing. I really do. Eventually, I hung in there and completed the doily, and I think the result is pretty nice.
Each calla lily doily I've seen has been different. Some people leave the flowers very 3D, some flatten them a lot (I do). Some sew the flowers pretty high so the tube can be seen, others sew right under the petals (I did). Anyway, the way I see it, there's no right way to do this. I started by sewing the tube closed - used the tail at the end of the tube for that purpose. Then I sewed the pistils closed, and sewed them inside the flowers. To do this, I used the starting thread tail from the beginning of the white flower, and went right through the flower, from back to front, going through the pistil in the process, and at the bottom, through the flaps a few times. This flattened the flaps and held the pistil securely inside the flower. I thinks this worked pretty well.
Lacy shawl [stitch detail | bottom detail | folded | modeled] -
I made this shawl and sold it as part of my Crochet Creations site. The yarn used was Patons Brilliant, a soft yarn with a shiny metallic filament running through it, in a dark purple color. The pattern I used was the Super Simple Shawl (pdf) by Kathryn A. White of Crochet N Beads . It took me some time to finish this, but I think the result was pretty nice. I believe I used about 5 skeins of Brilliant, and it measured about 25 in. by 50 in. (from memory - I don't remember where I put the measurements).
Blocks layette [sacque only] -
I made this layette for a fundraiser. It's from a LA leaflet called Lullaby Layettes (that I've had for years but never used). I used Bernat Baby, a fingering weight baby yarn I just discovered (and fell in love with!). It is incredibly soft and very fine. Strangely enough, I found it at Wal-Mart. Definitely something I'll use again.

The size of the sacque is about 10"x10" with sleeves folded in, so about 3 months. There's a bonnet that comes with this, and I added booties of my own design (I had to rewrite my pattern to fit this fingering yarn, and to make the cuff in the blocks pattern).
Sweet Daisy doily [two doilies] -
I made two of these doilies for my family - one went to my mom's side, the other to my dad's side. The pattern is by Aly Hymel. I did change the last row because I didn't like the original edging. I took out the chain loops and added picots between the petals. This is a pretty easy pattern and quite fun to make. They both came out to about 10" in diameter, and I used Aunt Lydia's thread.
Clover Leaves St. Patrick's Day doily [from side] -
This one is from the July 2002 issue of Crochet! magazine. The original is called "Caramel Cream" and it's done in white and ecru (I think). I fell in love with this design as soon as I saw it. It just screamed St. Patrick's Day at me! I made mine in white and frosty green (both Aunt Lydia's) and called it "Clover Leaves" because the green clusters look like little clover leaves to me. It's about 15" across. This is one of my favorite designs.
Irish Star St. Patrick's Day doily [from side] -
This doily is about 12" across, and it comes from a French magazine called Diana. The original was made in red with gold stars (it was a Christmas issue). I adapted it for St. Patrick's Day, and call it "Irish Star". The white is Aunt Lydia's; the green is Royale.
Teardrop baby afghan [front & back | folded | folded again | on chair]-
I made this baby afghan for a lady who ordered it from my Crochet Creations page. I used Bernat Softee Baby for this, in 5 colors, and based the design on a typical teardrop pattern. This was a fun project, except for the fact that there are color changes every other row, meaning a lot of ends to weave in! It ended up measuring approx. 35" square, and I'm quite pleased with the finished product.
Blue hat [red hat] -
Here are a couple of hats I made recently. The first one went to someone who's had brain surgery, the second one to someone who's undergoing chemo. Both were well received. I made them with Simply Soft for comfort, and have posted the pattern on my Free Patterns page.
Circle of Hearts Valentine's Day doily [detail | pink hearts detail | red hearts detail] -
This doily came from a French magazine I got for Christmas (called Diana). It's almost 16" across, and also uses Royale and Aunt Lydia's. There are tiny little red hearts around the center, and then larger pink (filet) ones on the outside. I love this pattern; it looks perfect for Valentine's Day. It sold on eBay.
Romantic Pineapples Valentine's Day doily [from side] -
This doily is a classic pineapple pattern, and when I first saw it, I decided it would look great in Valentine's Day colors. I found the pattern here and used Royale in pink and red, and Aunt Lydia's in white. This is one of those where the pineapples are finished individually (first time I've done that). It was a straightforward pattern. Came out to about 20" across.
Rose doily [top detail | bottom detail] -
I made this for another friend of mine, again for Christmas. I had already made her a blue pinwheel doily earlier this year (see Praline Pinwheel below), and when she saw the other rose doily I was doing for the Secret Santa, she mentioned that she liked rose doilies, so I made her one, too. I picked a different pattern just because I don't like making the same thing twice (if I can help it). This one's called "The Rose Doily" and you can find it here. I think it turned out pretty well.

I was going to make it with variegated blue thread, but after the first rose, I found it was just way too dark, so I switched to the same bridal blue I'd used before. I used Aunt Lydia's in white and frosty green, and Royale in bridal blue. The frosty green is pretty rough compared to the other colors, but it's such a pretty color. It goes perfectly with that blue. There are 10 roses in all, and all have 6 petals (compared to the 8 petals of the roses on the Rose Garland project below).
Gift doily -
I made this for a friend of mine this Christmas ('06) and she loved it! The pattern can be found here. It's a fairly simple pattern, pretty straightforward, except that I found a discrepancy between the photo and the written instructions. The latter indicate that there are 5 picots in each repeat, but clearly on the photo, there are only 4. I went by the photo. Forgot to measure it (duh) but I think I was just about on gauge, so it should be around 9" across, give or take 1/2 in. I used Royale myrtle green, victory red, and Aunt Lydia's white.
Rose Garland doily [from side | center | rose close-up | top | bottom] -
For my Secret Santa this year, I wanted to make something really special for my Santee. Since her name is Rose, I decided to go with a rose doily. This pattern caught my eye right away, and I bought some Royale variegated pink to make the roses. I wanted a light green, too, but the stores in this area only had mint green, or myrtle green, or hunter green. I had to buy Royale frosty green from Herrshner's. It arrived pretty quickly. I used Aunt Lydia's for the white.

This doily is interesting because the pinwheel in the center is made as a spiral, i.e. you don't join rounds, they just keep spiraling until you finally join a few rows before the end. This is what gave me some trouble (I hate spirals). Rows 25 and 26 are pretty ambiguous and the first time I did them, the result was less than satisfactory. I asked for help from someone on an eBay group who was a godsend. She has made this doily before and helped me figure out how those rows work. The end result was much improved.

Each rose has 8 petals, and 3 layers. There are 16 roses in all. That's a lot of petals! But making roses is kind of fun, too. Joining the roses wasn't hard at all, and I'm really happy with the way this turned out. Wrapping it inside a tube was a bit of a pain, but putting the roses on the outside of the inside tube worked ok, and my Santee received the package before Christmas. She loved it. :-)
Glittered snowflakes [#28's | #30's | #13's | bundles w/snowflakes | indiv. bundle | stiffening] -
My annual crochet project for friends and colleagues was snowflakes. I made 26 of these in all, 10 went to friends in the UK, 11 went to friends in the US, 5 went to work colleagues. I used Grandma's Best to make them; snowflakes are hard enough to hang on to without having to fight with a stiff thread. I used patterns from a booklet called "White Christmas", namely #13, #28, and #30. #28 was the smallest; #13 the largest. I made few #13's because they were more involved, and larger. The #28s were the easiest of the bunch, so I made more of these. For the hangers, I used gold metallic #10 thread (I have quite a lot of that).

Time was a major factor here and I barely made the shipping deadlines. Thankfully, the USPS did a decent job and most of the snowflakes arrived before Christmas. Apart from crocheting the snowflakes, what really took a lot of time was stiffening. Like cooking, the preparation (copying blocking patterns, wrapping styrofoam in plastic wrap, etc.) is what takes time. Doing the actual stiffening wasn't too bad. It was messy, though, especially as I put glitter on all 26. I used something called Diamond Dust from Creative Beginnings, and believe me, it really is just like dust (i.e. it goes everywhere and sticks to everything). I probably spent more time cleaning up than applying the stuff to the snowflakes. Whenever possible, I tried to stiffen 5 snowflakes at once.

The stiffening process itself wasn't bad once I got the right stuff. At first, I used a bottle of Aleene's that I'd bought a few years earlier (might be just one year, I don't recall). I applied it to the first 10 snowflakes, let it dry, and to my surprise, they weren't stiff at all. I waited a few days for them to improve, but soon realized it was hopeless. I never knew stiffening could be defective. Finally, I decided to get a new bottle from Joann's. I did a few tests and the snowflakes seemed stiff enough, so I stiffened all of them with this new bottle. Of course, I had to redo all 10 snowflakes I'd stiffened with the defective stuff, so in the end, I did 36 snowflakes, 10 of which were a total loss.

As usual, presentation was a little different for local people, as opposed to people who got one mailed to them. I mailed the snowflakes in a regular envelope, along with a Christmas card, and a piece of white cardboard. Those I gave to colleagues, I tied around a red and gold bundle filled with chocolates.
Christmas Eve doily [center | edge | from side] -
This doily is from a pattern by Jacqui Cunningham, called Delicate Doily. This one just screamed Christmas at me when I first saw it. It's got perfectly setup sections: a red flower (poinsettia), white snowballs, green pine needles, and a double border. There are two more rows of border at the end, which I omitted. I think it looks just fine with this dainty border, rather than the thicker border orginally planned. As for the name, well... I wanted to find a better name for it and went with Christmas Eve because I like what it evokes. I used Royale for the whole thing (I think... the white may be Aunt Lydia's) and it came out to about 12". Sold on eBay.
Christmas Star doily [detail] -
Vintage pattern, originally called Star Center - I call it Christmas Star for obvious reasons. I love this pattern; it's symmetrical and pleasing to the eye. I used Royale myrtle green and victory red, and Aunt Lydia's white (there's a lot of white here, and Royale was just too stiff). It came out to about 14" (I think I omitted one of the outside white rows - there were 4, I did 3). Sold on eBay.
Christmas Pineapple doily [center | edge | from side] -
Another vintage pattern, originally called "Large and Small Pineapple Doilies" - I call this one Christmas Pineapple. Royale myrtle green, victory red and white. About 15.5".
Christmas Reflections doily -
This one is the same pattern I did in Halloween colors, except that it's made in Christmas colors, hence the name. The original pattern by Cylinda Matthews is called Autum Reflections. I used Royale myrtle green and victory red, and it came out to about 10".
Handbells Christmas doily [detail] -
This doily comes from Decorative Crochet (a '96 issue, I think). Its original name is Ding Dong Bells, but I call it Handbells because, well, it reminds me of handbells. It's the only pattern I know of that has handbells on it. To create this one, I used Baroque thread for the first time. I didn't know it's actually thicker than a regular #10 thread (which isn't a problem, really). It's also very soft - much softer than Royale - *and* it's a pull skein (pretty neat!). Finished size on this one is 11.5". Sold on eBay.
Christmas Memories doily -
This one is from a vintage pattern called "Rising Sun" (found on Celt's site). The interesting thing here is it has an odd 7 repeats instead of the usual 6 or 8 (12, 16, etc.). I used Royale myrtle green, victory red, and white. 12" across, and sold on eBay.
Christmas Bells doily [red bells detail | green bells/gold edging detail] -
This one came from the Ultimate Doily Book (third doily I've made from this book). It's called, I think, Swinging Bells. I did mine in Chrismas colors, hence the new name. I like this pattern; it's neat the way the little bells appear to swing one way, then the other. There are 10 red bells and 25 green bells. The bells were the fun part of this whole thing. I used Royale myrtle green, victory red, and white for the most part, and added a gold border to it, just because I like gold (I used my usual Royale gold metallic thread for that). It came out to about 13", and was sold on eBay.
Christmas Morning doily [center detail | edge detail | from side] -
This doily is from a vintage pattern called Doily 4403 (aka 8 point star). It was in desperate need of a better name! I think Christmas Morning sounds really appealing, so I went with that. This was a fun pattern. The center design repeats on the outer edge, so I used the same red color to highlight it. The fact that I used so much red on this one made it very festive. I used Royale again (myrtle green, victory red, and white), and it came out to about 15.5" (one of my bigger ones). It sold on eBay.
Woodland Trail Fall/Thanksgiving doily [from side | center | top edge | bottom edge | side edge] -
This one was my largest doily ever, and probably my most involved (i.e. complicated) one. It took many hours to complete, but I absolutely love this doily. It's just a beautiful pattern. The original pattern from 1955 is called Cluster Stitch Doily, which I found out is very appropriate because it's basically done entirely in cluster stitch. Now, I like clusters, but that was a lot of clusters to make! Blocking took a while, not only because the thing measures 23" across, but also because I wanted to get all those picots just right (and there's a lot of them). I used Royale cream again, since it's a Fall-ish pattern.

What about the name, you say... Well, "cluster stitch doily" just didn't have that warm, Fall ring to it, so I thought long and hard and the pattern just reminded me of fern leaves, as in the ferns you see growing in the shadow of the big trees, when you walk in the woods. From that, I got the "woodland" part. Unfortunately there's already a "woodland" doily in a doily book I've seen online, so to avoid confusion, I came up with "woodland trail", as in, a walk in the woods. Sounds earthy and inviting. This one sold eBay.
Ripe Wheat Fall/Thanksgiving doily [stitch detail | ready for display] -
This was one of my large projects. It measures about 18" across. The pattern came from Celt's vintage doilies again, and it's called, obviously, Ripe Wheat. The pattern was pretty repetitive (i.e. I thought those leaves would never end), but I just love the way it came out. There are 12 wheat ears, separated by filigree designs. This is definitely one of my favorite doilies. I used Royale cream for this and that color combined with the wheat pattern was just perfect for Fall.
Spiderweb Halloween doily [stitch detail] -
This doily is from an online pattern (no longer available, unfortunately). I love the spiderweb design, but the pattern had a mistake in it, so I couldn't make sense of it. After recounting multiple times, I scrutinized the pattern picture only to realize the author had made two stitches in the same space, therefore adding a space, which I didn't have. As a result, I completely made up the edging (which I actually like, now). This one is about 10" across. I used Royale black and pumpkin, as usual.
Fright Halloween doily [stitch detail] -
This is a pattern from Decorative Crochet, called "Lightning". I thought it looked scary so decided to make it in black, calling it "Fright". The pattern was pretty repetitive, and working with black thread was becoming tedious so I stopped on row 23 (out of 27, I think). It came out to about 12" in diameter.
Haunted Circles Halloween doily [stitch detail] -
I just finished this one and listed it on eBay. The pattern comes from Decorative Crochet, and I thought it looked very "Halloween-y" with that sawtooth design. The original pattern called for 8 (I think) concentric circles, but I only made three (it was very time-consuming). I made this in Royale pumpkin and black, and the finished doily measured approx. 8".
Spooky Halloween doily / Gold doily [stitch detail | from side] -
I just love this one. It's from a 1918 vintage pattern. I just changed the colors to make it a Halloween doily. I especially like the edging; it's just very pleasing to the eye, somehow. I was commissioned to make one of these in gold metallic thread (I'd forgotten how difficult it is to work with metallic thread!) for an eBay member. Both were sold on eBay. The Halloween one was 10" in diameter (Royale pumpkin/black). The gold one turned out a little bigger at 11" - I used Royale gold metallic for this.
Circle of Ghosts doily [close-up | edge detail | center detail | single ghost] -
This one started out with a vintage star pattern. I made the center design in Royale pumpkin. Then made the spiderweb edging in black (I reworked the edging because I didn't like the original one), and finally added 5 ghosts of my own design to the piece (the white is Grandma's Best). The whole thing measures about 10" in diameter. It's for sale on eBay.
Scalloped Halloween doily [stitch detail | from side] -
This one came from a Magic Crochet pattern, called Rosebuds. I liked the look without the roses, so removed those, and made it in Halloween colors. The result was a nice, classic design, about 11" in diameter. I used Royale pumpkin and black. Sold on eBay.
Halloween Reflections doily [stitch detail] -
This is a pattern by Cylinda Mathews, called "Autumn Reflections". I transformed it for Halloween (hence the new name) and put it up for sale on eBay. I love this pattern, it's easy to do and just the right size - 10" even. I used Royale black and pumpkin.
Loves me, Loves me not doily [stitch detail] -
This one I've wanted to do for sometime. It comes from Decorative Crochet. While the pattern called for size #40, I used size #10 (Grandma's Best), and it came out to about 16" in diameter (among the bigger ones I've made). There are 16 slender petals in all, with little flowerets between each one. I love this pattern. It's not too complicated, and the result is beautiful. It's up for sale on eBay.
Halloween "Spider" doily [stitch detail] -
This one is the third doily I'm made from the book called "The Ultimate Doily Book" (and also the third by designer Yalanda Wiese, who is one talented lady). The pattern is originally called "Flowering Mum". Since it contains lots of spiderwebs/spiders, I figured it was perfect for Halloween. I made the center in Royale 'Pumpkin' (so it would look like a round pumpkin) then switched to black for the spiderwebs. I'm pretty happy with the result. About 14", and it sold on eBay.
Crown Jewels doily [stitch detail] -
This one, also just finished, comes from the Vanna White binder. It was originally done in ecru, but I don't care for ecru, and I wanted to do something with blue, so I changed the first couple of rows to blue, and revamped the last row to make it work with the blue without altering the continuity of the design. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. The white is Grandma's Best; the blue is Royale 'Bridal Blue'. It's approximately 11 inches in diameter. Another one that sold on eBay.
Sunshine doily [stitch detail | ready for display] -
Another one bites the dust. This pattern, "un soleil au zénith", is from Diana Idées Mailles again (see Starflower Doily below), and I used Grandma's Best in white. I love this pattern; it's very different, and I've wanted to do this one for sometime. It turned out to be about 13.5" and just sold on eBay.
Halloween "Webby" doily [center detail | side detail | from side] -
Just finished this one and sold it on eBay. The pattern was from Decorative Crochet ("Crystal in Focus"). The center looks like a spider's web, hence the name I gave it. I used Royale #10 thread in Pumpkin and Black, and it was about 14" in diameter.
Hearts doily [stitch detail] -
I made this doily from a pattern by Cylinda Mathews (originally a crochet-a-long pattern). It's 10" in diameter. I used Grandma's Best in white for most of it, and Royale 'Orchid Pink' for the accent color. This one sold on eBay.
"Pink Perfection" doily [center detail | side detail | from side | ready for display | display again] -
This one was also made from a vintage pattern found on Celt's site (see below). I loved this one as soon as I saw it. Again, didn't want an all-pink doily, so I made it in white. It was a real labor of love; a lot of hours went into it. The little squares alone took forever to make, and the last few rows involve quadruple triple stitches (yo 5 times for each stitch). The picots are 4, 6, and 8 chains. A very challenging pattern, but I think the result was well worth the effort. I used Grandma's Best, and it ended up being approximately 15.5". It also sold on eBay.
Crystal doily [stitch detail | ready for display] -
This one was also made from a crochet-a-long pattern by Cylinda Mathews. It measures about 12.5" and was made with Grandma's Best in white. I really like this one; a nice change from pineapples. I will keep this one for myself.
"Petite Pineapple" doily [stitch detail] -
This doily was made from a pattern by Priscilla Hewitt. It came out to about 8" in diameter. I used Grandma's Best in white for most of it, and Royale 'Bridal Blue' for the accent color. It sold on eBay.
"Pink Pineapple" doily [stitch detail | with angel | with flowers] -
This is a vintage pattern from Celt's Vintage Crochet, called "Pink Pineapple". I didn't want to make an all-pink doily, so I went with white - used Grandma's Best, as always; it measured about 16". This was an interesting pattern, and I really like the way it came out. It sold on eBay.
Pineapple Sundae doily [close-up] -
I made this for a friend's birthday in July 2006 (well, her birthday was actually in May; I was a bit behind). It's from "The Ultimate Doily Book", like the Praline Pinwheel below. This pattern was pretty advanced, I thought, and a bit time-consuming, with all triple stitches, and a few double triple and triple triple stitches. Blocking also took a while, but I love this pattern and really like the way it turned out. I had wanted to make it for some time. I used my regular Grandma's Best #10 thread for this one.
Newborn Layette [another view | sacque] -
Another little something I made in May 2006. This was for a friend who was expecting (obviously). Since time was limited - I made this in a newborn size, so wanted it to get there early enough for the baby not to outgrow it right away! - I ended up making just the sacque and booties. The pattern is from Crochet Collection. For the booties, I used my normal pattern, except since this was for a newborn, I used baby yarn for the whole thing (Caron Cuddlesoft), so had to adapt the booties a bit so they wouldn't be too small. I used a 3.75mm and a 4.50mm for the sacque, and a 4mm for the booties. The ties are done with baby yarn too (didn't have any ribbon left).
Praline Pinwheel doily [close-up | another close-up] -
I made this for a friend's birthday in May 2006. Actually gave it to her when she came to visit at the end of April. It's from a book called "The Ultimate Doily Book". She had seen the starflower doily I made and asked if she could have a doily too. I showed her a few examples (pineapple, pinwheel, etc.) and she loved the pinwheel, and added that the dusty blue in the picture (which I found online) was perfect for her living room. So I set out to find light blue thread. At first, I got some DMC but after a few rounds, decided it really was too strong a color (ok for an accent, but not a whole doily) so I switched to Royale 'Bridal Blue' (lightest blue one I could find). When I gave it to her, she said it was perfect. I used my usual 1.5mm hook for this one.

I love this pattern. I had fun making it. It's pretty repetitive, esp. at the beginning, which is good because I can memorize 3-4 rows at once. I think I'll do that pattern again someday. This one took about 10 days. The only problem I had was the thread twisting over itself, but I finally managed to get a handle on it.
Wild Rose Doily [center | flower closeup | edge closeup | ready to go] -
I made this from a vintage pattern. This was an interesting exercise. The roses are done separately, then attached to the doily. I had never done anything like this. Things were going well until row 23 or thereabouts, when my sister noted that I had 12 flowers and only 11 motifs. Oops.... Not wanting to start from scratch, I kept going, adapting the pattern as I went, so that it would fit 11 motifs instead of 12. I think it turned out all right in the end. :-) I used Grandma's Best for the white and the green, and Knit-Cro-Sheen for the pink (didn't have any of the "shaded pinks" the pattern called for), with a 1.50mm hook (#7). Finished size was about 18.5 in. This was given as part of an Easter Exchange, together with the two items below.
Easter Basket [empty | empty, and tilted a bit | empty, and tilted even more] -
I made this one up. Just started at the bottom, worked the sides, and added a couple of handles. I wasn't sure what kind of yarn to use for this thing, but then I happened to find some Simply Soft Baby Brights, and it was a perfect match. I put a bit of yellow tissue paper on the bottom, added a few chocolate treats, and it was ready to go. The hardest part was sewing the handles symmetrically, vertically, and horizontally.
Cross Filet [ready to go] -
I made this one up, too. Graphed the pattern on a piece of paper, then adapted as I went along. Took me forever to figure out an edging. I wanted something with picots, and I think it worked out pretty well. The cross design is more visible with the naked eye. I used Grandma's best again, with a 1.5mm hook.
Starflower Doily [close-up] -
I made this one for a friend's birthday this month. It's from a French publication called Diana Idées Mailles (2001). The pattern is called "Une étoile est à l'honneur" (loosely translated as "a star in the spotlight"). I loved the pattern as soon as I saw it. It worked out perfectly (well, except for the half dozen times I had to frog and redo because I'd miscounted), and for once, I was exactly on gauge, even had the exact finished size it said in the pattern (39cm/approx. 15 in.). I crocheted tighter this time, because I've noticed my doilies used to be way too loose. This looks much better, IMO. I was very happy with the result. I used Grandma's Best thread with a #7/1.5mm hook.

This was also the first time I actually blocked a doily, and I have to say, what a difference! I pinned the thing on a blocking board I bought years ago, separating each picot, etc. (the hard part was making sure all the points were equidistant from the center)... then sprayed it with water until it was fully wet, and let it dry overnight (and part of the next day). Removed the pins, and voila! A beautiful, symmetrical doily. I gave it to my friend the next day and she loved it. :-)
Sunshine layette [Sacque | Bonnet | Booties | Blanket, folded | Blanket, closer | Blanket, close-up] -
This is a layette I found in Crochet with Heart. I'm doing this one in Softee Baby yellow sparkle and white. I am also adding a blanket which isn't part of the pattern. I've chosen a pretty basic mile-a-minute pattern in yellow, white, and yellow sparkle. I really need to get working on this since it has to be sent in early Feb.
Baby Set [another view | and yet another one | booties | hat | hat again | mittens | ready to give]
This is a set I made for a coworker's daughter. I found the booties pattern in Crochet with Heart, Aug. 2000, pg. 12 - part of the Sunshine Layette). I decided to stop after the contrasting color row. I don't care for really tall cuffs. The rest of the pattern I followed to the letter (which is rare), and I used the larger size of 3-6 months. The 0-3 months size looked just way too small. I used Caron Cuddlesoft for this pattern, in white and pink sparkle (whatever they call it) with a 3.75mm hook. I think the sole ended up being 3.5" long.

The hat pattern is based on this one, but I have adapted it quite a bit. I started with 12 st., only did 13 rows. I used Lion Brand Softee Baby for this one, with a 5mm hook; white with a pink sparkle sc trim (which I added) finished with a row of sl st. The end result was around 14-15" circumference.

The mittens are loosely based on this pattern. I used Cuddlesoft again for these, but with a 4.5 mm hook (took me a while to get the right gauge, changing yarn and hook multiple times). I did 5 st. in the first row as indicated, but on row 5, I added 2 st. over the course of the row. I also completely changed the cuff, adding stitches and taking out the frilly edging. I ended up with a very basic mitten with a 2.25" wide palm.
Ripple Pillow [seam]
This is a 18" pillow I made for my sister, who had mentioned I should use my stash of blue yarn and make a pillow with it. Since she likes the pillows I make (the first one I made is now officially hers), I gave her this one for Christmas. The hardest thing in this project was figuring out the number of stitches to start with. It's difficult to determine with a ripple pattern. And then figure out the number of rows for each color since it needed to be symmetrical. Once that was done, it was easy to sc the whole thing. I used Simply Soft light country blue, country blue, and dark country blue, and a 5.5mm hook. Each hill/valley was 4 sc.
Cuddle Bunny [head | arm | legs]
This is a cute stuffed bunny I did for a Secret Santa. The crocheting itself wasn't too hard, but weaving in the ends without them popping out, and gathering, securing, stuffing, etc. proved more difficult than I imagined. The whole project was really pretty complicated. I was able to use yarn from my stash (yay!) but had to buy ribbon (3/8"). I used Bernat Softee Baby in pink sparkle and white. Since I used sport weight yarn, the bunny did come out smaller than in the book. Also, I often had to stuff more or less than at first. I remember stuffing the head more to make it rounder, but stuffing the body less so it would be almost flat. Sewing the head to the body was the most difficult part, closely followed by sewing the ears to the head. Still, I was pretty happy with the result. The pattern came from Crochet Collection, a paperback book by Leisure Arts (it's on page 86). It was sent to a 2-year old little girl in the UK.
Snowman Stocking [name | snowman | stitch | thickness]
This was another Secret Santa project. I made a stocking from this pattern by Priscilla Hewitt. I originally tried the Red Heart pattern I had, but it wouldn't lay flat, so I switched. I really like the way this one looks like a sock more than a boot. And, I had a lot of Wool-Ease red and white, so this was a good project. I even had Wool-Ease sparkling white (whatever they call it) so this was perfect for the snowman. After the stocking was done (I used a reverse sc edging instead of the one they used in the pattern), I made a snowman (by just winging it, basically), then sewed the snowman on the stocking, stuffed it very lightly to make it a bit 3D, added a scarf which I sewed on top of the snowman and stocking, and finished by adding the recipient's name and a hanger. The cuff is totally made up. I didn't care for the pattern one, so made one up as I went. Ditto for the hanger; I just made one long chain, then one row of sc followed by another row of sl st.
Mini-stocking
This is the same pattern I used in 2000 (see below), except this time I added the recipient's initials at the top. I used the same Sayelle 'off white' and Wintuk 'deep crimson' this time. Strangely enough, it looked much more stubby than last time, so I ended up adding two rows of white between the cuff and heel, and one row between heel and toe. Much better looking, IMO.
Mitten Ornaments - pairs [all of them]
2005's Christmas official project. This year, I went with this pattern (link currently broken, but I'm hoping it'll come back, as it's a really nice pattern). I made two for each coworker, linked by gold heavy braid cord (#32). I used some yarn from my stash for these, namely Lion Brand Baby Soft, in white and red. They don't have any Christmas green in this yarn, so I used red and white only. I used a smaller hook for the cuff then switched to a larger one (3.75mm and 4.50mm, if I recall). I actually made these early, for once. Good idea, since I was swamped with the Secret Santa's the following month...
Mitten Ornaments - individual [all of them]
Same mitten as above, but single. I added a little hanger, made of one strand of green #10 thread, and one strand of red #10 thread (Grandma's Best, both of them), crocheted together, one long chain, with one sl st in each ch. Makes sort of a cord. I made eight of them and sent them to friends spread out across the country.
Miniature Sweater
I made up this miniature sweater as I went and only took very basic notes afterwards. It was made after an inside joke about a little blue sweater. I decided to make one and send it to the person, who loved it. I used some leftover Simply Soft light blue and a 5.5mm hook. I then used one of those ties you find on cables or white bread loaves and made it into a little clothes hanger.
Halloween Pumpkin [on dining table] -
This is just a Halloween pumpkin I made in Oct. 2005. The pattern by Julie Bolduc came from Just Plain Fun Crochet. It's available online here. I used Red Heart sport "pumpkin" for this one.
Remote Caddy [front | back] -
I made this because I couldn't find a good place for the remotes in my bedroom. I had to get up to get them, or they were in the way and kept falling on the floor. So I made a sort of crocheted case for both the TV and VCR remotes. Basically, it's a simple sc rectangle, sewn on the sides and in the middle, to separate the remotes. I added a long hanger on it, and it's now hanging from the bedpost. The yarn I used is Caron Simply Soft, light blue.
Cat Pillow [back | zoom on back letters | flaps | seam | thickness] -
This pillow I made for a friend of mine, who had won a virtual contest. I knew she liked cats, so I was looking for a way to give her something with a cat on it. I finally settled on a pillow. I was thinking of a 12" pillow, but it turns out that they only had 14" pillowforms at JoAnn's, so that's what I got. To get the pattern, I sat down and graphed the cat. I decided to do the pillow in hdc. It goes quicker than sc, and it's more dense than dc.

Now, essentially, siamese cats (which is what my friend has) are mostly black and white cats, but it's the facial features that make us see that it is a siamese cat. The problem, of course, is that I can't reproduce siamese features on a graphed pillow. So, I couldn't make it just black and white, because it would've looked just like a regular black and white cat, not a siamese cat. So I looked at countless photos of siamese cats, and tried to use colors that would in essence replace the siamese features and make you think of a siamese cat, even though the colors aren't typically siamese. It took a couple days to get the graph just right.

For the background color, I needed something that was dark enough to contrast with the white of the cat's face, yet light enough to contrast with the dark ears. Mushroom was just perfect for this. Btw I used Wool-Ease for this project. Two reasons for this: One, the availability of colors (I had all these colors in my stash, believe it or not), and two, the light weight (this would be shipped across the country). I made the front side, then started on the back, which is basically just the name of the contest, in the shape of a cross, since it's a Christian contest. I then added the whiskers to the front (just black thread woven in). Then wove in the hundreds of yarn ends (don't think I had ever seen that many). I then assembled the pillow with a reverse sc seam, as I always do.

Ok, now I needed to close the pillow. Since it was going to be shipped, again, I needed to leave one side open in case the pillowform had to be removed, or the pillow needed to be spot-cleaned. With the Belgian-U.S. pillow below, the yarn was white and shiny, so a silky ribbon was perfect. However, this pillow was rather country-looking, and in shades of brown and grey, so I needed something else. I decided to go with buttons. I found the perfect buttons in my stash. The problem was that I couldn't just make one triangle flap because of the design on the back, so I went with 2 flaps. I did the first row of the flaps in back loops only so there would be sort of a separation between the pillow itself and the flaps.
Christmas Sleds [one sled | the sleds, ready to go] -
This was my Christmas 2004 present to my coworkers. More on this later.

12-06: Guess I should update this, huh... I'll just say, for now, that the pattern is now available here. It's basically nothing more than a flat, red crocheted rectangle (rounded at the front), to which I attached a chenille stem and a gold hanger (I was running out of ideas and saw a sled in a magazine). Let me know how you like the pattern.
Flag Pillow [Belgian flag | US stripes | Belgian stripes | corner | top corner | U.S. | stars | ribbon] -
In May 2004, I decided to give my friend a homemade gift, so I made her a small 12 in x 16 in. pillow with the U.S. flag on one side, and the Belgian flag on the other. Fortunately, both flags are fairly easy to do, as they're nothing more than stripes and solid blocks. I did have to come up with patterns so that both flags would be about the same size, which was the hard part. It took some planning, measuring of stripes and such, but they came out pretty even. I then added several rows of white all around to make the junction between the two sides fairly seamless. I used reverse sc to join the two flags together on 3 sides, then finished it off by weaving in a ribbon through the last side, so that side could easily be undone for washing, if needed. The two flags were all sc, and I used Caron Simply Soft and Simply Soft Brites with various hooks.
Reindeer Ornaments [getting them together | basics done | reindeer and basket | reindeer in basket] -
For Christmas 2003, I needed something quick (I always start my Christmas projects a few days before they're due, so quick is an absolute necessity), easy (due to time constraints), unusual and cute. I found it online while surfing on about.com. I came across a pattern for cute reindeer ornaments. I immediately decided to make these for my coworkers this year. I bought the yarn I needed at Michael's. It's amazing how hard it is to find reindeer colored yarn! Anyway, I bought 1 skein of Woolease "Camel". It was a perfect match. For the noses, I bought little 1/2" pompoms (found red, green and white ones in the same package, with enough red ones for my project).

I got some chenille stems for the antlers. The pattern called for crocheted antlers but I didn't have time to figure those out, and I think chenille antlers are cuter anyway ;-). I had to come up with my own antler design. For the sake of time, I also made single ears instead of double thickness ones. A reindeer, as everyone knows, has floppy ears anyway. I then sewed them in between both head thicknesses with just two stitches. It worked out perfectly. For the antlers, I basically took one stem, poked through one hole, looped through the back and came back through the front, bent it in shape, cut the end, and with it, created the two inside "branches". Not too bad.

Now came time to glue the oval wiggly eyes and the noses. I struggled with 3 kinds of glue, and none of them would hold anything except my fingers! I finally settled on Aleene's Budget Glue and glued as best I could. After letting the stuff sit all night, the noses and eyes were glued on perfectly come morning. What a relief. I remembered that I had the same kind of problem with the snowmen and eventually relied on Aleene's Budget Glue to save the day. I'm glad I stuck with it this time too. I hung the ornaments in a little Christmas basket filled with chocolate goodies, and was very pleased with the result. :-)
Set of 3 Doilies [square | round | oval] -
This is a set of 3 doilies I made for a colleague's birthday in Nov. 2002. I tried to make them as different as possible (but still about the same size since they're a set), which is why I picked a round one, a square one (my favorite), and an oval one. Since I didn't have a lot of time, I decided to make them using Omega baby crochet yarn. This is a very thin yarn made in Mexico that I found at Michael's one day. It's acrylic/polyester and comes in a ball, just like thread. It's actually a fingering weight yarn, but it's pretty much the same weight and gives the same results as #10 cotton thread. It's a little easier for me since it feels like yarn. I love this yarn! The patterns came from different publications, incl: Square: Coasters by the Dozen (L.A. #3081) - #21 "Grand" | Oval: Crochet Miniature Doilies (Annie's Attic Leaflet #870415) - #2 | Round: Coasters by the Dozen (L.A. #3081) - #7 "Elegant".
Mile-a-Minute Afghan -
I finished this project on Christmas morning (after working into the wee hours of the morning LOL). This was a Christmas gift to my mom. I took the pattern from "mile-a-minute Afghans", a hardcover book published by Oxmoor House. The pattern is called "Cozy Cover-Up" and is on page 82. I substituted pink for beige because that's what I had at the time. I love this pattern because the strips are very quick to make, and the assembly is fairly easy since there are no corners to sew like granny square afghans. The only hard part was all the ends to weave in! This thing is very warm. It's made with Caron Simply Soft.
Christmas Cube Ornaments [individual sides | stiffening | cube #1 | cube #2 | cube #3 | cube #4] -
Each year, I try to make a different project for members of my team at work. After mini stockings and snowmen, I needed a fresh idea for Christmas 2002. While going through my magazines, I found 2 sets of patterns with 3-D thread cube ornaments. I thought they looked really neat, so I picked 4 out of the 6 patterns. The first 3 are from Crochet for Today (Leisure Arts paperback #102678), p. 125, "Block Ornaments". The last one is Cube #3 from the December 2001 issue of Crochet with Heart, p. 34, "Granny's Christmas Cubes". They're made of individual square sides which are stiffened (except for the edges) overnight. Then the sides are assembled and sewn together (since the edges are still soft). The crocheting is easy, but the assembly was difficult. My sister was nice enough to do most of the sewing. :-) Then instead of adding a crocheted hanger, I decided to add a gold thread hanger (OK, I'll admit, I'm lazy and I didn't want to crochet a hanger). I think they actually looked better with the gold hangers. Now, all I needed was something to hang the ornaments. You can't present an ornament flat, it has to hang from something. In addition, I wanted to include some goodies (chocolate, candy, etc.). After a while, I found the perfect solution. I got 4 miniature baskets, the kind with the tall handle. I hung the ornament from the handle, and I put the candy in the basket. :-)
Flower Doily -
When I made the doily set above, there was one more pattern I really liked, but it was a little big for the set, so I kept this one for myself. It is made with the same Omega fingering yarn. This one looks (to me) like a flower, hence the name. The pattern can be found in In Love with Crochet (Leisure Arts paperback #108201), p. 59, "Classic Coaster Set".
Tiny Doily -
Another doily I tried when I made the doily set above. This one turned out too small, so I also kept it. The pattern came from the Big Book of Little Crochet Doilies (L.A. #2874) - #11.
Breeze Scarf [another view] -
This is a scarf I made with Bernat Breeze yarn, a thick and thin yarn which I recently discovered. The color I chose is called 'Summer Day'. I just wanted to make a swatch, but when I noticed how beautiful it looked, I decided to push it further and make a scarf with it. It is incredibly soft! I added a fringe just because it is so soft... I was surprised that it was actually easy to work with, as long as you keep your stitches simple. This scarf is all sc.
Christmas Doily -
This is a doily I made just because it was so warm in early December, and I was a little weary of afghans, so I wanted to make a small thread project. This is actually taken from a coaster pattern, but with my gauge, anything that says 'coaster' ends up being a doily! The center is Christmas green, and the edging I did in gold. The pattern is from a Leisure Arts paperback book called Crochet Collection. The pattern is called "Pretty Coasters." The green, red, and white I used were Grandma's Best #10 thread, and the gold was #10 Knit-Cro-Sheen. The only problem I had doing this project was that the gold thread was constantly (and I mean constantly) in tangles. What a mess... It's a good thing I was only doing one row with it! I spent half my time untangling the thread (and attempting to keep it from tangling later). It got to be really annoying, but the gold looks so good that I just dealt with it until the end. I really like this doily.
Patriotic Pineapple Doily -
This is the same pattern as the Christmas Doily above. For this one, I used only Grandma's Best in red, white and blue. I gave it to a colleague for her birthday in Sept. 2002.
Snowmen [snowmen in their baskets] -
This was my Christmas project for 2001. In 2000, you'll recall I made small stockings stuffed with goodies. This year, I was again looking for a cute, small, and not too hard, project to make for my coworkers. I found it in the December 2001 issue of Crochet with Heart. The pattern is actually a collection of snowmen called "Winter Wonderland". I picked snowman #2. Then I varied the colors (see pic), so each team member (I have 4) would get a unique snowman. Then I put each snowman in a little Christmas basket I bought at JoAnn's, and added candy wrapped in green Saran wrap, and voila! you've got a cute little Christmas treat. I think the hardest part of the thing was stuffing the snowmen. I finally learned the key is to overstuff. This was also the first time I got to glue something on thread! What an experience. After finding out that a hot glue gun (as per pattern) wasn't going to work (too small of a surface), I ended up using school glue (the kind that dries clear, of course. In this case, I used Aleene's budget school glue). It worked like a charm. The noses are made with orange pompoms, and the eyes with black beads (Darice E beads). The buttons are made with half-circular beads (Darice 5mm half round black beads).
Project Linus [another blanket] -
These are some items I made for Project Linus Tampa's Christmas delivery. You'll see 2 isolette covers (12" x 24") and a 20" x 20" granny square. The isolette covers are nothing more than 2 small 12" x 12" granny squares whipstitched together, with an edging. I used Softee Baby sport yarn for those. For the 20" granny square, I used Caron Simply Soft 'baby brights' ombre. They were delivered to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg at Christmas time. You'll also note that I've added a link to our local Project Linus chapter's homepage.
Halloween ghosts [zoom] -
I've made 1 large and 2 small ghosts for Halloween 2001. These are my original patterns. I used Wool-Ease in white, and Simply Soft in black, with a 5mm hook. Small ghosts are 4.5 in. high, and 4 in. wide (I crochet loose).
Star Stitch Afghan [close-up] -
This afghan is finally finished. I've added the fringe, and woven in the ends. This one uses the star stitch, which can be found in the Leisure Arts leaflet called Scripture Afghan, and is also the same stitch I used for the bedroom rug below. I decided I wanted to do an afghan with pastel colors, and I chose to use Softee Baby yarn - because it's very soft - with a 6.5mm hook. However, with just one strand, the stars didn't really come out too well, so I used double strands throughout. I must say it turned out well. I guess it's about twin size, maybe a little larger.
18" Pillow [seam view] -
With our pillows slowly becoming unusable, I decided to make my own pillows. So I bought pillow forms at JoAnn's (at 40% off too!), and started to make my pillow. This is a basic design, just a plain square worked from the center outward, adding 2 or 3 dc in the corners, as needed to keep it flat. I crocheted two of these, then joined them with crab stitch (a.k.a. "reverse sc"). This was my first time using that stitch. I was very pleased with the results. I guess this stitch works really well for joining pillow sides. I used Caron Simply Soft in Raspberry, Plum, Lavender, Pink, and Off White, and a 5mm hook. I plan to make more pillows, with different designs, of course.
Patriotic Flag & Ribbon -
This is a small flag that I made following the recent events in NY, Washington, and Pennsylvania. The flag is my own pattern. It took me a couple of tries to find the right ratio (of the blue compared to the rest of the flag - and of the height compared to the width). It is made of hdc, with the stars - 15 of them - worked into the flag afterwards. The ribbon I got from the Crochet N More site. I used Wool-Ease for both projects. These things are just one more reminder that we remain as patriotic as ever, and as united as ever.
Little Patriotic Doily -
This is a little doily (about 5" across), which I made recently, following the tragic events that took place on Sept. 11. The pattern is a free pattern, the kind that you tear away in the store display. The middle is supposed to represent hearts. Of course, it's originally white, but I adapted the colors because I was going for something patriotic. I used Caron's Grandma's Best in red and white, and Knit-Cro-Sheen in blue, because I didn't have Grandma's Best in blue back then. I really prefer Grandma's Best. To me, Knit-Cro-Sheen is just too stiff.
Flower Granny Square Afghan [full view | half view | 4-motif zoom | 1-motif zoom | on sofa] -
This afghan came up as I was trying out new squares from a book called 101 Crochet Squares (American School of Needlework). One of the squares (square #53) looked really good, and it was really easy to do (sometimes, squares are kind of complex, so I have to think about what I'm doing - not so with this one). So I decided to make an afghan with them, the point being to reduce my stash (yes, I've been cleaning up my yarn stash, and I have way too much!!!). So I started to make squares with the center of the flower in shades of pink/red (red, raspberry, pink, plum, and lavender), the next round in white (I have tons of those), and the outside in 'sage' (again, tons of sage). It is 36 squares total, 6x6. The colors follow a diagonal. I've finished the crocheting part of it, sewn everything together, but I have yet to weave in the ends I used for sewing purposes. I used an I/5mm hook, with Caron Simply Soft yarn.
Cables afghan [folded] -
I finally finished this one in February of 2001. I used Lion Brand "Wool-Ease" in Heather Blue with a K/6.5mm hook. This is an afghan that requires double strands to be held throughout, so it's very comfy. It is very long but not as large, mainly because I ran out of yarn. Still, it is large enough to fit 2 adults side by side... It's hard to tell from the picture, but there actually are cables there... They're not posted stitches, just stitches worked in the free loop in front of the stitch you would normally work in. Hard to explain, but gives a really nice effect. This one came from the Vanna White binder collection.
Mini-stockings [stockings, aligned] -
These are small stockings that I made for my team members at work. I made 4 in all, stuffed them with goodies, then gave them away at Christmas of 2000. The pattern is from a book called 101 Easy Scrap Crochet Projects by the House of White Birches. It is called "Gold Glitter Stockings". Originally, I tried to make them with Caron Victorian Christmas Gold yarn, but it was so rough that I decided against it. Instead, I used Wintuk (or was it Sayelle?) yarn in off-white, and cranberry. I love this pattern...
Snowflakes [stiffening snowflakes] -
These are 2 snowflakes that I made this last Christmas (2000) to give as gifts. They turned out quite well, and this time, I even added glitter! This is one of my favorite snowflake patterns. It is from the Leisure Arts leaflet 99 Snowflakes. On the second picture, you can see the stiffening process... ;-)
Small Tree Skirt -
We have a little Christmas tree left over from a smaller house we used to live in, and we've dragged it along every time we've moved. Well, this small tree (2') never had a proper tree skirt, so I decided to make one. I didn't use a pattern, and just made it all up! It is a little ruffly, but all in all, it turned out quite well. I'm pretty happy with it. I finished this one in December 2000. Don't remember what kind of yarn I used, but I'm pretty sure it must've been Caron of some kind...
Chevrons Layette [another pic | yet another | ready to go with washing instructions | closeup of stitch | blanket | folded blanket | booties | bonnet | front of sacque | back of sacque] -
This is a pattern that I had as part of the "Vanna's Afghan and Crochet Favorites" binder. Since I didn't know whether the baby was going to be a boy or a girl when I made it, I chose to make it in neutral colors (green, white, and yellow). The whole set was a sacque, hat, booties and baby blanket. I just finished it last May, a few hours before the baby shower!! I think the mom-to-be loved it! I adapted the sacque because I could never get the gauge right. So by removing a row every few rows, I was able to achieve the right gauge without sacrificing the quality of the pattern. The afghan and bonnet I followed exactly. The booties I had to also adapt. I took the basic pattern and totally invented the cuff, so it would match the layette. It was supposed to be all white with a very small cuff, and I made it white, with a green, white, and yellow medium-sized cuff. I used Bernat "Softee Baby" yarn for this (approx. 2 skeins of white, 1.5 of green, 1.5 of yellow). I just love this pattern... it is so pretty!! Hence the number of pictures... ;-)
Water Bottle Cover [back | front, untied] -
This is another of those projects that came about as a result of need. I did this thing without a pattern, just made a large rectangle, a circle, and then sewed the two together. I added a band of a different color to break the monotony of the pattern. I decreased slightly at the top, and added some skipped stitches so I could add a drawstring (which is simply a long chain). Then, I added a strap. I think it is half-double stitches, and I crocheted the first side of the strap, then did the corner, and came back the other way, so it would be more comfy. Then I sewed the strap on, and voila! My dad uses it when he goes out in the garden or mows the lawn. I kinda think it turned out well.
Bedroom rug [view from the side | close-up of stitch] -
This is something I've been wanting to make for quite some time. I finally decided on a pattern and yarn, and finished it very recently. I did this one using Wintuk "fisherman" and "Summer Breeze" ombre. Actually, it's strange, because I did something with Wintuk a year ago, and it was hard as could be, and very thick. The Wintuk I found in the stores now (with the new Caron label which I don't like) is thin (like Sayelle used to be) and a lot softer than the old Wintuk. Anyway, I love this rug... I think it came out quite well! I did make it thick, using two strands all the way. The stitch for this is the "star" stitch which is illustrated in the "Scripture Afghan" booklet by Leisure Arts. It took me a while to figure out how many rows of each color to crochet. I used a K/6.5mm hook.
Various Squares [another square | a snuggle | still more squares] -
I sent about 20 squares to Warm Up America! last winter. I've also sent some "Granny's Daughter" 1.5" squares for Project Linus. The first square pictured above is from a little booklet I found at Wal-Mart which is titled Crochet Made Easy. It's actually supposed to be part of a baby afghan. The second one is called "Star of Bethlehem" and I found that one on the net. The last squares are from the Leasure Arts booklet 99 Granny Squares to Crochet and are made with Simply Soft. I also have 3 Snuggles (those blankets given to animals in shelters as part of the Snuggles Project) ready to give away.
Ripple afghan [stitch detail] -
This is a pattern I found on the Caron site. It appears to be one color on one side and another on the reverse. I chose Caron Sayelle yarn to make it because that's the one that had the most choices as far as different shades of the same color go. Mine is blue/green and red/pink. I just finished this one in January 1999. This one's huge (about queen-size) and very warm.
Granny square afghan - one piece -
This is basically the first blanket I started to do. I don't really have a pattern for it. I had it in progress for years, and just finished this one in January 1999. It's smaller than the ripple afghan above (about twin size and square), and it's all pink (Dazzleaire) because that's all I had at the time. Since it was kind of plain, I finished it with a purple border.
Winter scarves for my family (4): we have used these again and again (Yes, even in Florida!!). My parents' are made from variegated yarn. Mine is not shown, because I have never finished it. These are done in simple single crochet with a fringe added at the end. No pattern is needed to make those.
Sea Aster doily done with Grandma's Best - white. This is one of my favorite doilies. It came from Decorative Crochet, January 1998, pattern #23.
Passion Flower doily done with Grandma's Best - Peach. This one is from Decorative Crochet, March 1997, pattern #22.
Pineapple Parade doily also Grandma's Best - White; my first doily in thread! I took the pattern from (you guessed it!) Decorative Crochet, November 1996, pattern #12.
Small Wheel doily - my first experiment with doilies - I did it in yarn just to see if I could follow instructions. It is taken from Decorative Crochet, November 1996, pattern #14.
Various little doilies [another doily] done with Grandma's Best - white. The first doily is from Decorative Crochet, January 1998, pattern #1.
Shell stitch layette [blanket | blanket again | sacque, hat, and booties | sacque] - This is a pattern by Carole Prior and is available from Leisure Arts. The leaflet is called Crocheted Layettes for Baby - Four Designs by Carole Prior and is LA # 2019. I made it in the Fall of 1997 for a baby who was born in October 97 in my family (cousin). It was lovely. It was actually the first time I made something more than just blankets and such, something someone will wear! It was an interesting challenge, and turned out beautifully. I wasn't sure whether the baby was going to be a boy or a girl, so I made it neutral: green and white, as the original pattern called for. I used Caron CuddleSoft for this. I shipped it to France and a new baby enjoyed it until he unfortunately got too big for it! The whole set was a sacque, hat, booties and baby blanket.
Various pouches
Garlands for festive occasions - Shell stich, for Christmas and Halloween. These are my original designs.
Tree skirt - Variegated Christmas yarn. I don't have a pattern for this. It started out as a round and caved in a little then went flat and ended up a tree skirt. No idea how I did it.
Stockings - I've done 9 of these. 4 of those for my family members, one for the cat (half size), 1 I gave away to a friend and 3 to relatives. They were one of the first projects I did when I picked up my crochet hook again a few years ago. I took the patterns from Susan Bates' Learn to Crochet. I bought the book in the mid 90's, but it appears to be from 1987. The stockings are pattern #9.
Christmas ornaments and snowflakes [2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11]
also done with Grandma's Best (again!). By now, you've figured out that this is my favorite thread. I've done angels (flat), small wreaths, snowflakes, etc... Most of those I haven't used yet because by the time I got done last year, Christmas was here and I didn't have time to stiffen them. So you can see the unstiffened ornaments on the picture. The ornaments are mainly taken from a Leisure Arts leaflet called Thread Tree Trims - 21 Ornaments by Anne Halliday. The new snowflakes I've made this year are from the Leisure Arts leaflet 99 Snowflakes.
Halloween pumpkin - This pumpkin is my original design.

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