Happy New Year!

We plan a quiet New Year's eve and New Year's day. I hope to crochet a little and organize some projects. Hope everyone has a great New Year with lots of time for crafting, crocheting or whatever hobby makes you happy! I sure have enjoyed your blogs this year and appreciate you sharing your crafty ideas!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas

Almost Christmas, are all your projects done?

Hand made Christmas ornament

This is what I've been working on for Christmas...felt ice skate ornaments. I saw several patterns online, but kinda adapted it for my own. I like to use felt, you might remember last Christmas I made the little mouse from felt. The colored paper clips used for the skate blades only a dollar at Dollar Tree! Hope everyone is having fun Christmas crafting!

Crochet potholders galore!

I found this photo on the internet a while back, can't remember where. I just thought I had a lot of potholders until I saw this collection! LOL!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday Evening Post cover 1941

Crochet progress

We are helping Mom organize some of her "stuff", look at these neat books and patterns I found. She has lots of old patterns.

I have so many projects going, but look at this afghan on the foot of the bed. It is so pretty I may have to crochet this. This is in one of Mom's craft magazines from the 80's.

I have made some progress on my crochet bag from the Japanese pattern. I need to line it before I crochet the handle.

Happy Halloween!

Vintage 1960's Brach's candy ad.

Want to knit?

I wish I could knit...I have done a little years ago and have been trying some practice stitches lately. But not sure I can do it. My hands can't do what they used too! But I did run across a website you might like to see...has free knitting patterns and info. This link is to a pattern from 2005 but there is a current newsletter for 2009 at knitty.com. they post a newsletter 3 or 4 times a year I think.
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter05/PATTdanica.html

Also, a question about the crochet bag in my last post....I'm using Bernat Satin Solids in color Denim Mist Heather. It is a soft yarn so I hope it can hold up to weight of bag. But I am going to line it so that will give it support.

Year old blog!

I am starting another crochet bag..this bag is very popular on ravelry. The pattern is Japanese, from magazine Keito Dama No. 137, Spring 2008. I have a blurred copy of the charted pattern but the instructions are Japanese, so all I can use is the chart. I really love the Japanese patterns in this magazine. I wish there was an English version sold in the USA. By the way, I have been blogging for a Year! Hard to believe, but it certainly is enjoyable and I really love sharing patterns and ideas and seeing such lovely blogs. Lots of talented people out there!

Potholder pattern

I found this fun potholder pattern on ravelry. It is just one piece, the way it is crocheted makes it curl in and then you just whip the last seam together to make the double thickness. Several people have the pattern on ravelry for free, but I used this one.

http://www.mielkesfarm.com/diagonal_hotpad.htm

Pattern

I found this potholder pattern online...had to use internet archives wayback machine since the original site it was on is no longer available. I hope this link works , the picture of the potholder no longer shows. (This is the pattern for the potholder I showed in my previous post and the same one I put in the frame)
http://web.archive.org/web/20040310025641/http://www.cancrochet.com/rosepotholder.html

I made a couple of changes since some of the pattern didn't make sense to me..LOL. on Round 9 I ended up just evenly spacing the 13 shells around. I think Round 11 and round 16 are not clear or have mis prints also so I just adapted.

The fair is here

We had fun looking at exhibits at the fair...giant winning pumpkins.......

Beautiful quilts.....................

Judges choice afghan winner.............

Rows of knitted and crocheted afghans.........

See the pink and white potholder on middle row? That's one of my entries. It didn't win.
This was the Senior small crochet item category(yes, I'm old enough to enter the senior
category..LOL)

But my second entry in non senior small crochet item category won a

Blue Ribbon! I have never ever entered anything in the fair before so

I was happily surprised! I had crocheted this potholder once and really

liked it so I made another especially for the fair entry. I still think when

I go to pick it up, they will tell me there was a mistake and I didn't win!

Liberty Antiques Festival

We went to the Liberty Antiques Festival on Friday. It is held every spring and fall in Liberty, NC. It was warm, but rained a little before we left. It is held today also, but weather is cold and rainy, glad we went yesterday.

I would love to have a dresser like this...

One lady's booth had lots of nice vintage handbags and aprons and

linens. Did you need a case for your harp? There was one for sale.

Are pink flamingos antiques? I bought a few old crochet pattern magazines

from the 1940's. There was something for everyone.

Thrift shop find

I"m always looking for a way to display my potholders (you know we can't actually use them LOL ). I found this little picture at Goodwill for $4.00 and wanted it for the frame. What's unusual about it is that it has glass on the front and the back. So I took it apart and put in one of my crocheted potholders. I think it turned out pretty good.

Crochet bag

I'm still working on my crochet bag, struggling with the lining. I need to figure out what type of closure I want and then some embellishment!

Crochet purse

I've been busy crocheting a new project and spending way too much time reading other blogs and on Ravelry, so I haven't posted very much lately. But I do want to share this crochet bag project. This is my 3rd attempt and I think I finally got the hang of it. I had never done a foundation single crochet stitch and I had never done seamless crochet like this. This is a free pattern called Starling Handbag on Alice's blog http://www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/downloads.aspx I'm using Bernat Satin color Denim Mist Heather and an H-8 hook. The fabric I chose for the lining is in the second picture. Alice has great tutorials on her site and shows how to make the lining for the bag also. Here's her picture of two sizes of the bag.


This next picture is also a cute crochet bag I would like to make but she didn't have a pattern...I just thought is was so pretty. I can't remember whose blog had this one.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend...

Happy Birthday Mom

Mom turned 85 yesterday! Several of us took her out to eat ribs at a local restaurant and she really enjoyed it. We love you mom!

New craft

I ran across this blog today and thought I would share it. I have never seen this parchment paper craft...it is really pretty. If you look at her older posts you will see some beautiful tiny kimonos.
http://amanda-craft.blogspot.com/

Forty years ago

I cut an article out of the paper about re enactment of the Beatles famous photo used on Abbey Road album. I dug out my much loved and much used album to store the article with it...can it really be that long ago? Yikes! Happy Birthday to my younger Sis!

Blast from the past

Aren't these a blast from the past, right out of the 50's. Mom thinks she bought these at Sears. I can remember when I was little looking at the ballerina. I saw them in some of our old photos recently so Mom dug them out. She keeps everything! (luckily). I show one from the side because they are 3D!

Goodwill Store find

How do you like my little white cabinet? Found it at Goodwill for $2. Paint is a little chippy on the bottom, but I'm gonna leave it that way. Now I have to decide what pretties to put in it.

Crafty tip

I just wanted to pass this along to everyone...you may or may not know that your blog photos are stored by blogger in Picasa album for you. If you scroll to the bottom of your dashboard page under the column "Tools and Resources" click on "Picasa Web Albums." Once on that page, in the search box in upper right hand corner, if you type Magic Crochet, you will see that many people have pictures of that magazine Magic Crochet. You can find patterns there and see the beautiful pictures and projects that magazine had. Most of you probably know this already, but I just found out on a forum, don't remember where, and thought I would pass along. Also, does everyone know about "The Wayback Machine?" Let me know if you don't..LOL!

Yard sale finds

Didn't find too many bargains this week end..got the three candle holders for 25 cents each. I really like the milk glass one...with the ribbon and pretty candle I think I'll use it at Christmas. I bought the mini cake stand at Homegoods the other week for five bucks. And the glass dome I got from old cheese dish at a yard sale fits it perfectly! I have a crochet hot pad cake,LOL! By the way, I should have shown the whole rose print in the background. I found those at a truck salvage place, the prints were 60 cents each and the mat was 60 cents. I bought several and framed one for Mom. I'm looking for a yard sale frame for mine. Happy weekend!

Apollo 11

Do you remember Apollo 11 and landing on the moon? I'm telling my age, but I remember. Here's a neat website that is going to commemorate the 40 year anniversary of Apollo 11 mission. It is presented by the JF Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. It will go live at about 8 AM Thursday and recreate the launch and go through the landing. You will hear real radio transmissions and much more. Looks like it will be fun..check it out....
http://wechoosethemoon.com/

Here's the latest pot holder I've been working on. I don't have the back on it yet. Can you tell I like pink? Look at this pretty crochet pillow pattern. This is in one of the old Magic Crochet magazines I bought at a yard sale recently. I would love to do this, but the patterns in these magazines are charted and I had never used charts before. I've played around with a couple of charted patterns and find it difficult. But I may attempt it!

Visit to the park

Tom took Mom & me to the park in Jamestown. I found an old picture post card of the park in its early days. There have been a lot of changes and the dam is under repair. But it is a really nice park with pool, rides, games and lots of picnic shelters and tables. My dad and his family visited this park when he was young.