Merry Peaceful Christmas to You!

Almost Christmas

New project Christmas ornament

You may remember last year's felt ornaments were the ice skates with the paper clips for the blades. This year I'm making the felt Scottie dogs from a pattern on allsorts website

http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2010/12/a-day-of-beginnings.html. You can make them so they stand up or make them flat like the white one. I think they're cute!

Finished project

I finished this doily and although it is pretty, I had trouble getting it to lay flat. So it did not block as even as I like. But it is still nice....

A late Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday Evening Post cover 1947. Hope your turkey turned out better than this lady's!

New Projects

At first I didn't feel much like crocheting when I got home from surgery, but better now and have a couple of projects., one finished, one in progress. I have a few more days out of work so I hope to starts some more things for Christmas. Time is really getting away from me this year. This scarf is a free pattern on ravelry, Ribbed Scarf by C.L. Halvorson. I had limited amount of yarn so made this a skinny scarf. Would have liked a thicker fringe though. The doily is from Magic Crochet magazine, Dec 1990 No. 69. Pattern named "In The Pink" by Chantal Chevallier.

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

Frogged!

I started the Seraphina shawl, which is quite a popular free pattern on ravelry. I crocheted through row 11, but I don't understand the sequence rows. I joined the Seraphina shawl group on ravelry and they have a lot of tips and suggestions but I just couldn't get it for some reason so I frogged it. I'm having surgery next week and maybe after that is off my mind I can focus better. I really like this yarn (Caron Simply Soft Shadows in colorway Mardi Grey). I think I will use it for a scarf.

The fair is over

The fair is over and I was happily surprised at the results. This is second year I've ever entered anything. My doily won a blue ribbon and Judges Choice purple ribbon. I was shocked! More later......

Fair days!

It was a beautiful day for the fair Friday...my handmade tissue flowers won a second place red ribbon, pretty cool. More pictures later and my other news.

Time for the Fair!

Today was the day to turn in entries for the fair. It was fun to see the entries so far. The quilts had been turned in earlier and already judged. I entered several things this year. One entry was for handmade flowers. I made these flowers from tissue paper. Remember the silver teapot I got at Goodwill for 90 cents? I used it as a vase for the arrangement. I'm not sure what day we will go to the fair after the judging, but I will post more pictures. Really seems like fall when the fair comes to town!

Liberty Antiques Festival, Liberty NC

We went to Liberty Antiques Festival yesterday. I haven't been well lately and I just didn't have the stamina to stay very long. It was over 90 degrees yesterday and I just couldn't take it. I did manage to snap a few photos of linens, Christmas things, hats and jewelry. I usually look for unusual pot holders or old crochet books but I didn't get to all the booths. They hold this event in spring and fall, so maybe next year I'll be able to make it.

Doris Day

I wish I looked this elegant while I am crocheting or knitting!

New crochet project

I love this Japanese crochet pattern....I am going to put this on a note card. There are several other small trims I am going to attempt and will post those later. I used a #10 steel hook and Cebelia #20 in Sea Mist Blue. I think this pattern would make a nice towel trim or pillow case trim also.

Crochet projects

I'm making another petals potholder. The pattern says to make the front and back the same, but I think that is too thick. So I make the back of the potholder flat. The back is what I'm finishing now. This is a vintage pattern called "Pretty Petals Potholder" #9378 from "The Complete Book of Crochet", The Spool Cotton Company....1946 pattern. I am also still working on the daisy doily but keep getting distracted by other projects...LOL!

Yard sale and Goodwill finds

I found this vase at Goodwill for 90 cents! Here it is beside the princess phone I bought recently (50 cents!) to show you how big the vase is. Replacements.com sells this for about $50.00! It is Victorian Garden design by Georges Briard and the piece is called a small cachepot.
I also bought this Reed and Barton silver teapot at Goodwill for 90 cents. It was missing the lid and pretty beat up...but I can shine it up and use it with Christmas decorations.

I bought this gravy boat for 50 cents at a yard sale. It has no markings on the bottom but it reminds me of dime store dishes or dishes that came in big boxes of laundry detergent. Does anyone recognize this pattern? I've got to stop going to yard sales and Goodwill ...I am running out of space!

Yard sale doily

I washed my five cent yard sale doily and it is now fairly clean, couple of spots still dark. But I think it is sweet....that's a quarter beside it to show you how small it is!

Grandma made this

I just wanted to show you something my Grandma Briggs made for me in the late 1970's. I saw this crochet poncho in a magazine (unfortunately I didn't save the magazine or pattern) and I bought the supplies and my Grandmother made it for me. The butterfly is on the back of the poncho too! I had it hanging on the wall for a while, just to enjoy it. She did a great job. She passed away in 1992. She never would have dreamed her crochet work would one day be on the internet!

Yard sale finds

Three dollars bought me this assortment of knitting needles...13 matched sets and a few no matches and a stitch counter.

This little doily needed a home, it is dirty and stained, but I hope it will clean up well. I wish I could have gotten a better picture, the thread is so fine. Almost like sewing thread, and it is like Irish crochet with the leaf motif and roses. Ony cost five cents!

But here is my favorite find for today...a Princess phone! And it still works too. I must be in my second childhood but I counldn't pass it up for only 50 cents!


Here's an old Princess phone ad....very retro!

Works in progress

Anybody else like me, have several projects going at one time. I start one and see another and can't wait to start it...sooo it takes me a while to finish things LOL! I wasn't sure I would like this doily at first, but I think the background under the doily in the magazine picture takes away from how pretty it is. I think the doily will look fine on a white background.
This is the page from the magazine Magic Crochet, June 1987, No. 48.

I'm still working on the crochet hanky trim, hope I have enough thread.

This is a crochet pillow top, I am using pink satin for the pillow instead of green like in the magazine. It's another pattern from Magic Crochet magazine, August 1987, No. 49.

Remember when I said I had never done charted crochet? I really like it now, even though I still have some things to learn.

Happy 4th of July!

Hope you have a safe and fun 4th of July!

Current project

I am trying a new project, crocheting a trim on a linen hanky. I am using a vintage crochet edging pattern , it has another row after this one, that has a picot trim. I am using DMC Coton Perle 12, color 927 and a steel hook #10. I found this hanky at an antique mall and it already had a lovely hemstitched trim, just right for crocheting.

Lace and crochet

Wanna see something pretty? Click on each category to see what antique clothing and accessories this museum in Ireland has for sale. Gorgeous stuff!

http://www.irishlacemuseum.com/Homepg.html

Irish crochet lace

I hope it's OK to show this picture from their website...I thought you might like to visit the website and see the 2005 exhibit they had on Irish crochet lace. In the front of this picture, doesn't that look like a hand written pattern and sample book? Oh I would like to look at that close up! When I first ran across this website, I thought it was in Ireland, but it's in Berkeley CA! I wish I lived close enough to visit. Enjoy the slide show of pictures..

http://lacismuseum.org/irish_crochet.html