Hooked on Needles


Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Crocheting for PTO Fundraiser Finally Finished!

I'm not usually the kind of person who waits until the last minute to get things done, but I cut it a little close for my donation to the high school PTO silent auction for this Friday evening. I finally finished the woven hot pads to go along with the dish cloths I made last week, and I delivered them to school. Whew! One more thing checked off my list!


Blues and Greens Tunisian Short Row dishcloths and woven hotpadHere is one set for the kitchen basket. I love this color combination. It's Lily Sugar 'n Cream Country Side Ombre along with Sage Green.


Green Stripes Tunisian Short Row dishcloths and woven hotpadAnd here is the other set for the kitchen basket. It is made with the same Sage Green along with Green Twists. These are the same dishcloths I showed the other day. In that same post I also showed a yellow and white Tunisian Short Row cloth that was paired up with the Yellow Duck wash cloth for the New Baby Basket at the auction.

The denim blue cloth and one of my Super Easy Knitted cloths were paired up for the Bed and Bath basket.

If you like the looks of these cloths, make sure you sign up for my 300th Post Giveaway. You could win a set of 4 in the color of your choice!

Happy Stitching!


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Monday, March 30, 2009

Fabulous Yarn Giveaway!

Here is a shameless plug for a giveaway over at Knit Purl Gurl for some fabulous and totally delicious looking yarn that I am hoping beyond hope to win for myself. What some of us won't do for Just One More Chance to win a great giveaway!

Besides it's been another busy weekend and, although I have been busy crocheting dishcloths and hotpads for the PTO fundraiser this Friday and knitting on a very colorful Oddball Baby Blanket in my spare time, I have not finished anything. So I have nothing to show off or share!

Except the above link to some really gorgeous yarn. Hop over to Knit Purl Gurl and from there over to Oriri Draco Design and check out the perfectly scrumptious yarn colors Abby has available. Oh boy, would I love to get my hands on some of it!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I win this won, except when I'm knitting or crocheting of course!

Don't forget to sign up for my 300th post giveaway too! It's coming up fast and I'd sure love to make you a set of crocheted dish or wash cloths in your choice of colors.

Happy Stitching!


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Saturday, March 28, 2009

Magic Number for Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth

Using 15 stitches for the beginning chain of the Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth with a size K hook made a cloth that was just a bit on the small side, and left far too much leftover yarn, but not enough to make another whole cloth.

So I tried 16 stitches. That made the cloth just a bit bigger, but still did not achieve my goal of using up almost all of the ball of yarn. There was still too much leftover.

So I tried 17 stitches. You can see where this is going, I am sure! Here is the result...


Denim Tunisian Short Row DishclothA cloth noticeably larger than the original size, by about a whole inch and a half. And not enough yarn leftover from a 2 ounce ball to add another stitch to the beginning chain and be able to complete the cloth.

So 17 is the Magic Number! To work this pattern using 17 as the beginning chain, you follow the exact same instructions, except when the number 15 is mentioned, just change it to 17. Give it a try and see if you like the bigger size better.


Denim Tunisian Short Row DishclothDon't you love the soft blues in this Denim cotton yarn? A set of cloths in this color, or any color of your choice, could be yours if you win my 300th post giveaway! Click HERE and read the rules for this great giveaway, but don't wait too long. #300 is coming up fast!

Happy Stitching!


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Friday, March 27, 2009

300th Post Coming Up Soon! Time to Celebrate!

This giveaway is now closed.
Thanks to all who entered!



I just noticed that the 300th post of Hooked On Needles will be coming up very soon, like in the next 10 days or so. I think that is something to celebrate, so I am going to have a giveaway! Hooray! I love giveaways! I love having them, and I love winning them too!

Of course if you have been keeping an eye on this site lately, you know that I just can't seem to get enough of making these cotton dish/wash cloths. So the prize for this giveaway will be a set of 4 cotton cloths, or a set of 2 cloths and 2 woven hotpads, in the winner's choice of colors.


Time to Celebrate!
All you have to do for a chance at winning this giveaway is leave a comment on this post with the information requested in the next paragraph and some way to get in touch with you. If I cannot reply to your comment, or find your email address easily through your own blog, please make sure that you include your email address within your comment.

In your comment, I would like to know if you have ever used a handmade cotton dish or wash cloth and what you think of them compared to a factory made, store bought cloth. And then, of course, I would like to know what color or color combination you would like to have if you win. I will try my hardest to accommodate any color scheme.

Please feel free to share this giveaway with your own blog readers, and others whom you think may be interested. The more, the merrier, right? If I get a comment from more than 50 different people, I will draw two winners and each will get the same prize in their color choice.

The winner will be announced on my 300th post, whenever that happens to occur. Just so you know, this post is number 290! I never thought I would find so much to say about needlework!

Happy Stitching!


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Thursday, March 26, 2009

More Tunisian Short Row Dishcloths

I'm officially HOOKED! I admit it! I can't get enough of this worsted weight cotton yarn! It feels good to work with. It comes in such pretty solids and variegated combinations. These cloths work up so fast and pretty. They are the perfect take-along project. And they make the perfect little gift for any occasion. Right now I am making some for the high school PTO fundraiser that is coming up next week, but then I will be making more for other fundraisers and gift giving occasions.

Here's what I made last night while sitting through the high school band booster meeting for updating the by-laws...I was glad I had something to keep my hands busy!


Green and Blue Tunisian Short Row DishclothsThe cloth on the left is made with Sugar'n Cream Green Twists yarn which is a 4 ply yarn made up of 2 plies off white, 1 ply very pale mint green, and 1 ply sage green. I love the look of the twist yarns. That is the one I made during last night's very tedious meeting. At least I was productive!


Green and Blue Tunisian Short Row DishclothsThe cloth on the right is made using Sugar'n Cream Country Side Ombre which is a variegated of blue, purple, sage green, and grey. It looks kind of dark, but is really quite striking in person. I like it.

The solid ball of yarn pictured with the two cloths above is Sage Green, which is one of my favorite decorating colors. I am going to make two of the Tunisian Short Row dishcloths out of this color, one to go with the Green Twists and one to go with the Country Side Ombre. Then with the leftovers of each color, I am going to make one of the woven hotpads combining the Green Twists with the Sage Green, and one combining the Country Side Ombre with the Sage Green. So I will have two sets, each with two dishcloths and a woven hotpad. Those should look nice tucked into the kitchen gift baskets for the auction.


Daisy Ombre Tunisian Short Row DishclothThis is the cloth I started working on last week when I had to bring my daughter to get her finger x-rayed. She actually did break it and she must keep it in a simple splint for 4 weeks so it can heal. No time off school or work for her though! She just keeps on plugging away! She even continues to work on her own crochet project each evening and is making great progress on a full size zig-zag afghan that she is making for herself. I'll show pictures of that soon.

You might recognize the yarn I used for this cloth as one of the variegated yarn leftovers I used up when making my first woven hotpad the other day. It's called Daisy Ombre and it is just two colors, bright sunshine yellow with bright white. Very cheerful!

Now I must get busy with my cotton and my crochet hook. It's been about 10 hours since I worked my last stitch, and I do believe I am experiencing the beginnings of withdrawal! As addictions go, I suppose this one is not really SO bad!

Happy Stitching!


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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Hardanger Embroidered Snowman - just in time for Spring!

Hardanger embroidery comes to us from Norway and is a form of whitework embroidery using counted thread stitches, drawn threadwork and pulled thread embroidery. It is fairly easy to learn and to do, using a few basic stitches and techniques. The hard part, although not physically difficult, is bringing yourself to cut the fabric after you have stitched your design!

There are some great websites out there offering instruction in Hardanger embroidery techniques if you are interested in learning it. One that I found recently is Needlework Tips and Techniques which has excellent charts and explanations of the art of Hardanger.

Many years ago, my interest in Hardanger was piqued by some gorgeous pieces that a friend had hanging in her home. They had been done by her mother-in-law, whose work won prizes year after year from her local embroidery guild and other organizations.

So I went looking for an easy and inexpensive way to get a feel for this art form and in my search, I landed at Nordic Needle which has every kind of embroidery and threadwork supply imaginable. I found a beginner kit for a pretty little snowflake-looking design and it had a cute little silver snowman charm right in the middle.


Hardanger snowmanAnd here it is finally, only about 12 years after I finished stitching it, fresh from the frame shop! This is one of those items that I rediscovered when I did my big sewing room clean-up back in January, and I put it on my list of things to do for this year.


Hardanger snowmanThis is what the kit looks like, and it is still available from Nordic Needle if you are interested in it for yourself. It is kit number K2117 for $14.95. I liked how it was framed in a simple round white frame with mat board about the same color as the fabric behind the piece. I thought I would do the same thing with mine until I took it to my local Michael's frame shop and was told that they don't have round frames because the cost is prohibitive. And this particular shade of blue in the fabric is not a popular color anymore and they had nothing even close to it for the background. Hmmm...what was I to do?


Hardanger snowmanI definitely wanted the background mat to be darker than the stitches so they would show up, so Janine, my favorite frame lady, suggested navy blue. At first I wasn't too thrilled with that idea, but we tried it, and it seems to work. It is a good contrast with the white, and it doesn't clash with the blue fabric.

We picked out a fresh white linen mat to circle the design and a brushed pewter frame with little dot details on the edge to mimic the snowman charm in the middle. The whole piece turned out to be exactly 11 inches square, which is only a few inches bigger than if I had used just a round frame and no mat.


Hardanger snowmanHere you can see the detail of some of the Hardanger stitches. You can tell just by looking that it is not a hard technique as long as you count correctly and keep track of where you are in the pattern. Isn't that snowman just so round and cute?

So there's another March finish and a little taste of Hardanger embroidery. If it looks like something you might want to try, check out Nordic Needle's beginner kits and go for it! You'll be glad you did.

Happy Stitching!


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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Crocheted Cotton Pot Holder, Trivet or Hot Pad

Just the other day I mentioned that I was trying to figure out just how big I could make the Tunisian Short Row dishcloth so that I could use up most of one ball of cotton, but not run short at the end. Now I don't think I need to worry about that! I have found a super fun, and practical, use for the leftovers!

One of the many websites I follow, and one that I thoroughly enjoy browsing often, is Purple and Paisley. I love the name of Terri's website and all the different and creative things that she does and shares. Today she shared a link to a pattern for a crocheted cotton hot pad and she showed some pictures of the one she had made. I was intrigued by it, so of course I had to click on the link and read the pattern. The pattern is available as a free download from Ravelry and can be found by clicking HERE. If you're not yet a member, do sign up! It's worth the little effort for all the great stuff you can find there. I discovered that my leftovers from all the different dishcloths I had already made would be perfect to use for this little project. So I gathered them up and got to work. This is what I made...


Crocheted Cotton Pot Holder or TrivetYou can see that I had just the tiniest bit of each yarn left when I finished this pattern. Isn't it pretty in three variegated yarns? Terri did hers in one variegated for the square and a solid for the two ovals.


Crocheted Cotton Pot Holder or TrivetMaking this project took me just shy of an hour and a half, just sitting at the kitchen table and working through the pattern while my children played and had a snack and my big kindergarten boy read to me from his little Letter People booklets. What a fun project this was to make! The pattern, which is copyrighted by Kimberly Langlois and available as a free PDF download, was very well written and easy to follow, even for a beginner. She even provides pictures showing how to assemble the parts once they are crocheted.

Crocheted Cotton Pot Holder or TrivetI love anything that resembles a Celtic knot, having done my fair share of embroidered Celtic designs, and that is just what this pattern reminded me of. You can see here how thick and solid this hot pad is when finished.

This design would look great in one color to coordinate with your table or kitchen. As you can see from Terri's finished project, it also looks great with one variegated and one solid. Mine is done using three variegated yarns as a project to use up my leftovers. So there are many options for working this pattern, only limited by what you have available and your imagination and creativity. Why don't you give it a try?

Happy Stitching!


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Monday, March 23, 2009

Learn to Crochet - Hawaiian Granny Square Video Tutorial

At last I have been able to make the video showing how to crochet the Hawaiian Granny Square which I showed you recently. It's one of those crochet-along videos where you can work along with me, pausing the video to finish a round and then playing again. When the video is finished, you should have yourself a fun new granny square. The written pattern is included below the video for your reference.

Traditional Granny Square and Hawaiian Granny Square
This is the Traditional Granny Square shown along side the Hawaiian square for comparison. After 3 rounds, they are both the same size, but they have clear differences between them. The Traditional square is very flat, being made from only chain stitches and double crochet. The Hawaiian square is quite thick and full and even feels heavier since it is made with the Pineapple stitch which uses quite a bit more yarn than the double crochet.

After taking this picture, I took out the last knot and unraveled both squares so I could measure how much yarn each used. I crocheted both squares with a size J hook and Red Heart worsted weight yarn. The traditional square used up just short of 12 yards of yarn. The Hawaiian square, on the other hand, used up 15 yards of yarn for the same size square. That's quite a difference in such a small piece. So if you plan to use this square in place of, or in addition to, the traditional square in an afghan or other project, you will need to take into consideration the difference in yardage requirements and purchase a little more for the Hawaiian square.




Hawaiian Granny Square Pattern

NOTE: Pineapple Stitch is worked like this -- (yarn over, insert hook, draw up a loop) 4 times, yarn over, draw through all 9 loops on hook.

To begin, chain 8. Join into a ring with a slip stitch.

Round 1: 1 Pineapple stitch in ring. (Chain 2, 1 Pineapple stitch) 7 times for a total of 8 Pineapple stitches in center ring. Half Double Crochet (hdc) into top of first Pineapple stitch.

Round 2: 1 Pineapple stitch in hdc space. *Chain 2, 1 Pineapple stitch in next space, chain 2, (1 double crochet, chain 2, 1 double crochet) in top of next Pineapple stitch to form corner, chain 2, 1 Pineapple stitch in next space.* Repeat from * to * around, ending with corner stitches. Hdc into top of first Pineapple stitch.

Round 3: 1 Pineapple stitch in hdc space. *(chain 2, 1 Pineapple stitch) in each space up to the corner, chain 2, (1 double crochet, chain 2, 1 double crochet) in chain 2 space of double crochet corner stitches from previous round.* Repeat from * to * around. Either end block with 2 chain, slip stitch in top of first Pineapple stitch OR continue making the block bigger by adding as many rounds as you like following Round 3 instructions.


Happy Stitching!


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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Fabulous Fabric Giveaway!

Just a quick post today to share with you a very generous giveaway of gorgeous fabric from Jane's Fabrics. The giveaway is being hosted by Terri at Sew-Fantastic, so hop on over there and sign up for a chance at three (yes 3!) great fabric prizes! Or better yet, DON'T sign up for these beautiful fabric prizes, so I'll have a better chance of winning!

Happy Stitching!


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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Two Short Stacks, Coming Right Up! Of Crocheted Dishcloths, that is!

This weekend is another busy outdoor one for us, cutting down trees and burning. It is such beautiful weather to be outside, but at the same time, it is always sad to see such beautiful trees falling to the ground. Our fall foliage season this year won't be nearly as colorful as it has been the past eight years we have lived here with all those lovely maple and birch trees sitting in neat piles waiting to be split.

But inside I do have some piles of colorful things that I wanted to share with you. Some you have seen already, but a few are new. I'm on such a cotton dishcloth kick right now that I just can't stop myself! I love how portable these little projects are too. I brought my bag with me yesterday when I had to spend some time with my oldest daughter at the hospital after she broke her finger in the cash register at work! I got one almost finished there, but sorry to say I haven't had a minute since then to finish it so it is not in the pictures.

Here's what I have so far...

5 Square crocheted cotton dishclothsThese are the square cloths that I have made so far. You have seen the first 4 already, but the one on top is new. I used the solid granny square pattern and a ball of self-striping cotton in these cheerful spring colors. I just kept adding rounds to the square until I could not complete the last round. I ripped out the incomplete last round and instead worked a round of reverse single crochet for the border. I love how it turned out colorwise, and it has such nice texture too.


5 Tunisian Short Row crocheted cotton dishclothsThese are my Tunisian Short Row cloths, most of which you have already seen, but the one on the far left is my newest, stitched in a cotton color called Gum Drop. It really does look like all the colors in a bag of gum drops! For this one, I also added one stitch to my beginning chain to make 16 stitches. This made the cloth a little bit bigger and also used up more of the ball of cotton. I think my next one will begin with 17 chains. I am trying to get to the right number for the beginning chain so that I can use up the whole ball of cotton and make a generously sized cloth. I'll let you know what that magic number is for me, in case you want to try it too.


Crocheted Cotton Granny Square DishclothNotice how the color changes happen in this pattern with the self-striping cotton. It almost looks like I actually changed yarns, but I didn't! I just kept on crocheting around and around. It couldn't get much easier than that!


Gumdrop Tunisian Short Row Crocheted Cotton DishclothHow's this for cheerful? It's the Gum Drop cloth. Looks good enough to eat, don't you think?

Grab a ball of cotton next time you find yourself at Walmart, Michael's or your favorite craft store. Dig out your size J or K crochet hook, and whip yourself up a few new dishcloths or face cloths. If you are the kind of person who likes instant gratification, this is the project for you!

Happy Stitching!


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Friday, March 20, 2009

Crochet Cords Tutorial Link

I was browsing around in the Crochet section of Knittinghelp.com just recently and came across a question regarding crocheted cording. Someone was interested in crocheting a cord to use in the waist of her knitted shorts. One of the responses included a link to Daphne's Tutorial Page on Crochet Know How. On this page Daphne had a little picture tutorial for three different types of crocheted cording: Slip Stitch Cord, Parallel Chain Cord and Lobster Stitch Cord.

I thought I would share that with you in case you are in need of some crocheted cord options on one of your projects. These could be used as drawstrings for purses, straps for a child's dress or shirt, embellishments for pillows or bags or other crocheted or knitted items.

I would like to do a video tutorial on each of these cords so I have put that on my list of things to do for Hooked On Needles. But today I don't think there will be any of that. Instead I will be taking my oldest to urgent care to have her finger examined. She closed the cash register drawer on it last night while working at our local grocery store, and my husband and I both are of the opinion that it is most likely broken. Being the dedicated student that she is, she went to school this morning and will be dismissed after the time necessary to be marked present for the day!

I've been cranking out these cotton dishcloths though, and will share pictures of my finished stack tomorrow. Some of them will be used as part of my Pay It Forward gifts to Myra, Jane, Leah and Mrs. Bubba. So, ladies, if you see any design or yarn color that strikes your fancy, please let me know so I can make you some that you will like. A variety of them will be going to the high school PTO for an upcoming fundraiser.

What kind of fun projects are you working on in between all of life's little curve balls?

Happy Stitching!


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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Knitted Oddball Care Shawl - Blue Skies

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you already know that I love making the Oddball Baby Blankets along with the other knitters from Knittinghelp.com. Well, there is another thread under Charity Knitting that I have just recently gotten involved in, and that is Oddball Care Shawls. Here's the first one I've worked on called Blue Skies...


Beginning of Knit Oddball Care Shawl - Blue SkiesThe beginning of the shawl was done by Sandy, the very thoughtful and generous lady who came up with this idea of knitting Care Shawls for members of the knitting forum who might need a little encouragement or who are going through a hard time and need to know that people care.

Then I picked up where she left off, and added a skein of Patons Lacette yarn, which is a fine fluffy yarn with a little bit of mohair in it. I knitted my section and now I will mail it off to the next knitter along with the leftover yarn so it can be added into the fringe when the knitting is complete.


Beginning of Knit Oddball Care Shawl - Blue SkiesThe pattern for these shawls just couldn't be easier. The first knitter casts on 3 stitches, and after that every row is the same: K1, yo, k to end. Each section is about 4 inches wide and each knitter chooses her own yarn from her stash or local yarn store. It's a great way to use up stash yarn and have a quick little project to work on when you can find a few minutes here and there to knit.

If you are looking for some nice people to get involved with, and a little project to work on now and then, pop over to www.knittinghelp.com and look into the Charity Knitting forum. Find something that would fit in with your skills and available time, and sign up. Besides helping other people, it will just make you feel good about yourself!

Happy Stitching!


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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Crocheted Buttercream Basketweave Dishcloth

Here's another crocheted cotton dishcloth which I made mostly while waiting to pick up my son from school the other day. Don't you love having little take-along projects to work on during those inevitable waiting periods of life? These are perfect!


Crocheted Buttercream Basketweave DishclothThis cloth was crocheted using Lily Sugar 'n Cream worsted weight cotton purchased from my local Michael's store. The color is called Butter Cream Ombre and I just love it! I used the Basket Weave Stitch, which is the same stitch I used in making the Crocheted Basket Weave Afghan for an old friend of mine last fall.


Crocheted Buttercream Basketweave DishclothThe texture of this stitch is just perfect for a face or dish cloth, and these colors are so soft and subtle that they would look good just about anywhere. They are certainly a lot more subtle than the colors in the Fiesta cloth I showed you yesterday!

This stitch does use a lot of yarn though, so this cloth, measuring about 11 inches square, took about 1 1/2 balls of cotton to make, so approximately 3 ounces.

I am in the process of figuring out if I can use the duck, the shamrock, and the mystery pattern Tunisian Crochet cloth charts with regular knitting and still have the designs come out in the right proportion. I will let you know what I discover. I also have a few other cloth designs to share with you shortly. Can you tell I'm having boatloads of fun with cotton lately?

Happy Stitching!


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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Fiesta Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth

This is a busy time of year for school fundraisers, and with my eldest a senior in high school and my middle one in kindergarten, I have quite a few that I am committed to over the next few months. One for the high school is going to be a coffeehouse evening with music, desserts and an extensive silent auction consisting of all kinds of prizes and gift baskets and restaurant certificates and the like. I've been quite taken recently with these cotton dish and face cloths, so I volunteered to make some for the Bed & Bath basket, the Kitchen basket and the New Baby basket. Here's one of my offerings...



Fiesta Tunisian Short Row DishclothYou will recognize this pattern as the Tunisian Short Row dishcloth about which I shared a how-to video not too long ago. The big difference here is of course the color...Wow! Don't you just love the bright cheerful Fiesta cotton that I used on this one?


Fiesta Tunisian Short Row DishclothI think this would make a great face cloth to use first thing in the morning. It would really wake you up!

If you haven't tried Tunisian crochet yet, you can check out the video tutorials here at Hooked On Needles. Then grab a hook and a ball of cotton and give this dishcloth a try. It is fun and easy, and works up very quickly. I made this one in about 2 hours while relaxing in the evening.

This cough is still hanging on, so I have not yet been able to video the Hawaiian granny square, but I've been having fun with my graph paper and will have another Tunisian cotton cloth pattern to share with you shortly. I can do that without talking!

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Stitching!


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Monday, March 16, 2009

Knitted Baby Jacket Complete!

Finally I have a finished project for March! The Top-Down Knitted Baby Jacket I spoke of just recently is finished. It was a fun pattern to knit and the Plymouth Encore yarn was a pleasure to work with. Take a look at the pictures and see what you think of it...


Knitted Baby JacketIsn't that just darling? The yarn I used for this little jacket is purple, not a blue-y purple like in the picture, but a real true rich purple. I just couldn't get my camera to pick it up for some reason. The pictures on the in-progress post from a few days ago show the color a little better, but still not quite true.


Knitted Baby JacketA little purple satin ribbon brings the top of the jacket together.


Knitted Baby JacketHere's a little detail of the eyelet rows and the garter stitch edges on the front right and left.


Knitted Baby JacketAnd this picture shows the raglan sleeve line of this jacket.

This purple jacket was knitted in Size 1 Year and the measurement from top to bottom is 12 inches. From armpit to armpit, it is also 12 inches. The sleeves are 10 inches from neck to wrist and 7 inches from armpit to wrist.

This would make a lovely addition to the spring wardrobe of your favorite little person, or a nice shower gift for an expectant mother.

Happy Stitching!


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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Crocheted Hawaiian Square

It's been a busy outdoor clean-up kind of weekend here and I feel like I've neglected Hooked On Needles. I want to assure you that I am still Hooked and I've actually been working on a few things Needle related when I have had a minute to sit down. Mostly though, we've been outside burning limbs and branches and brush collected from our big ice storm back in December. Stinky smelly nasty work, but quite satisfying, watching a huge pile of tree limbs turn into half a barrel of ash.

So this is the sample I have worked up to share with you...


Crocheted Hawaiian SquareIt's a different kind of crocheted granny square called the Hawaiian Square. It's made with a stitch called Pineapple Stitch and it's fun to make. I had hoped to have a video showing how to make it, but I still have a cough that is hanging on from when I was sick last week, and I know I would not be able to make it even through the center ring of the block without a coughing fit. So I will get that done just as soon as this cough lets up, then you'll be able to make this fun square too!

A few other things in the works are some new Tunisian Crochet Stitches, a new pattern for another crocheted cloth, and revisiting beaded shade pulls. Now that spring is creeping closer and closer, it's time to dress up a few more windows!

Happy Stitching!


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Friday, March 13, 2009

Think Spring Swap - Ready to go

I had a hard time trying to decide what to put into the package for my Think Spring Swap recipient because she doesn't have a blog. This means I have no way of peeking into her life and seeing what she does or likes or what colors she decorates with. So I decided to go with a variety of little things that I thought looked Spring-like, and I hope I hit on at least one or two things that she likes. So here it is...

Think Spring Swap GiftFirst of all, wrapped up in a generous length of green satin ribbon, are two of my crocheted dishcloths. The yellow one can be seen in progress in this video showing how to do the Tunisian Short Row Dishcloth. The blue one is the Tunisian Crochet Mystery Project referred to HERE.

I've included one of the little tea wallets I made which are just great for neatly carrying tea or other little things in your purse or brief case or school bag.

A collection of spring-y yo-yos, 3 iron-on patches, a spool of blue flowered ribbon, a selection of spring shades of DMC embroidery floss and a skein of spring yellow baby yarn round out the soft items included in the gift.

I put together a beaded zipper pull in pinks and yellows with little silver hearts, and have also included a little sunflower growing kit, a pocket size photo album that holds wallet size photos, and a package of cheerful flowered note cards.

Do you think all of this will fit into the pretty flowered gift bag with the pink butterfly on it? We'll see! I hope she likes it!

Happy Stitching!


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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Here Comes The Sun - Another Oddball Baby Blanket

Here's another Oddball Baby Blanket all finished and ready to go. The five knitted sections were done in a variety of stitches by knitters in Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I crocheted the border right here in Massachusetts.

Here Comes The Sun Oddball Baby Blanket
The scallop border I crocheted on this blanket is the same one I did on the Tutti Frutti blanket a while ago. If you would like the border pattern and a video showing how to do it, you can find it by clicking HERE. It's really quite simple and produces a sturdy but pretty border for a tiny little preemie blanket like this, or even for a big full size afghan.

I have received my swap partner information for Sheri Howard's Think Spring Swap, and she is practically a next door neighbor! Isn't that funny? When I signed up for the Stitcher's Angel Swap last year, my partner was from all the way across the globe in Australia. And this time I got someone right in the next town from me! I think I'll hand deliver my package and make a new friend! You just never know what will happen when you sign up for a swap, but so far, I have had a good experience with each one. I'll show you a picture of my swap gift before I deliver it, and of course whatever goodies I receive in the mail from whoever got my name!

Happy Stitching!


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