Circular Baby Afghans - ?

Not having a good source for yarn or fabric near me for many years has forced me to find online shopping opportunities to fulfill my never ending desire for more and more and more yarn and fabric. One of my favorite places to browse for yarn and ideas is Mary Maxim, even if I'm not in the market for anything new. It's just a great place to look around and see what's out there, and every once in a while pick up a good bargain or two. Plus I love their yarn.

Today I found something on their website that I thought was quite interesting -- Circular Baby Afghans. I've been seeing the round sort of star shaped afghans in catalogs over the past few years, but these that I found today are being marketed specifically as baby blankets. They look a lot like doilies in that they have a design in the middle and lots of open space around the edges, but they are made with medium worsted weight yarn and a size 5mm or H/8 crochet hook and are big enough to be baby blankets.


I don't know that I exactly like this style for a baby blanket. I think the shape would be a little awkward, and I have never liked hole-y patterns for little fingers and toes to get stuck in. Not very practical at all.

But I was thinking that these designs would not necessarily have to be used as baby blankets. Don't you think they would make lovely table toppers with a solid color fabric under them? They would be like a huge doily to put in the middle of a large table, or on the top of a small round table and let the edges hang down the sides.


When I was growing up, our dining room table was huge and round, big enough to seat 13 or 14 people every night for dinner. My mother made solid color round tablecloths which went on the table first, then she covered them with a cream colored round lace tablecloth. I always thought it looked so nice and fancy, even for our not-so-fancy dinners.


So have you ever made one of those round afghans? I would be interested to hear how you like working the pattern and how you like using them once they are finished. What do you think of the worsted weight doily as a baby blanket? Something you'd consider making and giving as a gift, or not practical enough to bother? Inquiring minds want to know!

Happy Stitching!

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I Love a Bargain! Do you?

It's shaping up to be another busy week here, but I wanted to pop in quickly to let you all know that I am working very hard on revamping my Tunisian Crochet dishcloth patterns so they will work out with regular knitting. It's not quite as easy as it sounds, and when my final sample is complete, I'll tell you about the entire process!

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you a sale I found at Mary Maxim, which is one of my favorite yarn sources. Caron Simply Soft Baby yarn is on sale right now for only 97 cents for a 2 ounce skein. It comes in 6 soft, luscious colors perfect for your next baby project. This is a worsted weight yarn in baby colors, not a lightweight fingering weight yarn as the name might imply.

If you need some ideas for patterns to use with this yarn, you can check out the Caron website where they share a few patterns specifically for their Simply Soft Baby yarn. Two are blankets, one knitted and one crocheted, and one is a crocheted sweater. All are just darling! Or you can use any pattern that calls for a medium worsted weight yarn.

If I can knit fast enough, I am hoping to have my knitted dishcloth complete and photographed by tomorrow evening. Wish me luck!


Happy Stitching!

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Tunisian Crochet Duck Pattern

Who doesn't love a bright yellow rubber duckie? My cousin's upstairs bathroom inspired this next project, and it's a great way to practice your Tunisian crochet skills. Supplies needed are only two: a ball of yellow crochet cotton such as Peaches 'n Cream or Sugar 'n Cream available at such stores as Walmart, Michael's, AC Moore and the like, and a size K-10 1/2 afghan hook available online at Herrschner's or Mary Maxim, or perhaps at your local yarn shop.


Here's my dapper little yellow duckie all ready to give your face, or even your child, a nice scrubbie with all that fabulous texture created by the Tunisian Purl stitches which make up the duck design. Of course, the back of the cloth is all bumpy too because that's just the way the back of Tunisian crochet is! Perfect for a face cloth or a dish cloth, don't you think?



This finished cloth measures 9 1/2 inches wide by 10 inches long, which includes the border. When I finished the Tunisian crochet body of the cloth, I switched to a regular size K crochet hook and worked a single crochet border all around the cloth, then a simple decorative border of (skip a stitch, 3 single crochets in next stitch, skip a stitch, one single crochet in next stitch) all the way around.

If you would like to make one for yourself, here is the chart which you can click on, then print.


At the bottom of the chart, I have included the information for working the project. The beginning chain for this is 33. For each blank square of the chart, you work a Basic Tunisian Knit Stitch and for each X square on the chart, you work a Tunisian Purl Stitch. Remember that each row of Tunisian crochet is made up of the forward half of the row when you pick up all your stitches onto the hook, and the return half of the row where you work the stitches off the hook.

To follow this chart, you would begin at the lower right corner and work 5 rows of Basic Tunisian Knit Stitch. Then you would start the next row by counting how many Knit Stitches you need to work before starting the Purl Stitches. In this case it would be 11 Knit Stitches. Then count the number of X squares, which is 8, and work 8 Purl Stitches, then finish the row with Knit stitches, and work the return half of the row as usual. Continue following the chart upwards and from right to left until you have completed the entire chart. Work your border however you like, and you are finished.

I have designed some other patterns as well, and will be sharing them with you in the coming days and weeks. If you make something from this pattern, please send me a picture. I would love to see it, and maybe share it with my readers!

Happy Stitching!

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Fascinating and Amazing!

A friend sent me a link to this amazing website that I just have to share with all of you who are in any way interested in knitting. It's called Bugknits, and browsing through it has given me a whole new appreciation for my size 10 1/2 knitting needles! The woman's name is Althea Crome and she lives in Indiana. You can read about her on the site. While you are there, take some time and look at each of the galleries listed on her sidebar. She knits in miniature, but not just normal everyday miniature like a little sweater to use on a stuffed teddy bear or to hang on the Christmas tree. She describes it as "dollhouse for a dollhouse scale" and you have to see it to believe it. Make sure you watch the short video that is on her main page. Truly amazing!

Another fascinating article I want to share with you is this one from a newspaper in Kentucky from last September. It has absolutely nothing to do with needles or hooks or yarn or fabric, but I just thought it was so clever and artistic that you might enjoy seeing it too. I love a new Sharpie as much as the next guy, and this guy apparently had quite a thing going with a few of them!

And now on a more relevant topic for Hooked On Needles, did you all know that Myra over at Blue Meadow Designs is offering another mystery quilt? It's true! Remember the Criss Cross Applesauce quilt that I did a few months ago? That was from Myra's site. This new mystery quilt uses a charm pack plus a few yards of other fabric. I was lucky enough to win the charm pack prize drawing that Myra did from all those who sent pictures of their completed Criss Cross Applesauce top and I've been looking for a project where I could use it. I think I've found it!

My 2009 Project List is getting a little more Red every week or so lately as I finish projects that have sat idle and begin others. I've started working on one of my Pay It Forward gifts which uses a knit stitch that I will be sharing with you shortly. But I just discovered that Mary Maxim is having a Knit and Crochet Contest with the grand prize winner receiving a total of $2000, so I just might have to finish up what I'm working on and get busy creating a winning afghan design. I'll let you know if I decide to enter the contest, and of course you'll know if I win!

Happy Stitching!

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Knitted Jumbo Mittens Pattern Available!

This post is for anyone who took a fancy to my Knitted Jumbo Mittens that were displayed on my mantel this past Christmas. Do I have some good news for you!


Here's a close-up so you can see just what I'm talking about, in case you missed their first showing at Christmas time. Aren't they just FUN, and such a clever alternative to the traditional stocking? I just love them.


Here's all 5 of ours hanging by the fireplace, just waiting for Santa to pop in and fill them up. They are quite stretchy so they hold an awful lot of little Christmas treasures!

So here's the good news...I contacted Mary Maxim, which you know is one of my favorite mail order and catalog outlets for yarn and crafts and such, and I asked if the pattern for these mittens might still available. I know that it hasn't been offered in their catalog or on their website for a number of years now. Just this week, I got a very nice email from their customer service department telling me how this pattern can be ordered, and now I'm sharing that information with you so you can order it and start knitting these colorful mittens for everyone in your family in time for next Christmas!

Here's what Mary Maxim said, and I quote:

I'm very sorry for the delay in getting back to you--our new catalog has been keeping us very busy! You can let others know that Mary Maxim sells our discontinued patterns (when they have been discontinued for over one year), patterns only, for $3.00 each. This was pattern #1432. Anyone can call us at 800-962-9504 and ask for Customer Service, and we will be glad to take the order.

Customer Service
Mary Maxim, Inc.

So there you have it! Since it is only the pattern that you can order now, and no longer the kit they used to offer which made two mittens, here are the yarn and needle requirements so you can order enough of their Titan yarn at the same time as you order the pattern to make as many mittens as you want:

* 1 skein Natural (enough for 2 mittens)
* 1 skein color of your choice (enough for 1 mitten)
* Knitting needles size 10 1/2 (metric size 6.50)
* Crochet hook size K-10 1/2 (metric size 6.50) (only used to make the hanging loop.)

If you make these mittens, I would love to see a picture of them hanging on your mantel come Christmas time!

Happy Stitching!

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Handmade Vintage Christmas Ornaments

My grandmother was a pretty crafty lady who lived with my family all the years I was growing up until she died when I was almost out of high school. She was quite an accomplished seamstress, crocheter, cook, and had many other talents as well. She taught me how to crochet when I was quite young, probably 8 or 9 years old.

Gram, as everyone called her, liked to make pretty Christmas ornaments from kits, similar to what we might buy today from Herrschner's or Mary Maxim or your local craft store. Dimensions is the brand that comes to mind when I see her felt and sequin ornaments.

Here are a few of the ornaments that my grandmother made which I was able to remove from my mother's Christmas tree and add to my own. I'm not quite sure my mother knows about this, so let's keep it our little secret, shall we?


This bell is made of straight pins, sequins, beads, gold trim and some glue. Its core is a dense styrofoam-type material that holds the pins securely once the glue they were dipped into dries. I love the sparkle it adds to the tree.


This colorful bird has felt pieces sewn onto the main green bird base and is decorated with sequins and beads that are also sewn on. The gold trim is sewn as well and the whole thing is stuffed and about 5 inches from beak tip to tail. It is decorated the same on both sides.


I remember Gram made several of these little drum ornaments and over the years a drumstick or two went missing. When I absconded with this patriotic little gem, it was the last one still sporting both drumsticks. I do recall my mother telling me I couldn't take it for that very reason...it still had both drumsticks. Of course I reasoned with her, saying that was precisely why I wanted that one. And here it is hanging on my tree so many years later. I wonder if Mom really thought I would put it back on her tree and take one of the others with only one drumstick.


And this lovely Snowlady has always reminded me of my grandmother. She could tie such beautiful bows with the sashes on our fancy dresses and in our hair. And she used to wear fancy hats too!

So these are some of my vintage ornaments made by my grandmother's hands many many years ago. Every stitch and pin and sequin and loop were perfectly placed. I always hang them on the front of the tree so they will be seen by everyone and if someone asks about them, I can tell them about my grandmother. Sometimes I wonder if the little things I make to decorate my home and Christmas tree will be treasured years from now the way I treasure these ornaments. I guess only time will tell.

Happy Stitching!

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The Mittens were Hung by the Chimney with Care...

Well, ok, maybe not by the chimney when these pictures were taken, but you get the idea! This gigantic mitten pattern is an old one from Mary Maxim which they don't offer anymore. I'm not sure if you could coax it out of them with a very friendly phone call though. It might be worth a try if you really want it. (More information added 1/23/09: See this post for information on how to order this pattern.)

So why am I showing it to you if you can't even get it yourself? Well, because I think it's just so darned cute! Take a look...


I always wanted to do matching stockings for my husband, myself and our daughter, but for many many years we just used what we had. One day I was looking through the Mary Maxim catalog and came across a kit for two giant mittens, one red and one green, and I just had to make them. So I ordered the kit and whipped one up. They are made with Mary Maxim's own Titan Bulky Yarn which comes in lots of nice colors and uses size 10 1/2 needles. Quick and cozy are two words that come to mind when I think of this yarn.

I let Elizabeth pick out her own color of yarn for her mitten, and she chose the gold color. So we had three mittens hanging on the cabinet. Then a few years later, we had to pick another color for our little guy and denim blue was it. That filled up the cabinet quite nicely.

Then a year later we discovered that we would need another one before the next Christmas, so we picked a color that would be good for either a girl or a boy, Plum Heather.


And there is Gracie's mitten hanging at the bottom! Of course now we know that PINK would have been the most perfect color since it is her favorite, but we did our best at the time! I think she'll forgive us as long as her plum mitten ends up looking like this....


every Christmas morning! That Santa can sure fit lots of fun stuff into those stretchy knitted mittens! The thumbs are even big enough to hide little treats in.

I hope your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely.

Happy Stitching!

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New Beaded Banner from Mary Maxim

I received the Christmas 2008 catalog from Mary Maxim in the mail the other day and have looked through it several times already. I love their catalogs, if not for actually making a purchase, then for getting ideas of things I could do on my own or just thinking about all the things I could do if I only had more time.

I love making beaded banners and I have designed a few myself, one of which I shared with you recently. After looking through the whole catalog, I landed on the back cover page and found this beaded banner kit which really caught my eye.

This candle banner, I think anyway, is quite pretty with its lacy top and bottom edges and festive red candle in a gold tray with holly leaves. Just the kind of thing I would use to decorate my holiday mantel, only this one is made out of beads and can hang on the wall. This was one of the winners of their beaded banner contest from earlier in the year and was designed by someone I have known for a long time. We are so much alike that sometimes we are even confused for each other.


Another of my favorite banners from this catalog is the bell pull size Christmas Tree banner which is 6 inches wide by 23 inches long. I think this one would look very nice hanging on a front door during the holidays.

Mary Maxim has such a nice selection of the very things I enjoy making, and these two kits are definitely on my wish list. If you are looking for some nice little projects for this Christmas season, or any time of the year, pop over to Mary Maxim's website and browse around. You can even sign up for their paper catalog and have something to enjoy with a nice cup of tea every now and then.

Happy Stitching!

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Varsity Letter Music Beaded Banner -- Picture Tutorial

Just the other day, I wrote a little bit about how easy and fun making a Beaded Banner is...for me anyway! Well, I have started making another one and I thought I would show you step-by-step how these banners are made.

First of all, you need a Beaded Banner pattern sheet. This would come with your kit if you purchased a kit, or you would have to design your own using the blank that comes with the Make-Your-Own kit. The one in the pictures below is a pattern that I designed myself as a gift to my daughter's high school band director. Don't tell anyone, but his birthday is coming up next week and this will be a surprise for him!

You also need something to anchor your pattern onto, such as a clip board or other type of board. I use a plastic typing stand, with the 'stand' part removed.

Here are all my supplies: The pattern sheet, typing stand board, scissors, tape, pony beads in appropriate quantity and colors, box to contain beads, and then the pieces that came with the Make-Your-Own kit which are the spool of thread, large plastic needle, metal rod, hanging cord, and little plastic end caps for the rod.



So the first thing you do is tape your pattern sheet to your board and cut a 2 yard length of thread. Tape one end of the thread to the left side of the pattern sheet between rows 1 and 2. Thread the other end onto the needle and then, following the chart, thread all the beads for the first two rows onto the thread as shown in the picture above. In this case the beads are all blue, but your pattern may call for different colors, so you need to follow the pattern.

Each row is off set from the next row so that each row only contains half the number of beads for the width of the banner.



Then you take the metal rod and put it through the beads from right to left, only picking up the beads for Row 1 and leaving the beads for Row 2 beneath the rod, as shown in the picture above. When you are finished, line up Rows 1 and 2 with the corresponding rows on the chart to make sure that you have the right color beads in the right places.


At this point, you need to put the little plastic end caps onto each end of the metal rod to protect yourself from the sharp cut ends of the metal. Tape the ends of the rod to the pattern sheet with the beads lined up properly.


Following the chart from right to left, string the first bead of Row 3 onto the needle then put the needle through the last bead of Row 2. String the next bead of Row 3 on, then put the needle through the next bead of Row 2. Continue in this manner, as shown in the picture above, all the way across the row, adding the new bead and picking up the bead of the previous row.

I find it easiest to put the needle through 2 or 3 new beads and the corresponding beads from the previous row before pulling the thread all the way through. This saves time and also helps to keep the beads tight on the thread.


When you get to the end and have made sure that you have all the right color beads in the right places, untape the end of the thread and tie a knot as shown in the picture above.


Then put your needle through the last bead of Row 3 from left to right, as shown above, so you will be ready to start stringing the beads for Row 4.


String all the beads for Row 4 in the same manner, making sure you pick up the beads from the previous row each time you string a bead from the current row. This is how the banner looks after the first 4 rows have been strung.


After stringing the 5th row, you need to anchor the last bead by tying a knot with the thread from the previous row. Put your needle between the two previous end beads picking up the thread joining them, then put your needle over your working thread and pull it through, making a loop.


Then put your needle into the loop from back to front and over your working thread as shown above. Pull it nice and snug and you will have anchored the last bead of the row. This is how you end every left side row.


Then put your needle through the last bead so that you will be ready to start stringing the beads of the next row. Continue working each row, making sure your beads are the right color and in the right place before knotting the end.

Keep in mind that the thread only gets knotted on the left side, not on the right side. You just need to make sure it is pulled up tightly on the right side after beginning the next row.

I am about a quarter of the way finished with this banner as I type, but by the time this gets published, I am hoping to be much further along. Once it is finished, I will show you how it turned out and you can see what the whole design looks like. I bet you could guess just by looking at the first picture though.

So you can see that making beaded banners is not all that hard, and it is not too tedious if this is the kind of thing you enjoy doing. It does take A Lot of beads though! Almost 1700 in fact for one banner! I priced them at Michael's and Walmart and different places on line and found that just buying them at Walmart in bags of 500 was the least expensive way to go for a Make-your-own design. The kits that you can buy from Mary Maxim or Herrschner's are less expensive than designing your own and buying your own beads because you only get the number of beads in each color that the pattern calls for, with just a few extras.

Anyway, if you have been curious about how these beaded banners get put together, now you know! Give one a try if it interests you. If you order a Christmas-y one from Mary Maxim, you may just end up with the one I designed!

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Beaded Banners -- A Fun and Easy Beading Craft

Here is another type of project that I looked at in catalogs and on line for the longest time trying to figure out how it's done, and finally I just picked one that I liked and ordered it to satisfy my curiosity. Sort of like when I saw the Mitered Squares Baby Blanket and couldn't seem to "get it" so I bought some yarn and made it. Actually doing something is a pretty good way to see how it's done! That's my revelation of the day!

Anyway, back to this project...Beaded Banners. You've probably seen them around the neighborhood on front doors or hanging in windows, or maybe just in a craft catalog like Mary Maxim or Herrschner's or other similar places. I have made quite a few of them in all different shapes and sizes and for all different occasions, picking them up when they are on sale or when they come out with one I particularly like or that would make a nice gift for someone special.

Well, early this year Mary Maxim announced on their website that they would be holding a Beaded Banner design contest and there would be 10 winners, each one receiving a $100 gift certificate to their catalog. Here was my opportunity to take my liking for this craft one step further and design my own. So I printed out the blank template that they offered on their website for those wishing to enter the contest and I set to work with my freshly sharpened colored pencils and a few ideas in my head. I actually designed four banners, but only submitted one. It takes a Really Long Time to fill in all 3000+ little ovals! In fact, the one design I did submit, I had to re-do three times before I got it just right.

Anyway, long-story-short, several weeks had gone by past when they had said they were going to announce the winners, so I figured I was out of the running. But just the very next day after I had given up, I got a phone call from The Nicest Lady at Mary Maxim informing me that my design was one of the winners and my gift certificate would be coming in the mail shortly! What a thrill! And besides that, they were going to pick several of the designs to offer as kits in an upcoming catalog! Well, hot dawg! I couldn't believe it. I still don't know if mine was picked to be made into a kit, but I check their website frequently and anxiously await their Christmas catalog to see if it's in there since the design I did was most definitely Christmas.


This one in the picture is most definitely NOT Christmas! I made this one as an Easter gift for my oldest sister who is a nun and a teacher. She hung it in her classroom window and it was so pretty on a sunny day. You can see in the picture that all but the black beads are translucent and the design gives the effect of stained glass, in a beaded banner sort of way. Anyway, she liked it and I thought it was a fun design to do because of all the detail in it.

Coming up soon, I will have a picture tutorial on how these banners are made, just in case you are curious too! You will see that there really is no mystery to it and they are very easy and quite fun to make.

If you like Beaded Things, don't forget to sign up for my 100th post give-away which ends Wednesday, Sept 17th!

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