New Blanket Pattern

Two of my most favorite things are yarn and fabric!  I absolutely fell in love with this fabric when I spied it in Joann Fabrics. Soft, minky love and very Cath Kidston to me.  She is a popular gal in the United Kingdom and is all things feminine and flowery. 

My #1 selling pattern is the 

Crocheted Reversible Blanket.

It's a super simple crocheted blanket with fabric on one side.  I've received many emails over the years to design one that can be put together with a sewing machine.  The original pattern is far too bulky to handle that so you must hand sew the fabric on.  Actually, I don't mind hand sewing but I totally get those that cringe at the idea.

Your wish is granted!  A simple crochet stitch, flowers, leaves and pom pom trim all crocheted and put together with minky fabric.  Easy peasy to run through your machine.

 I attached the pom pom trim and flowers to the yarn side to add interest, but you could add it to the fabric side if you like it that way.

 

Lovely flowers and leaves add a whimsy, 3D effect to the fabric side.  Really easy patterns and I've given you a video link for the pom pom trim.  Lots of up close photos too.

As with all my patterns, I'm always available to help you along the way.

 

 Add them to the fabric side or the yarny side.  Either way I love it!

 

Worsted weight yarn, 1620 yards (1482m) will get you this 49" L x 33" W (124cm x 84cm) size.  

*****Selling the finished product is permitted*****

 

Of course, there are some great prints for boys too!  You can make one for yourself too in any size you like and it's doubly warm.

You can find the pattern in my 

Etsy shop

Craftsy

Ravelry

Best,

Sheila

Purls of Wisdom:

I love my scissor sharpener from Fiskars.  I found mine at Hancock Fabrics for about $8.00.  If you don't have one, you can still sharpen them with foil.  Just fold up a piece a few times and cut.

Mother's Day Gifts

If you're looking for something besides a scarf or blanket for Mother's Day, here are a few ideas.

My bestie asked for some soup bowl cozies.  You know, something to hold under a hot bowl of soup instead of a tea towel.  This is what I came up with.....crochet a basket with cotton yarn and line it with fabric.  Now, you don't need to line it with fabric.  It works just fine without it.

Here's what I did:

Crochet a circle and start increasing using a soup bowl as a guide.  Keep doing that until you you get the size you want.  Just keep checking the fit after a few rows.

I cut the fabric in a circle, including a 1" hem.  I then just whip stitched it to the yarn basket.  

They're reversible too!

I really like them and so did my bestie!  As I said, you don't need to add fabric and they work just fine at keeping the heat off your hand using just yarn.  Also, the yarn has just enough stretch to fit many a bowl size.

Socks are a great gift too!  There's plenty of time until Mother's Day to whip up some in her favorite color.  I use a free pattern from Susan B Anderson.  Great "how I knit my socks" pattern can be found on her Rav page.

I love this pillow I crocheted for our couch. It's from Lucy of Attic 24,  You can use any weight yarn and she has the free pattern on her lovely blog.  In the above photo, I used Knit Picks Chroma in a fingering weight.  No need to change colors as you go if you have some long run yarn in your stash.  Again, another great gift for Mom.

If you know how to crochet some edging, just add it to some pillow cases as a gift.  Get out your crochet edging books and pick a pattern.  I like to do this using fingering weight or finer.

Crochet up a few little baskets for her to hold bits and bobs or place a little potted plant inside of one.  You might want to cover the bottom of the plant with plastic wrap or foil to protect the basket.

I used this pattern with whatever yarn I had and added fabric.

I'd love to hear about ideas you have for Mother's Day gift giving!

Best,

Sheila

Factoid:

In the 1950's, 75% of American households had sewing machines.  Now it's less than 5%.

NO TIME!

Holiday Knitting and Crocheting Part Two

As promised, Part Two of Holiday Knitting and Crocheting is all about blankets!  If you are here in the USA, kids are back in school, garden clean up begins, jeans, scarves and shawls come out of hiding and yarny blankets fill our laps!  

This is my most popular blanket pattern by far....Crocheted Reversible Blanket.  Super easy for the beginner and beyond, in any size and in any yarn weight.  The addition of fabric makes it extra special and I have new fabrics in my Etsy shop to help.

For little boys....

to Aneela Hoey, to

Cath Kidston inspired.

Something for the more advanced crocheter, the Uptown Stroller Blanket.  Two skeins of worsted weight yarn makes this family heirloom!  It's rather on the tiny side, but directions are given to make it larger.

Try it in more than one color to match the gender or nursery.

If you are a knitter, the Knitting Chevrons in Technicolor Blanket is an easy, two row repeat using worsted weight yarn in seventeen colors.  I have three knitting patterns and four crochet patterns in the Technicolor Series.  You can easily get up to 4 blankets out of all that yarn.  If you are a newbie knitter and ready to move on from scarves, this is for you!

This entrelac blanket is from Mary Maxim and absolutely stunning!  It comes as a kit in different colorways if pastel rainbows is not to your liking.  The color changing yarn does all the work here!  The pattern calls for an i-cord edge, however, I crocheted four rows in single crochet. I knit this using US size 7 circular needles.  You will knit back and forth, as you do on straight needles.  Circs are used to accommodate the weight of the blanket.

 I found this one on Ravelry by Louise Marina.  I adore the sweet border.

I could not find a pattern for this one, but you can use your scrap yarn, make scarves and stitch them together.  I love this effect.

What are you working on for your holiday, yarny goodness?

Find all my pattern stores at the top of this page or

Etsy here

Craftsy here

Ravelry here

Next week, head and hands!

Best,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

Here are some blanket sizes for you!

Lovely Handmade Tea Towels and Cherry Jam

I went on a little get away last weekend to visit one of my besties in Des Moines, Iowa.  Michelle and I have been friends for 14 years.  We were neighbors when I lived in Des Moines in the early 2000's.  Our girls are the same age and played together often.  I also got in a nice dinner and drinks with my Jr. High (middle school) pals from the early 1970's.  We fell right back in like no time had gone by.  They had the same laugh and mannerisms.  I notice mannerisms so often when I'm with people I haven't seen in a long time.  The way they move their mouth when they talk.  The hand gestures and the sound of their voice.  It makes me so warm and fussy inside! 

I can't imagine what life would be like without my gal pals.  It's not that I have tons of them, but the ones I do have are cherished beyond belief.  They accept you for who you are and don't try to change you.  They are there in times of joy and great sorrow.  Good friends are crucial for my well being.  I'm a hard woman, ask anybody that knows me.  Loud and opinionated with balls of steel!  But, if you and I end up pals.....I'm loyal, loving and very fortunate, indeed, to have you in my life.  It takes great effort to be a friend.  If you put forth that effort, so will I.

I actually know of a few girls that don't have girlfriends!  I can't comprehend that.  They have acquaintances, but not a single "girlfriend" to share laughter and tears with.  I give every soon to be bride one bit of advise.....don't give up your girlfriends when you marry.  If you don't have any, get some.  You're going to need them.

Well, I digress.  Sorry about that.  On with the tea towels!

Aren't these lovely?  I just had to add some real cherries.  The crystal dish is actually for olives, but I love the skinny single look.  Des Moines has a lovely East Side that is getting better every time I visit.  More shops, bars and vintagey little stores with all kinds of goodies inside.  I had to have these tea towels from a little shop called Porch Light. Very vintage looking, but new and sturdy.  The tea towels that is!

I love the rick rack and crochet edge.  You could so do this easily yourself, but I had to have them.  As much as I would like to give them as a gift, I'm keeping them for myself.  I'm not going to worry about getting them dirty, or if the edging comes off after washing them several times.

Four towels in a beautiful "envelope" for $24.00.  The fabric is by Moda....need I say more?  I just LOVE so many of Moda's line of cotton.  If you look close, you can see a little fork attached to the hang tag.  Each towel has a ribbon sewn in the corner to hang it from a hook.  I myself, drape them on the oven handle.

The fabric used for the envelope is my fav, but they all are lovely.

Nice and thick.  One could easily use them for something other than drying your hands.  Make slip covers for your couch pillows.  Sew up a cozy for your mixer, toaster or tea pot.  Toss them on the back of your sofa where your head rests.

Kate Shaw owns Porch Light in Des Moines, Iowa at 526 East Grand Ave.  She has a great eye for all things vintage.  Her slogan is, old time is divine.  Love that!  

Here are some more designs to choose from.  

I love the texture of these.

I'm a sucker for a nice hankie!

Gorgeous little plastic totes!

Darling little books.

How cute are these bibs?

Kate was lovely.  Greeting you warmly as you came in.  Leaving you be to browse and take in all the vintage goodness!  I like that.  She has tons of yummy, retro goodies.  I have three or four shops in Des Moines that are always on my list of "must see" when I visit.  Porch Light is one of them, so if you find yourself in Des Moines, be sure to pop in and see all that Kate has to offer.

Speaking of cherries...made some jam from the cherry tree in our back yard.  I think I cooked it too long as it needs to "slack out" on the counter when I want to slather it on toast.  The plate is not actually a paper plate.  I love these and picked them up on a trip to Texas last spring.  Nice and thick, but look like a real paper plate with little bees on them.  I also have a stack of plain ones.  Amazon.com has them.  They are called "What is it" reusable paper plate.

 Really cute with cherries and polka dots!

Love these colors!

Little ants....funny!

Ok, that's it!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Best,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

To keep track of washing requirements on hand knit socks, put in a row or two of color coded yarn in the toes.  

Red=hand wash, dry flat

Yellow=machine wash, dry flat

Green=machine wash and dry
Food tip:
When you make deviled eggs, after you pour out the hot water, shake your pan back and forth so the eggs crack against the side, then let the cold water run over them.  By doing this, the cold water gets under the shell.  When you peel them, presto, the shell comes right off!