Quick Doily

Here's a little doily I whipped up yesterday.

Hubby called it a little Sunburst Doily! It only measures 5" across. I blocked it with water, but no starch yet. I'm trying to decide if I want it for this one or not. But I'm happy with the cheery colors!

Pattern is from Olga at Lacy Crochet. Check out her other great patterns, too!

Hearts Doily

This was a fun and quick doily project for my sister's birthday.

Unfortunately, the picture doesn't do it justice. It's a beautiful bright red. The pattern was found here.

Spring into Summer CAL-Aloha Flower Anklet

I first tried this with medium yarn, as suggested. It was just too bulky for my liking.

The second attempt was done with thread and an additional flower to keep it an odd number (like floral arranging!). I was so pleased with how the variegated thread lined the colors up so well!

...nice tan line... =P

Friendship Doily CAL - More rounds

Here it is through Round 21!

Another Doily CAL-Friendship Doily

We're still waiting on pictures from last year's Doily CAL, aren't we? Ugh...what a huge project, a happy accomplishment, and well-received gift, but still no finished pictures posted! They'll make an appearance eventually.

In the meantime, I've started another one. March and April tend to be very busy months for us, but I was still super excited when Stitchy suggested another Doily CAL starting on April 17. Due to the busyness, it was best to start early and not wait.

I love this pattern so far! (FYI, there are a couple mistakes in the Special Stitches guide at the beginning so watch for that.)

Here it is as of Round 12 completed.

(It's currently back to the soft sage green color through Round 15. Sorry about the bad color. Still having picture troubles...)

Doilies

Just before Christmas, I finally finished the Crochet Along doily from...April? Wow. A lot of projects crept in and took over. But it still turned out beautifully. I'll be posting it soon.

Since then, there was a nice little Snowflake Doily pattern that 'cleansed my doily palette' after the huge project.

After my short break from doilies, patterns now keep popping up that interest me.

Olga just posted a doily she completed, and I liked it's simple pattern and elegance. She linked to the pattern.

Source-CoatsCrafts.co.uk

Unfortunately, it's a chart pattern! Why do I always steer clear of these? Maybe the whole picture is too overwhelming. Maybe reading and working round by round is a little more manageable. Maybe the symbols are too tiny and apt to make me lose my place.

Whatever it is, I probably won't be making this doily right now. But someday, I'm going to have to try it.

What is your preference? Written patterns or charts?

CAL Doily Update

Here's my progress on the CAL Doily:

I'm LOVING this one, but other things keep having to take precedence due to time.

This is at the beginning of the last set of pineapples. Looking at the picture, it seems smallish, but remember the center portion is about the size of a dinner plate.

I can't wait to see the finished product!

4th of July Doily

Inspired by Olga, I raided my thread stash and made this yesterday...

(Here's a better shot of the true colors)

...then I promptly ruined it. Bummer. Waste of the day, but that's life! My starch sprayer had trouble and sprayed a stream too directly causing the red to run into the white tinging it slightly pink. It's hard to see the spots in the picture, but it's definitely there.

Doily Crochet Along

Ever since Stitchy invited us to join her on a Doily CAL, I've been super excited about the pattern.

Source

Isn't that incredible?!

Well, the pattern calls for Size 20 thread. I had Size 10 on hand, and I hoped it would be enough.

See that center portion that sort of gets missed since its job is simply to prepare for the gorgeous pineapple rounds? Here's a view of mine so far.

It's almost the size of a dinner plate.

Yep, my finished product will definitely be bigger than the 18" one made from Size 20 thread!

I'm already much farther along than this picture shows, so I'll update again soon. It's HUGE!

Lavender Butterfly

I loved this one so much, I almost had a little trouble parting with it when I sold it! In fact, I've considered buying another packet to make myself my own set to create a combo with a dress that I'd someday like to alter/adapt so it might actually look OK on me... hmmm, lots of qualifiers, so maybe it's not worth it yet. We'll see. It's not like there aren't 372 other projects that should get done first anyway.

Size 6/0 Seed Beads. Peaceful colors or something, but I just love it. Is the green a bizarre addition?

Purple, Pink, and Pearl

...with a touch of gold, but that doesn't start with 'P.'

"Never underestimate the power of alliteration, my friend."

10 points if you can identify that line.

And now I'm off track, before even really getting on track! I blame it on a lack of sleep.

Size 6/0 Seed Beads purchased in individual tubes. Try as I might, I couldn't get the picture to translate the real colors. But that is definitely a purple and not brown. I guess you'll have to trust me that it's prettier in real life (if you can trust me to have an unbiased opinion!).

Turquoise and Pearl Bead Crochet Necklace

These Size 10/0 beads were purchased in a tube. Usually, that's plenty to get a necklace and a bracelet, but for some reason, the turquoise just didn't have enough. So it became a longer necklace!

I've also started adding bead caps to the ends of my necklaces and bracelets. I love the finishing touch (even though I broke one of my great-grandmother's crochet hooks doing it a few days ago...).

Northern Lights Necklace and Bracelet

This Bead Crochet Necklace was a bit of an experiment. I've found many color packets of beads that I really like, but I know it just wouldn't make sense to separate out the colors of the Size 10/0 beads. So I thought I'd try to do something different with this one. I kept 2 rows of silver and one row of black together, and then randomly strung the aqua-variety beads.

I mostly like how it turned out. Next time, I wouldn't keep the black ones in the 'random' threading. It seems a bit too 'chicken pox' for me. I'd like to see how it would turn out with softer colors sometime, too.

Bib Necklace

There are tons of projects on my list that are completed or in-process that are just waiting to be posted!

Here's my most current 'in-process' project.

I was asked to make a bib necklace, and since I'm not 100% certain what she'd like, I'm trying several varieties and patterns until one pops out as perfectly adaptable to how I want to create it.

This went much faster than I expected. It's an unknown yarn/thread that was given to me. I used a Size F hook, and it was finished (minus assembly, clearly...) in one afternoon. Love it! I found the pattern here.

Blue and Silver Bead Crochet Set

It's been a while since I've posted any of my Bead Crochet work, but I've been doing a lot of it lately!

Here's a necklace and bracelet set that is done with Size 10/0 Seed Beads, Blue and Silver.

I was happy with the finished product, though I've not had opportunity to wear it yet! I have a couple great summer shirts that should match. Maybe I'll get to wear it soon.

Remember to check out my tutorial if you're interested in doing this yourself.

Kindness and a Giveaway

I was extended a very generous kindness today with the explanation being that it was "Random Act of Kindness Day." Whether it is official or just celebrated by that person, it was a wonderful surprise!

In an effort to share the love, I'm going to give away one of my Bead Crochet necklaces or bracelets.

15" Necklace with Size 6/0 Seed Beads

18" Necklace with Size 8/0 Seed Beads

20" Necklace with Size 6/0 Seed Beads -The Silver Beads have a more 'pewter' look rather than so shiny as it appears.

9" Bracelet with Size 8/0 Seed Beads

9" Bracelet with Size 6/0 Seed Beads

How to enter: Leave a comment telling me about one of the nicest things someone has done for you, and you'll be entered to win!

Open to US residents. Contest ends on Wednesday evening, and the winner will be announced and contacted on Thursday. You'll have until Saturday to respond or a new winner will be announced.

Candy Cane Masterpiece

This Candy Cane Set was created with Size 11 Seed Beads. It takes a very long time to thread everything. I had a dickens of a time the first night I started because my hands were very dry, and I couldn't manipulate the beads for anything! Grrr. It quickly became much easier by the next couple days.

Materials:
Size 30 Crochet Thread
Twisted Wire Needle
Size 11/0 Seed Beads (a tube of each color was plenty for us, surprisingly enough)
Size 12 Crochet Hook
Clasp

For peace of mind, it's best to start by making the bracelet. That way you can just keep going with whatever is left for the necklace. In our case, we were pretty sure we thread more than necessary, so the necklace would just be longer. This is better than having to take off any extra beads because a bracelet is getting too big.

All this boring talk. All you want to see is the finished product! Here they are:

(The bracelet is spread out so it will fit nicely on the display.)

What do you think? I'm pretty sure she was pleased with it. She kept saying, "I was just going to thread a bunch of beads and twist them together!"

Later she added the little charm:

Once again, if you want to try this, it's easiest to start with a larger bead for your first project. And let me know how it turns out!

Sisterly Creativity and Crafts

During Christmas, we traveled south to visit with my sister and her family. What a blast!

My sister is the truly creative and crafty one. It's rather sickening. Anyone else have that in your family? The one member that so effortlessly creates masterpieces? Well, the beauty I find in it is that it allows me to try to steal adapt some of her projects and ideas. =D

To make a hilariously long and crafty week summed up, here's what happened. She pulled out some tiny beads and mentioned that she wanted to make a candy cane necklace. She was going to thread them all and then twist them together. I suggested crocheting it like the necklace I made for her last year. Her response: "You MADE that?" Ha ha!! She never knew and had never worn it. We got lots of laughs out of this.

Our projects for the week were quickly determined. We ran out to Hobby Lobby, picked up some Size 30 Crochet Thread, additional beads, and Twisted Wire Needles for threading all those tiny Size 11 beads. Since we knew it would take a while to thread all the tiny beads, we picked up some Size 6 beads for the 'in the meantime' project.

First project completed:

A beautiful Christmas Necklace!

And to add to the disgustingness of her creativity and natural talent, my sister, the non-crocheter, picked this up SO fast, she's already made several of her own and for friends!

So, I'm telling you, try it! You'll love it.

(The Candy Cane Masterpiece will be posted soon...)

This was SO much more fun than working on all the orders for headbands. I had plenty of time to finish those after we got back home.

Poinsettia Doily

Another gift I made was this Poinsettia Doily in a gorgeous deep red.

A straight-on shot:

Hubby and I both liked the way the 'petals' seemed to swirl from the center, so I did not attempt to force them straight (as the pattern suggested). This was his favorite doily of the ones I made for gifts. ...maybe it's his all-time favorite, I never asked for clarification. It's just nice to have someone like what you've made!

First Snow Doily

My only white doily made for Christmas! (not that I didn't love the other colors I used, I just always thought of doilies as traditionally white...before I started making them)

The pattern is Winter's First Snow. Thus the choice of white. =)

A straight-on shot:

This is possibly Size 5 Thread, but I don't know for sure. It hasn't had a label in years. It is slightly thicker than Size 10 Thread. Do you think the thicker thread causes it to lose too much detail? I'm wondering so that I can mark my pattern for if I ever make it again.

Regardless of the thread, I enjoyed working on this pattern.