How Do You dc2tog?

How do you double crochet 2 together?

Method 1:
YO, insert hook in st indicated, YO and pull up a loop (3 lps on hook); YO, pull through 2 loops; YO, insert hook in next st, YO and pull up a loop (4 lps on hook); YO, pull through 2 loops, YO, pull through rem 3 loops.

OR

Method 2:
YO, insert hook in st, YO and pull up a loop (3 lps on hook); insert hook in next st, YO, pull through, (4 lps on hook); YO, pull through 2 loops on hook, YO again and pull through last loops on hook.

One of these methods just came up on a pattern I found and the other is what I've always done. It makes me wonder if I've been doing it wrong all these years or if there's simply another variation.

What do you do?

Little Quackers Pattern

I recently tested this pattern for Lazy Daisy Crochet. It's Quackers the Baby Duck, and he's a smaller sized cuddle blanket.

Look how cute he is!

I keep thinking he needs some little smile lines around his beak to make him even cuter. But I hate to mess with a good thing!

Her pattern is for sale here. Go check out her blog --she has some amazing giveaways pretty regularly! She's currently celebrating her followers with a great giveaway package.

Queen Anne's Lace Scarf

This was a quick and easy little project that finished up an almost-full skein that was leftover from a blanket. I love how it turned out!

It's a soft pink color in I Love This Yarn. I found the pattern here. The yarn was just structured enough to not hide the pretty pattern, but it's soft enough to not give you the 'itchy neck' issues.

Hubby wonders if it's too short to give as a Christmas gift. Should I consider adding a couple motifs to each end in a contrasting color to lengthen it? Or should I just leave it alone and let it be more decorative than practical (as far as wrapping it around the neck)? I welcome your input!

Baby Girl Blanket and Headband

Is it because summer is winding down that all of us are so determined to finish off various projects? School is almost starting and craziness will begin again? Back to schedules and calendars and much less free time? Whatever the reason, it's good to accomplish projects that have been waiting around, and I'm determined to put away certain ones to make room for something new.

We were headed out for camping this weekend, and I knew there were certain items I didn't want to drag along with me (more on that later). On Thursday night, I wanted to finish a project I had started with that fantastic yarn deal from earlier this summer.

Here is the Ocean Tranquility Afghan from Anastacia Knits.

I decided on a color changing pattern rather than one solid color. I also made it slightly bigger than the suggested baby blanket size using a Size H hook and beginning with Ch 93 rather than Ch 63.

I really liked this pattern! It was fun, simple, and it came together so quickly even with adding the color change in there.

When I finished, I had just enough yarn leftover to make a matching baby headband.

Here it is not-yet-assembled. Now it's time to find a really great button to put in there to make it perfect for a little girl.

Once I finished that blanket, I had to rush around to figure out what project I did want to work on while camping... oops. Plan ahead! I figured it out though, no worries.

Bridal Shower Gift

It has been a pretty busy week and weekend for us. We're starting to get caught up on sleep again, I've finally caught up on (hopefully) all your posts, and there's an end in sight to catching up with all the laundry folding that I missed. Phew!

Now it's time to catch up with my projects that need to be posted.

The first one is a collection of kitchen items for a bridal shower. Please don't tell anyone this, but I scrambled like a crazy woman to get these done. We had some ideas of what we wanted to do for this shower gift, but we changed our minds once we saw the kitchen colors she had picked. I had all the yarn on hand, and I was excited about putting something together.

Sure wish we'd decided that before Thursday... ;-)

No worries, they work up very quickly, and I had the 3 potholders done by Friday afternoon. Friday evening, I made all the washcloths. All set for the Saturday morning shower!

 (This made the yellow washcloth look skewed, but I promise, it is a rectangle!)

It seems that everyone out there knows how to make these potholders (though in the interest of full disclosure, I just learned the actual pattern last summer...) and the washcloths were super fast.

Washcloth pattern
Ch 31.
Row 1: (Dc, ch 1, dc - V-stitch made) in 5th ch from hook, sk 2 ch, V-st in next ch across to last 2 ch; dc in first ch.
Row 2: Ch 3, V-st in ch-1-sp and in each across; dc in last dc.
Repeat until desired size; sc border in complementing color.

These were fun. I hope they like using them!

Pattern, Perfectionism, and Par for the Course

On Saturday, I delivered another set of Headbands to the local Boutique. She's having a big Open House this coming weekend, and I wanted to make sure that she had plenty in stock. Now that she has such a good supply, I can back off of making them like a crazy woman every free moment.

In my pursuit of a variety of headband yarn, some great baby blanket yarn leaped into my basket courtesy of my wonderful hubby.

I was anxious to do another version of a simple pattern I had created a few years ago. This is the Pattern Part of P for today.

Ch 112
Row 1: Dc in 4th ch from hook and each st across.
Row 2-3: Ch 3 (count as first dc) and dc in each st across.
Row 4: Ch 3; dc in next 6 st. Sk 1 dc, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next dc; V-st made. * Sk 2 dc; V-st * repeat until last 8 dc. Sk 1 dc, dc in last 7 st.
Row 5: Ch 3; dc in next 6 st. Sk next dc, V-st in each ch-1-sp across, dc in last 7 st.
Repeat row 5 until desired length.
Finish with 3 rows of dc (one in each ch-1-sp and dc across for first row).

Very simplified pattern, but hopefully it makes sense. It's such a fun and quick pattern. As it started coming together and I was counting stitches on Saturday night, I had to laugh at myself that this is the largest project I've worked on in several months. Pathetic!

Now on to the Perfectionism Part of P.

Any other perfectionists out there? Maybe you'll understand my weirdness here. As this is coming together, it seems more likely that I'm working the length of the blanket rather than the width. That would be OK in some cases, but the V-stitch makes it seem a little awkward, maybe?

So fellow perfectionists... do I rip it all out and recount my pattern to be more appropriate to the width or do I just keep going? How OCD should I be about this?

A blurry phone-picture of the last time I made this pattern:

Bad choice of yarn--you can barely see the border. But you can probably tell I had the same problem last time. Did I learn and mark adaptations to my pattern? Nope. Some perfectionist I am.

I await your advice. Start over or keep going?

And finally...Par for the Course. This is what we woke up to yesterday morning:

Spring in Wisconsin, my friends! Last Sunday: 80 degrees. Following Monday 8 days later: snow. At least it isn't sticking to the roads...

New Yarn and Patterns

Remember to enter my giveaway this week!

Anyone else out there get stuck in a rut for a while? I find projects I enjoy, and I make them to death! I constantly go back to yarn textures that I'm comfortable using. My color choices become predictable.

The good news is that I know what types of yarn I want for certain projects, and I get pretty fast at those patterns, right?! Currently, I have several "go-to" projects, and thankfully, that helps keep me from getting bored by any one of them in particular.

Just the same, it's nice to get new inspiration!

Ring, ring: MAIL TIME!
A couple weeks ago, I told you about Paula's giveaways on her blog. She was having a huge birthday celebration by sharing tons of goodies with her readers. It was such a blast! I was fortunate enough to win several skeins of yarn. They arrived in the mail yesterday! Super fun. Paula, being the VERY generous sweetie that she is, threw in a TON of fun patterns for me, too!

The tip of the iceberg:

And the new skeins of yarn:

In the busyness of Thanksgiving, I neglected to post this that Tamara from Crochet with Tamara sent to me:

So much new inspiration at my fingertips, now! I can take the hint: Get off that computer and start making something new! =D

Scarf pattern tested - SmoothFox

I tested another pattern for SmoothFox last week. It's called SmoothFox's Crazy Box Stitch Scarf.

This was such a fun and easy project! She even has it available as a free pattern if you want to give it a try.

I think I might end up taking it out and removing one repetition of the box stitch so it's a bit longer and thinner, but I have so many projects ahead of me that we'll see how much of a priority it is.

Testing Patterns

I had the honour/opportunity to test three patterns for SmoothFox this weekend. I found her blog a couple weeks ago, and I loved the idea of being a pattern tester!

Turns out that she's making the patterns available on her blog, so pop over there to try them out for yourself!

I used some extra Christmas colored yarn that was hanging around.

The Granny for Christmas square:

The Holiday Coaster:

The Holiday Star:

This star was done in worsted weight cotton. I really like how it turned out!

Washcloth/Sponge Crochet Style - Free Pattern

I learned from a friend to cut my dishwashing sponges in half when I take them out of the package. It fits my hand so much better, and you can try to extend their life by only using half at a time. This has worked really well for me, especially since I had a large supply of sponges for some reason.

Recently, I noticed I'd be running out of them soon, and I figured I'd just use the variety of washcloths I've made. That little finicky part of me that loves the small size of the sponge was sort of dreading that. Also, who else out there HATES that smell that suddenly develops overnight on a washcloth? Maybe it has to do with water quality because I notice it at some houses more than others.

Anyway, I figured, why not make some small washcloths for myself?

So I did.

I absolutely love them! The double-thickness makes it easier to hold, and it won't "break down" as quickly as a sponge tends to do.

(Hmmm...NOW I think about the fact that I should have had a frame of reference in that picture... ;-) sorry!)

This is very similar to a Hot Pad/Trivet pattern that is out there, so if you've done that, this will be a snap.

Here's how to make them:
Cotton Worsted Weight yarn
Size G hook
Chain 20 (15 for smaller size--I can't decide yet which one I prefer)
Turn, sc in each stitch across.
When you get to the end of the row, DON'T turn. Continue around to the other side of your beginning chain, sc all the way across. The whole pattern is done in one continuous round, so as you go, the corners will curl in at you. Continue until the sides meet and it becomes the shape (square or rectangle) that you want. Mine were about 6-8 rows.
Pull another 12-15 inches of yarn before cutting. Weave through the loops to bring the sides together. At the end, I added extra chains to make a loop for hanging this at my kitchen sink.

FYI: You might have to reshape them just a bit after washing and drying them.

Let me know if you try this!