Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Slowly Recovering...

First of all I must apologize to you all for my extended absence. I honestly didn't mean to be away for this long. I know I still owe you all a square to represent December, and I will work on that and get it published soon, I promise. ;)

So what have I been doing all month? *sigh* Where to start?

December was especially stressful this year. I don't usually let the craziness of the season get to me so early in the month. I usually wait until the very last minute to totally freak out. LOL

Thanksgiving was the turning point. The reality of what little time there was left for gift making suddenly hit me, and this year making as many gifts as possible was essential since I don't currently have an income. And besides, that's what I bought all that yarn for! (I did use a good bit of it too.)

I was crocheting like a madwoman all month. I made afghans, amigurumi, hats, scarves, and all kinds of other things for friends and family. Almost none of which I thought to take pictures of. Arggh! I hate that about myself. :( I did take a picture of a Kermit I made, but the camera's batteries are currently dead so I'll have to share a picture of him next time...

Although I was still putting the finishing touches on Kermit at 2am Christmas morning, I did manage to get everything finished and wrapped in time. But there always has to be something that throws a wrench into the whole deal and this year was no different. The coup de grĂ¢ce was the nastiest stomach bug you could ever wish NOT to encounter. It ripped it's way through the family one after another. It was like watching dominoes fall.

Son in law brought it home from work on the 23rd. From there, Ben had it by Christmas eve, Cyndi on Christmas day, Matthew (my son) on Saturday, and just when I had made a joke about being the "Last Man Standing"... I fell... I woke up Sunday morning with it and am just now getting my appetite and energy back. Cyndi joked about the ordeal saying, "Well at least we saved a bundle on groceries this week!" Gotta try to find the humor in there somewhere! :)

To try to keep this post from getting too boring, I think I'll give you a sneak peek of some things that you will be seeing sometime within the next few weeks/months from me. I still need to write patterns, but these are a few things I made a while back that I plan to share...

Some small stuffies...



More dishcloths...



And for the knitters and seal lovers...




And of course I have tons of WIPs and UFOs that I need to get back to. Including my pink button project, the bright grannieghan, Son in Law's camo-rippleghan, a knitted ghan that's been on the needles for 2 years (YIKES!) that I've resolved to finish this year (bigger YIKES!!), baby booties, adult & children's granny-style hats, fudge recipe, and lots of other ideas and patterns and cool fun stuff that's still trapped in my sorry little mind trying to break free. I'll get to them all eventually. Thanks for hanging in there with me! :)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Mistletoe

Finished Size: 12 inches square

MATERIALS
Approx. 4 ounces worsted weight yarn (Honeydew used for example)
US size "I" hook
Tapestry needle for weaving in ends

Gauge: Rnds 1-3 = 4 1/2 inches

SPECIAL STITCHES:
v-st: (dc, ch 1, dc) in designated space

ch 4

Round 1: 15 dc in 4th ch from hook, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. (16 dc)

Round 2: ch 4 (counts as beg ch 3 + ch 1), dc in same st, ch 1, sc in next st, ch 1, (v-st in next st, ch 1, sc in next st, ch 1) 7 times, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. (8 v-sts, 8 sc)

Round 3: sl st into next ch 1 sp, ch 1, sc in same sp, ch 4, (sc in next v-st, ch 4) 7 times, join with sl st in beg sc. (8 ch 4 sps, 8 sc)

Round 4: sl st into next ch 4 sp, ch 1, 5 sc in same sp, ch 1, skip next sc, (5 sc in next sp, ch 1, skip next sc) 7 times, join with sl st in beg sc. (40 sc, 8 ch 1 sps)

Round 5: ch 1, sc in same st, sc in next st, tr in next st, sc in each of next 2 sts, v-st in next ch 1 sp, (sc in each of next 2 sts, tr in next st, sc in each of next 2 sts, v-st in next ch 1 sp) 7 times, join with sl st in beg sc. (8 v-sts, 8 tr)

Round 6: ch 1, sc in same sp, sc in each of next 4 sts, skip next dc, 3 sc in next ch 1 sp, skip next dc, (sc in each of next 5 sts, skip next dc, 3 sc in next ch 1 sp, skip next dc) 7 times, join with sl st in beg sc. (64 sc)

Round 7: sl st in each of next 2 sts, ch 1, sc in same st, skip next st, dc in each of next 2 sts, v-st in next st, dc in each of next 2 sts, skip next st, sc in next st, skip next st, (dc in each of next 2 sts, v-st in next st, dc in each of next 2 sts, skip next st, sc in next st, skip next st) 7 times, join with sl st in beg sc. (8 v-sts)

Round 8: ch 4 (counts as beg ch 3 + ch 1), skip next st, dc in next st, ch 1, skip next st, [v-st in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, skip next st, (dc in next st, ch 1, skip next st) 3 times] 7 times, v-st in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, skip next st, dc in next st, ch 1, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. (8 v-sts)

Round 9: ch 3, (dc in next ch 1 sp, dc in next st) twice, *(2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next ch 1 sp, (dc in next st, dc in next ch 1 sp) 3 times, hdc in next st, ch 2, skip next ch 1 sp and next st, sl st in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, skip next st and ch 1 sp, hdc in next st**, (dc in next ch 1 sp, dc in next st) 3 times***, rep between * and *** twice more, repeat between * and ** once more, dc in next ch 1 sp, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. (64 dc, 8 hdc)

Round 10: ch 2, dc in each of next 6 sts, *(2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next ch 2 sp, dc in each of next 6 sts, hdc in next st, sc in each of next 2 sts, 2 sc in next ch 2 sp, sc in next st around the sl st and into the v-st from round 8, 2 sc in next ch 2 sp, sc in each of next 2 sts**, hdc in next st, dc in each of next 6 sts***, rep between * and *** twice more, rep bet * and ** once more, join with sl st in top of beg ch 2. (64 dc, 36 sc)

Round 11: ch 4 (counts as beg ch 3 + ch 1), skip next st, dc in each of next 3 sts, ch 1, skip next st, dc in each of next 3 sts, *(2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next ch 2 sp, (dc in each of next 3 sts, ch 1, skip next st) 6 times, dc in each of next 3 sts, rep from * twice more, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next ch 2 sp, (dc in each of next 3 sts, ch 1, skip next st) 4 times, dc in each of next 2 sts, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. (100 dc, 24 ch 1 sp)

Round 12: sl st into next ch 1 sp, ch 1, sc in same sp, sc in next st, tr in next st, sc in next st, sc in next ch 1 sp, sc in next st, tr in next st, sc in each of next 3 sts, *(sc, ch 2, sc) in next ch 2 sp, sc in each of next 3 sts, (tr in next st, sc in next st, sc in next ch 1 sp, sc in next st) 6 times, tr in next st, sc in each of next 3 sts, rep from * twice more, (sc, ch 2, sc) in next ch 2 sp, sc in each of next 3 sts, (tr in next st, sc in next st, sc in next ch 1 sp, sc in next st) 4 times, tr in next st, sc in next st, join with sl st in beg sc. (104 sc, 28 tr)

Round 13: sl st in next st, ch 3, dc in each of next 2 sts, ch 1, skip next st, dc in each of next 3 sts, ch 1, skip next st, dc in each of next 2 sts, *(2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next ch 2 sp, dc in each of next 2 sts, ch 1, skip next st, (dc in each of next 3 sts, ch 1, skip next st) 7 times, dc in each of next 2 sts, rep from * twice more, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next ch 2 sp, dc in each of next 2 sts, ch 1, skip next st, (dc in each of next 3 sts, ch 1, skip next st) 5 times, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. (116 dc, 32 ch 1 sp)

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Pattern designed and written by April Moreland
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