Custom orders

It has been a while since I was able to blog.  We had two wonderful vacations this summer.  One to see our darling grandchildren and one to see the Colorado mountains where I get so much inspiration.  When I got back, my computer broke.  After the purchase of a new one it is finally up and running.  Then came the loss of my father in this world. (I know I will see him, again, one day.)
 One thing my father taught me is, when life gets tough, start looking at everything I can find to be thankful for.

I thought I would do a post on one of the wonderful serendipities to selling my knit and crochet on line.  That is custom orders.  They always challenge me.  One concern I often have is in using words to describe what a customer wants can cause confusion.  (i.e., they want a tree.  When I think tree, my mind envisions a Ponderosa pine tree.  Is that what your mind envisions?)  Most of my customers are not artists and so sending a simple drawing to show me what they have in mind is not an option.

A few months ago, I had a customer who was an artist.  She could define colors to the shade and sent simple drawings.  She also loved my rendition of columbines and she was wanting different versions of what I had in my shop with color variations from what was already there.  She loves dark columbines and she wanted barrettes using these colors. Here are the pictures of the barrettes she wanted.

She also wanted a set of traditional colored columbines.

 

 

Custom orders give me an idea of what others are looking for and so I often make more to add to my shop.  Here is what I am currently offering but color variations are an fairly simple request.  current supply of barrettes in my etsy shop

 

Besides this particular item, she also wanted columbines made into bookmarks and I came up with this design.

 

 

current columbine bookmark in my shop

 

Finally she wanted a columbine necklace in various shades.  I added this particular variation to a columbine pattern that is available in my pattern stores because I love how it came out.

current columbine chocker necklaces available in shop

 

If you would like to make your own choker necklace in the colors of your choosing, the pattern for it can be found here.  columbine necklace pattern  The pattern includes picture tutorials that explain any stitches that might seem challenging.

 

It is amazing what ideas can spring from one customers order.  I am very grateful for custom orders.  I love making just what the customer had in mind and it sparks all sorts of ideas in my mind to do for future shoppers.

 

 

 

 











Designing for new blessings

I have a new granddaughter that arrived this past year.  What a blessing she is.  (Of course, so is her mommy and daddy and big brother.)

 

She arrived just after we had spent a week in my Colorado Mountains.  There were Columbine flowers all over those mountains.  I took these pictures because I just wanted to try to design these wonderful works of art.

 Here is another shot from the side view.

 

These wonderful flowers are so much larger than the domesticated variety but they do not come in all the wonderful color combinations as the tame ones.  I always try to grow these in Kansas.  Here is a shot of one of my efforts.

Now, something that seems to hold true with all my children and now grandchildren is that they are all bald.  I spent two years taping bows to my oldest girl's head just so people knew she was a girl.

 

I just knew I had to design a beautiful headband for my new granddaughter that would accentuate her beauty.  I have always wanted to crochet Columbines because they are so wonderful so I got to work.

 

First came the flower which can look so different when it is a side view or a front on view.  So after many, many hours of frogging steps I came up with the flower from both the side view and the front view.  My daughter loved them and suggested just making them into clip barrettes that she could add them to an already existing headband.  (I wish I had had headbands like these when my children were young).

 

So the pattern continued.  It included instructions for just making the clip barrettes and I continued to work on the band. 











It calls for really soft elastic because babies head are so tender and I chose to buy some of the baby headbands and cut them up to fill the elastic gap.

 



The pattern has a lot of picture tutorials to help others through the process of making this work of art.

I love how it came out.  God gives us so many examples of his love.  For me, His gorgeous Columbine flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow are one example.  Daughters and now grandchildren are are such precious blessings that even when I doubt that He cares, I just have to look at them and know my doubts are lies.  What have you found that proves God's love in your life?

 

 













half double crochet cluster stitches and Irish Crochet

In designing crochet patterns I love the half double crochet (U.S. abbreviation).  It is exactly the right size to get to the the double crochet smoothly.  A lot of my work ends up using a half double crochet 2 together stitch.  When I go to youtube I cannot find a tutorial on this stitch so I thought I would make one here.

To make the half double crochet stitch (U.S. abbreviation is hdc):  It has a single wrap just like the double crochet. The needle is inserted into the stitch, I yarn over and then pull through the stitch.  Now I have 3 threads on my hook.  I  yarn over once again and pull it through all three stands on the hook.

I use a lot of half double crochet 2 together (abbreviation is hdc2tog) in my patterns also.  This is just two half double crochets in the same stitch.  Making one hdc, I don't pull through the three stands but instead make another single wrap and insert it in the same stitch.  I yarn over, pull through the stitch, yarn over and pull through all five strands on my hook.

I am currently working on a design that uses some Irish crochet techniques.  One of these is using 3 half double crochet cluster stitches (a form of a clones knot) which is worked in my pattern around the chain instead of in a specific stitch.  The 3 half double crochet cluster (U.S. abbreviation 3 hdcCL) just adding a third hdc to the stitch, yarning over and pulling through all the threads at once. 

It is closed with a slip stitch in the top. This made a pretty little knot on the spurs of the Columbine flower I am designing

Finally, I needed a little larger knot on some stamen for the Columbine flower.  For this I used a 4 hdcCL stitch.  Again, I made 4 unfinished half double crochet around the chain (instead of in a specific stitch), yarn over and pull through all the strands on the hook.





 Again it is closed with a simple slip stitch which makes a wonderful little Clones type knot on the end of the stamen.

The final stage to finish the stamen and spurs of the Columbine Flower design is to slip st around the chain that the cluster stitch is made on. 

Now I use the chain as a padding cord.  Instead of single crocheting in each stitch I single crochet around the chain the number of times specified in the pattern.

I love Irish crochet and have found that many of the techniques work really well with larger thread and yarn and comes out beautifully.  The Columbine flower is so beautiful and I just had to see if I could make something in crochet that would look close to the original flower.

I hope this tutorial is helpful and that it encourages others to not fear using Irish crochet techniques. It really is just crochet with some embellishments.   







Washing red yarns and threads

I love the color red and so many of my thread crochet and even my yarn knitting includes red.  When I was young, (many, many years ago) red thread was color fast.  In the past 15 years I would not say that is true.  Nothing is more discouraging then getting a red and white piece done, washing it and having it bleed all over the white.

Here is another example of the red and white I love to use.

I always hand wash my crochet so that I can pin the shapes and just take the 'rumple' out of a piece I have been working on.

I have finally come up with a recipe for laundering reds that has not gone wrong on me yet.  I start with a bowl of cool filtered water.  I have a filter on my faucet.  Most city water has chlorine in it to kill the germs.  Unfortunately, it can also cause problems with letting reds bleed.  If I didn't have a filter I would set the water out on the counter over-night.  That would take care of the chlorine which will evaporate.

Next I add a small amount of laundry soap.  Now here is the magic ingredient:  white vinegar.  I add about a half cup or cup (depending on how big my bowl is) and stir it into the water.  Vinegar acts as a dye fixing agent.  It will help keep the red from bleeding.  I put the newly finished item into the water and let it soak overnight.  When I get up in the morning, everything is clean and the white is still white and not pink.  I allow it to dry in shape using pins if necessary or it can be ironed with a cloth over it to keep it from scourging.

This recipe has worked for me in the past.  If you know of another way to keep reds from bleeding, please let me know.  Since I love and use it so much I am always interested in other ideas.

March and Leprechauns

It has been a while because I was sick but I am much better now.  Anyway, I love the month of March.  It usually brings the promise of spring with bulbs pocking their head up.  The other thing March brings to mind is birthday parties.  My younger sister's birthday was in March and so we always planned a party.  Her birthday is the day after St. Patrick's Day and so many of them had leprechauns, 4 leaf clovers and that pretty spring green for decorations.  So this year, I decided to design a bookmark for all those great parties.

Thus, the Lucky Irish Leprechaun bookmark was created.

Well of course he has his pot of gold with him.  His hat includes a lucky 4-leaf clover to sew or glue on.

Of course he had to have pointed ears and the red beard.

Here is my favorite Irish saying just for the occasion.

" May those who love us love us.

And those that don't love us,

May God turn their hearts.

And if He doesn't turn their hearts,

...May he turn their ankles,

So we'll know them by their limping."

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone and of course, Happy Birthday to my sister.







A little bit about me

I live in a small town in Kansas where the wheat fields are more plentiful than the homes.

I am passionate about the wonderful art forms that are made with yarn or thread. My interest started young when my mother taught me to make a chain stitch in grade school with some crochet thread and a hook. She taught me to read crochet patterns and then knitting patterns and I began going through all her patterns to make as gifts.

When I would accompany her to antique stores, I saw so many different types of beautiful lace work made by generations before us. I began looking for sources to teach me some of these techniques and over the years I have found some wonderful books that explained the art forms.

Here are a few items I made of Assisi embroider.

I love the look of this cross stitch embroidery because of the fanciful creatures that are used and because the design is actually made from the area that is not embroidered.


In the antique store, I saw knitted lace doilies. I found this pattern but could was not able to find the small knitting needles in our local store. My wonderful husband was able to make me some double pointed needles using a needle gauge to get the write circumference.

I was amazed at the wonderful artwork involved in Irish Crochet and finally found some books that taught me this process.

As our children came along. we got pet angora bunnies who are loved and well cared for. Their wool, (the warmest wool available) is brushed and then I mix it with dyed Moreno Sheep wool (a wool that is almost as soft as my bunnies wool. I spin the wools on a replica of an old Irish Hearth Wheel. This is usually done in the evenings and my daughters loved to go to sleep to the sound of this relaxing activity. I then ply the wool to make yarn for knitted lace garments.

I have done spinning demonstrations on "old settlers days" and other history re-enactments to help others understand how knitting is done help bring the history of this garment making process in to the present. My work has also been shown in a Kansas Art Gallery.

My children are gone out of the home now and I have time to design my own patterns for knitting lace and crochet. I am amazed at the challenge my own but it is a challenge I love.