Third time is the charm

Last time I posted, I made note of stitch counts and whatnot for a pair of custom fitted knee socks.  Two failed attempts (and several consolation/"quick" gratification ankle socks) later, and I think I may have it!

leftover yarn knee socks

back detail on knee socks

I snapped the pic in my jammies shorts, as I am now in work jeans and about to put on my old basic training combat boots to go out and give these socks the real stress test: a morning of yard work.  I am wondering if I used too much lace (which has more stretchiness than solid fabric and definitely more stretch than cables) for them to stay up on their own when subjected to heat, humidity, and activity ... so yard work in August is the ultimate test for that.

Enough procrastination.  It is not raining at present, so I better go make the best of it.

Busy season

First off, I would like to wish folks out there a happy and safe holiday season ... whichever holiday is special to you between November and January.  Secondly, I have been busy these past seven-eight weeks, starting before sunrise on Halloween morning when I picked up my batch of chicks.  This month of December has been quite the roller coaster, with first a raccoon then the black bears killing some of my chicks ... yet in between those trials we finally closed the sale on our house up in Tennessee and are now completely debt free.  Triumph and tragedy, good and bad (and ugly, too) all one right after the other here.

With all my outside activities going on, I have not made much progress with fabric, and a small bit with yarn.  This morning, I finally turned the heels on the first pair of knee socks I am knitting.  At first I was annoyed when the 50g skeins ran out during the heel turn, then as I wove in the tails I realized that is actually the best spot to switch as weaving in ends strengthens the heel.

knee socks in progress

I have another pair of knee socks started, but I am not much past the cuff and have not yet finished the first motif.  Also on the needles are two pairs of midcalf (regular height) socks for me.  I have a pair for hubby that I took off the needles when I could not find my fifth set of circular sock needles.  Ah well, a box of splurge/celebration yarn is working its way down to me and also has three more sets of sock circs.

I really do need to sew in the waistband on that pair of cotton flannel pajama bottoms.  Then they will need a good wash before I can take pics, as the pink-nosed furry feline chaos demon decided they are the perfect napping spot.

Next time I take this long off from blogging here, do take a peek at my S&G Homesteade blog to see if we are just busy doing outdoor stuff - Florida is the Sunshine State, ya know.

Lace sock update: first one done

Plugging away at the second sock now, but here is the first one:

first lace "Bridal Socks" done

I am pleased there is hardly any gap at the top of the gusset!  The gapping is so hard to eliminate, you will even see it in machine-made commercial socks, so having one turn out so well is a big feather in my hat.

Still on a sock kick

So I have spent the past several months knitting up socks ... just no pics really.  Some for me, some for hubby, and I even managed to finish a pair each for mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law for giftmas.  Everyone loves them and I am inundated with requests ... but I have also collected up quite a bunch of sock yarn skeins.

I have joined a KAL (knit-a-long) in a sock group over at Ravelry, and a big part of the KAL fun is progress pics ... something I have sorely neglected here.  So, with this KAL's theme being lace socks, I will be posting up some progress pics.  Here's my first:

start of lace "Bridal Socks" pattern

Filet crochet tablecloth

So, I forgot to post this in between weather events (we are on our third or fourth week of daily storms).  In fact, this has been done for almost a month now!  It even has stains already - pickled beet brine and ice tea, to be exact.  Oh yeah ... this was made to be on our table, not as a gift.

Fleur-de-Lis filet crochet tablecloth

It may block out a bit larger.  I still have not blocked it for lack of a place to lay it out, much less pin it out ... but it is about time to clear the table again and give it a nice soak-wash in the dishwater.  My mom discovered early on with me that dish soap/detergent works best for getting food stains out of cotton.  For the record, ketchup, barbecue sauce, soy sauce, and any red juice or wine WILL end up on my shirt still.

New crochet project

We've had a bit of a warm spell this past week or so, and along with putting seeds into the dirt I have also started a new crochet project after a winter of mostly knitting (still need to post about all that).

I have been promising my mom a super-duper doily, one that will be "worth the wait."  Umm ... she's been hearing this for over a year now, BUT I have finally gotten my hot little hands on the perfect pattern that just screams, "Make me for Mom!"  Mom admitted that she has not checked this blog for quite some time now, so I think I am safe in posting this pic:

Roses in Bloom filet crochet tablecloth

I have been wanting to make a spectacular filet crochet project for a while now.  Just making coasters has not scratched that itch, so perhaps a small tablecloth will.  So far, I am about 10 rows in, out of 120 rows.

Final pics of Mom's monster pineapple doily

I got moving early this morning, with morning sunlight streaming in to light my pics.  The air was dry enough for Mom's big pineapple doily to be finished drying and I couldn't wait to unpin it and see how it looks in the middle of my table.  Since the wooden table top is light-colored, I ended up setting the doily on today's sewing project: the black Shetland wool cape shell I cut and sewed a couple cold fronts ago.  It shows off the off-white thread quite nicely:

Mom's big pineapple doily in off-white cotton thread

I won't be starching it since that tends to make it difficult to fold up (and it will hold creases as well) for mailing, but hubby agrees that our coffee table would look quite nice with one of these on it.  I think I will use the next size up hook to see just how big this can get.  As for how it looks on our table:

Mom's doily on our table

It doesn't photograph as nicely as it will on dark-stained wood ... or black wool.  Tangential note: the sewn coasters on the right were a gift from Mom a few years ago.

One more doily pic before I break out the fuchsia linen/cotton lining to sew together for the wool cape ... this one doesn't have a "home" yet but it was fun to do and it holds its shape quite well.  It's half the size of Mom's doily.

Smaller pineapple doily

I'll post more on the sewing project after I get rolling on it ... I really don't want to jinx myself!  As cold as it is, playing with wool coating does have appeal this morning.

Monster pineapple doily for Mom

I finished Mom's requested off-white pineapple doily ... and it hooked up huge!  The booklet said it should be 20 inches across, but when I measured it says 21 inches ... although pinning it out I could have sworn it was over 24!

pineapple doily for mom

The reason I did this pattern is because I have wanted to make it since I bought the little book.  It was the reason I bought the book.  It will really stand out on Mom's antique dark-stained dining table, too.  Of course, my mind is already supplying the image-overlay of a large holiday ham on a pretty blue-trimmed serving platter sitting atop this doily.

I meant to snap a "before blocking" pic ... but once I got the ends woven in I didn't remember until I had it wetted down.

Oh, I also cut some fabric today.  More abut that tomorrow, I think ... I am feeling quite pleased with this latest doily.

More crocheting and doilies

So I found my digicam ... finally.  I had set it down near hubby's hobby corner after showing him this little snapshot of our dog's dedication to duty:

Pre-Rinse is more than a nickname - it's a calling!

The dog has very few chores, but this one is definitely his favorite: pre-rinsing dishes for us.  That's the rice steamer bowl, and I still haven't quite figured out how to keep the rice from sticking to the very bottom.  He was chasing it around the kitchen in his determination and zeal to get every last grain of rice off the bowl before he figured out to pin the bowl against the wall to make it hold still.

So my digicam sat in hubby's area, mainly because he has almost the same model of camera too and I was thinking mine was his.  I finally remembered where I left it and liberated more doily crochet pics.  Here is what I've packaged up to send to my sister for her holiday gifts ... and I beat my self-imposed deadline of April Fools' Day!  (Sis asked, "Why April Fools'?"  My reply: "It isn't as soon as Valentine's Day!")

Doily and 4 coasters for my sister

I figure the colors are appropriate, given the NFL (American football) team choices under that roof ... if I could have found the colors for the local minor-league hockey team up there I probably could have made both happy.  Oh, it's the exact same doily pattern as the variegated holiday pineapple doily but done in solid colors.

Mom, I am almost done with your requested off-white doily ... but I used a different pineapple pattern for it.  I just started the last round, but it's a bunch of little stitches so it won't go out until probably next weekend because I'll at least block and pin it out for you.  Val asked for an in-progress pic of it which I haven't snapped yet.  I'll probably take a "before blocking" pic since my before-and-after-blocking coaster pics didn't turn out like I wanted.  I saw someone post that crochet people make blocking sound "mysterious and magical" ... it's not mysterious at all (hot water plus pinning out), but it sure does feel like magic as I am pinning out a doily and the pattern stretches out in all its glory!

There was more I was going to post, but just can't recall ...

Ransom negotiations, pineapple doily style

So, I posted up my first pineapple doily - first full-sized doily, period - the other day, with a ransom note to Mom.  I called her for her birthday, and she says while it looks quite nice, she likes solid colored doilies better ... preferably in off-white.  Hmmm ... I have white-white thread, but surprisingly no off-white crochet thread in my (still small) lace stash.  I guess this counts as a good excuse to buy some.

Here is the variegated holiday doily, unpinned and starched.

holiday variegated pineapple doily

This one will still go out in the mail within the next week (provided I actually get to the post office).  It just won't be headed to Mom's house now ... Nope, not saying where it's going.  It will be a surprise.

First pineapple doily crocheted and blocked

I'm pretty excited - this past weekend when my sinuses went haywire, I sat on the couch and crocheted up my first pineapple doily!  Actually, it's my first full-sized doily I've completed after pulling out the first two attempts midway.  I've heard that with pineapple doilies, it's either love or hate ... so tally me in the "love" category.  This was so cool to hook up, and here it is blocked and pinned out:

First pineapple doily blocked and pinned

The book says it's supposed to be 15 inches across, but mine only comes out to 13 inches.  I guess it's official: I crochet "tightly".

MOM, this one will be yours ... as soon as you mail me that hat buckram you bought me after I posted about not finding any locally (that post is dated August 28th!).  I need it now, Mom.  The pretty linen sun hat did not weather the rainstorms we hit on our way down to Florida.  Getting a coat and a pair of leather gloves tossed on it after the rains didn't help, either.  Zip down to the post office, Mom, because you know you want to hold this - my first full sized pineapple doily - in your hands to see for yourself how my crochet is coming along decades after you gave me a blue plastic hook.  Do it soon - before I put it "someplace safe" because I do indeed take after you in that.

While waiting, there is another pineapple doily pattern in that book, and I scored another book of just pineapple doily patterns in the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby, so there will be one for this house at some point.

Block party crochet style

Not that kind of block party - the crochet kind, where I've hooked up 6 lace things and need to block (shape) them.  I'm only going to post pics of two of these items, as the remaining four are intended as gifts for a family member who is subscribed via email.  Whether or not those emails get read, I am not taking chances.

OK, item number one: a doily coaster for my desk that does NOT contain a counting error!  I have one already for my coffee cup that has a counting oopsie, but wanted a correct one for my water glass.  Here it is, pinned out after a short hot water bath.

Lace doily coaster blocked and pinned

It looks a whole heap better now that it's pinned out.  For the record, I did adjust a couple pins after gimping the pic.

Now for a little fun item: a crochet lace snowflake.  This one turned out right with six points ... I already pulled out the counting oops with seven points.  It's a little difficult to see since the foam board is white, so I'll probably snap another pic with a dark background after it dries and gets a starching.

White crochet lace snowflake pinned out

Hubby suggested putting a hang loop on it and use it as a tree ornament.  I told him I left the loop off since I wasn't sure how it would turn out!  LOL - this is definitely my preferred version of a snowflake, since the real kind is accompanied by COLD.

I'm working on multiple items for use in the kitchen, so that will get its own post soon.

Lace doily coaster!

I did it!  I just finished up a lace doily coaster from a free online pattern.  The instructions seemed about as clear as mud to me, but I just reread them however many times it took until I thought I grasped the idea ... and while it may not be perfect - and might not even be as the pattern is trying to call for - I am still quite pleased with the result.  Before I steamed it:

Lace doily coaster before steaming

And after a round of coercive steam ironing:

Crochet lace doily coaster after steaming

I realized I needed some scale (after being reminded in PR chat that my last set of lace trim pics lacked a quarter for scale) and I just happened to have a one dollar bill in my back pocket.  I was too excited to notice I forgot to tuck the tails in ... while that is now done, the coaster is already in hubby's glass display case with a leather-wrapped metal beer mug sitting on it from the set I bought him at Ren Faire last year for his birthday.  It is just the right size for his mug, too.

Even with the vague instructions, this took less than 48 hours to crochet ... so I am thinking of knocking out a set of four as gifts.  I have some blue-purple variegated crochet thread that I am just itching to break out and play with ...

First efforts at crocheting lace

While I don't think I'll be mistaken for a lace crocheting prodigy, I will say I am pleased with my first efforts:

First efforts at crocheting lace

The top pink one was my first-and-a-half effort - I pulled out the first version of it when I realized where I was making mistakes.  The pink is craft cord meant for friendship bracelets, and is a bit too big for the hook.  After running to Hobby Lobby to hit a crochet hook sale, I also picked up real crochet thread (in size 10, which is the largest crochet thread? I think) and the lavender middle one is the result of that.  The thread seems to fit the hook, and isn't as fuzzy as the craft cord.

I should have put a quarter in the pic for scale.  I will try to remember that for the new pics.

Although all three pieces spent the night in a book, the bottom super-simple piece does not want to lay flat.  None of these have been "blocked" which seems to involve handwashing, then pinning onto a cloth surface to dry completely for the purpose of shaping.

OK, some linkage for this new project:
Some excellent beginner crochet video tutorials  I used these to learn the stitches I needed.
Pattern directions for pink and lavender lace  A note on the "multiples of 5 plus 3" ... this seems to be crochet-speak for (5x + 3) in algebraic expression.  I am seeing it in several other sources, including a nice book from the library titled Crochet Edgings & Trim: 150 Stitches which is where the little one on the bottom comes from (and I have at least half a dozen more to try), ranging from the simple chain-loop I did in a few minutes, up to complex patterns with 9 or 10 rows with stitches I still need to look up tutorials for.

The small simple loop lace will be perfect to put on a cross stitched hatband, once I figure out how to make it lay flat.

Now, the coffeemaker is finished and calling to me ...

Torn table runner

This is from my grandma, given to me by my sister who ended up with it even though she had no idea what to do with it.  It's an old table runner, and not in the best of shape (large pic alert):

Grandma's old table runner

Here's the mystery: This grandmother was not the packrat - that's the other side of the family.  Along with the table runner were cloth napkins, and a couple are "orphans" without matches, so she didn't keep things just because.  So why did she hold onto this damaged, torn, and fraying table runner?  Was it made especially for her?  Was it a special occasion gift?  Did someone special give it to her?  I need to email my aunt and ask ...

So why am I so thrilled to have a torn and unraveling table runner?  At one point in time, this was a very beautiful thing!  It has cutwork embroidery all through the cloth section and is bound by what I now recognize as crocheted lace.  I'm not sure if it's linen or not (duh, have NOT done a burn test) but it feels possible.  I'm not sure if the cutwork embroidery is done by machine or by hand, but here is a closeup of it:

Cutwork embroidery closeup

If this was done by hand, the work was very meticulous.  The back side looks very similar to the front, although I can tell a difference between the two.  Now, for a closeup of the damage:

Damage to fabric and lace

I don't think I can repair the damage to this ... but I am wanting to make a replica of it!  I'll need to get a lot better with surface embroidery, practice cutwork satin stitches ... and figure out how to crochet lace.  Here's the funny part - last night I was watching YouTube videos for beginners how-to-crochet, and can't help but feel I have done several of the demonstrated stitches.  I know my mom crocheted, as well as knitted ... in fact there aren't too many textile crafts that Mom hasn't at least learned how to do.  While all the crochet tutorials feel familiar, I cannot for my life remember any object I crocheted.  I do know it was never lace ... I might have kept at it if I had learned to do lace.

So I have a long-term goal of learning enough to make a replica of this table runner.  This should make for an interesting adventure!