Charmed Life: Egg Hunt

Dale and I spent Easter morning with Jodie's family. Ken made a wonderful yummy brunch of French toast, homemade berry compote, bacon, scrambled eggs, and sausage. Afterwards,  two year old Abby opened her Easter basket. That was followed by an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.

She found over two dozen eggs! (Isn't that the cutest sweater? Jodie crocheted it for her!)

It's a chemo week for Dale, so he tired out after a few hours and we headed home early. 

But look what our sweet neighbor boy left for us on our threshold!

We still live a charmed life! ❤️

Snowkid Hat

Who dat?

I made a light-hearted hat for my eldest granddaughter.

The pattern is from my favorite crochet designer, Repeat Crafter Me.

Happy little gal, isn't she?

2025 Pumpkin Wreath - Part 1

Last year I pulled out a pumpkin wreath form 

and decorated it with fall leaves, sunflowers, berries and other doodads. I was majorly unsatisfied because the color of the green leaves is off-putting. The entire wreath was fussier than I intended it to be. 

When I pulled it out of storage, I just couldn't get myself to display it again.

So I'm going to try something different.

I was inspired by these two photos I found on Pinterest. This pumpkin wreath form is wrapped in looped yarn. That's an easy and super-fast option.

This one is macrame. The simplicity and tidiness of this wreath attracts me.

So a few months ago I went looking for the loop yarn but couldn't find the quantity I needed in orange. So off to my trusty Dollar Tree I went and found these small skeins of Premier Just Chenille yarn in the color Salmon. 

I think it's orange enough for my purposes. I hope it's thick enough. I hope 5 skeins is enough.

I was considering winding the yard around each spine of the wreath form. When I talked it over with Jodie, she suggested I crochet a slip stitch around each spine. I like that idea.

Chenille yarn isn't the easiest to work with because once you get a knot in it, the knot doesn't release very easily. Yarn from the Dollar Tree isn't a very high quality, so it's likely to break fairly easily. I like the fuzzy softness of it, though.

It's all a giant experiment. If it works, it works. If it doesn't ... well ... maybe I'll have to use last year's pumpkin after all.

Sunflower Crochet Coasters

I had such a pleasant time making the pumpkin coasters last week, that I thought I'd go ahead and make a set of sunflower coasters, too. This pattern has been on my radar for months. I intended to make them for late summer/early fall when I decorate the house with sunflowers. Well, the season is over and the sunflower decorations are put away, but I made the coasters anyway. They'll be ready for next year.

This pattern is created by the same designer as the pumpkin coasters, Repeat Crafter Me.

The ideal size ...

I used these two yarns that I had on hand: 

            * Premier Just Yarn Tweed in the color Rust Tweed (from Dollar Tree)
            * Caron Simply Soft in the color Lemonade (thrift store)

Once again, the directions are super simple. I knocked these out while watching TV one evening and listening to an audiobook the next morning.

You can follow this video or get a print version of the pattern on their website.

Crochet Pumpkin Coasters

I needed to keep my hands busy today while watching videos, so I made this quick craft.

It's a six pack of seasonal coasters by one of my favorite crochet designers, Repeat Crafter Me.

I'll slip them under our drinks to avoid water rings on the tabletop.

I had all the yarn I needed on hand, most of it thrifted from an op-shop.

The directions are super simple. You can follow this video or get a print version of the pattern on the website.

It was really nice to have a quick completion and get in the mood for pumpkin season at the same time.

Green / Orange Crochet Purse

The second crochet purse that I finished on Saturday reminds me of Easter ... or maybe ice cream or sherbet. It's primarily a soft green with a melon-colored stripe and flower. I'll donate it to Bags of Love along with the purse I shared yesterday. I hope to make and donate a dozen by the end of the year.

I used color-on-color for this flower: an orange flower with orange button center. I added an orange stripe to the edge of the handle as well.

For the lining I used a scrap of solid orange fabric that is heavily textured. 

For my next crochet project, I plan to make a purse that looks like an owl. It's for one of my grandkids. I hope to get it finished for her birthday. Wish me luck. I don't enjoy working to deadlines anymore, but I'll give it a go anyway.

Whoooo do you guess that it's for?

Blue / Purple Crochet Purse

I finished two more purses for Bags of Love yesterday. These are made with a "sport" or "baby weight" yarn. To make the stitches look proportional to the weight of the yarn, I used a smaller crochet hook. So these two purses are smaller than previous versions of my crochet purses. The finished size is 5.75" wide x 4.5" high. This size might be better for a 3-5 year old than for a 6-8 year old.

I found a blue button in my stash that was just the right shade of blue, and just the right size for the center of the flower. I incorporated some of the purple into the handle as a finishing touch.

I made the yarn closure loop a bit too long to wrap around the flower correctly, so I made a design decision to knot it close to the edge of the purse. I really like that detail! Mistakes become design choices. 

The inside is lined with some Frozen fabric, bringing the blue and purple together on the inside and the outside. Sweet.

The second purse reminds me of Easter due to the pastel colors. I'll share that tomorrow.

To learn more about Bags of Love, follow the link above.

Purple with Butterflies

For the second purse I finished yesterday I utilized the same striped pattern, this time with a variegated purple body, interrupted with a pink stripe.

The rim of the purse, the outer edge of the strap, the flower and the closure all use the same pink. I added a purple center for the flower. It makes for a nice contrast.

And inside? It's lined with psychedelic butterflies flitting around on a light purple background.

I hope to donate these crocheted purses and 8 jigsaw puzzles to Bags of Love tomorrow. I hope all the gifts bring a little joy to a kid who is having a rough time.

Return to Crochet

After taking a couple months off, I'm back to crocheting some purses for little girls that I'll donate to Bags of Love. This time I repeated a striped pattern that I did back in September 2024. I think it looks quite sweet with the main body in white confetti yarn with turquoise accents. It's not nearly as bold as my red purse.

I chose a light turquoise button for the center of the flower. I also added turquoise rows to the strap to create a stripe.

I created a loop that surrounds the flower to hold the purse closed. Inside, a fun coordinating fabric. Is that a Paw Patrol character?

I was able to finish two purses today, so will share the other one soon. I hope to make at least 12 purses this year as one of my 25 Goals in 2025.

Heirloom Afghan

Back in the early 1980s, my mom crocheted afghans as Christmas gifts for me and my sisters. Each design was unique. This is the afghan Mom made for my sister Janet. Several years ago, Janet sent the afghan to my eldest, Jeanne.

This afghan is huge. Each square is about 12" x 12". Here's it's spread out on a king size bed.

I was visiting Jeanne a few months back when I noticed the afghan could use a little help, a little sprucing up. So I brought it to my house ... where it sat. Whoops. 

I wanted to do it justice and not make the damage worse through mishandling it. So I did some research, took a deep breath or two, and started in on the repairs.

I finally decided that I'd give myself a deadline in which to restore it. That was Jeanne's 40th birthday / Thanksgiving Day. 

I found some matching brown yarn to reinforce all the seams and corners where the squares had pulled away from each other. 

Then gave the afghan a good wash.

I took time to bury the many, many thread tails that had come loose on the back.

I bought a new fabric shaver 

and removed about a bazillion pills from both the front and back.

That's an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of paper the blob is sitting on. Lots and lots of pills. That took some time and patience.

Working on the restoration put me in an interesting headspace. I could remember watching Mom crocheting the squares using the long afghan crochet hook. I'd never seen one used before. Each square is worked in a way that produces a solid grid onto which a cross-stitch design is stitched.

She picked out various patterns to embroider onto the squares. There are two versions of each pattern in the afghan.

The color choices in the blanket are so very Mom. She liked colors that were slightly muted, rather than true bright rainbow colors. 

Taking the time to work with each square helped me feel very close to Mom. 

It helped me feel close to my sister Janet. 

It helped me feel close to Jeanne.

Repairing this afghan felt like a sacred act. My hands, my skill, became a bridge across time.

Needlework literally runs in my blood. Ancestors on both sides of my family earned a living by the work of their hands as tailors and dressmakers.

Now it's my turn to pass the skills on.