Monthly Archives: April 2011

new pattern U Scrap afghan

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the U Scrap afghan is here! Print this page, or download now

Materials:

1-2 pounds of worsted weight yarn, scrap colors. I used mainly Red Heart Super Saver, Vanna’s Choice acrylic, Caron’s Simply Soft, & Caron One Pounder, approximately 900 yards for a “throw” & twice as much for a bigger afghan.

H crochet hook

Gauge: gauge doesn’t matter, crochet a fabric you like. I got 3 dc=1 inch.

 

Abbreviations (pattern uses US terms):

ch: chain

ea: each

sp: space

sc: single crochet

dc: double crochet

Pattern note: Afghan is made by working around 3 sides, forming a “U” shape. Afghan is turned after each row. Change colors as desired.

 

Pattern:

Ch 100.

Row 1: In 4th ch from hook, dc, & dc in ea ch sp across to end of row. Ch 2, dc in same ch sp. Ch 2, turn work & dc on other side of same ch loop. Working on other side of free loops from starting ch, continue dc in ea ch across.

Row 2: Ch 3, turn. Dc in ea dc across row until 1st ch 2 sp. (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in corner ch 2 sp. Dc in dc, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in corner ch 2 sp. Continue dc in ea dc across.

Row 3: Ch 3, turn. Dc in ea dc across row until 1st ch 2 sp. (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in corner ch 2 sp. Dc in next 5 dc, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next ch 2 sp. Continue dc in ea dc around.

Row 4: Ch 3, turn. Dc in ea dc across row until 1st ch 2 sp. (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in corner ch 2 sp. Dc in following dc until corner ch 2 sp, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in ch 2 sp. Continue dc in ea dc around.

Repeat row 4 as necessary, until afghan is desired size.

 

Border:

Round 1: With desired border color, join yarn with a sl st in any corner sp. Ch 1, 3 sc in corner sp. Sc in ea dc around, at top of U afghan, work 2 sc around ea dc, working as needed to keep work flat, & work 3 sc in ea corner.

Round 2: Ch 1, turn. Sc in ea sc around, 3 sc in ea corner.

End off. Weave in ends & enjoy.

 

Formula:

To change the size of the finished afghan, determine desired size of afghan, keeping mind for every 2 feet of width, you will be crochet one foot of length.

If you want an afghan 3 feet by 4 feet, you need to start with a one foot starting chain, and crochet 2 feet from starting chain: 2 feet either side of starting chain = 4 feet, 2 feet out from end of chain + 1 foot starting chart = 3 feet.

For an afghan 4 feet by 6 feet, start with a four foot starting chain, and crochet for 2 feet – 2 feet on either side of starting chain= 4 feet, two feet out from end of starting chain plus 4 feet starting chain=6 feet.

For an afghan 6 feet by 6 feet:

Start with a three foot starting chain, and crochet for 3 feet: 3 feet either side of starting chain = 6 feet, 3 foot starting chain plus 3 feet crocheted = 6 feet.

As long as you keep in mind the formula of every 2 feet across either side of chain (width) = one foot of added length, you can make many different sizes of afghans.

Optional: If desired, work one row of dc, and one row of sc, working 3 sc in ea corner, and alternating dc & sc rows.

Thanks to FrogSalad & sueburkitt for their test crocheting skills!

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Feel free to make as many of these as you like for local craft fairs/auctions/raffles/bazaars, but please do not sell finished items online. The pattern itself is not for sale.  If making for charity, please let me know the name of the charity & include my contact info with the item (http://anastaciaknits.net). If you have any questions or comments or just want to join like-minded souls, please join my Ravelry group at http://www.ravelry.com/groups/anastacia-knits-designs. Thanks!

 

Lake Chargoggag Shawl crocheted shawl pattern release

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I’m thrilled to announce another new shawl design by little ole me!

This is a top down, beginner wrap/shawl/capelet that can be wrapped around you a multitude of ways or folded in half & worn as a scarf. You start at the top & increase every row until you get to almost your desired length & width, & then work the border. I made my sample in Lion Brand Lion Wool Solid, a 100% wool yarn that is listed as an aran weight, but any yarn/hook combination would work. It would also look lovely in a variety of stripes to use up your leftovers!

The full name of this shawl actually is Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, a local lake near where I live. Most people call it Webster Lake, but us crazy “townies” enjoy spitting out the whole name to impress people. For ease in talking about the shawl, I decided to just shorten the name a bit.
This shawl is related to, but is a bigger version of my “Webster Lake Shawl” – hence the two related, but different names.

Thanks to sjregier5, flygirlual, mizmo, poodlemama9, & venutianbeauty for their test crocheting skills, and thank you to Chaitanya (cmuralidhara on Ravelry) for her tech editing.
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Feel free to make as many of these as you like for local craft fairs/auctions/raffles/bazaars, but please
do not sell finished items online. The pattern itself is not for sale. If making for charity, please let me know the name of the charity & include my contact info with the item (http://anastaciaknits.net). If you have any questions or comments or just want to join like-minded souls, please join my Ravelry group at http://www.ravelry.com/groups/anastacia-knits-designs. Thanks!

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Pattern for sale now for only $5!

Thank you for looking!

work in progress wednesday

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This is about the only WIP I can share with you right now, other than the sock yarn afghan (which I have finally been working on again!) Can you tell what it is?

Oh look, here’s another one I can share, it’s amazing what I find when I start looking:
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It’s a freeform scrap kitty blanket, I think my first for our Wedgie, depending on how big it is when I finally get it to be square/rectangular.
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I should have FO pictures for you soon!

Rock Garden gloves new pattern

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This is a pair of fingerless gloves I designed for the Designer’s Challenge on Ravelry & won second place!

rock garden gloves

The theme was “garden,” it had to be a foot or hand accessory, and you had to use both sc & dc. Everyone went with the obvious, flowers; but I immediately thought of a rock garden, and this was the design I came up with. They are definitely a little out of the ordinary!

You begin with the sc ribbed cuff, sew or slip stitch the seam, turn the cuff sideways & begin working the pattern, joining after each round. The only seam is in the cuff.

Thanks to daughterofartemis, redcurlysue, sueburkitt, TanyaRC, merripurdy, Crochooked, & HSULadybug for their test crocheting skills! And many more thanks go to Susan Moskwa (http://www.rogueedits.com) for her tech editing skills!

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Feel free to make as many of these as you like for local craft fairs/auctions/raffles/bazaars, but please do not sell finished items online. The pattern itself is not for sale. If making for charity, please let me know the name of the charity & include my contact info with the item (http://anastaciaknits.net / anastaciaknits on Ravelry). If you have any questions or comments or just want to join like-minded souls, please join my Ravelry group athttp://www.ravelry.com/groups/anastacia-knits-designs. Thanks!

 

For sale for only $5! Pattern includes two sizes, 6.5″ & 7″.

new crochet lace – Lovely Lisa Scarf design for sale

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This is a very open, lacy scarf that I designed to work with self-striping yarns that have a long color repeat, such as the beautiful hand-painted yarns from String Theory Colorworks. It is an beginner-intermediate pattern, but only uses a 4 row repeat so would be within reach for a patient advanced beginner. The pattern uses chains, single crochets, & double crochets. One 100 gram skein of sock yarn will make a scarf 8″ long by 8 feet long (or longer if desired) after blocking (I used 350 yards with a pre-blocking gauge of 2 pattern repeats of the lace = 4 inches & my finished scarf is about 9 feet long).

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I named this scarf for my mother, who uses the nickname “lovely Lisa”. When I started self-publishing I knew I had to name something for her, and this is it. Thanks, Mom!

Thank you to Susan Moskwa (http://www.rogueedits.com) for her tech editing, String Theory Colorworks for their yarn support & to my lovely testers, sjregier5, agd509, hobobird, tanyaRC, vibeskat, frogsalad, & Crohooked. As always, I couldn’t do it without all of you!

Feel free to make as many of these as you like for local craft fairs/auctions/ raffles/bazaars, but please do not sell finished items online. The pattern itself is not for sale. If making for charity, please let me know the name of the charity & include my contact info with the item.

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If you have any questions, comments, want to join future tests, or just want to join like-minded souls, please join my Ravelry group at http://www.ravelry.com/groups/anastacia-knits-designs. Thanks!

pattern now available for sale at my Etsy shop or on Ravelry. Thanks for looking!!

Alzheimer’s Killing Me Unknowingly by Jana Pryor

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Alzheimer's Killing Me Unknowingly: Jane's StoryAlzheimer’s Killing Me Unknowingly: Jane’s Story by Jana Pryor

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I was very disappointed with this book on several levels.

First of all, it’s so incredibly short – 90 pages. I don’t understand how anyone can write about a person’s life in such a short number of pages. It’s very badly edited & is completely full of grammatically & spelling errors. Some sentences start at present tense, switch to past tense, and then switch to future tense – all in the same sentence. I also found the author completely looked down about the reader, explaining every time she mentioned a person what the family relationship was – every time. In a book as short as this, I think I can retain who the son is for 5 minutes. I also don’t understand why she was writing a memoir as a third person point of view – I found it extremely distracting & it took away from the importance of educating people with the disease.

I was also incredibly disappointed in the author’s lack of knowledge about the disease. I have relatives who have/had Alzheimer’s & I have worked in nursing homes with Alzheimer’s patiences. I have never been a primary caregiver for someone with the disease, but I knew more about the illness then the author who devoted her life to caring for this individual. I also found it extremely insulting that she just assumed all nursing homes are bad – the author never outlined if she did any research into nursing homes, if she had any options into which nursing home she placed her grandmother in, but to just assume all nursing homes are bad is the same as assuming all blondes are stupid.

I really wanted to like this book, I really wanted to shout about this book from the rooftops because I do think people need to be educated about the disease, but there’s not much to recommend on this book. I think if the author spent some time editing it, it would make for a much better book & though I disagree with the author’s point of view, I would recommend it after those changes were made.

I received a review copy of this book from the author.



View all my reviews

Fiber Friday

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knitted EZ afghan

This is an afghan I knitted & finished 3 years ago, but I only now finished weaving in all of the many, many, many yarn ends…

knitted EZ afghan

Hubby very kindly took these photos for me, not bad eh?

knitted EZ afghan

I used 3 strands held together of various acrylics, cottons, wool blends, anything machine washable. I’ve never weighed it but I’m guessing it’s at least 3 pounds & fits on our full size bed – about 6″ bigger would have been nicer, but eh.

Link ups:
FO Friday at tami’s amis
Wonder Why Alpaca Farm