Ridged and Waffle Dishcloths

I love making dishcloths. They make for short and satisfying projects that have a purpose at home or make a great gift. I'm putting these two dishcloths in the same post because the patterns were together on the Bernat web site, and you can find the file here.

This is the ridged dishcloth:

And here's a close-up of the stitches:


Now for the waffle dishcloth:


And the close-up of the stitches:


Both were very easy to make. I found that to get the right gauge I had to switch to a smaller hook for the waffle dishcloth.

Materials:

• "G" hook for the ridged dishcloth, "F" hook for the waffle dishcloth
• worsted weight cotton, I used Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Ultrasoft in Summerset
  

Egg Coaster

Here is a project I did sometime last year. It's a crocheted egg coaster. The pattern is from the Crochet Pattern-a-Day 2006 Calendar.

This was another fun and really quick project. I think it's really cute, but I'm still trying to decide if anyone would want a set of them as a gift. Any thoughts?

Materials:

• Size "G" crochet hook
• White worsted weight acrylic yarn, I used Phentex
• Yellow worsted weight acrylic yarn, I used Bernat Super Value
  

Cupcake Pincushion

I was in desperate need of a pincushion, so imagine my delight when I came across this pattern for a crocheted cupcake pincushion (I know, I need to get out more). Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to get a good picture of it so I've got two shots to highlight different things.

This first one shows the colours that were used and gives a good shot of the "paper" base:

This second one shows the shape of the "icing" top better:

It was a really quick and fun project. Aside from being a nice pin cushion, I think it would make a great birthday gift. The pattern calls for sport weight yarn and a size "E" hook, but I just used some worsted weight yarn and a size "G" or "F" hook, I can't remember which I used. My cupcake is 3.5" tall.

Materials:

• "G" or "F" crochet hook
• Purple worsted weight acrylic yarn, I used Bernat Super Value
• White worsted weight acrylic yarn, I used Phentex
• Red bead for the "cherry" topper
• Fibre fill

Love Bug

This is something I made for Valentine's Day 2007 and gave to my Sweetie:

I adapted it from a pattern from freepatterns.com. I thought the original pattern was rather over the top so I simplified it. I think it turned out to be a really cute little doll.

I gave him a rose that I got in a huge bag of buttons from Michael's craft store.

And this is what my Sweetie gave me:


Materials:

• G size crochet hook
• Red worsted weight acrylic yarn (I used Bernat Super Value)
• White worsted weight acrylic yarn (I used Phentex)
• Two google eyes
• Little plastic flower
  

Sleeves when you need 'em

I often get chilly in the summer, sometimes from the air conditioning and sometimes from the cooler evenings. A sweater is just too heavy. A long sleeved shirt isn't right for throwing over a short-sleeved shirt or a tank top. What to do? Turn a long-sleeved shirt into a bolero of course!


Inspired by two bolero projects I found online, I made this bolero from an old long-sleeved jersey knit shirt. The shirt sat too short for my liking, so why not cut it off more? I chopped the bottom off to sit just below the bosom, be sure to leave more than you'd think necessary as it does tend to ride up. I cut it right down the centre of the front and made the V from the top of the bosom to the collar. I cut the collar off. I then hemmed all the cut edges, by hand since I find jersey-knit difficult to work with using my sewing machine. Finally I added the button and button-hole. I must admit that the button-hole could use some work. I did it by hand and had no idea what I was doing. It works but just don't look at it closely. If anyone can point me to the proper way to do a button-hole, please do! The button-hole is horizontal to avoid problems with the side getting pulled out of shape.

I must say that I'm very happy with the final result.

Materials:

• old jersey-knit long-sleeved shirt
• needle and thread
• button
  

Steggie!

This is a project from March 2007. I thought this pattern was really cute so I grabbed some scraps of yarn and got crocheting. Here's what happened:


I ran out of green yarn shortly into the project and finished off with some scrap verigated yarn. It didn't turn out as cute for me as it did for the original creator. So there was only one thing to do:


Give it to Mokey! It actually turned out to be a great toy for her. She usually tears plush toys apart but Steggie is still around and aside from being goobered on and dirty he's none the worse for wear. There are no seams to split like with fabric plush toys and when she chews him, her teeth slide through the stitches so they don't create holes for her to exploit. She absolutely loves chewing on him and despite all the chewing and pulling, Steggie hasn't come apart. So for all you dog owners out there, if you want a great toy, crochet one!

Hook size:
G

Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn, I ended up using a dark green from Red Heart and a verigated from Bernat Super Value
• Fibre fill