Finished Choker; Worth the Wait

Hello all!


I am finally home from Blue Lake; those photos are at my Flickr Photo Site



But I wanted to share my finished choker with you! As some of you know, I am a newbie to the wonderful world of thread crochet, and I challenged myself to complete this for the Accessories swap. Luckily, my swap partner is very kind and PATIENT (thanks, Jen C!)

This was a pattern test for Kathy of Crochet N Beads, and it was a great experience! I found a couple of simple typos for her, and even though I am a dummy at thread, it went smoothly, with patient encouragement from her. I think it is the most beautiful thing I have ever made!

Kool-Aid Yarn Dyeing Adventures!

Another fun new thing! There was plenty of Bernat Lana Merino Wool in the clearance bin at HL, so I thought I'd give it a try!

First is the unsuspecting yarn itself, bwahaha!

Next is my prep; 3 c water, 1 c white vinegar, 3 pks Strawberry-Lemon Kool-Aid, 3.5 oz. of wool soaking for 15 minutes in hot water. I brought the dye mix almost to a simmer, squeezed ALL of the water out of my yarn, and stirred it into the pot!

I brought my "yarn soup" up to a simmer & cooked it for 30 minutes. All of the pink was absorbed and there was only slightly cloudy water left in the pot!


I turned off the pot after 30 minutes and lifted the yarn out with tongs & put into some clean warm water in a Pyrex bowl. I rinsed my yarn & admired it! Now, I didn't squeeze ALL of the water out of my yarn, so the color is not as even! Now I have to decide if I want to leave it like that or try again . . .



I made another skein; repeated the process with 2 packs Strawberry and 1 pack Cherry Kool-Aid; this time I made SURE I squeezed ALL the hot water out of my yarn BEFORE I put it into the "dye soup."


And Voila'! I may try to get a better pic tomorrow morning; this one just doesn't do justice to the color!


The finished product; yes, it WAS a pain in the rear to untangle! It took about 2 hours a skein!!!

Corrected Choker Center Rose -- Thank You, Kathy!

It is SUCH A PLEASURE testing patterns for Kathy White! When I run into something confusing, she explains it , shows me a picture, and THANKS me for the input! It makes the whole process fun, and a great learning experience!

Is there a hook size smaller than 11/12? That's the smallest I found at my Hobby Lobby . . . I need to get the rest of the bullion stitches smaller!

Finished Overalls on Libby and Choker Boo-Boo

I love trying new patterns; even though I get frustrated sometimes, I learn new stitches and techniques, and I remember them for future projects!

This is my niece Libby in a pattern I tested for Anna of "Lullabies and Lace." It came out cute, but TOO BIG! Shorter straps, smaller bib, and possibly a smaller hook size would probably help . . .

Next is the choker I am trying for Kathy. I have one too many bullion clusters, so I have to frog out. She suggested a smaller hook to try and get my bullions smaller-- my HL only has one size smaller (11/12)-- but I'll give it a go!

Something New; Katchkan's Choker

I'm finally getting down to business with this beautiful choker! I'm killing two birds with one stone; testing the pattern for Kathy, and making a beautiful accessory for my swap partner, JenC.

I had some troubles, probably because I don't crochet with thread very often; 1) Stringing the beads on-- emrboidery needles were too big, sewing needles were too small for my needle threader! So, I went old school and threaded it by hand. 2) Could NOT find the connectors locally, OR online! Finally found brightlingsbeads.com who had the connectors!

A Little Wish Come True in my Mailbox!

Thank you, RAOK Wishlist Fairy!

The beads are awesome! What cute crochet things I can make for my students with them!

My First Crochet with Beads Experience!

The pattern is from Crochet! Magazine, March 2006. I used Caron Jewel Box in Deep Jasper and Bernat Matrix in Browser Blue. The beads came in one handy pack, Asst. Mixed Asian elements from The Beadery.

This belt is headed to JenC, my Accessories Swap partner (along with its own "accessory" matching scrunchie).