Happy New Year!

Found on Pinterest.

I hope you all have a lovely new year! Make the most of 2013!
God bless!
~Grace Ann

The Collette Scarf-FREE Pattern!

Hello loves!

Here's the pattern I spoke of a few days ago. It's a tapered scarf with a ruffle edge, and I must say, I'm fully and completely in love with it! Here's a few pics....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used worsted weight yarn and a G hook.

Ch 203
DC in 4th chain from hook, 1dc in next chain. *2dc in next, 1dc in next* across.

Ch 3, dc in same stitch, 2dc in each stitch across.

Finish off.
Ruffle finished!

Now working on the other side of the chain, starting with the first chain space, join yarn with a slip stitch, chain 1, and SC in same stitch. Then SC in next 7 sts. Work a decrease, then SC in next 8 sts, and so on. You should end with a decrease. Finish Off. This helps the scarf "swoop" into a gentle dip.

Alrighty, now you'll want to mark the 60th SC in from each edge. Does that make sense? You're sort of deviding into thirds (not exactly, the center 'section' will be larger than the side sections). If you need clarification, just let me know!

Then, Join your yarn back into the 61st stitch (right after your marked stitch), and SC across to the stitch right next to your other stitch marker. Leave the remaining stitches unworked (for now!). You just single crocheted within your center section. Remove your markers, they aren't needed anymore :)

Now Chain 1, turn, and SC down the stitches you just worked. Except when you come to the end, don't turn just yet. You're going to pick up a few of your unworked stitches. Go ahead and SC in the next 6 available SCs from your decrease row. You're 'jumping' down a couple rows to reach these stitches. THEN chain 1 and turn, SC down until you can't anymore, then pick up 6 unworked sts. Ch 1, turn, and repeat again, and again, and again until you don't have any more to pick up. :) And you're finished! Ta-Da! You can also throw in a couple times of picking up 8 sts on each side to make the scarf slightly thinner. If that's the look you're going for, try it out. You're stitch count is going to turn out different, but if you improvise a bit, it all works out! :)

Here's a graphic to help you get the mental "picture" of what we're doing. Once you can imagine what you're doing, the pattern is super easy.

See? Essentially, we've built our base, and we're going back and forth, adding stitches with each pass, until we have no more stitches to add.

That's it! Hope that was somewhat clear!
Enjoy, and let me know if you have questions!

PS. You are welcome to sell what you make, just don't sell the pattern itself. Thanks!

Yes, I'm Still Alive! ;) Plus a Round-up!

Hello lovlies!

Wow, it been too long since my last post. I've ben extremely busy and just haven't found the time. So sorry you guys!

Anywho, thought I'd do a round-up of my favorite patterns since we've last spoken! :)

Enjoy dearest readers!

 

 

Adeline Fingerless Mitts

 

 

Bunting

 

 

Triple Layer Flower

 

 

Chunky Double Crochet Cowl

 

 

Love at First Sight Hexagon

 

 

Enjoy! And keep your eye out for a new pattern soon!!

~Grace Ann~

 

PS. Due to lack of interest, Sideline Stitches didn't work out. Thank you to the few who wanted to join me, but it was a lot of work to keep up with posts for only 4 people, including myself. Thank you for understanding! :)

 

The Belinda Cowl-Pattern For Purchase!

Hey Guys!

So I've decided to post my first pattern for purchase! Don't worry, I'll still have plenty of things for free! I just wanted to expiriment with patterns for people to buy, we'll see how this goes! Wish me luck!

Pattern is available for $2.00 on Etsy. Check it out here!

And thanks again, my 200 awesome followers! :)


♥Grace Ann♥

199 Followers!

Hey lovelies!

Wow! I can hardly believe I'm up to 199 followers!! Crazy! You guys truly do rock! Thank you so much! :) I smile to myself everytime I log into blogger because I never ever thought I'd get this far! Thanks!!

Oh! And don't forget to check out my post about the football challenge! Crochet or knit something this season! :)

♥Grace Ann♥

Lizzie Slippers

Lizzie Slippers over at OhMyGoodKnits! Absolutely love these! Go check it out!

Crochet Party Chain

Go check out this tutorial for a crochet chain garland at Cornflower Blue! Add a little decor to those summer time parties!

Catherine Headband

Lovely! Check out this cute accesory here!

Springy Flower Wreath

How cute is this?! Check out this gorgeous wreath over here at Fly the Coop Crafts!

The Ultimate Triangle Garland--FREE Pattern!

Hey Lovlies!

I was in search of the perfect crochet triangle the other day. I was planning on making a garland with some hand-dyed yarn I had in my stash that I'd totally forgotten about! But to my surprise, there weren't any that really sparked my interest. So, since I kinda had a vision of what it would look like, I made up my own. And I must say, crochet triangles are harder than they appear. But, I prevailed! Here's the Ultimate Crochet Triangle pattern... :)

(Pay attention to the things marked in turquoise. The corners change a little every round, so I marked it to make sure you picked up on that)

Use

Ch 4, join w/ a sl st to form a ring.
Round 1: Ch 2 (does not count as a stitch) do 15 dc in ring. Join w/ sl st to first dc.

Round 2: Ch 3 (Beginning chain counts as stitch here and for the rest of the pattern), do 1dc in same stitch, ch 1, do 2 dc in same stitch, do 1dc in each of the next 4 sts, *2dc, ch1, 2dc in next stitch, do 1dc in each of the next 4 sts.* Repeat from *to* until you reach the initial ch3. Join with a sl st.

Round 3: Ch 2, do 1hdc in next st. *2 dc, ch 2, 2dc in ch1 space, 1hdc in next 2 sts, 1sc in next 4sts, 1hdc in next 2sts*. Repeat from *to* until you have 4 sts left. work 1sc in each of those 4 sts. Join with a sl st.

Round 4: Ch 3, dc in next 3 sts, 3dc, ch2, 3dc in ch2 space, *dc in next 12 sts, 3dc, ch2, 3dc in ch2 space* Repeat from *to* until you have 8 sts left. Work 1dc in next 8 sts, join with a sl st. Finish off.

To join into a garland, sc in each stitch along the top of each triangle and chain what you wish in between each motif.

Circle Center Granny Square

Check out this awesome tutorial for circle center granny squares. I absolutely love the colors! Almost has a vintage vibe going on :) Love! Look over here for the tutorial...

Candied Rainbow Yarn

Check out what I did yesterday!

I've been experimenting with some new dying methods lately. I've been using Kool-Aid and the microwave to make my creations! I've also been spot-dying. Which is basically hand painting sections of dry/damp yarn, rather than pouring the dye over yarn in a bowl of water.

I noticed that, using this method, I get more vibrant colors, and the colors also go where I want them to. Totally takes the guesswork out of this activity. And I truly love the result!

I used one packet each of Strawberry, Pink Lemonade, Mixed Berry (which is actually the blue), Lemon-Lime, Orange, and Peach Mango.

The only problem with dying yarn, is that I never know what to do with the yarn afterwards! It's just too pretty to use! Any thoughts?

I've been using Fisherman's Wool by Lion brand. After all the lanolin oil is rinsed out, this yarn dyes beautifully! And it's impressively soft.

I love dying yarn. It's just too much fun to make my own colorways, the way I want them, and then see how they turn out.

To borrow the old cliche, "I never met a yarn I didn't like". Or something like that...

♥Grace Ann♥

Crochet Owl Family

Cute! I love owls! Check out the free pattern at Repeat Crafter Me. Which, by the way, is the most creative blog name ever! :)

My Pipistrelle Bag

Hey everyone!

A while back, I did a bag round-up. One of the patterns I featured was the "Pipistrelle Handbag". Well, I really wanted to make one, but all I had was worsted weight yarn. No DK, and no chunky. Why? No idea.
Anywho, when I was in Michaels yesterday, I saw their wonderful selection of chunky yarn that was on sale for $2.49. Bingo!
So, I was looking through the neutrals, which is what I typically use for bags (So they go with multiple outfits) and I literally almost picked up a pretty cream color. But then I saw this lovely fushia... and it totally and completely captivated me. I figured since it was a pretty simple bag, I could use a bright color without it looking too 'out there'.

As soon as I got home, I got right to work. And finished it this afternoon! Amazing how fast chunky yarn works up.

And how pretty is this?!

I love how the bottom of the bag is kind of tapered. Adds such lovely shaping and a great look.

And of course I needed a button. So, I went searching for the perfect one. Two stores later, the perfect button was found. Oh what I do for the perfect look....

So there's my bag! And I absolutely love it!

Have a wonderful day!

♥Grace Ann♥

Wool-Eater Blanket

I recieved a request to share the pattern I used on the "Wool-Eater" I showed a few posts ago. Here it is!

The wool-eater

My Bella Ruffle Bag

Hello!

I'm just popping in real quick to show you my ruffle bag! It's made from the pattern I featured a few days ago. Isn't it pretty?!

I love this bag! I can make it into so many different looks by just adding a different color flower (I didn't attach my flower permanently, I just used a pin to secure it).

I highly suggest making this! There's no way you can go wrong with ruffles!

♥Grace Ann♥

bella ruffle bag

I haven't featured anyone in a while, and as soon as I saw this, I knew that I had to!! Isn't it gorgeous!? I need to go make one right. now.

Like, seriously, I'm clicking "Publish" and then grabbing my hook!

If you want to make one too, head on over to Crochet Dreamz right over here!

Look what I got!!

I'm on vacation all this week and boy am I enjoying every single minute. Between the sun, the bike riding to the pool, and just the plain feel of being on vacation is absolute joy.

Of course, before traveling, I looked up local yarn stores around our destination. I found two stores within two miles of each other really close to where we were staying. Yay!

So today I got around to visiting both of those stores.

I walked into the first one and the first thing I saw was embroidery thread. Huh? Well I guess "needlepoint" in the shop title should have clued me in. But as I got farther into the very tiny store, yarn was everywhere. Mostly Novelty, which I'm not entirely in to, but the colors! Oh the colors were totally gorgeous! They also had some other solid worsteds that interested me, but I had no idea what to make with them. And at a whopping $12 per 122 yards, they didn't quite have me sold.

Another thing that astounded me were the fibers and how incrediblely soft they were! As a girl that's used to AcMoore and Michaels yarns, a.k.a. Acrylic, I was shocked at how lovely the depth of color was. There is something to say about real fibers. Infact, the only negative about visiting these stores is that I don't think I can use Red Heart ever again! Bye-bye cheap-o yarn.... you were appreciated. Emphasis on "were".

So I walked out of that store empty handed. And walking out of a yarn store empty handed isn't the best feeling in the world I can tell you.

So, after visiting some other cute-sy boutique ($500 for a blouse?! What?!) shops, I was off to the next store. Hoping, of course, there would be pretty yarns at pretty good prices.

1.3 miles later, I'm walking into the next shop. The very first thing that catches my eye is a beautiful stack of bright varigated yarn with wonderful texture and a slight sheen. Vibrant colors with a hint of subtle-ty as to not overwhelm you. Could it be? Was I really looking at? Noro? Sure enough, I picked up a skein, turned it over and in gold letters my suspitions were confirmed. This was the incredibly famous Noro. The Noro I had wanted to try for ages was now in my hands. Only one thing was left between me and this gorgeous dream. The price. And that price was rather high for someone that's used to finding $2.77 on the label. This yarn was about 7 times as much. Oh dear.

But I just had to have it. And had it I did. This is vacation after all. Why not?

But then I was informed that if I bought $25 worth of yarn or patterns, I'd get 15% off! And well, $18.25 just simply wasn't enough to get that wonderful discount. So there was only one solution. I just had to get more yarn.

So I looked around and found a wonderful, squishy wool in the prettiest colors. A varigated pink,, orange and purple. My kind of colors. But they weren't 'too much' if you know what I mean. Bright and sort of 'out there' but not in your face and annoyingly 'neon'. I'm starting to see the light. And the advantages of real fibers must be mentioned again. It just does something to the vibrancy yet subtle-ness of the tones.

So now I think it's time for pictures. Enough of my rambling! Here's some eye candy for ya:

I must mention that the above photo may just be the best pic I've taken in my life. This blogging thing has definitely improved my photography skills!

 But buying yarn is the easy part! Deciding what to make is much, much, MUCH, harder. I think I may try the Queen Anne's Lace scarf in the Noro. And as for the pretty wool? No thoughts.

Any suggestions you guys? I'm open to anything that takes 244 yards of worsted weight yarn. Something simple, yet breathtaking. Something I can accesorize with, but not make too much of a statement. Something really.... cool.

Ya know?

Thanks for reading my crazy rambly post! And if you did only scan the pics, I hope you enjoyed them!

You guys are the best!

♥Grace Ann♥



my W.I.P.s

Hey everyone! I wanted to take some time to snap some pics of my current works in progress. I must say that I am enjoying them to the fullest... switching back and forth between rounds and motifs--in the most gorgeous colors. Who says acrylic can't be pretty?

My first project is a japanese flower *something*. I honestly have no idea whether this is going to become something huge, or stay as a shawl/wrap as Lucy of Attic24 created. But I am so enjoying these flowers! They are so quick and so easy that it's rather silly.

I found these colors of Red Heart Super Saver when I was in Walmart last and they screamed my name. Surprisingly, they are very soft. But I find that with Red Heart sometimes--some colors are more rough than sandpaper, and others feel like they shouldn't be labeled acrylic. All four of these colors are wonderfully soft and squishy.

WIP #2

 Pretty..... yes--my next WIP is the Wool-Eater blanket. Not sure I'm adoring these colors though. It kind of started as a test swatch but then just grew. I think with a few more round I may like this one better. What do you think?

I must admit I never like the Triple Crochet stitch. It just 'took too long' and 'was too boring'. But that doesn't even apply with this pattern. It seems to be very quick and simple and grows very quickly. Has great texture and weight and it's pretty mindless once you get the hang of it...

Okay, so that's all I have for now! I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!

♥Grace Ann♥