Dishcloth Swap!

I know, I know... Seems like I'm all about the swap lately. Well, get used to it! lol To me there's just something wonderful and amazing about the communal exchange of friendship inherent in a gift swap of any sort. I really think, even beyond the greed, that this connection to another person obtained through gift giving, is what makes Christmas an exciting wonderful time, even if you're not Christian. I, for one, absolutely LOVE giving gifts, and it's my favorite part of the holidays. I like seeing people get excited. :)

So, I recently signed up for three more swaps groups on Ravelry: Knit & Crochet Dishcloth Swap, Ten Dollar Swap, and 12 Dancing Dishcloths. These are small exchanges, nothing extravagant, which means I get to be really creative on a budget, which is one thing I'm really good at. (For reference, see my mostly handmade bellydance wardrobe, ie the vest with the feather collar featured a while back.) And, I just sent out my first package for the first of these groups on Monday. It was for the Knit & Crochet Dishcloth Swap, and the overall theme was animals. We were asked to send our spoilee two dishcloths (knitted or crocheted, your choice) featuring animals.

Well, y'all know me, that's not quite enough of a theme, so when my spoilee suggested she likes sea creatures, I hit on the idea of doing a beachy package.





Here's what I sent:
A "seaweed" project bag. I make these ALL the time, and I love them for small project bags. They are perfect for making dishcloths on the go because the strap fits easly around your wrist and you can literally stitch anywhere, anytime. It keeps everything nice and neat, and because this one can hold two balls of kitchen cotton, you can work on something a little more complex, if you'd like. I used a sueded yarn, in a nice sage, which not only matched the theme (seaweedy, yes?) but I thought it might be a color she'd enjoy as she likes pale, earthy colors. I wish I had a better pic; here it is with everything in it, ready to be sent on it's way:



Attached to that, you can see a little "Sea Anemone Pin" I made. I am obsessed with fiber flowers and flower pins lately, so I knew I'd want to make one for my spoilee. This little pin can be used anywhere: hats, jackets, bags, scarves, shawls, anywhere! This picture above shows the color a bit better.



Of course, I made two animal-themed dishcloths. One is Sandy the Starfish, made in an ecru cotton to mimic a starfish lying in the sand. The other is Daphne the Dolphin, swimming through deep blue waves. Sand and sea... a little surf and turf, yes? ;) I couldn't find any projects in crochet that I felt really worked with the theme I was going for, so I knitted the cloths. It's been quite a while since I knitted anything, and it was so fun! I flew through these so much faster than I expected to. I think crochet has given me alot more fiber confidence, so my knitting is benefiting, too. Here are the cloths, up close:





You can see on each one that I also made some stitch markers to go with them. There are two blue starfish and two green dolphins. Also included was a little clip-on calendar featuring beach scenes, some treats for my spoilees boys, and a card to explain it all. Fate put me together with the same person I got to spoil for the Reducio Sock Swap last time, and it was nice to get to send her things that weren't HP themed, but that I thought she might still enjoy. She has two boys, like I do, though both of mine are December babies. May/December friendship? LOL I hope she enjoys everything as much as I've enjoyed making it for her!

BB!
~Jeannie

Virtue: A Cabled Bookmark

Hey there! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I had a wonderful Mother's Day and I got some knitting/crocheting done, too! Rock! More on that tomorrow...

I want to share the bookmark design (my first design ever) that I mentioned in a previous post. It was being featured in the Monthly Bookmark Knit-Along Yahoo! group, and I didn't want to give it away before everyone there got first dibs t it. :) A million thanks to Briley for allowing such a new designer to offer her design, then testing it and actually using it for the group. That boosted my confidence more than you know!

I called this bookmark Virtue because I made about three of them as gifts before I ever wrote it down, just keeping the pattern in my head. So, I had to be very disciplined with counting stitches and rows. You can also make it's cousin, Vice, by merely removing the cables. So much easier!

Here is the pattern!

Virtue Bookmark

(I'll get a picture of Vice up soon, too.)

This pattern is a great introduction to cabling. While it looks pretty impressive, and the cables are big and obvious, there are only six cabling rows in the entire piece. Such is the power of cabling! It just goes to show that one simple technique can really revolutionize a piece.

Materials:

Crochet thread, size 3 (or something similar)

Size 3 needles

Cable needle

Scissors

Special stitch:
Cable 6 in front: slip three onto the cable needle, hold in front, purl 3, and purl 3 from cable needle.

Abbreviations:
k-knit
p-purl

Cast on 18

Rows 1-3 (and every even row throughout) knit across.

Row 5 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 7 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 9 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 11 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 13 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 15 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 17 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 19 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 21 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 23 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 25 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 27 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 29 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 31 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 33 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 35 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 37 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 39 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 41 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 43 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 45 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 47 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 49 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 51 k3, p2, k1, cable 6 in front, k1, p2, k3

Row 53 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 55 k3, p2, k1, p6, k1, p2, k3

Row 57-59 knit across

Block.

Please feel free to use this pattern for your own personal use and link others to this pattern. I also give permission to use this pattern to make items to sell at school craft fairs, church bizarres, or other non-profit charitable fundraisers. Please do not sell this pattern or reproduce it for distribution without my express permission.

Because she did such a great job, I asked Jody, a member of the KAL, if I could use a picture of her bookmark in my blog to show how she worked it up. Please note, she cabled to the back and she used sport weight yarn. I just wanted to show you that you don't have to follow my, or anyone else's, directions exactly. You can make something beautiful when you break the "rules!" I want to thank all the members of the KAL for trying my little pattern. Thanks!!

My very creative Mom suggested after receiving the first Virtue I ever made, that it would make a great headband if it were longer and attached to some wide elastic. Great idea, Mom!! To do that, repeat rows 15 through 26 one more time before moving on to rows 27 to the end. Block it, back it if you need to with fabric, sew some elastic on, and you have a cute headband.

I hope you enjoy it!

BB!

~Jeannie

World Bellydance Day and new fiber books!

First of all, Happy World Bellydance Day, everyone! If you are a dancer, get out there and dance a little today in celebration. Or watch a new video, read a new book, try a new prop or move, sew a little on your next costume, tell someone why you love bellydance or educate someone as to what bellydance REALLY is. Find a way to celebrate your life as a dancer!

If you're not a dancer, please take a moment to learn more about this beautiful artform that is as dynamic and revolutionary as it has ever been. (http://www.alchemydance.com/ http://www.shira.net/ or http://www.fcbd.com/ are all good places to start) I'll bet you will be surprised at how popular, enriching, and empowering this dance form is for so many people (men and women) around the world. And, more importantly, it is more family-friendly than many people expect. Give it a chance! C'mon, do it for me. :)

Second, I went to Borders yesterday to just look at a book: Creepy Cute Crochet. Now, mind you, I just wanted to LOOK! I've become fascinated with Amigurumi, and this book is right up my alley with it's really cute designs featuring Cthulhu, a Day of the Dead couple, zombies, ninjas, even a monkey and an Amazon! There are lots of designs in here, all in the Amigurmi style, with instructions on how to accessorize them as well as construct them. Well, I ended up buying it and saving my husband and sons the trouble of finding me a Mother's Day gift. :) I haven't attempted a project yet as I'm working on gifts for others, but I will soon and I will post a review once I have. I can't wait to give it a shot! I've even got a few ideas of my own for little characters and I can't wait to get a basic template under my belt for embellishment.

My friend Mari was with me while I was perusing the fiber arts section. She is graduating with her Master's degree today (congrats, girl!!) so she hasn't had a huge amount of time to dedicate to anything outside of school, work, and family except the troupe we direct together, Alchemy. However, she's been following my adventures in yarn and wants to learn for herself once everything settles down. Honestly, at first, I thought she was just being polite to me! lol Yesterday, though, I found out she is serious as she bought two books while we were at Borders: Get Your Crochet On! Fly Tops and Funky Flavas and Folk Style: Innovative Designs to Knit, Including Sweaters, Hats, Scarves, Gloves and More. She sent them home with me to look over and try out while she finishes up her grad school stuff and get settled back into the normal routine. Now, she may have just been cleverly trying to give me a gift (she did give me my first knitting book ever: Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting into Shape, which I LOVE!), but I'm inclined to believe, as she fawned over the designs and thought of ways to use them in her life, that she really does want to learn and is excited to start. I'm thrilled! I don't really have anyone to knit or crochet with and I haven't been motivated to go to any of the local fiber circles yet even though I desperately need someone with more experience to show me some basic techniques. With Mari at my side, though, I'll be more inclined to go. Maybe I'll go get her a set of needles and a hook later today. In the meantime, I made her a little gift for graduation that should whet her appetite for more fibery goodness: Mari's Earrings.

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend already, and that it just gets better from here.

BB!
~Jeannie