Momma's Purse

My momma had a purse similar to this one that she carried for years.  She mentioned the other day that she had finally put it in a box of stuff to be donated and she'd like to have a new one.  I've been looking through patterns for something she might like, and I kept coming back to this pattern.  I think it's just so pretty no matter what color you use.

I've had two skeins of Fisherman's Wool sitting in my stash for at least a year now.  I decided to use them for this project.  I made this one holding two strands together so it would be sturdy.  My mom is going to line it.

I'm not sure if I'm going to use those straps or not.  I'll let her decide if she'd like these or wants me to crochet the straps.  I took these off an old purse I had in my closet.  I added a rose (top picture) that she can use if she wants, and she can also remove and change out the ribbon to match her outfit if she'd like.

Please excuse the poor picture quality.  It's raining and thundering and carrying on here this morning so I had to take the picture inside under artificial light.

I used the free pattern HERE.

Here are some better pictures (a little bit).

Loving It

A little over 1/3 finished.

36 flower squares joined.

63 left to do.

I'm still enjoying it immensely.

Have a safe & happy holiday weekend!

Shit-Fit Shawl

GAH!

I nearly had a shit-fit when I saw this shawl a few minutes ago on Ravelry.  I'm in love with it.  I may have to take a break from the flowers and take a couple of days to make this.  I REALLY love it.  I'll have to keep my fingers crossed that H.L. will have 5 skeins of this yarn available.  I think I'm going to throw on a bra and some shoes and go NOW.  Cuz that's how I am.  If I waited until tomorrow, I'd be like, eh, whatever.  LOL.

I guess I should give you the credits for this photo and all.  This picture and shawl belongs to Sunriseknits on Ravelry HERE.  The free pattern is HERE.

Now I'm off to H.L. to grab that yarn!  Wish me luck!

Update:  No such luck.  They didn't have it.  They don't even have it online.  Boo!

Update to update:  Found it at Joann's online.  Ordered it.

Inspiration

Do you crocheters out there need some inspiration?  Well, I'm here to hopefully provide that for you this week.  At least I hope so!

Look through these before you go clicking the links and leave me.  You must leave me some love in the comments.  I love hearing from all of you.  It makes my day to read your comments even if it's just a quick hello.

Look at these pretty things you could be making:

It's really pretty, you can use scraps, and the pattern is FREE!  No excuses!  This one was made by CrocheterAmanda and posted on Crochetville HERE.  The free pattern pdf is HERE.

And then there's this...

This is one of the prettiest Log Cabin Afghans I have seen.  These colors are great together.  I would have never thought of them myself.  Found this picture on Crochetville HERE.  The FREE pattern link is there.

Or what about this...

This was made by Crochetbug13 found HERE.  It's also a FREE pattern.  Follow the link she gives to the pattern.  It reminds me of the Groovy Ghan that is so popular right now.

Or this...

Pretty BRIGHT granny squares!  You can do that without a pattern!  Come on, girls (and guys)!  Get those juices flowing.  Just a couple of squares a day will get you started.  This one belongs to StripeyMonkey on Ravelry.

Just look at this sweet daisy blanket made by Angelfee.  Bunny Mummy has a great tutorial for a blanket like this on her blog HERE.  

Look at the pretty blue one:

Made by Priscilla.  Go to her blog HERE and see all of her amazing afghans.  She's got some gorgeous ones.

Is that enough?

Did anything catch your eye or your heart?

More?  Okay...

Everybody needs a RED granny blanket.

EVERYBODY!

It doesn't matter if it doesn't match anything you have.

You've gotta have one.

This one is by HardDaysKnit on Ravelry.

And...

This one is by Andamento.

She says it's "garish."

I say it's gorgeous!

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Okay, I'm done.

I hope you enjoyed today's presentation.

You crocheters out there are AMAZING!

Pretties

I'll give you (and me) and break from the flower squares today and show you somebody else's pretties.

I had a fit over this pretty poncho.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I just love the colors.  It was made by Indyf9 on Flickr.  HERE is the link.

And I saw this square this morning...

I thought it was so pretty.

I'm saving the pattern for later use.  I've got to try this one.

Here it is done in different colors.

It's amazing how using different colors can change the look so much.

I love it.

You can find the free pattern HERE.

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I'm off to get a much-needed and much-overdue mani/pedi.

Have a wonderful day!

Chain Link Join Video Tutorial

Here is a wonderful 2-part video that explains this method of joining if you didn't understand my written instructions.  The only difference is she makes her chain loops with 5 chains and I make mine with 4.  She is calling this a flat braid continuous join.

Part 2 shows the adjacent square corner joining that I tried to explain.  It's much clearer to just see her do it.

Thank you, Eileen, for finding the video link for me!

Click on the link below to go to the video tutorial:
Chain Link Joining (Or Flat Braid Joining)

Madness

I have yarn and flowers coming out my ears over here!  They are everywhere.  And as hard as I'm working, it's going to be at least three weeks before this baby is done.  We're talking hours upon hours of work here.  This is no small undertaking.  But what fun.  I really need this distraction right now too.  I'm actually kind of dreading being finished with this.  You know what I mean?  I should stop that and just enjoy the madness right now...and I really am.  Be in the moment, Pammy Sue!

I've GOT to go grocery shopping.  I've been putting it off for days.  Bye.

Chain Link Joining Method

I don't know if this is the proper name for this kind of join or not, but it's what I'm calling it.  This is how I do it:

Chain Link Joining Method

FIRST SQUARE:  Attach yarn with an sc in any corner space.  Ch 4, sc in same space.  (Ch 4, sc in next space) across to next corner.  Ch 4, sc in same space.  Repeat this all the way around; fasten off.

Your first square is the ONLY square that you will do this with.  The rest will be joined as you crochet on one, two, or three sides.

Your first square will look like this when you are finished:

SECOND SQUARE:  Repeat method for first square across two sides of your square.  Stop after you have made the first sc in the third corner.  Ch 2, join to corner of first square by making an sc in the corner ch-4 loop, ch 2, sc in same corner space of second square.  Ch 2, sc into next ch-4 loop of first square, ch 2, sc into next ch-4 loop of second square.

Continue in this manner joining squares on the appropriate sides.

Note:  When you get to the point where you have adjacent squares (they only touch on the corners), join to the adjacent square's corner ch-4 loop.  This makes a more secure join and looks much neater.

I hope I have explained this adequately.  I don't want to take the time right now to make a full-blown tutorial with pictures for each step.  I did a brief look for this method on YouTube so I could provide you a link to it, but I didn't find it.

I hope this is helpful!

Flowery Progress

Here's a little peek at what the background and joining looks like on my blanket.  The black and brown kind of mutes the bright colors of  the flowers a little.  Not sure how I feel about that, but I definitely did not want white or even off-white this time.

If you didn't see the bottom of my entry yesterday, I updated it to say that the video link with the joining instructions that I emailed is not the one I am using.  Sorry about that.  I'll have to find this one and post the link for you.

If you've emailed me and haven't had a response, I must have missed it so email me again.

This is a LOT of work, but it's FUN work!

Bye!

Let the Weekend Begin

Twenty six flowers are made.  I'm going to put a few together and see how the background and joining colors I've chosen are going to look.  I can't wait to see it!

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed making this blanket so far.  And I mean all the little tedius bits like weaving in those pesky ends too.  I retired to my room last night at about 8:00, propped myself up on some pillows, and devoted about an hour and a half to weaving in the ends of another baggie of black circles prepping them for the flowery fun part.  Then I made another six flowers before forcing myself to stop and turn the light out around 1:00 AM.

If you need a flower fix over the weekend, you know where to come!  Have a good one.

Updated to Add:  I just realized that I have been emailing y'all the wrong link for the joining method I am using.  That DROPS one is not correct.  I will have to find it and post it here later.