crocheting like crazy

 

my little hook and i have been quite busy! though there are still 3 or 4 unfinished projects i have going (including a wedding present that is almost 8 months late) i was able to knock off 3 finished products this week! one is a scarf that i decided to make at the last minute for craft hope (the same organization that organized the etsy shop for haiti). this month's project are red scarves that are being sent to college age students leaving the foster care system. i decided just a few days ago to do a scarf and got about 1/3 of the way through this pattern before i changed my mind, ripped the whole thing out and made up my own pattern. here's what I came up with: 

 

it's stitch up lengthwise, so i chained a few hundred- until i thought it was long enough- then did a row of single crochet. one of the stitches i really liked from the original pattern is the seed stitch: basically alternating single crochet and chain stitch- so i did that for about 6 rows. at that point i decided it wasn't going fast enough so i added in a row of half double crochet, then a row of double crochet. it still wasn't getting wide enough so i added 3 rows of mesh stitch using triple crochet- that got tall fast! at that point i started fearing i would run out of yarn so i just mirrored everything i had done up to that point. i'm happy with how it turned out- soft and fluffly not too tight at all!

 

Next up are these little flowers! A woman in my mom's Bible study was wearing a crocheted flower pin the other day and said she paid something like $12 for it. I figure I need to get in on that market! They're adorable, super easy and very versatile! I'm going to continue to experiment with colors and styles before I list them but I'm pleased at the progress! 

My newest adventure with the crochet hook was inspired by something in my happy hooker book. There's a pattern in the book for crochet jewelry which I used as a jumping off point for what will soon be a bracelet and a necklace. The crocheting is all done I just need to come up with a clasp for each that sort of matches the wire. I used brownish 26 gauge wire and two sizes of green glass beads I got on clearance a while back. 

 

The necklace is just a long chain with beads added in and the bracelet is two rows of crochet with lots of beads. It was so fun! I need to keep playing with the size of the hook and wire before these end up in the shop but i LOVE this new endeavor!