Moved to a new blog

Hey everyone!  My sweet hubby bought me a .Mac account for my birthday so I have switched my blog over there.  I'm leaving this one up for a little while until everyone updates their links.

Here's my new blog!

Tunisian Scarflet

I designed this scarflet after seeing the infamous Pidge that sells online for upwards of $300. I loved the idea of a neck scarf and thought that I could create a beautiful scarflet with Tunisian crochet stitches. This project works up very fast. It is nice and thick due to the nature of Tunisian, which is created with a forward pass and return row.

Tunisian Scarflet

 

 Copyright - Kara Buerck, 2007. 

All rights reserved.  You may use this pattern for your own personal use.  Please do not sell this pattern as your own design.  You may sell products made from this pattern.

Materials:

-       Heavy worsted weight yarn (I used 1 skein Lion Brand Organic Cotton)

-       Tunisian/Afghan Crochet Hook, Size “I” or 5.5mm

-       Two 1” buttons of your choosing

-       Tapestry needle

 

Gauge: 14 stitches & 11 rows in stitch pattern = 4”x4”

 

Finished Size: 5”x25”

 

 Important notes regarding Tunisian Crochet:

-       If you don’t have experience with Tunisian Crochet, I highly recommend that you watch these great video tutorials at http://www.nexstitch.com/v_Tutorials.html

-       I’ve found that Tunisian Crochet turns out best when worked loosely.  If worked too tightly, it can be difficult to see where your stitches are & where to insert your hook.

-       I recommend periodically counting the loops on your hook at the end of a forward pass to make sure you have the right number of stitches.

SPECIAL STITCHES

Basic Forward Pass (FP) & Return Row (RR):

Forward Pass - The first loop on hook counts as first stitch. Pull up a loop in all stitches of previous, or foundation, row, with the exception of the first vertical bar. For the last stitch of the forward pass, a cleaner edge will be made if you insert hook into the vertical bar and the bar behind it before pulling up loop. Leave all loops on the hook.

Return Row - YO and pull through one loop on hook. * YO and pull through two loops on hook* repeat from * to * until all but one loop is off the hook.

 

Tunisian Knit Stitch (TKS):

Insert hook from front to back through the front and back vertical bar, YO, pull up a loop

 

Tunisian Reverse Stitch (TRS):

Insert hook from backside of work and through center of front and back vertical bars, and out the backside, YO, pull up a loop

 

DIRECTIONS

 

Foundation Row: Ch 16 loosely.  Skip first ch, then pull up a loop in the back bumps of each remaining ch across.  Count here to be sure you have 16 loops on your hook.  Now work a standard RR.

 

Row 1: Skip first vertical bar.  * 1 TKS, 1 TRS, repeat from * across.  Remember to work the last stitch as described above. 

Work a standard RR.

 

Row 2: Skip first vertical bar.  * 1 TRS, 1 TKS, repeat from * across.  Remember to work the last stitch as described above. 

Work a standard RR.

 

Continue to alternate Row 1 & Row 2 until scarf measures 24” in length.

 

Buttonhole Row:

FP - Skip first vertical bar.  1 TKS, 1 TRS, 1 TKS. Insert hook in next stitch as for the TRS, YO, pull up a loop then pull that loop through the next loop on your hook (this is a slip stitch bind off).  Insert hook in next stitch as for the TKS, YO, pull up a loop then pull that loop through the next loop on your hook.  Now work in the 1 TRS/1 TKS pattern for 6 more sts.  Repeat the slip stitch bind off across the next 2 sts, then finish the last 3 sts in pattern. 

 

It should look like this:

 

RR - YO and pull through one loop on hook. [YO and pull through two loops] 2 times, ch 2, [YO and pull through two loops] 6 times, ch 2, [YO and pull through two loops] 3 more times.

 

It should look like this:

 

 

 

Next Row: Skip first vertical bar.  1 TRS, 1 TKS, [pull up loop in back bump of next ch] 2 times, [1 TRS, 1 TKS] 3 times, [pull up loop in back bump of next ch] 2 times, 1 TRS, 1 TKS, 1 TKS.

Work a standard RR.

 

Final Row: Skip first vertical bar.  * 1 TKS, 1 TRS, repeat from * across.  Remember to work the last stitch as described above. 

Work a standard RR

 

Bind Off Row: Skip first vertical bar.  * Insert hook in next stitch as for the TKS, YO, pull up a loop then pull that loop through the next loop on your hook.  Repeat from * to end until there is just one loop on your hook.

 

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Attach buttons to correspond with button holes.

 

Golf Club Covers

I finished these up this afternoon as a Christmas gift for DH. The cabled one is a Lion Brand pattern (my first cables). The second is a fair isle pattern from Vogue's Stitchionary. I was going to make a set of 3 but Tim doesn't have a 5 iron so I just made the two. The stripes on the ribbing indicate which club they go on :)

They are done in Patons Classic Wool Merino.

Palindrome!

The Palindrome scarf is finally finished!!! Yay! I can't wait to see my MIL's reaction when I give it to her at Christmas. Now I just need to start on Tim's Palindrome. I've got so many WIPs right now, I really hope I can get everything done in time :)

Spike the Dragon

Well, I've been testing this adorable dragon for Stormy over at Crochetville this past week. I had to improvise a little... I ran out of my main color so I had to shorten the legs and make her ears a different color. I also embroidered her eyes instead of using the acrylic kind since it will be a present for Isabella. All that said, I think she turned out pretty darn cute. She's a nice quick project, will be great for future last minute gifts.

What do I do?

Ok, what the heck am I gonna do with all this yarn? I frogged a top that I had made for Isabella because it was WAY too big... now I'm stuck with roughly 5 skeins of this cotton with no project in mind...

Any ideas anyone? It's Lion Brang Organic Cotton... SOOOO soft and luxurious! I'd love to make a baby blanket but I don't think I have enough and I REALLY don't want to pay $7.99 a skien for more yarn. I was thinking maybe some legwarmers or something like that but I just can't make up my mind.

Set #2

Well I promised I would update with pics as I get some of these hat/scarf sets done for my friend. I finished the pink set last night and now I'm starting on a knit hat like the one in my profile pic and a scarf to match. Those will probably take a little longer as I am still MUCH slower with my needles than with my hooks :)

Busy, busy!

I got started on some hats and scarves for my friend Sarah's daughters yesterday. The first set is done! The hat is a heavily modified version of the rolled brim hat. The scarf is the "One Skein Scarf" from SnB: Happy Hooker. My lighting is terrible since it's rainy out today... I'll have to take better pics when it's nice and sunny :)

I'll keep the pics coming as I finish the other sets :)

Rave Run

I just had to rave about my run this morning. It's been a while since I was able to get out there. It's been so darn hot I just had no motivation to run. Finally this morning it was in the upper 50's and I decided it was time to get back out there. I set out with Isabella in tow to Mt. Trashmore, a local park. They have a great 2 mile loop that is flat and easy. I ran a total of 4 miles in 38:29... it was GREAT! The whole time I'm listening to my iPod wondering why oh WHY did I not run for so long? Granted, by the end I was exhausted but I was so stinkin' proud of myself for doing it :)

Isabella had a great time too. She kept pointing at all the geese in the lake and screaming "goo! goo!" Now I'm super motivated to start training again. Hopefully I'll be ready for a few races by Spring :)

Can Cozy

I whipped up this can cozy this afternoon since hubby stole my crocheted one to use at work. It was my first attempt at knitting in the round. I cast on 36 divided on 3 dpn's then worked in the 2x2 rib until it was the right height. Then I just decreased down to 6 stitches to form the bottom. I just used some leftover Sugar N' Cream in the Desert Rising colorway :)

Not too bad for my first try I think...

My first Palindrome scarf...

I've been admiring this pattern for a while now. Trying to decide what to make my MIL for Christmas I decided to give this pattern a try. I love the yarn I chose... Patons SWS in the Natural Violet colorway. Anyway, here it is after the first few cable repeats...

It seems to be working up pretty fast. I hope to have it done this weekend :)

First Post

Alas, I have finally hopped on the bandwagon... I've decided to blog.

A little about me... I'm a proud Navy wife and Mother to a beautiful 16 month old daughter, Isabella. We live in sunny Virginia Beach, VA.

Just a warning: this blog is likely to be overloaded with posts about running, knitting & crocheting... my passions. So if you're not into that kind of thing, this is probably not the blog you want to be reading.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read :)