Washcloth/dishcloth create-a-long - Day 9

 

A couple of dishcloths

Patterns from The Big Book Of Dishcloths.

No32 and no.35

Yarn: Anchor magicline

  

I made the first batch of Tomato Sauce for the season.

The heat waves we've had have reduced the tomato crop.

Pete picked the first pumpkin today.

Create-A-Long Total: 21

This Washcloth/dishcloth Create-a-long is being hosted by

Melissa over at One Crafty Mama Blog. 

Pop over and visit and check out the links to the other participants.

Washcloth/dishcloth create-a-long - Day 8

What happened to Day 8? 

Heather and I went to Adelaide for a catch up with the Crafty Mama's.

Nanny came along too, to get a cuddle with the newest grandchild.

Karen and nanny took turns cuddling with Heather.

While I tucked into a plate of Swedish Meatballs and a couple of cakes!

It was a wonderful catch up. 

Tas, Karen, Helen, Ali and Ali's friend Karen were all there.

Becci and Kym missed out this time.

Lots of talking, laughter and eating.

I love being a part of the Crafty Mama Community.

 

Nanny and Heather.

Karen and Heather.

It was a long day. 

We left here at 7:30 am and didn't get home until after 10pm.

A return drive of over 400kms.

Heather slept the trip down and screamed for a lot of the trip back.

There were lots of stops and feeds but in the end I just had to drive and try to stay calm with poor Heather screaming.

So no cloths were made on Day 8.

Washcloth/dishcloth create-a-long - Day 7

Happy Valentines Day!

 

I woke to these, yesterday morning!

Pete got the date muddled.

I've had an extra day to admire them.

I found an excellent blog with lots of Dishcloth patterns.

Dish and wash cloth mania

Pattern: Fillet Heart

Yarn: My Friends

hook: 5mm

  

Pattern: My own improvised

Yarn: My Friends

hook 5mm

Create-A-Long Total: 19

This Washcloth/dishcloth Create-a-long is being hosted by

Melissa over at One Crafty Mama Blog. 

Pop over and visit and check out the links to the other participants.

I have a few emails I need to reply too. Sorry if I haven't got back to you yet.

Washcloth/dishcloth create-a-long - Day 6

 

Pattern: Diamond Dishcloth

Yarn: My Friends

hook: 5mm

 

  

Pattern: Mesh and Chain

Yarn: My Friends

Hook: 5mm

Create-A-Long Total: 17

This Washcloth/dishcloth Create-a-long is being hosted by

Melissa over at One Crafty Mama Blog. 

Pop over and visit and check out the links to the other participants.

Mesh and Chain Woven dishcloth pattern

Mad Quilter's 

Mesh and Chain Woven Dishcloth Pattern

I've seen tartan blankets made with this technique. 

A dish cloth is a good way to see if you like a certain stitch or technique. 

I discovered I'm not keen on this technique at all. 

Weaving all the ends in is a real bore.

I have written this pattern using Australian terms.

Australian                American

Double crochet =   Single crochet

Treble =                 Double crochet

Yarn and hook:
Worsted weight yarn with 5mm (H) hook
or  ... DK weight (8ply) with 4mm hook
 Cotton, bamboo, hemp and acrylic are best for dishcloths.
You need a colour for the mess and border and a contrast for the chains that are woven.

Gauge doesn't matter, you don't wear it.

Make the Mesh:
Foundation chain - Chain 35 stitches.

Row 1 Work treble (dc - American terms)  into 5th chain from hook. Chain 1, miss 1 chain from foundation chain and treble in next. Do this until the end of the chain.  You should have 16 holes and 17 stitches when you count the 3 chains at the beginning as 1 stitch.
Chain 3 and turn your work to start the second row.

Row 2  Miss one chain, (chain 1 and treble (dc) in the top of the next treble (dc)) until the end of the row where you treble (dc) in the second chain you turned with, work this row 14 times. You should have 15 holes counting up from the foundation row.

Fasten off. 

Make the Chains
Using a contrast yarn make sixteen chains of 35 stitches with chain stitch. Makes sure you leave tails at both ends of about 7cm, you can weave the ends in now or wait until the end.

Weave the Chains

Take the chains and weave them in and out of the mesh. Start at the foundation chain and weave to the top. Weave each chain in an alternate in/out pattern. Be careful to not pull the chain all the way through. The border round will fasten the chains to the edge of the cloth.

Border

Start at the top right hand side of the cloth. Attach yarn with a slip stitch and double crochet (sc) into the top of the treble, next double crochet around the chain space inserting the hook through the first chain of the weaving chain as you pull the yarn through to make the double crochet, this secures the woven chain to the cloth. Work like this across the row.
At the end of the row work 3 double crochet into the second turning chain.

Turn the cloth on its side and work a row of double crochet along the side' I work 2 for each treble row, one stitch in the bar of the treble and one between. At the end of the side work 3 double crochet and turn the cloth.

Work across the bottom as you did the top, catching the woven chains into the double crochets. Another 3 Double crochets into the corner.

Turn and work double crochet along the other side. Work 2 double crochet into the first stitch and fasten with a slip stitch to the first double crochet of the border.

Finishing..( the really painful part!)
Weave in all the ends and trim. yep there will be 34 ends to weave and sew in!!

COPYRIGHT.
You can make these for sale.
You can share the pattern with your friends.
You can't publish this on your web site without my permission.
You can't sell my pattern or instructions.
You can't claim this is your work.

Washcloth/dishcloth create-a-long - Day 5

A much better day today.

Heather slept well last night and at her check this morning had gained some weight, not as much as the charts say she should but not bad either.

She's also been less fussy and had a couple of good naps in the day.

I rediscovered a site I used to go to all the time before Ravelry.

Crochet Pattern Central. 

Lots of free dishcloth patterns HERE

I found two of the patterns I crocheted today via Crochet Pattern Central.

 

Pattern: Stash Bustin 

Yarn: My Friends, left overs from the other dishcloth.

Hook: 5mm

 

Pattern: Improvised by me.

Yarn: My Friends

Hook: 5mm

I made this one while at the kids assembly today.

 

Pattern: Crochet Dishcloth  

Yarn: My Friends

Hook: 5mm

This one is very different in how it is made. The cables are created by chains which are hooked together after you have crochet the main part of the cloth.

Create-A-Long Total: 14

This Washcloth/dishcloth Create-a-long is being hosted by

Melissa over at One Crafty Mama Blog. 

Pop over and visit and check out the links to the other participants.

'

Washcloth/dishcloth create-a-long - Day 4

 Only one cloth done today.

Heather is having a Wonder Week, and has fussed all last night and today.

She's gone from refusing to latch yesterday and this morning, to refusing to get off this afternoon and evening.

She's very irritable and just wants to be held and snuggled.

Just when I think we finally have the feeding sorted, it went back to square one.

Back to nipple shields and expressing prior to latching.

Back to having to lie down to get Heather to latch.

You'd think after nursing six for over a year each I would know what I was doing.

But you'd be wrong!

Every baby is unique and I have to re-learn it all again.

My mantra for times like this is .."this too will pass."

It has not been easy for me to breastfeed any of my babies.

I have had attachment problems due to flat nipples.

It has been total determination and lots of toe curling, lip biting, nipple shields and panadol.

Ok ..Where did I hide that instruction booklet? 

You know the one that was supposed to come with the baby?

OH That's right, there isn't one!

You know why?

Because we are all unique and so are our babies.

o 

Pattern: Tulip Stitch Cloth

Yarn: My Friends

Hook: 5mm

 

I love this pattern, so easy.

Create-A-Long Total: 11

This Washcloth/dishcloth Create-a-long is being hosted by

Melissa over at One Crafty Mama Blog. 

Pop over and visit and check out the links to the other participants.

Washcloth/dishcloth create-a-long - Day 3

Pattern: Snapdragon

Yarn: MyFriends

Hook: 5mm

Lisa over at The Princess and the Monkey blog made this one and I loved it and made one too.

Thanks for the link Lisa!

 

Pattern: Fish Dishcloth

Yarn: My Friends

Hook 5mm

Jasmine made this pattern and I loved this one too, so made one.

Thanks for the link Jasmine!

Pattern: Flower Dishcloth

Yarn: My Friends

hook: 5mm

I found this pattern through Ravelry. 

I had a hard time following the pattern so made a few modifications.

Create-A-Long Total: 10

This Washcloth/dishcloth Create-a-long is being hosted by

Melissa over at One Crafty Mama Blog. 

Pop over and visit and check out the links to the other participants.

 

Thanks Melissa, for inspiring me.

Washcloth/dishcloth create-a-long - Day 2

Heather has slept well today and I've re-mastered the art of breastfeeding and crocheting at the same time. I also stayed away from Crafty Mamas today! 

Did you notice I was missing?

The result was 6 washcloths!!

I crocheted this one at 2am during a night feed.

Pattern:Trebles, edged with double crochets. (Aust Terms)

Yarn: reclaimed cotton

Hook: 5mm

 

  

These two are the same pattern. 

Very quick to work up.

Pattern:  Crochet Flower Dishcloth (it's a Free one!)

Yarn: My Friends  55%acrylic 42% cotton

Hook: 5mm

 

Pattern: Janelle's Star Dishcloth  also a free pattern.

Yarn: My Friends

Hook: 5mm

Pattern: Round dishcloth, Free Pattern

modified with an extra round.

Yarn: My Friends

Hook 5mm

This one is my favorite.

I crocheted this one while helping Lilly with her reading and sight words, nothing like multitasking!

Pattern: Sunflower Dishcloth, also a free pattern.

Modified with an extra round of ruffles

Yarn: My Friends

Hook: 5mm

Create-A-Long Total: 7

This Washcloth/dishcloth Create-a-long is being hosted by

Melissa over at One Crafty Mama Blog. 

Pop over and visit and check out the links to the other participants.

Washcloth/dishcloth create-a-long - Day 1

Melissa over at One Crafty Mama Blog is hosting a Create-a-long, 14 days of knitted and crochet dishcloths. 

There were, at last count, 19 of us on this Create-A-Long.

Melissa has linked to some FREE dishcloth patterns in THIS post.

Today was day 1 and I managed between feeds, nappy changes and cooking meals to complete a dishcloth today. It's a wonderful feeling to complete something in the day.

I like dishcloths. They are quick and portable. 

They are easy to put down on a scream and you don't loose your place!

 

Craft: Crochet

Pattern: basket weave

Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply Cotton

Hook: 4mm

Create-A-Long Total: 1

Given up...

On the 'Going Grey Gracefully'

I really needed a pick me up after a very long pregnancy. 

And nothing picks me up faster than a little make over.

I decided to go short again.

Much easier to care for and much cooler.

I was also loosing handfuls of hair and was worried about the strands getting caught around Heathers tiny fingers and toes.

I had a color and foils put in too.

The only problem is now I'll have to go the hairdresser on a regular basis to keep the hair looking tidy.

Finding a couple hours for myself every 5 or 6 weeks will be good for me.

Kwik Sew 2606 Children's Swimsuit

The kids have swimming lessons next week.
Fern has grown out of her swimsuit.
I had 1.5m of swimsuit fabric in the stash, which I had bought at the op-shop in Port Pirie for 50c
The pattern came from a shop in Clare that was having a sale.

Fern chose view C of the pattern.
This is the second time I've sewn swimwear.
I'm not a fan of sewing in all that elastic.
I had plastic swimwear elastic in the stash left over from sewing nappies.
I had Fern trace and cut the pattern out and I did the rest.
The swimmers took less than two hours to sew.

S.W.A.P - Choosing the patterns

For my Sewing With A Plan challenge, I'm choosing to make 6 tops, 4 bottoms and a Cardigan/Jacket.


From Simplicity 3838 view B and D (2 tops)
From Simplicity 4045 View B (top) and View C (Skirt)

The Sew Liberated School House Tunic, I'll choose this for two of the tops.
From Simplicity 3705 View B top and the View C Pants, one of each.

So far that's 6 tops and 2 bottoms.
I still need to find 2 more bottoms and a cardigan/jacket pattern

I tend to wear more pants than skirts.
I find pants easier to move in and less revealing than skirts. especially when teaching in the junior grades or out on the oval supervising PE classes.
So I'm going to make three pairs of pants and one skirt.

I'm still searching for a nice easy fit, elasticated pant pattern.
Also need a nice wrap or cardigan pattern, I was thinking I may knit this.

In our garden

The peaches are ripening.
I've picked one each day for breakfast this week.

There are lots of pumpkins on the vines.

This one is still little compared to the giants hidden in the leaves.

The plums are almost ripe.

There's a lot of Mandarins on the tree. It will be a while until we are eating these.

The walnut tree is heavy with walnuts this year.

The apples are still a few weeks away from being ripe.

The sunflower on Toohey's grave has a weird idea of direction.

Yesterdays pickings.
Won't be too long before we are jamming, preserving, pickling and saucing again.

Kwik Sew 3327 It's a tent!

I decided to make up the long sleeve View of Kwik Sew 3327
I worked a Full bust adjustment as shown above.

FBA Tutorial Links:
isew.co.uk
timmelfabrics
FBA on a wrap style top
FBA on raglan T - also index of links to different types of FBA
Video Perfect Sew and fit
Craftstylish


I decided to increase the pleat at the center font too.

Now doing both these adjustments resulted in a dress way too big!
It's a tent. It always was a tent!
This design is never going to flatter me.
I just threw out a pile of clothes that don't look good on me.
I seem to be drawn to tents!
It gives me no shape at all and makes me look bigger than I am.

My main mistake with making the FBA is adding too much.
Because I'm a G cup I added 2.5inches and this really was way too much to add.
The tutorials listed above recommend around half an inch for each cup increase.

All is not lost.
I've learned I don't need to add so much to a FBA
I've learned that just because a design has a feature I like ( nursing access) doesn't mean it will suit me.
I've learned that making a muslin is a GREAT idea.
I now have three very handy nightgowns I can feed in.
The long sleeve version will be great in the winter.