Crochet Forever!

I enjoy crocheting. Maybe I should write more, but I mostly find myself with a hook in my hand when I have spare time.

I mostly crochet lap robes and prayer shawls for hospice. I also crochet little gifts for family and friends. This year I made a little Amish puzzle ball for my great-niece.

I'm including photos of some of my recent work (which I have been lax about posting here). I make at least 2 prayer shawls every month and often more than that. I know hospice sends out at least 30 of them a month and I try to make sure I'm doing my share.

This is my current project. I am warming up to make a whole afghan before the middle of July. It may be something of a challenge as this craft takes longer than crocheting.

I chose this way of making a lap robe because crocheting this yarn made a fairly dark fabric. This way the colors are more spread out. I like it better.

Thank you for visiting with me.

Kathi

Tackling Tunisian Crochet

I've tried Tunisian crochet in the past and obviously missed a step or two, because the results were unlovely.

I found a couple different sizes of afghan hooks and messed with it until I found something I was satisfied with.

Here's a largish lap robe that finally came up to my standards.

 

 

Since I sewed the strips together with a row of single crochet I decided to make a ridge on the border as well to give the finished piece a more unified look.

 

 

I first worked a row of double crochet around the sides and then I did a row of single crochet as front post stitches.

 

 

It's warm. Each row came out with the right number of stitches. I'll do something fancier the next time I try this kind of crochet.

 

Thanks for visiting with me,

 

Kathi Linz

 

Time to Crochet

I spent my summer working on inkle weaving and mesh weaving. Now the cooler weather is staring us in the face, it's time to consider making prayer shawls and lap robes for hospice.

Here are my first three for the year:

 

 

Thanks for visiting with me,

 

Kathi Linz

 

 

The Last Two Shawls for This Season

I finished shawl number 29.  I started on a lap robe to make it an even 30.  Then God told me that Sharon should get the purple shawl before she goes to surgery on Monday.

So I crammed in the rest of the lap robe and turned it in as number 29.

As I was chatting with the church secretary, she mentioned that she would like a black and white afghan because her office is basically unheated except for a space heater.  Seems like that's a little short-sighted of the builder, but I wasn't part of the planning committee on that issue - or any other part of the building for that matter.

Anyway, here are the last two pieces for hospice this season.

Only 13 rows left to go on the granny ripple.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi Linz

Nearly There

Back in July, I started crocheting again after hurting my right hand just before Christmas.  I decided to get a little ahead on the prayer shawls and lap robes for hospice.  Our church collects baby blankets for the neonatal ward at Riley's Children's Hospital and the above mentioned shawls for hospice.  We have a service at Valentine's Day when the handiwork is prayed over and sent out to the intended destinations. 

I took a notion to count the weeks from the time I started crocheting until Valentine's Day and came up with 29 weeks.  I figured I would be able to average one shawl or lap robe per week.

Somewhere in there, I managed to wear out the tendons in my left shoulder.  No surprise, as I was turn ing out more than two a week.  During the 29 weeks, I would take off a couple of days here and a week there to rest my joints.  I never picked up my crochet hook once between November 17th and December 15th. 

At that point, I had finished 25 prayer shawls/lap robes, two full-sized afghans, three baby blankets, and a couple of scarves.

After taking a month off, I started craving yarn again, so I tried to fill up my promise of 29 shawls for the church project.  Since I had given 4 of the previous shawls to other people, I still needed to make another 9 shawls or lap robes. (I also made two doll blankets for my great-niece's Christmas present.)

Today I am halfway through number 29.

Here are some of the ones I recently finished.  I didn't take a picture of a turquoise granny triangle or a sage green lap robe.

The yellow and brown one in the upper photo was done in Bavarian crochet.  That is a very labor-intensive stitch and one I won't be repeating any time soon.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi

Works in Progress

I'm working on hospice lap robe #21 a striped one in navy and white.

I have one skein to go on this one.

I also found out that my great-niece would like a doll blanket or two for her baby dolls.

I have one finished and one half finished.

I'm giving my arms a couple of days off. They'll appreciate the rest.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi



Two More Hospice Entries

I am going a bit slower with the crocheting.  But I haven't stopped completely.

Here are the two most recent pieces I've finished.

Brown Lap Robe

This is a rose trellis. (Pun intended)

I have a pregnant coworker and neighbor, so I will also be working on two baby blankets.  And I have not finished using up either ideas or yarn.

I'm signed up to participate in National Novel Writing Month starting on Thursday, so I don't know if that will slow down my crochet progress or not.  My basic plot so far as I know it is that a creative, but self-absorbed youth who wants to make a pile of money for his own use ends up transported back to the time of his great-grandfather whom he resembles.  He does, in fact, find an excellent way to make large amounts of money, but when faced with the desperation of the Great Depression, he must make choices as to what he might be able to do with his fortune.

Sound like a plot?

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Blue Lap Robe

Not all people in hospice care are women.  I seem to fall into a series of shawls and then suddenly recall that I need to make some lap robes for men.  I finished this one and have another under construction.  Also another granny shawl is nearing completion.

Here is number fifteen in the hospice collection for 2012. It is a v-stitch holding two strands together and crocheted with a P hook.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi