23rd Psalm My Shepherd

I started crocheting My Shepherd on March 9, 2009 and finished Sept. 9, 2009. It is 169 stitches across and 196 rows tall. I decided to use size 20 thread and a size 12 hook. It should block to be about 36" x 45". It used about 16.3 feet per row so I rounded it off to 17 feet to be safe with the yardage if I ever wanted to do it again. So I used about 3200 feet....plan on 3400 feet if using the size 20 and more if using size 10.

To people who don't crochet, bigger always seems to more of an accomplishment. However, smaller thread and smaller needle is a bit harder to do. It would have been about 50" across with size 10 thread and I figured more difficult to frame. So I went with the smaller footprint...so to speak.

I never frogged anything so much in my life. You wouldn't notice you had a mistake until you worked back over the previous row and you were missing a filled block, or else you found a filled block rather than one that was open. Proof reading each row when done helped a little...but not much. It was hard to proof read.

In September of 2010 I finally got it framed. It cost $425.00. I chose a charcoal black and pewter frame that was a recreation of some frames in the Biltmore Mansion in Asheville, South Carolina. It measures 38" x 42". It is a nice sized project. I am glad I didn't make it out of size 10 thread. It looks nice hanging in my front bedroom. Anything bigger would have been too difficult to handle.

South Dakota State Fair Ribbons

September 5, 2009

I got two blue ribbons and one red.

The red one I got because it was size 10 thread. If it had been size 30 which is finer thread, it definitely would have been a blue ribbon.

The name of the red ribbon doily is Rambler Rose. Tedgie said not too long ago she would like a doily, so she will be the recipient of Rambler Rose. I said she would get it before it went to the Fair and I wished it had won a blue ribbon for her. I finished crocheting it last spring.

I have never taken anything to the Fair though with size 10 thread and received a blue ribbon, so I had an inkling that it would not get a blue ribbon. I thought that since fewer and fewer are crocheting, that size 30 thread maybe wouldn't show up this year. But it did, in a plain pineapple pattern. Rambler Rose with the roses and picots and ruffle and joinings required a bit more time and devotion to the craft of crocheting to complete. I don't find crocheting with size 30 thread any more difficult that crocheting with size 10. There are a lot more colors in size 10. I've wanted to make that pattern for over 30 years. Yea!! it is done!!!

The doily with the pansies is one I got on the crochet site I visit daily called Crochet+ on Delphi from a pattern that a gal had found in her grandmother's patterns and her grandmother probably had written if off from a completed doily. It didn't have the pansies, I added that idea. There was some discussion on the instructions on finishing the edge of the doily, and I came up with a totally different idea of adding pansies. It is crocheted with tatting thread and measures about 10 inches.

People who don't crochet think "bigger the better" when they compare the sizes and will be much more impressed with Rambler Rose than with Pansies. Judges at Fairs have different ideas and a criteria that they follow.

The name of the afghan is "Betsy" I made it last June and had it tied to the bench on my front porch. It was so absolutely cute, I decided to take it to the fair, and lo and behold she got a blue ribbon. There were a lot of afghans entered, and Betsy is really different. She is adorable with her 13 flower stars. I can hardly wait until to put her out again. Looks like it won't be until next Memorial Day because she is still at the Fair this Labor Day.

Basket Weave Scarf

Beginner's Basket Weave Scarf

Materials needed:
1 pair of size 13 needles
2 - 7 oz skeins of Red Heart (you'll have half a skein left over)
Beginners will have different gauge - but it is about 4 stitches to the inch. Scarf measures about 9" x 74”/80”.. You want this to be a nice long luxurious warm scarf that you can put over your head and throw the ends back over your shoulders.
Cast on 36 stitches

Row 1: (k4, p4) 4 times; k4
Row 2: (p4, k4) 4 times; p4
Row 3: repeat row 1
Row 4: repeat row 2
Row 5: (p4, k4) 4 times; p4
Row 6: (k4-p4) 4 times; k4
Row 7: repeat row 5
Row 8; repeat row 6
Repeat these 8 rows for 74/80”. You will be alternating a block pattern above a pearl block etc.
After awhile you can visually see when to change to the other basket stitch by seeing that you have 4 knit rows when the stitches don’t have any bars on them. There will be three of these rows and one row on your needle. It is then time to do the opposite on the next row to change the basket weave.
End end with a finished block. Use remainder of yarn for fringe/tassels on end of each end.
A good length of fringe is to wrap the yarn width wise 6 times around a Readers Digest/TV Guide sized magazine and then cut one end . Place a tassel about every 3 stitches.