It's Christmas!

The loveliest time of the year. And it isn’t just because of the decorations and presents. It is because of the Savior’s birth. The gift God gave which started the Shepherd's and Wise men's gifts. Which is why we give presents at this time. It is nice to remember the reason why we give gifts. When up in heaven we all, we will still be giving gifts. But I wonder what kind. Worship? That is a gift we can and will be giving; it is the one that the Bible speaks of. Our crowns; the Bible say we will lay our crowns at HIs feet. I am so sure of that…I can’t imagine that God could give a gift of any crowns to me. I have not done anything deserving of any crown, so I will gladly lay mine at His feet. And I will tell Him that the only gift I need and am the most grateful for is the one of salvation.

A Snowy Winter Day...

Well it is getting very close…just 2 days away from Christmas eve and I am making fudge and finished these slippers. I just love the colors in the Fun Fur (Lion Brand Yarns) and know that Ali will also. The pattern will be available pretty soon but you can add an edging of the fur yarn by making a (sc, ch 6) twice in each stitch around the edge of your crocheted slipper. The slippers were done single strand of knitting worsted and a size ‘G’ aluminum hook.

We have 6 inches of snow and it is snowing now as i am writing this. It always looks so pretty with everything covered in snow. And I am listening to the radio station; they are playing Christmas music and that just adds to the atmosphere. After making the fudge i placed it out in the snow to cool. Now I have to go bring it in and package some up for the neighbor across the highway.

More on the 'Boa'

Well, folks, this is to be Ali's Christmas gift and asking her to do the posing would give it away, right? So I had to go in search of another Model.The one at hand also volunteered! Voila! He love to ham things up and does an excellent copy of "Jack Sparrow" (complete with costume he and His Mother and Sister put together for him). He even has earned a little money for his act. And since I could not choose which photo to put up, grandma decided to put them all up. So here they go…

The weather has been in the single digits around here with snow so the scenery is just perfect. Behind Jeremy are our Juniper trees, which are prevalent in this area, and since Pepper had to go outside for his business, we took pepper with us and that is the leash Jeremy is holding onto.

The pattern for this is really quite simple; making a couple of chain loops per row of one sing e crochet stitch is all it is. The yarn does the rest.

BOA

• Size 'K' aluminum hook
• 2 skeins of Fun Fur or Cha Cha

ch 2, and sc in 2nd ch from hk, (ch 14, sl st in 14th ch from hk) twice, turn.

Repeat this row for the length you want. I did not use but about 1 7/8 skeins for the length.

You may have to dig in the yarn for the single crochet but it is there. And actually turning just after you finish the single crochet stitch makes it easier to find it when you are ready for it.

Out Shopping

My daughter was having fun! She brought home a couple of bags of the furry yarn in different colors from the Dollar tree. Along with that was the silent request “Mom, make me something.” She says (out loud) ,“bought you something”. And I said silently, “Oh, goody!” while out loud I said, "For Me????", as if i didn’t know.

Then I had to go do some shopping of my own. On the internet to see what ideas i could find that would use this kind of yarn. I already know what i want but would rather have some input from somewhere else and so I went to Coats and Clarks’ web site to look for patterns and found a bunch. But there is one that I thought would work just fine and i didn’t have t work up a pattern after all.

My boa – picture will be posted later

New Irish Edging Pattern...

Have put up some new stuff on the crochet pages of my regular site: http://justanothercrochetsite.net/irish_edgings.html

These are from a vintage booklet and are quite pretty edgings. I also want to point out that these are not "true" Irish crochet but utilize elements of done in the traditional crochet method. The are easier or more familiar to us. Most of my Irish crochet is what I call American-Irish, which is an adaptation of the real Irish method of making lace (taking elements and crocheting them together). However i cannot be for real sure that the Irish did not do this style as I do not have the proof either way.

Working on

I've been working on some fun stuff; Ornament covers! These will be Christmas gifts. I needed something fun to do. And as i was working on the covers, I was doing one pattern with the shaped shell that I don't remember anyone having put up on their site and it is a rather neat little shell for decorative touches. I snapped a pic and put it up on page 2 of the basic stitches reference pages. While doing this I tried out a new little trick that the publishers of CoffeeCup had put into their html program; they make a little thumbnail and add in a link to the larger image right on the page. They don't know how badly I needed that nice little trick. I need to make the thumbnail larger than it is but I left it there on the page and you can click on the thumbnail to see the large image. Next time i will make it larger. Will post the finished ornament pictures for you to see. I am working from 2 booklets from Annie's Attic: 'Thread Ornament Toppers' and 'Satin Ball Splendor'. I did notice that the booklets have the right size of thread and hook but wrong for the size ball specified. I believe if you use size 20 thread with a 38 hook it will work out okay for the 3 inch balls. Since it seems to be next to impossible to find the satin balls ( i got mine off eBay) for any reasonable price (Wal-mart is not carrying them, neither is Bi-mart) I could only get the small ones to work on. This means I don't have a way to check it out right now. I didn't feel i could afford the $20-23.00 per 12 3-inch balls.

That's all for now. Will post photos of the ornaments later; i am waiting for the sequin pins to come in the mail.

Update

My daughter had her angioplastia and the doctor found no blockage. This is good but he does not know what is causing the problem and is think a fibrillator may be what she needs. Anyway more tests will be made.

Here is a web page that is sure to cheer you up. http://theglassdoorknob.blogspot.com/

She writes very nicely and sprinkle the pages with beautiful photos. Enjoy

Did I tell you that my youngest daughter had a heart attack? We were not sure when she went to the hospital; neither was the doctor. But after some test they say that she did. She was told at the beginning that she should not go back to work for 2 weeks but day before yesterday she came home from the dr.'s and said she had been told that her heart is not pumping enough blood and she cannot go back to work. God is the one we are turning to and in my prayers I heard God say that everything is going to be okay. I do not know how God is going to make things okay but I do know that He will. And so I am trusting Him to do what He has planned instead of the devil doing what he had planned. God is the only one who can do anything about most things anyway. And I find the most surprising answers to my prayers at times. He answers but not in any way I would think of possible so I am waiting to see how He answers this time.

(This is a copy of a letter i sent to a friend and I though i would post it here as well)

Trying Times

My daughter was in the hospital this last weekend with a mild heart attack. She is only 38 and has 2 children still in school. I am not able to help much but I feel I need to say something; she prompted the following from my heart:

Remember the verse "the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We are living in the times that are the pre-cursor of the end time. We must keep ourselves from any evil the devil throws at us as best we can. We must be in the word to keep us fed; malnourished Christians cannot stand! We can all be glad also that the Devil is angry with us, that he is trying to defeat use. Our hearts have at least a tendency toward God that we must nourish and keep alive. As an any soldier we should say "You may have 'this' but you can't have my (spiritual) heart! God has me in His hands, and He will get me safely home to Himself."

We must at all times guard over our hearts, keep or get our spiritual armor on and pray without ceasing. We must take our stand against an enemy we cannot see. Who sits and whispers in our ears ugly things. And all too many times we cave in to his suggestions threats and whatever attacks he wants to send against us But the Lord is triumphant against the foe and tells us that we will be also but that we must endure to the end as against any enemy. All these things are written in the New Testament. I think some need to get into the Word and find these rule that God gave to us from the time when Christians were under heavy persecution and put them back into practice.

So I send this to you who are mostly Christians and will agree with me. Please send it on to those you know.

Love in Christ, Christina (Tina) Foster

Finding Older Patterns

If you are looking for older patterns to fill in your collection or start your collection of patterns i have run into the most wonderful place on eBay. This does not replace looking at garage sale and thrift stores but is to be included in that group. This lady not only sells the patterns but she does this to help 'her girls' earn extra money for the girls' activities. The girls help run the store and she has a huge collection of patterns. So, If you are looking for Annie's Attic, Leisure Arts, and the other patterns you can no longer get a hold of this is the place: SillyGirl914

Anyone for Swiss Straw?

I have been spending some time on eBay shopping for some patterns. Boy! are the charging a lot for patterns! I afford some of the patterns I wanted. But i did manage to find some that were not too spendy. And I bought some Plastic canvas patterns for Barbie's furniture.

Then I was thinking about using yarn and how that makes the drawers not slide so smoothly and I wanted drawers that would slide smoothly! I don't think I am asking that much so I went surfing for Swiss Straw. Can't find any under that name except for itty bitty packages for fly fishermen, so I tried raffia and found some at the gift wrapping stores of america. Here we go folks....Swiss Straw (listed as synthetic raffia); 100 yards at 3.75 a spool. Just perfect for plastic canvas! You can get matte or shiny and in pretty colors. And you can get it at Shopping Bag Warehouse. Or papermart.com

If you didn't want to do the whole project in the raffia material, you could do the drawer bottoms,sides and back only. this would allow the drawers to slide smoothly and easily while providing the look of the yarn on the parts that show.

The Pattern Syndrome...

While working on patterns my mind will wander and come up with more ideas sometimes. This time it was backdrops and props. And I was thinking that it would look very nice to have a chair with my backdrop (which is already made) and then pondered the problem of getting out to the garage ...no, this has to be somebody else to do that as the box of doll furniture is up on a high shelf. This means i will have to wait. Well, this is not exactly do-able. I did ask my granddaughter if she would look for my furniture but it will be a while before she can really get up there and dig around the boxes to find what I want. It has already ben 2 weeks so then my idea is to go get out the pattern and make another chair. It doesn't take that long i told my self ad this was a week ago.

Well i should know better....It is not finished and why? Well i got a better idea while working with this pattern and decided to do that. Well I also have to write down the changes made to the pattern so that i can do it again later. But, i did come up with an improvement to the chair and will do the settee next. Then I found that the pattern did not give the proper size for the arms on the chair so had to figure that out. And then from the time i made the pattern before, i couldn't remember what i did that was different form the arms in the pattern so i had to look around for the pattern i write for the arms.

So since i did that much I though i would share with you the changes. Because of copyright i cannot give the pattern out. you will have get your own copy from wherever you stored it or buy another. The major change to the arms was to work the increases at the center of the rows on the arms and cut out rows 4 & 5 and add them on to the end.But then i made a very big change to the back by making it longer and worked the 10 half rice stitches over white florist's covered wire. The last two are to be bent at right angles and serve as a foot to help balance the chair. Works very nicely. I also did just the outside of the chair and added in a row of single crochet to the last row before the shells and worked this in the black loops of the wicker stitch. Anyway before doing the skirt of the chair i did make a slit in the back from the chair by chaining 3 and slip stitched in the 4th st over and starting the skirt from that point and followed the pattern finishing that first row in the back lops of the chain stitches before joining.. Oh, yes; the arms for the chair should be 28 rows.

Now where did I put that chair cushion?.....

Miniaturists, We Have It Made!

You know how hard it is to go and find fabric for doing miniature clothing. Home Sew has packages of Silk, Linen and Lawn fabrics that you can put in your printer.You can get art programs that are easy enough to use, such as Paint Shop Pro, and find lovely graphics to make little prints the right scale for your doll. It is so easy. I've been waiting for this for years. You could even scan that favorite print on that fabric that is too heavy for the scale you are working in and scan it into PS, scale it and print! Home Sew's Link is in the Valuable Link Section.

The order numbers are:

• Linen - CM321
• Silk - CM17
• Lawn - CM443
  

What Size is This????

I have noticed (for some time now) that quite a few of the patterns have some errors in them that will keep others from being able to do them. Such are the little beds. There is a difference in the sizes of the beds and that is because the bedspread is what determines the width of the bed quite often. Sometimes it is the headboard. The idea to help you with this is to try either the headboard or the bedspread whichever one looks more intricate in pattern and my be the determining factor in the size of the bed.

Also if the size of the bedspread is too large then try a finer thread (like size 20 if the pattern called for size 10 thread). A nice width for a Barbie size bed is 7 inches wide so you can have a guideline to go by.

How About a Hair-do

Now that we have gotten this far, and even though i don't have the skirt done yet (you can use Annie's Attic or Paradise skirts) and i am still working on the neckline edging (which is posted to my private folder on SkyDrive) here is a lovely tutorial that can be easily adapted to doing Barbies hair: Edwardian Upswept Hair-do
Cynthia Howe has had this site up for quite a while and you can buy from her just about anything you need to the 1"=1' scale dolls. Her tutorials are easy to follow and excellently done. You can also purchase silk Ribbon in widths that are not easy to find. The link is under Valuable Links

Leg o' Mutton Sleeves in Minature

Well finally finished the sleeve and took a photo of it. This is an open sleeve that 'buttons' closed. Just something that i wanted to do for years, but didn't get it done till now. Just another piece to an unfinished outfit. Now i have to decide on the skirt and crochet it up. Tie a sash around her waist and do the other little details. I have so many projects needing attention but it looks like this one will get finished (before I pass onto better things).

Like my model? She is the one I use for most of my modeling while working on patterns. She came in a purchase from EBay that my daughter made. It was a surprise gift for me. I do have another body that has no head but i like have a head on. It kinda helps the imagination. This doll was going to be an alien or similar, I think, and now she is a model. Her hair won't get messed up and if it does, then it won't matter anyway.

I have a beautiful collar/neck-line lace that will look very nice with this, but there are other trims that could be applied to the neckline. The pattern is on SkyDrive, so is the Gibson Girl Bodice (which should be called a 'waist').

Would like to know what you think of it. please leave a comment or sign the guest book.

About the Poll

Well i thought it would be nice to have a little widget for polls; I like to know what other people like at times. But the poll is not a finished widget. I cannot access the data but that should clear up soon. They do know that there is an issue with it. So, i will wait till they fix it. They are working on too many things right now.
I am working on the sleeves; they are almost finished. So tomorrow I should have them up for you to see.

1893 Bodice

LiveJournal Tags: Fahion,1893,bodice

This is the original write-up on the Ladies Waist. They were very descriptive on their patterns. This gave the reader a full knowledge of the season's new look and for us a real insight into the past. You can click on the picture and up will pop-up the larger view. You may also right click save to your hard drive.

LADIES' WAIST, WITH FULL OUTER BODY OUTLINING A ROUND YOKE.

(For Illustrations see Page 241.)

No. 6054—Other illustrations of this pretty waist may be seen at figures Nos. 358 B and 362 B in this delineator.

The waist is here shown daintily devel­oped in lawn and all-over embroidery. It has a full back and fronts, which are cut away in low, round outline at the top and arranged upon a high-necked lining adjusted by double bust darts under-arm and side-back gores and a curving center seam. The back and fronts are gathered at their upper edges at the center of the back and at each side of the closing, which is made invisibly at the center of the front; and the fulness at the lower edge is drawn toward the center and regulated by two rows of shirring made at belt depth apart. Under - arm gores produce a smooth effect at the sides, and a belt cut from the all - over embroidery finishes the lower edge. The plain fronts and plain backs are exposed in round-yoke outline by the low-necked portions and covered with yoke facings of all-over embroidery, from under which the material may be cut away, with dainty effect. A frill of em-broidered edging droops prettily from the upper edges of the full portions, em­phasizing the yoke effect. The full puff sleeves rise in picturesque fashion above the shoulders; they are mounted upon smooth coat-shaped linings and are finished at the wrists with round cuffs, from the edges of which frills of embroidered edging droop prettily over the hands. The becomingly high standing collar is cut from all-over embroidery and is decorated at the upper edge with a frill of edging. The mode will develop attractively in lawn, ba­tiste, cambric, gingham, cotton crepon, seersucker and all varieties of wool­lens. Washable laces, Hamburg embroidery or fancy tucking will unite prettily with cotton goods. We have pattern No. 6054 in thirteen sizes for ladies from twenty-eight to forty-six inches, bust measure. In the combina­tion pictured for a lady of medium size, the waist requires two yards and three-fourths of lawn thir­ty-six inches wide, with seven-eighths of a yard of all - over embroidery twenty-seven inches wide. Of one material, it calls for three yards and seven-eighths twenty-two inches wide, or two yards and three-fourths thirty-six inches wide, or two yards and an-eighth forty-four inches wide. Price of pat­tern, 1s. or 25 cents.

Flash

Avon catalog had a lovely offer for a triple pack of those net body scrubs and Diana bought a set. What i thought was really neat about this was that the net clip cover for the scrubbies was just the right scale for doing doll hair nets (like the ones they use to put over your curlers before you go under the drier).or snoods. can easily gather the one end to a tight knot then thread ribbon through the other end and you have a quick and easy air net to protect your doll's hair while working up a pattern (for those try-ons to check to see if this is going to fit).

A Crocheted Victorian Bodice and Sleeve

So ecstatic about how well my current project is turning out I just had to show it off even though the pattern for the bodice is not ready. But here is the Sleeve! this photo shows the sleeve with the finished edging and button loops on the sleeve opening. I will be using size 2.5 mm pearl beads for the buttons and work on the bodice pattern.

This project has been i the making for several years; I seem to get interrupted and have to put it aside. But now I am going to finish it. Don't know what to do about the skirt yet. Have a couple of ideas and maybe will do them both.

1893 Sleeves

After doing the sleeve pattern for the Gibson Girl Bodice I thought it would be nice to share with you some pictures of what the real sleeve looked like back in 1893. This is from the Delineator (Butterick) March 1893.

Item # 1

This shows the upper and lower views of the sleeve. This is a beautiful sleeve. The underside shows the 'gusset' or 2nd piece. This particular sleeve was labeled as one for outside garments to be worn over dresses with large sleeves. The article goes on to say:

No. 6076.—
This sleeve is intended for coats and jack­ets that are to be worn over dresses having the voluminous sleeves forming so prominent a feature of pres­ent modes. It is here pictured developed in silk velvet, and is unusually wide above the elbow and comfortably close-fitting below. It is shaped with a wide upper part and an unusually narrow under part. The fulness at the top is collected in gathers to rise with the fashionable arched effect above and spread in bal­loon fashion. The wrist is plainly com­pleted. When a lining is necessary it will be cut exactly like the outside.

The next sleeve is the Shirt Sleeve

LADIES' SHIRT SLEEYE. (For Illustrations see this Page.)
No. 6045.—This comfortable sleeve is pictured made of shirting. It is of comfortable width and shaped by one seam, which is at the inside of the arm. The sleeve is gathered at the top and bottom and may be finished with a cuff that rolls deeply and flares at the back of the arm, or with a straight cuff that closes at the back of the arm with two button-holes and buttons. When the sleeve is finished with the straight cuff it is deeply slashed at the back of the arm, one edge of the slash being very narrowly hemmed and the other edge finished with an overlap , that is pointed at the top.
A sleeve of this kind is specially adapted to blouses, blouse-waists, shirtwaists and full waists of all varieties. Wash silk, China silk,Surah, Oxford cloth, Madras cloth, percale, linen lawn and, in fact, all sorts of dress goods are adaptable to the mode, and a neat decoration of feather or machine stitching may be chosen for the cuffs.

LADIES' DRESS SLEEVE.

No. 6008.—This sleeve is in picturesque Empire style, and is represented made of seasonable woollen goods. It has a smooth coat-shaped lining, extending to the wrist and shaped by the usual seams along the inside and outside of the arm. The sleeve extends to the elbow and is gathered at the top, at the lower edge and again a little above to form a double puff, the upper puff being deep and the lower one short. The puffs are secured by tackings to the lining, and the exposed portions of lining are covered with facings of the material. The sleeve may be made up with the two puffs or with the upper puff and a deep frill, or as an elbow sleeve with two puffs, or as a short puff sleeve as shown in the illustration, the pattern providing for the various styles. The sleeve will develop with satisfactory results in a combination of fabrics or in a single material of either silken or woollen texture. Bengaline, velvet, faille or changeable silk will unite beautifully with poplin, camel's-hair, serge, vigogne, vicuna and novelty woollens in a sleeve of this kind, and a combination of plain and plaid woollens will be pretty and becoming.
We have pattern No. 6008 in seven sizes for ladies from nine to fifteen inches, arm measure, measuring the arm about an inch below the bottom of the arm's-eye. To make a pair of sleeves for a lady whose arm measures eleven inches as described, calls for two yards and five-eighths of material twenty-two inches wide, or a yard and seven-eighths thirty inches wide, or a yard and three-eighths forty-four or fifty inches wide. Price of pattern, 5d. or 10 cents.

LiveJournal Tags: fashion,1893

Poll

I've added a little poll for you to answer. I tried to make it allow for more than one answer but, for some reason, the gadget would not accept that. I will try again in a day or so. The gadget is also supposed to re-size so that there is no need of the scroll bars, but when I put it up it did not what it was supposed to, however it does take votes. So let me know. Also if you want to subscribe to this blog, you may do so at the bottom of the page.
I know I will not be able to post everyday, but hope to do so often enough with some interesting tidbit.
I would love to hear form those who visit here.

Knotted-end Scarf

Remember those cute long and narrow decorative tube scarves with the knots on the end? Well this is made, for fun, out of sewing thread and a #13 hook. I had some vintage sewing thread by Belding Corticelli and decided that it would make a lovely little decorative scarf. It is 6 5/8 inches long and I really should have made it longer. It is nice and soft, knots and drapes nicely. You can also use 1 strand Rayon machine embroidery thread and #13-14 steel hook. The color range is wonderful and you can match any outfit.

Sewing thread, 1 strand and #13 steel hook-

Ch 5, dc, ch 1 in 5th ch from hook 8 times, sl st to 4th free ch from bottom; do not turn but work in rnds.
Next: ch 3, sc in each ch-1 sp and just keep making ch loops for 6 5/8-inches
Finish: Ch 3, dc in next ch-3 sp around fasten off and thread a needle with the tail; run sts through the tops of the dc sts to pull them together and fasten off.
Tie knots in each end.

The L-st

Was playing around with the very interesting v-st one day and came up with a couple of variations that i put into use for a couple of designs. I've used it before for hanging other stitches on in edgings but to use the v-st as it is with row after row seemed to dull and unappealing. So i tried it first, a different way, and that seemed to work out nicely and ideas started popping into my mind. I added sleeves and peplum and came up with a 'Romantic' Blouse. The photo here shows the start of the romantic blouse and is the 'summer top' The stitch used is the lazy v-st (l-st) and is worked as follows:
Row 1: on a row of chain sts, or any other stitch you want, (sc, ch 1, dc) in first st, * sk 2 sts, (sc, ch 1, dc) in next st, rep from * across to last 2 sts, sc in rem 2 sts, ch 1, turn
Row 2: (sc, ch 1, dc) in first sc, (sc, ch 1, dc)in ch-1 sp of each l-st across to last l-st, sc in ch-1 sp of last l-st and sc in the sc of same st, ch 1 turn.
works with multiples of 3 +1.
This makes a nice pattern stripe so could be worked long ways (up and down) for something. You may want to use a crochet hook size 2 or more sizes larger than you would normally for the size thread or yarn you want ot use.

What ever happened to....

Hungarian Goulash and other classic recipes. I cannot seem to find the real recipe. Due to a series of unfortunate events, I have lost some of the classic old cookbooks and searching on the internet for an old recipe seems to be too time consuming. I was just looking for Hungarian goulash the other night and could not find it. What I did find find were variations to the original recipe. It seems that others have not a clue as to what this dish is. It is a Hungarian stew flavored mostly with paprika. Not potatoes or tomato paste or other tomato products. And no marjoram. I know I have played around with our traditional family recipe of Hungarian goulash, but these new recipes are just not the same and some are not even close. Maybe mine is just a variation, also. But this is what i grew up with and like it best.

My mother used to take round steak, cut into 1x2 1/2-inch strips or cubes and coat (dredge; another long lost 'item') with a mixture of flour and paprika (good sweet Hungarian paprika). A little salt and pepper to taste which i changed to Vegesal or other of similar salt-free seasonings and brown in a little bacon fat (not butter). When this step is finished, add a little beef broth and cover; simmer for 45 minutes. I would take and cut up some onion (brown or yellow depending on how you are looking at them at the moment) and brown them; slice some mushrooms and simmer them all together. What I couldn't remember is whether the sour cream was part of that dish or something else. And since my family is not Hungarian, i cannot attest to the authenticity of this recipe but served over buttered noodles (and it has to be noodles, although i have served this over mashed potatoes) it is delicious!