Small pieces of torn tissue…

are glued to a plastic bag sphere to make a rough pumpkin shape.
And since Halloween is just a few days away I thought this would be a great little project. Maybe you too. The link for the instructions starts here: http://miniatures.about.com/od/halloweenminiatures/ss/paperpumpkn.htm

 

So get started; you don’t have much time before the evening. arrives.

Autumn Pumkins

I found this really cute picture of some patchwork pumpkins in a Google search and had to follow the link.

To find the pattern, floolw this link http://rachaelrabbit.blogspot.com/2008/10/tutorial-simple-patchwork-pumpkins-and.html

have fun!

Hoop Skirts

What i have here is a hoop skirt complete with ‘hoops’. You can't see them as they are embedded in sc rows. The hoops are made of 40 lb. test fishing line or leader line for fishing line. This is very flexible and will collapse when Barbie sits.
This will work for those styles that are done in the 1840’s-60’s and Southern Belles of Annie’s Attic and Paradise patterns. This has not been tested under each and every skirt but at leat you have something to go on. I think you will like this pattern very much. You will not have to count each row and increase after the initial rows. And the placement of the fishing line is nice and clear. All you have to do is watch for the inc made on the previous tr row. Some people already know this but I put it here for those who don’t.

Materials

• Size 10 crochet thread
• #7 hook
• 40 lb (.60mm or .024 inch thickness) fishing line

Stitch Notes:

Make your inc in the first of the 2 sts of prev rows; this will make them less obvious. If you make you increases on the second of the 2 sts it make an obvious angle showing where you made the increase.

• 1^st piece 12 inches and goes on row 3
• 2^nd piece 16 inches and goes on after 6^th tr row
• 3^rd piece 18 inches goes on after 8^th tr row.
• 4^th & 5^th piece cut 24 ½ inches long goes on after 11^th & 18^th tr row

I found that those little wooden clothes pins came in very handy for holding the fishing line to the row as I crocheted otherwise it curl around and gets in the way. Also cut your fishing line about 2 inches longer; it can be trimmed off later but you may need it for adjusting the row and this may be better done when finished with the whole petticoat.
You want to leave about an inch or more extending past the beg of the row which you will crochet over at the end of the row and overlap the beg and end of the fishing line. Work sc stitch over these rows; they are not in the row count.

Instructions

working over a 20 inch length of thread attach thread with sl st and ch 4, work 47 tr, ch 4, turn. (48 tr)
Row 2: 2 tr in next st, tr in next st, rep from * across join with sl st to top of beg ch. (24 inc; 72 tr)
1st piece of fishing line goes here; holding the fishing line to the back side of work just do a row of sc over the fishing line after row 2.
Row 3: Ch 4, tr in next tr, * 2 tr in next tr, tr in next 2 tr, rep from * around, join. (24 inc; 96 tr)
Rnd 4: Tr in each tr around with an inc every 12^th st {8 incs; 108 sts}
Rnd 5 -12: Tr in each st with 8 inc sts every tr row. 2^nd length of fishing line goes between rows 5 & 6; 8 & 9, 12 & 13 and after the last row.
From 13^th – 18^th row work even = 7 ¼ inches long
Make 1 more row of sc with fishing line and fasten off. I row of a ruffle could be added for some styles (like the Paradise patterns).

Technique - Joining

One of the neatest tricks in crochet is joining. When done right it is nice and neat; when done wrong it gets a little lumpy. It is very easy to do and those patterns that say to join with a sc may be better off if you use this little trick instead.

1. drop loop from your hook…
2. insert hook in the intended st or sp from right to left…
3. pick up loop just dropped and…
4. pull through and make a sl st…
5. finish the chain loop.

The piece in the photo is for the lace overskirt to Miss July 1998. I am doing it in size 20 thread and a #8 crochet hook.

Miniature Heart-shaped Pillow

This little pillow is done in Herrschner’s afghan yarn. It is just a little over 2 inches.

Materials

• Herrschner's afghan yarn
• Size E hook

Notes

1. Do not join rnds and follow carefully rnd 3 as this pillow's shape can be ruined if you don't follow exactly.

1. I am using htr st as a smooth transitional between tr sts and dc sts. A htr is [yo twice, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo, pull through 3 loops. Voila!

1. When you make you 6 sc in the 2nd ch st make sure you have inserted the hook under two strands of the three. Otherwise you will have a hole that is too large.

1. You can make this pillow in thicker yarn but use a crochet hook at about 2 sizes smaller

Instructions

Ch 2
Rnd 1: 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook,
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc {12 sc}
Rnd 3: sc in next sc, dc in next sc, [htr, 2 tr] in next sc, [1 tr, 1 htr] in next sc, 2 dc in next sc, [dc, 1 htr] in next sc, [htr, tr, htr] in next sc (this forms the bottom point), [htr, dc] in next sc, 2 dc in next sc, [ dc, htr] in next sc, [2 tr, 1 htr] in next sc, dc in next sc, sl st join to first sc.
Make another one and with same or contrasting color make the edging joining the two sides. Stuff with a small cotton ball before all the way closed and make sc in back lps, ch 2 and repeat half way around with a sl st (no ch 2 before or after) in the sc at top of pillow.

The Ballerina Finished

Finished!

The tulle skirt is finished, hand sewn to the under side of the crocheted skirt. The pattern has been re-vised to include the tulle underskirt and if you have already downloaded this pattern you may want to do so again. Ballet Tutu
The Tulle is not as nice as I wanted but I was using what I had on hand. This had bee purchased from Walmart long time ago; it is rather stiff. However it worked. If using softer tulle you may want to use more layers. I used one piece, folded in half lengthwise which made 2 layers.

Maybe someday i will take it off and replace it with really nice Tulle. The links section have a couple of places where you can purchase tulle, please check them out.

The Ballerina's dance...

When i started the bodice (shown in prev post) i really hadn't thought about what to put with it. But then when the neckline was properly styled immediately I saw a Ballerina's outfit in the making. So, i put on the skirt. This made it right for photo taking and no one could see that her underwear wasn't there yet and also re-confirmed that this would be perfect for a ballerina's dance outfit. I did the panties yesterday and put the final 2 rows for the skirt and have yet to do the tulle under skirt. Since I have it this far I thought you guys should see it, though i don't know how long it is going to be before the tulle underskirt gets done.

The pattern, thus far, is here: B1_Tutu1.pdf