Variety is the Spice of Crochet!

My goal of updating my crochet blog quarterly has gone by the wayside again. So I have quite a few projects to post this time. Since it's been 6 months, I think I'm listing everything in the right chronological order, or close enough!

In fact, it's been so long that I almost forgot to start off with an item I delayed posting last time (though I created it last fall), since it was a Christmas present for my best friend Dianne (and she doesn't go online much, but just in case...). I've made myself 2 "Dotted Delight" Barbies in different colors and enjoyed making them so much that I wanted to make one for Dianne. I love the combo of the brown beads and the aqua thread!

So far this year, I have crocheted a variety of items including Barbie clothes, large doilies, baby clothes, and even another sweater for myself. I started the year by deciding to make something I had not done for a long time -- the Barbie dresses I used to sell at craft fairs. These are not the elaborate gowns I've created in recent years, but four different varieties of pretty little dresses that have snaps in the back and are removable. I felt it would be a good way to use some of my thread stash and have enjoyable, small projects to bring on my work commute. I kept a few of the dresses and sold a few on Listia, the auction site I belong to where you sell things for points instead of dollars and use those points to "buy" things you want. Here are photos of my dolls modeling eight of the dresses.

"Tiered Dress" in blue and in burgundy.

"Tea Dress" in blue and in Christmas variegated.

"Silhouette Dress" in red and in white.

"Party Dress" in peacock blue and in pale pink.

Next, I decided to continue working on my thread stash. I had most of one ball left of my discontinued Opera #10 thread in a gorgeous color, Tea Rose, and decided it would be beautiful combined with green and burgundy in a large doily. This is the result. I can't remember the name of the pattern, but it was from a old issue of "Magic Crochet" magazine.

Then I decided to make something pretty with the few balls of Opera #10 I had in Baby Pink and chose a doily designed by Josie Rabier, one of my favorite crochet designers.

Now I felt like making a baby item with yarn. I found a cute, brightly multi-colored baby sweater and cap pattern in a crochet book and felt it would be a great way to use some of my stash of Knit Picks Shine Sport, one of my favorite yarns. The colors are River, Sky, Green Apple, and Crocus.

As I've mentioned before, I'm running out of display room for the Barbies (and her friends) in gowns that I love to make. But I loved the "Garden Stroll" Edwardian era Barbie and Ken ensemble patterns from Shady Lane and knew I had to find room for them, and I did! I'll include closeups of the upper half of both dolls to show the detail on Barbie's hat and the TINY 1/8" buttons on Ken's jacket and vest. I had to order these buttons online as I could not find any this small in the store. They are by far the smallest buttons I ever worked with! I usually use small beads for Barbie buttons, but of course, that wouldn't work for Ken's tailored garb.

After that, I wanted to go back to making a baby item. I had a large amount remaining of the Knit Picks Shine Sport in River (royal blue) and I also had a pattern called "Bridget Baby Dress" that I wanted to try for eons. and this yarn seemed perfect for it. Here it is!

Now I'm finally up to date with my most recent project, which I just finished today! It's called "Uptown Chic Cardigan". As I described in a previous blog entry, I haven't often made sweaters for myself, since I tend to crochet tightly and also because I've needed to lose weight for many years with no success. But I had a stash of Patons Astra yarn in Country Lilac and in Dark Denim which seemed perfect for this sweater. And recent health issues (chronic pain in my right knee since March and a fast pulse, in addition to long-standing insomnia and another issue a bit personal to mention here) have made it imperative that I finally get serious about my weight. The sweater came out cute but is a bit tight though I made size large, so I won't be photographing myself wearing it for awhile, but the plan is to be seen in it as soon as I can make that happen.

So we'll see if I get a fall entry made -- I hope to! I plan to continue with the variety of creations, as I have patterns I want to try including more baby clothes, scarves, socks, kitchen items, and I also plan to try broomstick lace for the first time. See you in the fall!