A really nice dishcloth pattern

 Below, you see some of the dishcloths I have made over the years.

I've made loads of crocheted dishcloths in the past, from all different patterns and tutorials.  But this one for Dori's Dishcloth is new to me.  

 

I spied it somewhere -- on Instagram, I think -- last December (as in 2019) and promptly printed it out.  At some point I completed nearly half of it and then set it aside for a more urgent project.  The other day I needed a small take-along project and so grabbed the bag containing this one.  

Last night, I finished it.

 

This pattern, by Dori at The Red Feedsack, has just become my new favorite.  If you follow the link to Dori's blog, you will see that her dishcloths are mostly in solid colors.  I really like that better -- it has a simplicity that I really love -- but I had started this with variegated yarn so had to keep on.

Interested in any of the other dishcloths pictured here?  Go to the "dishcloths" label in the label cloud to find the posts concerning them.

From the July archives, Part 3

Glorious photo by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

Here's a final post from the July archives.  Enjoy!

This post about two crocheted dishcloths in Sweet Pea Stripes yarn might inspire you if you're looking for a fun and simple summer crochet project.

God’s pruning in our lives  is a post you may find encouraging as you consider spiritual growth and some of the ways in which it comes about.

Beautiful graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

Back in 2011, I wrote this post about some of the July flora and fauna around our home.

I love to decorate with banners or buntings using vintage book pages (or sometimes sheet music) as a base.  These Strawberry Book Page Banners are a project I came up with myself, so this post includes a tutorial for making the banners.  They are hanging above my dining room windows at this very moment.

I'll be back in August with a few archival posts from that month!

Christmas preparations progress report

This scan of a lovely Christmas card by artist Kathy Lawrence always brings a smile.

It's pretty slow progress.  But I'll just list some of the Christmasy things that are getting done.

I'll post about this more in my Christmas blog, but Saturday morning we took three of our grandkids out for our annual traditional shopping trip to buy gifts for their parents and baby sister.  Breakfast at McDonalds is always a hit with them.

That afternoon I went (along with my daughter and granddaughter) to a ladies' Christmas fellowship and Yankee swap.  Always a fun time.  I made an Easy Cheese Log and cookie tray to bring along.  As part of my gift for the swap, I included one of these Christmas Star Dishcloths which always seem to be admired.  I only have one more in my gift stash, so I need to get busy and make more after Christmas.

That night when I got home I made a batch of   Whipped Shortbread Cookies.  Some of these would be added to my cookie tray for Sunday, while others went into a tin for the freezer.

On Sunday afternoon we were blessed to attend a Christmas vespers service which our daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren were participating in.  It was lovely and a nice way to prepare our hearts for Christmas.

And I've also finished a couple of handmade gifts, wrapped a few gifts, purchased a few gifts, sent some Christmas cards and displayed some we've received, and bought more baking ingredients.

A highlight of my Christmas preparations this year has been, as I've mentioned, the lovely online Advent calendar which you can find here: 25 Days of God-Given Gifts by Abby, at Little Birdie Blessings.

Lovely graphic is by Abby, at Little Birdie Blessings.

I've been using the SOAP method of Bible study to meditate on the verse Abby shares each day.  What a blessing!  If you haven't visited Abby, you will want to.  It's not too late!

Sweet pea stripes ~ two dishcloths

Yes, this is a petunia.  In the Bordeaux variety, it's part of a hanging plant I got for Mother's Day.  I realize it's not a sweet pea or anything close to it.  But the color sort of goes.

This spring, while browsing the yarn aisle in Wal Mart, I came upon a color of the self-striping Peaches & Creme yarn I'd not seen before -- Sweet Pea Stripes.  I decided to try it out on a dishcloth.  So I crocheted a favorite pattern for a seed stitch dishcloth. 

seed stitch dishcloth

It came out cute, so I decided to try the same yarn in a different pattern, just for fun.  I used this one: another favorite dishcloth pattern.

Another favorite dishcloth

It was interesting to see how the two very different patterns came out.  Still in stripes, but very different.



I just picked up another ball of the self-striping yarn, only in patriotic colors.  A good project for July!

Two pretty dishcloths

Recently, from a friend on a craft forum I like to visit, I learned about some dishcloth patterns that are new to me.  These dishcloths are round and resemble flowers.  They have a charming retro look.  I had picked up some cotton yarn previously with dishcloths in mind, and was pleased to find that the colors I had picked up (plus one that I had in my stash) worked perfectly for trying out these dishcloths. 
 Here are the links to the patterns: Daisy Wheel Dishcloth

Daisy Wheel Dishcloth

 and Primrose Dishcloth.

Primrose Dishcloth

They are so pretty -- and easy to make, too.  I've already started another.  These will be great to have in my stash for giving, with a fabric-trimmed dish towel.  I think they would make wonderful hostess gifts!

Fabric trimmed tea towels (and a dishcloth or two!)

I'm still trying to post links, tutorials, etc. for the recent crafts I've made.  Today I want to share the links for the fabric trimmed tea towels (or dish towels, if you prefer that term) that I've been sewing.  I absolutely love Sew4Home.  They have the best and most professional sewing tutorials I've seen, plus they feature projects I can actually make even with my less-than-great sewing machine.  I've made the fabric trimmed tea towels from a couple different tutorials, but this one: Fancy Border Tea Towels is my out-and-out favorite.  It is SO easy yet comes out so cute.

Love the fruit print on this one!

I had so much fun making that one, I made a couple more.

Same towel as above, just folded

Then I made one for myself!  I found that one of the flour sack towels in my stash had a little stain on it.

I couldn't use a stained towel as a gift item, of course.  But I can use it in my own kitchen.  I love this print!

A fall-themed set I made for a giveaway

And I have also made these:  Triple Border Dish Towels in the past.  They are fun and simple too, but the Fancy Border ones are definitely my favorite.

Sunflowers

With a Coke® theme

Brown and pink

Often when I give a gift of dish towels, I also like to include a crocheted dishcloth.

A gift for a homeschooling mom

 Here is one I have made many times:  seed stitch dishcloth.
 
(Incidentally, the pattern doesn't call for an edging, but I  add one by simply single crocheting around all four edges.)

This time, I only had 2 dishcloths left in my stash, so the I chose the green one on the right to go with the dish towel I had made for my granddaughter:
 
 This is made using another favorite dishcloth pattern.  I've made loads of these as well, and they are so pretty.

Now it's time to crochet a few more, and I have a couple of new dishcloth patterns I want to try as well.

So there you have it!  Why not whip up a few of these easy items for your own gift stash?

Recent simple craft projects

I have several other crafts I want to post about -- the super hero capes and the girl's apron -- but those need to wait until I can take the time to post the links for making them. Too busy for that today, but here are some of the crafts I've recently completed.

Two crocheted dishcloths -- love that seed stitch pattern. These were for my friend J. who loves green, to go along with her tea towels. I especially like the striped one.

A flannel receiving blanket for a baby shower. The unborn baby was named Wiggly Baby by his older brother. He has now been born and is named David.

A bluebird day-of-the week towel for myself. This is linen dishtowel fabric from my mother's stash, and she loved bluebirds, so this is in memory of her.
And a closer look at the bluebird motif:

A felt bunny. Had hoped to get this done for Easter decorating, but it didn't happen. Original pattern called for a striped or floral fabric. I wanted to try using brown felt to make it look chocolate. Like the idea of using vintage spools for "wheels". I love it when I can make a craft without having to buy any materials, as was the case with this bunny!

A chef's hat for Josiah, who turned 3. Guess he liked it; he put it on when he opened it and wore it the entire rest of the day!

Think that's it for now. More to share later: flowers, recipes, and more crafts...

Sew Crafty... Monday?

It was a super-busy weekend, with our church’s missions conference going on, and activities galore which we were involved in. And we’re also trying to get ready to go on vacation, and so there’s the packing, planning, and working at leaving the house fairly tidy and all of the loose ends tied up. So with all that going on, there was no time to blog on Friday. There’s really not time now, but I’m going to be missing 2 Fridays, so thought I would quickly share what I’ve been up to.

First of all, I finally finished the cookbook I’ve been working on for a belated wedding gift. I packed it up and got it to the post office today. Here’s a shot of some of the divider pages and of the open, unfinished cookbook.



Now -- we will be staying with family and friends on our vacation, and so for a hostess gift to take to each of the 2 homes we’ll be staying in, I came up with this idea -- a gift bag containing a crocheted dishcloth, 4 fall-themed coasters, and a box of Canadian Vanilla Maple Tea (which seems not to be available in most of the country, and is sort of a New-Englandy flavor). Here’s one of the dishcloths:


And here is one set of coasters:



The other coasters are not finished yet -- they are all cut out, and it only takes a very few minutes to sew them. Here is what those will look like:


So those are pretty much my crafting efforts for this week. My cross-stitch sampler is almost done, as far as the cross-stitching goes. By the time we get back from our trip, I hope to have accomplished a significant amount of backstitching on the sampler.