Bobble-Scallop Crochet Border

 

This is the Bobble-Scallop Border I came up with to border my Ripple.

 

Some projects have so much going on  that I don't like to add a really complicated border to them.

 

Sometimes, less is more...  if I can actually say 'less' with this crazy colorful blanket!

 

So here you go!  It's extremely simple really - as long as you know how to make a bobble.  The bobble I used here is a 3 treble crochet bobble, meaning you basically make 3 treble crochets in the same stitch, but you leave the last loop on the hook after each treble is made...

 

(US terms)

 

3 Treble Bobble:  Yarn over twice, enter next stitch and pull up a loop.  Yarn over and pull through 2 loops on hook, TWICE, leaving 2 loops on hook.  Yarn over twice again, enter same stitch, pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through 2 loops, TWICE, which leaves 3 loops on hook.  Yarn over twice, enter same stitch, pull up loop, yarn over and pull through 2 loops on hook, TWICE, now leaving 4 loops on your hook.  Yarn over and pull through all 4 loops at once.  Bobble made! 

 

Bobble-Scallop Border: 

 

I went around the blanket with one round of sc and  joined with slip stitch.

Ch 1, do not turn.

 

*Sc in first st, 2 dc in next st, bobble in next st, 2 dc in next st, sc in next st, skip next st.*

 

Repeat from * to * around.  Join with slip stitch and finish off. 

 

Now go border up something and have fun!  It's super easy and somewhat addictive.  In fact, the above swatch I made to show you here is become a finger tip towel and I think I'll need to do a few more to make a set.

 

It's fun to have a crocheted home!

 

xoxo

 

 

 

 



Simple Ripple Border

 

 

Oh, that lovely Ripple that I worked on for over a year... 

 

If you've been visiting the Hearth Room for any length of time, you are probably already familiar with this old friend of mine.  We've had our issues, I'll admit.  Loved the yarn, hated the long redundant rows of the pattern.  Pulled out a gazillion rows because I didn't like the way the colors looked together.  Thought about scrapping the whole idea!  But since I had decided to challenge myself with this blanket making-endeavor offered over on Attic 24, I had to persevere.  I'm sure glad I was in love with the feel of that yarn!

 

In the end, I have a very heavy, quite generous, extremely colorful, 7 feet by 5 1/2 feet long blanket. 

 

It has actually been done for a few months now, but I could be bothered to snip ends and 'finish' it with all the excitement of the holidays ahead, so it was being used by Sweet P. in it's very straggly state for quite a while.  I also had started a pretty, red, knitted border for the Ripple back in the summer, but once I started finishing the blanket and put this edging with it, the edging looked way too nice along the crazy striped sides of this project.  I worked up a few borders to try and they all looked almost too 'nice' .  This Ripple was determined to make a statement all on it's own! 

 

I finally decided it just needed a small shock of red all around and I made a Bobble-Scallop border that I think gives it just enough interest and definition without making it any more busy. 

What do you think? 

 

And can you believe that this big blankie project that tested my patience and bored me (almost) into surrender has actually driven me to NEED to make more blankets!? 

 

I had to put this down and take many breaks from it while I completed lots of other hooky goodies, but in the end I soooo love this Ripple blankie, that I realize I need to make more for other rooms.  Not Ripples exclusively...  Maybe granny squares and flowers, but definitely more blankets of the hooky persuasion.  Yes...  I will check the stash and the drawers full of patterns and search for that next project to fill my basket. 

 

Of course, I do need to finish the other blanket that fills my other basket seen above...  That's the Random Stripe that I'm hooking along with Little Woolie.  It's much smaller, but really fun with all the bright colors and stitches thrown in.  It's a hooked up bunch of Happy for sure!

 

I happen to have a few other things on the hooks right now, too.  So another case of too much yarn, too little time, but it'll all work out! 

 

What are you making?

 

For my current 10 Followers, don't forget my little give-away here!  I could just draw one of your names without having you enter, but I realize that not everyone who likes to look at crochet actually wants to do it, lol.  So come on, sign up!

 

Happy Day!

xoxo

 

p.s.  That is Woody up there who was so excited to think I had given him the blanket when I was really trying to measure it.  He was also quite discouraged when asked to move so I could fold it up.  Yep, he's all dressed for Valentine's Day!  Such a good Puppers.

 

 

 

 

 



Ripple Update...

Well, it's been a while since the Ripple has made an appearance here.  So, here it is in all it's stringy glory!  Although I haven't actually measured it yet, it's getting really long.....

I decided to make it nice and wide to cover our bed.  The sheer width somewhat terrified me there for a while, as it took me sooooo long to complete a row.  I actually considered this blankie just may have to have vertical stripes so I could make it more narrow and end up with something the size of a throw.  Ahh, laughing at myself now.  I'm so impatient.  Of course, I spurred myself on to continue and a make a nice big blankie.  I will measure it when I'm all done and let you know the size. 

In the mean time, I've gotten used to my 'sea' of colors and I truly think the unbelievable softness of the yarn is what inspired me to keep on with this.  When it's done, it will be large enough to put on our bed, but I don't think it will ever make it there.  Too many people are trying to claim it already.  I bet it's going to be one of those that gets cuddled up on the couch. 

I've got a few more rows to do yet, but the best part....  Do you know what the BEST part is???!!  I have been working on a Secret Edging...!  I am so totally stoked about that, if only I don't mess it up!

Can't wait to share!  Right now the Hearth Room is quiet and I have a hot cup of tea calling my name.  It's sitting right beside my Secret Edging.

xoxo



Going Green

Going Green is such a HUGE thing, isn't it?  Well, this post has more to do with the actual color than the 'going of green'.... although, I have been trying to learn about ways to incorporate more 'green' into our lives here at the Hearth Room.  For instance, making our own laundry detergent and soaps, natural facial cleansers and shampoos, and using natural oils as moisturizers have topped my list of must-do's lately.  I can share more about that later, but just as I was full-swing into making a facial cleanser with yogurt and olive oil I spotted this Spearmint Stripes yarn.  You may remember that it jumped into my cart...??  Anyway, it was just a great green stripey yarn to accommodate my green facial cleansing.  Not to mention that I HAD to TRY this STAR STITCH  that I read about on Jules' blog over at little woolie.  This top photo shows my little bitty star stitch washcloth in the center there.  I just did the star stitch pattern until I felt it was a good size and then did a border around it with single crochet. 

And here are all six of the face cloths I have made with Spearmint Stripes.  So far....  There are 2 basic granny squares, the star stitch with border, one was made using single crochet where you skip one ch and then do 2 sc in the next...  Nice fabric.  Another cloth was made the same way, but using half double crochets instead of singles...  still skipping one stitch and 2 hdc in the next.  The last cloth on the back right was just a very small swatch with the end of the Spearmint Stripes.  Then I bordered it around and around with sc.  I then did one border of a different green yarn I had on hand.

This is the hdc cloth.

The basic granny and the 'leftover' swatch....  Spearmint Stripes is made by Peaches and Cream, but I couldn't find a good link to it at the time of this post.  Since I found it in a Big Mart store you can probably get it almost anywhere! 

And while I was rummaging around looking for the camera battery I found this lovely packet of seeds!  I picked these seeds up last year and obviously misplaced them...  Ahem.  Well, I'm happy to have found them!  I love the packet with the cute 'Axle-like' kitty on the front.  Don't you just love seed packets?  I already have some catnip growing in pots on the patio so I'm not sure if I'll use these seeds yet.  Although, I have found my catnip to be quite mushed down and munched up lately.  I actually did catch one very adorable "Ginger" cat IN my flower pot recently...  We talked about it and I think she's opting to leave the nip alone until it's better established so she can go all-out bonkers later!  Our Big Boy, Fritz, is really a problem where catnip is concerned, but he cannot get his tubby bottom off the ground to leap into this particular pot.  Ha!  I have at least won that battle!

Speaking of seeds and planting, I had some pretty papers laid out to work on the new gardening journal, as well as this old green notebook when I spotted this pretty shadow on them.  I'm taking my time making this garden journal, as I really want to find an old book to use as a cover or to repaper and add pockets to, instead of using a notebook.  My quest for an old book continues...

 

Did you read my post about Favorite Baby Crochet?  Did you see this book called Little Crochet?  This sweet baby toy ball pattern is in Little Crochet.  It is so pretty and stripey I had to try it.  There is a bell inside the ball to add even more interest. 

Actually, I put a couple different sized bells inside a plastic Easter egg and put it in the center of my stuffing.  It makes nice little jingle sounds whenever it's tossed about.  Sweet P loves it.  And it's great to have a ball that Young Man can toss with her that I don't have to worry about her getting knocked out by, lol!

This was really fun to make and very easy.  I used some of my Knit Picks yarn on hand...  It's the Shine Worsted yarn I'm using for my Ripple, (yes, the Ripple is still being hooked on occasionally!)  I truly LOOOOOVVVE that yarn!  It is Pima Cotton and Modal.  Scrummy, yummy, soft.... Um.  I'll try to remember to get a new picture of the Ripple to show you soon. 

I have to share this in case you haven't seen it:  This was one of the recent Knit Picks catalogs and it is so GORgeous.  See what they did there with the yarn on the cover?!  Yarny Flowers.  You know I love that!  They look like little marigolds to me.  Or maybe they could be a field of poppies?

And speaking of kid things, we had a little tea party here at the Hearth Room recently...  I was actually participating in a 'virtual' tea party online at Splitcoast Stampers and the kids and I had a little tea party of our own prior to that.

They had big fun making tea in various pots and serving up fish crackers on Sweet P's little tea set.

For the 'virtual' tea party I had a hard time deciding what type of tea to make, so several pots got brought out...

Ultimately, it was Earl Grey that won out to accommodate my lemon apricot crepes with mozzarella.  Yum!

So I've been very domestic around here, as usual.  Laughing to myself... When am I not domestic?  I'll have to really ponder that and consider what classifies as non-domestic in my world...

Anywho, just laundry and picking up, and bits of crochet time mixed in where able.  School is winding down which allows me more wiggle-room for working in bits of fun with yarn.  The house is feeling cleaner and it feels good to be ahead of the chores some days.  You know that feeling you get after you rearrange all the furniture in a room?  Well, I did that yesterday, so I feel like I have a new bedroom.  Same old stuff, different location, good clean feeling.

Oh, that awesome RED star square above?  I'm in love...  it's still in process of becoming something great, (I hope), so I'll be back with more REALLY soon on that.  Just as soon as I can remember my original inspiration and design!

Have a lovely day, friends!

Planning & "Planting"

Hello!  I've been studying and taking notes on some fabulous gardening ideas I really want to try this year.  I know, I know...  I said we would not be having a big garden here at the Hearthroom this year, but I can't stand to not have a garden.  See these sweet little peppers?  I bought them at the store this weekend, but I really want to pick my own this summer. 

Now we did put in a first year garden here last summer and it was a tremendous amount of work!  And need I say there were little people who deserved most of my time?  So a big, huge, over-the-top kind of garden is not happening this year, but yes indeed, some gardening is happening.  Well, at least the plans are happening.

This book is proving to be very motivating!  I just love new gardening ideas, especially when it incorporates "Edible" in my very-much-needed "Landscaping" plans.  Ooooo...  I just started into this book and I can't wait to spend more time drooling over her pages!  I truly do want to be able to grow as much as possible that will feed this family and possibly others, but it will have to happen in stages...  Over time.  Patience is a virtue, I hear....

However, this week, as I am excitedly carrying this book and my gardening journal from room to room, I have to admit that a virus has hit the Hearthroom.  Yep, I've been quite busy mothering sick little people and one Big Guy.  It's been awful, really, but everyone is now on the mend.  So I've had some time to sit and hold my babies and read and plan, but no real time to go outdoors into the sunshine.  So today I couldn't resist taking a few minutes to "plant" some instant color while I sat on the very neglected patio. 

Ahh, just a little color and a little whimsical fun for Momma.

Actually, as children slept I made an attempt to do a little yarn inventory to see where I am with finishing, ahem, and starting, some projects.  And the sun was bright and it was so warm out I just needed to head outside.  As my tulip bulbs are done, (I did actually plant them), and the hyacinths are through, I had these nice clean pots sitting about and one thing just led to another.

That's just how I think.  And I get such great joy from something so silly and whimsical. 

These are mostly the colors for the Ripple I've been working on. 

With a few other colors of different projects I'm secretly working on, hee hee...  You can probably already guess they involve granny-ish things.

So with all the gorgeous, face-warming sunshine from earlier today, I truly enjoyed being just silly for a bit and taking in the quiet.  It looks quite different out there now, as it's very dark and blowing like crazy!  Looks and sounds like a good storm heading this way.



A boy and his cat...

  Somehow, even though it's been a hard week here in the Hearthroom, we've been able to enjoy some of the unusually calm moments, too.

Hope you have too! 

xo



Ripple Catch Up, etc.

 

  

My goodness it's been WAY too long since my last post!  I have been planning and jotting down and hooking along furiously lately!  Then I happened to be forced into a bit of a hooky break while we had a very fun family and friend long-weekend-visit.  We did have a great time, with lots of foolishness and food and fun.  It also happened to be St. Patty's Day weekend, so there was lots of green involved.

Much progress has been made on my Ripple!  I really can't believe it.  We have had our ups and downs, that Ripple and I...  But it is coming along in a very colorful, stripey kind of way.  I did manage to run out of 2 very important colors and I just found out that one of them is no longer available.  Poo!  Well, I'll work that out later.  This Ripple is worked in stripes of the same color pattern.  There are 16 colors and so far I have three repeats and am working on the fourth. 

What a stringy mess my Ripple is!  I have been VERY VERY bad about fixing as I go!

Do you see that fluffy green thing across the window there in the background?  Yep...  A St. Patty's Day leftover.  My dear Elite Running Friend just happened to leave it here.  The joke during the whole weekend was that we were finding green feathers EVERYWHERE!  We had a wonderful time visiting downtown Roanoke again during their St. Patty's Day festival and I do believe my friend was responsible for leaving a great trail of green feathers.  Although, there were a number of folks sporting the very same green boa, so I can't lean on her toooo much.

So I mentioned before how I had been totally smitten with all things square and Granny-ish...  So here is one such square that I really fell in love with.  And....  it's such a breeze to do and is really enjoyable.  I could hook'em up all night! 

This is a free pattern by Debbie Stoller at Stitch Nation.  It's called Weekend in Stockholm.  I did change the center flower by making it out of a double treble.  It just made it puffier - more like a dogwood leaf I think.  Hmmm...  Maybe I need a Dogwood Throw.  Another idea for the yarn journal!  Well,  I can't WAIT to make a throw in lots of my FAV colors with this one!  But for now, since I was on such a square roll, I grabbed these Colors On Hand and decided to make a small throw for Hubby's chair.  He's been asking for way too long about a throw for this chair because one very naughty kitty likes to take over the chair when Hubby isn't present.  So, Hubby, here is your answer!

And this is what Naughtiness looks like...

Poor Ginger just wants to mind her own business and take a nap on top of the kitty tower.  But, NOOOOO....  Axle has to be the bully and take over the top.

He looks rather pleased with himself, actually.

I mentioned that Sweet P. and I had been spending some time playing with paper, glue, and glitter.  Well one very fun item in particular I really don't want to show because I think it might be a gifty to someone real soon.  Don't want to spoil any surprise factor, so maybe I can show it later, but....

 

I can show you this!

  

This is a bit of what we've done.  I made these coffee themed cards for a swap on Splitcoast Stampers.  I used stamps by Unity Stamp Co. and inks and papers mostly from SU. 

I do love to have handmade cards on hand and my stash has been somewhat depleted since I've not been making much lately.  The swaps are so much fun because you get to see all the others' creative ideas!  And although I often say, gee, why don't I just sit down and make myself 8 cards?!  Well, because I always spend all my time with yarn, of course!  So doing swaps makes me produce these cards because I have a deadline.  Only then do I get them done!

We have been thrust full-swing into spring here in the valley.  Actually, some days I think we've been tossed right into the middle of summer with these 80 degree days already!  I do hope for a mild spring, but I'm getting a little worried about how hot it may be this summer.  Seems like the heat just can't wait to get started here!  Our yard is completely out of control, too, of course.  We MUST get some weeds under control and start beautification!  Wish me luck.  I'll have to take some before and afters to document the process.  Ok, come on motivation! 

Now, you know we move at a snail's pace around here these days, so it will take time, but it is absolutely necessary we get started.  So with Sweet P. climbing in mulch piles or tucked under my arm we will tackle one space at a time.  We will collect rocks and worms and Young Man will scare me with every spider he finds, but with a little determination and idea books from the library I AM READY! 

Hope to share some 'after' shots soon!  I do have to do something about my current obsession with Pocket Frogs, though....