Busy garden season keeps one away from other projects. But now the garden is almost entirely planted and pot trimming commences.

 I never seem to remember to take photos at pottery. maybe because my hands are usually dirty!

 I may take a table at a farmers market later in the summer to try to sell crochet and pottery items. I thought I had better get some suitable things made. Mugs are always useful and usually salable too so I threw a few last week. Here they have been trimmed and handles attached. Once they are dry enough it is into the bisque kiln for first firing.  I also threw a few bowls, but I need more and bigger ones. Big bowls are usually a hit at sales, at least here at the guild.
Two shallow bowls, with Rorschach patterns!

Everyone sees the design as something different. To me it is like seaweed, others say trees. One person saw ghosts!

It IS possible to turn back time.
Or at least to fix a crochet piece which did not turn out the right way.
I have ripped out, right to the first stitch, before; but if most of the piece is good, then that can be very discouraging. I crocheted a shawl/scarf from a free online pattern and started with one yarn then changed to another part way through. I thought they were closer in character than they turned out to be though, and in the end I did not like the first few rows.
I posted an appeal for help to a facebook group I belong to " Make it, wear it (crochet and knitting) " and a reply led me to a Utube video  which gave me enough help that I could figure out the rest.

The white part was a thicker yarn and somewhat scratchy. It also did not have the flexibility or stretchiness of the variegated yarn so it pulled the shape in.
To remove it I first had to be sure the wanted stitches did not unravel. I threaded a cord through each stitch of the first desirable row, cut away the unwanted parts, then pulled a "good" piece of yarn through to replace the cord.

Then, still following the Utube instructions I crocheted a row of single crochet and chain. In this case I tried to mimic what should have been there.

It now looks as though the first row was crocheted into a row of chain.

I may add a row of single crochet or of some matching kind of edging to make the top end a bit more sturdy, but overall I am pleased with the results.
A new summer shawl/scarf. Truly a ta da moment!

The first weekend in May was our spring pottery sale, no payout yet but it seemed to go well. I also have a couple of items done just too late for sale.

hand built mug

hand built rectangle bowl

wheel thrown plates

And a small "lantern"

 The camera just ran out of battery , again, so these were taken by dumb cell phone.

Weather
In spring is variable.
Very variable.

May 6 2015

Perhaps a ma nature opinion on our election?

But even under all that very wet snow....

there are green things growing.











And inside the yarning goes on.
I am working on two crochet tops, for others, and there may not be enough yarn for either one. Which would lead to ripping out again.  As may be obvious I am not following directions carefully!

crochet side to side

For the purple one, and yes that is not black but purple, I am following a pattern from the distant past but with different yarn and hook size, so some modifications are required.










 

left and right upper front. beginning of upper back

 The aqua one is using the shape of pattern pieces in a book and filling in with my own stitches.










To relax in between bouts with these I whipped off a few hats, probably to try and sell, or donate.

baby size "turban" style hats

Adult/teen size slightly slouchy beanie














Collars, supposedly a new thing, but rejected by some!

Pottery buttons, crochet collars











And finally a sort of wearable,

sort of being worn.

In other news

These hats were donated to Alberta Children's Hospital April 17, 2015.

 

Not everything crochet has to be wearable.

These 3 are made from 100% wool, intended to be made into aran sweater back when they were in fashion. To keep the fabric firm they are crochet with 2 strands held together, with 8mm hook.  They fit together reasonably well just as made, but I then blocked them by fitting each over an appropriately sized container, and spritzed each just to damp. Once dry they nest together perfectly.

Actually this wool has been here before. Another instance of the benefits of ripping out.

Previously:

Sweaters Part 2
or 3 or 4...
Both sweaters I did earlier have now been changed. One I completely ripped out and made entirely differently, the other I just took the sleeves apart and redid.
Actually it is very liberating to know that once something is all finished, it really is not set in stone. Once you sew something, or at least once you have cut fabric, you can't un cut it. But crochet can be changed. rip it out and crochet again!

The plain blue acrylic is now a cardigan, instead of a pullover.

being blocked

An odd looking cardigan which looked fairly straightforward on the model!

The "summer sweater" of cotton had very wide sleeves, again much more odd than in their photo. I wish I could hold a sample made from of these patterns! Or turn them over, or have more photos. Some do not even give a photo of a model wearing it and when they do the model is clearly six feet tall and 110 pounds! So it can be difficult to guess what the sweater will look like on an average shaped person. I decided after a few wearings that the sleeves really were too wide. So I ripped them out and made simple one colour somewhat lacy sleeves.

original finish. the sleeves look OK but were 18 inches around at the cuff.













and so....

 And then...

I did not have a pattern for theses new sleeves, but I knew I did not want them to be very wide and flappy, so I started with a rib, then used the same stitch I had used for the blue on the original sleeve. A modified v stitch.

begin on a base of single crochet, skip first sc, *(sc, ch3, sc) in next st, sk one sc,* rep. jn with sl st,
 ch1, *into loop made with 3 ch, (sc, ch 3, sc)* rep into next lp 
etc

And now a (sort of) new sweater

This post is my submission to the Deramores Craft Blog Competition 2015. Deramores is the UK’s number one online retailer of knitting and crochet supplies. Visit www.deramores.com for more details.
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Actually April 2,
part the first


I have just been reading a book which says conscientiousness is a trait which helps to fend off Alzheimer's.
My crochet activity does not bode well on that score. I am currently flitting around between 5 different projects!

Two were inspired by a knitting book, but I have switched them to crochet, one is a sweater that I am not sure if the intended recipient is interested in, so I have slowed down on that, another is trying to find SOMETHING to do with that pink yarn I bought in 1984, and a donation hat I was working  on while watching TV.

Part the second
now it is April 6

I finished 2 of those, so am feeling a bit less dispersed.

 Containers of some kind. The directions to which assume your wool is shrinkable. Wool is no longer shrinkable so they will have to stand up on their own. Starch maybe?

And in addition to finishing the one in earlier photo, I have done a couple more donation hats. Lots of TV to watch these last few days!

 

Pottery beads with a crochet cord. Fusion craft!