No Flake Monday

I need two more heartflakes for a special project I'm working on, so I took another stab at my Part I Snowflake. I'm still struggling with the heart-shaped openings in this flake!

I decided to put heart picots on the tips because I had no faith the heart shape was going to work out. Again.

The prototype was such a bear to pin because I need to redo the last few rounds and increase the chain spaces to help the flake lay flat. But also, my snowflake factory, a pizza box, is a wee bit too old. Too many pin holes. I couldn't pull any of the points tight enough.

If there's no flake pattern today, it's because I'm still working on it. I think I'm going to change it up quite a bit to get those heart shapes, so it's not going to look like the AI inspiration at all. And that's kind of fine with me because that makes it even more my idea. Meanwhile, the struggle with this flake is reminding me of our current weather situation. We are still deeply embedded in drought, and the forecasted snow accumulation we longed for last week resulted in a whole three photos!!! Insufficient!!! Bring on the snow, please!!!

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Friday Fantastic

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Scrappy

One of my closest friends asked me (nearly a year ago now...) if I could make a bowl cozy and a casserole cozy for her. She asked if I could make them microwavable. She said I have to let her pay for them. (I normally would never charge her for anything I make.) And she asked me to use only what I have. She asked for browns. Good thing I have browns in my scraps!

Good thing I have all-cotton batting. Good thing I have brown cotton thread. Polyester blends would not be safe in the microwave.

I knew I had leftovers from Lizard's Stonehenge quilts, and I knew I'd used some in my nephew Matthew's quilt. But I had not looked in any of my scrap boxes for... probably years. Many years.

When I finally dug out the Stonehenge scraps last weekend, I realized I had enough to do some fancy piecing. I decided, however, to use up the smallest pieces and make both cozies totally reversible and completely different. My friend had bought a couple of bowl cozies at a farmer's market, and I had no idea what they looked like, other than they were done in browns. I thought scrappy would best blend with what she already has.

I am not at all disappointed with the four pieces of fabric I made. They could almost be a quilt!

I stay-stitched around all the edges, then preshrunk both the blocks and the all-cotton batting. I don't want the cozies to shrink and not fit their bowl and casserole dish once they've been used. Or, well, loved a lot.

Let the quilting begin!

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Wordless Wednesday

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Spoiled

I made out like a bandit on Valentine's Day.

A neighbor took Lizard shopping to buy my favorite, chocolate-covered strawberries, plus anything else he thought I'd like. He bought a valentine box of kisses and a valentine brownie. He knows how much I love chocolate. :)

All day long, friends and neighbors kept dropping off flowers and more chocolate.

My house looks like summer!

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Snowflake Monday

I didn't plan to revisualize my Part I Snowflake when I finally got around to adding rounds to complete my interpretation of an IA image, but I was curious how taller stitches might look. While I do LOVE today's snowflake, I wasn't able to work the heart shapes as in the AI inspiration. Oh, well; Valentine's Day is now history, right?

I'm willing to go back to the drawing board (or crochet board...) in another future attempt to bring this AI image to crochet life. Not sure when, but I do want to try to get those heart shapes right!

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 8.25 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Part II Snowflake Instructions

Ch 48. Taking care not to twist work, sl st in starting ch.

Round 1: Ch 6 (counts as 1 tr and ch 3), 1 tr in same ch as sl st, ch 1, [[sk next ch, yo 2 times and draw up loop in next ch, [yo and draw through 2 loops on hook] 2 times,] 3 times, yo and draw through all 4 loops in hook (tr dec made), ch 1, sk next ch, in next ch work [(1 tr, ch 3] 3 times], 1 tr)] 6 times, omitting last 2 tr and last 2 ch 3 on final repeat; ch 1, 1 dc into 3rd ch of starting ch 6 to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round (and 18th ch 3 sp of Round).

Round 2: Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc and ch 1), 1 dc in same ch 3 sp, [ch 3, 1 fpsc around next tr dec, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook, 1 fpsc around same tr dec, ch 3, sk next ch 3 sp, in next ch 3 tip (middle V-st) work (1 dc, ch 1, 1 dc, * ch 6, 1 sc in 5th ch from hook, [ch 1, 1 dc] 2 times] 6 times, ending * on final repeat; ch 1, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 3, 2 fsc for form 6th picot tip of Round.
NOTE: Binding off here makes a cute variation of the Part I Snowflake.

Round 3: [Ch 16, sl st in next picot tip] 6 times.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Ch 10 (counts as 1 dc and [ch 8), 1 sc in middle of next ch 16 sp, ch 8, 1 dc in next picot tip] 6 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 10.

Round 5: [1 sc in each of next 8 ch, 3 sc in next sc, 1 sc in each of next 8 ch, sk next dc] 6 times; sl st in starting sc.

Round 6: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in same sc as sl st, [ch 16, sk next 18 sc, in next sc work (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc)] 6 times, omitting last 2 dc and last 2 ch of final repeat; 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round.

Round 7: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 4 dc in same ch 3 sp, [ch 8, 1 sc over Round 6 ch 16 sp into next Round 5 middle sc of 3/sc group (skipping over 8 sc on Round 5), ch 8, in next ch 3 tip work (5 dc, ch 7, sl st in 4th ch from hook and into next ch, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, 5 dc)] 6 times, omitting last 5 dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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Friday Funny

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