Crocheting of the Green

My green collection of solar-dyed, hand-dyed crochet thread has been getting a workout this week. We've had a few medical appointments with long waiting room crochet opportunities.

I have far fewer greens than blues. I have been battling the temptation to dye more shades and gradients all week long. I'm not trying to use up everything I've got before I dye again, and I really miss dyeing. But solar dyeing is a time hog I'm not sure I should invest in right now. Most satisfying and rewarding, but just too demanding right now.

I have five old crochet bags I used to tote on public transportation when I was working. I haven't touched them since 2019 or perhaps even earlier. I went on a scavenger hunt to see if there was any more hand-dyed green in any of those old bags. I should have snapped a post-hunt photo because the tiny little balls I found are gone now.

Three of the tiny little balls barely made one disc each. I found six more tiny balls of blues, too, so after I finish the greens, I'll finish the blues again.

I still haven't decided what to do with the hearts or scraps yet, but I'm hoping some magnificent inspiration will trigger one sleepless night, and I'll come up with the coolest jewelry ever.

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Blue is My Love

(affiliate link to my GCU shop)

Six weeks later, I've finally finished making a heart from each of my hand-dyed, solar-dyed blue crochet thread colors. I remember the days when I could complete a project like this in just a couple of weeks... But, no more bus and/or train commutes for me!

It may have taken a while, but it was a labor of love. Double love, actually. Nothing says love more than hearts! Well, except maybe chocolate...

I think when I first began this project, I was intending to make a necklace of crocheted blue hearts. I got impatient the first couple of weeks, though, and made a five-heart necklace. It turned out okay, I think. I'm not so sure I'm inspired to make another blue heart necklace.

(affiliate link to my Etsy shop)

I took short breaks to make four other blue crochet thread necklaces for my Etsy shop. I'm really glad I did. But now, six weeks later, I'm a little tired of blue. Hard to believe! Never in a million years thought I'd ever grow tired of blue!

(affiliate links to my Etsy shop)

Before I finished the hearts, I photographed what I had so far for a few greeting card images. That was inspiration enough to keep me going to finish the project.

(affiliate link to my GCU shop)

I don't have as many of each color family in the rest of my hand-dyed, solar-dyed crochet thread collection. That makes it a little easier to contemplate repeating the feat with green, reds and pinks, then purples. (There probably aren't enough oranges or yellows to make an Etsy project.) When I first began my blue heart project, I was determined to make a heart from each color of thread I've dyed. Like I did with my little owls back in 2019.

I just remembered I made butterflies from all the colors in my hand-dyed stash back in July of 2018.

(affiliate link to my Spoonflower shop)

I just realized somewhere there are two or three empty gum Altoid tins full of dragonflies. I never got to finish them. I think that was right before Lizard's total knee replacement, which would be an acceptable excuse for never finishing. Except now I'm going to kind of be craving that...

Oh, my heavens. That made me search. Hadn't planned on that when I started this blog post. But now found. I think the challenge may be effectively renewed now...

Also found was another long-forgotten project in the same hiding place. I don't know if I planned to make one of every color in my hand-dyed stash, but my goodness, they are so darned cute, how can I resist???

I've gifted about half of my little owls in the last year. The kids I teach on Sundays love them. As do my grands. I'm not so sure any of the boys would be as fond of hearts. I can see eye rolls and hear "Eeeeewww!"s and "Ick!"s without even showing the boys. Yet, the yearning to create and photograph never stops surging through my soul. I'll probably do the green hearts next because the new me is driven to finish what I start before I take on anything new. At least that's the goal...

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Bluetiful Crochet

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Odds and Ends

I tried, but I didn't get a quilt finished this week. It's layered, pin-basted and ready to go, but it hasn't found its way beneath the presser foot yet.

Feels sort of weird to not have another quilt finished, after last year's quilting high!!!

However, I have finished a few projects. The biggest finish of the week was winding all of my most recent batch of hand-dyed thread into balls. Whew! We had about eight more inches of snow on Sunday, the biggest storm of the season so far. It was SO tempting to snow dye again, but I decided I have enough thread to last for a while, and I shouldn't dye anymore until I finish up some of what I've already done.


I dyed new thread last spring before I found out I had to give the crochet hook a bit of a vacation because I needed more rainbow hues. I dyed thread again a couple of weeks ago because I had nearly run out of pink. I'm beginning to realize I need to cut back on the odd shades and dye only pinks, blues and rainbow colors! And I guess I need to come up with some ideas to use those odd colors...

I've been using up little bits of thread each day for a couple of months now. I'm very happy to be crocheting again, after several months of limited activity due to elbow and neck issues. I'm crocheting on the train almost every day again now, at least when I can get a seat. I've had to retrain myself not to hold whatever I'm working on so close to my face in order to see the stitches. I'm so happy to be able to crochet with thread and a tiny hook again! Almost pain-free!


Most of my thread, of course, goes to snowflakes.






Although I did make the solar system. The planets even glow in the dark.




I made the Great American eclipse, too! And yes, the earrings glow in the dark!




I bought some bead stones in April of 2016 with every intention of turning them into crocheted jewelry, featuring my hand-dyed thread. I finally made my first necklace last week!


For the past few years, I've sent amigurumi birthday card photos to all my friends and family. I sent the same photo to every single person on my list each year. Last year, one of my crocheting friends, probably bored with seeing the same photo every single time someone we both know celebrated a birthday, challenged me to pose my amigurumi differently for each birthday. I'm up to 57 new amigurumi photos so far. So everybody gets a different photo this year!


The cupcakes are the newest addition to the amigurumi collection. I made a new bear, too. This is the first bear I've crocheted since... Can't remember when I made the last one!


I also made a new bevy of hearts.


For most of last year, my motto was, "As soon as I finish five more quilts, I get to make something for me!" I didn't actually make something for me until I finished all the Christmas present and late Christmas present quilts, and then it finally was my turn. This cute jumper worked up in just a couple of hours, and I've already worn to to church and to work.


Call me the bag lady. I've made bean bags, corn bags, rice bags, and now a flax bag. I heard right before Christmas that flax makes a really good heating pad because it does not collect moisture. I used a cheap department store wash rag to test the theory, and I think there will be more flax bags in my future.


Linking up with Busy Hands Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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Rock and Troll Monday

NOTE: Formal fundraising on Snowcatcher has been paused. I haven't had time to create a new snowflake pattern booklet, and we don't know if or when we will be able to participate in organized charity rides again. If things favorably change, I will announce such in a new Snowflake Monday blog post. In the meantime, the previous eight booklets are still available, and I will do my best to respond to requests for them in a timely manner.


Is it a rock?


A hideaway?


A troll???


My new PDF pattern booklet to benefit the fight against multiple sclerosis finally is here!

After nearly 18 months of drafting, crocheting, stiffening, stuffing, photographing, editing, writing, editing, writing, editing, writing and then just a bit more writing and editing... "Sea Quell" is available beginning today.

This new PDF booklet includes 11 snowflake patterns, 9 snowflake frames and the patterns for the Rock and Troll. (I have republished two patterns from my blog in this booklet, the Moss Snowflake and the Vitamin C Snowflake Frame.)


I had SUCH fun working up my first little Troll with my very own indigo-dyed cotton thread, but once again, my own short-sightedness brought on a bit of a dilemma.

When I first began dyeing yarn and thread, I wound hanks of 100 yards. I quickly learned 100 yards often is not enough to complete a project other than a few snowflakes. So I began dyeing 150-yard hanks.

That still wasn't enough for this "Frozen"-inspired character and his little hideaway. I ran out of thread before finishing the initial Rock. I plan to dye lots and lots more denim-hued thread because it's one of my favorite natural dyes, but an indigo vat is not one anyone should do indoors. Although I use pre-reduced crystals, true indigo dye is processed with... um... well, urine, and even the pre-reduced vat carries... well, an unpleasant odor. It's still too cold outside at night for the next two or three months for me to start a new vat. It would freeze overnight, and I'm NOT bringing such a vat indoors to heat and ferment!!!




As a temporary fix, I pulled out some of my indigo-dyed fingering weight wool to start a new Rock and found it stretches around the Troll much easier than the cotton thread version of a Rock. That is something to consider when making your own Rock. However, matching my Troll identically to his Rock, in my opinion, is my ultimate goal. Initially, I planned to make a natural-dyed rainbow of little Trolls, but I don't have enough thread in any of my hand-dyed colors to complete even one matching Rock and Troll.

My rainbow Rock and Troll project will have to wait until summer or later.


Sigh.

Alas, my main pattern-tweaking and testing Troll is not made of my own naturally hand-dyed thread. Somehow, the colors of store-bought thread just don't look as foresty or woodsy, wouldn't you agree?


Nevertheless, my Teal Troll, whom I think I will name Teala, needs some jewelry, don't you think? So instead of a snowflake pattern this week, I'm sharing the recipe for a Troll Necklace. I plan to share an outfit for the gray Troll, whom I think I will call Grayson, next week, and I'm still trying to figure out what Indy, the indigo Troll, needs in order to be dressed to roll. (Needs to be denim, doesn't it?) I hope you don't mind an April break from snowflakes. Snowflakes will be return after I properly dress my Trolls!

Here are links to all the PDF snowflake booklets I've published so far.

2015 booklet
2014 booklet
2013 booklet
2012 booklet
This is the best link showing the snowflakes in the 2011 booklet.

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


Troll Necklace Instructions

Finished Size: 4 inches long
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread in brown, gray or black, size 7 crochet hook, rock- or gem-like beads, all-purpose glue


NOTE: To make this necklace as instructed, you will need to know how to do foundation single crochet (fsc). There are many tutorials on the internet. Moogly's has one of my favorite's (she's done great tutorials for all kinds of crochet stitches), and it's located here.

String 3 or 5 beads onto thread. For me, this was the most difficult part of the entire project because I couldn't get the crochet thread through the bead openings, even though it should have fit. I finally was successful when I put a doubled piece of sewing thread through a small sewing needle, then put the crochet thread through the sewing thread loop. I then put the needle through each bead opening, then GENTLY pulled the crochet thread through the opening by pulling on the end the sewing thread. Worked like a dream!

10 fsc, * ch 1, catching bead in stitch, sl st in last fsc, 3 fsc; repeat from * 2 or 4 times, depending upon how many beads you strung; 10 fsc. Necklace probably will not be big enough to fit over Troll's head, so fit necklace around Troll head and sl st in starting fsc and bind off or bind off and tie knot. Dab with a dot of glue to secure knots, allow to dry thoroughly, then snip off ends.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Please bear in mind this project has small parts that could be swallowed by children who put things in their mouths.


Now, we can't very well have a Troll Necklace without making one for the Prince or Princess, can we?

Troll Prince or Princess Necklace Instructions

Finished Size: 20 inches long
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, rock- or gem-like beads, all-purpose glue


String 15 beads onto thread.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

80 fsc, * ch 1, catching bead in stitch, sl st in each of last 2 fsc, 5 fsc; repeat from * 14 times; 80 fsc; sl st in starting fsc and bind off or bind off and tie knot. Dab with a dot of glue to secure knots, allow to dry thoroughly, then snip off ends.

Please bear in mind this project also has small parts that could be swallowed by children who put things in their mouths.

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