Lizard Leftovers

Little did I know when I bought this fabric I was embarking upon what would one day become a family tradition. Going on nearly two decades ago, I found this fabric at a discount store and fell in love with it because of the color scheme and because it's southwest. I bought about three yards and used a very small amount for the vest on the black version of this dress, which was, at the time, all the rage.


I even found buttons to perfectly match the dress.


When the dress finally wore out and could no longer be patched, I cut the buttons off and bought a small amount of fabric for a shirt to go with the buttons. The usable lizard dress remnants (and the leftover lizard shirt fabric) went in the stash box.


I still wear the shirt sometimes.


In 2004, The Lizard and I began dating. That was his nickname long before I met him. His co-workers had teased him about sunning on rocks during breaks, and the name stuck.

During our first date, a bicycle ride to the Delicate Arch trailhead, I discovered The Lizard likes to wear a bandana beneath his helmet to prevent sunburn stripes and to keep sweat from his eyes. Two dates later, he told me he'd like "lots more dates," and I decided to dig out that old lizard fabric and surprise him with a homemade bandana on our next date, a hike in Colorado National Monument. It was his birthday.

From that point on, I began collecting lizard fabrics. I would buy one yard and make a new bandana. He has quite the collection of bandanas now, featuring everything from chili peppers, Kokopellis, snowflakes and aircraft to camo, bicycles and lizards. And I have quite the collection of bandana leftovers.




Lizard Head in Lizard Head
Sometime before 2008 I got the wild idea to use the lizard leftovers in a quilt. We had been looking for a house for about two years, and we were trying to save money and not spend. We were in a very tiny apartment, and there wasn't room for more fabric (or bikes, or bike tools, or plants, etc.). I had used up quite a bit of fabric leftovers for charity quilts, but the supply still overflowed.

This quilt top was constructed entirely of leftovers. Even the batting was pieced together from leftovers. One of the black panels came from the original Lizard Dress from nearly two decades ago!




Some black remnants were not big enough for panels.
I had to strip piece them bigger.
I used hand-dyed (from Rit dye) denim blue flannel leftover from the still-unfinished snowflake quilt backing for the back of the lizard quilt sandwich. I pin-basted the sandwich but never quilted it because, Ta Da! We finally found a house! All the quilting stuff and fabric and sewing machine were packed away while we moved. My father-in-law made a beautiful cactus quilt rack for us, and that's where Lizard Leftovers languished until this month.




I was never really happy with the flannel backing for the quilt, plus, when our car broke down in Cedar City in 2008, stranding us in that vacation paradise for a whole week, I found yet more lizard fabric on clearance in a tiny shop there. I bought the entire end of the bolt. The fabric, about four yards' worth, can be seen on the cactus quilt rack above.


I have wanted to replace the flannel with the clearance fabric ever since, but I just couldn't bring myself to use new fabric in a quilt that at that point, was entirely constructed of leftovers. So the unfinished quilt hung. And hung. And hung.

Last summer, we had overnight company three times, and all three questioned why we had unfinished quilts on the cactus rack and a store-bought comforter on the spare bed. Ever since we bought the spare bed, I'd intended to cover it with Lizard Leftovers because our bed is covered with Dancing Lizards.


When I joined the quarterly quilt WIP challenge on Ravelry last summer, I decided I might be able to finish Lizard Leftovers with the clearance lizard fabric from Cedar City if I used the clearance fabric for something else first, which would result in more lizard leftovers, and likely enough to cover the entire back of the quilt.

I'm still trying to get a quilt finished in time to submit to hopefully be juried into this year's Denver National Quilt Festival, but I've been away from free-motion quilting long enough I didn't want to start out with a competition quilt. I wanted to practice first and rebuild self-confidence.

On March 1, I finally made a bandana with the clearance lizard fabric, and sure enough, enough fabric remained to cover the back of Lizard Leftovers. Since I'd constructed the quilt top, many more homemade lizard bandanas had graced the collection. I thought it would be fun to keep the bandana shape in the new quilt back, thereby eternally memorializing the bandana purpose of most of the lizard fabrics in the quilt.

I decided to fill the bandana cut with another lizard bandana triangle leftover, and then incorporate even more lizard leftovers on the narrow side instead of constructing a wide quilt back from 45-inch fabric, as I have done with every quilt I've ever made except Welcome to the Jungle. (Welcome to the Jungle has wide quilt backing on the back and no seams.)


This is the first full-sized quilt I've completely finished since Dancing Lizards! This is the first time I've ever free-motion-quilted an entire full-sized quilt!

This quilt is not destined for competition, but boy did I ever fall in love all over again when I finished the new quilt sandwich! And then I fell in love yet again when I placed this new quilt sandwich on the new quilt frame The Lizard built for me in February. (I helped sand the boards.)

I'd been using too-small, warped, unfinished splintery and knotty pine boards ever since I inherited my grandmother's quilting, crocheting and tatting stash back in 1979. The new quilt frame is sturdy 1x3-inch oak, carefully selected by The Lizard with minimal knot holes and NO warping. He stapled leftovers from Welcome to the Jungle's quilt-sized quilt backing (cut into strips by me) along the top according to instructions he found on the internet. I'd never pinned a quilt to fabric strips stapled onto boards until Lizard Leftovers, and I'll never go back to thumbtacks again now. This new frame makes basting SO much simpler and so much more fun. And NO MORE SPLINTERS!!!!!


The Old Quilt Frame with Welcome to the Jungle


Sanding the New Quilt Frame


Making Fabric Strips for the New Quilt Frame


Stapling Fabric Strips to the New Quilt Frame


The New Quilt Frame with Lizard Leftovers
It took about six hours all together to baste Lizard Leftovers. Quilting took nearly eight hours. Binding, mostly by hand, took another six hours. Clearing last summer's naturally and solar-dyed yarn from the spare bed took an hour. Now how long will it take for all that hand-dyed yarn to find its way back to the spare bed?!?

Linking up with Devoted Quilter for her first TGIFF and Confessions of a Fabric Addict's "Can I Get a Whoop Whoop."


















A Wee Bit Windy


All in The Lizard Family

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Snowflake Monday

Back in January, I was thrilled beyond words when my snowflake directory was featured in Art Forum magazine. The author of the article, Bunny Rogers, favored my Columbine Mine Snowflake and commented tongue-in-cheek that it should be called A Snowflake for Bunny.

Here you go, Bunny!

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: 7.25 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 8 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

A Snowflake for Bunny Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2, [yo 2 times, draw up loop through ring, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook] 2 times, yo and draw through all 3 loops on hook (starting tr cluster made), ch 5, * [yo 2 times, draw up loop through ring, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook] 3 times, yo and draw through all 4 loops on hook (tr cluster made), ch 5; repeat from * 4 times; sl st in top of starting cluster. Pull magic circle tight, but leave opening big enough to allow stitches inside it to lay flat.

Round 2: * 1 sc in next ch 5 sp, 2 hdc in same sp, 1 dc in same sp, 2 hdc in same sp, 1 sc in same sp; repeat from * around 5 times; sl st in starting sc.

Round 3: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), * 1 tr in next dc, [ch 2, 1 tr in same dc] 4 times (for a total of 5 tr), 1 dc in next tr cluster (working over Round 2 sc); repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in starting ch 2.

Round 4: * [3 sc in next ch 2 sp, ch 2] 3 times, 3 sc in next ch 2 sp; repeat from * around 5 times; sl st in starting sc.

Round 5: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), * 3 dc in next ch 2 sp, 1 tr in next ch 2 sp, [ch 2, 1 tr in same sp] 4 times (for a total of 5 tr), 3 dc in next ch 2 sp, 1 dc in gap between next 2 3/sc groups; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.

Round 6: 1 sc same ch as sl st, * 1 sc in each of next 3 dc, [3 sc in next ch 2 sp, ch 2] 3 times, 3 sc in next ch 2 sp, 1 sc in each of next 4 dc; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last sc of final repeat; sl st in starting sc.
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 7: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), * sk next 3 sc, 1 dc in each of next 3 sc, 1 dc in next ch 2 sp, ch 3, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook (picot made), ch 1, 1 dc in same ch 2 sp, 1 tr in next ch 2 sp, ch 3, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, ch 1, 1 tr in same ch 2 sp, ch 8, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 4 ch, ch 6, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 3 ch, ch 5, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch, ch 11, working back down tree, sl st in 10th and in 11th ch from hook, ch 4, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch, sl st in ch between 3/sl st branch and 4/sl st branch on opposite side, ch 5, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 3 ch, sl st in ch between 4/sl st branch and 5/sl st branch on opposite side, ch 6, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 4 ch, sl st in ch after 5/sl st branch on opposite side, ch 1, 1 tr in same ch 2 sp, ch 3, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, ch 1, 1 tr in same ch 2 sp, 1 dc in next ch 2 sp, ch 3, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, ch 1, 1 dc in same ch 2 sp, 1 dc in each of next 3 sc, sk next 3 sc, 1 dc between next 2 3/sc groups; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: 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 the 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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The Hunt

Contrary to popular thought, gemsbok are not located only on the other side of the world. Quite a few of them roam White Sands Missile Range, too.

I could write more than one blog post about the controversial introduction of the 500-pound animal into the New Mexico desert more than a generation ago, and I may at some point. For now, it might suffice to explain I grew up believing the species had been transplanted to my little corner of the world because it was nearing extinction in the Kalahari. That's what I'd been taught. But that isn't quite the way it happened. And the story doesn't necessarily have a happy ending.

Nevertheless, the gemsbok is a beautiful and exotic animal, and the mere rare sight of it as I carpooled to Las Cruces on Tuesday nights to work on genealogy in the late '70s and early '80s ignited the desire to photograph this animal in a journalistic way. I dreamed of a National Geographic-type history, penned and shot by me. I longed to be the gemsbok guru of the southwest. Although that dream never materialized, I did have a unique gemsbok experience I have been longing to share.

The last few months I lived in New Mexico (literally way back in a different century), I spent quite a bit of time attempting to get THE perfect shot of a gemsbok, also known as an oryx. During the long days of summer (which are much longer down south than in Colorado), I would drive to the missile range after work and drive back and forth along a couple-mile stretch where I'd often seen oryx in the distance.

The highway was subject to scheduled and sometimes unscheduled closings during missile firings. Sometimes I'd get caught on the far end and be forced to wait in line with other motorists until well into the night to return home.

Sometimes I'd see an oryx, and once in a blue moon, a small group, but they'd be so distant, they appeared as miniatures even with the little telephoto lens that was all I had back then.

Sometimes I wouldn't see anything. No wildlife at all. A totally wasted trip and evening.

Persistence paid off, however. Just a short time before I found full-time employment across the border in Colorado, I finally found an oryx close to the highway fence and standing still! I pulled over, stopped the car, watched the animal for a few seconds to make sure I wasn't going to frighten it, then slowly rolled down the window, trying not to rock the car or move too much.

Am I dating myself here? Yes, I manually rolled down the window with arm power, not a button; this was long before electric windows were commonplace, especially in the land of spring sandstorms. Sandstorms likely would have rendered early electronic window systems useless, grinding away like sandpaper in unsealed vehicles.

The oryx, which had its derrière pointed toward me, looked over its shoulder a couple of times but continued to munch on whatever it was eating and did not take a single step in any direction.

After shooting probably an entire roll of film from the front seat of my car, through the window, I decided it would be safe to get a little closer. I slowly got out of the car, keeping my eye on the large animal, fully expecting it to jump the fence and run out into the four-lane highway or flee in the opposite direction to escape this paparazzi.

Instead, the animal continued to chew, standing motionless and refusing to pose for me. This act of defiance, of course, spurred greater courage deep inside me, and I step-by-step got a little bit closer, a little bit closer, a little bit closer... until I could fill the frame with a gorgeous head shot.

Except I still couldn't get this creature to look at me!

Meanwhile, cars zoomed by at the speed limit, which I believe may still have been 55 at the time; I think the 65-mile-per-hour limit was enacted later that year. Some cars would honk. Still, the animal would not look. Some cars would slow down just long enough for someone to hang out a window with an Instamatic camera to snap a photo, then speed off. Still, the animal would not look.

All this caused me to grow braver still. I softly whispered a conversation with the beast. "You're being so snotty! Won't you turn around and smile at me? I'll make you rich and famous..."

Still, nothing.

So I spoke a little louder.

Nothing.

I whistled. I sang. I burped. I stomped. I jumped. I waved my arms. I decided the oryx was not real, but a stuffed or blow-up animal the military had placed out there to fool photo hunters like me.

I snapped a few more shots of the back of the animal's head, then trudged back to the car, discouraged and frustrated.

I slammed the car door after putting away the camera.

And then that darned oryx turned and looked me straight in the eye!!!

I grabbed the camera as quick as I could and began firing again. He (or she) continued to watch me while chewing, as if chuckling and making snide remarks about the crazy blond fool who couldn't take a hint.

I shot away, one step closer at at time until...

I RAN OUT OF FILM!!! Yes, this was that long ago. Way back before even image stabilization, much less digital. I didn't even have auto focus. I did have a removable motor drive, but I didn't use it often because it went through batteries too fast. And this was before realistic rechargeable batteries.

I crossed my fingers there might be one more roll of film in my camera bag or in my purse or in between the seat cushions of the car or in the glove box... anywhere. Just one more roll of film! PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE!!!

I ran back to the car, passenger door still wide open, and began digging like a mad woman, throwing stuff aside in my search. Deep inside my purse, there it was! A roll of gold! More valuable to me than diamonds! One self-rolled canister of black and white film!!!

Quickly I loaded the camera, shaking the whole time, forgetting to keep a watchful eye on the oryx, even advancing the film one extra shot to make sure it didn't get stuck. No way was I going to miss this shot of a lifetime!

To my surprise, the oryx hadn't moved and was still staring at me, now somewhat drop-jawed. As if he knew how frantic I had become. Perhaps he was as frightened of me as I was of him!

One step at a time, I again drew closer and closer until I could fill the frame with just his mug. "Smile pretty!" I told him. "This is the last shot! I rolled only 24. After this, you never have to put up with me again."

His expression didn't change one bit. I fired. I thanked him. I practically skipped back to my car, and I didn't hit any roadblocks on the way back to the darkroom. Forget home! I wanted to see this film NOW!

In the totally dark black darkrooom, I carefully spooled each roll onto metal reels, taking great care not to crimp the film, drag the long tail on the darkroom floor, generate static electricity or allow the curly gray snake to make contact with my clothing or the walls. Carefully I poured in D-76, set the timer and agitated gently every 30 seconds or so. After the rinse, I poured in the fixer slowly, carefully, trying to avoid splashes that mess up the film surface. During the final rinse, I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd reached the point of safe and low-risk film handling. I'd done everything I could to make sure every single shot would turn out. Now I just had to wait patiently for the negatives to dry.

Finally, a full hour later of pacing the floor, I could place the first strip of negatives in the metal negative carrier, insert the carrier into the enlarger and begin printing.

Every single shot turned out! The negatives were crisp, clear, perfectly focused and perfectly exposed, with no darkroom flaws such as reticulation or scratches. I'd done it! I'd finally captured THE shot! I don't think I slept at all that night! I may have stayed in the darkroom printing until the sun came up.

I proudly handed an 8x10 glossy of the best shot to the newspaper editor first thing the next morning. He gasped.

Front page! I knew it! Oh, was I excited! I'd had plenty of front-page photos, many above the fold, and even some breaking news shots. I'd even had two full-color shots grace the front page on holidays.

Once the paper hit the press and then the streets, military friends began calling to remind me I had been shooting on military property and that I could have been apprehended and searched at any time. My camera AND film could have been seized. Shoot, authorities could have confiscated my car! "Please be careful!" my dear friends begged. "Please don't get yourself into trouble over a photo!"

Then came the personal visit from the director of PR at the local air force base.

"Did you know these animals have been known to gore jeeps?" he questioned. "We've even had mothers accidentally impale their nursing calves."

He didn't threaten to take my film. He didn't summon the MPs (Military Police). I didn't get in trouble. I didn't lose my job.

But I did learn my lesson.

I've never approached an oryx since.

Just don't ask my brother about the massive bull moose in Alaska in 1998... (Moose don't have pointy horns when they are in velvet!)

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Wordless Wednesday

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Pinch Hitter

I had about 19 hours invested in my Marathon Scarf Project when Luck of the Frog fell upon it. Yes, I'm a slow knitter, and I'm an even slower double knitter because I'm still a beginner, but actual knitting time may not have equaled charting time. Nevertheless, to unravel the equivalent of nearly half a work week's knitting felt like losing half a paycheck. Yet it also felt just a bit empowering...

I really enjoyed the project. Truly. But I am still a beginner, and I was under the gun to get the scarf done in time to mail it to Boston. I worked on the scarf aboard the train, and passengers would admire my work and get me started talking. When I'm crocheting, I can keep going mindlessly while I talk. Or perhaps I talk mindlessly while my mind is focused on my hook. Who knows?

The incredibly geometric chart I was attempting to work from memory because it takes too much time to dig the taped-together scarf-sized graph paper out of my bag, find the current point of needles and then put the chart neatly back in the bag without ripping it proved to be my undoing. Or, well, the scarf's undoing.

First I discovered a mistake about nine rows back. I attempted to fix it with a crochet hook by dropping the entire line of stitches above the booboo. That didn't work, so I inserted a life line, pulled the needles out, carefully reinserted them, then reknitted the nine rows.

Only to find I'd made another mistake two rows back. This time, I was able to correct the mistake with the crochet hook and without unraveling.

Whew!

During the next intersection of many blue lines the next day, I found I that same mistake I'd previously unraveled repeated all over again in the newly knit section. I'd broken a blue line again. But this time, only on the yellow side. Apparently, my concentration isn't what it should be when I'm alternating blue and yellow, blue and yellow, blue and yellow... I had three yellows in a row, and that should NEVER happen in a double knit project unless I'm using two strands of yellow yarn, which I wasn't.

Because the mistake was only on one side, I was able to fix it with the crochet hook once again. But in so doing, I made another mistake reknitting with the crochet hook, and I had to undo that line of stitches AGAIN. A degree of discouragement was settling in; this project was no longer as fun as it should be. I was spending as much time fixing mistakes as I was spending knitting. I knew there was no way I'd have this scarf done before the actual marathon, much less before the mailing deadline, if I didn't pay a little closer attention to my stitching.

The next day, entering the next web of yellow diagonal lines across the blue side, I noticed I broke another line. I'd made another mistake. Once again, three consecutive blues. Ouch!

This one was nine rows back again. Ouch again. I spent nearly half an hour fixing the booboo on both sides; I hadn't noticed it on the yellow side until I had to pull out that crochet hook again. As I was fixing my mistake, this time in the lunch room at work, co-workers kept approaching to find out what I was doing, why I was doing it and how much longer I had to get the scarf in the mail. About ten days, give or take.

One of my co-workers noticed the Swedish colors before she noticed anything else. She's of Swedish descent. "Oh, you're making the Swedish flag!" she cooed. Not quite, but I was delighted I had the colors right!

Another of my co-workers pointed out something I had not noticed. "Oh, you're making a scarf in my college colors!" he admired. Now this was awesome! He attended Fort Lewis in Durango, where we have ridden the Fall Blaze to support the collegiate cycling team several years. Not only was I making a Swedish Olympic team scarf, a Boston Marathon scarf and a Boy Scout scarf (Hey, those colors are hard to ignore because I washed my son's uniform many, many times to get it back to blue and gold after a campout!), I was creating a Skyhawk scarf, too! Way cool!


However, I did promise our Skyhawk oft hiking companion I would rip out the entire project if I found one more mistake because I could whip up a crocheted scarf in the same yarn in a day or two and have it in the mail in time for a Boston Marathon runner to receive it.

"Don't worry," the Skyhawk consoled. "If you don't get the scarf done the way you like this time, I know you'll do it again another time, just perfect, and maybe even in colors you dyed yourself."

Ooooh, now there's a novel idea...

But it did not prompt the rip. Instead, the next mistake, discovered during my train commute that very night, this time, not a broken line but an unwelcome line that came in out of nowhere and then disappeared just as mysteriously, would have meant ripping back another nine rows. I knew now there was no way I could finish this scarf on time. My heart ached. And yet, I was angry!

Angry enough to start frogging.

I finished frogging in the dark car after The Lizard picked me up from the train depot. He was as relieved as me, but not because frogging provided a great emotional vent for him like it did for me. Instead, he wanted me to take a breather from trying to get this year's garden ready, get a snowflake done every week, get a quilt done by the end of the month, get this scarf done by the end of the month...

"I think you put too much pressure on yourself all the time," The Lizard advised. And that's one of the plethora of reasons I love him.

In the car, I wound the unraveled project into a hasty dual-strand ball of bicolor yarn, which I then had to unwind and simultaneously untangle so I could begin my next project.


Believe me, there were times when I wanted to just cut the yarn and throw away the barf! But I wasn't sure I would have enough yarn left for a full project if followed through, and I did NOT want to have to buy more. I didn't want to take time to go to any store to match the existing stash colors. I've already invested too much in this scarf without spending a dime!!!




The next morning, I began an impromptu and patternless scarf aboard the train and had it half done before I got downtown. I finished it in the break room at lunch. The blue and yellow yarn leftovers were all I had to work on aboard the train that night on my way home. So I made a cowl to send along with the scarf.

Both are in the mail now. Each may be wrapped around a runner next month. I feel as if I've crossed my own finish line. I want to pump my sweaty fists in the air and get sprayed with a fine mist of cooling water as a medal is draped around my neck.

But not until the weather warms up a bit.

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Snowflake Monday

I wrote the pattern for this snowflake on my iPhone aboard a commuter train a couple of years ago or so. And I left it there. Who knows how long?

When I lost a different snowflake pattern I'd written on my iPhone last year, I found several patterns or partial patterns from years past. This pattern was one of them. But the final two rounds were scrambled. I didn't even have a photo of the snowflake to work from. So today's snowflake may or may not resemble that initial snowflake.

I don't remember if I liked the original snowflake, but I like this version of it a lot. So I guess it's a good thing the pattern got twisted in space. Hey, that makes a great snowflake name!!!


Because today is St. Patrick's Day, I just HAVE to share this: The Best Jacquie Lawson Card Ever. Happy St. Patty's Day, and may many rainbows come your way!

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: 7 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 8 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

Twisted Space Snowflake Instructions

NOTE: This pattern makes an attractive snowflake when ended on Round 3, Round 4 and Round 5, as well as Round 6.

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 3 (counts as 1dc and ch 1), *2 dc in ring, ch 1; repeat from * 4 times; 1 dc in ring; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 3. Pull magic circle tight.

Round 2: * 1 sc in next ch 1 sp, ch 4; repeat from * 4 times; 1 sc in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, 1 dc in staring sc to form 6th ch 4 sp of Round.

Round 3: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc over post of dc directly below, * 3 dc in next ch 4 sp, ch 3, 3 dc in same sp; repeat from * 4 times; 3 dc in next ch 4 sp, ch 1, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 sp of Round.

Round 4: 1 sc over post of dc just worked, * ch 4, 1 sc in gap between next 2 3/dc groups, ch 4, 1 sc in next ch 3 sp, ch 6, 1 sc in same sp; repeat from * 5 times, omitting last sc and last ch 6 of final repeat; ch 3, 1 tr in starting sc to form 6th ch 6 loop of Round.
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 5: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 4 dc over post of tr just worked, * ch 1, 1 sc in next ch 4 sp, ch 5, 1 sc in next ch 4 sp, ch 1, 5 dc in next ch 6 loop, ch 5, 5 dc in same sp; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last 5 dc and last ch 5 of final repeat; ch 2, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form last ch 5 sp of Round.

Round 6: Ch 4 (counts as 1 tr), 1 tr over post of dc just worked, 1 dc in same sp, 1 hdc in same sp, 1 sc in same sp, * ch 3, 1 sc in next ch 5 sp, ch 4, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, 1 dc in next ch, 1 sc in next ch, 1 sc in same ch 5 sp, ch 3, 1 sc in next ch 5 sp (point), 1 hdc in same sp, 1 dc in same sp, 2 tr in same sp, ch 7, sl st in 2nd ch from hook, 1 sc in each of next 5 ch, 2 tr in same ch 5 sp, 1 dc in same sp, 1 hdc in same sp, 1 sc in same sp; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last sc, hdc, dc and 2 tr; sl st in 4th ch of starting ch 4; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: 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 the 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

Get Bike! Get Bike to Where You Once Belonged! OR Ticket to Ride...

We All Ride on a Yellow Bicycle!

She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

Everybody, now: All You Need is Laugh.

Can't Buy Me Laugh.

When did Paul write Silly Love Songs? From 1962-Present. (It's just a joke; I love most Beatle music, together or apart.)

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because the Beatles made it look cool.

Music is like candy; you throw away the rappers. (Um, wait a minute... that's NOT a joke; that should be real!)

Immortal Abbey Road

Leggo Abbey

Tabby Road

Super Mario

Across the Universe

May the Abbey Be With You

"I translated Beatles songs for my English class." -Christian Lacroix

"I don't think anybody comes close to The Beatles." -Brian May

"So this is America. They must be out of their minds." -Ringo Starr, arriving in America for the first time in 1964

"There are only four people who knew what the Beatles were about anyway." -Paul McCartney

"We were all on this ship in the '60s, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World.
And the Beatles were in the crow's nest of that ship." -John Lennon

"The Beatles saved the world from boredom." -George Harrison

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Eye Candy

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Wordless Wednesday

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