Think Pink

Pink is the snowflake color I've been focusing on for a few weeks now. I'd given away most of my pink snowflakes to people diagnosed with breast cancer, and what few remained sold during the annual craft fair I participated in before Christmas.

I needed a new stash of pink snowflakes, just in case. Plus, I wanted to decorate the door to my new office with pink snowflakes. Because I can keep them up until Valentine's Day!

So pink, pink, pink. I designed a few new snowflakes, I made a few of my favorites, and I revisited some very old patterns. My pink Christmas cacti chimed in. My next hank of hibiscus-dyed yarn stayed pink. Pink everywhere! Pink reigns.

And then I got this in the mail...


YIPPEE!!! Pink away!

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Wordless Wednesday

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City of Dreams

Snowflake, Arizona. A place where it is socially acceptable to be snowflake crazy all year long!


Snowflake was not named for the weather. The community, originally known as Silver Creek, was founded in 1878 by Erastus Snow and William Jordan Flake. Some of the residents wanted to name the town after Mr. Snow, and others wanted to name it after Mr. Flake. Even though the desert town's name was not the result of a bad winter, the town of Snowflake is surrounded by the White Mountains. Coincidence?

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Snowflake 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.

Avocados aren't a traditional Christmas symbol, and snowflakes aren't just for Christmas anymore.

This week I am celebrating the completion of my 2014 snowflake pattern PDF booklet to raise money for the battle against Parkinson's Disease.

This year's PDF booklet features my Winter Dreams Afghan, displayed last Thursday on my blog, with 25 individual yarn snowflake patterns. The PDF booklet also includes 12 all-new thread snowflake patterns (Every Mountain, Wetterhorn, Mount Meeker, Dream Weaver, Lemon Zest, Orange Spice, Lime Twist, Grapefruit Smoothie, Watermelon Slush, Coconut Ice and Pineapple Sorbet) and some tips for customizing snowflakes for different holidays and celebrations. Today's Avocado Frost Snowflake is the only pattern from the PDF booklet to be published on my blog.

A more traditional snowflake from today's pattern is included with the 2014 PDF booklet, "Knot Just for Christmas Anymore."

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: 3.75 inches across, 4.25 inches tall
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread in brown or variegated brown, avocado, wasabi or sage green, and black, dark grey or very dark green, size 8 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Avocado Frost Snowflake Instructions

With brown thread, make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 5 (counts as 1 dc and ch 3), * 2 dc in ring, ch 3; repeat from * around 4 times; 1 dc in ring; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 5. Pull magic circle tight, but leave opening big enough to allow stitches inside it to lay flat.

Round 2: Sl st into next ch 3 sp, ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc in same sp, * ch 2, 1 sc between next 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in next ch 3 sp; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 2, 1 sc between next 2 dc, ch 2, sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.

Round 3: Sl st into next dc, ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 6 dc in same dc, * 7 dc in middle dc of next 3/dc group; repeat from * around 4 times; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Round 4: With avocado, 1 tr in joint between any 2 7/dc groups, * 1 dc in each of next 3 dc, 2 dc in next dc, 1 dc in each of next 3 dc, 1 tr in join between 7/dc groups; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last tr of final repeat; sl st in starting tr.

NOTE: Remainder of avocado rounds do not start and end in the same place.

Round 5: Ch 10, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, 1 dc in each of next 2 ch, 1 hdc in next ch, 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, 1 dc in next dc of main body of flake and in each of next 7 dc, * 2 dc in next tr, 1 dc in each of next 8 dc; repeat from * around 4 times, omitting last 2 dc of final repeat; yo and draw up loop in next dc, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook, yo and draw up loop through next dc, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook, yo and draw up loop through next ch in top of avocado, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook, yo and draw through all 4 loops on hook (decrease made). Do not join.
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 6: 1 dc in each of next 5 ch, 2 dc in each of next 2 ch (in top of avocado), 2 dc in next dc, 1 dc in each of next 3 st, yo and draw up loop in next sc, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook, yo and draw up loop through next sc, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook, yo and draw up loop through next dc, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook, yo and draw through all 4 loops on hook (decrease made), 1 dc in each of next 3 dc, 2 dc in next dc, * 1 dc in each of next 9 dc, 2 dc in next dc; repeat from * around 5 times; 1 dc in next dc, 1 dc decrease across next 3 dc; do not join.

Round 7: 1 dc in each of next 3 dc, 2 dc in each of next 2 dc, 1 dc in next dc, 2 dc in each of next 2 dc, 1 dc in each of next 5 dc, sk next 2 dc, sl st in next dc; bind off. Weave in ends.

Round 8: With black, 1 sc in any st and in every st around, increasing 6 times evenly space around main body of avocado, decreasing one stitch at each end of neck of avocado and increasing 3 stitches evenly spaced at top of avocado; bind off. Weave in ends.

NOTE: Worked in cotton worsted weight yarn with a size G or H hook, this pattern makes a nice dish cloth.

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. 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

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Winter Dreams

I've wanted to make a snowflake afghan with no matching snowflakes ever since I was about 16 years old. I always assumed the snowflakes would be on a blue background because that's what color I see when I go out in the snow.


When The Lizard took me cross-country skiing for the first time eight years ago, the colors of the shadows on the snow affirmed my afghan would be blue and white.






I could never find just the right blue hues for what I could see in my head, until last year when I began more earnestly dyeing my yarn. Colors began to pop. Specifically, blue colors.




The afghan began taking more shape in my head, and then, caution was thrown to the wind. I wound off 12 25-yard balls of PFD (prepared for dyeing) worsted yarn and dropped three each in one of four recycled spaghetti sauce jars with various blue concoctions. My idea was for the center of the snowflakes to be white, graduating to powder, medium and robust blue toward the outer edges of each motif.


I hadn't designed a motif yet, but I thought 25 yards would be sufficient for whatever I wound up designing. First mistake.

Second mistakes was the ball-dyeing process. It produced spectacular color gradation with unpredictable but highly desirable (by me) degrees of mottle. But I hadn't clearly thought out how I was going to get the balls of yarn adequately rinsed, dried or into usable center-pull cakes.

Detangling the gloved-handed, quickly hanked and inadequately tied mini skiens after the drying process made me want to walk away from my Winter Dreams forever. Fortunately, the yarn turned out pretty enough that I couldn't stay away too long.


Not all of the dyed yarn had white ends, so I decided to make the snowflakes from undyed yarn, then bind off and make the background with the dyed yarn. Perfect solution to an unforseen dilemma.

However, making the snowflakes from white meant bigger rounds for the background colors, and I soon discovered 25 yards was not enough to complete each motif.

I fashioned 12 beautiful motifs, and every single one of them needed about three to four more yards of dyed yarn. Dyed yarn that matched. Dyed yarn that matched the outer round of each motif.

Ugh.


Four weeks turned into six weeks as I attempted to mix blues again after not having written down any notes. Some of the new colors turned out so well, I decided the afghan could be a little bigger. I'd incorporate the new colors, too. Which meant making more snowflakes. Different snowflakes.

All the snowflakes needed to be roughly 3 inches, which I wasn't sure I could continue making completely unique until I made Jelly Yarn snowflake key chains for each of the 22 girls at camp last summer with no patterns and no diagrams for inspiration. The key chains, when done, weren't all entirely unique, but I got enough variety to boost my confidence that Winter Dreams really could come true.


Once I finished more snowflakes, I needed more graduated yarn. I wasn't about to do the ball-dye again. Ever. I wondered if blanks would work, sort of like plain potholders, partially dipped and allowed to soak up the dye, with gravity forming my natural gradation.

I made a bunch of blanks, this time, incorporating 30 yards of yarn each. I didn't want to run out again on the final round of each motif! This meant I had a few tiny little balls of yarn left over at the end of the entire project. Stabbed with toothpick knitting needles, they make awesome Christmas ornaments.


My first blank thought, of course, was to knit the blanks. I couldn't find a single pair of size 8 knitting needles anywhere in the house. I have them. Somewhere. Probably stuffed in PIGS (Projects in Grocery Sacks), full of stitches. And the knitting machine still isn't up and running yet.

So I crocheted my blanks.

I expected unraveling the blanks could result in a wee bit of heartache, but the "singles" did just fine. At one point, I decided it would be more time-efficient if I made three-strand blanks. Three-strand blanks were much faster to create, but unraveling and winding into three separate balls without balls running haywire across the floor and without getting tangled was the anticipated heartache times three. I learned from experience it's worth the time it takes to create three blanks for each color.




With all the motifs made but lacking the joining round, afghan assembly was a snap and took place in just two nights. All I had to do was randomly arrange the motifs, then join away as I finished all the final rounds. The majority of ends had been woven in as I worked (as occurs in all my multi-color projects), so the final end for each motif was all I had to weave in, and I did each one as I went.

I finished the last motif and had only that one end to weave in, and voila!


My Winter Dream finally came true! It has been a long process, but the reward is the final project. This is my favorite of all the afghans I've ever made! This project was worth all the time and tribulation it entailed. I love to look at it. I love to take pictures of it. I love to wrap up in it.




The pattern? You bet. It will be one of the awesome highlights in my next MS-150 fundraising snowflake pattern booklet, due to be released next Monday. (WOOHOO!!!) Just working on the final touches...

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