~ sow love, grow love ~

Well I can happily remove another project from my to do list. I love this pattern, it's another that is fun, easy and works up fast. I used Lion Cotton for the scarf. I love this color green. The shade seems perfect for giving a botanical feeling. Once I finished, it reminded me of a stalk of some sorts and I knew I wanted to add something to it. I initially thought of tiny rosettes; but as I retrieved it I thought of tiny hearts. I found a pattern here for little hearts but they turned out to be not little enough so I made the following adjustments to steps 1 and 2 of the original pattern:

1. magic loop, ch1
2. 2hdc, 2sc, ch1, 2sc, 2hdc, ch1 into the ring

I used Sugar & Cream Cotton Solids for them. It took a while to sew them all on but it was fun and I like the result. These both are more tried and true patterns to add to my go to list. Should you decide to give either of them a try, I hope you enjoy one or both of them as much as I did.

Happy Heartful Crafting,
Mia

~ a never ending harvest ~

I think I may be addicted to this stitch that goes by many names. I'm going to call it the half double crochet rib stitch. I first fell in love with  it a couple of years ago. I came across a ravelry hat pattern called the surface braid hat. The name surface braid hat fit it perfectly. It made me remember my early childhood fascination with the knitted stockinette stitch. Such knitted pieces fascinated me because they were just like the "cornrow" hairstyles I used to beg my mom for and sit for hours to have my hair styled into. I would wonder how the stitch was made and used to hope to someday be able to produce it myself.

I never made a surface braid hat; but, have since made many other items using this stitch. My latest crop  includes the extra toppings please boot cuffs and my cottony cowl. I also have something else growing, due to sprout this spring. So if you haven't already given it a try, I think you should add it to your stockpile, I think you'll grow to love it for its versatility, flexibilty and ease to produce.

Happy Heartful Crafting
Mia  

~ tried and true ~

my amaryllis cloche and cuffs...

I finally got around to making the Two Roads Hat; a pattern of decisions. I like the textured pattern that makes up the crown. The original plan was to make Version Two and add a crocheted flower. After about 15 rip backs resulting from me trying to add extra rows to parts of the band, I gave up and opted for a band of half double crochet ribbing. I'll share more about this stitch and my fascination with it next time :)

So, I finished my alternate band (in one try-thank goodness) and then plans changed again. I scratched making a crocheted flower because I thought a needle felted flower would be nice since I had a flat surface to work on.

After all of the changes, I'm still happy with the results and also decided to make a pair of cuffs with the extra yarn.

 

                                 
Oh yeah, the yarn. I almost forgot to tell you. Both came from a local yarn shop. The blue is a somewhat coarse aran weight and the brown a softer and finer sport weight. I figured the blue would be great for warmth and the brown good for warmth too yet soft on the face and ears. I've searched high and low for the labels, but with no luck. I had the skeins wound into balls at the shop, so I'm thinking the labels were lost in transit. The natural I used for the needle felting is the merino roving I told you about and the green is scrap wool yarn I found in my stash.

So if you are like me and like options, this is a great pattern to try. The pattern was easy to follow and has great pictures. It's definitely going in my tried and true, go to file.

Happy Heartful Crafting,
Mia