Hi Everyone,

Now I am the one who has been MIA. I was visiting with my brother for a few days over the Fourth of July and of course I have dozens of things to catch up with. The trip to see my brother is 7 hours each way so I take crochet projects and a book to read whenever I go. My husband drives and I crochet. Here is a picture of the dishcloths I made. You can find the patterns for all of these at http://www.bestfreecrochet.com/. These dishcloths all have numbers. I crocheted #148, 167, 170,172, 173, and 175. I also crocheted 20 small squares for an afghan I am working on.

I took some pictures of the fireworks display with my phone. Here is an example. The pictures aren't really good but the fireworks were gorgeous.

Dishcloth Fail

by Kelly

Unlike NASA, I believe that failure is always an option. A case in point -

I used the Pebble Stitch Cloth found on Knitting Pattern Central (link in our sidebar).

This was the second thing I ever knitted. So, when I produced the dishcloth on the left,  to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. More like devastated. 'WHAT did I do wrong?' I thought. 'Maybe I don't have the hang of this after all.'

In my usual 'jump on in and see what happens' fashion, I was learning as I went - knitting for the first time with cotton yarn, finding out how to knit below a stitch, and knitting with two colors. Actually, in hindsight, I'm surprised that I managed to make anything at all. Sure, it's more of a rhomboid than a square. So what?

So, not having a clue what I had done wrong, I changed a few things and knit the whole darn dishcloth again. And came up with exactly the same thing, only smaller.

The sad part is, I still don't know what I did wrong. I've just resolved not to make another one. Unfortunately, these dishcloths seem to last forever, so they will stay in my kitchen drawer, gently mocking me, until I am old and gray. Well, actually, I already have gray hairs, so maybe that's not the far-off day that it used to be.

Anyway, this project is officially the first project to be placed in The Bin. I doubt that it will be the last.

The Bin is in the navigation bar at the top of the page, and it will be a showcase for failure, whether it be failed techniques, bad patterns, yarn that's not worth the money, or just our own personal fails. So go on and check it out. Meantime, I think I'll go wash some more dishes.

My newest obsession

I have been crocheting many years and never made dishcloths. I decided to make one a few weeks ago and since then I have seen so many pretty patterns and I just want to try them all. Soon I will have as much cotton yarn as I do acrylic yarn and thread. Every time I buy some more yarn my husband asks me why. He thinks I have enough yarn. He is probably right but I just can't resist. Same way with patterns and books. I just can't resist.

I have been working on my patriotic placemats and it wasn't going well. I made one using a hook a size smaller than recommended and it was still too big by two and a half inches. So I took it all apart. I was very frustrated so I took a break and made dishcloths. The picture is above. I'm back working on the placemats again. I'm using a hook two sizes smaller than recommended. I have one placemat finished and a second one half done. Since everything is going well I don't have an excuse to quit and make dishcloths. Another day!

My Patriotic Series

I got my yarn today and I am ready to start a new project or maybe I should say a series of projects. I am planning a 4th of July series, dishcloth, pot holder, hanging towels, placemats, coasters and napkin rings. I ordered my yarn from Herrshners. It is called Red Heart
Eco-Cotton Blend. It is made from recycled materials. It is 75% cotton and 25% polyester. It is soft and I think it will be easy to work with but it not bright. The colors are the faded type. I always think the flag colors should be bright. I've started the dishcoth. When I finish it I will post it.

I've done a little web surfing lately and I've found some interesting sites. I thought I would share them with you. One is http://www.bestfreecrochet.com/. This one has lots of dishcloths. Some are gorgeous.

Another is http://www.maggiescrochet.com/. This one also has free patterns, videos, tips and links to other places.

Look the sites over. You may find things that interest you.

My beautiful dishcloth

I finally finished the dishcloth I decided to make. It was a free pattern from Micheals. The difficulty rating was easy and time to make it was supposed to be 2 hours. I worked on it for 3 days. Not constantly of course. It is eleven inches across. I made it with Sugar and Cream cotton yarn. That is the first time I have used that kind of yarn. It is very pretty but who in their right mind would actually use it for a dishcloth. Not me! But at least I can now say I've made a dishcloth. Next time I will stick to granny square type patterns for dishcloths.

Back to my afghan for a while. I hope to soon catch up with enough other projects to actually have time to do some serious crocheting. I still need to make a doily, placemats, Christmas bag for a wine bottle, tote bag and on and on. There are so many things to make. I already have patterns picked out for four more afghans.

It is an obsession!

Donna

Comment on header.

I like the header you have. But if you are unhappy with it, I may have a picture of a basket of yarn. I would have to look.

I took a break from the afghan today. I am making a dishcloth. Dishcloths are usually starter projects for someone just learning to crochet. I have been crocheting for over 25 years and I have never made a dishcloth. I guess it is about time. When I finish I will post a picture.

Donna