Starry starry night (or day)

This blanket is finish number one hundred fifty eight. 158. That means I am at 43% complete. hahaha I won't finish my goal this year for sure. Maybe I should revise it to 2020?? I do love this blanket tho. There were supposed to be little stars sewn around the sky, but I like it just how it is. It's a sunny sunny day, I guess. Not a starry starry night. haha

March 24: Little Star Afghan

 

What have you finished lately?

Star Pattern

There is something fun about a quick and easy project. These stars definitely fit into that category. I love making them when I have just a bit of yarn leftover from a project. Then I can embellish another project, like a coffee cozy, in seconds! The beauty of this project is you can really use any yarn or hook that you desire. And you can mix it up to see what you like best!

Please feel free to use this pattern for personal or small scale sales use. I would appreciate it if you linked back to my pattern if you sell a finished product online. If you sell it at a craft fair, no linkback is necessary. Enough of the small talk, here's what you really want... the pattern!

Star
Supplies:

• Small amount of yarn.  I like worsted weight, but you can just use whatever you have and adapt the pattern accordingly.
• Whatever size hook you want, I usually use a G or an H.

Abbreviations:
Ch - Chain
ss - Slip Stitch
sc - single crochet
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet

Instructions:
Round 1 - Ch2, 9 dc in Magic Circle, Join in top chain 2.
Round 2 - Ch1, *sc, [hdc, dc, ch2, dc, hdc],* Repeat around (5 points and 5 sc), join with ss in first sc, fasten off.

Just like that, you're done! Sometimes I starch the stars to make the points really defined, and other times I just leave them as they are. Now you're ready to crochet some fun star embellishments!

Patriotic Crochet Along

Last week, I talked about doing some sort of crochet along for the Fourth of July.  I know that pretty much limits this to Americans, but I am American and that is just the way the cookie crumbles!  However, with the pattern I chose, you can use different colors and make it non-American.  I am totally okay with that!  [Thanks for asking, Nevelyn.] Which pattern are we doing, you ask?  Why the Star Coaster of course!  And I would totally love to see it in your country's colors -- or whatever colors you like!

The goal of this little crochet along is to complete a set of four coasters by July 4, 2011.  That gives you exactly two weeks!  So let's break this down into 2 blog posts.  First, this week, tell a little about yourself and what colors you chose.  If you want, take a picture of your materials!  Leave a link back to your post in the comments, and I will try to do a compilation post later this week.  I would use a linky tool, but they are no longer free and I'm cheap. haha

I will start!  I'm Megan (I hope you know that if you are here) and I chose red, white, and blue because I love the U S of A!  I also realized that my husband loves having a Fourth of July party, and I do not really have any patriotic decor -- the shame!  I made this awesome table runner for my Mom a few years back and planned to make one for myself, but I get craft-stracted (that's distracted by other crafts).  Maybe I will pick up some star spangled fabric on clearance this year!

I got started on my star coasters a day or so ago (okay so I get to cheat the system when I set up the crochet along.  I had a nice cup of (decaf -- it was 10 pm) coffee and some Seventh Heaven on dvd... I was kickin it old school!  I have one coaster done.  Three more to go!  I decided to switch up the color order & maybe use 2 different blues (see the top picture).  The first one was a little bunchy at first -- but a little blocking fixed that problem right away! 

Now, I can't wait to hear who is joining me!  And what colors you will be using.  Oh yeah, and I will definitely be sending out a little goodie to a random participant -- I will draw names after the second post!  Don't forget to leave a comment with a link to your post about the crochet along!  Try to have your comment up by Monday, June 27th!

Stars & Stripes

I am trying to create a pattern for these stars, but for now you can just take a peek!  Please excuse the weirdness of my ironing board.  It's just water -- not sure why it looks brown.  Do any of those stars look more starlike than the others?  Which do you like?  Or do they all look the same? haha

I also finished up the first in a new set of scrubbers from Big Girl Jewelry -- the ridged scrubby set.  I am  halfway through the second pattern, and excited to start the third!  I tried it once already, but I was tired and could not make sense of it -- so I went with the easier two!  Here's the Vertical Ridges Scrubby.

October 6: Octoberfest Doily Blanket - COMPLETED

Pattern # 279: Octoberfest Doily

So. I originally  posted this as Gina's Shells... which was a pattern from January 5. So now I get to find a new pattern and post it. :)

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Updated January 5, 2012: I made this doily as a blanket and am really happy with the final product. I just kept repeating the rows until it was as big as I wanted. Very cool. Better pictures to come later! :) I used two strands of yarn. JoAnn Sensations in a variagated blye colorway and a bright blue Lion Brand Pound of Love. Same colors as the Gina's Shells Scarf.

I finally took some close up pictures... although I forgot to get pictures of the centermost part (actually the sprinklers were on and I could not use the lawn) and now the blanket is in the mail. Oh well.

 <-- You have to check out the project page. There is an amazing parasol in there. Such a wonderful idea!

July 15: Star Ornament - COMPLETED

Pattern #196: Star Ornament

Christmas in July, you ask? Well, it's time to start crocheting for Christmas, if you want to get things done! These would be perfect for putting on top of a gift. I love the simplicity and elegance of this pattern.

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Updated 11/7/2011: This star was super simple to make and turned out really cute. I wanted to just get something done, and this fit the bill perfectly. I think all of my gifts will be adorned with a crocheted ornament this year. I really like some snowflakes that I made with crochet thread though, so I will probably stick to those!

July 5: Star Coaster - COMPLETED

Pattern #186: Star Coaster

This is another great patriotic project. I really should have made these before yesterday. oh well. Now I can get started for next year! haha

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Updated 8/24/2011:  This was actually a project for a Crochet Along that I hosted this summer.  It encouraged me to finish this quick project, and bring some others along for the ride!  Here are my completed pictures. As always, you can check out my Ravelry project page for more info.

June 8: Star Dishcloth - COMPLETED

Pattern #159: Star Dishcloth

A good friend asked me to make some dishcloths for her, and I decided to try and find some fun patterns -- no plain old squares for this girl! I found this pattern through Ravelry. The Dishcloth Boutique has a number of other fun dishcloth patterns that I may also have to try out. I am also working on my own dishrag pattern - we will see how that goes!

Here are my pictures, I really need to work on getting pictures in better lighting!


I blocked it (that's when you stretch it to shape with pins and spraying water on it) so that it would be a perfect star when I gave it to my friend -- she loved it! The second dishrag is just a basic granny suare one. I like how it turned out!

Mar 24: Little Star Afghan - COMPLETED

Pattern #83: Little Star Afghan

This is the coolest pattern ever. Well at least, I think so! Beth made this really cool star afghan, but Melissa at Inner Child Crochet came up with a very cool variation on the original. I'm not sure which one I will make for this blog, but I LOVE Melissa's! This is another baby blanket pattern, but I think it would make a cool throw. And if you check out the page on Ravelry, you can see some other cool variations...

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Update on September 13, 2014 - I LOVE how this blanket came out. I didn't add the extra stars, but I didn't want to. I like the simplicity of the star (sun), sky, and clouds. I started this last year, for my nephew, but needless to say, he didn't get it (he will be one next month)! For now, this will go into the closet. It may end up going to a friend with a new baby, or staying around til I have kiddos of my own. We shall see...