The Potholders are Here!

The potholder swap was great fun. So much so, that I didn't take a single picture of the ones I made! Like many other people in the swap, I hadn't crocheted in quite awhile. It felt very good to get my hooks out again. I still have to make at least one for my own kitchen. But these are the potholders I received in the swap:



I was in such a hurry to mail mine off in time, I forgot to tag mine too.



Clockwise from top left, my potholders were made by: Debbie C (white, blue and green), Marissa made the ruffled one that looks like it was a bunch of work!, the yellow and white one didn't have a name, the pink rosebud was made by Nannette, and the square in the middle was made by Leila. Nannette even made stitch markers!My only regret is that it was not remotely possible to swap a potholder with everyone participating. This swap has elevated the potholder to art!

Crochet!

I was about 12 when my great aunt (my paternal grandmother's sister) taught me to crochet. Using a small metal hook and thread I attempted to make pot holders. It was that last blasted stitch in the row that was my downfall. I'd miss it. Which of course meant that I was making an ever decreasing potholder. My aunt taught me that ripping out mistakes is always the right thing to do. Now, there are occasionally mistakes in my knitting that I'll happily let live in peace. But ripping something out doesn't usually bother me at all. Heck, I ripped out the same sock (totally finished once, past the heel a second time) at least three times before I was happy.

But I haven't been crocheting much lately. It's been the knitting that travels around with me. Which is partly why I'm so happy to be part of the Pot Holder swap! The swap reached their limit on co-authors of the blog and I can't post there. But that sure doesn't stop me from reading.

Thanks to a post on the pot holder blog, I was introduced to Attic24. I love her attitude and cheerfulness. The colors she uses are absolutely wonderful and I really enjoyed her post on 3/25. I can so completely relate to the need to balance everything in my life. Mine is very off-balance right now. It feels like I'm just working, working, working. Which (un/fortunately) is fairly accurate. But anyway....be sure to check out her flowers too. Both the horticultural kind and the crocheted ones.

Hot Pad swap

I am really looking forward to this swap. My great-aunt taught me to crochet making potholders from crochet thread. I think I'll be using something a bit heavier for this swap!

I've found several patterns that I like. The rules are to knit five of the same pattern, but I'd like to keep track of these patterns.

First, go check out Purple and Paisley. She claims to be a beginner, but look several posts down at her wonderful samples! This one I especially like.

This potholder reminds me of ones my aunt made. Not exactly the same, but similar. But the pattern is in a Japanese book. This pattern is called Gehaekelte Topflappen is looks really cool. Right before leaving for this trip, I printed off the pattern for these Orange Slice Potholders. I can see I'll have my work cut out for me just deciding on a pattern!

edited to add....Oh, no! My first Ravelry pattern search was for "hot pad." I just typed "pot holder" into the search box and and got even more designs to choose from!

Joining Fever

Guess what I just joined??



Crocheted pot holder swap info can be found here. But hurry - deadline is 3/21.

But that wasn't all. Apparently I caught the joining bug tonight. Rather like cast-on-itis, but without the actual knitting! For many years, I collected tins. And then it got out of hand. There were tins literally everywhere in my house. When I got divorced, I bought a 900 sf home. And the majority of the empty tins were given to the local thrift shop. Who were very excited of course. Anyway...awhile ago, a thread started on Ravelry titled "What's in your altoid tin?". The thread was popular, spawned a group, spawned several swaps. Round 2 is just starting. Send a small tin, some things to fit into tin and some special something. Limited to 50 people and I got in early. Just think - a small tin in your knitting bag that holds scissors, tape measure, needles, stitch markers, etc, etc. I hope it is going to be as much fun as I think it will be.

Oh, that's not too bad after all! Somehow, I thought it was worse than that.