2012 DISHCLOTH SWAP

Yep, just finished one kitchen swap & onto another! This one is for DISHCLOTHS or WASHCLOTHS or SPA-CLOTHS or DISHRAGS, whatever you want to call them & however you want to use them!

Last year (2011) I sent in 2 sets, just because I went on a little kitchen making spree.

I have a thing for hangloops, either built in or add on after. Top cloths are a Japanese doily pattern with just a simple crochet lace trim added on as a cheery bright hangloop & the bottom cloths were made using a free pattern called diamond dishcloth by TKroCrafts & they have a built in hanghole!

I have always appreciated beautifully useful items and for me, a hand knit or crocheted dishcloth embodies that simplicity. It’s useful, has purpose & at the same time can be outrageously pretty, fun or unusual. It doesn’t have to be the traditional square or round shape, I can have it in whatever colors I am in love with at the time. It’s eco friendly, strong & reusable, I can gift something that everyone will use. Even better, I make it with my 2 hands in an afternoon of delight, perfect!

Again there is a Ravelry forum full of fun chatter, pattern inspiration & photos for this swap right here.

little love No.3

Beer.

I don’t drink, not because of any ethics or morality issues, but simply for the fact I don’t care for the taste of most alcohol. If I want to ingest something with as much calories & carbs as a loaf of bread, it has to taste better than a beer in my opinion, maybe more like a cake! My husband on the other hand, is a beer lover & a spectacular homebrewer. Coffee beers are his favorite, but he also loves to recreate forgotten historic beers, meads & often plays with interesting hops, malts & brewing herbs. I forgive all the carboys of foaming gurgling fermenting beer, the kitchen takeover & subsequent sticky messes from stock pots of hot stinky wort, I overlook all the miscellaneous gallon jugs of experiments stashed in the basements dark corners “aging” & not even mentioning the baby-size stainless steel beer fridge in the dining room.

I ignore it all, because he makes me the most wonderful rootbeer & bottles it in an eclectic array of vintage soda bottles, 4 gallons at a time ..thats my kind of beer!

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Random thought & a complete side note of food LOVE. Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter, we are freaking out all over this! “A deliciously unusual spread reminiscent of gingerbread and made with crushed biscuits” doesn’t even begin to explain this tasty wonder, we about died. Seriously it’s that amazing, we love Biscoff!

Be Your Own Betsy Ross

Why not add some sweet old-time charm to the house front & crochet up your very own flag!

This Pattern is from an old 1942 Spool Cotton Company booklet entitled Gift Shopping with Crochet, Book 191.

I fell for this flag straight off! I love things like this, things that are a little quirky & perfectly useful! When I read into the pattern, I had a mini fit, it was made using thread & steel hooks (yikes)! This flag would take FOREVER, but I neeeeed it, so I modified mine just a little. Using good old cheap, colorfast, indestructible & fast drying (no mold here) worsted acrylic & a 5mm hook, I set off to be my own flag maker! 

Original pattern also has 50 small thread crochet stars all neatly in rows, again seriously involved, so I opted for an Americana type ring of stars. I used the patterns star instructions, but just made them with the acrylic.

If you’d like to have a go at being your own Betsy Ross, you can find this pattern for free right here! (P.S I linked it up on Ravelry Pattern Page too :)

Perfect for Memorial day, 4th of July or just for something different, be the only one on your block or in your town with a handmade flag!