Surviving the Hurricane

So last night was an interesting night. The wind was howling and my heart was racing every time I heard even the slightest knock against the house. At around 10:30pm, I saw a flash of light and heard was sounded like a firecracker exploding - a transformer blowing, I presumed. I still had power, but the entire other side of the road didn't. Such strange power wiring in Maryland. 


As the night creeped on, I thought that I might actually keep the power all through the storm, which would be a first. Unfortunately, this was not to be. At 2:30am, the power went out. It is actually quite frightening when you can't see anything, the wind screaming by and the trees all around your house straining to remain rooted. Eventually, the tendrils of sleep took hold, but only for a few hours. 


At morning's light, I surveyed the damage. Four large tree limbs had collapsed on top of one another in my backyard. One punctured the lining of my pond and two brought down the phone and cable wires that run to my house. Who knows when I will have my power restored, much less my phone and television. Based on previous power outages, I'm betting on three days for the power and two or more weeks for the phone and cable. 


What crazy times Maryland is having...

Basketweave Scarf

It's a simple design that requires front post double crochet (fpdc) and back post double crochet (dpdc).


Pattern:


Materials:
Worsted weight yarn
I Hook


Ch 17. 
Row 1. Dc in third ch from hook, dc in each ch across. Ch 2. Turn. (15 dc sts)
Row 2. Dc in first st, * fpdc in next st, bpdc in next st. Repeat from * to the last two sts in the row. Fpdc in second to last st, dc in last st. Ch 2. Turn.
Repeat Row 2 until the scarf is the desired length.


You can change the width of the scarf by changing the number of initial chain stitches. However, make sure the number of initial chains is odd, or else the pattern will no longer work.

263

So I've been home for fair stuff for about 2 weeks. In that time, I crocheted a lot, as usual. Here are the items that will be sent to ARC this week, bringing my total to 263.


Items:
8 Pairs of mittens
5 Scarves (two are scrap yarn)
2 Ear warmers
2 Hats
1 Cowl
1 Child's poncho
1 Baby blanket (only the blue one in the picture; the white one is at the MD State Fair, but it will be donated at a future date)

Every Other Row Hat

With the Howard County Fair gearing up, I thought I would upload this hat pattern before my life gets really hectic, helping out at the fair. The bpdc increases used in this pattern can be a bit awkward to make. 

Pattern:

Materials:

Worsted weight yarn

K hook

Abbreviations:

Ch - Chain

Sl st - Slip stitch

St/Sts - Stitch(es)

Dc - Double crochet

Sc - Single crochet

Fpdc - Front post double crochet

Bpdc - Back post double crochet

Adult Size:

Ch 3 and join with sl st to form ring.

Rnd 1. Ch 2. Dc 12 into ring. Join to first dc with sl st. Join this way throughout.

Rnd 2. Ch 2. 2 fpdc in each st including the one slipped to. Join. Ch 2. (24 sts)

Rnd 3. Ch 2. *2 bpdc in first fpdc st, 1 bpdc in next fpdc st. Repeat from * around. Join. (36 sts)

Rnd 4. Ch 2. *2 fpdc in first bpdc st, 1 fpdc in next 2 bpdc sts. Repeat from * around. Join. (48 sts)

Rnd 5. Ch 2. *2 bpdc in first fpdc st, 1 bpdc in next 3 fpdc sts. Repeat from * around. Join. (60 sts)

Rnd 6-21. Alternate between one round of 1 fpdc in each st around and one round of 1 bpdc in each st around, starting with a Ch 2 for each round. Join the same way between rounds. End with a round of bpdc.

Rnd 22-24. Ch 1. Sc 1 in each st around. 

Fasten off. Weave in ends. 

New Born Size: (~4"diameter)

Ch 3 and join with sl st to form ring.

Rnd 1. Ch 2. Dc 12 into ring. Join to first dc with sl st. Join this way throughout. 

Rnd 2. Ch 2. Dc 2 into each dc around. Join. (24 dc)

Rnd 3. Ch 2. Fpdc in every st around. Join.

Rnd 4. Ch 2. Bpdc in every st around. Join.

Repeat rounds 3-4 until the had measures approximately 4" long. End with Rnd 4.

Brim rounds. Ch 1. Sc 1 in each st around. Join. Repeat this round one more time.

Fasten off. Weave in ends.

Baby Size: (~5.5" diameter)

Ch 3 and join with sl st to form ring.

Rnd 1. Ch 2. Dc 12 into ring. Join to first dc with sl st. Join this way throughout. 

Rnd 2. Ch 2. Dc 2 into each dc around. Join. (24 dc)

Rnd 3. Ch 2. *Dc 2 in the next st. Dc 1 in next st. Repeat from * around. Join. (36 dc)

Rnd 4. Ch 2. Fpdc in every st around. Join.

Rnd 5. Ch 2. Bpdc in every st around. Join.

Repeat rounds 4-5 until the had measures approximately 4.5" long. End with Rnd 5.

Brim rounds. Ch 1. Sc 1 in each st around. Join. Repeat this round one more time.

Fasten off. Weave in ends.

Teen/Adult Small Size: (~6" internal diameter)

Ch 3 and join with sl st to form ring.

Rnd 1. Ch 2. Dc 12 into ring. Join to first dc with sl st. Join this way throughout.

Rnd 2. Ch 2. 2 fpdc in each st including the one slipped to. Join. Ch 2. (24 sts)

Rnd 3. Ch 2. *2 bpdc in first fpdc st, 1 bpdc in next fpdc st. Repeat from * around. Join. (36 sts)

Rnd 4. Ch 2. *2 fpdc in first bpdc st, 1 fpdc in next 2 bpdc sts. Repeat from * around. Join. (48 sts)

Rnd 5. Ch 2. Bpdc in each st around. Join.

Rnd 6. Ch 2. Fpdc in each st around. Join.

Repeat rounds 5 and 6 until hat measures 5.5" long. End on Rnd 5.

Brim rounds. Ch 1. Sc 1 in each st around. Repeat this 3 times.

Fasten off. Weave in ends. 

Some of my entries for the fairs this year...

The Howard County Fair and Maryland State Fair are very big in my life. I've always entered them in Home Arts and I usually volunteer at both. I just wanted to share a few of my entries before I enter them later this week. Here are the two I'm most proud of:


Kangaroo and her Joey

It turned out great, but it was a bit of a pain to attach everything.










Black-eyed Susan Man

The building theme for the Home Arts Dept at the HoCo Fair this year is our state flower. I usually don't enter the building theme, but this year I had a good idea so I went for it. This is my design, but I took some of the pieces from other patterns as follows:
Legs - Squiggy, specifically
Head
Petals (this pattern has moved or has been completely removed as of 1/5/13)




The kangaroo got first and the black-eyed susan man got third at the Howard County Fair.
At the Maryland State Fair, the kangaroo got Honorable Mention and the black-eyed susan man got third. I never do as well in crochet as I do at the HoCo Fair.