parting ways, positively...

yes indeedy dearest readers, it is with heavy heart

and a nagging voice within my head saying

"haven't you learnt your lesson yet Tif?"

i must report, Mrs Hook and i will be parting ways for a while.

i do it every time and i am a fool to myself.

after my happy outcome with the 'high hopes wrap' for a chilly day,

i needed to dabble further with the fisherman cream yarn from lion brand.

i thought to myself, there could be no doubting,

if i made a big cream chunky blanket

my clan would become The Waltons.

we would share many happy moments upon the couch,

said lovely blanket keeping us cozy.

talking 'talky' things,

reading books

and always, always with a smile on our faces

i set out upon my 'no doubting' quest to make thee blanket

and to some degree i have succeeded in my mission.

the degrees of success goes as such...

successful degrees

1: blanket and edging completed

2: tags and little twiddly bits that make me smile, completed

3: admired by clan members,

but only because i stood for a long period of time holding blanket up

making 'clearing throat noises' in the vain hope,

eventually someone would look in my direction.

this was not easy i might add,

as it took quite the time for myself and blanket to be noticed

by which point my ailing arm was complaining big time

not so successful degrees

1: it should have been bigger,

only two clan members can be comfortably situated under it at any one time

2: the cross was supposed to go from side to side,

thus implying a nod to our home country and the flag of England

3: i have noted, upon completion (to a degree) of blanket

it does not contain The Waltons special family powers

but all that being said,

ignoring the lack of England flagness about it,

the inability to bring a sense of Waltons to my clan

and my inability to wave around my right arm and shoulder,

making me off duty in the kitchen and cleaning department

(silver lining if ever i saw one)

i do believe this is my most favority, favorite blanket to date

and if a time comes

when Mrs Hook and myself get it on again, in the near future

we shall beaver away on completing the flag bits...

for now however,

i am thinking it best

to ignore the 'not so successful degrees',

embrace the 'successful degrees'

and call my blanket

a 'positively postive' blanket of the utmost kind

she is remembering, remembering the 5th of november and wishing you a spiffy, safe one ~ Tif

snippets of... randomness

yes indeedy, 'tis been quite the while since i did a 'snippets of...'

i thought "why not Tif, after all it is already thursday",

and quite honestly it has got to that time of year,

'the time' that happens every year,

the roller coaster ride.

from halloween

(which i tend to bypass)

onto thanksgiving

(which i love greatly)

finishing up at the gleeful season

(oh, i do love myself a bit of glee).

next week will be thee week,

my empty glass jars found lurking within my fridge and on the shelves of despair,

get their moment to shine.

i know it all seems tres early

but it does give any dearies who also wish to 'glee up' a few empty jars

a chance to get cracking in plenty of time.

but for today it is all about snippets and those snippets would be

'snippets of.... randomness around mossy shed'

brilliant eh!

there is no rhyme nor reason to these snippets,

other than they make me smile

and i am thinking that is as good a reason as any...

she has noted her little cogs have slowed this week, perhaps due to over brainstorming with little olive and used dog ~ Tif

a 'high hopes wrap' for a chilly day, how-to...

now some folks may say,

"oh Tif, i think you may be mistaken,

for it would appear you are wearing a glorified blanket around your shoulders

and not as you say, a high hopes wrap"

but i know

and you know dearest readers,

what they obviously do not know.

all one needs is a pair of rose colored specs

and an imagination of the utmost kind,

for the glorified blanket around my shoulders

to become a 'high hopes wrap' for a chilly day.

not a super duper freezy chilly kind of day

but a medium sort of chilliness day,

when one can still maintain a little bit of charm in the clothing department,

and not so freezy chilly one loses all cares of looking charming,

reaching for the nearest duvet to drape around ones self before leaving the nest.

ingredients ~

* one pair of rose colored specs

* one imagination

* one Mrs Hook size K/6.5mm

* lion brand wool-ease yarn in chunky

2 balls of fisherman (color #099)

1 ball of silver grey (color #155)

1 ball of charcoal (color #152)

* one doily

* one kilt pin

* a few left over bits of yarn from your stash

just a word before i proceed with my little 'how-to' for a chilly day.

to be honest you can use any yarn or color combination you wish.

Mrs Hook is a size K hook,

so if you wish to follow my measurements perhaps use a yarn suited to her ample size.

the final measurements for this peachy wrap is roughly

15" wide x 51" long

or

38cm x 130cm

as with all my crocheting tutorials, it is quite simple,

however i have used the joining technique of the 'ordinarily extraordinary' blanket,

if this is a "no-no" for you,

then i would suggest making your individual colored strips

and then slip stitching them together at the end.

and last but by no means least!

i have used the US double crochet term throughout,

which is UK treble crochet :)

so with all that being said, to borrow a phrase from the brilliant RAMONES

"hey ho, lets go"...

recipe ~

using the fisherman cream yarn, chain 20 plus 3 (for turning)

double crochet into 3rd chain from Mrs hook

and continue double crocheting happily for 130 cm (51")

attach new color, sliver grey and chain 10 plus 3 (for turning)

double crochet happily back towards your cream strip

when you have reached your cream strip,

join the grey to the cream

using the 'ordinarily extraordinary' way

(at this point you will be at photo #7 of the blanket 'how-to' close ups, so follow from there)

continue along your happy way,

joining the grey to the cream strip as you go.

when you come to the end of the silver grey strip,

join the third color charcoal, chain 5 plus 3 (for turning)

double crochet back towards the heather grey strip,

again using the 'ordinarily extraordinary' join as you go

once you have finished your charcoal strip, finish off your yarn.

weave in any threads needing to be disguised.

you will now have a lovely rectangle strip of crocheted goodness.

looking not unlike a narrow blanket :)

gather up your doily, pin and yarny leftovers.

carefully stitch your doily down in one corner of your wrap,

by weaving yarny colored leftovers in and out of the doily's pretty pattern.

i also used a bit of green yarn to wrap around my kilt pin,

this was to keep him warm, i thought about him being chilly too

and thought how nice for a little pin to have his own 'warm wrap' whilst out in the cold.

and there you have it!

Voila!!

a 'high hopes wrap' for a chilly day

i am thinking so many possibilities here,

jollier, brighter colors,

weaving lace or ribbon through the 'ordinarily extraordinary' eyelets,

edging the wrap with picot or shell edging,

just with a bit of imagination,

i have no doubt you will take this woolly wrap 'how-to'

and make it you own

she is brainstorming her 'table of contents' with used dog and little olive ~ Tif