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

lacking and the lurgy...

due to a lack of Mr Daylight and Mr Internet along with a house call from Mr Lurgy, my week has not gone as planned. but i am taking a leaf out of Our #1's book and seeing my glass as half full and not half empty. since she left for the bright lights of old blighty i have tried to hold on to her optimistic attitude. it has been 11 weeks since we said our goodbyes and it is just under 7 weeks to go and we will be saying our hellos. truth be told the 11 weeks has felt like 11 months...

on wednesday when Mr Daylight showed his face, the rain and windy dying down for a few hours, i rustled up Our #3 and along with Carlos, my trusty camera we managed to get a few pictures for my little shop resulting in some sweeties hanging in the window.

as you can imagine these photo taking moments are always a bit of a fiasco within the shed

this gave me a chance to wear my jaunty new cap upon my bonce!

i am most delighted with my crocheted hat from the lovely Emily, she makes them in every color under the sun and quite honestly i think they are a complete 'bobby bargain' for a handmade cap who does the most spiffy job of keeping one's nut warm in this autumnal weather.

i also rather like my little cap because more often that not, i am having a bad hair day. this is due to my lazy 'hair-doing' ways... after i have washed and dried my hair, i braid my hair and so it stays that way, until the next time of washing. i do not wash my hair daily, therefore it takes on a rather 'bed heady' look over time, braids staying 'as is'. my lovely blue corduroy hat is perfectly suited to covering up my birds nest on day two of 'unwashed' hair. i really don't think one can ask any more than that of a little hat of handmade goodness.

Mr Daylight was gone as quickly as he appeared. leaving no time for my 'da da da da dah' tutorial picture. i have all the 'nitty gritty' photos taken (last week Mr Sunshine was most willing) but they are not much good if i do not have the actual 'high hopes da dah' finished picture. for no one would know what they were actually trying to make and with the 'highest hopes' in the world, i am thinking a 'finished item' picture is a must for a tutorial.

this is where i felt my glass was half empty, for i had promised a tutorial for the end of this week, but then i turned it around and thought how spiffy to have the tutorial to look forward to next week, so once again the glass was postively overflowing.

now one would think Mr Lurgy visiting would make the glass look a little empty, however because of his lethargic making ways, i was rather pathetic yesterday, without Mr Internet i could have used my time wisely to catch up on all i put off on monday but instead i sat in a little heap on the couch with Mrs Hook for company. she is most ample and i do like her comforting ways. as luck would have it despite feeling a little foggy brained, a crafting epiphany found me. they don't happen very often but when they do it is a grand moment, so i know if Mr Lurgy has not visited, i would not have sat on my couch in a heap and i would not have had the crafting epiphany moment! never did i think Mr Lurgy was a half full kind of guy but i have been proved wrong.

she is wishing you a weekend of 'overflowing' glasses and will be back with high hopes on monday (Mr Internet willing) ~ Tif

footynote: gosh i forgot to say "have a happy halloween", it all sort of bypasses me, so it slipped my little brain. come sunday eve, i will be holed up on the couch with Mrs Hook whilst watching 'its the great pumpkin, charlie brown'. needless to say, i am total pants at scary movies...

antsy...

i have shed fever today, i think it is something to do with the crappity crap weather.

yesterday i could not leave the shed for fear of being blown over and covered in wet soggy leaves, i had visions of wondering how long it would take my clan to notice their mother was not in her usual spot within the shed.

however today, as i reported in the earlier paragraph, i have shed fever. it does not happen often for i love my shed, but now and then it creeps up from behind, it creeps from behind because it is a 'sneaky little blighter', a bit like Mr Lurgy, who is also a 'sneaky sneaker' who waits for one to turn the other way and pounces.

so because of shed fever i am willing to face my fears of being lost under a pile of soggy leaves and shall go to the grocery store, i do not care for grocery shopping at the best of times, i wish i could embrace it as a 'fun day out' but alas my local store does not warrant such a title.

i see it now

'local grocery store, bring all the family, a fun day out'

and if such a poster were to be posted in their window, i would beg to differ.

but shed fever has me antsy and so has the cries of complaints at the lacking of edible matter within our shed. another thing to make me antsy is Mr and Mrs Monkey... ever since i made a little LOVE wall patch and asked them to "smile pretty please" they have become rather attached to it.

i popped it in my little shop window this morning despite their protests, explaining the little wall patch was dreaming of life somewhere more exotic than Mossy Shed and her acre of wet soggy leaves.

Mr and Mrs Monkey are no longer speaking to me, their silence is deafening and making me feel a little wretched, which in turn is making the grocery store look more appealing by the minute

if the dreary weather would shift, she has plans to snap a few pics for a 'high hopes' tutorial soonish ~ Tif