The good news is...I don't have carpal tunnel, or, so they say. The bad news is...I have tendonitis. Waaaa! Whatever it is, the treatment is immobilize it, rest it, and take anti inflammatory pills. (Oh, goody, just what I needed, another pill.) 

I can still hold a hook, but the doctor said GIVE IT A REST! He didn't say for how long, though. I'm thinking 2 weeks. What do you think? I can't believe the crochet withdrawal I'm having. I'm worried I'm going to forget how.

Poor, poor, pitiful me. 

Lilhatshack saw this choker in my album and asked if I had a pattern for it. The choker pictured here was done without a pattern and by the time I got around to writing a pattern, I had forgotten how I had made it. I recreated it as close as possible and wrote a pattern as I was making it, but sent the choker off to be photographed without taking a picture of it myself. So, if you notice some differences between the picture and your finished choker, that's why. OK then, without further ado...This one's for you Carmen.

WHITE TWINKLE CHOKER

 

Materials: H hook; 7 yds Patons Brilliant, color, white twinkle

 

abbreviations:

ch – chain

sc – single crochet

scs – single crochets

sts – stitches

sl st – slip stitch

sk – skip

ch-# – chain followed by a dash, followed by a number refers to the loop made by a chain.

 

Note: numbers in ( ) at end of rows indicate number of stitches and is not instruction you to do anything.

 

ROW 1: ch 5, join with a sl st in first ch, to form a ring.

 

ROW 2: ch 1, 10 sc in ring, join with a sl st in first sc. (10 scs)

 

ROW 3: work in back loop only of row 2, ch 1, 1 sc in ea sc around. Do not join. (10 scs)

 

ROW 4: work in unworked front loops of row 2, *(ch 5, sl st) 3 times in next sc*. Repeat from * to * around. (30 ch-5 loops)

 

ROW 5: work in both loops. sl st in first sc of row 3, (ch 7, sl st) 3 times in ea sc around. Do not join. Do not fasten off.

 

STRAPS

 

FIRST STRAP: ch 60, sc in 2nd ch from hook (ch 2, sk 2 chs, dc in next st) repeat to beginning of the ch-60, end with ch 1, sl st in next ch-7 loop. Fasten off.

 

SECOND STRAP: join yarn in a loop directly across from strap 1. Follow directions for first strap.

 

Fasten off, weave in ends.

Hats, hats and more hats. I love to make hats. Ever since I made my first hat I've enjoyed making them. I can't seem to stop making hats. My problem is, my family doesn't wear them, my friends don't wear them and I only wear them to cover up my raggedy head when I have to go out and don't have the energy to wash my hair. The solution to my problem is to donate what I make to charity. Not only does it solve my problem of no one in my family to wear them, it satisfies my need to keep making them. And as if that's not enough reason to keep making them, throw in the HUGE feeling of warmth and love that overcomes me when I deliver them. I will probably never see the people who will wear these hats, but it's enough to know the hats will be worn by people who really need them.

 

I ended up with 91 hats for the homeless, and 30 hats for chemo patients. I delivered these hats to the Human Services Department yesterday, and I know they will get to the people who need them quickly. And, as soon as my wrists rest for awhile I'll start a new batch of hats for next year. I think I'll set a goal of 200 hats for next year. I think I can meet that.

 

I wish everyone a Happy and Safe New Year. Celebrate all you want in whatever way you want, but please be sensible and don't drive and drink.  

 

 

I met my goal of 100 UBW hats on Christmas day at 6:00 p.m. and I'm paying the price for it now. I will have to lay the hook down for awhile and let the wrists rest. I've never been bothered with carpal tunnel before but I sure am now. I hope resting it will make it all better, but I'm afraid I've pushed it too far this time and will have to get the doctor involved. I can't stand not crocheting. I need a hook in my hand.  

UBW HAT

copyright © 12/28/04 Dot Matthews

M Hook, 2 strands ww yarn (weight = 4 - medium) held together
approximately 340 yds (170 yds each strand)

Hat is very stretchy and fits 10 year old children through adult men.


ROW 1: ch 3, 11 dc in first ch. Join in first dc. (12 dc counting first 2 chains as a st) 

ROW 2: ch 2, 2 dc in same st as join, 2 dc in each st around, 1 dc in same space as the ch 2, join in first dc. (24 dc)

ROW 3: ch 2, 2 dc in same st as join, (1 dc in next st, 2 dc in next st) around. join in first dc. (36 dc)

          

graphics by J's Magic Gallery

Last week I was making hats for Christmas presents and while I was working on them I realized these would be perfect for the homeless. So I just kept making hats...60 so far. Thirteen of those are for my family, but the rest are going to the Department of Human Services, where I used to work, so they can distribute them. I've set a goal for myself of 100 hats before December 31, 2004. Pretty good start, don't you think? I love making hats.

I used an M hook and 2 strands of worsted weight yarn, I made a basic hat pattern of double crochet 11 rounds and 1 round of single crochet.

I've gotten a few emails from fellow crocheters who've put their own spin on some of my patterns, so I've decided to share them with you, with their permission, of course. It never ceases to amaze me how creative people are, how one idea spins off another.

---

Donna got real creative and used a combination of patterns and came up with 2 new bags. Here's what she has to say...

Subject: Drawstring Bags
Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 07:01:34 -0500

Hi Dot,

I got a chance to take some pictures of the bags. The blue one has a
double strand of yarn using a chain stitch. The gold chenille bag is the petal
stitch using double crochet but omitting the extra chain for strength.
I used the pattern for the lizzy hat for the base of the bag. There is 14
rounds of double crochet. I followed your pattern up to 60 stitches and
continued on until I had 14 rounds. I finished it off using the petal
stitch from the water bottle. I would love to share this with all. I love
using the bags. Your are an inspiration, I go to your site all the time. It is my
favorite. I would love to start my own but don't really have that much
time. I have two fur kids now and they keep me real busy.

Thank you Dot! Your are so wonderful! As always thank you for sharing your beautiful patterns.
Donna :)

Aw, shucks, *blushing here*. These bags sound so interesting. I wish I had thought of this, anyway, here's pictures of what she did.

Great looking bags, Donna, thank you for letting me share them here.

---

CHILD SIZED LIZZY HAT

If you're interested in a child size Lizzy Hat, here's what Celeste had to say…

Dec 07, 04
Celeste
Dot - I love this pattern! I have made 2 and they were both lovely. FYI, I changed the dtrs to trs and found it was a perfect fit for my 5yo daughter!

and here's a picture of her beautiful daughter, wearing her hat and lovely scarf her mom made for her.

Isn't she cute?!

Thanks for allowing me to share this, Celeste, I really appreciate it.

We picked Mom up at the airport last night and Spike is such a happy boy. He did his little puppy dance all over the place. Wagged is little tail and did his little side step routine (and watered the floor) for about 30 minutes when we got home. I've never known an animal to love someone so much just right off the bat like he did with Mom. I wasn't kidding when I said he cried for 3 days when she left. He nearly drove me crazy looking for her.

She's glad to be back too. I think she likes it here because it's so "layed back". I never do anything but crochet and play on the computer, and the only company we have is the kids, every other weekend, so it's mostly quiet here. She needs that quiet for a change. She has had a pretty hectic life at home most of her life and now she needs some peace and quiet.

Poor, poor, pitiful me! I had a fight with my computer for 2 days. Wednesday, it wouldn't boot up. I kept getting a message to "wait while windows updates your hardware data". Ok, wait...wait...wait...ctrl,alt,del and what do I see? "windows hardware data updates (not responding)". Oh, great. Shut down computer, wait...wait...wait...turn computer on. Message "wait while windows updates your hardware data". Wait...wait...wait...ctrl,alt,del...(not responding). CRAP! Do it all again. And again. And again. I started this at 7:00 a.m. and made a service call at 12:00 noon, to Dell. The first thing they asked me was if I had added any new hardware recently and the answer is NO!

Dell: OK, then, let's do a little diagnostic work, no problem, we want to get you up and running as soon as possible. So, unplug the printer from the back of the computer.

Me: OK, hold on...(struggle, struggle, pull, tug, no matter what I do I can't get to the wires at the back of my computer. (that's my good boy again. He packed my computer into the desk just like it's supposed to be and now there is no humanly way possible to get to the back of the computer)

Me: Can I unplug it from the printer? (as I'm unplugging it)

Dell: No, it won't work if you unplug it from the printer.

Me: Well, I can't get to the back of my computer right now, so I'll have to call you back after my son gets home. Sorry to have bothered you.

Dell: No problem, call us back when you can get to the back of your computer.

Well, that was a waste of my time and theirs. I put the plug back into the printer, and reboot the computer and guess what happened! It booted right up and worked just fine the rest of the day. What the heck was that all about? Well, whatever, I'm just glad it's back.

Thursday morning, turn computer on, it boots right up. Go to my favorite forums, read a message and try to reply...nothing. What??!!! Ok, no worries, reboot the computer. Good so far, log on to the web. No Page Available! I did the reboot and try routine for about 2 hours and sometimes I could get on and sometimes I couldn't, so I called the cable company this time to find out why I couldn't stay connected to the web. Many transfers later, and after being told that my connections are "perfect on this end" I'm asked if I have a firewall. Well, yes, I say. Aha! they say, that's the problem, the doohickie that connects my computers to each other has a built in firewall that absolutely prevents everyone from getting to me and there is no need for me to have any other firewall. In fact, they are battling each other for control. I should disable the firewall.

OK, I did. Computer fixed. I win!