I've been tagged by an editor of Lark Books. OMG I'm so excited. She is actually interested in some of my designs. This is unbelievable!


Here's what I saw on my tag board:

Terry Taylor » Dot, would you be interested in submitting some designs for a new crochet book published by Lark Books? terry@larkbooks.com

How casual was that? If I blinked, I would have missed it.

and I answered...

Dot » Thank you Terry! Yes, I think I would be interested in submitting some of my designs. I've emailed you.

Didn't I sound cool, calm, and not at all affected by this? It's a good thing I don't have a camcorder...nobody saw me running all over my bedroom, jumping up and down, yelling and doing a happy dance. Spike was impressed! Excited is not something I do very often!

OK, you know me too well, I wasn't running, jumping and yelling, but I did get a fluttery feeling in my insides. That's me excited!

I'll keep you all posted on the outcome of this. I MUST buy more yarn.

Hey Jeannie, this one's for you. I made these three ponchos using the same pattern. I left off the fringe cuz I don't particularly like fringe, but hey, put it there if you want it! Here's some pictures and a link to the pattern. Striped Poncho

This one's Kylie's, she's 8


This one's Krysten's, she's 5


And this one's Gracie's, she's 2

My button box is pretty sparse! I'm not very good at linking the buttons to the blogs, but I'm trying. I have thought of taking them off my blog because I don't want to offend anyone because their button is not here, but then I decided not to do that. I'm not offended when I visit a blog and I don't see my own button displayed there. Why should anyone else be offended if they visit me and don't see their button displayed here? Shouldn't be, that's for sure. Probably the only reason the button is not here is because I'm pretty doggone lazy when it comes to putting stuff on this site, especially if it involves any html coding. I soooo don't know how to do that. I want to at least have the buttons listed for all those in the web rings I belong to. I think that's a pretty good goal. Maybe I'll work on that tonight. Oh, one more thing about the buttons. If I have messed up the link to your site in any way. Please don't worry about upsetting me, just jump right in there and let me know. I'll fix it (if I can) and promise, no barking, or biting.

BUTTERFLY BEAUTY
copyright © 07/12/2004 Dot Matthews
a turban like skully

H hook will give a 23" hat
2 oz ww yarn
Number in ( ) at end of rows states number of stitches for that row.
Beginning ch 3 counts as 1st stitch. If you want to increase the length of the hat from crown to rim, repeat row 6.

Row 1: ch 4, 11 dc in 1st ch, join in 4th ch of beg ch. (12 sts)

Row 2: Ch 3, dc in same st as join, 2 dc in each st around. Join in top of ch 3. (24 sts)

Row 3: Ch 3, dc in same st as join, (dc in next st, 2 dc in next st) around. Join in top of ch 3. (36 sts)

Row 4: Ch 3, dc in same st as join, (dc in next 2 sts, 2 dc in next st) around. Join in top of ch 3. (48 sts)

Row 5: Ch 3, dc in same st as join, (dc in next 3 sts, 2 dc in next st) around. Join in top of ch 3. (60 sts)

Row 6: Ch 3, dc in next st, around, Join in top of ch 3. (60 sts)

Row 7: Repeat row 6.

NOTE: The next 4 rows make up a "butterfly stitch". Here's a tutorial with pictures. BUTTERFLY STITCH

Row 8: Ch 3, dc in next 24 sts, ch 10, sk 10 sts, dc in next 25 sts. Join to top of ch 3. (50 dc's and 10 chs) Note: Place a marker between the 5th and 6th skipped stitch on row 7, for stitch placement later in pattern.

Row 9: Repeat row 8.

Row 10: Repeat row 8.

Row 11: Ch 3, dc in next 24 sts, ch 5, insert hook in space marked on row 7, and draw up a loop around the chains of the previous 3 rows (see tutorial) and complete as a sc. ch 5, dc in next 25 sts. Join in top of ch 3.

Row 12: Ch 1, sl st in same st as join, (ch 1, sl st in next st) repeat to ch 5, sl st in each of next 10 chains, sl st in next st, (ch 1, sl st in next st) around. join in 1st sl st. Fasten off, weave in ends.

Yesterday, July 6, was my birthday and I spent several hours sitting in my car, in a parking deck, with a 2 year old, waiting, and waiting, and waiting...and later, I got to take my grandson to ball practice where I sat in the car and waited, and waited, and waited...and tonight, I get to go to the ball game and sit in the car and wait, and wait, and wait...I'm looking forward to it, in fact you might say, I can't wait!

OWATA HAT
copyright © 07/06/04 Dot Matthews




I HOOK (cuz that's what I had with me)
Finished hat measures 21 inches around but it fits on my 23 1/2 in head.
ww yarn small amounts of each, red; yellow; green; black or color of your choice
hat weighs approximately 4 ozs.

stitches used, sl st, sc, dc, tr
starting ch counts as first stitch, numbers in ( ) at the end of the rows states number of stitches for that row.

ROW 1: ch 4, 11 dc in 1st st, join in top of ch 3. (12 sts)

ROW 2: Ch 5, tr in same st as join, (tr in next st, ch 1, tr in same st) around. Join in 4th st of starting ch. (24 tr and 12 ch 1 sps)

ROW 3: ch 1, sc in same st, (sc in next ch 1 sp, sc in next 2 tr) around. Join in 1st sc. (36 sts)

ROW 4: ch 1, sc in same st, 1 sc in next st. (2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 2 sts) around join in 1st sc. (48 sts)

ROW 5: ch 1, sc in same st, 1 sc in next 2 sts, (2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 3 sts) around. Join in 1st sc. (60 sts)

ROW 6: ch 1, sc in same st, 1 sc in next 3 sts, (2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 4 sts) around. Join in 1st sc. (72 sts)

ROW  7: ch 1, sc in same st, 1 sc in next 4 sts, (2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 5 sts) around. Join in 1st sc. (84 sts)

ROW 8: ch 3, dc in st to the right of the join (that's in the last st of the previous row) sk next st, dc in next st, dc in skipped st (that's the stitch you just skipped NOTE: this forms a crossed dc ), now working forward again, (sk next st, dc in next st, dc in skipped st) around. Join in top of beg ch 3. (42 crossed dcs)

ROW 9 - 17: repeat row 8. You should have 42 crossed dcs at the end of each row.

ROW 18: ch 1, sc in same st as join, sc in each st around. (84 sts)

NOTE: decrease rows start with row 19. For a larger sized hat, skip a decrease row and repeat row 18.

ROW 19: ch 1,sc in same st as join, sc in next 4 sts, sc next 2 sts together (decrease made), (sc in next 5 sts, sc next 2 together) around. (72 sts)

ROW 20:  ch 1, sc in same st as join, sc in next 3 sts, sc next 2 sts together, (sc in next 4 sts, sc next 2 sts together) around. (60 sts)

ROW 21: ch 1, sc in same st as join, sc in next 2 sts, sc next 2 sts together, (sc in next 3 sts, sc next 2 sts together) around. (48 sts)

ROW 22: ch 1, sc in same st as join, sc in each st around. (48 sts)

FAST AND FUN
copyright © 07/04/2004 Dot Matthews

K hook; small amounts WW yarn in red, white and blue or color of choice
finished hat uses less than 2 ozs ww yarn
Stitches used: chain, sc, dc, and tr
Starting chain counts as first stitch; numbers in ( ) at end of rows states number of stitches for that row.

ROW 1: with white, ch 4, 11 dc in 1st st, join in top of ch 3. (12 sts)

ROW 2: Ch 5, tr in same st as join, (tr in next st, ch 1, tr in same st) around. Join in 4th st of starting ch. (24 tr and 12 ch 1 sps) fasten off white, attach red

ROW 3: ch 1, sc in same st, (sc in next ch 1 sp, sc in next 2 tr) around. Join in 1st sc. (36 sts) fasten off red, attach white.

ROW 4: ch 1, sc in same st, 1 sc in next st. (2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 2 sts) around join in 1st sc. (48 sts) fasten off white, attach blue.

ROW 5: ch 1, sc in same st, sc in next 2 sts, (2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 3 sts) around. Join in 1st sc. (60 sts) fasten off blue, attach whitte.

ROW 6: ch 3, dc in st to the right of the join (that's in the last st of the previous row) sk next st, dc in next st, dc in skipped st (that's the stitch you just skipped NOTE: this forms a crossed dc ), now working forward again, (sk next st, dc in next st, dc in skipped st) around. Join in top of beg ch 3. (30 crossed sts) fasten off  white, attach red.

ROW 7: repeat row 6 (30 crossed sts) fasten off red, attach white.

ROW 8: repeat row 6 (30 crossed sts) fasten off white, attach blue,

ROW 9: repeat row 6 (30 crossed sts) fasten off blue, attach white.

ROW 10: ch 1, sc in same st as join, sc in next 2 sts, sc next 2 sts together (decrease made) (sc in next 3 sts, sc next 2 together) around. Join to 1st sc (48 sts) fasten off white, attach red.

ROW 11: sc in ea st around. Join to 1st sc (48 sts) fasten off red, attach white.

ROW 12: sc in ea st around. Join to 1st sc (48 sts) fasten off white, attach blue.

ROW 13: sc in ea st around, join to 1st sc (48 sts) fasten off. Weave in ends

The Double Crossed Hat has been tested and corrected.

I want to thank CatBookMom, from the Crochet forum on About.com, for testing this pattern and submitting her findings to me so I could make corrections to this hat. She made the hat yesterday and jotted down the errors she found and then sent me a detailed email with suggestions for fixing my boo boos.  Thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, yeah, thanks again!

Want to see a picture of her hat? Well, here it is. GREAT JOB, Barbara!

I am now a proud member of the HAT HEADZ web ring.  We are a small group so far, only 3 of us, but if all you hatmakers out there, and you know who you are, would throw your hat in the ring, so to speak, we could be huge! It's easy to join, just click on the link and follow the directions given.