Fishin' (Crocheting) in the Dark

Eek, I cant believe it's been so long since I posted! I guess sometimes other things get in the way and we don't post as often as we'd like to.

Anyhoo, I have been crocheting squares for my exchange group, caps and mittens for kids for Christmas, and more caps and mittens for our church's holiday drive. :) I even crocheted on the way to MIL's house Wednesday evening, even though it was pitch dark. I was trying to make a hat but didn't think it would actually look like anything. I knew I was dropping stitches in the dark but tried to feel my way around and pick them up on the next row. When we got there, I looked in my crochet bag to see what I had made. I didn't even know what color it was until I looked in the light. Here it is:
It's a little wavy but not too bad for the way it was created. Some day it might even grow up to be a cap. :)

I'm still experimenting with felting crocheted items. This is a hat made from Lion Wool that I crocheted for Izzy for Christmas (yeah, I finally made peace with the Lion Wool yarn). This is before felting.
The photo doesn't show how big the thing is, but believe me, it was quite large.
And after felting.
It shrunk down a lot but still looks kind of high to me. I'll have to try further felting it before Christmas. Either that or just stuff the top part and tell her I made her a Cat-in-the-Hat hat.

Here are a couple of winter caps and a pair of baby mittens for the church drive.
There are more, but the seem to be buried under the yarn in the trunk in the living room. I should go take a picture of that and show you how shamelfully addicted to amassing great quantities of yarn I am.

BRB.

I'm back...here's my yarn trunk.
Sheesh, you almost can't see the trunk any more. I know what you're thinking..."Get yourself into a 12-step program, girl!" Hanging on the lid of the trunk are some of the skeins I've dyed and some waiting to be dyed. In the lower right corner is my traveling crochet bag.
This is a granny square hat that I forgot I made!

Coming back from the inlaws yesterday it was light enough to actually see what I was crocheting and I made this funky hat complete with dreads. LOL...the hat isn't really that misshapen, but a teddy bear was all I could find on short notice to make it stand up!

Oh, I almost forgot...I wrote out another one of my patterns this morning. This is the one I'm sending for the Christmas exchange for one of the groups I'm in.


This is the same square about 2/3 done, with the yarn I used.
I posted the pattern below.

Gotta run and stir the stew! Hope everyone is having a great day/evening! :)

Lynn’s Poinsettia in the Snow Holiday Square
Both 6” and 7” versions.

This square is so pretty and sparkly for Christmas! It can be used in an afghan, table runner, etc.

Difficulty: Easy.
Materials:
Red Heart Holiday yarn (light worsted weight yarn with silver thread running through it for sparkle) or any other Christmas yarn.
One skein each: White/silver, Red/silver, and Green/silver (One skein of each will make about 14-15 squares).
Crochet hook size G

Pattern notes:
Cluster stitch: Yo, insert hook in st, yo, draw up a loop, yo, draw thru 2 loops on hook, *yo, insert hook in same st, yo, draw up a loop, yo, draw thru 2 loops on hook* 2 times. Yo, draw thru all loops on hook.

Beginning corner:
Ch3, 2 dc in same space, ch2, 3dc in same space.

Corner:
3 dc, ch2, 3dc in same space.

Instructions:
With red, ch 4. Sl st into first chain to form a circle.

Round 1: Ch 4, *dc, ch1* into circle 11 times (12dc and 12 ch1 spaces). Sl st to ch4.

Round 2: Sl st in next ch1 space. Ch3, insert hook in same ch1 space, yo, draw up a loop, yo, draw through 2 loops on hook, yo, insert hook in same st, yo, draw up a loop, yo, draw through all loops on hook, ch2. *Work cluster stitch, ch2* in each ch1 space around. Sl st to ch3. Finish off red.

Round 3: Attach green. Sl st to next ch2 space. Work beginning corner. *Ch1, three dc in next ch2 sp* twice. Ch1, work corner. *ch1, 3dc in next ch 2 space* twice. Ch1, work corner. *ch1, 3dc in next ch 2 space* twice. Ch1, work corner. *ch1, 3dc in next ch 2 space* twice. Ch1, sl st to beg ch3

Round 4: Work as for round three, working 3 dc in each ch1 space and working corners. Finish off green.

Round 5: Attach white. Work as for rounds 3 & 4, adding 3 dc in each ch1 space and working corners. Stop here if you want a 6” square.

Round 6: (For 7 “ square only) Sl st to corner, Ch2, 2 hdc in same space, ch2, 3 hdc in same sp, ch1, *3 hdc in each ch1 space to corner, 3 hdc in corner sp, ch2, 3 hdc in same space, ch1* 3 times. Sl st to beg ch2.

Finish off white, weave in and trim all ends.

For a 7” square, if you crochet tightly, you may need to do a dc round for Rd 6. If you crochet loosely (like I do), you will need to work the last round in hdc.