Fun Tassels to Decorate your Projects

I learned to make tassels as a child when, at school, I learned to make tassel dolls. They were fun and easy to make so I have always liked tassels.They can be very complex though, and I am learning how to make those, but for now, I will share here a couple of the simplest tassels.If you are going to use them for a project, color coordinate them with that pillow, afghan or purse handle you are going to hang them from. There are many kinds of tassels, some can be used to decorate the zipper of a toiletries bag, others can be put in the corners of a crocheted, knit or embroidred pillow, or on the corners of an afghan or poncho. Some are so decorative that they can be used on curtain pulls, on ceiling fan pulls, and on the handles of purses. I want to share with you some fun tassels that you can make. For simplicity's sake and because we are in winter, we will be using yarn. So these are the materials you will be needing: Worsted weight yarn of at least 3 different colors which coordinate with a project you want your tassel to embellish. A pair of scissors. A piece or cardboard about 4 inches wide.

Two-Toned Tassel-


You can make this tassel in a combination of yarns, or threads, you can even start it with thin ribbon, ricrac or thin lace and then continue it with yarn and make it as fancy as you want to, depending on the use you will be making of it. For example, if you are going to use it to decorate something in your home like a curtain tieback, or to put it on the corners of a table runner, or on the edges of a stole, you select the materials according to the use you will be making of it.


1. Choose the color you want for the longest part of your tassel and begin with that one. Hold the yarn firmly around the piece of cardboard you have cut to the specific width you need and start winding the yarn around it over and over, but not too tightly, until you have wound it around 26 times.


2. With a contrasting color, and taking care to stay on top of the previous color of yarn, wind the yarn 20 times.


3. With your third contrasting yarn, cut a length twice as long as the suspension cord you want for your tassel (the cord from which it will hang), fold in half, make a knot on one end and twist with your two hands going in opposite directions, one end of the cord going forward and the other end going backwards, until the the cord is twisted. Tie another knot at the other end. Slip your cord under the yarn still in the looping cardboard, making sure you get your cord underneath ALL of the yarn. Tie your cord as tightly as possible. Make a knot.


4.Wind the same contrasting yarn that you used for the cord around the tassel 15 times. Make a knot. Then, taking a crochet hook, pull the ends of the yarn inward so that they will not be seen.You now have a simple but very nice two-toned soft tassel. you could leave it like that, but let's go one step further. . .


Tied-Tassel-


Divide the contrasting yarn already on the tassel in 4 eaqual sections as if it was hair. Take some small portions of the contrasting ayrn with which you tied the tassel and tie these small sections, making small knots at the back of each. You can leave the hanging cords at the sides or snip them according to your liking.


Tufted Tassel-


To make this tassel, follow the steps to the two-toned tassel above, then just measure about 1 1/2 inches and snip the contrasting yarn off and you have your tufted tassel! If you use two contrasting yarns, like for example, a chenille yarn and a nice softer yarn for the tuft, you can get very nice effects. Hope you like this short tutorial. You can make a lot of different tassels. Use these for bookmarks, put them at the end of the zipper of your toiletries bag, tie one to the knob of a set of drawers, you name it!








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"Picture" Knitting and Crochet


Some call it row count, others give it other names, it is just transfering an image to crochet or knitting. If you have a favorite pattern for simple sweaters but are getting tired of repeating it over and over, just changing yarn colors, here's an idea, Why not add a picture to it?



Especially if you are making it for your child. The easiest way I can tell you how is to get yourself one of those little software programs that turn drawings into cross stitch. Then, select a drawing you would like to use, or make one, or perhaps even a photo (if you are brave!) and upload it into your computer.


Then, open it in the software, and ask it to turn it into a cross stitch pattern.


Print it out.


Then calculate the size and adapt it to the schematic of the sweater you already know how to make. You can have an almost endless variety of changes. Fom making something as simple as front pockets with teddy bear faces, to a dog face at the back, to anything that comes into your mind!


For the examples I've included here, I've chosen a knitted child sweater I made. The "pictures" in it are very simple but effective enough to make the sweater cute.

The colors added follow the shades of two different variegated yarns, some are a used to contrast the multi yarns a bit, but all harmonize (please see my old post about how to use color effectively in your crochet and knitting: here's where you'll find that post: http://craftybegonia.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-create-new-yarns-and-thread-with.html)

A clock pointing the hour with little hearts fills the top of the back. And a row of flowers plus a larger heart trim the bottom. Multicolored teddy bears and different sized hearts make the front fun for a child to put on.



If you like to buy old used crochet and knitting encyclopedias, which often bring a lot of dated garments, you can revamp them for your kids by using a method like this one and making "picture" sweaters or favorite things (a cupcake, a kitty, something sweet that your child likes.)



I hope this short tutorial helps you to enjoy your knitting and crocheting a lot more and make them more productive!


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In an age of turmoil and uncertainty, when things are not going as useful and people are concerned and sometimes scared for the future, there is solace in God. If you want a tender and Powerful hand in yours, reach out to Him today. One of the most beautiful books I've ever read will show you how, read it for free online by clicking ont he following link:

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Mixed-Media, The Joy of Joining Hobbies

If you are a scrapbooker and a crocheter, then you know how wonderful it is to add crocheted embellishments to your scrapbooking, especially if you are clever and are looking to save some money in ready made stuff or if you just want something original. If you crochet and love scrapbooking but never thought of joining the two. Here are some ideas you can try to open the doors of your imagination:

1. If you make granny squares, try making some with cotton thread, which is finer, and using them as "pockets" in your pages for notes.




2. Fold them in a triangular shape, sew the sides, glue the back to your page and insert something in it as a surprise, it could be a note, a dry flower, a short poem, etc. of course, you can embellish these with glitter, buttons, beads or even brads.


3. Use crocheted bands of color glued across your page or crocheted edgings and use them to trim cards, notes or pages.


4. Make sockies and add them to baby scrapbooking.














5. If you recycle old cards as part of your scrapbooking, add crochet embellishments such as motifs, flowers, rounds.


6. You can use tasseled shells, for corners.

These are only a few suggestions. I’ve included some photos to show you some of these examples put into practice. But of course,








there are many many things you could do as well.




I hope these tips will get you going.



"If we would see others as we see ourselves, what splendid men and women would inhabit the world." --R.H. "God in His love has the promise given Of a home where heartache shall come no more


With never a tempest to cloud the heaven, And never a wreck on the shining shore." --L.D. Santee



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How to Create "New "Yarns and Thread With Color Combinations

The saddest thing I see is when a craftster works their heart out in a piece, and the stitches are crisp and lovely, the motifs beautifully executed, and the pattern otherwise impeccable, but the color choices clash and detract from the beauty of the design and ruin the piece or at least, take away from its elegance and loveliness. Some color combinations make a person dislike an item and they don't even know why. Let's talk about color, about how to match it as easily as possible in a lovely and attractive way. I began crocheting when I was six years old, when my mom taught me how. But I was drawing before I could read or write, so after a roundabout turn, I went to art school. I hated it. I used to think that they took out of you all your spontaneity, all the natural inspiration that was bursting out of you (which of course, without a teacher, you did not know how to use to create any art.) Before I ever drew anything with a teacher, I had a color theory class and the teacher wanted us to make grey. Yes, not pink, orange, peach, or any lively color, but GREY! He wanted us to spend our time mixing all the color combinations we could come up with to create as many shades of grey as we could, brownish grey, bluish grey, greenish grey, purplish grey, reddish grey. . .you got the idea. Teachers love that kind of exercise, it's like making you work on pages and pages of crosshatches, until you can make them ever so evenly, or work on applying your pastels so evenly in your background that it is almost as smooth as wall paint. That is not going to happen at your first or second try! Don't worry, this is going to be easier than that. Let me lay a foundation first for you to undertand things better and be able to make good combinations on your own. As you well know there are Three Primary Colors: Red, Yellow and Blue. And then there is black and white which, if you were making a painting, would serve you to create your light and your shades which give expression to your subject. All color combinations come out of that small group of colors, and an attractive combination depends a lot on how you apply that knowledge. When you mix the three primary colors, you come up with the Secondary Colors: red and blue makes purple. Blue and yellow makes green, and red and yellow makes orange. Going a little further, you can create Terciary Colors by mixing a primary with a secondary color, for example, blue and purple, you get a bluish purple or blueviolet. If you mix an already mixed orange with a bit more yellow, you get yellow-orange, which is a terciary color, if instead of using more yellow, you use more red, you get red-orange. If you make purple and add a bit more red to it, you wind up with a red-violet. and the last terciary is yellow-green, which of course is created by mixing a bit more yellow into a green. And you can go on and on like this. Rose would be a nice shade of red with white mixed into it. Peach is nothing but that same rose color with some yellow added to it. Red and green mixed together make up a muddy shade of brown, which you can liven up with some orange or with some yellow to make it more pleasant. Brown with yellow and white in the right proportions will make beige in various hues. And the addition of white or yellow will create tints, shades and subtle hues of the same color, just as the addition of black will harden or darken the same colors. For colors like burgundy or wine, you will start with a nice warm red, then you will add a little bit of warm, deep blue, and then, if you wanted your shade of burgundy to be darker, you would add a really tiny bit of black to it. If you want grey, the safest would be black and white in various proportions. This is one of the secrets of good color combinations. Let me explain. If you go to a store and you see a top that is brown, purple and a mustard shade of yellow, but it just happens to look really pretty, you might not know that the reason why that color combination would work is because purple is red and yellow, brown is green and yellow (mostly) and mustard is nothing but a brown with a lot of yellow in it. They are all related! It is true that you could use contrasting colors, and that could be done very effectively, but people mostly make the mistake of choosing colors that clash because they don't think about the relationships between the hues and sometimes because the combinations collide. If you are making a sweater for your child and pick out crayon colors such as green, blue, orange, yellow and red. Of course it is going to be gorgeous (look at the combination! It is basically the three primaries and two of its closest secondary colors.) I made a scarf using brown and two shades of pink and it turned out pretty. Why? Brown has some red in it and so does pink, so they "match." Instead of going into a deep study of the theory of color, and how to use a color wheel, I will teach you some tricks that you might use to make your use of threads and yarn more attractive than ever before and without much of a hazzle to you. Also to make items that look like you have used "painted" yarns which don't look like any in the market. It is very simple. There are 4 ways of doing this. 1. Choose 1 variegated yarn that you absolutely love (leave the headache of the color combinations to the artists in the yarn companies) and choose 2, 3 or even 4 colors of SOLID-Colored yarns whose hues absolutely match some of the colors in the variegated yarn. Then you would use them as follows: Row 1- variegated, row 2- 1st solid color, row 3- variegated, row 4- use 2nd solid color, row 5- variegated, row 6- use the third solid color, then repeat from row 1. This, of course, following the stitch you have chosen for the garment, handbag, afghan, etc. The example you see here has a variegated and several contrasting but harmonizing solids. The variegated yarn is red, orange, yellow and pink. The solids are yellow, orange, blue and green. They do not clash because they are related. 2. Way of doing it is by mixing two or three variegated yarns in the same family of colors, possibly, similar variegates so that nobody would be the wiser, but the overall color would be a lovely palette that would be very attractive and unique. It will be different from any item made with similar yarn. This example has two variegated yarns, One is red, pink, yellow and orange, the other has pink, yellow, white, green and blue. They do not clash because again, they are related even though you see a change in the colors forming stripes in the yarn. 3. Use two variegated yarns that are contrasting but harmonize and interject some solids as shown before. 4. Use 2 or 3 variegated yarns that are so similar (but with subtle changes) that people won't know it is not the same yarn. This sock was made with 3 varietaged finger weight yarns but you cannot tell when one starts and when one ends because the palettes are very similar, they are just slightly different. The differences make up for a lovely overall effect. And of course, to find out if they harmonize, you fall back to the previous information I gave you about the color mixtures that make up new colors, your primaries, secondaries, and terciaries. Begonia in the Shade, a pastel study. This is part of my artwork. Not for sale. May not be reproduced. I am sharing these two samples of my work to show you something about the application of color. One has different shades of pink to make the begonia realistic and the cool grey to soften the harshness of the black shadows against the white pot. And the green begonia leaves have some brown in them to warm them up. The other is a happy combination of various shades of red, orange, yellow and green, with some blue, white and brown for contrast, but you see, blue and brown "match". I hope you found this little tutorial useful and that it helps you to "make" gorgeous combinations of yarn and thread from now on. Fall Harvest (detail), part of my artwork. Not to be reproduced. Not for sale. Want to know better the parables of Jesus? Would you like to understand all that they mean to you? Read this great book for free! http://www.preparingforeternity.com/co/cocontents.htm

Granny Square Sweater Without a Pattern

If you want to make a special garment for a little one who is special and don't have a pattern, don't give up. It takes a little figuring out but you can make it! If you have granny squares lying around which you started for a project but got sidetracked and never finished enough of them for the project to be completed, you can make some cute sweaters with them. Let me tell you how. This is not a pattern, but more like guidelines which you can follow every time and not only for children's garments, but for any garment at all. When I was a teen, I wanted to make myself a crocheted dress. I had never made one before and had not pattern. Only mercerized crochet thread in a color I liked. My mom, who had been sewing for years, made me a pattern with brown paper. Took my measurements and transfered them to the general outlines of a dress in brown paper, and left me to fill in the space with the stitch of my choice and I did make the dress in a week! I later on unraveled it and made a cardigan with the same thread and wore it. And I also made it without a pattern. I love to work out of a pattern, but let's face it, we don't always have one for the garment we want to make, so, make one yourself! Here are the ways you can make the garment without a pattern. Method 1. If you sew or know how to make your own schematic, take the measurements of the child you want to make the garment for, transfer them to your drawing and then, enlarge them into a brown paper life size pattern and follow that. Method 2. You can take a sweater which belongs to the child, which fits him or her well and place it on top or a large sheet of brown paper and trace the shape. Then add the measurements you need to follow. Method 3. If you do not have a garment that belongs to the person you are making the sweater for, and do not have ready access to them to take measurements, or would like it to be a surprise to them, you can purchase a sewing pattern for a top for a child of the age and size of the one who will receive your gift, cut out the pattern, and trace the pieces in brown paper. Then use the brown paper pattern to make the sweater. Method 4. If you are going to make the garment in motifs, you can go to sewing chart sites online and copy the measurement for the size you are making it for. If it is a woman, size medium, for example, you can jot down the measurments, then, draw an outline in brown paper for the measurements you have copied and make the motifs to fill in the outline, pinning them to the brown paper and joining them with Irish Crochet filler stitches or just by sewing them together, much in a freeform style. There are many variations of these methods. Let's say you already have your pattern in brown paper lying on top of a clean table. Okay, decide how you will be using your granny squares, and using pins, attach them to the brown paper. Then, using dc, sc or hdc, crochet to fill in the space that is leftover. Follow the shape of the pattern for the sleeves, and join everything into a garment! That is all you need. You can do the same with skirts, jumpers, dresses, tops, cardigans, you name it. I will not tell you that this style of crocheting will take patterns out of your life, remember, I do love a good pattern myself, but it will free you like you wouldn't believe to be creative on your own and to MAKE your own patterns. I made a sweater similar to the one I am showing here, with a circular granny square in the middle of the back and it turned out gorgeous,and I gave it to Warming Families. You will be surprised at what you can accomplish. try it! It is safer than working out of your head, because you will be following the general guidelines of a design. If you have access to a garment, I have used that too, and it is nice. But you can improvise and use these tips the way that is more practical for you.

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Shell-Adorned Lacy Neck Warmer

Materials:

Worsted weight yarn of your choice of colors (about half of a skein for each color) Size E crochet hook Ch 110.

Row 1: 1 dc in 4th ch from hook and in every ch across.


Row 12: Ch 3, 1 d in next dc and in every dc across.


Row 3: Rep Row 2. If you have chosen to make the scarf of various colors, (this is a great scrap yarn buster), fasten off. Join new color with a sl st.


Row 4: Ch 1, 1 sc in each dc across.


Row 5: Ch 2, skip 1 ch, sc in next sc, ch 1, *sc in next ch, ch 1, skip 1 sc and sc in next sc. Rep from * across.


Row 6 (Right side or nice lacy shell pattern will be lost): 1 sc in 1st sc, c

h 1, 2 sc in ch 1 space, skip next sc, 2 sc in next ch 1 space, rep across. Fasten off (if you have chosen to make the scarf in different colors). Change color.

Row 7: Join new color. 1 sc in 1sc, ch 1, 1 sc in next sc, skipping 1 sc in between, repeat across.


Row 8: (Right Side) Rep row 5.


Row 9: Rep row 6. Rep rows 5 and 6 until you have the width you want. (I made 2 repeats in total because I wanted a neck warmer that didn't let any wind through, because I am making these for charity). Let's suppose you want to finish it after just a couple of repeats:


Row 10: Ch 2, 1 sc in each st across.


Row 11: Ch 3, 1 dc in each sc across.


Rows 12-13: Rep row 11. Fasten off. With contrasting color, join with sl st and sc all around scarf.


Strap: Using a contrasting color in harmony with the ones used for the scarf, ch 21, sc in 3rd ch from hook. Ch 3, 4 dc in 1 st sc, skip 3 sc, *5 dc in next sc, skip 3 sc, 1next sc, rep across. Going around the strap (working in the bottom loops of the foundation row ): 1 sc, skip 3 loops, 5 dc in next loop, sk 3 loops, 1 sc, 5 dc in next loop, rep across, join with sl st. fasten off. Sew strap to the scarf at the height of your choice. Fasten off. Clean up threads. Join the same contrasting color to one of the corners of the sides of the scarf, and sc all around the scarf, going also over the edges of the strap to anchor it well. As you reach the bottom of each edge of the scarf, if you want to you can just sc straight across or work 5 dc in one space, skip a space, 1 sc, repeat, then continue with sc until you reach the other edge and repeat the shells across. Fasten off. Clean up threads. You can also make this scarf longer and thicker and close it into a tube and use it as a shoulder warmer. If you want to use it a s a mini-stole, you can make the scarf thicker and when you do the edging, you can make it longer so that the little shoulderette stole will fit around your shoulders. You can leave the strap as a form of closure, but of course, you will have to make it wider and thicker so that it will widstand use.


Pattern has been corrected!





This pattern is mine. DO NOT post it in your site without my permission and without giving me credit for it and DO NOT sell it. It is for personal use or charity use only.

The Mountain Climb with Him

"Not blindly do I grope through misty years, But with my hand in His to vanquish fears, Up through the mists I see diffused though dim, The halo of the glory circling Him. I know He leads me o'er rocky way Up to the light of endless day; And oft I seem to hear close passing by The wings of guardian angles ever nigh. Sometimes the lightnings flash and thunders peal, The closer do I cling His strength to feel; Sometimes the mists have almost cleared away That I might catch a glimmer of His day. I cannot falter for I trust my Guide, And death awaits me if I leave His side; He bids me haste to hear heaven's choir sing Their halleluiahs to the coming King."


Worthie Harris Holden



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Easy Multicolored Scarf













This scarf is my own pattern. I give you permission to use it for personal and for charity purposes, but not to sell it nor to post it in any website unless you consult me first. I will give you permission to post it in yoru site or blog if you ask me, if proper credit is given me and if you specify that it is for non-commercial use.


Materials: Worsted weight yarn in color or colors of your choice. Hook size H (5 mm)



With the yarn you have chosen and H hook, ch 111. Row 1: 1 dc in 4th chain from hook and in each ch across. Ch 3, turn. (109 dc made)Row 2: 1 dc in each dc across.

Rep row 2 until, counting them, you have completed 14 rows. Fasten off. Note: I made mine using several colors, because it is intended for charity and I like to cheer up people by giving them bright-colored items that lift their spirits, but you can make it in a sigle yarn color or you can use a variegated, or alternate between a variegated and a single color. The appearance of the scarf will change dramatically with the change of yarn. You can also make it using fun fur. Gathering strap: Ch 20. Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook, and all across. Row 2: 1 sc in each sc across across. Fasten off. Counting right from left across the width of the scarf, sew the strap to the scarf between dc 29 and 30, using the same color yarn you used to make the strap. Fasten off. Do the same on the other side. The strap will lie across the scarf, gathering it a bit. Join the same contrasting color you used to make the strap to a corner of one of the two ends of the scarf, sc all around the scarf. Fasten off. Clean up all yarn ends. You can leave it like this or you can make shells on both ends of the scarf or put tassels or pom-poms on both ends. A nice and fun finish it would be to sew huge buttons across the first row of the scar on both ends. It all depends if your a making it for an adult or a young person.


Gathering strap: Ch 20. Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook, and all across. Row 2: Sc across. Fasten off. Counting right from left across the width of the scarf, sew the strap to the scarf between dc 29 and 30, using the same color yarn you used to make the strap. Fasten off. Do the same on the other side. The strap will lie across the scarf, gathering it a bit. Join the same contrasting color you used to make the strap to a corner of one of the two ends of the scarf, sc all around the scarf. Fasten off. Clean up all yarn ends. You can leave it like this or you can make shells on both ends of the scar, or put tassels or pom-poms on both ends. or a nice and fun finish would be to sew huge buttons across the first row of the scar on both ends. It all depends if your a making it for an adult or a young person.




More variations: You can sew beads on the strap or crochet it with beads. You can also combine ribbon with acryclic yarn to fancy it up if you will be giving it as a gift. Another thing you could do is to make a crockscrew fring at each end and to sew some beads to it. The possiblities are endless.


Hope you enjoy it and that it helps you in your sharing. Blessings!



























A Prayer for Protection and the Snake in the Path:


It has been a unusually long summer in Arizona, at least hwere we live, ner Nevada. Visitors love it. To us, native dwellers, the problem are the vipers. We have to keep a watchful eye we set our feet when we are outdoors. Our family has been living in this house for over ten years and we have had many an encounter with rattlers of various kinds, also our cat and our dogs, but nobody has ever been bitten. That is not a coincidence nor chance, nor luck. That is an anwser to a specific prayer for protection, since we have had to contend closely with the reptiles at times to save the lives of our pets. Anyway, currently, my mom, who has osteoporosis, is recovering from a fracture to her hip and is shuffling along, instead of walking. She goes about her routine as normally as possible and stays quite active for her 80-year-old frame. Yesterday, she went out to give a snack to our dogs, to young Aussies, who run around a log. Every day, especially since she doesn’t want any falls (and the dogs jump all over her because they love her) she always prays for protection before she goes out. She was shuffling along doen the path, on her way to find the dogs, when something made her stop and look down. Just less than a foot ahead of her (and she was wearing her house slippers!!!!) was a coilded rattler. It raised its head, getting ready to strike, but strangely, it did not hiss nor rattle its tail. In alarm, my mom took a step backwards and slowly, moved away, while she yelled for me to come. I came running, and told her to go around on the other side, to prevent the dogs from seeing the vipers and going at it. She was able to shuffle her way across from where the snake was, it didn’t move. She got the dogs, gave them a snack to get them into their house and closed the little chicken-wire-lined "porch" it has. (Out previous dog was almost bitten on the face by a rattler that wanted to evict him from his house and use it to lay its eggs. So we decided to add this little protection for out animals, and whenever there is danger, and there has been more then once, we lock them in). Soon the dogs spotted the viper and barked at it, but they were safe from it. It couldn’t get at them nor could they run to try to attack it. We decided to throw balls of naphtaline all round it. For some reason, they don’t like the smell of it. And it left, with God’s help. Nobody got hurt, not even the reptile. The balls were pi ked up so the dogs wouldn’t chew on it. And the dogs were allowed to come out and to run a round as usual. Prayer is not some ethereal and mysterious thing. It is simple communication with an Infinite God who loves us. Try it, is you never have done it. It will make a difference in yoru life. "Then for God’s mercy we should pray; And may we by that prayer be taught, Along life’s pathway, day by day, to show the mercy that we sought." Edith Silvia Colburn.




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It's Getting Cold...Time for Warming Families














Hi Everyone! I just want to share a tiny bit of my work for charity.
I don't do as much as I would like to, but at least one or two boxes is sent
every year to warm needy people in the winter.
If you have never used your craft to help others, don't miss out on it! You don't know
the great satisfaction you have been missing.
























If you are interested in contributing to Warming Families, you can find them on the net.
The chapter I contribute to is in Oregon, manned by Linda Estill, who is a very sweet lady.
If you would like to contact her, here's her webside:

To Check out the Warming Families of Oregon webpage, Click on this Link:
http://www.angelfire.com/or2/warmingfamilies/index.html






















"It is good to have money, and the things that money can buy, but it is good, too, to check up once in a while, and make sure you haven't lost the things that money cannot buy." George Horace Lorimer

"The only condition in the matter of having God's guidance is that we let Him guide. He cannot lead us unless we follow. We must choose to let Him guide, or He cannot do it." Mrs. C. O. Hall.

Two interesting sites you might want to visit:

Archeology from a Christian perspective:
http://www.beforeus.com/

The Richest Caveman:
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Pull Tab Crochet



Recycling is always good, making something useful and sometimes, even beautiful out of an object that would have been thrown away otherwise. . .It is wonderful when you can combine creativity with recicling.
Pull Tab Crochet is one of those unique combinations.
Yes, I'm talking about the pull tabs in soda cans and other cans. You can crochet with them and create a large variety of items, such as doilies, placemats, belts , dog collars and leashes, coasters, tote bags and even clothing!
If you have never heard of Pull Tab Crochet, let me give you a basic start.
I will give you one of the simplest of patterns and try to illustrate it step by step.
Once you get the idea, your creativity and the amount of pull tabs you can get your hands on are your only limitation!
This is my own pattern for a simple flower coaster
Materials: Scraps of crochet thread #10 crochet thread, at least 6 soda can pull tabs, crochet hook size 1.

Instructions:
With scrap size 10 cotton thread of your choice and hook No.1, Ch 6, slip st to form ring. Ch2, then inside ring make 23 hdc. Ch2. Turn.1 Hdc in same space as ch2, 2 hdc in each space all around until you reach the last 6 sts, make1 hd in each. Fasten off.












Take 1 of the pull tabs and with two threads held together, begin to sc on the side of the upper portion of the lower ring of the tab. Continuing straight up, edging the upper ring of the tab. Go all around until you meet the beginning level on the other side of the tab. Fasten off.

Repeat with all pull tabs.











You can test to see how your flower will look.














Now take the centre you had made and with the front facing, lay a crocheted pull tab on top, aligning with the upper edge, sc through the back loop of the pull tab and both loops of the centre round with two threads held togehter, 3 times (3 sc). Slip st on next 3 st, then attach the next crocheted pull tab as before, rep. across.You can leave it as is and fasten off or you can do a row of shells all around on the lower portion of the rings.
As you can see, you join them with the silver portion around the centre of the flower or facing outward or viceversa.
This flower could be used for anything, a coaster, a fridgie. . .You can do many variations of this simple pattern. Now, what I have given you could very well be the start of something. If you continue crocheting, you can make the front of a purse. How about a sturdy market bag or a tote to carry your crochet in? It is all up to your imagination!

Enjoy yourself!

"Once I thought to find on earth
Love, perfect and complete.
Now I know it carries wounds
In its hands and feet."
--Anna Hempstead Branch






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