Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Crochet Dish Towel Toppers



In addition to yard work and other projects around home that had been left unattended for way too long, I spent some time this past summer working with someone who wanted to learn how to crochet tops on dish towels.  She had some towels she had purchased at craft shows and wanted to learn how to do some that were similar.  I’ve played around for a long time with different ways to do towel toppers, and hadn’t come up with a pattern that I really liked.  After several trials, I’ve come up with one.  It’s a mixture of different styles that people do and is very similar to many free patterns out there, so it’s not entirely original.  It’s just one way to do towel toppers that I’ve written out.  I make double dish towels (use the whole towel and fold it in half).

I didn’t give detailed instructions on the first row which involves attaching your yarn to the towel.  There are several methods you can use, and you can find instructions on the internet for how to do them.  I think the oldest and most common way to do it is to take a sharp hook or needle and poke holes through the thickness of the towel and then single crochet through these holes.  I always found that very difficult to do, and I think that’s why other methods cropped up.  I recently found the greatest tool to use to poke the holes, and now it’s my favorite method.  It’s called “The Sharp Crochet Hook” and you can buy it on anniesattic.com:  https://www.anniescatalog.com/list.html?q=crochet+hooks. 

The other methods involve using yarn or embroidery thread and stitching across the fold on the top of the towel with a chain stitch or blanket stitch.  These stitches form the foundation for your first row of single crochet across the top of the towel.  You can do a google search for these stitches and find instructions on how to do them.



Crochet Dish Towel Topper

Size G or H hook
Worsted weight or cotton worsted weight yarn


Fold towel in half.  Use whatever method you prefer for the foundation row on the dish towel—poke holes with a crochet hook and sc across, embroider a line of chain stitches across the fold and then sc in each stitch across, or use a blanket or whip stitch across the top and then sc with your yarn in each stitch across.  It does not matter how many stitches you have across the top of the towel.

If you used blanket stitches, whip stitches or chain stitches, then sc with your yarn in every stitch across.  Ch 3, turn.  Then continue with Row 1 below.

If you poked holes and single crocheted across the top, ch 3 (ch 3 does NOT count as 1st dc) and turn.  Then start with Row 1.

1.         Dc across. Ch 1, turn.
2.         Sc across, decreasing evenly to end with 41 sc.  Ch 3, turn.
3.         Dc in first stitch and in every other stitch across, dc in last stitch.  Ch 1, turn.
4.         Sc in every stitch across.  Ch 3, turn.
5.         Repeat Row 3.  Ch 1, turn.
6.         Repeat Row 4.  Ch 3, turn.
7.         Repeat Row 3.  Ch 1, turn.
8.         Repeat Row 4.   At this point you should have 6 stitches.  Ch 3, turn.
9.         Dc in every stitch across.  Ch 1, turn.
10.       Sc in every stitch across.  Ch 3, turn.
11.       Dc in every stitch across.  Ch 1, turn.
12.       Sc in every stitch across.  Ch 3, turn.
13.       Dc in every stitch across.  Ch 1, turn.
14.       Sc in every stitch across.  Ch 3, turn.
15.       Dc in every stitch across.  Ch 1, turn.
16.       Sc in every stitch across.  Ch 3, turn.
17.       Dc in every stitch across.  Ch 1, turn.
18.       Sc in every stitch across.  Ch 3, turn.
19.       Dc in every stitch across.  Ch 1, turn.
20.       Sc in every stitch across.  Ch 3, turn.
21.       Dc in every stitch across.  Ch 1, turn.
22.       Sc in every stitch across.  Ch 3, turn.
23.       Dc in the next 2 stitches, ch 2, skip the next 2 stitches, dc in the next 2 stitches (buttonhole made).
24.       Sc across (6 sc).  Ch 1, turn.
25.       Dc across (6 dc). 
26.       Fasten off.

Weave in ends.  Sew on button.



I hope you find this helpful. I'll post pictures later.


On another note:  craft show season is here!  If you’re in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, check out the Eagan High School Holiday Art & Craft Fair, Saturday, November 8 from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

New Name

I'm changing my name--from Brenda's Craft Store to Brenda's Handmade Store.  This more accurately reflects what I sell.  I'm also consolidating to 2 on-line shops--Brenda's Handmade Store on Etsy.com (https://www.etsy.com/shop/brendashandmadestore) and Brenda's General Store on Bonanza.com (http://www.bonanza.com/booths/brendasgeneralstore).

In my Etsy shop I sell knit and crochet items handmade by me.  I also sell some knitting and crocheting supplies.  In my Bonanza store, I sell vintage glassware, pottery, etc. and collectibles along with some of my handmade items.

New banners will be coming soon.  So will new items.  Stay tuned!

Friday, March 7, 2014

Proven Ways to Work Smarter

The moderator of one of the LinkedIn groups I belong to posted a link to an article entitled "5 Scientifically Proven Ways to Work Smarter, Not Harder" by

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Giveaway


I'm trying something new and partnering with Eden and her blog entitled "Eden's Evaluations" and doing a giveaway of one of my trellis necklaces.  The necklace is a $6.00 value.  If you'd like to enter the giveaway, please check out Eden's blog and follow her at http://www.edensevaluations.blogspot.co.nz/

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Valentine's Day projects

I got inspired and decided to try a couple of Valentine's projects.  I think they came out quite nicely.  The first is a set of heart shaped coasters.  I used a free pattern from redheart.com.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/178327075/heart-shaped-coasters-hand-crocheted-in

For the other one, I've always wanted to try and make cards, but I can't draw or paint, so I decided to do what I do best--crochet some hearts and put them on the cards. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/92504084/valentines-cards-with-crocheted-hearts?ref=listing-shop-header-1
Happy Valentine's Day!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Are you turned off by seeing ads on a blog?

I periodically get emails from Google encouraging me to sign up for Google AdSense.  If I do this, I'll earn some money if people view the ads Google puts on my blog page.  Sounds good.  Seems easy.  But do you really earn any money?  I must admit that whenever I'm on a blog page or any web page for that matter, I completely ignore the ads.  If there's a button or box to click to close an ad that's blocking me from seeing the page I want, I click it and get rid of the ad.  I don't read the ad.  I just get rid of it.  I can't imagine that I'm the only one who ignores all the ads.  So would anyone actually look at ads on my blog so that I'd actually earn any money?  Or would they just be annoyed by them and stop reading my blog?

Let me know what you think?  Should I allow ads?  Or not?