Magic Ring. Here's Something New to Me

I am by no means an expert knitter and I'm an even less accomplished crocheter.  So when I stumble across something that either makes my hobby more enjoyable and/or makes my projects look that much better, I just have to share.

I was recently put in a position where I had to produce an infant baby hat by the next day.  Of course, the first place I go is Ravelry to do an advanced search for what would be the best pattern for me.  The very first pattern listed was called 30 Minute Baby Hat by Mary Ann Colatuno.  Even the name was perfect.  I immediately cast on and, with the exception of the flower part, was done within 30 minutes.  Now, back to my original thought.

In her directions was a link to a crochetme.com forum post that quickly described this wonderful thing called Magic Ring.  I would give you the link but she has since turned the directions into a pdf and I can't find the post anywhere.  So, today when I wanted to hook a circular project I went looking for it to refresh my memory and since I couldn't click to forum post (typing it in the address bar didn't work either) I searched on YouTube and found it.  I just clicked on the first one listed (you can see it here) and with one simple change, my finished work looks so much neater and was that much easier.

Here's a photo of the finished project.

Photo courtesy of my friend

Sylvia Schultz of

Sylvia Schutz Photography

Crochet Basket

The other day I was organizing my craft closet and found tons of unused crochet hooks and needles. I also found a bunch of yarn, completely unidentifiable in amount, fabric or specific color. So, I found this neat little pattern on Ravelry.com for making little crochet baskets. It's by Bernat and the free pattern can be found here.

I'm just now finishing attaching the base to the sides and realize it needs to be "stiffened" by starch or "fabric stiffener". Of course, I don't have any here. So, I looked online and found numerous recipes for making your own fabric stiffener. It looks like the best option is to use the real stuff so I'll have to save saying it's completely done until I get a trip to Michaels.

Here's a picture of it unstarched but with some DVD's holding it's shape. It turned out pretty good.

Tiramisu is done!

I'm so excited to have this done in time to give to Terry when I see her this weekend for the first time since Michael was born. I have so many other projects on hooks and needles, it feels sooo good to cross one off the list.

Tiramisu - Ready for Blocking

I've never blocked anything before. But then again, I've never made something that was supposed to be square and I wanted to look "finished" before I gave it as a gift. Here's the blanket prior to soaking. I'm following the wet blocking tips previously mentioned and it's in the water right now with a little baby shampoo. Hopefully it straightens out!

Tiramisu - The Best Baby Blanket

I never did finish Taylor's baby blanket. Probably because it couldn't be as pretty and nice as the one I'm working on for Baby Fitzgibbons. This blanket, beautifully made, simply designed, and generously distributed for free by Alicia Paulson is called the Tiramisu Blanket. When I saw this, I knew it was perfect for Terry and James and their soon to arrive little boy.

Although it's a very easy pattern, it has been a challenge for this inexperienced crocheter. This is by no means a reflection on the author of the pattern, simply my impatience, lack of focus and inexperience.

My first problem, that I didn't notice until I finished the body, is that I chain on very tight. Not a good thing when I went around the blanket with the single crochet required for the first row of the trim.

My second problem, I discovered I cannot crochet a repetitive stitch and watch TV, listen to music, talk to my hubby or think about anything other than crocheting.

Which led to my third problem and why I had to start over numerous times. I'm not good enough to not count my stitches in a row. 1/3 of the way up the second time, I took a couple minutes and counted the stitches and discovered I'd somehow added a few here and there and my square blanket was looking more like a trapezoid.

My fourth problem, I don't know enough about crocheting to be modifying a pattern. At least, not on one I am on a tight schedule to complete as a gift. Frogging takes time and I've spent my share doing that. But, I'm not giving up. I really like the look of one of the completed blankets with 8 rows of SS around the trim. I'm just trying to figure out many SS's go in the corners each row.

I did do something right, right off the bat. I read other reader's posts and carefully checked my gauge, increased my hook size to size K USA and it appears to have worked well.

Now I just have to finish the trim, wash it, block it and add the ribbon!