Basket Weave Pattern

It has been awhile since we have posted on the blog. I want to post a hat pattern that a few of us were discussing at the last Holy Needles Meeting. This particular pattern is for an adult, but could easily be modified for a baby.

This pattern is a new challenge, as it uses the front post double crochet (FPDC) and the back post double crochet (BPDC). Using these two stitches creates a beautiful basket weave.

It isn't as hard as it looks. If you know how to use the dbl crochet, you can pick this up. The pattern I used came from a blogger, Diamond Crochet and Crafts. Here is the link to her post with details on this hat HERE.

I personally watched THIS video on YouTube to help me "get" the FPDC and BPDC down.

Good Luck and be sure to share if you try this! Any questions, I am learning right along with you, but will be happy to help.

posted by Holy Needles member Kandi B!

#freecrochetpattern  #crochet

Cotton dishcloths for Appalachian women

Beautiful .....

.......created by Kim

Another Easy Knit Infant Beanie... Ribbed

Easy Knit Ribbed Newborn Beanie

Materials: 4 ply washable yarn and size 6 or 8 needles.

Cast on 66 stitches. P1 for 1".  In stockinette (k1, p1), knit until length is about 6".

Cut yarn (leave a 14" tail of yarn).  Run threaded needle through remaining stitches on knitting needle, while removing knitting needle.  Pull to draw closed.  Sew side seam, or crochet with slip stitch.  Add pompom or other decor to top if desired.

Weave in ends.

#freeknitpattern  #knit

Finishing a Beanie: Weaving in the beginning yarn tail.

How to finish a beanie: weaving in the yarn tail at the beginning of the beanie.

At the top (beginning) of the beanie, thread the yarn tail into the needle.  Insert the needle in a counterclockwise direction, placing the needle between the inner and outer stitches, so that it is invisible, both inside and outside. 

Work between about 5 or 6 stitches at a time, working your way around the circle (counterclockwise).  Notice how the circle closes as you proceed.  When it feels secure, you are done!  Cut the yarn close to the beanie. 



The finished product!  This will insure survival from handling and washing.

#crochet

Foundation... NO chain

Here's a great site with descriptive diagrams of how to create a foundation chain of single crochet.  Great when creating something like a scarf lengthwise, where you don't want a chain foundation that might tug and pull too much.   http://snuffykin.livejournal.com/43642.html

Holy Needles' Crochet Booties in the Round - Revisited

These booties are crocheted in the round, are very easy to make, and require no sewing of seams! Enjoy creating these beautiful booties for a newborn, or adapt for larger sizes.

Materials:  G, H, or I hook, & soft worsted yarn, such as simply soft.

The length of a newborn’s foot is 3 – 3.5 inches. Everyone’s tension is different, and hook size and yarn type all make a difference.  When in doubt, rip it out! 

Bootie:

R1: ch 2; 15 dc in 2^nd chain from hook. (15)

R2-4: ch 2, 1 dc into each st. Join with sl st into 1st dc. (15)

R5: ch 2, dc into next 12 st, leaving last 3 sts undone. Ch 2, turn. (12)

R6: dc into each st. ch 2, turn. (12)

R7: dc in each st. (12)


With right sides together, sl st back seam. Pull long loop along seam (or you can sl st 1/2 way up the back to decrease loop length, and decrease tension). Remove hook and turn bootie right side out.

Cuff: Insert hook into top of bootie just to left of back seam.

R1: pull loop through, and ch 2. Work 16 dc evenly around top edge. Join with sl st into 1st dc. (16)

R2: ch 2, dc (or ch 1, sc or hdc) in each st around. (16)

Optional:

Edging: ch 1 and sc in each st. Join with sl st. (or use any stitches you desire!) Fasten off and securely weave in ends. Do NOT knot your work… weave back and forth inconspicuously instead.

Lacing: ch 70 to make ‘shoelace’ to weave in and out of the first cuff row created.

© Copyright 2012, Donna Bishop. All Rights Reserved. Created for Holy Needles, Tucson AZ

#freecrochetpattern  #crochet

Sew Invisible Seams When Stitching Squares Together

See the LionBrand website step by step directions on how to make invisible seams when sewing crocheted squares together. 

http://blog.lionbrand.com/2012/04/19/how-to-invisibly-seam-granny-squares/?utm_source=20120420_April20_Split2&utm_medium=Emails&utm_campaign=Weeklynewsletter&utm_content=HowtoInvisiblySeamGrannySquares


#crochet

AZstarnet.com Article

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/northwest/group-gives-comfort-to-ill-needy/article_c4b2f44a-a959-54dd-b494-0294681a09d8.html

Group gives comfort to ill, needy

John Kuells For The Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Thursday, April 5, 2012 12:00 am
Through the efforts of a local volunteer group, infants born into needy families as well as chemo patients and the homeless are getting covered.
Members of the organization, called Holy Needles, crochet and knit beanies, blankets and booties for impoverished newborns. They also supply snuggly stuff to ailing kids and adults who have no place to live.
And we're not talking just a few items. A few weeks ago Holy Needles distributed 1,294 items to Northwest Medical Center, Crisis Pregnancy Center, and to the nursery and pediatrics oncology department at University of Arizona Medical Center. That represents Holy Needles' largest single donation ever for its quarterly distribution.
"There seems to be an increase in the volume of people who are active - they seem to be desiring to do more," Donna Bishop, the group's founder and coordinator, said of volunteers.
Founded in March 2009, Holy Needles has donated more than 8,700 homemade items, mostly to newborns, in the Tucson area.
Bishop, who says she puts in around 60 hours a month volunteering for the group, began Holy Needles after she picked up crocheting.
"It really started eating at me that I needed to start a group to find out what to make for the community … there was an enormous need to make baby items and it just made sense that this group was going to focus on newborns," she said.
Bishop, 56, used her network from Casas Church on North La Cholla Boulevard to get more people to join her ranks and get startup money and supplies such as yarn and fleece.
The group has grown from eight original members to around 50 current members, said group member Pam Halbert. She attributes a lot of the group's success to its bimonthly meetings at Casas Church.
"The meetings are just busy. People bring in items and supplies and they sit and work," Halbert said. "It's a fun time to share ideas and all are crafty ladies with a lot of chatter and high energy."
The large amount of items Holy Needles makes requires lots of supplies. The group receives materials through donations, often after posting ads on Craigslist or after people visit the Holy Needles Facebook page.
"We're always looking for donations with supplies such as yarn. Our ladies are very busy and we have very limited supplies," Halbert said.
In early 2010, Holy Needles received a donation of 750 yards of high-quality black fleece from Polartec. So the group expanded its efforts to making blankets for the homeless as well as for chemo patients in oncology centers.
"When we get something like that, it just opens up the need to give our items to someone else," Bishop said.
Going forward, Holy Needles will continue to make items for newborns. Bishop is anticipating the possibility of moving away this summer, which will likely leave the group under the leadership of a committee with divided responsibilities. Bishop's absence will be felt across the organization.
"She's the primary leader and it wouldn't have been started without her. She's put in countless hours," said Holy Needles member Pat Thompson.
Despite Bishop's impending departure, her leadership has helped the group grow in size and diversity, with volunteers ranging from women in their early 20s to women in their 80s.
"We are just thrilled to be able to make a little something for these families so that they get a little bit of comfort," Bishop said.
For Thompson, getting recognition from the families makes her efforts worth it.
"Those notes from the little girls at the hospital make me cry," she said of thank-you notes she receives from children in the oncology ward or parents of newborns. "It's great to feel their gratefulness and surprise."
Find out more
Holy Needles meets from 1 to 4 p.m. the third Monday of each month and 9 a.m. to noon the last Saturday of each month in the Ocotillo building at Casas Church, 10801 N. La Cholla Blvd. Go to holyneedles.blogspot.com for more information.
John Kuells is a University of Arizona student who is an apprentice at the Star. Contact him at starapprentice@azstarnet.com or 573-4117.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SANDY HESSEL

Destiny Hessel, 13, stays warm with her Holy Needles blanket. Destiny has cancer. On March 29, mom Sandy Hessel said, "Tomorrow could possibly be her very last round of chemo."
Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/northwest/group-gives-comfort-to-ill-needy/article_c4b2f44a-a959-54dd-b494-0294681a09d8.html#ixzz1rDVRmctQ

Holy Needles Article in Tucson Newspaper

Here's a link to the article about Holy Needles in the Northwest section of Arizona Daily Star...

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/northwest/group-gives-comfort-to-ill-needy/article_c4b2f44a-a959-54dd-b494-0294681a09d8.html

Quarterly Distribution of 1294 Items!

Holy Needles has now distributed 8744 items to people in need, since its inception in March 2009. 

Today, 3/21, we distributed 1294 items to local hospitals (our largest delivery ever!).

To the U of A Medical Center nursery, we delievered 150 newborn beanies. Crisis Pregnancy Center received 238 items, consisting of 30 beanies, 30 blankets, and 178 sets of booties!

Northwest Medical Center is received a total of 826 items... 299 blankets, 424 beanies, and 103 booties.

We also delivered a special project of 80 blankets to the U of A Medical Center, for children who are receiving chemo treatments.

 THANK YOU to all who have made this possible!

Be sure to keep up to date... "LIKE" Holy Needles on Facebook. 

http://www.facebook.com/holyneedles

1294 Items Delivered to Tucson's Newborns & Children

1214 Beanies, blankets, and booties were delivered to local hospitals.  80 blankets were delivered to University of Arizona Health Center... for children who are receiving chemo treatments.


Delivery to Northwest Medical Center filled Kim's car!:

only a small sampling of the 826 items!

Pat, Terry, Kim, Donna

Joy is thrilled to receive all these newborn items!

There's no room to store all these items in the social workers' office space!

Loaded into the car with other deliveries...  Kim, Terry, and Pat are packed in:

Hauling Newborn Items into Crisis Pregnancy Center:

238 items to CPC

Unloading Items for U of A Medical Center:

150 beanies to the nursery

80 blankets for children receiving chemo

Amazing!!!