The Hooray For Bollywood afghan was inspired by the vibrant colors of Bollywood fashion and costumes. An incredibly easy blanket to crochet, considering the majority is just rows of clusters (the remaining rows are simply single crochet)! It makes for a fantastic project for beginners.

I've included tips and links to tutorials in this blog post: http://bellakarma.typepad.com/stix-on-the-beach-tales/2012/02/hooray-for-bollywood.html

Here's the pattern for the cluster stitch:

The Stitch: Alternate Double Clusters
Odd number of sts (add 3 for foundation ch).
The Bollywood foundation chain: 249 PLUS 3.

Row 1: 3 DCTOG all in the 4th ch from hook, *1 CH, skip 1 ch, 3 DCTOG all in the next ch, repeat from * to end, turn.
Row 2: 3 CH, skip first 3 dctog, *3 DCTOG in next ch SPACE, 1 CH, skip next 3 dctog, repeat from *, end 3 DCTOG under 3 ch, turn. Repeat row 2.

Thanks for looking!   

This is Dolores de los Muertos! Dolores is a fashion magazine whore and likes to think of herself as the love-child of Christian Dior and Betsey Johnson -- whatever the hell that means.

Her famous last words are "I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that!"

Dolores is part of a collection of dolls I'm calling "Who Voodoo Love?" 

Moved from: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=78.0



I started this blanket, which I affectionately call Rip Rip Hurray Ripple Afghan, two years ago. By that estimate, I've crocheted 25 rows a year. In order to remedy this slow progress, I have decided to rename the blanket to Rip Rip Hurry Ripple Afghan. I would like to utilize this afghan while Southern California still schedules in Winter ('cause we no longer have an Autumn or Spring).

I'm a cheap hooker; therefore, all the yarn is Red Heart Super Saver and Red Heart Kid Sport. Kid Sport is very slippery. I would be scared to make anything wearable for a baby with it, in fear of the child slipping from my grasp...unless, of course, you're not on Vicodin and have quicker reflexes than I do.

There are about 300 stitches across, allowing for the afghan to hang over the sides of a Full-size mattress. I can't remember the exact number...and God-forbid if I try to count 'em while I crochet at the same time. When I had to determine how many stitches I had to chain in order for the pattern to work, it was the ONLY time I ever had to use math in real life beyond the 4th grade level. I basically started with the chain amount for a scarf...then laid it down on the bed...and kept adding to it until I liked the width...then I added a few more stitches (if needed) to be the correct multiple for the pattern (pattern can be found in The Crochet Stitch Bible available on Amazon.com).

More pictures, information and cool links related to this ripple can be found on my blog post here:
http://thehappyhooker.blogspot.com/2009/05/getting-ripped.html

Thank you for looking! I'll be sure to share more pictures as it comes closer to being completed! =D

This is Miyoko, she is of distant relations to the species of Plurbits!

Plurbits were designed by Heidi Iverson (http://www.mciverson.com/). Her pattern can be found in the book "Softies Only A Mother Could Love."

I learned a few things with my first experience with felt that will help me with future projects:

1. It can fray easily.
Look for strongest area of the fabric before cutting.

2. Allow for plenty of seam allowance.
Don't want to stitch anywhere near the edge where the fabric is weak.

3. Pull tighter when stitching by hand.
But not so tight that I tear the felt.

...and I did stitch her all by hand.

She burst at the seams on her neck, though.
This was a combination of stitching too close to the edge + not stitching tight enough + overzealous stuffing.

Of course the sight was saved by an old standby: a knitted scarf!
On second thought .... I decided to think of it as a sapphire necklace!



More on Miyoko can be found here on my blog: http://thehappyhooker.blogspot.com/search/label/Miyoko

My mom has been wanting a real border collie, so for Solstice I gave her the next best thing: A black & white crocheted frog! ;-)



I followed for the most part a pattern from a McCall's Christmas Knit & Crochet magazine from 1979/1980.



Of course I had to knit him a ribbed (ribbit!) scarf!

He is the first "toy" I ever crocheted and it was a lot of fun  (and super fast & easy!); therefore, I think he now needs a girlfriend...

After a shaky start by playing it safe, I believe I rediscovered my spirited groove at collage/visual journaling/running with scissors/sniffing markers. My daughter, Marissa,  gave me some sound advice, that neither one of us can remember, but it was good at the time - and it worked. I feel much freer. 



This is just one side of a visual journal page. With the right amount of coffee and chocolate, the opposite page will be adorned soon too. In the meantime, I hope it brings you some inspiration, or at least some "ohhhh, pretty." 

Materials:
Acrylic Paints
Rubber Stamp
Stencils
Magazine Ephemera
...more ephemera...
Crayons
Index Card
Sticker

Will you be free?

I was going to sit down and relax with some knitting...and came across this:



...at least it gave me something to blog about.

Great issue, by the way! Very rarely do I ever come across a magazine that has more than one pattern I'm interested in attempting; however, I am tempted to give about half of 'em in here a try!

Has anyone knitted up somethin' from this issue and willing to share pictures?

[Barbie Peace & Love & Butterflies Graffiti Jeans]

I figured out a while back how I went from a size 5 to a size 7.

I wore sweatpants all winter long. Loose, stretchy, elastic band sweatpants.

And ate.

'Cause it was cold.

This winter I am going to wear my jeans every day. This way I will know if I am putting weight on.

And I want my jeans to be pretty since I am going to have to look at 'em every day.



The Barbie Peace & Love & Butterflies Graffiti Jeans above are my doodle pants. It's the pair I use to test out colors, techniques, and stamps.


I've been wanting to design a pair of jeans that have an Indian/Bollywood feel to 'em; like a design on the fabulous clothes at Kaneesha.com. I still need to go out looking for more stencils. A few weeks ago I grabbed a stencil Mom was about to toss that had some elements I was searching for; the other parts are a little too 1970's folk art for my taste.



Last night I decided to give it another try; this time taping off the part of the stencil I did not want to use. I also deliberately covered up the little hanging notch, 'cause I am sort of stupid.

And by all means: tape down the entire stencil if you try this. You may think you can get through the whole stencil process without being interrupted; however, someone (Mom) will come to your bedroom exclaiming that weird noises and voices are coming from the side of the house, and there is a helicopter circling a few streets over. You will then need to get up, insist that it's safe for you to go outdoors to investigate 'cause it's only 7:38 in the evening - and argue if it's not safe to go outdoors in Corona del Mar at 7:38 in the evening, then it's time to move.



I used NEOPAQUE by Jacquard in 588 Black. You do NOT need and SHOULD NOT use too much! Pour a little inside the lid and dab lightly with a make-up sponge until you do not see the color of the jeans - then STOP. It takes practice to learn just how much is too much, 'cause the paint does have a tendency to spread if you aren't paying attention.



If you look at the top left-hand side, you can see I was not paying attention. I must have been distracted worrying about the weird noises and voices coming from my neighbors. With the exception of the spread, I liked what I saw! Now I had to glam it up!



It's totally difficult to tell in this photo how using Tulip SOFT Sterling Glitter fabric paint and the end of a paintbrush gives the look of shiny diamonds! I LOVE this paint! I LOVE the effect! I use the same technique on paper too! I'll try to remember to take a picture of it's shining glory in the sunlight hours.

If these were a real pair of jeans, and not another practice pair, I would've just mirrored the stencil on the other leg and just added a black shirt and be off!

But I had some more paint to play with.



I wasn't too thrilled with the color combination I used; I had something different in mind before I was distracted for reals. The LUMIERE Metallic Paints by Jacquard are AWESOME! However, the less expensive Tulip and DecoArt So Soft fabric paints are my FAVORITES.


Overall, I feel quite satisfied with this second attempt. Now I need to go to the secondhand store for jeans and find some more stencils so I can stockpile for the winter months.

Hiya Craftsters!

I'm hoping someone here would like to volunteer to be interviewed via e-mail, in order to help me with my Business 100 class. I need 8 painless answers from a current manager with 2 years or less experience on-the-job. The questions are basically the "what do you like most/least about your job" type. It would be great to get this done by Friday or Saturday (Sept. 14 or Sept.15). If you would like to help me keep my stellar grade point average, e-mail me at Jill@BellaKarma.com

Thank You!

Hi Kiddos,

I am having a bit of trouble with creating the right amount of stitches on a particular pattern. Here's a quick rundown of the pattern:

Rnd 1 : 6sc in 2nd chain from hook. (Got it!).

Rnd 2 : 2sc in each sc around (Good to go!).

Rnd 3 : * Sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around -- 18 sc. Work even for 1 round. (This is easy!).

Rnd 5 : Repeat Round 3 --- 27 sc. Work even for 15 rounds. (Okee dokee!).

Rounds 21-22 : *Sc in next sc, work 2sc tog, repeat from * around -- 12 scs. (Whaaaaaaaa!!!).

Round 21 is confusing me. I am decreasing properly (2sc tog means to decrease, right?); however, I believe I am not inserting my hook in the right stitches because I am not ending up with 12 stitches.

When I begin round 21, do I skip the VERY FIRST sc? For example, I am finishing up round 20, do I skip the first BEGINNING stitch of Round 21?

Also, after working 2sc tog, I then skip a sc, and sc in the next sc, correct? 

The math seems so simple! I'm hoping my momentary lapse of reason is due to running a sub-fever (go with me on this one, please!). 

I will be so grateful for any insights!