CajunCrochet

Chenille Yarn Water Bottle Pattern (sort of)

2009-07-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

Chenille Yarn Water Bottle Tote

My sweet husband went shopping without me one day and thought of me when he saw this tall water bottle.

I always have a bottle of water with me, especially in the summer. He thought he was doing something very special getting me a bottle with grips on the side. Bless his big heart.

The first time I took it with me on a shopping day, the temperature was a nice 95 degrees. I filled it with ice and water and went on my way. Of course the ice made it sweat nicely and it was dripping all over me with every drink.

I had to leave it in the car. I mean really! I had to carry my purse, hold a child's hand and get groceries. After all I only have 2 hands. When I got back to the car about an hour later, the water was too warm to drink.

So I'm thinking: I needed a tote for this thing. There are many on the market but with my addiction to crochet, I decided to whip one up using left over yarn. I found a nice size of Chenille yarn left in my stash.

My first thought was NO WAY! It's summer, temps are now in the 100's! Just looking at that yarn makes me hot.

It was all I had enough yarn of though; besides the stuff I was working with was for other projects so....yep I went ahead and used it.

It's thick and soft and hey it was on sale for $1.00. If it didn't keep my water cool I could buy something better later and at least it would be easier to carry.

Turns out it was the perfect yarn for my water bottle! It frees up my hands because of the straps, it stops the nasty sweating AND it insulated the bottle so well that after 2 hours of being shut in a hot car it still had quite a bit of unmelted ice!

I don't have a "pattern" but I can give you some instructions.
I used hook size H.

Chain 4 and join or make a magic ring.
Increase each round until the size of the circle fits your water bottle.
Now use your favorite stitch such as sc or dc. Remember that you want your stitches to close together-no gaps! You want it to insulate your bottle.
Working in the round, no more increasing, make it as tall as your bottle. (I worked in a spiral, not joining rounds).
For the top of the bottle: Skip 2 stitches, stitch one, skip 2 stitches, stitch one, around. This makes holes for a tie.
Make any type strap you like at any length you like. I made mine long enough to slip over my head and hang on my side. That way it won't keep slipping off your shoulder.
Attach the straps to the inside of the tote.
Tie: Chain enough length to fit the holes you made at top of bottle and to tie.

That's it. I hope this make sense. If not drop me a line and I'll try to help clear it up for you.

Busy

2009-06-10T09:02:00.001-07:00

Been very busy.

I made a dog bed for my medium sized dog and she loves it. Before I finished it I set it on the floor to see if the sides were tall enough for her and she just walked right in it and layed down. I hated to do it but made her get up to finish it. She has never done anything like that before.
When I can I'll get pictures and try to add the pattern.

Right now I'm trying to finish a bedspread that my daughter requested. This is my first attempt to make an afghan or blanket where you have to make squares then attach them all together. I hate that part and find myself setting it aside often. I'm an immediate gradification type of person I guess.

I hope you all have a great summer!

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a shout out to people I want to honor today:

Jesus who laid down his life for us
Everyone who has served or is serving in our military forces
Firemen and women - especially the ones here in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish, most of who are strictly volunteer! Y'all are the most caring, hard working group of people I know. I so appreciate y'all!
Police Officers
Everyone who has passed on that meant so much to me

Thank you for your selfless sacrifices!
Thank you for a serving heart!
Thank you for protecting people you don't even know!
Thank you for risking your own life to help save others!
Thank you for giving your life for others!

Mother's Day Crawfish Boil

2009-05-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a great Mother's Day! I did, it was awesome!
Mom loved the roll stitch hot pad.
We had a crawfish boil at dad's. It was mmm, mmm good!
Good food, good family, good friends and beautiful day!

Monster Crawdaddy

Another Monster Crawdaddy

Hyper Active Crawfish

My first bunch. Gotta have potatoes, corn, sausage, onion and garlic with the crawfish.

My last picture. I am about to dive in and only come up for air every now and then.
That's my mom with the blue shirt in the front. Happy Mother's Day Mom.
That's my dad on the other end of the table. Thanks dad for the crawfish!

Roll Stitch Hot Pad

2009-05-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

I created this hot pad yesterday. I was trying to come up with something extra to give mom for Mother's Day. While searching the web, I came across the "Roll Stitch" on Annie's Attic (http://www.anniesattic.com/). I thought that stitch would make a great hot pad so I set out to make it like the coaster pattern shown that day. I start the pattern using the first 3 rounds of the coaster, all the rest are my creation. (The free pattern on Annie's Attic is only available for one day so I have no way to link to the actual pattern).

Roll Stitch Hot Pad

(click to enlarge)
Hook Size: H
Yarn Used: 4 ply 100% Cotton Ecru
Pattern Stitches:
*Single Crochet (sc)
*Double Crochet (dc)
*Roll Stitch (rst10): YO 10 times, insert hook in st indicated, draw up lp, YO and draw through all lps on hook, ch 1 -- roll st made.
*Roll Stitch (rst4): YO 4 times, insert hook in st indicated, draw up lp, YO and draw through all lps on hook, ch 1 -- roll st made.
*Back Loop Only (blo)
*Slip Stitch (slst)

Front:
Rnd 1: ch 4, join to for ring
Rnd 2: ch 1, 8 sc in ring, join with slst to first sc
Rnd 3: ch 3, 2 rst10 in each sc, join with slst in first roll stitch
Rnd 4: ch 3, dc in same st, in blo - 2 dc in each roll stitch around; join with slst in top of ch 3
Rnd 5: ch 3, in blo - 1 rst4 around; join with slst in top of ch 3
Rnd 6: ch 1, in blo - sc in each roll stitch around; join with slst in 1st sc
Rnds 7-8: ch 1, in both loops - sc in each sc around; join with slst in 1st sc
Rnd 9: ch 1, sc in 1st sc, 2 sc in next sc around, join with slst in 1st sc
Rnd 10: ch 3, 1 rst10 in same st, *skip next sc, 1 rst10 in next sc* around, join in top of ch 3
Rnd 11: ch 1, sc in each rst10 and ch 1 space around; join with slst to ch 1
Finish off

Back: Start back same as Rnds 1-3 of front. sc throughout. Increase sc as needed to make back the same size as front. Finish off. Attach the front and back together.

If I post a pattern as free, you are free to use it in anyway you see fit. Make them, sell them, whatever. However, you are not free to sell the pattern itself! I also require that you post a link to my site.
Ex: Pattern by: Cajun Crochet: http://cajuncrochet.blogspot.com/

Hurricane Experience and Pool Drama

2009-05-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

Having my breakfast. The wonderful black gold that wakes me up every morning. Today it's the always delicious Community Coffee. My favorite is Duncan's fresh ground but I only use that on weekends for a nice change from the normal.

Wow! What a weekend! My hubby and I did lots of work. He worked on the lawnmower. Our nice "manly" John Deer. It needed some blade sharpening and balancing. He also cleaned it and made it shine. I'm usually the one that cuts the grass since he works so much and I'll be proud to drive it next cutting. It looks like new. He also worked on his car but cares less about the car than the lawnmower :)

I worked on the swimming pool. What a big task! Now, you have to understand that I begged for this pool. Hubby said if we get a pool I would have to take care of it. Oh, I was on board with that! No problem. Well one problem.

Gustav, the wonderful hurricane of 2008, blew every leaf off my trees and straight into my pool. On top of that the pool vac hoses dry rotted and the mesh filter tore off on me. I guess there was just too much debris for it to handle. When every leaf in your yard (and we have lots and I do mean lots of trees) has fallen into it and you don't have the tools to clean it (like a shop vac) you have to do things like get into a nasty green pool. No, you can't just drain a pool with millions of leaves in it. They quickly clog the drain holes.

Living in cajun country everyone has hip waders. Not us. So I had to keep pulling leaves from the drains (which meant standing there for hours with a long stick pushing leaves away from the holes) until it was low enough for me to get in with knee length boots. That took a whole day alone. I worked for days with a huge leaf net getting out as much of the leaves as I could. When I thought I'd gotten enough out I filled the pool back up praying the filter and salt would clean it the rest of the way. Bad idea!

It took all of ten minutes before problems started. Maybe the vacuum will work good. No. That's when I found out the hose was dry rotted. How did that happen in 3 weeks? Then the mesh bag tore and leaves got sucked into the hoses and shut the pump off. OK, so, I'll take the vacuum off and try this again with the skimmer.

Apparently the pump can't handle that much green gunk and I had to stand by the skimmer to keep digging leaves out. The pump ran for about 3 minutes before shutting off again! Ugggh!

OK, I gave up for the time being. I mean it wasn't like the pool was a priority at the time but it would have made hurricane clean up a little easier. See, it was very very hot, electricity had been out for 3 weeks and looked like it would be at least another week before we may get it back. We had my dads yard to clean (he had a huge tree fall on his carport and lots of large branches blocking his driveway and in the yard) and my brother to help (his carport fell and part of his roof came off) and our own yard was full of very large branches and tree tops (we were lucky our house was pretty much untouched). It would have been nice to be able to jump in the pool at the end of the day. I would have used the generator to keep it going.

A little side rant: FOOD. We have a gas stove just for times like these. When electricity goes out we can still have coffee and cook. That would work if it wasn't for everyone and everything else for about a hundred miles being out of electricity too. You can't get food. You have to use ready to eat meals (who has time to cook anyway?) and thank God for volunteers from churches like Disaster Relief and others I can't remember names of right now! They gave 2 hot meals a day. Family and friends took turns going get the food and distributing it while people were busy cleaning up. Others set up places to get water, sports drinks, diapers, toothpaste, cleaning items, blue tarps etc. Those groups were very well set up and a very big blessing! We even had groups that would help with getting trees off your roof and put blue tarps up for people who couldn't do it for themselves.

Of course, insurance, FEMA and government helped right? NOT! We had another hurricane coming our way and volunteers had to leave for a day or two and we were all trying to get our roofs covered from the rains that were coming. Try to do anything without money. Most of us just used all of our extra money evacuating. FEMA abandoned us. They said, "that is what your insurance is for" but insurance companies would have to have estimates first. Thousands of people needed estimates at the same time. See how fast you can get an estimate even if your phone works (which they didn't most of the time). We were covering roofs with whatever we could find for a temporary fix. While doing this we had to fight with insurance and FEMA. Temporary food stamps: use to be able to get those pretty easy as long as you were willing or had time to stand in line for 8 to 12 hours or sometimes days. Not this time. Again, most of us didn't qualify! You have to have someone disabled, make under minimum wage or lie to get them. We didn't qualify and we wouldn't lie. So again, thank God for the volunteers!

It's been a long and hard end of summer. Fall was coming and we are trying to save up some money to replace what the hurricane took. Christmas was coming fast. We prayed we would have enough to give the kids at least a little bit of something. That wasn't really a big deal though. Our family knows that the birth of Jesus is what Christmas is really about. Not getting presents. However, we usually reserve unnecessary things for birthdays and Christmas so was hoping to get the kids at least one nice thing each. The pool so not a priority.

Well, now we have very hot days and it's not even summer yet. The pool is looking more like a priority. It is drained but still filled with leaves and scum. Dried on leaves and scum. Put a little water in and bail it out not too bad. Wrong. I'm not 20 any more! I'm now 41 and my body is letting me know it!

Finally, I begged my husband for a shop vac but he said no. In his defense we are buying a home this year and have to have a new sewer system. So, I go at it with buckets and an aquarium fish net to get out as much of the scum as possible. It wasn't going so well and looked like it would take all summer for me to get it clean. I could borrow my brothers shop vac except that his house still isn't livable and he is using it to clean out his attic (insurance doesn't cover wind blown rain...they claim that because his roof came off and it rained it was wind blown rain that destroyed his house).

This is Saturday about 3 p.m. I'm sunburned to blisters, about to pass out from heat exhaustion and dehydrated. I go get some money I saved up and asked him to please go get a shop vac. He takes my money and was instructed to get a shop vac, salt for the pool and a new pool vacuum. He comes home with a shop vac, a leaf blower (didn't ask for this) and 6 bags of salt. No pool vacuum. Said he couldn't find one. Gave me back the money I gave him said he had some put away and used that. Aw, how sweet. So my first thought is...he's been holding out on me! I'm just so happy to get the shop vac that I over look it and forgive him.

So Saturday I got all the leaves out but now the scum needs scrubbing off the pool. Once the mosquitoes decided it was supper time and I was on the menu, I quit for the day.

Sunday morning went to early church so we could get the rest of the work done before dark. Was so busy scrubbing that I forgot all about my daughters softball practice. Oh well, at least it wasn't a game. I was sucking up the last of the scrubbed off scum with the shop vac when a few drops of rain started. Hubby was working in the house doing clothes (what a sweetheart) when I called him out to help me pick up all the electronics before they got wet. I had my mp3 and speakers out there to motivate me with music while I worked, the shop vac, my phone and a few other things that couldn't get wet. We got those picked up right before the rain. I thank you God for holding the rain off just long enough for me to finish cleaning the pool and pick up the things that would have gotten ruined had they got wet!

We turned the water on to fill the pool. I didn't get to put the pump back together but that's OK. It will take all night and most of Monday for the pool to get full enough to try the pump anyway.

Now it's Monday. Checked on the pool. Looks so good. The water still isn't high enough to use the pump but not too many hours away. So I start to put it back together and BAM! Lightning seems to come out of nowhere. Um, I'll wait. Now it is storming out there. I turned the water off and am letting the rain fill it up the rest of the way. If it stops raining later today I'll go put the pump together. Not sure if it works because the last time I tried to use it, it shut off. I guess I will find out today or tomorrow if the rain and lightening stops long enough. I just hope I can get it going before the water turns green again! Luckily, WalMart now sells salt water pumps so I can just go pick one up instead of have to order it and wait a week or more for it to come in.

I'm glad for the rain. I have a delicious persimmon tree, orange trees and a fig tree that really needs the water. It is also helping to fill the pool. I'm not putting the salt in until I know if the pump works in case I can't get another pump before the water turns green again. At least this time it will just take draining and refilling.

One more thing I want to say about the hurricane: even if you think you don't have damage to your home you will have damage to your electronics. Not from the storm exactly. We unplug everything and think it's safe. Not so. Something we have learned from this one is that when you plug them back in as soon as your electricity is back on you may be making a big mistake.

For about 3 weeks we kept having surges. My microwave blew out. My coffee pot blew out. And the computer hard drive blew out. So far our TVs, washer, dryer, dishwasher and fridge are still working fine. They could still give out at any time. Many people lost things this way and are still having things blow out (insurance says they don't cover that either even if you have contents covered! They say it's the electric company who is responsible! Yea right, like I would even try to collect from them. They worked so hard just to get us back on as soon as they could. How could they be responsible? What on earth am I paying sooooo much insurance for?!? So far as I can tell my house has to burn down from and electrical malfunction to collect anything and even then I bet there is a loophole).

Couldn't live without coffee and got really tired of brewing it on the stove and drinking grinds at the bottom of the cup so the first thing we got was a new coffee pot. I also got a coffee grinder. We love this! Didn't know how much better fresh ground tasted until now. Then we got the new hard drive. We could live without this for awhile but thanks to Circuit City going out of business we got their floor model for almost nothing! Still don't have a microwave. That is kind of hard to get used to not having. Heating things in the oven or on the stove just isn't the same. Since we are about to get a new house that will come with a microwave, I refuse to buy another one right now.

So now the rain is letting up and the sun is starting to peep out of a cloud. Oops spoke too soon. Looks like this storm might last for 2 or 3 days. Still, I think the pool will be ready by the weekend. Come enjoy it with us, we'd love to have your company for fun and much need relaxation!

Just Thought I'd Share

2009-04-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggers! I thought I'd let yall in on a little known fact, at least in my circle of friends.

I have a beautiful yard with lots of oak trees, pecan trees and a persimmon tree. Every spring and summer my trees and yard are full of caterpillars. They totally ruined my persimmons one year with their webs or nests or whatever it is they shoot out.

My neighbor doesn't have trees in their yard but caterpillars invade their yard because of my trees. Needless to say they are not happy about that.

I know some ways to keep those pesky things out of my trees but I am NOT going to use those methods. Painting the bottom half of the tree white...although it works is tacky. Same with wrapping aluminum foil around the bottom...tacky!

Another neighbor told me about a better way. He said he tried it and it worked great for him. In fact he said after he did it he literally saw the caterpillars crawl down his tree and leave!

Best of all it's free! Well, of course, I am going to try it. I did try it and have not seen another caterpillar since I did it!

OK, so here it is:
Take a clear gallon water or milk jug, cut it in half, fill it with water and set it at the base of the tree. I was told it has to touch the base of the tree. That's it! They don't know why it works and no one I asked knows why it works but it does!

Now I'm thinking I have another problem. Mosquitoes! The water will breed mosquitoes like crazy. As if we don't have enough of a mosquito problem I sure don't want to add to it! Nice little tidbit I learned online: put a couple of drops of dish washing detergent or oil in the water buckets and when the mosquito larva come to the top they suffocate!

Wow! Now I am taking care of two problems in one for free! You can't ask for more than that!

Oven Mitts

2009-04-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Oven Mitt
by: Cajun Crochet http://cajuncrochet.blogspot.com/

(click to enlarge)

I used Peaches & Cream 100% Cotton 4 ply for this project.

Hook: Size H

Ch 52 turn

Row 1: Skip 1st 12 chs. (loop for strap). Continue with 1 sc in each chain. (40 sc)

Rnds 2-?: 1 slst in 1st sc on row; continue around with 1 sc in each ch. *slst in 1st sc, ch 1, turn; sc around. Repeat from * until piece is 7.09 inches or 18 cm.

Thumb Opening:

Skip 1st 14 sc, ch 10 complete around with 1 sc in each sc (36 sc). Continue around until piece measures 10.6 inches or 27 cm. Place a marker on each side with 18 sc between each marker.

Dec 1 sc before and after each marker for a total of 7 rounds. (4 dec. each rnd)

Turn glove inside out. Crochet together at the top with a row of sc through both layers.

Finish Off.

Thumb:

25 sc around thumb opening.

sc for two rounds.

Dec 1 sc on inside of thumb. (24 sc). Continue around until thumb measures 2.36 inches or 6 cm.

Place a marker on each side as was done for the top of mitt. 12 sc between each marker. Dec 1 sc before and after each marker. (4 dec per round) 4 times.

Turn thumb inside out and sc together through both layers.

Finish Off.

Enjoy!

If I post a pattern as free, you are free to use it in anyway you see fit. Make them, sell them, whatever. However, you are not free to sell the pattern itself! I also require that you post a link to my site.

Ex: Pattern by: Cajun Crochet: http://cajuncrochet.blogspot.com/

CajunCrochet Spongie

2009-04-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

I have tried making sponges from other peoples patterns but have not found one that worked best for me, so I tried my hand at my own pattern. I love these "spongies". I could not find a picture of one I just finished so I got a picture of the one I have been using for the past four months. The color is very faded but it is still holding up very nicely. I hate the idea of bought sponges because of all the bacteria they hold and they just tear up in the wash. This "spongie" foams up nicely and I wash it every other day.

CajunCrochet Spongie:

(click to enlarge)
Hook Size: H
flo = front loop only; blo = back loop only; slst = slip stitch; hdc = half double crochet

Ch 19
Rnd 1: hdc in 3rd ch from hook, hdc in remaining chs. (17 hdc), hdc around the unworked ch loops. Join with slst to first hdc. (34 hdc) DO NOT TURN THROUGHOUT
Rnd 2: ch 2, hdc in flo around; join with slst to 1st hdc.
Rnd 3: ch2, hdc in unworked blo of hdc in previous rnd. Continue around. (34 hdc) NOTE: This will cause a fold in your work and give your finished work that "spongy" feel. Join with a slst to 1st hdc.
Rnd 4: ch 2, hdc in flo of hdc just worked; join with slst in 1st hdc.
Rnd 5: Repeat rnd 3.
Rnd 6: Repeat rnd 4.
Rnd 7: Repeat rnd 3.
Rnd 8: Repeat rnd 4.
Rnd 9: Repeat rnd 3.
Rnd 10: Repeat rnd 4.
Rnd 11: Repeat rnd 3.
Rnd 12: Repeat rnd 4.
Rnd 13: Repeat rnd 3.
Rnd 14: ch 2, slst through both sides, joining together.
Finish Off.

If I post a pattern as free, you are free to use it in anyway you see fit. Make them, sell them, whatever. However, you are not free to sell the pattern itself! I also require that you post a link to my site.
Ex: Pattern by: Cajun Crochet: http://cajuncrochet.blogspot.com/

Spring Break

2009-04-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

Biloxi was great! Enjoyed the time with family. I even had fun with my dad. He was in his element and that made for a good time. We sat in the hot tub, played in the pool and on the beach. Dad gave my brother, sister-in-law and me each a comp. meal at the Beau Rivage buffet while he and my mom watched our kids. Thats a total of 6 kids! Three of them teens! That in itself was a great treat.

Biloxi had a crawfish festival starting the day we were to leave so we decided to stay a little longer and go to the fair. I really enjoyed watching the kids have so much fun on the rides. We made it home around 12:00 a.m. and got in bed around 3:00 a.m.
Well, back to reality and started school back today. I feel like it's time for another break already and more crawfish. I wonder if I could ever get enough? I guess I would get tired of it after awhile but I would love to see how much it would take for that.

Now don't dat look good sha?

CajunCrochet Dishcloth

2009-04-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

I have tried many different dishcloth patterns but have not been completely satisfied so I came up with some of my own. This pattern is the one I settled on. I have found that this one works best for the type of dishwashing I have. Enjoy!

(click to enlarge)
Hook Size E
Yarn: Any color of 100% cotton yarn. For this dishcloth I used Peaches & Creme 4 ply 100% cotton. Color I used: 147 Shaded Brown. WARNING: This color bleeds. Your dish water will turn redish brown.

Ch 29
Rows 1-25: in second chain from hook, sc, ch 1, skip 1, sc. ch 1 (turning chain)
Finishing:
Rnd 1: 3 sc in corner, ch 1, skip 1, sc. Repeat evenly around one time.
Rnd 2: ch 2, slst in second chain from hook, skip 1, sc. Repeat around. Join at corner. Finish Off. Weave in ends.

If you have questions or find errors please let me know. I will do my best to answer any questions.

If I post a pattern as free, you are free to use it in anyway you see fit. Make them, sell them, whatever. However, you are not free to sell the pattern itself! I also require that you post a link to my site.
Ex: Pattern by: Cajun Crochet: http://cajuncrochet.blogspot.com/