This was made for late autumnal wear. Has lots of holes for crocheting connecting diamond shapes. It’s reversible; mixed colors and solid red. 

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Design adapted from one in the book Ouvrages de Dames edited by Jules Trigoulet, available on the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/MAB.31962000791123Images ; a chart that I made is also available at http://www.imagists.org/knitting/crochetpillowcover.pdf .  Crocheted out of size 10 DMC Cebelia cotton with a 1.4mm steel crochet hook, I then sewed the crocheted piece onto one side of peach linen.

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Some of the designs pictured here are probably by Deborah Atkinson (Ravelry); I learned a lot from studying & making her snowflake patterns. Others in the picture are of my own design. I entered these pictures in CraftStylish's "Dare to Make it: Holiday, 2014" contest -- and won the top prize!

The snowflakes were crocheted using white Aunt Lydia's brand #10 cotton crochet thread using a #8 or #7 steel hook. Once completed, I blocked and starched the flakes so they would hold their shape as ornaments on the Christmas tree.

Growing up in Mississippi, snow was a rarity. After that, I continued to live in the southerly climates of Florida & Texas. A "White Christmas" has never really been a possibility (except during the couple of years I spent living in Germany). Around 2014 or so, I decided to kick my crochet skills up a notch by learning to use the tiny steel hooks & cotton thread. Doilies didn't really appeal to me, but snowflakes! ❄ I could have a White Christmas -- without the cold...or the need to shovel!

For a time, I was addicted to making these. Each one was a small, compact & quickly finished project. Because no two snowflakes are alike, I felt free to make variations & create totally new designs. I made so many snowflakes that I started giving them away. Eventually, all my snowflakes had new homes, and my passion for making them melted away just like the snow...but I still have the memories.

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The O in VOTE is from a vintage doily with a cloth center. Thompson starched the doily, cut out the damaged center, turned under the cut edge, and finally machine-stitched the turned-under cloth and crocheted trim to the quilt top. After quilting she added mother-of-pearl buttons to the crocheted trim. The obvious message of the quilt is "Register to Vote." Semi-hidden letters in the patchwork change the message to "Register us to vote automatically." Button groupings in the border spell the word VOTE using the Braille alphabet.]]>
I designed this sweet crocheted picot heart in the 1980s, envisioning it as an applique motif to embellish handmade or purchased items.

I ran across it several times over the next 30-some years, but didn't crochet it again until 2017. Our daughters' piano teacher and our good friend remarried, and she and her new husband didn't need anything at all. I tucked a crocheted picot heart in a card for the couple, writing that I hoped they would think of the heart as a symbol of all the good things to come. "It was perfect!" my friend said.

In 2020, I needed to write a bunch of extra-special thank you notes. Crocheted hearts might be just what I needed to help me not just say, but show my gratitude.

One recipient was a life-long fan of The University of Texas at Austin, so he received a burnt orange picot heart. He also enjoyed iced tea, and I thought he might use his crocheted heart as a coaster. The yarn was Brown Sheep Company's Cotton Fleece, crocheted with a U. S. size H-8 (5mm) hook.

Friends who raised buffalo gave me a big box of buffalo fur and hair plucked from bushes, trees, and barbed wire fences. Their picot heart was crocheted with buffalo fur which I spun and plied with a hand spindle. The yarn was bulky and was crocheted with a U. S. size K-10.5 (6.5mm) hook.

What will people do with the crocheted hearts? Maybe they will add a piece of thread to hang the heart as an ornament, glue the heart into a scrapbook, or give it to their Valentine. Maybe they will just leave it lying around where they can see it from time to time, and let it remind them that their efforts were appreciated.

The red hearts are crocheted with No. 10 crochet cotton and a Susan Bates aluminum hook, U. S. steel size 4 (2mm). They are about 1.75 x 1.75 inches.

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All the crochet hooks that were my grandmother's, that I inherited, along with the containers she kept them in, a plastic Polident Tablet container (the tablets were used to clean dentures) and a Robert Burns Black Watch cigar case (presumably my grandfather's, although he smoked White Owl cigars most often).

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Potholders made by my grandmother Maria Antonia Ludovici Martinez (1905-1991). Source of design unknown, crocheted of thick thread that feels like cotton, with tight twist, with the thread used for the rings being thinner with a sheen; the rings have a stiff support under them, white, probably a hard plastic.  My grandmother used these, and I inherited them after her death--her dishes were the Franciscan Apple pattern, and she had a lot of reds and whites in her kitchen.  The apples (with their stems and leaves) are crocheted separately and appliqued/stitched onto the two-layers of white backgrounds,the red edging crocheting the two layers of the white backgrounds together.

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Potholder made by my grandmother Maria Antonia Ludovici Martinez (1905-1991). Source of design unknown, crocheted of thick thread that feels like cotton, with tight twist, with the thread used for the rings being thinner with a sheen; the rings have a stiff support under them, white, probably a hard plastic. My grandmother used it, and I inherited it after her death--her dishes were the Franciscan Apple pattern, and she had a lot of reds and whites in her kitchen. The crab is crocheted separately and appliqued/stitched onto the two-layers of white backgrounds, the red edging crocheting the two layers of the white backgrounds together.  The black stitching of the crab's joints, carapace, and eyes is a black, embroidery floss weight thread, in a stitch resembling stem stitch.

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Potholder made by my grandmother Maria Antonia Ludovici Martinez (1905-1991). Source of design unknown, crocheted of thick thread that feel like cotton, with tight twist, with the thread used for the ring being thinner with a sheen; the rings have a stiff support under them, white, probably a hard plastic. My grandmother used this, and I inherited it after her death--her dishes were the Franciscan Apple pattern, and she had a lot of reds and whites in her kitchen. The strawberries (with their stems and leaves) are crocheted separately and appliqued/stitched onto the two-layers of white backgrounds, the red edging crocheting the two layers of the white backgrounds together.  The white "seeds" are white thread crocheted along with the red thread of the strawberries.

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A blanket made by assembled "granny square" motifs, made by my grandmother Maria Antonia Ludovici Martinez (1905-1991). Source of design unknown, crocheted of unknown yarns that feel like an acrylic-wool blend. Some squares were added on later with a brighter green yarn.

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Standard wooden hanger covered in unknown pink crochet thread.

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Unknown thread, unknown crochet hook, pink flowers, green ribbon.

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<p>The pattern is in the book "Featuring 14 New Pineapple Designs" from Clark's O.N.T. J. &amp; P. Coats, book no. 230 issued in 1946.&nbsp; Note the price printed on the book - 10 cents!&nbsp; The pattern is doily no. 7768-A and is on page 6 of the pattern book.&nbsp; The book is bent back to this page, for easy access while making the doilies.</p>]]> These two doilies made in a pinwheel design were likely made by my great-grandmother, Alvina Billig, and I'm guessing they date from the 1930s - 1940s.  The smaller one is mainly tan with a white border and measures 6.5 inchess across.  The larger doily is white, made with a thicker crochet thread, and measures 8.25" across.

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Pattern is Pansy Doily #5911 by American Thread Company; Ravelry pattern page at https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pansy-doily-5911  lists many sources for this pattern, published many times, under other different names as well, e.g., Pretty Pansies and Viola Pansy Doily.

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One of my baby blankets, knit with a crochet edging by my grandmother.  The yarn feels like acrylic, and it doesn't show any wear--we still use it as a lap blanket.

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Unknown thread, unknown crochet hook, unknown pattern; a gift from the maker.

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A dollhouse scale cushion.  Green = Coats & Clark tatting-crochet size 70, black = DMC Retors special dentelles size 80, made with a .4mm crochet hook, pattern is "Crocheted cushion" by Venus Dodge, from the book Dolls’ House Needlecrafts : over 250 projects in 1/12 scale.

 

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The pattern for this single-crochet top, with an apple motif, came from a Woman's Day or Family Circle magazine published in the mid-1970s. I was in high school at the time, and loved the bold design. It was the first time I had crocheted two colors in one row, but I just followed the instructions, and all was well. Since the top was short-sleeved, naturally I thought of it as a summer garment. However, the yarn was worsted-weight acrylic, which isn't the best fiber to wear during a sweltering hot Texas summer. On the other hand, it would have been good inside, because many businesses and classrooms were over-airconditioned. In May 2017, my daughter Eva tried on the crocheted top with the apple. With her permission, I include the photo I took of her then. The top measures 33" around the body at the underarm; from hem to shoulder, it is 18.5". I don't know who designed this cute top.

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