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I decided to try the bag from the front cover of Fashions in Quick Crochet for this week's project. The pattern says you need 3 balls of Canary Yellow and 2 balls of Fudge Brown to make the set. I had some vintage Aqua Speed-Cro-Sheen for the main color, but probably not enough of it to do the entire bag according to their color plan. I decided I'd use the brown for the base and add another color in for the contrast color if necessary. It also says you need a No. 8 knitting pin and a 3.5mm crochet hook.   The pattern starts with the base. This was supposed to be in yellow but I decided to try to use brown here to make sure I'd have enough blue (that I'm subbing for yellow) for the rest of the bag. The last round of the base has you crochet in the back loop of the previous row over 10 strands of thread. I used some other blue scrap thread for the 10 strands knowing they'd be mostly hidden. The photo below shows what the base looks like after this part. The directions say to just cut off the remaining strands. I tried to knot them and/or weave them in. It wasn't pretty but it's the inside of the bag. If I did it again, I'd just weave them into the other side of the blue strands or, if I used the same color it could get woven into the base.  The main body of the bag (they call it the "sidepiece") has you crochet over the knitting pin every third round, increasing 6 single crochets for every 1.5 inches you work until the bag measures 8.5 inches. I ended up increasing every 6ish rounds, which was less often than every 1.5 inches, but I was still worried I wouldn't have enough blue. Even wit that, I still ran out of blue and ended up doing the last few rows in brown and cream. The stripes are done by making a chain 38 inches long, slip stitching back along it, and then weaving the strips between the bars on the rounds done over the knitting pin. While you're doing that, you also need to make knots evenly staggered, like the photo. The strips were often way too long, and you can see in the photo below that there are long sections that are sewn in on the inside.  The handles gave me much more trouble than they should have. I though I'd saved just enough brown to make the handles but after taking a two week break on the project and coming back to it I realized I'd cut the strands for the handles half the length they should have been and that was all of the size 3 brown thread I had. I didn't have enough of any other size 3 thread to cut 24 strands of thread 2 yards long so I used size 10 instead. I could have used more strands but I knew I'd have to figure out how to deal with them on the inside of the bag so I just left it at 12 strands each. The handles are twisted one way, then doubled over and twisted the other way to get a rope. There are no directions on how to attach them. I have one side looped over a stitch and the other side tied off inside (shown in the photo above). The finishing instructions say to cut a piece of cardboard the same size as the bottom of the bag and then line with felt. It doesn't say if you're lining the cardboard or the entire bag so I just skipped that part for now. If the full bag was lined with felt it would give it a lot more structure. Here's my finished bag with a cat for size comparison.
The scoring:
Is the pattern easy to understand? There were key things that were skipped over, and a lack of finishing detail for some pieces. 0.5 If there is a gauge, could I match it? There was a gauge of 5.5 single crochets to an inch that I did match. 1.0 Does it look like the photo? Mostly 0.75 Would someone use this? Maybe with a little extra work. Adding a lining and adding a clasp of some kind at the top would make a big difference. 0.75 Did I enjoy making this? Not really. This took me about 6 weeks on and off, mostly because I didn't really want to work on it. I ended up making a bunch of red hats instead of working on this project. I'm not sure what it was that I didn't like aside from the lack of specifics on some things. Working around the knitting pin on a circular project was awkward. 0.25 Total score 3.25 It now hangs over a door-knob and holds extra feather cat toys.
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Fashions in Quick Crochet was published by Coats & Clark in 1953 to promote their new "Speed-Cro-Sheen" line. The closest version available now is Aunt Lydia's Fashion3 Crochet Thread. I have some vintage Speed-Cro-Sheen that I'll use for the project from this booklet.
The cotton I'll be using for this project. After the pattern from the cover, they break out the projects with cute little titles. The ones below are "Tops in Fashion...A wardrobe of hats to take you from a country weekend to an afternoon of shopping in town; from a feminine tea-party to a dinner date with the The Man in your life!" (Yes, The Man is capitalized in the text.)
 Hat, Bag and Collar Set The next section is" Crochet Trim, Fashion's Newest Favor!"  The Leisure Treasures Section features a knitted blouse and a couple of bags. The striped bag and purse use rug yarn as the base and crochet over it with cotton thread to get the wide stripes.  The back cover features an embroidered bolero and a crocheted jacket. I'm not sure about the fringe on the arms of the bolero, but otherwise I think they're adorable.  I'll be making the bag on the front cover. I have blue Speed-Cro-Sheen for the body but I'll have to use more current crochet thread for the rest of it.
This week's project is the Red and White Potholder from Coats and Clark Quick Crochet. I chose this because I thought the stripes made an interesting pattern. The pattern uses one ball each of white and red size 3 thread, a No. 2/0 hook (3.5mm), and a bone ring. There is a gauge given of 5 single crochets and 5 rounds to one inch. I didn't have white, so I went with the best contrasting colors I had: light blue and dark blue.  The pattern is good at describing how to change colors at the end of the row to make sure you keep the striping consistent. The one spot I had difficulty with was getting the hook into the chain two spaces two rows below, beyond the first round that had puff stitches. The puff stitches obscure that little space, and I had to pull them apart a little and make sure I was getting between the puff stitches and not into one of them. My gauge was a little tighter; I had 6 stitches per inch instead of 5, and that might have contributed to the problem. The pattern has you do a front and a back the same way and then join with a row of single crochets through both pieces. I didn't have enough of the blues to do a second side, so I just have one side to show you.  I love how this turned out and if I don't come across a better pattern before the county fair I might get enough thread to do two potholders and submit them.
Scoring: Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes. 1.0 If there is a gauge, could I match it? No. I could have tried harder and switches to a bigger hook but I didn't think the gauge was that important. 0.5 Does it look like the photo? Yes. 1.0 Would someone use this? Yes. 1.0 Did I enjoy making it? Yes but this was a hard on my hands and finding that spot for the puff stitches was a little annoying. 0.75 Total 4.25 This booklet by Coats & Clark was published in 1953 to promote their Speed-Cro-Sheen thread. Speed-Cro-Sheen is roughly the same weight as Aunt Lydia's Fashion 3 Crochet Thread. In the balls that I have, the older Speed-Cro-Sheen is stiffer than the newer versions. The booklet has a variety of patterns, including hats, rugs, pot holders, and more. One of the rugs is featured on the cover.  They describe the hats as "light, travel-wise and washable" and say that there is no starching or sizing required. I attempted the Jeweled Pillbox hat in 2019 to wear to a 50s event and the hat process didn't go well. The brim seemed small, so I added rows, but I just couldn't get it to look like the photo, so I ripped it out.
I thought about making one of the bags, but I wasn't sure I had enough thread. The Carry-All was my favorite.
I also thought about the slippers, but wasn't sure I really liked these. The Hairpin Lace Belt is cute, though.
The next section comes with a little preamble, "Nowadays our homes sparkle with bold, clear colors, and we tend toward interesting textures in our choice of fabrics. To fit crochet to present-day preferences, we have created these striking new designs for you to make in Speed-Cro-Sheen." I'm not sure I'd call those colors bold, but maybe for 1953 they were.
The back cover had two casserole jackets and two different pot holders. For next week, I'll be making the red and white pot holders.  I decided to make this specific sacque because it was one of the few that wasn't done in thread. Let's dive right in.  The pattern suggests Chadwick's Red Heart Baby Wool, 3 ply, Shrink and Stretch Resist Finish, and a size D hook. To complete the entire set, you need 3.75 ounces of the main color and 0.75 ounces of the contrast color. You also need ribbon for the bow. I used Loops and Threads Woolike Fingering Weight yarn (now discontinued, which makes me a little sad) and a D hook. Woolike yarn is an acrylic fingering weight yarn, and I don't often see that. It was an easy substitute for wool yarn for baby items and was available in my local Michaels store. I bought some when they were phasing it out, but I've started to cut into my supply this year. It's now on my watch list for estate sales. They gave a gauge, and my swatch was a little bigger than their gauge. What this pattern and most of the other patterns in this booklet leave out of the descriptions is the finished size of the project. I didn't know if this would be newborn size or if it would fit a nine-month-old, so I wasn't concerned about being a little loose on the gauge. Even though the pattern is written in columns of text, it was easy to follow and fairly simple to make. The body is done in one piece, then the sleeves are added. There is a contrasting color border that they call "beading" around the neck, even though there are no beads involved. They have you make a bunch of the little flowers to go around the neck, but I decided to skip those. That seems like a thing a baby could tear off, and it involved a French knot in the middle. The ribbon is threaded through, and it's done. I used acrylic yarn, so I didn't block it.  The finished item is cute but very small. Under the arms, it's about 8.5 inches across, and the length is the same. The Craft Yarn Council says this should fit a 3-6 month old. This might be a county fair entry. We'll see what else I make before then. Scoring: Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes. 1.0 If there is a gauge, could I match it? Mostly 0.75 Does it look like the photo? Yes. 1.0 Would someone wear this? Yes, but for a very short time frame. 1.0 Did I enjoy making it? Yes, but I wish I'd known what size it would be. 0.75 Total Score: 4.5  Coats and Clark's Baby Book was published in 1951 and has 33 patterns, including edging and inserts. Twenty-two of the patterns are crochet. They range from baby sets to blankets to bottle covers to a few toys, including one very odd clown. The first photo below includes a fringed shawl, an interesting cat, a sacque, and baby slippers. The blanket in that photo is knitted, and the others are crocheted. The second picture has two knitted sweaters, two crocheted hats, slippers, and booties.
The dresses in the first photo below are adorable. The green one is crocheted, and the pink one is knitted. The blue set is crocheted, and one I almost chose for next week. The second photo has a carriage cover and a baby set. I'll make the little sacque in that photo for next week.
Here's the strange clown. I think it's the legs that are creeping me out a little. The bottle cover and bib are adorable, though. I love how they used satin to edge the pink crocheted blanket. The second photo has some lovely knitted tops along with a little bonnet, slippers and mitten set.
I also considered making the blue and white sacque in the photo below on the left or the orchid one on the back cover (below right). There are just so many cute baby jackets in this booklet. The green set is knitted, as is the yellow pullover.
Next week, I'll share the baby sacque I made from this booklet.
 Doreen Dolls was written by Nell Armstrong and published in 1951 by Doreen Knitting Books in Lowell, Massachusetts. Many other fiber publications from that era use a woman's name but are written by a man, but that isn't the case here. The only other biographical information I could find lists her birth year as 1915 (Nellie Cislo - she married Stanley Armstrong Sr.) and her year of death as 1994. She has a 1946 patent listed for knitting socks on two needles, and one of the books she wrote, called Two Needle Mittens, used the that method. I've found at least 18 knitting and crochet books listed with Nell Armstrong as the author. The booklet I have is Vol 102, so I might be missing a few in that count. The doll patterns in this book are for 8-inch plastic or character dolls, and the yarn used ranges from size 30 thread to sport weight yarn. I'm not planning on making any of these since I don't have an 8-inch doll to try it on.
The patterns above are made with bedspread cotton or all-purpose cotton. The hook used for the all-purpose cotton is bigger than the bedspread cotton so it's probably a bit heavier.
The three shown above are all made with size 30 thread and the rest are made with baby/sport weight yarn.
 Bridesmaids
Next week I have a book with all baby patterns and some interesting stuffed toys.
This Sultana booklet was published in 1951 and has patterns to make with their Beauty-Glo mercerized cotton yarn. Here's their description, "Exciting Sultana Beauty-Glo is a highly mercerized cotton yarn combined with non-tarnishing gold thread made by an exclusive process so that it can't unravel."  The booklet has a mix of crochet and knitting patterns: six lovely sweaters, a stole, two pairs of shoes, and two bags. The sizing on the inside page goes from size 12-20. Size 12 is listed as a 30-inch bust and size 20 is a 38-inch bust. Many of the sweaters have a more limited size range in the pattern. The cover is the only color photo of their projects. This one is called "Sparkle" and is crocheted with size options 12, 16, and 20.  The other two crocheted tops are Jewel and Sunbeam. Jewel has instructions for sizes 12-14. Sunbeam has sizes 14-18.
The three knitted tops are Gleam (14-16), Twinkle (16-18) and Glint (12-16).
I thought about making the crocheted bags or shoes, but they need bag forms or slipper soles.
This stole is also crocheted and with a fairly large hook to give it the lacy look.  I think these are beautiful projects, but I just couldn't pull off a sweater for the blog. If I ever decide to do one, it will be Sparkle (the one on the cover).
No post next week. I'll have the next post ready on February 28th. I've never really liked any of the crocheted slippers I've made. Even if I'm wearing socks, it feels like I'm walking on knots. I didn't expect more from these, but I decided to give them a try anyway. The materials given are four 1-ounce skeins of black Red Heart Knitting Worsted and 2 skeins of pink, along with a No. 5 (size F) plastic crochet hook. It also lists sequins and beads in the material list, but not the cardboard they want you to insert in the layers. There are instructions for three different sizes: small, medium, and large, with no clear notes on what those sizes correspond to. I went with medium. I used some Red Heart Super Saver in dark gray and light tan for the sole and Loops and Threads Impeccable for the upper part of the slipper. There is a gauge for both the sole and the upper that I was able to match.  The soles are done with two strands held together with a size F hook. This made a tight fabric but holding two strands together with a small hook can be frustrating and hard on my hands. There are four crocheted pieces for each sole. The top sole, bottom sole and two heel pieces.  The assembly for the soles has you sew the heel pieces together, then, "Cut a piece of cardboard slightly smaller than the Bottom Sole. Sew joined heel pieces in place on Bottom Sole, having cardboard between. Sew Top Sole in place." I had a hard time understanding this but Joel helped. In my head, the heels go on the bottom under the soles. In this case, the "heels" are between the two sole pieces. I also didn't want to use cardboard. I looked at some lightweight plastic sheets I had, thought about cork and ultimately pulled out some insoles that I wasn't using. I'm assuming the cardboard was meant to give it more structure and the insoles weren't really going to help much with that, but I didn't think the cardboard would help much either.  Making the soles was the most time consuming part of this project. The upper part was easier but there are some things I would change. The upper part is done in two pieces. First the part that goes over the toe that they call the "Instep" and then the "Back Piece" that goes around the back and overlaps the toe piece. I think I would make the toe piece a little longer, the back piece overlap a little less and have the back piece a little higher. The back piece is done to measure 1.75 inches but it seems short and there isn't a lot of structure in the side piece either so it's a little floppy.  Those heels are half an inch higher than the front of the slipper soles. This was probably elegant in 1951 but I'm not sure they needed to be higher.  I wear a size 7.5 in women's shoes, and these were a little too small and too narrow. It felt like my feet were spilling out over the sides. My guess is the medium would be 6.5 - 7 narrow. The large adds another inch to the length but no more to the width. Overall, I like the idea of these, and with some changes, it could work. I didn't try to wear them long enough to see if it felt like I was walking on knots, and there isn't enough space for an insert to soften that issue either.
Scoring: Is the pattern easy to understand? Aside from the assembly, yes. 0.75 If there is a gauge, could I match it? Yes. 1.0 Does it look like the photo? Yes. 1.0 Would someone wear this? Maybe. Does anyone wear a size 7 narrow want to try? 0.75 Did I enjoy making it? Sort of. I liked the idea, but it was hard on my hands. 0.5 Total score = 4 out of 5 Coats & Clark's Quick Tricks in Crochet was published in October 1952. It has 31 patterns, including small accessories, household items, and toys. Several full-color pages showed photos of all of the patterns. The cover image below features a rolling pin cover, potholders, a heart napkin holder, and a set of blue-and-white hot plate mats, along with a matching napkin holder. I thought about making the pot holders, but ultimately, there was something else in the booklet that caught my eye.  The first photo page inside the book shows the finished items for the curtain edging (on both the curtains and the towels), a grape doily, and a blue chair set. The grape doily is a classic pattern, but at this point, I'm wondering what they mean by "quick".  The second photo page has three different versions of slippers (I'll be attempting the pink ones for next week), two soap holders (oval and plaid), and a "deep cloche". It also has a nice photo of the yarn and thread used in the patterns.  The third page has two moth disk holders (the red and yellow round projects), two bibs with edging, three covers for hangers and some sachets (the yellow sunbonnet and blue picture hat). These all look like they would be very quick projects.  Here's another instance of me questioning what they mean by quick. The ballerina, cowboy and, Josephine dolls are cute but there are a lot of parts including the adorable cowboy hat.  The back cover has several different glass covers (definitely quick) and a cute apron (probably not so quick). I thought about making a few of the glass covers, but I really wanted to try at least one pair of slippers or shoes this year.  Next week I'll share how the slipper project went!
Gay and Gifty Crochet Ideas was published in 1951 by the American Thread Company, and I'm pretty sure every pattern in this booklet is done with thread. I thought about making something from this booklet, but everything that wasn't done with very fine tatting thread seemed more complicated than I could do in a short period of time.  The pansy handkerchiefs are done in tatting thread, and the doll clothes are done in size 30 thread. The classic Rose Doily is worked with Pearl Cotton size 5 and the pattern for the carnations uses No 10 size thread along with flower wire.
I thought about trying some of the flowers. There are three corsages below: apple blossom, chrysanthemum, and daisy, plus a few carnations. The apple blossom corsage is made with tatting cotton, the daisy corsage is made with size 30, and the chrysanthemum is made with size 10 thread.  The tea cozy below might be the only thing that isn't made in thread. That uses worsted weight yarn. They snuck a knitting pattern in; the corn pot holder below on the right.
The laundry bag is made from a washcloth edged in thread. The top of it is an embroidery hoop covered with ribbon. I'm not sure how many people would use a hosiery hanger these days, but this could be used for other lightweight things you want to hang dry or just store this way, unless you have a cat. Or maybe this is the perfect cat toy!  For this week, I have the Violet Ensemble. This is intended to fit an 11 1/4" fashion doll. They suggest using fingering or nylon yarn, 3-ply in violet, and a small amount of purple for the trim, along with a steel crochet hook size No. 1. They provide a gauge of 5 single crochets and 6 rows equal to 1 inch.  I tried fingering weight yarn but couldn't get the right gauge with a 2.75mm hook. I went up to a sport weight yarn that seemed a little heavier than most sport weight yarn and managed to get closer to the gauge. I used Dive Washed-Out Jeans for the jacket with some Unger Fluffy for the trim. I made the dress out of some scrap yarn I had that was on the lighter side of sport weight. This is what the main pieces looked like before they were sewn up and the trim added. It's easier to see their sleeve method on the lighter colored dress. You fold it over and sew the tops of the tabs that are next to each other together. The V in the middle is the neckline and you run the seam up the back.
Here's the finished look. 
This particular Barbie's hair made it difficult to work with the hat, and I think the trim was supposed to go all the way around the hat, but it sort of works. The dress was pretty tight, even though I added an extra stitch to it. The fit of the jacket came out ok though.
Here's the scoring: 1. Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes 1.0 2. If there is a gauge, could I match it? Not with their suggested yarn, but I did find one that came close. 0.5 3. Does it look like the photo? Aside from color and appliques, yes. 1.0 4. Would Barbie wear this? Yes 1.0 5. Did I enjoy making this? Yes. It was pretty simple once I was able to get the gauge right. Their method for the arms was a little different from what I'd seen before, but it worked. 1.0 Final score 4.5 McCall's Fashion Crochet was published in 1965; however, it has patterns that were published between 1951 and 1965, so I'm including it in the 1950s group. This booklet includes patterns compiled from other McCall's sources in what I believe is supposed to be a progression of increasingly difficult patterns.  The booklet starts out with basic instructions on how to crochet and then begins with doll patterns. They show that the outfits are made from basic shapes that are sewn up in ways to make them clothing or bags. This seems like an excellent place to start.
Once you move past the doll clothes, the next project is a cardigan. Still working with some basic shapes, but on a human-sized level. Here, they show what a difference in the type of yarn can make. The one in front is crocheted with mohair and a fingering weight yarn held together and the back one is made in wool.  The next few projects are also sweaters, but they've added detail, like collars and pockets.
After the sweaters, the projects get a little more complicated and require sewing skills since many of them have a lining sewn in. The pink jacket uses 3000 sequins and 3000 crystal seed beads. The beads and sequins are added after the jacket is assembled. The white Shell Stitch Ensemble is beautiful and uses nylon net on the inside of the pieces probably to keep it from losing it's shape along with an additional lining. The instructions for the lining are, "Assemble lining. Insert lining in coat."
There are similar directions for the lining of the Pink Ribbon Dress and the Lace-Panel Dress, but the Striped Sailor Dress skips the lining.
This gorgeous evening coat uses a brocade lining, and while the crochet part might be good for beginner crocheters, I think you'll need some advanced sewing skills for the lining.  Shell Evening Coat These pullovers don't have a lining and seem like they'd be a little easier than the coat to make.
Now that we've made our way through the clothing, they toss in a few blankets and a little clutch to finish things off.
 Sequin Eyeglass Case and Bag For next week, I'm making one of the doll outfits.
The 1950s. Silly Putty goes on sale; we have the Baby Boom, the Red Scare, and the Civil Rights Movement. Rock and Roll was the new sound, and the Golden Age of Television started. I have somewhere around 550 patterns from the 1950s in my library. Of those 550 patterns, 52 are potholders, 87 are doilies, and another 60 are runners, placemats, or tablecloths, most of which are made with thread. Because so many patterns are for items we have seen a lot of or are too large or complicated to make in a week or two, I may move to the 1960s about halfway through the year. I have roughly the same number of patterns from the 60s, but they get more interesting as we move into the 60s and 70s. For our first pattern book of the 1950s, I have "Butterflies in Crochet". This was published by the Spool Cotton Company in January 1951. The cover is below. There is a chart inside to identify the specific butterflies on the cover and the back cover. They say the big one is Myscelia Orsis from Paraguay.  There are eleven patterns in the book that incorporate butterflies into them. I won't be making any of these. The hat and gloves below are made with size 30 thread, and the butterflies appliqued to the blouse are done in size 70 thread. Many of the patterns are a variation of the blouse where butterflies are appliqued to a handkerchief, tablecloth or a bedspread.
These shade pulls were kind of cute but they're also made with size 70 tatting thread.  Even the doily and the luncheon set below are done with size 30 thread. I know I could have tried them with a heavier thread, but there are more patterns out there that I would enjoy more, so I passed on these.
Next week, I have a book on "Fashion Crochet" to share, and I'll make something from that book. Happy New Year!
These are the ten patterns that scored 3.25 out of 4.0 or lower, starting with the highest scores and moving to the one I rated as 2.25 out of 4. Most of the potholders are in this half. They just weren't turning out that well for me this year. 10. Hit or Miss Potholders - 3.25 This was a set of potholders - some of them were hits and some misses. 9. Shooting Star - 3.25 This was the baby toy that looked like a medieval weapon. 8. Potholder Nov 1948 Workbasket - 3.25 The lack of stitch counts on this one dropped the score, and mine was pretty wavy. I'd really hoped this could be a fair entry, but it does make a nice pot holder anyway. 7. Chicken from Victory Barnyard - 3.00 Even though this is in the bottom half of the list, it is my favorite project. The directions were written in an unusual way that made them a little more difficult to understand. It's my favorite because it went to my mother-in-law when she was in the hospital as an emotional support chicken. It's back home with me now and is a lovely reminder of how much she loved and supported my crochet hobby. 6. Potholder 9436 - 3.00 This was frustrating to make, and the chains didn't quite line up like the picture. We do use it, so that's something. 5. Medallion from August 1948 Workbasket - 3.00 The pattern wasn't written well, and I didn't like what I ended up with. 4. Rosie Apple Potholder - 3.00 I marked this down a little in all categories. 3. Turnip Potholder - 2.50 This is almost completely useless as a potholder, and it didn't look that much like the illustration. 2. Potholder 9491 - 2.5 Even though I scored this so low, it's one that I use every day for my coffee. Probably because I don't care if I stain it. It was much smaller than I expected, the directions could have used some stitch counts, and the pattern wasn't very clear. 1. Filmy Charm - 2.25 I started the year with two patterns that scored 4.0 and ended with the one that I rated the worst.
It's time for the best and worst projects of the year. Over this last year I made 21 patterns from 1911 to 1950. Here are the projects that I rated at 3.5 out of 4 or better in ascending order. 11. Black-Eyed-Susan Doily - this was rated at 3.5. I marked it down a little because the instructions for joining the motifs weren't as clear as they could have been and it's a lot of threads to weave in for each motif. 10. Indian Circle Pot Holder - this 1947 pot holder had some issues with instructions and it didn't quite look like the photo but it turned out to be a useful pot holder. I rated this as a 3.5. 9. Curtain Tie-Back - I rated it at 3.5. There was no photo and the gauge for a chain was a little odd. 8. Petal Star Doily - I had to use the photo as a follow up to the instructions. This went to the county fair and won third place. I rated it at 3.75 7. Small Doily - 1946 rated at 3.75. I marked it down only because it was hard to read. This also went to the county fair and won third place. 6. Little Mother Dress - rated at 3.75. This won first place in Infant Garments. It got marked down a little because there was no gauge. 5. Tiny Soft Shoes - rated at 3.75. Won first place in Footwear and only got marked down because I don't love making the second shoe/sock/etc. 4. Petite Pinafore - rated at 3.75. Won first place in the Child Garment category. The gauge was odd for this one so it was marked down. 3. Button - The first project of the year. It was pretty simple though hard to see for a tiny button. I rated it at 4.0. 2. Baby Sachet - This was the second project of the year and I rated it at 4.0. They did a good job of describing a star stitch and it was an excellent use of some scrap yarn. 1. Fawn - From a 1947 Workbasket Magazine, I rated this one at 4.0 too. It really required me to have faith in the pattern because it didn't seem like much at first but turned our very cute.
Next week - the lower half of the patterns and my personal favorite.
 The potholders in this booklet all have options for two different weights of yarn; Star Cotton Yarn using a size E hook and Heavy Rug yarn using a G hook along with six strand embroidery thread (that they don't give you a hook size for). I used worsted weight acrylic for the apple part. For my first attempt at the leaf, I tried some cotton thread and ended up with a leaf that was a little too big.  My second attempt at the leaf with the embroidery thread was better, I also dropped the hook size down to a size C. Crocheting with embroidery thread is a little bit challenging because it's very loosely plied and easy to split. The front of the potholder was pretty easy to do. It's worked bottom up with increases and decrease to achieve the apple shape. The yarn is cut half-way across the top and restarted on the other side leaving the middle stitches unworked to get the little divot by the stem. What they called the "undersection" was little more challenging and seemed to be missing something.  Finished front of Rosie Apple The back or "undersection" starts out the same as the front starting from the bottom for the first 19 rows, then you do two rows that skip a section to set you up to do the thumb following the directions on the page with the illustration of some version of one of their potholders. You finish it by crocheting the two sides together.  Thumb directions This is all pretty straightforward but I ended up with a potholder that doesn't look like the one above.  I knew I could fix this by crocheting a few more rows after the set up for the thumb hole but I wanted to do it as I thought it was written. I swear I re-read that section a number of times because I didn't understand how I could be missing half of a potholder and didn't notice until I started writing this post that after row 21 (the set up row for the thumb opening) it says "Work remaining rows same as the front section." That would give you a much safer potholder than what I show above. Here's my un-safe finished version:
Scoring:
Is the pattern easy to understand? 0.75 A hook size would have been nice for the embroidery thread and having to go to a completely different section for the very short thumb directions is a little annoying. Does it look like the photo? 0.75 Yes but only because it only shows the front. If they had shown the back better on any of the potholders (the illustration wasn't very helpful) maybe I wouldn't have missed the rest of the back. Would someone use this? 0.75 Not as I made it but maybe if it had a full back. Did I enjoy making it? 0.75 Mostly. Total Score: 3.00 When I first looked at this leaflet the "pocket" part didn't really register with me since it isn't very visible in the cover photo. In theory, you could easily make these without the pockets. I sort of assumed the pocket was where you put your hand and I was mostly right.  The cover photo has many of the potholders; the strawberry right up front is a classic and the perky pig in the upper right is kind of cute. I thought about making the pansy under the word "Pocket" or maybe the cute duck at the bottom right. Some of them are a little odd looking though. The gingerbread boy by the duck looks more like the ghost of a small child and Freddy frog looks like he lost at Frogger. There were three that weren't on the cover. These two are called American Modern and Rice Puddin' 'n Raisins.  The American Modern looks like a good way to use up scraps. The Rice Puddin' version just looks like a mess to me. I decided on the Rosie Apple for next week. At this point you may be wondering where the pocket is. The directions for the thumb has the only illustration that shows the pocket. Find out next week what the pockets really look like.
Last week I said I was going to try one of the pineapple squares for this week's pattern. Somewhere in the first few rows the directions stopped making sense and I gave up and tried a different pattern. That one also had issues that I couldn't get through so I moved on to a third pattern. I already had the size 30 thread out and wanted to try using it so I ended up attempting the coaster from this set.  The pattern asked for size 30 thread and a size 13 hook. I didn't have a size 13 (0.85mm hook) but I did have one that said it was a size 12 and 0.75mm. The chart I have has a size 12 hook at 1mm so obviously there is some variation. I could have used the tool I have to measure but I thought 0.75 was close enough. I struggled with the "filmy" nature of the thread paired with a very lacy pattern and if I really wanted to try this again I might block it after the middle section to make it easier to handle and find the loops. At about round nine I noticed that I had too many chain sections on one side and had no idea how it happened. There was no way I was starting over so I bridged the gap with some chains and moved on. Much like the other patterns in this book, the directions weren't terrible but they weren't great. Here are some examples;
I think this could be pretty but filmy is a very good description of this. This is so light and delicate that it has no ability to perform any protective duties a coaster would normally handle.
Is the pattern easy to understand? 0.50 I don't think I'll ever try anything from this book again and will probably get rid of it. Does it look like the photo? 0.75 Mostly. My blocking wasn't great plus the mistake means it doesn't quite match. Would someone use this? 0.50 Maybe? I don't think it's a good coaster for something that might sweat. You could put a decorative item on it though. Maybe you put on top an actual coaster to make it prettier. Did I enjoy making it? 0.50 When I started I was enjoying it but by the end of it, I was over the tiny yarn, hook and floppy mess of thread I was dealing with. Filmy = yes. Charm = not so much. Total score 2.25. The lowest rating of the year. Next week we're back to potholders and done with thread for a bit!  Just like last week's booklet, the projects from Crochet County Fair have been favorited multiple times on Ravelry. There are thirteen designs in the booklet and all of them are done with thread. Most with size 30 thread. There aren't many of these that I would do for my county fair but there were a few that looked like they would be interesting. The Breakfast Table set (first row - right side) is done in two colors. It's the one that I wish was on the cover in color. The rug looked interesting until I realized it was done in thread with 3 strand held together. It might be a possibility if I can adjust to a different cotton yarn. The potholders way at the bottom of the photos are the ones I'm mostly like to make for a fair entry.
 Hot Plate Mats - Thread size 10 For next week I thought I'd try one of the pineapple squares from the Vanity Set from the first row of photos. They suggest size 30 thread but I will be using something a little bigger. |
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