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The Bear won by five votes. People on Facebook had more votes for the pillow but on Ravelry and Instagram they wanted the Bear more. If this goes as fast as I think it will, I’ll make two of them. The first will be in a worsted weight and the second in a DK weight. I have some Big Twist Premium Value yarn I bought on sale at Jo-Ann’s in Gingerbread for the worsted version. I'll use Sensations Cuddle (a discontinued yarn) in a light brown for the smaller version. Cuddle is a size 3/DK yarn. Instead of using fabric or felt for his eyes, I’ll just use safety eyes. Both of these brands are from Jo-Ann's Tayla was kind enough to hold the yarn while I took a photo:  I'll have updates on the pattern in a week or so!
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Ronald Reagan was president and everyone was looking forward to the royal wedding of Charles and Diana in July. The series finale of Charlie’s Angels played that month. Dallas was the top rated show followed by Dukes of Hazzard and MASH. The June top 40 charts included some of my favorites then; “Medley” by Stars on 45, “Take it on the Run” by REO Speedwagon, “America” by Neil Diamond, Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield, and “The One That You Love” by Air Supply. Noble House by James Clavell was the top selling fiction hard cover book. The mass-market paperback top sellers included Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon and If There Be Thorns by V.C. Andrews. The June/July 1981 Workbasket Magazine offered up patterns to crochet, knit, tat and stitch for bazaars and put a photo on the cover that included every pattern in the issue.  The recipe section is sponsored by Marion-Kay, a spice company that still exists though it seems like it’s primarily used in restaurants. That section includes Creole Corn, Sugar Cream Pie (which is really sugar, flour, whipping cream, cinnamon and a pre-baked shell) and Coconut Butter Sticks. There were five patterns to choose from and I narrowed it down to the Waffle Stitch Pillow which has cross-stitching as an embellishment or the Bear in Crochet. The Waffle Stitch Pillow uses four ounces of 3-ply sock and sweater yarn. There’s no gauge given for the pillow. This might be a DK weight but since it’s a pillow it won’t really matter. The Bear uses 2 ounces of worsted weight yarn, small amounts of non-woven fabric for eyes and a narrow ribbon for the neck tie. So will it be the Waffle Stitch Pillow or the Bear? Comments are not working on the blog at the moment. Apparently it’s a known issue and they can’t tell me when it will be fixed. You can comment on my Instagram post or my personal Facebook page if you’re a friend or find me on Ravelry as aronningen..
I only have 4 years of Workbasket for June; 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1981. Since there are so few for this month it’s a good month to show how I narrow down the options to just two for you to choose from.  Here are the backs for those years:  I page through the magazines and set aside any that don’t have two choices that meet these basic criteria:
Now we’ll narrow down the June choices: June of 1976 has five crochet patterns but four are garments. 1976 is out. 1978 has four patterns and only one is a garment. 1978 stays in the running with Hat and Bootees, Round Crochet Doily and Napkin Rings. 1979 has three choices but two are garments and the other is a diaper bag. 1979 is out. 1981 was for both June and July and has five options. There were no garments in this issue but two patterns (the tree skirt and the very large muffler and scarf) look like they’d take more than two weeks. That still leaves three from 1981; Waffle Stitch Pillow, Ruffle Pillow and Bear in Crochet. Next week: 1978 or 1981? I started and finished the capelet at a craft retreat in Wisconsin the first weekend in May. The pattern went very fast especially when I had fun people to talk to and the perfect background music including:
About the pattern: The pattern is double crochets with v stitches placed at even intervals. It’s only 14 rows and the v stitches are where the increase happens. About the materials: The pattern called for 14 ounces of 4-ply worsted weight yarn and a size K crochet hook. I used Lion Brand Jeans in Stovepipe. Jeans is a soft yarn that may be lighter weight than the one they used even though it’s worsted weight yarn. How it went: I started out following the pattern as written. The pattern has in big bold letters, “TO SAVE TIME, TAKE TIME TO CHECK GAUGE” so after about 5 rows I did. The pattern lists the gauge as “1 dc row equals 1 inch” but my dc rows were 7/10 of an inch. At that rate, I’d end up with a 10 inch long capelet instead of a 14 inch one. That seemed a bit short, even for me. I had a few options; use a bigger hook, change the stitch or do more rows. I didn’t bring a bigger hook with me so that option was out. I thought if I did more rows it might get more ruffly than I wanted it to be so I went with changing the stitch. I pulled out the five rows and started over. After doing a few rows of triple crochets I confirmed that those worked perfectly with the pattern gauge. How it turned out: This will be perfect for work when it gets cold at my desk from the air-conditioning. I wondered why the one on the model was so much longer so I counted their rows in the photo. They had 16 rows instead. This would be pretty easy to adjust for different lengths. I skipped the tie at the neck. I toyed with the idea of adding two buttons with a chain but it sits across my shoulders pretty well so I don’t think it’s necessary. It would be a great way to dress up the pattern though!  What I learned: Check your gauge! I love the Lion Brand Jeans yarn – it’s so soft! Pictures are deceiving in vintage magazines, especially black and white ones. Let’s not let that hold us back from trying them especially in the newer yarns. Next week I'll get the choices for June up here and on Facebook and Instagram.
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