Accomplishments!

I have recently completed two projects I had set aside to knit the camisole.  The picture above is a single crochet cotton dish towel - the size I want it!  When I first started trying to make kitchen cloths, I went strictly by the pattern books.  Kitchen towels are supposed to be 12" by 15".  This is wonderful if you want something to show off, but not if you actually want to use the thing.  I decided to make one my way.

You will notice immediately that I fell into a common error.  I simply don't like having to count stitches on each row, but apparently this is necessary for a US 10 or smaller crochet hook.  You can see where I lost some stitches and worked to regain them.  The bottom of the cloth is 17" wide and the top is only 15", despite my best efforts to add back stitches.  I didn't go back and unravel the errors, since all I wanted was a towel for my own kitchen.  I'd really rather spend all my crochet time thinking of science fiction plots and possible Examiner.com articles, but apparently I'll have to break down and count when I use the smaller hook.

  This is the second tote bag I've made, and I've just listed it for sale on Peaypatch.  Here I decided to use chunkier yarns than I had tried before; only the handles are crocheted with two threads at once.  The back, bottom, and sides are done in the hefty Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn, while the front is done in a somewhat lighter weight Deborah Norville yarn.  I didn't have any stitch counting problems using the US 16 crochet hook.  The bottom, sides, and handles, of course, are narrow pieces made from a 6 or 8 chain.  I sewed the pieces together using a yarn needle and my inestimable needle threader.

The bag I made earlier has been with me to the public library.  I figure a bag sturdy enough to handle library books is sturdy enough to sell to the public.