My First Article on RVing Was PUBLISHED

I've been published! It's so exciting! Please go to this link and read my article on RVing.

Check out my recently published content on AC:

Buying Your First Motorhome or RV




Please look for more on this subject and other subjects, too. I am also writing an article for a brand new crochet ezine! I'll keep you posted and make sure you get the link. The first issue will be out real soon.



Meanwhile, I'm knitting and crocheting baby hats and blankets for my daughter's photography business (http://www.jennileephotography.blogspot.com) She's listed along the side, also, in my favorite web blogs. Unfortunately, silly me, forgot to take photos of my cute little creations. BUT, if anyone is familiar with Paton's Pooch yarn, it makes a really adorable baby blanket and we found mixing some green yarn in with the pink, makes it look like a bed of flowers. I'll try to get her to take a photo for you. Afterall, that's her specialty. From now on I'll try to remember to take photos.



I'll be back with news on the first crochet ezine and with the name and link for you when I hear from the editor.



This is an exciting month! However, it appears we won't be heading south in our motorhome this winter. Maybe next.



Till next time............

RVing Fulltime?? YES!! Have even more time to CROCHET!!

It has been quite some time since I last posted and there's a really good reason! We have been out in our motorhome having the time of our lives. If you ever have wanted to do this, you MUST give it a try. You really must.



Can you just imagine how much time you would have to crochet and knit if you were out RVing and didn't have to worry about the day-t-day things? You can crochet to your hearts content! You can crochet while "he's" driving, you can crochet while "he's" fishing! lol and you can crochet while "he's" watching that yet another war story on TV!! Can't even feel guilty having all that time to crochet!

Because of the gas prices we HAVE stayed close to home and instead of going out every weekend, we've stayed for a week at a time. Weekends are busy times for RV resorts and since we're retired ee can go anytime we'd like to go and stay as long as we want. The farthest we've gone from home is just under 70 miles.



As you can tell, if you've spent any time on my blog, that I have quite afew interests. I used to have and do a lot more but we downsized and our new house just couldn't accomodate all my crafting supplies! It was time to zero in on my most favorite ones anyway.



RVing in our motorhome has become our latest big interest. It was fun purchasing, if anyone has ay questions about that, just let me know, and has been fun fixing and cleaning and stocking. I'm full of ideas if anyone needs some help and have the save desires as we do. I know lots of web sites and links where you can get tons of informtion. We also renewed our resort membership with Coast to Coast which gives us lots of beautiful and not so beautiful resorts at a very low nightly fee.

Free Patterns Coming Soon !

Free Patterns Coming Soon !

Welcome to Free Patterns
On this page, you'll find some new Illusion, also called Shadow, knitting patterns. FREE For starters, here's a double diamond pattern that I designed and used to make a tote bag. The photo will be posted soon. It's a long pattern with over 100 rows so please, if you find any errors, let me know. Thank you for your interest and come back often as I'll be posting more later.
Here's a great tip: print out the chart and enlarge it if you need BUT put it in a page protector and use those dry markers to mark your pattern all you want. Keep track of the row your on, etc.

Enter your search terms Submit search form

Web
artsandcraftsdotcom.blogspot.com

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Illusion Double Diamonds

You may want to print the chart out and enlarge it a bit and use a highlighter to color every two rows starting with Row 3. So Rows 1 and 2 are not colored, Rows 3 and 4 are colored, 5 and 6 are not and so on. Always remember the first row of each color change is always a knit row.
I used knitting needles size 8 and worsted weight yarn. It measures finished: 16" wide X 18" long. I think for a firmer fabric, you should use a smaller needle.
CO 63 with color A in any cast-one you like. If you want it wider, cast on more but remember to add those stitches only at the beginning and the end of each row. I couldn’t add color to my chart so remember to start with row 1 and 2 which will be color A. Row 3 and 4 changes to color B.
This is a very long pattern with over 100 rows. I used to it make a tote bag. What I did was CO with color A but you could use either one just so you continue going back and forth between the two colors. If you have any question, please email me at kma2053@gmail.com
Have fun!!


CO 63 with color A (My color A was Navy blue and color B was Teal Blue)
**there was an error in row 92 on the chart but it's been fixed. Not super good but you shouldn't have any trouble.

Color A Row1: K63
Color A Row 2: First Pattern row K 16, P1, K 29, P1, K 16
Color B Row 3: K 63
Color B Row 4: P 15, K3, P 27, K 3, P 15
Color A Row 5: K 63
Color A Row 6: K 15, P 3, K27, P3, K 15
Color B Row 7: K 63
Color B Row 8: P 14, K 5, P 25, K 5, P 14
Color A Row 9: K 63
Color A Row 10: K 14, P 5, K 25, P 5, K 14
Color B Row 11: K 63
Color B Row 12: P 13, K 7, P 23, K 7, P 13
Color A Row 13: K 63
Color A Row 14: K 13, P 7, K 23, P 7, K 13
Color B Row 15: K 63
Color B Row 16: P 12, K 9, P 21, K 9, P 12
Color A Row 17: K 63
Color A Row 18: K 12, P 4, K 1, P 4, K 28, P 4, K 1, P 4, K 12
Color B Row 19: K 63
Color B Row 20: P 11, K 4, P 3, K 4, P 19, K 4, P 3, K 4 P 11
Color A Row 21: K 63
Color A Row 22: K 11, P4, K 3, P 4, K 19, P 4, K 3, P 4, K 11
Color B Row 23: K 63
Color B Row 24: P 10, K 4, P 5, K 4, P 17, K 4, P 5, K 4, P 10
Color A Row 25: K 63
Color A Row 26: K 10, P 4, K 5, P 4, K 17, P 4, K 5, P 4, K 10
Color B Row 27: K 63 (you’re one fourth of the way!!)
Color B Row 28: P 9, K 4, P 7, K 4, P 15, K 4, P 7, K 4, P 9
Color A Row 29: K 63
Color A Row 30: K 9, P 4, K 7, P 4, K 15, P 4, K 7, P 4, K 9
Color B Row 31: K 63
Color B Row 32: P 8, K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 13, K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 8
Color A Row 33: K 63
Color A Row 34: K 8, P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 13, P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 8
Color B Row 35: K 63
Color B Row 36: P 7, K 4, P 3,K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 11, K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 7
Color A Row 37: K 63
Color A Row 38: K7, P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 11, P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 7
Color B Row 39: K 63
Color B Row 40: P 6, K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 9, K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 6
Color A Row 41: K 63
Color A Row 42: K 6, *P 4. K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4*, K 9, knit one time more from * to * and end with K 6
Color B Row 43: K 63
Color B Row 44: P 5, *K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4*, P 7, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 5
Color A Row 45: K 63
Color A Row 46: K 5, *P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4*, K 7, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 5
Color B Row 47: K 63
Color B Row 48: P 4, *K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 5*, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 4
Color A Row 49: K 63
Color A Row 50: K 4, P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 5, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 4
Color B Row 51: K 63
Color B Row 52: P 3, K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 3
Color A Row 53: K 63
Color A Row 54: K 3, *P 4, K 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4. K3, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 3 ( Yeah, you’re half way!!)
Color B Row 55: K 63
Color B Row 56: P 4,*K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 5*, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 4
Color A Row 57: K 63
Color A Row 58: K 4, *P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 5*, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 4
Color B Row 59: K 63
Color B Row 60: P 5, *K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 7*, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 5
Color A Row 61: K 63
Color A Row 62: K 5, *P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 7*, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 5
Color B Row 63: K 63
Color B Row 64: P 6, *K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 9*, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 6
Color A Row 65: K 63
Color A Row 66: K 6, *P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 9*, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 6
Color B Row 67: K 63
Color B Row 68: P 7, *K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 11*, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 7
Color A Row 69: K 63
Color A Row 70: K 7, *P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 11*, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 7
Color B Row 71: K 63
Color B Row 72: P 8, *K 4, P 3, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 3, K 4, P 13*, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 8
Color A Row 73: K 63
Color A Row 74: K 8, *P 4, K 3, P 1, K 1, P 1, K 3, P 4, K 10*, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 8
Color B Row 75: K 63
Color B Row 76: P 9, *K 4, P 3, K 1, P 3, K 4*, knit one more time from * to * and end with P9
Color A Row 77: K: 63
Color A Row 78: K9, *P 4, K 3, P 1, K 3, P 4*, K 12, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 9
Color B Row 79: K 63
Color B Row 80: P 10, *K 4, P 5, K 4*, P 14, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 10
Color A Row 81: K 63
Color A Row 82: K 10, *P 4, K 5, P4 K 14*, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 10
Color B Row 83: K 63
Color B Row 84: P 11, *K 4, P 3, K 4*, P 16, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 11
Color A Row 85: K 63
Color B Row 86: K 11, *P 4, K 3, P 4,*, K 16, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 11
Color B Row 87: K 63
Color A Row 88: P 12, *K 4, P 1, K 4*, P 18, knit one more time from * to * and end with P 12
Color A Row 89: K 63
Color B Row 90: K 12, *P 4, K 1, P 4*, K 21, knit one more time from * to * and end with K 12
Color B Row 91: K 63
Color A Row 92: P 13, K 3, P 1. K 3, P 23, K 3, P 1, K 4, P 13
Color A Row 93: K 63
Color B Row 94: K 13, P 7, K 23, P 7, K 13
Color B Row 95: K 63
Color A Row 96: P 15, K 3, P 27, K 3, P 15
Color A Row 97: K 63
Color B Row 98: K 15, P 3, K 27, P 3, K 15
Color B Row 99: K 63
Color A Row 100: P 16, K 1, P 29, K 1, P 16
Color A Row 101: K 63
Color B Row 102: K 16, P 1, K 29, P 1, K 16
Color B Row 103: K 63
Color A Row 104: P 63
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Knitting and Crocheting

One of my biggest passions is knitting and crocheting. If you follow the link, it will take you to some of my favorite projects that have taught me a new technique almost everytime. There are so many many stitches and techniques to learn and I hope to bring many of them to you to try.

Keep your knitting and crocheting fun and exciting. For starters, I'll show you illusion or shadow knitting projects. I have several filet crochet projects along with baby patterns and many links to web sites for information and supplies.

Discover the Secret That Will Have You Knitting Brilliant, Timeless Designs in No Time At All – Even If You Have Absolutely No Knitting Experience Whatsoever! Knitting Essentials
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Patterns (coming soon)

FREE Crochet Afghan Bunny Pattern

Here's your free pattern! I am not very computer literate so I hope you're able to print this out at a decent size for you. There's really no need for any written instructions if you are familiar with crocheting. I do have the instructions written out but when I scanned them, they came out as a pd file which I can send you via email but can't figure out how to attach it here. So just let me know if you want the printed instructions.




Thank you for viewing. Don't forget to check out all my patterns in the archives.






home contact info Copyright © 2007 ArtsandCraftsdotCOM - an online creative place All rights reserved

Fiber Arts

These are two silk ties I made when I was doing silk painting.
The next photo is silk painted photo frame. I used a technique which I demonstrated on Aileen's Creative Living back in about 1998 or so. I used one of her glues as my gutta, which creates a fence so when you paint the silk, the paint doesn't flow outside the glue line. When I demonstrated this on TV, I used wood but this technique works well on most anything. I used very thinned out acrylic paint as I didn't need to keep the soft flow of the silk. Make sure you enlarge these photos by clicking on them to see a better view.


This one is called tapestry crochet which can be found and/or seen on www.tapestrycrochet.com
I used wool ease but it turned out quite soft and won't hold it's shape very well. I would recommend a smaller hook than a F, which is what I used. Wool Ease has wonderful color choices but if you check the web site, she also recommends size 3 crochet thread. You can find some nice colors in that thread, too, but all I could find were pastels. Then I believe you use a steel hook size 1. If you love felting, this technique is wonderful for felting also. Check the web site. I plan to create some of my own designs and will post them when I do.

I have anoter basket I crocheted but it's not quite ready for a photo yet.


Home Contact Info Copyright © 2007 artsandcraftsdotcom.blogsot.com An online creative place
All rights reserved.

My Original Acrylic Portrait Paintings

Another one of my favorite things to do is portrait painting. I hand paint the photo portrait on heavy watercolor paper or stretched canvases. I paint the portaits in values of black usually but can do any color. They look great set up on an art easel, also. They're best viewed from a distance but you have to move in close to check out what's going on.This particular one is of my Mother and her siblings. This photo was taken back in the 1930s.

This one is my Mother. Isn't she beautiful!? Reminds me of the movie Titanic. She was probably around late teens to early 20s in this photo/painting. This one in particular looks 100% better if you stand back so your eyes let the colors blend.
This one is of my Mother-in-Law when she was in her early 20s.

The next one is my Father-in-law obviously in his WWII uniform. It's fun to do other types of paintings as well.

If you're interested in having a photo painted of your loved one; Mom, Dad, Grandparent or favorite pet, let me know. They can be done on heavy watercolor paper and framed very nicely. Usually, I charge $89 for 11" X 18" on heavy watercolor paper. That includes shipping priority. ALSO, if you'd rather paint it yourself, I can easily create the pattern for you and you can transfer it to your own canvas and paint it yoursel!

Home Contact Info
Copyright © 2007 artsandcraftsdotcom.blogsot.com An online creative place

All rights reserved.

My Quilting Days

Don't forget to click on the photos to enlarge them!

These are the quilts I decided to make when I was in the quilting mood. My sister is a wonderful creative quilter and has been encouraging me for years to try it. My first attempt was this borgello quilt! That's me! Try the hardest thing first! This one has no handquilting. Sorry about the fuzzy photo. I'll try another one and change it later.

This quilt is the next one I made. It was a gift to my Mother for her birthday several years ago now. She just loved it. There's photos of us three kids and one of the house she grew up in and one of her and her mother. I always use large pieces and fabric with checks or stripes so I can

follow them easily when doing the hand quilting. There's no need to draw lines. All in all, my quilting experience was fun.

I have two twin size quilts I made using the crazy quilt technique......so easy. Not pictured here.

This is my latest quilt. I love birds so I used large blocks of the bird print and handquilted around the leaves and birds. It's framed with a red and black check and so is the back. Another very very easy fabric to handquilt since you can follow the lines!

One-of-a-Kind Purse/Tote Gallery

Click on each photo for more info

All my designs are copyrighted and not for reproduction without my consent. You may use my idea for your own use but not for resale. copyright 2008

Knitting and Loom Knitting

This is a little childs hat I knitted on a Knifter Knitter loom. It's for my friends little girl.

This next one is for my grandson. I haven't seen him for awhile so next time I do, I'll get a picture of him wearing it. Here he is wearing the sweater and mittens I made him for Christmas. Little kids are confused when you attach their mittens to string! Rememer your Mom doing that? I grew up in Minnesota and my kids in Monata so they knew why the mittens are on strings. Ethan is going on 2.

These are my wristwarmers knitted with needles not on a loom. The pattern was on the Net someplace.
This little hat was done with needles and is called the Julia Roberts hat. I added the fun fur instead of using regular yarn just to make it fun and match a purse I made.
This is a shrug made on the largest Knifty Knitter loom. It's hard to wear it and take a picture at the same time so I had to lay it down. It's made with a yarn I picked up at JoAnns without a label or at least I've lost the label but I do know it's got some wool in it.
I have lots of crocheted thing to post one of these days. So come back often.

More Tole Painting

Here's more tole painted items. I can't tell you how many roses I painted! Must be in the thousands by now. Along with the candle sticks, I painted switch plate covers, boxes, lamps, you name it. If someone wanted roses on it, I painted it! Don't forget to click on photos to enlarge.
This next one is the same roses but darker for the older Victorian style. I used a crackle on them.

These next little tiny clay pots were painted with daisys and used for ring holders for when you do your dishes and don't want your rings to get wet. They sold well!
This next item was a class I taught. It was the most popular project I taught! The class always oversold and was turned into two! It features lots of floating.
These cute little placks were made for baby or children. They were especially fun to make.


All my designs are copyrighted and not for reproduction without my consent. You may use my idea for your own use but not for resale. copyright 2008

Tole Painting

Make sure you click on the photos to enlarge and see the detail



Some of my tole painted designs were published some were not. This first photo of the lighthouse and fuzzy animals was not published as they are not my personal designs. But I sure enjoyed painting them.

This next one is the design I created to become a certified Craft Designer. I had to create the design and write the instructions. I used a wood box, acrylic paint, decoupage paper and polymer clay for the embellishments on the outside. I used thread and decoupagepaper to embellish the inside. I did pass the test!


Remember the craft show craze? I was right in there with the best of them. I created and sold many many tole painted items in bazaars from small to large! I consigned and sold on Eay! This is just one. I will post more later.




All my designs are copyrighted and not for reproduction without my consent. You may use my idea for your own use but not for resale. copyright 2008

Orange Boucle Acrylic Drawstring Purse

Orange Boucle Acrylic Drawstring Purse~Handwash or delicate cycle~Tumble dry low


This little handbag or really a wonderful little drawstring hobo bag is made with a wonderful autumn colored yarn that is a boucle acrylic yarn. It is fully lined and even has a little pocket on the front.

Shiping and handling will be USPS priority

PRICE: $ 19.99

Purse only
no pattern available
each purse is one-of-a-kind as it's designed as I knit






All my designs are copyrighted and not for reproduction without my consent. You may use my idea for your own use but not for resale. copyright 2008

Paper Mache

Click on the images to enlarge them to see the detail

I love working with paper mache but this type is a paper mache clay. It's called Celluclay and it's made by Activa. Here's a link to their web site: http://www.reuels.com/reuels/Activa_White_Celluclay_II.html

At one time I used their product for my design work and this is just one of the designs. I actually started wit a chunk of packing foam material that I think came with a new monitor. It was then covered with the Celluclay and when it was dry, I painted it with craft acrylic paints. I made three indentions in the top for the three candles; which are actually little clay pot trays.

The cute little Celluclay bowls were really fun to make. You can see that the one on the left has a crocheted wire embellishment on the outside and the one on the right has a crocheted thread embellisment on the inside. It also has little bone handles. I actually boiled my own chicken bones to use. I know that's weird but it's really done more than you think.


This guy is Celluclay over a cardboard box. I have to admit I went a little overboard with the rust medium but he doesn't look too bad. The face is a wood glue-on much like the medallions you can find at your craft store. I attached it to the box after the paper mache and had to use a caulking around the edge of the wood piece to fill in any gaps. He looks great out on your patio as would the first piece with the candles. Make sure you use a very good polyurathane varnish.

All my designs are copyrighted and not for reproduction without my consent. You may use my idea for your own use but not for resale. copyright 2008

Crochet Tote

Pretty little hand crocheted tote with Fun Fur trim and oodles of croched flowers and leaves on the front. The yarn is acrylic and the tote measures 10.5" X 10.5". Strap measures 11" X 2". It is fully lined with a 100% cotton floral fabric. Snap closure. Easy care: machine wash and dry.

Price: $14.99 Shipping: USPS Priority

All my designs are copyrighted and not for reproduction without my consent. You may use my idea for your own use but not for resale. copyright 2008

Teal Green Blue Illusion Knit Drawstring Tote

This tote is knitted using my own illusion knit pattern I call Double Diamonds. I used a combination of two acrylic yarns and crocheted the top ripple edge for the drawstring. Drawstring is adjustable and was crocheted. The tote measures approximately 18" X 13.5". The back and lining is a navy blue polar fleece fabric. Completely machine washable in cold water, dry low.

Price: $25.00 Shipping: USPS priority Click on photos to enlarge

All my designs are copyrighted and not for reproduction without my consent. You may use my idea for your own use but not for resale. copyright 2008