Idle Hands - Five on Friday

Idle hands are the devil's workshop. 

Remember that old saying? 

My Scots-Irish family was full 

of wonderful old sayings, 

mostly in my Grandmother's

and Mother's voices. 

If we were caught with nothing to do, 

or Heaven forbid - complain of 

nothing to do, we might very well

be admonished in this way 

and speedily given a chore. 

Mostly, not to our liking.......

So we tried not to appear 'idle'. 

I've been hearing these voices

from so long ago and trying to 

keep my hands busy. 

I've been thinking of all the dear loved 

ones from times gone by, 

as I work my idle fingers crocheting and sewing 

to pass these winter days. 

I've been doing what women (and some men, 

bless their hearts) have been doing

since the beginning of time - 

creating 'something out of nothing'

to make our homes a little more beautiful. 

Useful little things, but made to bring a smile

as we go about the sometimes weary, dreary 

chores of every-day life. 

Today I will share five of my 'Idle hands' creations

for Amy's 'Five on Friday' link party. 

Here, I've made some sweet little dishcloths, 

towels and a little blue scrubby pad - 

all gifts for a hard-working loved one

who deserves a little cheer. 

Here is another gift-set with a slightly different 

crocheted edging.

 (a row of single crochet and a second row

 of evenly spaced single crochet and chains).

You can make your own flowered dishcloth and scrubby

with the pattern books at this website....

marymaxim.com.

I've used Lily, Sugar'nCream 

and Lion Brand, Kitchen Cotton

for all the dishcloths and towel edgings. 

For the scrubby, I used Mary Maxim 'Scrub-It'. 

All yarns are 100% cotton. 

My latest project is a crochet edged pillow case

for a throw pillow that I've made out of vintage curtains. 

The edging is a shell stitch border. 

I first made 1/4 inch stitches around the edge of the pillow

with thin green crochet thread. Then added a row of

single crochet through those stitches. 

I used the same crochet cotton yarn as in the dish cloths

for the shell edging (directions below). 

The pillow case is 20 inches square and has a zipper for 

easy removal and laundering. 

I was nervous about installing the zipper, 

but it was easy! I just basted that seam 

together with large machine stitches,
(before sewing any other seams)

then pinned the zipper face down
 on the inside of the seam,

sewed both sides of the zipper in, then cut

the basted seam stitches and voila'! 

Can you tell I am proud of myself? haha! 

This pillow will go on my daybed in the kitchen.

I made these pillows for the daybed, too. 

I found the vintage heart crochet lace 

a couple of years ago at the thrift store. <3

I simply made a ticking pillow, 

then made a pillow-case out of white

cotton dish toweling. 

The result is so soft with a charming vintage style. 

I deliberately made the pillow-case smaller

than the pillow to allow the sweet ticking to peek out.

I'll share the daybed redecorating next week.

This is how it looks now.
I want to trade the winter plaid
for something more feminine and romantic. 

I've also been crocheting Valentine's hearts.

I can't tell you how much fun these have been
to create.

They have two sides with an opening at the top
to insert a little sachet of lavender
or a cotton ball with your favorite perfume.

This is a very old pattern I've had since I was
a new bride, many years ago :)

It was from an old needlework magazine.
I believe it was McCall's.

Here is the pattern that I wrote down
so long ago.....

If you are an experienced crocheter, this will be easy to follow.
If not, here are the abbreviations:
ch - chain stitch
sc - single crochet
sl st - slip stitch
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet
picot - decorative edge
Any good crochet how-to book will explain each stitch.

I will show you how I used these in my
Valentine's decorating next week.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my 'idle hands' creations
and that this inspires you to keep your
hands from idling too long, too!

I'm sure I could find something around
here for you to do!

xxxx

Today I am linking with:

Love Made My Home - Five on Friday

Won't you join the fun?