Italian Dish Knits

I promised you guys I would post the pattern for the grey crochet squares I’ve been making and I am going to do that next.  But first, I wanted to post about how to make a Magic Ring to begin each crochet square.  It makes the center of your squares look a little nicer, so I feel it’s worth doing.

If you have ever crocheted, most patterns have you start out by chaining a few stitches and then joining them into a ring. But when you do it this way,  there is always a gaping hole in the middle and it just doesn’t close up.  Not good.  If you start your project by doing a Magic Ring, you can cinch it up tight and it looks great. Let me show you the difference:

Circle made using a regular chain 5 loop joined with a slip stitch – notice the gaping hole in the middle

Circle made with Magic Ring. No gaping hole in the middle!

I made a little video to show you how to do this.  Once you get the hang of it, you do it without thinking.  So try it a few times – the results are worth it.

Well, I’m still here.  Although it was summer and I was fitting in other things like gardening and golf, I was still doing some needlework.  I’ve been working on this grey crochet throw for months now, making all these squares to join. It’s been really enjoyable and I had to teach myself how to crochet and read crochet patterns to do it and I’m so glad I did.  Although I’m a huge knitter, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed aspects of crochet – one needle (hook) and no tinking!  Tinking is knitting backwards, when you make a mistake.  You don’t have to do that with crochet – mistakes are so much more easy to deal with.  I am missing my knitting needles, though, so I may have to pick up a knitting project before this throw is finished.

On the one hand, I’m sad that it’s fall but on the other hand there will be much more time for knitting and crocheting.  I love the fall weather and I even kind of like raking leaves.  I hate the heat and I wait all summer for this kind of cool October weather, with dry air and sunshine and cool temps.  My kind of weather.  Perfect for golf.

We’ve eaten the last of the sweet corn around here. A bit of a letdown. Signs of fall are everywhere. Everything involves pumpkin.  I made Jen’s fabulous version of Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Frosting.  It was amazing.

I’ve been doing the Kitchn Cure, daily assignments of things to organize, declutter, clean and refresh your kitchen.  It’s so great.  Sometimes you get desensitized to the disorganization right in front of you. I like my kitchen/freezer/fridge a little more now.  I really did reorganize my pots and pans and clean out my pantry.

We are starting to do some campus visits for my youngest son.  We are going to be empty nesters at this time next year.  It was fun to be back at my husband’s alma mater for a campus tour. It really is a beautiful campus – it’s fun to see it through the eyes of my son.

I am going to be writing up and posting the pattern that I’ve cobbled together for this crochet square – some of  you have asked for it so I’m going to make a written version of it.  I’m also going to photograph and post how to make a magic ring – something that I think a lot of crocheters would like to know.  It took me a little while to get the hang of it, but I think I have a pretty easy version of it for you to try.