Crocheted Pansy Hot Dish Mat

This calls for size 20 threads, an 8 or 9 hook and an 8 inch asbestos mat.  Well, we don't use asbestos mats anymore, but one can use the round cork mats sold in the garden section for use under potted plants. Or, using thick cotton or wool, crochet a circle in coordinating background color. As this is meant to be used on a table, using a synthetic wouldn't be too bad, but synthetics would compress with heat and break down too fast and also conduct heat far more that natural fibers, so wouldn't really be the best choice with a truly hot dish.  Wouldn't this be cute with a traditional pansy teapot?

UPDATE:  RosesNLace  at Ravelry has made this as a lovely doily with slight variations.

"Daisy Interlude" Crochet Scarf / Runner

This has a lot of rustic charm.  From Work Basket, May 1955.

 17 x 42 inches if worked with size 30 thread and #12 hook.  Or use larger thread and make fewer motifs.  For the small motifs, one needs to crochet 186 each of the small squares and daisies, and sixteen of the large motifs. I've never done filet.  I made a few of the small motifs with #30 DMC Cordonnet and a #12 hook, but they won't come out square.  I normally work rather firmly, maybe I just need to do trebles instead.

Click here for instructions in PDF.

A Glistening Pink and Silver Salad ?!

Submitted for your entertainment...
Here is a recipe from The Work Basket magazine, May, 1955.  I remember eating lots of aspic salads when I was a kid, usually a tomato juice mold with lots of vegetables embedded throughout served on an enormous bed of lettuce from the garden. Maybe it was the dollop of mayonaise or the home grown lettuce but I loved them all!  My mother even used to make a small container of aspic for my school lunch. When I looked at this I thought, "might not be bad with some anchovies".  Just goes to show what a person remembers fondly from childhood.... Click on the photo for the very large version.  The other recipes on the scanned page are simple classics. Enjoy!