In the last two weeks or so, I found a pattern that called for a "No Turning Chain DC." Huh? What is this glistening gem of crochet cool? Am I the last to know about this? It looks so much better than a regular turning chain!
I can't really explain how to do it but HERE is a link to the Youtube video I saw. I wish I had known about this eons ago. It looks so good and there are no weird bumps at the ends of rows. You can also do this with TRC. I wonder if there's a way to work it with HDC?
I urge all you crocheters out there to watch this video and try it for yourself! I'm sure going to use it on all my projects now!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Summer Time
So summer has dropped like a rock here and all my crochet projects have been crushed under it. I really have no idea what to make for summer. I don't do lace work and I don't really like yarn that's smaller than worsted weight. So what's a girl to do? KITCHEN STUFF!
Yes! I dove into my sizable cotton stash and started making hanging towels. I feel one can never have enough hanging towels. It will be followed by a matching dish cloth and pot holder. Though maybe I should do the pot holder in wool. Seems like it would be better, yes? And because it doesn't stretch a lot, I also made a cupcake purse out of my brown and pink cottons. I'll get a picture posted when I get the zipper sewn in and decide if I want a cherry on top. I see most crocheted cupcakes have a cherry on top but to be honest, I've never seen a real cupcake in person with a cherry.
My train of thought got derailed for a moment there......The cotton I use for my kitchen projects is good old Lily Sugar 'N Cream. Lots of nice colors, the skiens are just the right size and it's pretty much all I can find here. I also make a lot of tawashi (scrubbies) in acrylic. I can hear the collective groan at the mention of acrylic but hear me out. It's tough, that's for sure, it doesn't hold water or promote bacteria, it's washing machine/dryer safe, there are tons of colors and it's cheap. But if you really dislike acrylic, you can always try to hunt down some Lily Sugar 'N Cream Scrubby yarn. This yarn looks like a terri cloth strip and is perfect for dish scrubbies. I love it and bought all I could find. I also traded for/bought some off Ravelry. It can be a little hard to work with, I won't lie, but to me the end result is well worth it.
As for my hanging towels, the pattern is really easy. I get a main color to start and work from the bottom up. I chain as many as I think would be a good width for the towel, plus 2. Then I DC in 3rd chain from hook, SC in next ST all the way across. It doesn't matter if you end on a DC or SC, just start the next row with the opposite stitch. So if you end with a SC, chain up and start the next row with a DC. You should end up with a DC in each SC and a SC in each DC. That will keep it from turning wavey. Then when I feel the towel part is big enough, I break off the main color at the end of the row and switch to my contrasting color. I do one row of SC then SC decrease on each side of the following rows until I have about 7 stitches left. Then I just go back and forth until I have a good size band that will wrap around my stove/fridge handle. I do the next row like this: SC in 2 st, ch 3, SC in last 2 sts. This makes the button hole, then I do one more row of SC all the way across and I'm done!
I hope you give this a try. It's super quick and useful too!
Yes! I dove into my sizable cotton stash and started making hanging towels. I feel one can never have enough hanging towels. It will be followed by a matching dish cloth and pot holder. Though maybe I should do the pot holder in wool. Seems like it would be better, yes? And because it doesn't stretch a lot, I also made a cupcake purse out of my brown and pink cottons. I'll get a picture posted when I get the zipper sewn in and decide if I want a cherry on top. I see most crocheted cupcakes have a cherry on top but to be honest, I've never seen a real cupcake in person with a cherry.
My train of thought got derailed for a moment there......The cotton I use for my kitchen projects is good old Lily Sugar 'N Cream. Lots of nice colors, the skiens are just the right size and it's pretty much all I can find here. I also make a lot of tawashi (scrubbies) in acrylic. I can hear the collective groan at the mention of acrylic but hear me out. It's tough, that's for sure, it doesn't hold water or promote bacteria, it's washing machine/dryer safe, there are tons of colors and it's cheap. But if you really dislike acrylic, you can always try to hunt down some Lily Sugar 'N Cream Scrubby yarn. This yarn looks like a terri cloth strip and is perfect for dish scrubbies. I love it and bought all I could find. I also traded for/bought some off Ravelry. It can be a little hard to work with, I won't lie, but to me the end result is well worth it.
As for my hanging towels, the pattern is really easy. I get a main color to start and work from the bottom up. I chain as many as I think would be a good width for the towel, plus 2. Then I DC in 3rd chain from hook, SC in next ST all the way across. It doesn't matter if you end on a DC or SC, just start the next row with the opposite stitch. So if you end with a SC, chain up and start the next row with a DC. You should end up with a DC in each SC and a SC in each DC. That will keep it from turning wavey. Then when I feel the towel part is big enough, I break off the main color at the end of the row and switch to my contrasting color. I do one row of SC then SC decrease on each side of the following rows until I have about 7 stitches left. Then I just go back and forth until I have a good size band that will wrap around my stove/fridge handle. I do the next row like this: SC in 2 st, ch 3, SC in last 2 sts. This makes the button hole, then I do one more row of SC all the way across and I'm done!
I hope you give this a try. It's super quick and useful too!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Some Of My Favorite Designers
My favorite designers are on Ravelry and Etsy. I mostly like amigurumi but fake food is another love. Don't ask, I don't know why. I've also gone on hat and scarf binges. Twinkie Chan is one of my favorites for scarves. You can see her blog here, her Etsy page here, and her book is on Amazon here. Her stuff is super cute and the patterns are very easy to follow. I've made myself the sushi and cookie scarves so far. I get so many comments on the sushi scarf when I wear it, it's so unique.
Another huge favorite is Ana Paula Rimoli. I have all 4 of her books now and everything is just so cute. Her latest book Amigurumi On The Go has some of my favorite patterns. I really love the lunch bags and whale duffle. And who doesn't need a jellyfish purse?
Other designers I like are Needle Noodles, Skymagenta and Melbangel. All can be found on Etsy, all worth taking a look at and all great to buy from!
Another huge favorite is Ana Paula Rimoli. I have all 4 of her books now and everything is just so cute. Her latest book Amigurumi On The Go has some of my favorite patterns. I really love the lunch bags and whale duffle. And who doesn't need a jellyfish purse?
Other designers I like are Needle Noodles, Skymagenta and Melbangel. All can be found on Etsy, all worth taking a look at and all great to buy from!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
I'm On A Roll
My Tiny Bunny Horde
My Bundrop prototype. The face was a little hard to get right but it wasn't my main concern.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Random Acts of Cuteness Part 2
This is a post for those who have found the little goodies I'm going to start leaving around. Please post your item's number, name (if it has one) and where you found it. Feel free to leave a comment about what you did with your found item :)
August 2nd 2013: My latest batch of buns are not named or numbered. It was too much to do 200 bunnies! By the way, for my buns abroad, they are made by hand in Aloha, Oregon, USA :)
August 2nd 2013: My latest batch of buns are not named or numbered. It was too much to do 200 bunnies! By the way, for my buns abroad, they are made by hand in Aloha, Oregon, USA :)
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Random Acts of Cuteness
I found a Ravelry group today called Tiny Bunnies Movement. The idea is that one would crochet (or knit) a tiny bunny and leave it in a random place like a park, office or train with a card saying "Take Me Home!" A random act of kindness to brighten someone's day.
I've been making these little bunnies while watching movies. I didn't get very many done but in my defense I was watching subtitled movies :) I plan on making a whole army and Bun Bun Bombing Beaverton! I'll leave them at stores and the library and restaurants. I just have to decide what I want to put on the cards I leave with them.
I'm also going to make some Cotton Rose Rings to leave around. I have some scented Lily Sugar'N'Cream cotton to use up. I was wondering what I'd use it for. Since I'm a yarn whore, I just got it without a project in mind. I made 2 of these rings the other day when I found the pattern.
The one on the left is regular cotton and the one on the right is rose scented. I'll put the scented ones (rose and lavender) in little zippy bags with a warning in case someone may be allergic.
I encourage you all to make many rings and hordes of bun buns to spread around.
I've been making these little bunnies while watching movies. I didn't get very many done but in my defense I was watching subtitled movies :) I plan on making a whole army and Bun Bun Bombing Beaverton! I'll leave them at stores and the library and restaurants. I just have to decide what I want to put on the cards I leave with them.
I'm also going to make some Cotton Rose Rings to leave around. I have some scented Lily Sugar'N'Cream cotton to use up. I was wondering what I'd use it for. Since I'm a yarn whore, I just got it without a project in mind. I made 2 of these rings the other day when I found the pattern.
I encourage you all to make many rings and hordes of bun buns to spread around.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The Crocodile Rocks!
A new stitch! Well, ok, not a new stitch but whatever. The Crocodile stitch has been around forever and has been the basis for many an ugly hat and misguided scarf. I never paid attention to it because the only examples I'd seen were hideous cloche/beanie hats and ugly small drawstring bags. While I'm sure these suit some people, they just are not my style.
Anyway, a few weeks ago on Ravelry I came across a pattern for a crocheted Alligator Handbag. It's unique, super cute and super easy (I bought the pattern and am in love with my bag)! While it's a creative take on the scales, it got me thinking about more scale-like scales on a bag. That's where the Crocodile stitch comes in, it's made to look like scales, duh. I went to Youtube and found some very helpful tutorials on this stitch and am pretty confident that I can make something that won't make my eyes bleed. So now I am attempting to make a dragon purse, very loosely based on the Alligator Handbag.
I will post progress pictures as I go and make a written pattern for it. So far I like the colors I chose and how the scales are turning out. I figured I'd break the scales up with a section of single crochet so it wouldn't look like those horrible drawstring bags I mentioned. Wish me luck, this is pretty much my first big project without a pattern.
Anyway, a few weeks ago on Ravelry I came across a pattern for a crocheted Alligator Handbag. It's unique, super cute and super easy (I bought the pattern and am in love with my bag)! While it's a creative take on the scales, it got me thinking about more scale-like scales on a bag. That's where the Crocodile stitch comes in, it's made to look like scales, duh. I went to Youtube and found some very helpful tutorials on this stitch and am pretty confident that I can make something that won't make my eyes bleed. So now I am attempting to make a dragon purse, very loosely based on the Alligator Handbag.
I will post progress pictures as I go and make a written pattern for it. So far I like the colors I chose and how the scales are turning out. I figured I'd break the scales up with a section of single crochet so it wouldn't look like those horrible drawstring bags I mentioned. Wish me luck, this is pretty much my first big project without a pattern.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)