Yarn Over, Pull Through

Crocheting Yet Another Afghan

After taking 9 months to knit a whole afghan, I thought I'd be done with them, at least for a while.  But here I am again, making another afghan, but crocheting it this time.  Actually, it's done -- took me about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks to complete.   It was a gift for a friend of my daughter's.  I promised him one when his girlfriend took the afghan I'd made as a Christmas present for them with her to Amsterdam. 

I found the pattern on the Lion Brand website.  It's "Vanna's Choice Squared Afghan" (pattern no. 70201A).  As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to crochet it -- except, I didn't use Vanna's Choice yarn.  I stuck with Red Heart because I still had some yarn in my stash that pretty much matched the afghan colors.  Of course, I had to purchase MORE yarn to complete it, so I guess I'll always have a stash of some sort.

This was an extremely easy crochet project and an interesting one.  It's made up of 9 granny squares (3 x 3), using half double crochet.  But instead of crocheting 3 half doubles in the corners, you crochet a half double, a double, and a half double.  This creates an interesting square shape that's not quite square and doesn't lay flat.   You add 6 rows of half double crochet as a border, continuing with the corners as established.  I like to add a row of reverse single crochet as an edging on my afghans, and this one was no exception.

I think he liked it when I presented it to him (he said he did), but it's shorter than the one I made for the Christmas present, so I'm actually thinking about making him another one.  Plus, my daughter said the colors were "girlie," and I really didn't include his favorite color which is blue.  I was more concerned with using up my stash which I now think is impossible to do.

But it'll have to wait until I finish the one I'm now working on for my daughter's birthday.  This time, I'm just going to do 3 half-double-crochet corners, and I've included the colors SHE selected, something that will enlarge my stash even more because I'm having to guess at how much additional yarn I need.  I'm also going to add 3 more squares so that the piece is 3 x 4 squares instead of 3 x 3). 

I'll post it once I'm done.  I don't want her to accidentally see it here.  She knows I'm making her something for her birthday but, knowing her, she's probably figured it out.

Still Crocheting ... and celebrating!

I finally made it back to posting after about 3 weeks spent convalescing from a back injury.  No it wasn't that bad -- a rotated vertabra that pulled on a rib according to my chiropractor -- but sitting for long stretches at the computer was next to impossible.  So I mostly sat in front of the tv with an ice pack on my back and crocheted and knitted.  I have to admit, this downtime led to a bit of "I don't feel like doing anything" ennui, but the events of yesterday seem to have lit a spark under my "you know what" and got me back to posting.  More on that later.

I can't say I was totally unproductive during those 3 weeks.  I finally got around to felting the purple and yellow freeform purse I spoke about in early October.  I still have to line it and haven't decided on a fabric.  I think I have some in my "fabric stash" so I'll have to look at that at some point.  I think I like the unfelted version better, only because the colors seem to be a bit brighter.  But I crocheted it so loosely that it would never have functioned as a purse.  I think I'll make the next one with tighter stitches and might use some kind of fabric like muslin as an inner lining.  Oh, forgot to add that I felted this by hand.  I still have several projects that need machine felting -- hopefully I'll get to those soon.

Most of my recent efforts have been spent starting Christmas gifts.  This year's goal is to use yarn from my stash as much as possible.  And as I was tooling around on Ravelry, I found this cool "Biffer Shrug" that takes the place of those Swifter dust cloths that you have to keep buying.  There's also a Biffer Duster that I plan to make.  I think they'll go great with the dish cloths I'm making.  Both patterns are free and created by Krysten Lewellyn (aka "gherkin" on Ravelry).  Check out her Ravelry page for the patterns. 

I thought her ideas were so cool, eco-friendly, and really easy to make.  The main pattern stitch is front and back post double crochet, and you can make a shrug in one evening in front of the tv.

I have also decided to try my hand at Barbara Walker's Learn-To-Knit afghan.  I got inspired when I attended the Honolulu Academy of Arts Family Sunday a while back, and sat next to Teri whom I helped crochet the edgings around the squares she'd completed.  When you finish the afghan, you're supposed to know everything you need to know to knit well.  So I'm not in a rush to complete this project so I'll have an afghan.  I'm going to take my time and enjoy the process of building on my knitting skills.  And since it's gift making time, this project will probably be on my back burner for a while.  Check out my Ravelry page for photos.  My Ravelry ID is "HawaiiHooker."

Finally, I usually don't get political on this blog, but I can't resist saying HOORAY on the nomination of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the U.S.  Many Black people didn't think this would happen in their lifetimes, so I'm happy that many of us are alive to see it!  My Dad would have been so proud!  If you missed the speech, check it out on YouTube.

Hopefully, it won't take me so long to post again.

It's That time of the Year Again - Christmas 2008

Yep, time again to start making those Christmas gifts.  I decided this year to make small gifts -- much less headache, worry, stress and strain.  I did really big projects last year, and I had to rush to finish them in order to get them to the mainland in time for Christmas.  None of that this year.

So I found these easy-breezy dishcloths on Ravelry.  They're created using Lily Sugar n Cream cotton, worsted weight yarn.  The stitch is that alternating single crochet-half double crochet stitch I used in the  skirt project for my daughter that I made last year.  It's a versatile stitch, giving the dishcloth a nice, "scrubby" feel, if you know what I mean.

My goal is to use yarn from my stash, but I may get a couple more skeins of Sugar n Cream to vary the colors.  I have a mint green and lavendar that I'll use, but I was thinking of some yellows, too.

I have some gifts that I made a couple of years ago that I never used, so I may even fall back on some of those to send this year.   The big challenge will be finding something to crochet for men (I don't think "willy warmers" are gonna work for the men on my list).

I found more patterns when I searched "dishcloths" at Crochet Pattern Central and also dug out a dishcloth book that I remembered buying but have never used.  So I'll be making some more which I will post about soon, so stay tuned ...

Babette Laid Out

I can't believe I have finally got all the pieces of the Babette blanket laid out.  It's going to be a good sized afghan.  I will confess that I had to re-do several of the squares because I read the chart wrong.   That's what I get for trying to watch TV and crochet AND read a book during commercials.  Sometimes multi-tasking isn't as good as it sounds.

I've started stitching the pieces together.  Thank goodness for the pattern chart.  Makes it real easy.  I decided to use a whip stitch instead of the mattress stitch the pattern calls for.  Yes, some of the stitching shows, but there's so much color in this thing that you really don't notice it.  Also, I have to admit that the gauge on a lot of the squares is really off.  I had to re-crochet the last round of one square because it was so much bigger than the same-size square next to it.  So you can imagine that I've had to "finesse" a lot of the edges so all the pieces fit the way they're supposed to.  I'm thinking that once I've got the border on and I wash it, all the squares will just of fall into  place.

I just took a really good look at the photo, and I'm noticing that there's more turquoise on the left side of the blanket than the right.  Oh well, I've started stitching so no way am I going to redistribute the pieces.  I just want to finish. 

After I've got it all stitched up, I will crochet several rows of border.  Not sure which colors to choose and how many rows I'll make.  I'll make that decision when the time comes.

Yeehaw! I Finished the Squares!!

I can't believe I've finished all of the Babette Blanket squares!  (well almsot as you'll see below)

I finished the 8- and 10-round squares a couple of days ago.  I had already crocheted several 12-round squares at the very beginning of the project,  but I thought I would make 2 more according to the pattern.  I think I mentioned a while back that I assigned my colors to the letters in the pattern so I could follow the charts to make the 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-round squares.  I started one 12-round square using the chart, and I really didn't like the way the colors were turning out.  So I used 2 12-round squares that I had already crocheted intuitively or organically ... I don't know the right word to use.  Let's just say I made up the sequencing of colors for those squares.

Now the task is to lay them all out which I've started to do.  Again, I am following the schematic in the   pattern to lay the squares out, but I may fiddle with the arrangement once I get everything done to make sure it's totally pleasing to my eye at least. 

One thing I've found myself doing is more 2-round squares.  When I first started crocheting the blanket, I made up my own color sequences for the 2-round squares.  But when I started putting the squares together according to the pattern charts, I didn't have some of the color sequences, so I am having to crochet those.  Which is ok since it's only 2 rounds.

Another issue I'm noticing is that all worsted weight yarns aren't the same.  Depending on the brand and the dye used, some of the yarns are thicker than others.  So my squares aren't all the same size.  I'm hoping I can adjust for that as I start sewing those suckers up.

I'll post another photo when I get everything in place.  But I may fiddle with it a bit to make sure it looks good to me.  So stay tuned ...

The Big Babette is close to being done ...

... at least crocheting the squares.  I recently finished the 16 6-round squares, but, I'll be honest, I haven't begun work on the 8-round squares.  Only have 7 of those to do, then 2 10-round squares and 2 12-round squares. 

But it has been SO HOT here.  Yeah, I know, mid to upper 80s is nothing compared to the sweltering 100+ degree temps some parts of the country have been experiencing.  But when you have those cool trade winds blowing most of the time, it's a huge shock when they stop, even for a day, especially when you have limited or no air conditioning.

So maybe that's why I haven't felt like crocheting or knitting.  I have one portable air conditioning unit in the house  which I try not to use.  It's in the guest bedroom where I don't sleep.  Except, yesterday, I dragged my portable tv from my bedroom to the guest room, hooked up the cable so I could watch some tv, and cool off.  I also slept there for part of last night on the elite air mattress reserved exclusively for my special guests.  (Nothing but the best bedding for them, right!)  I'll probably spend time there for part of this evening as well.  Even though the trades have picked up a bit, the fan just isn't doing it.

Anyway, enough of my griping about weather.  Hopefully I'll crochet a square or two, or maybe I'll work on my fisherman's vest for the Christmas at Sea charity.  And I have this purse I want to crochet for my daughter's birthday - half felt, half freeform.  But I really want to get the Babette squares done soon so I can start putting it together.

Granny Square Sweater

Yes, I actually decided to make a sweater out of a granny square, something I never thought I'd do.  All those '70s granny square clothes drove me crazy.

So what made me actually consider such a thing?  No, the devil didn't make me do it,  A Lily Chin pattern that I found fiddling around on the 'Net one day (it's pattern # H003) did. It uses her Harlem LC Signature Collection yarn, and when I saw the vest, I knew I had to make it.  Chin combines two geometric shapes to create the vest back - a square, encompassing shoulders to mid back, and a circle, extending from the mid back to the bottom edge.  I thought this was SO cool, and I wanted to see how she combined the two shapes.  Best way to find out was to make it.

Ok, so I didn't use her yarn.  No offense, Lily.  I hardly ever use the yarn a pattern calls for.  I consider the first time I crochet a pattern an experiment to make sure I understand it.  Sometims I make it again, using the called-for yarn, sometimes I don't.  So maybe I shoulda used the Harlem yarn because the vest turned out a little ... big, shall we say.  I think I may have added some rounds, too, to make it longer.  Then there's the fact that the circular bottom makes my butt look wide -- can't have that!

That's where the idea for the Granny Square sweater came in.  I decided to see if I could change the pattern so that the back is a full granny square.  I also added sleeves ... I mean, what good is somethnig like this if your arms aren't covered to keep you warm and comfy when you go to the movies and sit in the always-overly-air-conditioned theater, right?

So this is what I got. With this version, I used an "I" hook and a little over two skeins of trusty Red Heart Super Saver (7 oz skein); the pattern calls for a "J" hook, which leads  me to believe that the Harlem yarn is at least worsted weight if not a little bulkier.   

In any event, as you can see from the photo above, the bottom portion of the green vest came out way too long.  I thought a smaller hook might prevent that.  Well it did, but my sweater is just a little too small.  So I'm gonna try it again, using a "J" hook.  The stitch used throughout is treble crochet.  It took me seven days to make it.

I sure would like to call this sweater pattern my own, but I'm not too sure how much the original pattern needs to change before I can do that.  One yarn company that I did a project for said that the pattern has to be at least 30% different from the original pattern.  Anybody know about this?? I think the next version will have a more detailed granny square back.

There are more photos of the pattern alternation process at my Ravelry site.  I'm "HawaiiHooker."

Babette Blanket Project

I've finally taken the plunge to start Kathy Merrick's Babette Blanket which was featured in the Spring 2006 edition of Interweave Crochet.  First time I saw it, I fell in love because it reminds me of freeform crochet with the different sized squares and all the beautiful colors.  You can purchase the pattern in pdf format at the Interweave site.

I thought I could use my stash of worsted weight acrylic even though the pattern calls for superfine merino wool.  I want to be able to throw this baby in the washer and dryer and not have to wait ages for it to dry.  I could have used superwash wool, but my goal was to use up my stash of acrylics ... except ... I had to buy more yarn!  I added some colors and replenished several others that I was low on.

The pattern for the squares is pretty simple; you just keep adding rounds to make the larger square.  The pattern includes tables that show the color changes for all the squares, but I am essentially winging this one in the spirit of freeform.  I made one of all the square sizes and that's when I saw how dull the colors looked.  So I went out and bought some more yarn (Red Heart Super Saver) and figured I could get a better sense of color by making the 2-round squares, all 50 of them.  So that's what I did first.

Then I made another 12-round square (the one with the turquoise border).  I crocheted 12-round square with the the navy blue  border by looking at one of the pattern photos and mimicking the color changes with my colors.  There's a group on  Ravelry devoted to this blanket which I joined, of course.  It's called the "B. A. H. B. C. A." which stands for Babette & Hexagon Blanket Crochet Anonymous.

This is one project I'm really enjoying and not in any hurry to finish.  The big kick for me is that I'm learning about color theory via experimentation.  Now, I will say that one of the B. A. H. B. C. A. group members created an excel spreadsheet that lets you plug in your colors to randomly create color selections for all the squares.  I'll take a look at it but I'm going to try not to rely on it too heavily.

Oh, by the way, I am looking for these two colors in either worsted weight acrylic or superwash wool.  They are Red Heart yarn colors from about 10 years ago which aren't being made any more.  If you have or know anyone who has them in their stash and would like to sell them, I'd be happy to purchase them.  The  colors are a couple of shades darker than the photo.  My digital camera just couldn't capture the true colors. 

Back to Bloggin' Again!

I can't believe it's taken me so long to get back into blogging.  Yes, I have been crocheting up a storm, but also doing taxes for three people (myself included), so that's why you haven't seen my "face in the place" for a while.

So here's what I've been up to.  I'm still working on that Knit 4 Kids crochet sweater pattern.  Actually, I have all the notes I need to create the pattern; I just have to sit down and do it.  Here are three different versions of the sweater I've done. 

The yellow and turquoise sweater is the first one I made.   It didn't quite turn out the way I envisioned.   I actually took out the shoulder seams after I had washed it and added a few more rows to make the yoke 5.5 inches; then I rewashed it.  So it's just about the right dimensions for a child's size 2. 

The turquoise version was done with an "H" hook ("I" hook for the other two).  I just wanted to see how it wouldl turn out.  I tried to compensate with more stitches and rows, but I think it's a little smaller than the first  one.  I prefer the "I" hook versions, so that's what I'll use for the pattern.

The dark teal sweater is the version that helped me finalize my pattern notes.  The sleeves are a bit longer vertically than the pattern calls for, but I don't think that's a huge problem for the wearer.  I have my gauges, so hopefully I'll be able to figure out the other sizes and add those to the pattern instructions.

I'm going to send all three sweaters to Knit 4 Kids, along with the patterrn.  It will be interesting to see what their response will be.  As soon as I have the pattern done, I will post it in the "Free Pattern" section of the blog.  Hopefully that will be soon ... like before the end of April, maybe even sooner.

The other project I've been working on is another freeform challenge offered by the International Freeform Guild which is a group of freeform knitters and crocheters on Yahoo.  I participated in their first one back in 2005 called, "60-Odd:  A Freeform Odyssey."  It took me so long to start that one.  You know how it goes -- you want it to be perfect, but you're not sure if it will be; you've never done anything like this before; what if it sucks .... and on and on and on.  I finally just started scrumbling.  Well, that's not altogether true.  I made little motifs which I sewed together.  This is called "organic patchwork."  We used to have a website devoted to the online exhibit, but it's gone now <sigh>.

I really want to post a photo of my new piece, but I have to check with the group first.  I'm not sure if they want photos posted before the pieces are presented.  This is going to be an online exhibit, I think (boy, I sure do know a lot about this, don't I?). 

As soon as I know when I can post the photo, I'll do so here.  I'm really excited about my piece.  It's going to be the flap for a purse which I think I'm going to felt.  After the body is felted, I'll sew on the flap then line the bag.  And I'm thinking of calling it, "Purple Rain" (I was a HUGE Prince fan back in the 90s).

Spiderweb Cardigan

I finally got my daughter to take some photos of me (with my NEW! digital camera) in the Spiderweb Cardigan I've been talking about for a while.  Oh, did you notice the "dreads" are gone.  Yep, I caved a couple of weeks ago and cut them off.  They were SO hot and the maintenance required didn't really fit into my desire to be in the water as often as possible.  So, there you have it; I'm back to the short 'fro I've worn for the past 30 years or so.  The photos were taken in my backyard.

As for the cardigan, this was pretty easy to make.  It's designed by Marty Miller, and she wore it at last year's Chain Link Conference in PA.  I took a couple of classes from her and was fascinated by the spiderweb stitch pattern.  I thought for sure it was made of separate blocks, but the pattern is created in vertical rows.  I found a version of the pattern in one of the Harmony Sitch Guides, so this goes to show you how you can take a stitch pattern from one of those books, adapt it, and create a really cool garment.  I substituted the yarn called for in the pattern with Lily Sugar N Cream cotton which gave me an exact gauge.

Not only was it easy to make, it's easy to adapt to any size figure by simply adding panels and/or  spiderweb motifs.  I made the sweater a little longer than the pattern called for. I also added a single crochet border around the entire cardigan as well as the  bottom of the sleeves to give it a little more structure.

This pattern is featured in the Spring 2007 edition of Interweave Crochet magazine.  The magazine also includes an article by Marty about how to begin crocheting WITHOUT a foundation chain.  If the first row of your piece is straight sc, hdc, dc, etc., then you can use this method to begin.  I belive it is also featured in Kim Werker's Teach Yourself Crocheting Visually  (see booklist on the left).  Marty calls the stitches foundation sc, foundation dc and so on.

Anyway, if you have any questions about the cardigan, let me know.  ( ... Isn't that a lovely hibiscus!  There are several flowering bushes in my yard.  I'll feature some more photos in upcoming posts.)