One square at a time October 14, 2012

I seem to have lost my knitting mojo over the past few weeks.  I always find a new job is incredibly tiring for no apparent reason – maybe it’s the nervous energy I burn off when trying to look normal.  As a result, the green waistcoat I have been knitting has hardly progressed at all as I couldn’t summon up the enthusiasm for knitting more than a few rows a night.  As I have settled in and worried less at looking strange, my interest is slowly coming back and I hope UFO guilt won’t be haunting me for too much longer.

I have,however, come up with a brilliant stash-busting wheeze which seems to be working out for me.  I have set myself the goal of making at least one granny square a day while travelling *and*, this is the important bit, sewing it into place in the evenings.  I have already disposed of a considerable quantity of wool that has been hanging around for ages. Some days I have done three or four squares but most days only one. Each 4 round square is made with DK and a 4.5mm hook and it’s surprising how quickly the blanket is growing and my stash is shrinking with only 20 minutes work a day.  This is what I have achieved since the 1st September:

It’s not quite as bright as the photo makes is appear

Currently it measures 33 inches across at the widest point and I am planning to make it large enough to cover a double bed.  I am also pleased with the colour scheme.  Last time I made a granny square blanket I didn’t really plan ahead in the respect.

Here’s to hoping my next post will be the little waistcoat I thought it would be so quick to make.

By special request June 26, 2011

I got a request through Ravelry this morning from someone wanting to turn the granny star into a blanket square.  I hadn’t really thought about it before but, as it was a lazy Sunday morning, I was happy to give it a go.  It does work but I think the squares may have to be interspersed with more solid squares before you could make a blanket using them.

One benefit of this is that I realised there was a typo in the final round of the original granny star pattern.  I have amended this but I feel bad about anyone who came a cropper on it in the past.  Sorry!  To make amends I thought I would post this here and on Ravelry for anyone who fancies it.

Here is the pattern I have come up with to turn a star into a sqaure:

Round 1:  Chain 6, slip stitch into first chain to create a loop.

Round 2: Chain 3 (counts as treble throught out), 2 trebles into the ring, chain 3.  *3 trebles into the ring, chain 3**.  Repeat *-** 4 times.  (5 groups of 3 trebles made.) Join with a slip stitich in first 3 chain of the round.

Round 3: Slip stitch into the next 3 chain space from the previous round.  Chain 3, 2 trebles into the chain space from the previous round, chain 3, 3 trebles into the same chain space, chain 1.  *3 trebles into the next 3 chain space from the previous round, chain 3, 3 trebles into the same chain space, chain 1.**  Repeat *-** 4 times.  Join with a slip stitch in first 3 chain of the round.  (10 groups of 3 trebles made.)

Round 4: Slip stitch into first 3 chain space from the previous round.  Chain 1, (1 double crochet, 1 half-treble, 1 treble, 1 double treble, 1 treble, 1 half-treble, 1 double crochet) in same chain space, chain 1, *slip stich in next 1 chain space, chain 1,  (1 double crochet, 1 half-treble, 1 treble, 1 double treble, 1 treble, 1 half-treble, 1 double crochet) in next chain space from previous round, chain 1.** Repeat from *-** 4 times.  Slip stitch into final  1 chain space, chain 1, slip stitch into first dc to join.  Fasten off.

Round 5:  Attach yarn to any double treble crochet from the previous round, chain 1 and dc into same stitch, 19 chain, 1 dc into next double treble crochet, chain 9, 1 dc into next double treble crochet, chain 18, 1 dc into next double treble crochet, chain 9, 1 dc into next double treble crochet, chain 19.  Slip stitch into first dc.

Round 6: Chain 2, treble crochet in same stitch, 10 treble into the chain, chain 3, 9 treble into chain, 1 treble into dc from previous round, 9 treble into chain, 1 treble into dc from previous round, chain 3, 19 treble into chain, 1 treble into chain from previous round, chain 3, 9 treble into chain, 1 treble into dc from previous round, 10 treble into chain, chain 3, 10 treble into chain, slip stitch into first treble.

Round 7: Chain 1 and dc in same stitch.  Dc round into each treble and 3 dcs in each 3 chain corner space.  Fasten off.

Monkey has been photobombing again.

Today I Found Out… February 14, 2011

that you can make an adult sized jacket using the granny hexagon method but you probably won’t want to wear it when you are done.

Be glad it is a dark photo. I am sparing you the full horror.

Granny Star Decoration November 30, 2010

This tree decoration grew out of the snowflake decoration I blogged the other day.  Again it is a modified granny square.  This time it uses a granny pentagon as a base with a modified final round. I have included photos of each round as a visual guide.  This too take minutes to complete.

Round 1:  Chain 6, slip stitch into first chain to create a loop.

Round 2: Chain 3 (counts as treble throught out), 2 trebles into the ring, chain 3.  *3 trebles into the ring, chain 3**.  Repeat *-** 4 times.  (5 groups of 3 trebles made.) Join with a slip stitich in first 3 chain of the round.

Round 2 complete

Round 3: Slip stitch into the next 3 chain space from the previous round.  Chain 3, 2 trebles into the chain space from the previous round, chain 3, 3 trebles into the same chain space, chain 1.  *3 trebles into the next 3 chain space from the previous round, chain 3, 3 trebles into the same chain space, chain 1.**  Repeat *-** 4 times.  Join with a slip stitch in first 3 chain of the round.  (10 groups of 3 trebles made.)

Round 3 complete

Round 4: Slip stitch into first 3 chain space from the previous round.  Chain 1, (1 double crochet, 1 half-treble, 1 treble, 1 double treble, 1 treble, 1 half-treble, 1 double crochet) in same chain space, chain 1, *slip stich in next 1 chain space, chain 1,  (1 double crochet, 1 half-treble, 1 treble, 1 double treble, 1 treble, 1 half-treble, 1 double crochet) in next chain space from previous round, chain 1.** Repeat from *-** 4 times.  Slip stitch into final  1 chain space, chain 1, slip stitch into first dc to join.

Round 4 complete and hanging loop added

Finishing:  If you want to add a hanging loop, slip stitch into first double treble of round 4, chain 25, slip stitch into same double treble and fasten off.

Granny Snowflake Decoration November 28, 2010

Another quick Christmas Decoration Pattern I wanted to blog.  If you can make a basic granny square, you can make this in minutes. I have included photos of the rounds as a guide (with my shadow making a guest appearance) but it is basically a granny hexagon with a modification in the final round.

Round 1:  Chain 7, slip stitch into first chain to make a ring

Round 2: Chain 3 (counts as a treble throughout pattern), 2 trebles into ring, chain 3, *3 trebles into ring, chain 3** Repeat *-** 5 times.  Slip stitch into top of 3 chain which began the round. (6 groups of three trebles)

Round 2 complete

Round 3:  Slip stich into first 3 chain space of previous round, chain 3, 2 trebles into the same chain space from previous round, chain 3, 3 trebles into same chain space, chain 1, *3 trebles, 3 chain, 3 trebles in next 3 chain space, chain 1** Repeat *-** 5 times.  Slip stitich into top of 3 chain which began the round. (12 groups of three trebles)

Round 3 complete

Round 4: Slip stitch into first 3 chain space of the previous round, chain 3, 3 trebles into the same chain space from previous round, chain 3 and join into 3rd chain from the hook to create picot, 3 trebles into same chain space from previous round, chain 1. Slip stitch in next 1 chain space from previous round.  Chain 1. *4 trebles into next 3 chain space, chain 3 and join with a slip stitich into 3rd chain from the hook to create picot, 3 trebles into same chain space from previous round, chain 1.  Slip stitch in next 1 chain space from previous round.  Chain 1.**  Repeat from *-** 5 times, .  Join with slip stitch into top of 3 chain which began the round.

Round 4 complete and hanging loop added

Finishing:  If you would like to create a hanging loop for your snowflake, slip sitich into 3rd treble of the first point from round 4, chain 25 and join with slip sitich into 5th treble from round 4.  Fasten off.  Pull picots to create sharp edges to the snowflake points.

The Happy Cornish Pasty October 9, 2010

I am rather proud of myself at the moment as I have finally made the effort to organise my stash.  Hurrumble for me!  The armchair in my living-room had become covered in balls of wool tied into plastic bags and I had frankly begun to lose track of what I owned.  Having sorted it out (and been appalled by the sheer weight of yarn in the house), I resolved to find a better storage solution than a legion of carrier bags. Today in Cargo I found a large zip-up bag to store the wool and a small plastic box to keep current projects on hand.  It now all looks a lot neater than before.

The shopping experience itself was a bit odd though.  At the till, the cashier asked if I wanted a carrier bag.  Trying to be virtuous, I said “No, just put one inside the other.”  She took me at my word.

 

Monkey thought this was hilarious.

 

As well as being more organised, my stash had been greatly reduced by the giant granny square blanket I started at the same time I began this blog.  I joined the squares while watching my way through the complete Steptoe and Son so I think it will forever be bound up in my mind with Oildrum Lane. It is a truly garish piece but very warm to snuggle under on the sofa.

 

Proudly made with a total disregard of colour theory

 

I am also still churning out toys for The Toy Society but the weather has been a bit too wet to actually make any drops recently.  The Roly Polar Bear from my last post is still waiting to go out.  My next toy was meant to be a smiling sun to hang in a window or over a baby’s cot.  How hard could that be?  A semi-circle with a smiling face and a nice wavey edge for the rays – piece of cake.  Somewhere between my brain and my hook, however, something went awry and what I actually ended up with is an insanely cheerful looking Cornish Pasty.

 

Monkey is a big fan of the Happy Cornish Pasty.

 

I am rather fond of him as he looks so mad but I keep craving pastry when I look at him so I think I will have to send him on his way and see how he gets on.

All in all, I felt justified today in visiting the new wool shop that has opened near me and buying this rather lovely sock wool as a treat.

 

How lovely!

 

I know lots of people who are trying their hand at knitting socks at the minute so I thought I would give crocheting a pair a go.  I’m not totally convinced they will be a success but at least I know they will be a lovely colour.

Hexagon Matinee Jacket September 1, 2010

Project Number 2 for my friend has been completed.  I came across the genius idea of a matinee jacket made from two crocheted hexagons a while ago so a pregnant friend was the perfect excuse to try it out. I wasn’t entirely convinced it would work but there was evidence to the contrary on Yarn Tail’s blog and Cozy’s Corner so I put my scepticism to one side. I have tagged this as a pattern but it is more a loose set of directions.  The two blogs above give far more detailed instructions if you want to make it yourself.

You begin by starting a granny hexagon with a tight centre ring.  I was using a 4mm hook and double-knit so I began with a circle of 4 chains.  By the time you get to the third round, you will find that the hexagon will not lie flat.  This is one of the few times in crochet where this is a good thing!  You want to end up with a motif that will not lie flat.  As I am basically ignorant about the size babies come in, I erred on the side of caution and made 14 rounds which left me with

You need to make two of these. Each hexagon can then be folded and the shape of half of the coat appears.

With the two pieces held right-side together, seam down the back of the coat, sewing in the outside loops only.  The basic shape of the coat is then complete.

Seam both sleeves from the arm hole up to the third group of treble crochets before the neck edge.  To create a collar, I used Cozy’s Corner’s method of 5 rows of trebles round the neck edge. I added two more rows of trebles along each front edge for the buttons/button holes and edged the bottom and sleeves with a single row of double crochet.

It was quick, very easy and looks a far fiddlier piece of work than it actually was.  I think I may have over-estimated the size of human babies, however.  I was going for newborn size but I suppose he or she can always grow into it.

Funky Baby Blanket August 26, 2010

A very good friend of mine recently announced that she was having her second baby.  This is great for me as I couldn’t crochet the first time she was pregnant and this time I can use her as a willing guinea-pig for the many, many tempting baby patterns which have appeared recently. To start myself off, however, I began with the basic baby blanket.

My friend is quite a funky lady and so I decided to eschew the normal pastel baby colours and go for something a bit brighter.  I got some beautiful Manos Silk Blend wool which is a lovely, soft blend of silk and mohair.  Apart from being wonderful wool to work with, Manos wool has the bonus of being produced by a co-operative of women in Uruguay, providing them with economic and social opportunities.  It’s not the cheapest yarn to have chosen but does make the softest baby blanket.  If I were richer I would make a full-size version for myself but I think I might have settle for the cheaper hat option instead.

I wanted a relatively plain pattern to make a feature of the yarn.  I expanded the simple lace block motif from Melody Griffith’s 201 Crochet Motifs and basically kept going until I ran out of wool.  Three skeins made it large enough to keep a baby warm through its first winter.

Just the blocking left to do...

I am still debating whether to add a few applique flowers but I may wait to see what sex the baby is before I add any more to it. It needs something to lift it but I have a few months left to ponder it yet.

The curse of the UFOs July 27, 2010

I have been invaded by UFOs for the last couple of months.  I bounce happily along with a project for a few weeks, suffer crochet fatigue, abandon it and merrily start a new one.  But the UnFinished Objects call me, begging me to come back and finish them, to ignore the siren song of that lovely new cardigan pattern but I have got awfully good at ignoring their pleas recently.   Months later I come across a folorn UFO squashed up in a bag and either grit my teeth and finish the damn thing or start unravelling it in horror.   This is a very long way of justifying why I haven’t posted anything here since May. I just haven’t been inspired enough to finish anything exciting – including the shrug I was writing about in my last post.  Oh dear.

To prove I haven’t been totally idle, however, I have taken some photos of two things I actually finished and a work in progress which is about to take on a new form.

Two quick projects which did manage to hold my fickle attention were the Doctor Who filet crochet charts generously put on the web by Meredee on Live Journal.  I had never done any big pieces of filet crochet before and the TARDIS is frankly wonky

but I was very pleased with K9.  I think I had really got the hang of it by then. (Which is more than can be said for my photography skills.  I really should get Mr Crochethook to take the pictures for me.  His hands don’t shake.)

I found filet crochet quite relaxing once I got into the rhythm of the open and closed meshes.  I am not sure I would have the patience to do it in lace weight yarn though.  Double Knit was fiddly enough.

And now, may I introduce the amazing morphing project.  It began as a blanket of granny hexagons but is shortly to be ripped apart and rearranged as a cushion cover…  When I get the time…  If I don’t see something I think might be more fun to make first… OK, that’s what I think I am going to do with it.  Pretty though, isn’ it?

See?  Not totally idle.

Oh, My Poor Heartses! January 10, 2010

I was going to hang back from posting too much geeky crochet at first but pressure from other members of the household has dictated that the second project I share with the public is even geekier than The Knitted Character.

Prepare yourselves for a sad tale.  As a young boy, Mr Crochethook became a devotee of the comic 2000AD, a love which continues to this day.  In one of his mother’s magazines was an advert for a pattern to sew a Gronk and he pestered his Mum into sending off  so he too could have a Gronk of his own in case of unforseen medical emergencies.  Sadly the Gronk was never actually made and so Mr Crochethook was forced to live a Gronkless existence.  As a soft-hearted girlfriend, I had managed to get hold of the pattern a few years ago but sewing is not one my skills so I had to abandon the idea of making one for Mr Crochethook’s Christmas present.  As a new crocheter, however, I got uppish last year and decided that maybe I should have a stab at hooking one instead.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Gronk, he is a strange looking fellow and opinion seems to be divided on even the basic facts.  Even now I’m not sure what colour he really is.  I found a few images on the web but ended working mostly from the ones on this page and with the colours I had to hand.

Presenting the Gronk

He was a very early project and has a lot of faults – mostly concentrated on his strangely shaped posterior!  I didn’t have a pattern and basically made him up as I went along.  That’s beginner’s bravado for you though and the strangeness of the creature doesn’t help.  He did, however, satisfy Mr Crochethook’s thwarted childhood longings.

–

I mentioned yesterday that I was stash-busting as it is the only New Year’s resolution I am ever likely to keep.  Here is a small part of the yarn collection I need to tame.

Never leave me unattended in the wool shop.

I always seem to over estimate how much yarn I will need for any given project.  Add this to an inclination to buy just one more ball to be on the safe side and you end up with a slow invasion of the flat by plastic bags bulging with yarn.  As you can see, I am not a yarn snob – the whole pile is 98% acrylic but I love the colours so see no reason to feel ashamed of using the stuff.  To get it all under control I am creating a full-on retro granny square throw for the sofa. As the picture above shows, it is an ugly, ugly sofa so covering it up is all to the good.  I love a good granny square as it makes for nice mindless crochet while reading or watching the TV with no real need to look at what your hands are doing.  Due to the snow I have made great progress over the last few days and hopefully it won’t be too many weeks before I can post the final result.