Moving to a NEW ADDRESS

Hello again, I have moved to a new blogger address due to a change in e-mail address and have been posting there for a while now, to follow the progress in all matters crochet the new address is www.merrysusan.blogspot.com

There's a new colourful beanie pattern free to read or use- albeit NOT commercially....., and some more pictures as usual...

the picture above is a very early start on an assessment piece for City and Guild's Diploma in machine embroidery and is all about eczema, what I feel about having suffered it for over 4 decades, about how it itches, and bleeds and upsets me and limits my choices inclothing and activities and how it affects my 2 daughters to whom I have passed it albeit in fiffering forms and intensities....

How you need blues to cool you and greens to calm you down and the anger that erupts when it suddenly flares up for no apparent reason, the unfairness , the absolutely total effect it has on all areas of life without anyone else realising that this is the case.....

The constant battle not to scratch , the shampoo's to which one is allergic, ditto for creams especially the nice ones for face and anti-wrinkles....

Anyway I could go on and on, but won't.

The start point above is now almost finished, it has holes and amazing edges ( burned) and is very heavily stitched in free rinning as well as cable and with bits done on water soluble as well.

It's still a WIP but is progressing well and to see the WIP and hopefully- soon?!- the finished article come see it on my new blog at the address above...

Hairpin crochet bag for my daughter-for Sundays..

This is a hairpin crochet bag made from strips of hairpin crochet in a yarn called FFilati : OSLO which is one of those very textured unusual yarns and I thought hairpin would show off the yarn quality best.

It's also a bag made from just the one ball of OSLO and one ball of a burgundy DK merino pure wool.

I like it when you can make something from just the one ball!

It was made on a clover hairpin tool, 3 strips at the setting for 8cm and 2 shorter strips at the 3 or 4 cm setting , a 6mm hook was used for the strips.

To join the strips I used a 4mm hook and the merino wool, picking up a loop on one side,3 chains then picking up a loop from the other strip, 3 chains, picking up from the first strip again and so on: kind of a zigzag or herringbone pattern or crochet joining the textured strips.

Where the shorter strips left a gap and a set of free loops belonging to the outer top edges of the wider strips I crocheted with the OSLO in dc's( US sc's) with the 6mm hook to fill in the gaps.

I found some hand dyed plastic handles at a Craft Fair in a pink that perfectly complemented the OSLO yarn.

I am very keen on recycling fabrics and a bit of a hoarder so I cut up some old clothes for the lining of the bag:

The main outer lining is a cut up rugby shirt of my husband's, the fine corduroy attaching the handles to the lining came from a worn out pair of trousers from my eldest and the inner lining: a bright magenta velour came from leggings my youngest grew out of years ago.

I sewed it all together and then added the hairpin cover, stitching it to the lining fabrics.

It's ideal for Sundays when my eldest wants to keep her Missal handy to follow the words of the Communion Service.

I learned hairpin crochet from both the Clover tool instruction leaflet and a crochet cabana website.

Then made up the above ''pattern'' myself.

Left the hairpin cover as a work in progress

This was a rugby shirt once.

To show that the hairpin cover is complete in itself, all crocheted together without any sewing my daughter thought it an excellent Viking hat....

Textured Hoodie for girls: ELLE Monet

RECOGNISE THIS AT ALL????





This was one of those projects that started without a need:
I saw a picture just like the one on the left on the back of CROCHET !magazine: January 2007 issue and thought: I HAVE to make that for my daughter, it's her to a tee...
At first the free pattern advertised wasn't on the internet at all.
Then many e-mails later it did appear, thank you NY Yarns!!!
Then I contacted BOTH UK dsitributors listed but they no longer were in existence or they could no longer supply the NY Yarn.....
I tried to order direct on the internet, but no it was for the USA only....
Then I considered contacting a friend who has just moved to Charlottesville, Virginia but they have only just moved so it seemed a little presumptuous to ask her and then there was postage and taxes and importing: could I really go through all of that?

Luckily I found a very similar yarn on Thame market one day and then the only problem was: which colourway????My daughter chose this one, though to be honest she only had a choice of 3 and much later possibly better ones came along, but that's another story...

I have made this from a free pattern on the site: www.nyyarns.com.
You find it under free patterns- duh- and theirs is made in a yarn called MARBLE.
MARBLE IS 66 % ACRYLIC,30% WOOL,4% Nylon , there's 75m on a 50g ball , you use a 8mm hook and it's $5.80 a ball.
( The pattern asks for 9 balls)
I used ELLE MONET: it's 53% acrylic,47% polyamide , 87m to a 100g ball, you use a 6.5mm hook and I paid £3.50 a ball
I used shade 279 which includes greens,sunshine yellow,purple,sky blues.
My tension with the 6mm hook from the patternn directions was pretty similar and I drew out the pattern pieces: the back,front and sleeve on brown paper to scale so I could check how I was going.( like sewing pattern pieces)

I made it in the biggest size: for a 9-10 year old.
I used 7 balls of 100g and the finished garment weighs 690 g.

It's a super simple pattern stitch , which renders the fabric very textured and ''bobbly'' although there are no crocheted bobbles as such.
Wonderful to do whilst watching TV and minimal shaping too.
I had never made a hooded cardigan and was amazed how easy it is to add a hood!!!
So I learned quite a few new things.
I think you can still get ELLE MONET and details were in a recent Knit Today magazine ( a British magazine).

The best bit was that it was fun to make with all the texture and all the colourchanges in the yarn and now it's completed my daughter LOVES it, AND I finished it in time - 1 day before....- for her Birthday!!!!( not planned as such but a useful extra present!!!)

Now we need some really COLD weather please so she can wear it a lot.....
Mind you hubbie turned off the heating completely for a few days as he overheats when stressed and he's very stressed right now, so the whole family froze but at least the hoodie came in very useful .

A different view with the Birthday balloons included!

The texture showing in detail: I chose purple buttons and she preferred green so we compromised with alternate purple and green buttons.

Saying goodbye and still smiling with pleasure over her new cardigan.


WATCH this space- but a new post- as my youngest wants one too now and she has chosen an amazingly bright colourway with lime greens,

fuchsia,magents,lilac and turquoise: it's shade 276.

I am going to make myself a Chanel style jacket with black trims in the whites/greys with a few bits of black colourway when I get the time...

And remaining in my stash for now but possibly a baby blanket one day soon is the 278 colourway which is soft pale grassy greens with beige and cream and some greyed blues with pale pinks.

It excudes elegance and ''Spring''.It was a colourway I liked but my daughter preferred the one above.

Baker's boy hat in cotton crochet

This is the top of a hat I made recently using Sirdar DK cotton and a pattern by Sirdar : number 8577 , it's a leaflet and includes the hat in 4 sizes, 3 children's and adults and a scarf to match.

The pattern is for Country style yarn : a kind of woolmix but as the Spring is here and summer coming I thought I' dmake it in cotton.

It's a current fashion item for my daughter .

You use the yarn double and 6MM hook so it grows fast and includes a new stitch for me: cl/f : you do a kind of cluster around the front of a treble( US dc)

I love the plaited look of this stitch, though it can be tricky to work it evenly.

It used up 140 g of the yarn and as it comes in 100 g balls, that's just 2 balls.( for size 7-9)

Top and peak are worked separately and then sewn together, I crocheted the peak pieces together for a nice edge to the peak.

To stiffen the peak and still have it washable I did not use cardboard: HERE'S A NEW IDEA:!!!!

I ironed a green plastic shopping bag- cut up- between 2 layers of baking parchment on a low heat setting and no steam.

The plastic sits between the 2 layers of parchment to protect both your iron and the ironing board.

Then I kept adding layers of plastic- they fuse together and shrink a bit under the heat- until I achieved the stiffness I wanted.

Then I used the peak template from the pattern to cut out the correct shape, inserted it into the peak pieces and crocheted/sewed it together.

Voila: I hope it's washable now.

Here she is wearing it, she loved it and it was worn constantly for at least 2 days!

The fresh flower is optional......

The puppy!!!

This is the amazing puppy referred to in the profile, she's a wire -haired dachshund , of standard size and she's completely transformed our lives!

There's less time for crochet or machine embroidery but much more time is spent walking in the lovely local countryside!!!

Wellies are now my daily footwear as well as ''dogwalking trousers and coat'' both dark and easily washed- muddy paw prints from other dogs...- and pockets stuffed with doggie treats to eat, a ball, a clicker, plastic bags,lead, etc etc
A s you can see the girls love it : as well as all the games they now play with the puppy- mostly ''fetch'' and ''tug-of-war'' and lots of cuddles too.
Top left was her at 8 weeks on the day she arrived home.

She's now 5 months old and has almost tripled in size, especially in length of back.

It's the best decision we've nade recently and I have been surprised at the huge changes she's facilitated!

Mind you we're still training her NOT to bite all crochet or run off with a ball of yarn ready to tangle it up into a horrendous mess....

She's also chewed a 12mm knitting needle in half...

Here she is now, I'll have to go she's demanding some attention in terms of a game or a cuddle.

Trendy teen/preteen beanie: HAT!

Here is a beanie hat I made from Margaret Hubert's book on crochet hats: I made it in a DK pure wool and it was both super quick and very easy.

The result you can see my daughter wearing, she loves it!!!

And that's no mean feat I can tell you.....

She has a selection of beanies all different kinds and now this is one of her favourites.

I am pleased also it was fun to make, she's happy AND I made a saving for once: these hats are £5 and upwards in the shops and this one was a small fraction of £3!

( ie less than a 50 g ball of wool, you can probably make 3 out of one ball of yarn)

I do find it a little dissappointing that most of the time it's more expensive to make something yourself than to buy it ready made in the shops?!!

The mark up on buying yarn for crafts is such that the raw materials end up costing more- sometimes much more- than the finished product( which should include the costs of materials,overheads and labour... not to mention design costs, marketing ,distribution and retail mark-ups as well)!!!!

We are supposed to feel so good we made it ourselves that the cost no longer matters?

At least on the whole : when you make it yourself there are other advantages : such as

it's totally unique

it fits superbly

it's of a higher quality in terms of both yarn and construction.

In many cases the fibre content of the yarn can be more luxurious than that found in retail.

Furry gala shrug: free crochet pattern

Here is the crochet pattern for the shrug on the gala shrug post.

I made it myself very quickly and easily.

Yarn: Sirdar Funky Fur - I used plain navy but it comes in variegated colours too or it can be substituted with another eyelash type yarn.

Funky fur is 100% polyester and has 90m/98yds to a 50 g ball, I used 5 balls, the shrug weighs about 130 grammes.

Hook: 4.5mm

Stitches used: chain and trebles ( or chain and dc in USA terminology)with slipstitches to join pieces or you can sew them together.

Tension: approx 10 by 10 cm takes 20 sts in pattern and 12 rows with the 4.5mm hook.

HINT: to count the stitches feel the posts of the trebles ( dc) with your fingers and multiply by 2.

or Hold the piece up against a window or light source to help you SEE the stitches, they are NOT easy to see!!!!

Pattern: mesh stitches : that is after the foundation chain you work 1 treble( 1 dc for USA) , 1 chain over the next 2 stitches in the foundation chain and then you repeat those 2 stitches to the end.

For ease of stitching and increased speed I worked the trebles( USA DC'S) into the chain spaces of the row below rather than into the trebles( dc) below.

Stitches can be difficult to see with this type of yarn but a chainspace is always easily felt!!!!

I also worked in a spiral up the sleeve rather than finishing each row with a slipstitch to the first treble and then chain 3 to lift to the next row, I just kept on going round and round..........

Finished size was as folows, and I'm only 5ft1'' or 1.5 m tall so this is also the span of my arms, BEWARE you may want to make the sleeves a lot longer!!!

Cuff circumference: 28cm

sleeve length: 46cm

backpanel length ( from neck edge to hem) 18cm

back panel width: from shoulder to shoulder: 47cm

You can change all of these to fit your own body by measuring and using your tension sample measurements: all it takes is a bit of arithmetic!

Work out how many stitches you need for your 1cm horizontally, then work out how many rows for each vertical cm ( or inch) and Bob's your uncle!

Multiply the above by your measured horizontal ( or arm circumference) and vertical measurement( or arm length) and you'll have your number of stitches for the foundation chain and the number of rows...!!!

SLEEVE INSTRUCTIONS:

Make 2 of these, identical.

Foundation chain of 58 chains, then add 3 more to lift up to treble( USA DC) height and do 1 more chain, now work a treble(dc USA) in the 7th chain from the hook then work 1 chain, 1 treble ( USA dc), working the treble into the 2nd chain from the hook( ie skipping 1 chain from the foundation chain) then onwards to the end, close circle by working a slipstitch into the 3rd vertical chain at the beginning, then chain 4, work a trble( USA DC) into the first chainspace below , chain 1, trble into next chain space , chain 1, etc etcspiralling around and around to the desired length or for 40 rows.

Then work another 14 rows whilst increasing 1 stitch at the beginning of each row.

( this gives a bit more room at the upper arm for the arm and shoulder)

chain and pulltrough to finish: should have 72 stitches and 54 rows.

But as long as it fits, the count is not that important, as long as the 2 sleeves are the same!

BACK PANEL: work 1 of these.

Back panel: foundation chain of 58 , then add 4 chains for the first treble( dc) and first chain and work the mesh pattern across the whole of the foundation chain, keep this piece as a flat rectangle.

I worked the panel between the sleeves connecting the 2 with a slipstitch and a dc ( USA sc) before turning and working back along the panel to the other sleeve, this is because I hate sewing bits together, but you can make it separately and then sew the 3 pieces together.

I worked 24 rows in this way , pulled through the yarn to finish and worked in any loose ends with a darning needle.

FINITO!

I made it very quickly, in less than a week whilst also working and doing all the'' mum''-jobs , cooking, homemaking etc etc.

HAVE FUN na dlet me know how you get on, please?