Roselettes

I think it’s been a whole week since I sewed anything!  Things are pretty much hamstered here at the moment.  In between Girl Guides AGM preparations, Principal Selection Panel duties, my part-time day job, working three extra days next week, a sick child last week, minor medical issues, preparing for a trip to Sewjourn in a few weeks time, a variety of social commitments, a visit to family to farewell my Mum who is now touring in Canada/Alaska, and being a household manager have me exhausted.  Let alone that other job, being a mother.  My brain is close to exploding with the effort of remembering everything that I am meant to be doing!

So in the meantime, whenever I’ve been in a situation where I have the opportunity to sit, I have crocheted.  A Roselette for my niece’s gorgeous daughter Chloe, and one for Stella.

I have been lax in my great-auntly duties, and this is the first hand-made item that I have completed for Chloe. And she’s nine months old. I crocheted this in Cleckheaton Country Tartan, following the instructions for size 4 but with a 4.5mm hook, which theoretically makes it suitable for a 1 year old. I hope that it fits – she’s a beautiful, contented, dimply little thing! I took the opportunity to use a couple of kitty buttons on the back.

I pretty much used up three balls of yarn making this. The length is longer than the pattern specifies – I didn’t want to waste that yarn! More details on this top can be found on Ravelry here.

So, to Stella’s! She chose the yarn herself (she actually chose the yarn for Chloe’s as well) – it’s a Shepherd Colours 4 Me print. I looked at it and thought “this will crochet up looking like fairy barf”. But it’s okay.

This time I used four balls of yarn, with a 5mm hook and following the instructions for size 6. Unsurprisingly, Stella has refused to try it on as yet, but I reckon that it will be fine for my petite five-and-three-quarters-year-old. Kitty buttons on the back again (guess how I keep her occupied and what she asks me to buy her as a reward whenever I subject her to Darn Cheap…)

This one is on Ravelry here.

So if you’re looking for a quick crochet fix that is quite straightforward and can be made in a wide range of girl sizes, this is the pattern you need!  I’ve made it twice before, and will probably make it again.  I will show you modelled photos when they become available.

Now I’m off to finish a glass of wine before I retire for the evening then get back on the wheel tomorrow…

ruffle scarf

Before school holidays started I began a new commuting project – the Ruffled Scarf from the Crochet Noro book.

This was perfect for a commuting project. Other than the ruffles on the end, it’s just a one row pattern. Very little thought required!  And it grew incredibly quickly! I was rather surprised. The yarn is Noro Taiyo Sock, and I crocheted it with a 3.5 mm hook. Rather than do the double ruffles on the ends, I just crocheted a single ruffle on each end. I wanted to keep the scarf as long as possible from the one ball of yarn, and those ruffles use up quite a lot of yarn in comparison to the mesh pattern in the body of the scarf.

If you are looking for a simple scarf to make as a gift, this pattern and yarn would be perfect. The colour changes do all the work for you really! I’ve got another ball of this yarn in a different colourway, which will also become a commuting project scarf. But in a different stitch pattern, I think.

If I were really organised I’d start thinking about building up a gift stash again – mine has been completely depleted lately. But I’m not that organised – or motivated. It’s all project by project as the mood takes me at the moment!

challenge mitts

Back in late December and over the December/January school holidays, I churned through some odd balls of yarn by crocheting Challenge Mitts.  This is a wonderful free pattern that can easily be adapted for different yarns and different lengths, and even for different sizes.  These are just some of the mitts that I made – lots were given away (many as teacher gifts) before I photographed them.  See, not everything that I make actually makes it onto this blog!

This pair was worked in Jet – always such a warm standby yarn! I think that this pair might be for me.

This was a single ball of 8 ply wool found in my stash. I was worried that I didn’t have enough for a whole pair, so made them kid-sized by chaining one less repeat and working a shorter length. They fit Clare nicely, and because I have small hands they are fine on me as well!

This soft, long pair were worked in Eki Riva Natal, an alpaca/silk blend. They were given to my friend Rachael, who really feels the cold in winter.

And another gifted pair, for my work colleague Mandy, who also feels the cold. They were worked in Cleckheaton Vintage Hues. I also crocheted her a matching hat, the Bessie Cap from the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Crochet Today! I don’t have a photo of it being worn, so this will have to do.

There is a separate band that can be worn as a headband, or instead as part of the hat. Mandy did wear it to work recently – Melbourne’s changeable weather again! – and it looked terrific on her. Definitely her colours.

So if you’re looking for a quick project that will also use up some random balls of yarn that might be lurking in your stash, take a look at the Challenge Mitts pattern by Sharon Maher! A wonderful pattern, and free to boot.

weekend hooking

Another long weekend, some more hooking.  Loving the colours in this Noro Taiyo yarn.

I’ve somehow managed to fall behind in my blogging – I have quite a little list of completed projects that are due for sharing. Maybe over the school holidays! I wasn’t really ready for the school holidays to be here so quickly. I’ve only just begun to get used to the new routines and rhythms of having both girls at school! But I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth – we’ll be making the most of having the next two weeks off work and school.

Caprione

Last month I did a little crochet pattern testing, and now that the pattern has been released I can show you what I made!  Caprione skirts, one each for Clare and Stella.

I crocheted the 8-10 year size for Clare and the 3-4 year size for Stella, each based on their waist measurement. The waistband has elastic threaded inside it once you have finished crocheting, so has a little size flexibility. I love the floral detail near the hemline, and of course, I love the ripples.

Both skirts are crocheted in Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8 ply, in the shades of Lipstick Rose and Blueberry. I ran out of the Lipstick Rose when crocheting Stella’s skirt, which is why the last few rows of hers are done in the Blueberry as well as the feature flower row. But I actually rather like it this way! This skirt pattern would lend itself nicely to varied stripe widths in the two colours. Hmmm, maybe another time. Both girls rather like their skirts and I anticipate that they will both get quite a lot of wear once winter hits.

As usual, I have a few different crochet projects under way at the moment. The Wool-eater blanket that I started back in around 2009, a Noro scarf for myself, and possibly a winter vest. With Easter weekend coming up I’ll need some hooky fun!

crochet noro

Last week my copy of Crochet Noro arrived.  It’s a beautiful book.  Even if I never make any of the projects in it – but I am betting that I will, and sooner than you think – it is worth it just to have it sitting beside my chair for me to glance through when I want to gaze at something exquisite.

The blurb from the Book Depository page: For more than 40 years, Noro has been a source of fabulously inventive yarns prized by knitters around the world for their incomparable colours, patterns and luxury. “Crochet Noro” presents 30 vibrant designs from such top designers as Lily Chin, Yoko Hatta and Doris Chan, ranging from an adorable swirly hat and trendy bias miniskirt to a mohair motif blanket. These beautiful items and the yarns they showcase – such as Kureyon Silk Garden and Taiyo – are sure to excite crocheters.

And the blurb from the back of the book: Crochet designers from around the world have come together to create this stunning volume of patterns stitched in exquisite Noro yarns. Bursting with colour and texture, Crochet Noro brings art and elegance into the everyday. Crocheters of all skill levels will experience the spectacular colourways of these unique yarns in designs that feature an array of delightful stitches. With thirty stunning projects to choose from, including elegant shawls, gorgeous sweaters, playful accessories, and more, you’re guaranteed to fall in love with Noro. If you’re already hooked, you’ll discover even more reasons to Crochet Noro!

They’re right – this book is lovely. I paid for my copy, and thought that it was worth sharing just a few of the project photos. They are so beautifully photographed and styled; absolutely lush!

For those of you who haven’t worked with Noro yarns, they have long graduated runs of colour change, so do all the colour changing work for you. Lovely. I’ve used them a couple of times before, and now it looks as though I’ll have to use them again.

Isn’t it nice to come across a crochet book that also doubles as a beautiful coffee table book!

mapleton scarf

Thanks for all the Marni jacket love everyone!  I was very chuffed that you thought it looked good too.  I’ve already pulled out the fabric for my next one, but in the meantime I’ve begun to cut out Vogue 8815.  I’d better jump right onto the peplum trend while it is still here!  I am a little perturbed though by the fact that Vogue’s Figure Flattery guide suggests this top for every body shape except mine.  Hmm.  Anyway, that’s not what this blog post is about – it’s about one of the test crochet projects that I completed recently.

The Mapleton scarf and shawl pattern is by Deanne of Addydae Designs. I’ve crocheted some of her designs before, and leaped at the chance to test. It turned out to be the perfect car travel project during our trip to Buchan.

Isn’t that yarn an amazing colour? I bought it at a local craft market last year – it’s fine merino/silk handspun and hand-dyed, and labelled Slow Spun. And it was beautiful to work with. I used up pretty much the entire skein for my scarf.

The pattern includes instructions for a scarf, a small shawl, and a large shawl. The edging is worked as you go, so once you get to the final decrease at the end of the scarf or shawl, it’s all finished! Perfect for when you are using a precious skein of yarn like I was and are not quite certain about how far it will go. I was able to weigh the yarn, work the scarf until half the yarn had been used, then start decreasing to work the second half knowing that I would have enough yarn to finish it.

Although the pattern has been designed for 4 ply yarn, the designer also states that you can pretty much work it up in whatever yarn gives you a nice, fluid fabric if you use the appropriate hook size. I really enjoyed crocheting this, and know that it is going to be worn a lot come winter. A vibrant pop of colour, and warm into the bargain!

My Ravelry project page is here, and the pattern is available here. (Isn’t my “serious-gazing-into-the-distance” look hilarious?)

winter Floreal

It’s still summer here, and it’s really hot.  It’s been hot for day after day after day.  So what have I just finished crocheting?  A Floreal for Clare, for winter.  Yeah, there isn’t really any logic in that.  I even forced her to put on a long sleeved top and long pants in order to model it as it is likely to be worn.  She got really hot, really quickly.

I really started this to use up a big Bendi ball of 8 ply Alpaca. Just one big ball isn’t really enough for lots of garments, but in combination with a small ball of bright pink variegated yarn that Mum had given me, it has turned into a very useful vest.  The colour of the Alpaca was called Prism, but I notice that it’s no longer on their website.

Clare measures 23 inches around the chest, so I made the size 6-7 (25 inches) for her to allow enough ease to wear this over other garments. In terms of length, I just kept on going until I’d pretty much used up the yarn and the length looked about right. This pattern usually has you change colours after every two rows in the body section, to get rows of different coloured flowers. I only did that for the two contrasting rows of flowers closer to the hemline.

This is a lovely little pattern, and it served as my commuting and social crochet project. It was started on the 3rd February, and was finished on the 15th, so definitely didn’t take a long time. It was helped by the fact that I’ve made this pattern before, so the stitches were familiar to me. Rather than use a ribbon for the drawstring, I crocheted a chain about a metre or so long from the contrast yarn and slipstitched back into each stitch. The picot edging around the hem is also in the contrast yarn – mainly because I ran out of the Alpaca!

Stella’s Sunday Swing Coat

Over the past six years or so since I took up crochet I have come to the realisation that I don’t like to crochet garments in pieces, then seam them together.  I know that I do this all the time when I’m sewing, but if a crochet pattern calls for me to crochet the back, front left, front right, left sleeve, right sleeve (or similar) then seam them together, the project doesn’t get finished.  In fact, I’ve even pitched a couple of these partly started projects into the bin recently when I’ve come across them clogging up a bag all unloved.  I only pitch small pieces though – I unravel the rest.  So finally I have learned from my mistakes.  I look for crochet garments that are pretty much crocheted all in one piece, or that have a couple of pieces made, then joined, then crocheted onto again.  Garments that are all done, other than edging or weaving in ends, once you get to the end of the crocheting.

So when I came across the Sunday Swing Coat by Cristina Mershon in the March/April 2013 issue of Crochet Today!, it ticked all the boxes.  Worked in one piece, worsted weight yarn, and ripples!  I love ripples!  But it did take me a couple of goes to get this one right.

Firstly, I substituted the yarn. The pattern called for a yarn that was 100% acrylic, worsted weight. I had three gorgeous hanks of hand-dyed 100% wool (cormo) yarn that I bought as part of the ton’o'wool project last year that I wanted to use instead. I knew that it would work up quite differently to the recommended yarn. The pattern also called for a 3.5mm hook. I double-checked the hook size with the designer, as it seemed quite small for that weight of yarn. She said that 3.5mm was correct, because it was a coat and was designed to be dense. But because I prefer crocheted garments to be drapey – and because I was working with wool, not acrylic – I bumped up the hook size to 4.5mm.

After it was half done and the sleeves had been joined and a couple more rows worked, I tried it on Stella. Then promptly pulled the whole thing out and started again with a 5.5mm hook. I knew that there was every chance that I’d be doing that when I started, so surprisingly it didn’t bother me too much! And the yarn was lovely to work with. Because I’d bumped the hook size up so much, I followed the instructions for the smallest size in the pattern. The finished length was dictated by the amount of yarn I had available. I’d have liked it longer, but this is okay. There was just enough yarn left over to work a flower brooch to use as a closure. Rather than crab stitch around the opening, I crocheted the front and neck edge as a row of sc from the right side, then a row of sc in the front loop only from the wrong side.

I think that this will be a very useful layer for autumn/winter. Gaugeing up really altered it to suit my drape preferences, and it flows and moves well as Stella twirls. A little less yarn in the stash – and another garment in the wardrobe!  More details and photos are over here on Ravelry.  And of course, Clare wants one in her size.  And I wouldn’t mind one for me…

six more BAMCAL blocks

Had anyone noticed that there haven’t been any BAMCAL squares on the blog for a while?  I somehow let the last three months slip, but have finished them in a burst over the last couple of weeks.  As usual, they are all worked in various shades of Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply wool, with a 4.5 mm hook.

The first October square is called Winterslace:

and the October filler square is In Treble.

The first November square is Shining Star.

I wasn’t terribly enamoured of the November filler square, so worked the Impossible Hexagon instead.

Cherries Jubilee was the main December square.

And my alternative to the December filler square was the non-bullion version of the April Whimsical Wonderland CAL block by Donna Kay Lacey, Spring Rolls. This square still needs blocking, and will probably need another row worked to bring it up to size.

So that is it – 30 squares worked for a blanket for my bed! The next tasks are:

• count the number of stitches on each side of the square, and work another row if needed to keep them of a similar number. From experience, I can fudge a variation of about four stitches along each side at the most, but no more.
• work out the final placement of squares and photograph it
• decide on a joining colour
• join the squares
• decide on a border design and colours (the colours are most likely to be the three largest balls of yarn I have left)
• work the border
• weave in ends.

Let’s take a guess as to when this will be finished! In the meantime, a little mosaic so that you can see all the finished squares and get some idea as to how the finished blanket may look.

The BAMCALs are a lovely way to pace yourself and end up with a useful result. I find it much simpler to crochet a blanket in this modular way than to just start at one end and work to the other. Which is why I still haven’t started a ripple blanket, or finished Clare’s Wool-Eater (although I have started working on that one again). I won’t take part in the 2013 BAMCAL – I’ll still be finishing this one – but maybe in the future I might be tempted to do another!