Camo Crochet Bracelet

Having made the bracelet for Carol the other week, I thought I should get on with it and make one for myself. It took me much longer to make this one, but I did only do about 1 motif a night.

I am quite pleased with it. I used some 3 ply camo coloured cotton I got from ebay.

Carols Beaded Crochet Cuff

I started this on Friday night, I was itching to finish it off, so on Saturday so when i woke up, I started straight away. I got to about a motif and a half before where I wanted to stop, and I ran out of my contrasting colour. Since i couldn't be bothered to go shopping again, I thought I would rip it back and just take out some of the stitches in the to make the yarn go further.

Having spent until lunch time re doing the night before's progress, I took a break for lunch. This is when i realised that it was a glorious day and was far too nice to be sat indoors.

Tony had got the new pool out, and we filled it up. It is huge - I even managed to fit my lilo in it.
Consequently, I spent the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday messing around in it.

Sunday was a really nice day, I spent the moring finishing off the cuff, then I prepared the food in the garden, and had a barbeque. :)

So to the cuff, here you are then. Like the previous one i made, I used the Queen Anne motif. I added beads to the st loops and went over with st highlight at the end. I managed to make the contrasting colour last for 11 motifs :) but not enought to finish the clasp I made, so as you can see, that is edged in the sliver colour.

I thought for a while about how to make a clasp for this. I didnt want to make one that you tie as I know how hard that is when you are trying to put it on by yourself. Also, I wanted to make it adjustable.

I found a clear button and attached it to one end. I thought of threading a length of cotton from the button end, through the first motif and then back to the button. I put a circular motif on the end of the thread, so that it didnt pull out when you put your hand through. My idea was, that when you put it on, you pull the thread and then wind it around the button. This worked ok, but having worn it for a couple of minutes, the thread started to unwind. Then I realised, that if I had made my circular motif a bit bigger in the middle, it would have fitted over the button. So i cut it off and re made it.

So now, the cuff is ajustable. You put it on, pull the cord, wind it to fit, and put the clasp over the button.

I was so pleased with my peice, I didnt really want to send it off to my sister!! I thought I would package it put right away otherwise I might conveniently forget. Tony posted it right away for me, on his way to the shops.

Finally, I have to say thank you again to Leslie for giving me the idea in the first place.

Crochet Cuff

When i made my last crochet cuffs, my sister asked me to make her one.

Well I didnt think that much of the ones I had made, I was more messing around than making something nice. Practicing stitches etc. The yarn i used was acrylic and not so great either.

Now summer is hear and weather is warmer, I dont think you would want the ones I have made on your wrist.

But, I havent given up..... I have been looking around the net and I manage to bump in to this lovely lady.... WoolMountain - I had saw her free form cuffs on Etsy previously. Leslie has given me loads of advice and i have been trying to take it all in. I thought i would start with what i liked in the first place - Queen Anne Lace design.


Here is what I did.















The actual peice is too big for my wrist. I miss judged it - and now cant be bothered to take one of the motifs out.

One of the reasons for me not bothering to do this was because I only had this yarn here and I knew it wasnt going to be suitable, but I was itching to give it a go.

I feel like a bit of a copy cat, trying to copy what Leslie has been doing, but I just love what she has done so much, I couldnt help wanting to give it a go myself.

I went shopping yesterday to try and find some nice crochet cotton, but there is a distinct lack of it around here. So I held off and am trying to find something online that might go better.

When i was shopping I did manage to pick up a bargain for my stash -

.99p each.





I can see something good coming from this later!





I also picked up some DMC thread - like you would use for cross stitch. I thought, with the lack of crochet cotton, i would just try with this for now. That way, i could try different thicknesses to see what i liked. Looking online I have been quite confused with the crochet cotton weights and just didnt know what they would be like to work with. Working with these DMC threads, Im starting to get an idea of the weight I want for my projects.


So back to what I was saying in the beginning - My sister wanted something - Well here is a sneek peak of what i picked up. Im half way through and Im not going to show you until I have finished. So when you read this carol, you will just have to wait and see!

Stripy Tundra Hat

So yes, I did re make it - when I have something in my head, I just cant leave it be.

Even though, i have had to put my knitting of Fad Classic on hold for it!! Which is nuts, as I am not going to wear this for ages yet!!

Anyway, i did re do it - I wanted make something different so I went for stripy.

I did start to think about experimenting with something other than stockinette, but I wimped out!! Next time - i promise! Actually, I have a borrowed idea up my sleeve, so we will see how that turns out later on.

Here it is then.....

I need to finish it off with some icords and pom poms - as i think these are a must have!! I have been having great fun with the original hat, swinging them around!!

As for the learned lessons - i didn't use the double twisted cast on - i used the knitting on cast on - the way my mother taught me!! and this was better i think - there wasn't as much slack as there was with the double twisted. I did start casting on with the cable cast on - but this felt so rigid. I don't know if its my tension, but the hat looked tiny because there was no give between the stitches. I took them out - I had only done 10 or so, and started again.

I knitted it in the round as i did before, listening to some advice I found online about trying to avoid the colour jog. This worked for most rows, some rows you can see a bit.

When it came to decreasing - i started decreasing a whole inch earlier. I also divided up my decreases with more stitches in the front and back, and less on the sides. I didn't start decreasing the front until after 10 sets (1 row decrease - 1 row plain) of decreases. I don't know if you can see from the pictures, the hat started to get a tent like shape - then I began decreasing the front and back to begin to finish off the hat.

I finished with 2 stitches each side and 6 stitches front and back. I used the 3 needle bind off to finish. This has given me this little sticky up bit at the back - to a sort of point, and i think its quite cute.

Anyway, must go finish the icords now so I can put this one to bed!

Addition .....

I just finished the I cords and bobbles - so here are a few pics

Birthday Money

So what else am I up to...

It was my birthday recently and my mam gave me some money. I bought some cotton yarn to try and make this - http://www.knitandtonic.net/knitandtonic/2006/04/fadclassic.html Fad Classic by Wedny Bernard. I got Patons Leila DK 100% cotton, which should cover the pattern and much to spare.

I thought i would do the right thing on this one and knit up a test swatch to check the gague.

Here is where I am so far..

It looks like its going to knit up small to me, but i will finish the swatch and measure it.

Tundra Hat

Now I know that winter is over, but I saw this hat on another blog and I thought if I dont make it now I will forget about it. Plus, I have been looking for a good reliable hat pattern, and this hat was kind of what I had in my minds eye.

Here is what I saw. http://knittyinpink.blogspot.com/2007/11/glam-rock-ski-hat-aka-vinces-tundra-hat.html It was a take off, from a hat on the Mighty Bosh, wich a few people were making, but I loved the style of the crown and the long ear flaps. I thought - perfect!!

Knitty had also posted a PDF of what she did, so I followed that.

The wool she used is recommended to be knit on a 6mm needled, but her pattern notes stated that she had knitted on 4.5mm needles. She also stated that the hat made was purposely large. So with that in mind, and also only having DK yarn, I thought that if i knitted on a 4.5mm needle also, the hat might turn out the right sort of size. This was a guess, and didnt bother with a swatch. I thought i would be able to tell quite quickly if it was drastically out, as I started on the earflaps first, and they would have been to the wrong scale if the yarn and needle size didnt suit.

So I knitted it up fairly quickly, just taking my time as I know that I wont wear this untill later on this year! Here is how it turned out.



I am really happy with this hat, it fits, slightly over sized, which is good for when im snowboarding as it will need to accomodate my goggles, and also be easy to take on and off without messing my hair up!!

The earflaps are the perfect length - I think i will be quite cozy in this one.


The weight of the hat, and thickness of the knit - about spot on for what i want to use it for. I already know that the yarn will be mega warm, as this is the same yarn i used for the aphrodite jumper.


Some points to note - this was the first time i used the double backward loop method for casting on. I think this possibly was a mistake for me, as the edge then became quite loose. As you can see from the pictures, where i crocheted over the edges, they are still puckering out a bit.


Also, the earflaps still curling a bit, but the crochet edge has helped a lot to stablize them.


The only other thing I might want to try again on this hat is the crown. I do like it, but mine doesnt seem quite the same as the one on knittys site. Now this could quite well be because i used a different weight yarn and therefore knitted up smaller. If you compare my hat to knittys, the crown shaping is quite a bit longer and kind of frames the crown up to a point. where mine just neatly nips in and blends in to a round head!!


I think if i was to redo this, I would think about adjusting the increases and decreses - maybe start earlier and even not work in a square decrease but maybe a oblong one to make the side panels smaller than the top and bottom panels. Now if that didnt make sense to anyone else, it did to me!!

Crochet Hook Roll

Finally got round to making the matching crochet hook roll that i have been meaning to make for ages.

Found a lovely tutorial ... http://www.joleo.co.uk/todayweare/?p=176 to give me guidance.

I had enough material left to make this one so now i have a matching crochet hook roll and circular kneedle roll.

This time, i added bondaweb between the interlining - and also added vilene interfacing between the pocket material to give this more substance.

What a difference it makes, this one is so much stiffer.

Here are the pics....

Hols

So this is where i was when i was knitting....

Well no, i wasnt literaly knitting at the time.

I had a really good time, I was much better at snowboarding than the first time I went. But It was hard work on the old lower leg muscles.


We had really good snow conditions and even managed to get up to the glacier at 3250m! Thank god for lifts because i dont think i could have walked it.

This was the shot at the top of the glacier and the snow was just un groomed fresh powder. It was a great feeling to ride on, but just dont stop or you sink up to your knees and cant get up!!

The last shot .. Mont Blanc from the plane home!!

Cuffs

Just came back from Snowboarding and this is what i made on the aeroplane on the way out.

- I just wanted to take something small and non offensive to the aeroplane people so i just took a crochet hook and a small ball of left over yarn.

I didnt really intend on making anything, it was more about playing with stitches, but found myself making the cuff.

I put it on then and barely took it off the whole time. It is a little bit worn and fluffy now from getting wet and battered about.

I have worn it in the office a bit too - it helps me cope with the air conditioning!! Seriously - I do get quite cold hands and feet - Bad circulation. So it has been helping a little to keep them toasty.

This morning, after finishing off the darning of ends on the Aphrodite Jumper, I used the odds and ends to make this cuff. With insporation from - http://www.moonarts.com/blog/free_patterns/pages/crochet-bracelet-print.htm I made this cuff using double crochet - half trebles and treble crochet. (or sc hdc and dc in the US pattern)

Aphrodite Jumper - Gone Wrong

Since learning to knit and crochet, I have been looking forward to making something that i could wear that wasn't an accessory. Also with the cold weather at the moment, and the over efficient air conditioning in our office, I wanted to make a jumper or cardigan.

As i was looking through patterns on the net, i found this pattern that i loved the look of.

http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/aphrodite/aphrodite.html

I knew i wouldn't buy the yarn that it suggested- if i could get it in the UK it would cost over £45 for the amount the suggested. Also being my first time and knowing my past efforts at sewing, i thought that i might screw it up and be a big waste of money.

So i thought i would just give it a try in some cheap acrylic wool i found. - This stuff was £1 per 100g from Buyology - James C Brett - Top Value Double Knitting. Actually, its the best quality cheap yarn i have found to date. It feels quite soft and was much nicer to work with than the other cheap yarns i have bought. I bought it to make more hats and stuff, but I thought i would give it a try for this project.

I followed the pattern, and made up both sides and seamed them together as instructed.

Here is one side -

It looks quite nice - but once the two sides were seamed together, the ruffly bottom was so large - It just looked wrong.

I didn't really know what to do, as the ruffly bit was at the bottom and i had knitted so much after this - i thought i was going to have to undo it all or throw it in the bin.

Thankfully, i decided to undo where i had joined to the center band, and one by one undo the stitches and put the center band on to circular needles.

I then decided that this wasn't the wool for something so fancy, and it didn't really work. I'm sure the yarn they suggested would have hung better and therefore looked better, but this yarn was not suited. So i thought i would just go plain - i knitted from the bust down to the waist on circulars and switching to a rib in the contrasting colour to finish off.

All in all a learning project really for me. I probably wont have the guts to wear it, but i learned loads about reading patterns and what things work and don't with this yarn.

In the end I used less than 100g of the Turquoise and i think just over 100g of the lime. I had spare wool left over after ripping out the bottom of the jumper.

With some of the bits of yarn left over i made a crochet cuff as you can see in one of the photos.