Tag Archives: crochet

The hot cross bun stitch – a video

20 Wednesday Jun 2012

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I’m still busy with Fleur, aka the Summer Vest Take Two.

I’m not going to lie to you: I’ve been less enthusiastic about this piece of wearable crochet. I know it’s because I’ve lost momentum after having to frog the orignal Summer Vest, but I’m pushing hooking through.  I won’t allow myself to start another piece of wearable crochet until this one is finished (wish I had this kind of self control when it comes to a tube of Pringles!)

I’m not saying Fleur isn’t pretty or that the yarn isn’t pretty or that I don’t like the pattern, not at all! It just feels a bit “this has been done before”. Well, technically it has. Thankfully Fleur is going to be so much more flattering than the first Summer Vest. I have to start with the armhole shaping of the back panel this evening, and already I can tell that Summer Vest Take Two is going to be a hit and worn a lot (British Summer permitting).

As you can see I’m hard at work.

If you want to see a bigger picture of what I have so far, and how to make the Hot Cross Bun stitch….. watch this video.

Thank you for rEAding. Watch the video. You’ll see hear what I mean 😉

Anne’s clock

20 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Etsy, Other people's crochet, Pattern

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Last week I got an email from Anne, who had purchased the pattern for my crocheted clocks on Etsy.

Anne said:

Really cute, easy and so much fun. My husband builds grandfather clocks, and I loved the fact I could incorporate our two crafts together; his love of timepieces and my love of crochet.

…your patterns are extremely easy to read and a pleasure to create from!!!

I just love that the clock could combine her and her husband’s hobby into one crafty item. Isn’t it sweet?

Anne also sent me this picture of her clock. Lovely and colourful isn’t it? Great job Anne!

Crochet on TV (Mad Men)

13 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in As seen on TV, My ramblings

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Last night I was lying sprawled out on the couch under the Identity Crisis blanket getting my final fix of Mr. Don Draper in Mad Men.

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Geez, I love Mad Men! The smoking in the office, the drinking in the office, the unashamedly sexist comments, the fashion, LSD trips, everything! I love it so much I didn’t even crochet in front of the TV, just so that I could give the season finale my undivided attention.

As a reward, the Gods of Crochet rewarded me with a granny square blanket right there on Beth’s hospital bed!

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The blanket is a basic granny in the typical late 1960’s colours of brown, olive and orange. It’s done in big squares of orange or brown, the last round of each being olive green. I think the squares are about 10 rounds each with the olive as the last round. When you join up all the squares, the olive round of one will lie next to the olive of the square next to it, forming a grid of olive which sort of frames the orange and brown squares.

If I remember correctly, the edging was done as a row of brown with a scalloped edge in olive. Something like this.

If the Season 5 Finale was a let down for you, you can always count on your granny square afghan to bring you comfort. It may not be Don Draper, but it’s just as easy on the eye.

Crochet a crochet hook!

13 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in My ramblings, Other people's crochet, Pattern

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I was looking for something (totally different) in Google images when I came across this amigurumi crochet hook. Is this not THE cutest thing you’ve ever seen?!  Oh what joy that Google image searches are so very random.

Best of all? You can make one of your own! Nerdigurumi, who is the creator of this mind blowingly cute amigurumi, gives the free pattern here. Check it out and go forth and hook a hook!

Summer Vest take two

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

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Remember the summer vest I crocheted with the vintage circa 1960 Sirdar pattern? Remember how I said the waist shaping went out in stead of in and that I hoped the yarn would soften and drape better so that it would be more flattering around the tummy area? Well. It didn’t happen.

I know myself and I know I won’t wear the vest again. There’s no point in letting good Rowan Siena go to waste so I frogged it.

I went from this –

to this –
  

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and finally to this, in one afternoon.

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In hindsight I probably should have made four or five smaller balls of yarn in stead of this huge ball. Got a bit carried away with the unravelling and winding…. Now I’m stuck with a massive ball of yarn that I have to carry around for crocheting in the train. Oops.

My replacement summer vest looks very similar to the vintage pattern summer vest. The biggest change is the waist shaping which goes in (yeah!) and the crochet stitch for the main body. The pattern I chose is Fleur, from the Rowan Holiday Crochet pattern book. (The same book that Belle is from.)

For Fleur I had to learn a new crochet stitch, which I love. It’s called the Hot Cross Bun stitch. I couldn’t find a reference to it anywhere in Google, so I think it may be a stitch thought up by the desigher, Marie Wallin, specifically for this pattern.

In the photo below, the hot cross bun stitch is the one in the unfinished row. Just below is a row of dtr3tog. I’d like to think of the dtr3tog as the buns and the X stitches as the cross on top of the bun.

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(The stitches are not very defined in this photo, but I was so excited I just had to take a photo to show you. As the crochet grows I will take photos again.)

The stitch is based on (UK) double trebles so it works up very quickly. It’s also much easier than it looks. Basically it’s two half a double trebles seperated by a chain that cross each other in the middle. It really is so much fun doing. Only drawback is that I’m constantly craving hot cross buns! Hahahaha

Before I end off this post, I just wanted to say thanks for all the lovely comments and more Versatile Blogger Awards nominations on the Dusky Ta-daaah post. You guys are the best and I treasure every comment and nomination.

 

Dusky in Corfu

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in My crochet, Ta-daah!

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Ta-daaaaah! My Dusky top is finished! As I promised myself, I started working on it on the first day of my holiday in Corfu, and I managed to finish it, and wear it, on the last day. So happy!!!!

Here are some photos showing how Dusky grew into the lovely top that it is.

The pattern for the body is really easy to do, but it looks very fancy and intricate.

Close-up of me and my Obey Crochet temporary tattoo on the beach. I love it! Felt like such a rebel with my tat 🙂

And here it is. The finished top. I’m wearing it with a flesh coloured camisole, but it can be worn over any coloured t-shirt (long and short sleeved) or camisole. It’s a very wearable, versatile top.

Case and point of versatility: the same Dusky over a black camisole with black trousers for work. See what I mean?!

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So now you probably want the nitty gritty:

  • The pattern is available for free here. To access it you’ll have to join Row@n Members area and download the pattern from the May 2012 newsletter.
  • I made a modification to the pattern in that I didn’t do it as a tunic, but rather my standard length of just above the hips. It was a joy modifying the length, as the top is crocheted top down so I just had to stop when it reached the length I wanted. I love top down construction!
  • The yarn is Drops Paris in shade no. 60. I used 8 balls.
  • The pattern suggests a 5mm hook. I had to use a 6mm to get the gauge for the yoke right, and then used 5mm for the lacey body.

All in all, I can highly recommend this pattern and the Drops Paris to hook it with.

I’m definitely taking a crochet project with me on holiday again. Now that I’m sitting at my desk, wearing Dusky, I’m reminded of my fabulous week in Corfu and I will be every time I wear it.

No more postcards or fridge magnets for me as momentos of holidays – I hook on holiday!

Vintage pattern Summer Vest Ta-daaaah

27 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in My crochet, My ramblings, Ta-daah!

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It’s done! The Summer Vest from this vintage pattern circa 1960 is done!

I know I said I would take this project with me to Corfu to work on there, but once I had made the gauge swatch, I just couldn’t stop. One dc led to another and before I knew it I was wearing it!

Here I am striking the same pose as the classy lady on the left. Check out the beads and I even have wind in my hair. Hahaha

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Initially I wanted to make the vest with the flowers but I  changed my mind. Typical. I like wearing beads and necklaces, so I’d rather jazz up the Vest with jewellery than be stuck with the flowers. After doing my modification (again, typical) of the bottom edge, flowers would have been a bit much.

The pattern asks for a ribbing which I didn’t feel like doing. Ribbings is a bit too old-fashioned for me, so in stead I started with the main pattern immediately and when it was all done, I added the neck & armhole edging pattern at the bottom, plus one row of the main pattern.

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The strange thing about the pattern is its shaping. In stead of shaping in at the waist, it goes out at the waist. I did as the pattern said, so I included that shaping but it’s not the most flattering. Hubby and I actually call the vest the “Pull In Your Tummy Vest” because it looks like I have a bit of a belly.

The body also retains its shape very well. When I stand up after sitting down for a while, the yarn “remembers” the folds so it looks like I’ve got sausage tied round my waist. I’m hoping this will change as the cotton softens and drapes more. I REALLY hope so.

Here are the Summer Vest (a.k.a Pull In Your Tummy Vest) facts:

  • No ribbing and a modified bottom edge – see above.
  • I used a 3mm crochet hook and just under 6 balls of Rowan Sienna in Grasshopper  for size L.
  • I started the gauge swatches on 13 May, and finished the Vest on 26 May.

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All in all, I like the vest. The colour is my favourite thing about it. I’m looking forward to wearing it with summery skirts in Corfu next week. Keep an eye on the crocheTime Facebook page for photos.

I do think however that I like the idea of using a vintage pattern, more than I like the finished item. It’s such a nice thought that the last time someone followed this pattern there were no such things as Ravelry, blogs or Facebook to tell others about it. Now this Vest is retro and vintage, then it was just “the latest pattern by Sirdar”.

Wednesday I’ll start working on Dusky, “the latest pattern from Rowan” (which 40 years from now will be retro and vintage. There’s a thought!)

I’ve done the gauge swatches but this time I stopped myself from going any further. Dusky is done in a 6mm hook with Worsted weight yarn and just like the Vest it also doesn’t have sleeves, so it’s going to be a very quick project.

I’m not going to allow my crochet addiction to get out of hand again: Dusky’s foundation chain will be crocheted in the presence of olives, houmous and feta. THe plan is to start my holiday with a bag of yarn, and end it with a new crochet top. How cool would that be?

My Belle Ta-daaaah!

15 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in My crochet, Ta-daah!

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Do you know the song “Michelle” by the Beatles? I think it was written for my Belle!

I’m really loving My Belle!

The extra 3cm at the bottom has made a huge difference. (Now that I look at the photo I see that the camisole I wear underneath has scrunched up a bit over the trousers, so please ignore that.) By the way, you have to wear something underneath as the holes are quite open – unless of course you’re going for the *sexy hooker* look (I can just imagine the amount of disappointed Google searchers when they see this blog in the result page for their * * search. Hahahaha). 

But I digress.

The Rowan Belle pattern was an utter pleasure to follow – so much that I even made a video singing its praises. At times I did however think I made a mistake with the yarn, Drops Cotton Viscose.

It is very splitty, there’s no denying that.  It’s the Rayon threads that seem to fluff up and snag but it’s exactly that thread that gives it its luxurious sheen (being the “viscose” in Cotton Viscose). The Rayon also helps to keep the shape beautifully.  Seeing the completed top has converted me: I will use Cotton Viscose again. Splitting yarn can be forgiven. Suck it up, cause it’s worth it in the end!

So to sum up My Belle, here are the facts.

I made a couple of changes (see yesterday’s post).

I used a 3mm and a 4mm crochet hook (see this post)

I used 9.5 balls of Drops Cotton Viscose in shade no. 29

It took me less than a month to crochet – I started on 14 April and completed it on 14 May. In that time I took a week off to make Lynn’s Retro Looks cushion, so it was about three weeks.

I loved this pattern. If I only make this one item from the Rowan Holiday Crochet book, the book has been worth it.

♫Michelle, my belle.
Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble,
Très bien ensemble.
I love you, I love you, I love you.♪♪

P.S. I forgot to say: thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday’s post and also on the sneak peak photo this morning on the Facebook page. It means a lot to me that you love My Belle just as much as I do.

My Belle modifications

14 Monday May 2012

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My Belle top is almost finished. I’m so, so, so close! As we speak it’s lying on the living room couch waiting for me to whip stitch the underarm & sides. Then it’s done! Whoo-hoo!

When you saw it last it was in the video and didn’t look like much. My oh my how it has grown!

In the video I talked about making a modification to the width – changing it from 23cm to 20cm. I was spot on. Taking the 3cm off each side has made a huge difference and definitely streamlined the top.

This photo of Belle being blocked, shows you all the changes I’ve made. Please note the 23cm 20cm is specific to size M.  The pattern dimensions are given in red and what I hooked, is given in purple (to match my purple Crocs of course).

Apart form the sides that I changed from 23cm to 20cm, I made two other changes:

  1. I added 3cm to the hem lace panel. To achieve this, my foundation chain was 39 stitches instead of 33 stitches. The panel is only 3cm wider, but that makes a big difference to the overall look. Remember, the hem panel is attached to the body on its side, so the panel had to be made wider, in order to lengthen the top.
  2. The other change (mentioned in the video), was to join my front and back panels 9.5cm from the edge of the central panel, in stead of 5.5cm from the edge of the central panel. My neckline is now wider than the pattern instructions. I’m very happy with my decision to do this, as you have to finish off the neckline with two rows of sc (American) / dc (English), so that decreases the neck opening even more.  Unless you have a very thin neck, I would suggest you also join the front and the back at roughly 9.5cm from the central panel.  You can always use whip stitch to make the neckline smaller if it’s too wide, but you can’t make it any wider once you’ve joined you front and back!

By the way, once again I’m so impressed with  my blocking boards. I’ve seen many other crochets and knitters use these. They really are so handy. It’s EVA foam interlocking mats. As you can see, you can place them to suit the size and shape of your crochet piece. I bought mine on eBay but you can get them at toy shops, like this one.

I’ll be whip stitching at the speed of light tonight so that I can do a Ta-daah post tomorrow.  Uhm, I wonder what I’ll be wearing to work tomorrow…?