Category: crochet

WIPs: crochet and tatting

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Gah! I knew it. Yesterday the sun was shining and everything looked lovely. Today? Grey, overcast, everything looks a bit… Meh. When did I decide to take some photos? Today, of course.

Anyway. Just a quickie to say that I’m still going with the broomstick scarf:

Actually, I’m really enjoying it. Turns out it’s easy to do this when catching up with old series of 24 (for some reason we’ve seen everything but the first series, so a remedying that now). It’s the perfect pick up, put down project.

I’m on ball 3 of the baby bamboo yarn – and I imagine there will be a few more to come yet. I do like this yarn though. Very soft, and does have a really nice sheen to it – without looking cheap. I’d use it again for other things.

I guess the only bad thing is that I’ve made this scarf quite wide. On a bad day, I think too wide, on a good day, I think y’know, stylishly wide. There’s a lot of draped knitted fabrics out there at the moment, and a lot of capes and wraps… this is a… oh no…

It’s a scrap! A cross between a scarf and a wrap! What have I DONE?

Never mind. It does actually look really nice as a piece of fabric (even if I do say so myself). If it’s too wide to wear in public I’ll drape it artfully over the arm of the sofa and pretend we’re in Country Living.

I’m also continuing my commuter project of tatting the Primrose Path doily, by Mary Konior. I really couldn’t get a decent photo of it – I hate photography – and so I can only apologise. Here it is resting on my cammo tatting travel bag:

Doily and bag

I’m in two minds about this. On the one hand, I know what’s left of the pattern well enough by now to just get on with it and on the other…

Well, it looks a bit crap, and I’m not sure I actually *want* to finish it. There’s various things that look a bit odd – like the fact that some of the first row of chains are almost stright lines, rather than curves, I’ve pulled one chain completely out of shape (thank you Southern Railways)… and… I dunno. So I know I wont love it that much when it’s finished. Actually the more I think about it, the more I think I should scrap it and start something new.

We’ll see. I should actually be working right now, so we’ll see how the day goes. I might not have time to dig out another project before tomorrow, so maybe I’ll carry on. I’ll let you know.

Broomstick lace

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*****
EDIT

Hello, did you come here via a google search for Broomstick lace? If so, thanks for coming, it’s lovely to meet you. I have a feeling you might be looking for a tutorial video, in which case, I used this one, and found it very good. I must confess, I’ve only watched part one, as it was all I needed to get going. Few other things that are useful to know:

• Its very easy and looks complicated
• I find less ‘fluffy’ yarns are best, to make the most of the pattern. (Better stitch definition)
• After every row of broomstick lace I do a row of double crochet – you don’t have to, but I quite like the stripes it creates. Also it gives it a bit more structure, which is good for an ‘every day’ scarf.
• I also crochet around the edges of the whole thing at the end, because it stops me worrying about the edges snagging on something when its worn. I usually add a picot every 4 or 5 stitches too, just to liven it up a bit.
• I used a very fat knitting needle as my ‘broomstick’, but I’ve seen other people use a ruler.

And that’s it really. The rest of this page has my original post, but I thought the above might help you get the information you wanted a bit quicker. Enjoy your crochet!

******

So, I’ve been seeing odd pieces of broomstick lace cropping up for a while now. It’s not really lace as such, but crochet, made over a ‘broomstick’:

broomstick lace

I spotted a lovely scarf over on Ravelry (you’ll need to be logged in) recently, and thought I’d have a go. Can’t be impossible, right? Actually it’s not. It’s a bit fiddly, but easy to pick up – although I might take that back when I’ve finished it and it all turns out to be a disaster!

broomstick needle

Look! My first knitting needles! I had to get them yesterday, as I didn’t have anything else appropriate. From what I’ve seen, these scarves look better in a yarn with a slight sheen – you know, less wooly. Being pretty limited by the local shop, and the urge to start NOW I went with the best option I could find which is Sidar ‘Baby Bamboo’. It splits a bit, but it’s really soft actually. The softness of it makes it quite nice to work with.

loopy

At the end of each row, you slide all the loops off the broomstick. The you work double stitches over groups of 4, and it magically just all works out. It’s pretty clever, really. If you’d like to try, but don’t have a book to hand, there’s a bunch of tutorials on YouTube. I just went with the first one I could find, which is a… well, it’s a three parter, but I haven’t got past the beginning of the second one, as I don’t need to increase or decrease for this. If you *do*, I’d suggest watching the rest!

If I never mention this again, it’s because I’ve messed it up, or got bored! Hopefully neither though. We’ll see.

Edit: part 2  |  scarf 2

Stitchin’ and Bitchin’? Tatting & chatting.

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I met up with some friends this week at the Royal Festival Hall, for a stitchy get together. There were two knitters, one embroiderer, a crocheter, and a trainee crocheter. I took my tatting, as I’ve recently finished the crochet elephant, and for some reason, taking crochet anywhere always requires too much planning… and to much pattern reading. I always end up missing an increase or decrease and confusing myself. With tatting, patterns are easier to memorise and so it’s a bit more sociable.

I’ve started the primrose path doily again. I made the middle section a few weeks back, and kept it as it was to give to someone. Since then I’ve been planning to remake it, but not quite had the chance. This time I thought I’d make life easy for myself, and make it in one colour.

Tatting and thread

This is a DMC thread, size 80, in ‘dark ecru’ and I really like it. It’s almost a muted gold colour. Looks nice.
doily

I must admit, I never thought I would be the doily making type, but I just fancied making something a bit bigger… A bit more involved, maybe. As it goes, this is quite an easy pattern – I made two of the middle sections with friends and the other two on the train, to and from work.

Tatted casualties

There were two casualties though. I did try again with the grey Venus thread – managed to make one section and realised I’d got my rings up the wrong way! I love the colour of this thread, but it’s just terrible to tat with. It breaks far too easily and makes it very difficult to close rings. The other one I forgot to join before I closed a ring, so just carried on anyway. I guess I’ll hide the ends and use them for… y’know. Something.

Finished elephant!

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Ever get that feeling that you’re always rushing about but never seem to get anywhere? That’s me I think, at the moment. Just posting this now, as this wee lady will be with her new owner before the day is out.

Elephant profile

The photo’s aren’t great (I really hate taking photos), but I should really be wrapping her up and heading off, so they’re better than nothing! I was very pleased with the way she turned out actually, even if I do say so myself. I used a bigger hook (3mm) and the stitches are much more even than ones I’ve made before. Despite the rush she came together really well – even sewing on her head wasn’t *too* painful for either of us.

finished elephant

I really hope she’s well received… I read this great post the other day which mentions the fact that after making a gift for someone, you get so excited at the thought of giving it to them, you’re kind of unprepared for the massively underwhelmed response. I know that feeling. It’s very sad. So all you can do is make the very best thing you can, put all the love into it you can, and know that you’ve done your best job. There’s no accounting for other people sometimes…

Which actually sounds like I’m expecting total disaster – I’m not at all, but y’know. I am pleased with how nicely she’s come out though. Makes me want to make another one!

Have a great weekend.

UPDATE: she got the best response *ever*. In fact, I’m still smiling now 🙂

Elephant racing

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Things are still pretty busy on the work front, and so I’ve been getting into work earlier. This means standing with your head in someone’s armpit on the overground and the underground as they’re packed in the mornings – and this in turn means it’s not the ideal tatting scenario. (I can tatt like this – but look what happened last time!) Also I’m itching to make a few new things – and that means I need room to read a pattern, which is tricky. So, I’ve been reading where possible, or studying the finer points of other people’s ear hair. You know how it is. (Or if you’re lucky, maybe you don’t.)

An elephant's head

Ages ago I promised someone I’d make them an elephant for their birthday. They’re birthday is *next weekend* and so today I thought I really should get a move on. There’s a lot going on this week and I’ll never have time to finish it in the evenings. Why didn’t I start it ages ago? Silly me.

Anyway, I’ve made a head, arms and legs. I actually started with the arms and legs first as they’re the least exciting bit and it’s good to get them done. Also, as I’m so bad at sewing, I like to do as much as I can as I go along, to tuck the ends inside. I made the ears before I started the head too, so I could sew them as I went.

Deflated elephant

Poor wee thing. I’ll start on her body next – I might just get this done – if not sewn up – tonight. I think I’m using a different hook to last time. I have a feeling last time I used a 2.5mm and this is a 3mm – its a bit odd, as the stitches look completely different. Anyway. It’s all neat and tidy, which is a good thing, as I really worry that I’ll give things to people and they’ll be really embarrassed about how rubbish it is.

I think if i make another one, I might modify the pattern ever so slightly. I think I made a mistake on the first one – which resulted in the trunk having the tiniest upturn at the end, and it looks really nice. It would be easy to do, just need to add in maybe one decrease a couple of rows in. Having said that, I need to finish this one first, which I shall go and do now…

Tatting in two colours

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After getting my new thread haul the othe week, I’ve been itching to try tatting in two colours. Nothing dramatic, but I just thought slight tonal variations would be good. The downside of buying online is that you can never be *that* sure of the colours you’re buying, but I think the ones I got are working together ok…Blue and green options

The blues are very close to eachother – but in a nice way actually. When you see them in real life, they’re really delicate. The greens are a bit further apart, but they still seem ok – and as you can see, I’ve had yet *another* go at the Mary Konior pattern. I had a longer uninterrupted train journey this week, so it was a chance to try it out again. I’m back to onion rings again and I think it does look neater.

Onion ring

Also, I think the pic at the top shows the back, rather than the front. As it happens, this was just a test to see how it went, so I didn’t wind on much thread. I’ll start again on a real one soon. I keep thinking the second ring could use a few picots to keep itself in place actually. I’m really tempted to try again and add some in… or is that just getting ridiculous?

In the meantime, I’ve been trying out an afghan pattern. I’ve been looking for one to make for ages, and I must admit, there’s something really lovely about this pattern – or is it the colours? The colours are really lovely.

I tried out one square with colours I had knocking about – you’ll recognise the grey from the elephants, maybe.

Crochet & tatting

It’s so weird to work with such chunky wool after the size 80 thread. But the square is so cute in real life! I should think it makes one hell of a warm blanket – it’s really chunky, but so soft and puffy! It’s like a crochet marshmallow. I have a vague feeling I might be 90 by the time I start and finish it as an afghan, but I am tempted… Time to go yarn shopping? Maybe.

Oh! And talking of elephants, one of them has err… flown the nest (you know how well elephants fly!) and reached her destination…


Happy Elephant

(I mentioned to the recipients mum that I’m on hand for repairs when needed ;o)

New thread!

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My little thread stash has arrived already from Buttercup Miniatures. I must admit, that’s pretty speedy, I ordered it on monday night and they’d posted it by Tuesday morning. This is the first time I’ve bought anything from them (found via google) and I already want to buy some more.

New thread

Here’s my little stash, modelled by an elephant duet. The elephant on the left is going to a new home next week, and she’s most excited. (I *love* making things for people. I’m already excited at the thought of packaging her up. I hope her new owner(s) like her).

Anyway. I was right. The thread I liked for tatting but lost the info for was size 80. I think size 100 is ok, but it’s a bit fiddly to close rings and keep them neat and tidy, so I think carrying on with 80 is good for now. I’m going to make a few little things to send to people, and then something bigger… Although I’m so close to finishing this now, I’m tempted to make another one in two colours… we’ll see. I’d like to prove to myself that I can make a nice neat version. I do know that one’s a bit messy.

Finished

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I finished this wee lady earlier this week. Or at least I finished sewing her together. Today I’ve just been hunting for scarf ribbon in the collection I seem to’ve acquired over the past few years. I was going to make a shawl, but I don’t really have any yarn the right colour – lots of colours gets lost in the grey of the skin or overpowered by the colour of the dress. I went through my ribbon stash, was about to opt for something else and then remembered this. It’s not perfect, but it should be ok. (sorry for the not very well styled photo).

Here she is with her older sister too. Not sure how she ended up with a slightly thicker trunk… You might be able to spot that I did the front loop /back loop stitches this time – as per the pattern. I like it. Makes the arms and legs look more defined.

Not been  the best of weekends. Problems with my neck and shoulder again. I feel bad for not writing up the poor new elephant as nicely as she deserves, but I think it’s better to quite while I’m ahead.

WIP

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In a rush! (About to go out), and very tired. I stayed up far too late working on this. It’s for a friend’s daughter – actually, he asked for a Little ‘un but his daughter is very young, and the small ones are a bit fragile – I wasn’t sure she’d last that long. This one is wool and cotton – that Rowan Siena cotton is really vibrant, and I thought the colours might be more interesting than the more muted version for a little girl.

Little ‘un

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So, after the complete joy of finishing elephant number one (who, weirdly, is much loved but still nameless) I decided I should make another one. You know, just to see if the first one was a fluke, and to indulge my odd habit of making the same thing in different thread for no apparent reason.
I only really have one other thread for this kind of thing, and that’s some crochet cotton I bought online. I’ve got three colours, beige, white and dusty pink – and thus elephant number two had no choice, she was to be made those colours, or nothing.
I’ve used this thread before – I made a monkey with it, but what I found amazing this time is that if I’d made her any smaller, the backs of the safety eyes wouldn’t fit in her head. Poor wee thing. She really is quite small.
As I’ve mentioned before, the pattern for this is really nice. I made the head in super quick time – you know when you’re on a roll and just want to get things made?
I dawdled a bit with the rest, mainly as I’m still having a few neck/shoulder issues and I’m trying not to do stuff for too long. I was going to add two buttons to her dress – hence the slightly odd positioning of the one you can see, but even though that button is weeny, there still wasn’t much room for another.
I spent a silly amount of time choosing ribbon for her scarf. She was really rooting for bright red with white dots, but could I find that style ribbon thin enough? No, I could not – thanks for asking. She quite likes this daisy pattern though, and so we’re sticking with it for now.
I actually went ribbon shopping in Liberty (as well as John Lewis), and an assistant came over and squealed a bit when she saw her. As she very kindly helped me look, she asked if I would be selling her. I was bowled over with flattery, but I did say that she’d be about £300 at the rate I crochet and I wasn’t sure anyone had quite that much money to spend on… Well…
What exactly *is* she? Well. Half way through making her, I’d decided she should be called Atish, which I know is a boys name, but sounded like a good name for a shrew. (Atish Shrew! Bless you, etc). But she’s a kind of babyelephantyshrewymousey kind of thing, of course! I’m rather offended you couldn’t tell.