Tag Archives: double crochet

July 18, 2014 · 1:51 pm

May – Square Ten

May – Square Ten

Here is another great square using the yarn I mentioned previously from my Grandmother’s stash. It was a bit difficult to work with. I’m not sure if that’s because it’s a wool blend, or due to it’s age, but I often had a hard time catching the yarn with my hook.

I found the neat pattern for this stand-out star here.  The effect is created with Front Post Double Crochet stitches.  I modified the edging a little to stay within my 7 inches.  My star doesn’t stand out quite as well and I think that is also due to the yarn I used and it’s weight and age.

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July 7, 2014 · 11:05 am

A Gift For Me

Pot holdersIt’s not often that I get a crocheted gift from someone else.  But my friend Kay from church brought me these two lovely pot holders yesterday.  This is absolutely perfect because I had just been thinking I needed to make myself a pot holder to keep at work for when I microwave my lunch and carry it back to my desk (which is more often than not.)  So now I don’t have to, and I’ll think of her every time I warm up a lunch at work.  Plus, I have two so if one gets soiled I can take it home to wash and still have another to use.  And have I ever mentioned how much I love variegated yarn?  Finally, it doesn’t hurt that all colors bluish-green (teal, turquoise etc) are my favorite!

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June 24, 2014 · 4:59 pm

Design Submission

AfghanI’ve mentioned previously that I’d submitted the pattern for the afghan I made for Greyson’s Baby Blessing for publication.  It was not accepted and I’ve been meaning to get the pattern uploaded to sell on Ravelry myself like I did for Persephone’s Ribbon and Pearls afghan.  Somehow I just haven’t gotten that done and now I’m glad.

I got an email the other day from Crochet World calling for design submissions for their Spring 2015 Special issue “Blue Ribbon Crochet.”

The issue will “showcase a variety of award-worthy projects that reflect some of the most popular fairy-entry categories for crochet designs.”

The email said, “We want fabulous, prize-worthy designs that are exceptional in style but not difficult or intimidating to make.”

My design goes perfectly with what they’re looking for both with its simplicity and coincidentally with the blue ribbon.  I’ve submitted the design and I’m anxious to find out if they’ll use it.

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June 22, 2014 · 9:52 pm

May – Square Nine

May – Square Nine

If you haven’t noticed, I have been using yarn from my stash to make each of my squares and not buying any new.  As a result, I’ve been using different yarn types together where I normally never would.  The most common example of this has been using worsted weight Red Heart yarn with the lighter Caron Simply Soft.  But this is more of a sampler piece, so that rule is temporarily suspended.  Because the weights and textures are different, I often have to change the size of the crochet hook I’m using in order to maintain the same gauge after changing yarns.

May’s first square is another extremely simple Granny, however I found a lovely variegated cotton yarn in my stash that I used to make my family dish cloths for Christmas a few years back.  The color just said “May” to me and the cotton texture will definitely stand out in the finished afghan.

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February 26, 2014 · 3:30 pm

February – Square Four

February - Square Four

February – Square Four

February’s second square is quite a bit more complicated and includes an Extended Double Crochet Cluster (EDCC) which I had never done before.  The heart is crocheted first and then the granny clusters must be worked around it and built up to make the piece square.  The heart ends up slightly off center in order to accomplish this.  The pattern for this square can be found here.  I made a few small modifications for mine including changing color back to red at the half double crochet round and then changing back to white again and crocheting another double crochet row followed by a single crochet edging.  Happy Valentines Day!

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February 18, 2014 · 2:44 pm

February – Square Three

February - Square Three

February – Square Three

February’s first square is another very basic Granny.  As a matter of fact, the first three rounds are worked exactly the same as the basic Granny I did for January’s first square.  However, starting with round four, instead of working clusters (3 dcs) in chains spaces, double crochets are worked in the previous row’s double crochets – with the exception of the corners of course.  I completed this square in a single variegated yarn instead of finishing off and changing colors after each round.  I prefer January’s basic Granny over this one.

Round 1: Sl st in a magic ring, ch 3, 2 dc in ring, ch 2, (3 dc, ch 2 in ring) 3 times, join with sl st in top ch of beg ch 3, pull tail of magic ring tight to close ring to complete round.

Round 2: Sl st across to corner ch 2 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in next ch 2 sp, ch 1) 3 times, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3.

Round 3: Sl st across to corner ch 2 sp, ch 3 2 dc in same sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same sp, ch 1, (3 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1) across to corner, *(3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in corner ch 2 sp, ch 1, (3 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1) across to corner, repeat from * around and join with sl st in top of beg ch 3.

Round 4: Sl st across to corner ch 2 sp, ch 3 2 dc in same sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same sp, ch 1, 2 dc in next ch 1 sp, dc in next dc and in each across to next ch 1 sp, 2 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, *(3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in corner ch 2 sp, ch 1, 2 dc in next ch 1 sp, dc in next dc and in each across to next ch 1 sp, 2 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, repeat from * around, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3.

Repeat round 4 until desired size has been reached. Finish off.

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February 17, 2014 · 10:01 pm

January – Square Two

January - Square Two

January – Square Two

January’s second square is a bit more complicated.  I continued with the cold winter blue and white and added a snowflake.  This pattern requires a bit of knowledge in shaping in order to transform the piece from round as it starts out, to square by the last round.

The FREE pattern for this square can be found here on Ravelry.  The original picture there is in red and white and the center is done in the contrasting color rather than making the inside all the same color.  But it looked like a snowflake to me so I did the center all in white.  Just another example of the different results you can get by changing colors.  I also skipped the last round of single crochets on this one as I had already reached my seven inches by the round of double crochets.

I do like how this one turned out.  The snowflake is very pretty.  I didn’t find the pattern to be completely clear though.  I had to do a bit of experimenting to figure out the shaping.  But it all turned out well in the end.

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February 17, 2014 · 9:12 pm

January – Square One

So I am a little behind in starting out the Granny Square Project.  The new baby decided to come a few weeks early in December rather than wait till the middle of January so I’ve been a bit busy.  But, we went to visit the in-laws this past weekend and I was able to get caught up while they played with the kids.  So I will be posting both January and February’s squares here shortly. 

January - Square One

January – Square One

January’s first Granny Square is the most basic of Grannies.  I completed it in blue and white to go with all the cold temperatures and snow we’ve been having this winter.  Each of the squares in the project will be seven inches square.

The basic pattern is as follows.  As a note for all my Grannies, I start them all out using the “magic ring.”  There is a good tutorial here if you need it.

Round 1: Sl st in a magic ring, ch 3, 2 dc in ring, ch 2, (3 dc, ch 2 in ring) 3 times, join with sl st in top ch of beg ch 3, pull tail of magic ring tight to close ring to complete round. Finish off.

Round 2: Join new color with sl st in any ch 2 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in next ch 2 sp, ch 1) 3 times, join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. Finish off.

Round 3: Join new color with sl st in any corner ch 2 sp, ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same sp, ch 1, (3 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1) across to corner, *(3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in corner ch 2 sp, ch 1, (3 dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1) across to corner, repeat from * around and join with sl st in top of beg ch 3. Finish off.

Repeat round 3 until the desired size is reached. I also added a row of single crochet for edging with 3 sc being completed in each corner.  This is completely optional.

The nice thing about this is you can finish off on each round and add a new color, or you can continue in the same color.  Each square can look completely different, yet be completed from the same pattern.  You can also make it as large or as small as small as you like.  Usually the fewest rows completed is 3.  (See, I’m trying to appreciate the Granny here.)  January’s square two coming up shortly!

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January 21, 2012 · 12:26 pm

Copy-Cat Angel

Remember the Copy-Cat Pansy doily that I made while at my In-laws place for a visit?  Well during our visit with them again earlier this month I saw a crocheted angel that my Mother-in-Law had and decided to copy that too.  I’ve been wanting to make an angel for the top of the tree and this one was just perfect for it.  The left is what I came up with, and the right is the original piece.  

The angel was finished by soaking it in fabric stiffener and then pinning it to a styrofoam cone for shaping and then using hot glue to attach the halo and wings.

I didn’t get the shaping of the wings quite right.  I wasn’t able to finish the wings while I was there and had to work from pictures.  It was hard to see exactly what needed to be done for the wings from those pictures.  But it generally came out pretty good.

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September 27, 2011 · 6:56 pm

Project Linus

I have joined a new organization!

Project Linus is an organization that “Provides love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.””

And here is the first afghan I have made to donate!  This baby afghan is a fairly simple pattern.  The pattern stitch is made by alternating a wrong side row of double crochet + slip stitch, with a right side row of straight double crochets.  The combination of the double crochet followed by a slip stitch creates an interesting textured bobble type stitch. 

This stitch gives the simple 12-row repeat before changing colors some pleasant detail without complicating the design.

I continued the simplicity to the edging where I completed one round of single crochets in white, followed by one round of the pattern stitch.

I have added the websites for both the National and Kansas City chapters of Project Linus to the Links menu if you are interested in more information!

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