crocheting – Page 2 – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Where are the Beads & Yarn?

While as of late most of posts have been about baking (i.e. the Spatula) I have been working on some yarn and bead projects and today I would like to share with you some of the yarn projects.

I recently completed three scarves…

A button-through cowl I made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn in Barley. This was a quick cowl to crochet thanks to the nature of the yarn (hence the name of the yarn) and the easy pattern working with double crochets. I believe I was done with this in less than three hours!

Next I completed another cowl using another Lion Brand yarn, their Landscapes yarn in Desert Spring. It’s a beautiful self-striping roving yarn that’s also great to work with. Well, it was great yarn to work with once I wound it up into a ball as opposed to pulling it out from the skein. I did that during my first go at making this scarf and the yarn began to fray which affected the outcome of the cowl. Thankfully I bought 2 skeins of the yarn – even though the pattern only required one – so I was able to start over with much better results. One other thing, the pattern called for the cowl to be knitted in the round but I opted to add a few extra stitches and just sewed the ends together.

And finally using Red Heart With Love yarn I crocheted a puff stitch scarf. I had a slight mishap while making this scarf. I knew that it was looking a little funny while working on it but it wasn’t until I finished and needed to add the border around the scarf that I knew for sure what I had done wrong. I didn’t end one of the rows on the right stitch so every few rows the last stitch was sticking out which prevented me from adding the border. So, I had to take the scarf apart and crochet it again. Thankfully it was a quick pattern to stitch up so I was done in no time and done correctly

And currently on my crochet needle is a toddler blanket for a friend’s daughter – I actually made a smaller version of this blanket last year as a baby gift for another friend. I’m about half-way done and just about to start working with another skein of Lion Brand’s Pound of Love yarn in Honey Bee. As with the button-through cowl, this blanket is just a series of double-crochets.

Easy Lace Shrug… It’s Finally Done!

It’s been over a month since I posted about the Easy Lace Shrug I was working on. I honestly didn’t think it would take me this long to finish it, especially since I didn’t have much left to go, but that’s what procrastination will do to you. (And also a few mistakes.)

This is where I was when I last posted… I still had to two more sections of the lace pattern to knit up, the seed stich border to complete and I also had to the cuffs to do which I needed to pick up stitches for along the border. Something I had never done before and while it seemed challenging at first I quickly got the hang of it. Although I did have to pull out the first cuff I did because I somehow miscalculated the number of stitches or more likely mistook some space for stitches when they weren’t.

So, after I corrected my mistake I successfully knitted the cuffs onto each end of the shrug.

And finally I seamed the cuffs together and it was done (YAY!!!) I’ve been thinking about knitting up a sweater for myself since I got this down. I probably should start soon though so that I can be sure to have it done before next winter.

One other thing I got done… The scarf I had mentioned in the post about the shrug. And while it’s officially Spring today the temperatures will be on the colder side early next week so I am thinking I may get to wear this before I have to pack it away for next winter.

A Blanket, a Runner and a Scarf

I recently completed a few crocheting/knitting projects – one was sitting on my needles a little longer than I had hoped, one came together rather quickly and another was semi-done but just waiting to be sewn together.

Up first a baby blanket that was a cinch to make. This is actually the third baby blanket I’ve completed this year – I previously made a Violet V-Stitch Baby Blanket and a Baby Blue Basketweave Blanket. Every time I make one I try to find a completely different pattern to follow and for this one I opted to use the Spring Ripple Baby Throw pattern from the Lion Brand Yarn website. At first I wasn’t seeing the ripple pattern come through but midway through it became clearer. I’m really happy with how this blanket came out and I loved the yarn I used – Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly in Doodle Dots. It wasn’t too heavy or too light which is perfect since the baby it’s meant for is due in late spring.

And next a crochet project that I actually started late last year… the Crochet Shapes Table Runner, once again a pattern from the Lion Brand Yarn website. I liked this pattern even before I knew how to crochet because of the different motifs it consisted of. I had crocheted all the motifs but needed to stitch them together, unfortunately I got sidetracked with other projects before doing so. I ended up putting the motifs away but it was always in the back of my mind that I needed to finish it and I recently found the time to do so.

The table runner consists of six motifs: Octagon Star, Granny Stitch Hexagon, Circle in the Square, Octagon, Six Petal Flower & Flower Center Circular.

And when all of these pieces are stitched together you have a unique and customized table runner.

Finally, a scarf that I began when a fellow blogger, For The Knit Of It, ran a knit-a-long back in March. The pattern chosen was the Bosc Pattern from Robin Ulrich. And yes, Bosc as in pears. If you look closely at the scarf you can actually see the curves of pears in the pattern. I loved the pattern and was excited to work on it, but, getting it started was such a task. Just getting to this point – the first 10 rows of the pattern – took me about 10 tries.

The reason… the pattern consisted of numerous yarn overs and I kept missing them and would ultimately have to start over. (Knitting is not as forgiving as crocheting.) To combat that I actually typed of the pattern and then marked where the yarn overs would be so I wouldn’t keep missing them. Once I did that working on the pattern was a piece of cake. Unfortunately for myself it wasn’t the type of pattern that I could mindlessly work on while watching television so it took me a lot longer to complete it than I had hoped. I am happy though that I didn’t give up on it and am looking forward to wearing it next winter.

Violet V-Stitch Baby Blanket

After two weeks of crocheting I completed the baby blanket I’ve been working on. I followed a simple V-Stitch pattern and ended up with a blanket that measures 34×39 inches. A little bigger than what the pattern I followed suggested it would be (33×36 inches) but I also used a different kind of yarn (Red Heart Soft Baby Steps yarn as opposed to Lion Brand Babysoft yarn) and added a different border to it. When it comes to blankets I don’t think it hurts for it to be a little bigger as long as it’s proportionately correct.

The pattern called for adding a border around the perimeter of the blanket. I was a little unsure of how to do it from reading the directions, but, as I suspected once I started I immediately got the hang of it. To do so I first worked single crochets around the outside edge of the blanket and then in the second round added the decorative border by working into those single crochets. The pattern called for creating a picot edge. I decided to check out videos on YouTube to see how to make them and after a few attempts I couldn’t get the hang of them myself so I decided to go a different route and added a scalloped edge instead. To create the scalloped edge I worked a half-double crochet, double crochet, treble crochet, double crochet, half-double crochet into every third single crochet.

And here’s the final product…

Next up… Another baby blanket – a Seed Stitch Baby Blanket – which I am sure will take me a little longer to make since I will be knitting it on circular knitting needles.

This is the pattern that I used as a basis for creating the blanket.

V-Stitch Baby Throw Pattern

Courtesy: Lion Brand (www.lionbrand.com)

Throw

Ch 148

Row 1: (dc, ch1, dc) in 5th ch from hook (V-St made) *sk next 2 ch, V-st in next ch; rep from * across to last 2 ch, sk next ch, dc in last ch – 48 V-sts at the end of this row

Row 2 – 78: Ch 3, turn, V-st in ch-1 sp of each V-st across, dc in top of turning ch. Do no fasten off.

Finishing

Border

Rnd 1: Do not turn, work sc evenly spaced around entire outside edge of Throw, working 3 sc in each corner st; join with sl st in first sc.

Rnd 2: *Ch 2, sl st in 2nd ch from hook (picot made), sk next sc, sl st in next 2 sc; rep from * around.

Note: As you near the end of Rnd 2, count your remaining sts. If necessary, you can sl st in 1 or in 3 sc (instead of 2 sc), in order to end the rnd evenly.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Abbreviations:

ch – chain

dc – double crochet

sk – skip

st – stitch

sp – space

sc – single crochet

sl – slip

…Beading and Crocheting/Knitting Update #1

It’s been a week since I started tackling my project to-do list and so far so good. The blanket I started last week is coming along nicely. I just started working with my third skein of yarn and have about twenty inches of the blanket completed (according to the pattern directions it’s supposed to be thirty-six inches). I’m thinking that I am going to need another skein of yarn to complete the border around the blanket – thankfully this yarn doesn’t have a dye lot number. I was on the fence as to whether I was going to add the border because the directions sounded a little confusing, but, I am sure once I start it will make more sense.

Something that wasn’t on my to-do list but I received a request for was a few ruffle scarves. Luckily these only take me a few hours to make so I had no trouble knitting them up.

It wasn’t all about crocheting and knitting this week. I also tested out a vanilla cake recipe for a Minnie Mouse cake that I am making this weekend. Unfortunately I wasn’t too pleased with it so I’ll be sticking with a box cake to ensure that it comes out well. I also needed to brush up on my cake decorating skills for this cake so I was busy doing that as well. Coming up next week… hopefully a completed blanket and pictures of the Minnie Mouse cake.

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