You Knit What??

Ok, that's just nasty. At least that's what they said... I actually happen to like this sweater... very much!

 I just love you knit what?? because when it doesn't make me laugh with the loads of monstruosity the fiber world hosts 'and believe me, it does!), it gives me tons of inspiration! great blog!

invisible end

A great way to finish the last row and make the last stitch perfectly similar to the others : try the hidden ends method !

no-sew-sweater v1.0

I tried to make a sweater imitating the style of the baby it's cold outside jacket featured in Crochet me magazine, except, I didn't want to make a jacket, just a sweater with as little sewing as possible.I intended to crochet from bottom back to bottom front with an increase for the sleeves and a hole for the collar, the finished fabric would have the shape of a cross.
I had a few problems...
First it looks like my daughter grew A LOT while I was constructing it, but it was ok, I improvised sides to widen it while attaching the sides of the sweater and I thought I would just lengthen the arms afterwards with a contrasting yarn.
Then it looked like the space I left in order to crochet a collar was much too HUGE, I tried to narrow it later, but it was just a hot mess.
Finally I had to acknowledge I was going to have a yarn-shortage-accident (again!) so I had to change my plans in the middle of the back and start the sleeves... lengthening the back afterwards with a contrasting color... with a very unbecoming outcome.
Besides, the yellow skeins I had were not the same thickness, so the final result was just too eneven, clumsy, awkward.

I took pictures just for the records, I'm going to undo it (as soon as I'm finished mourning a two months worth project) and I'll probably use those yarns to make a freeform sweater, a kind of project which is much more suitable to unmatching textures of yarn.


the yarn : unknown. Got it from my mother in law's stash... acrylic mostly, sport, some baby, and a silk ribbon in peach (Bouton d'or).

the stitch : basket weave stitch (I believe it's called this way, at least in the Crochet stitch bible) : foundation : single crochet/ row 1: single crochet, 1 chain stitch, skip 1 sc of the previous row, 1 single crochet into the second sc of the previous row/ row 2 : chain stitch, skip one, single crochet into the chain stitch of the previous row, chain stitch, skip one.)
horizontal stripes : for the collar and the wrists, I used the stitch I used for the popcorn shrug trim.

What I learned from this experiment :

• always be sure you've got enough yarn before starting a project! a swatch gauge can be useful in that matter,
• if different yarns are used, see if they match once crocheted : a swatch gauge can be useful in that matter too,
• if trying a selfmade pattern, build it real-life size in paper first to check if there are defaults and secure measurements.

Practice makes perfect as they say...

Grannies, Grannies everywhere!

At the moment I'm crocheting on and off a granny square sweater for my daughter : it's an inexpensive and easy project, something you can do with leftovers when waiting for the bus or at the dentist's : crochet squares (actually they're granny flowers... did I say I love flowers?) and then join them together when you've got enough of them.
With the size of the squares I've got, I computed I needed 70 to complete a sweater, by now I already have 30 crocheted.
It had me thinking I really had a lot of leftovers, so I started to research what I could do with granny squares... and, guess what? The crochet world is really a small world because this exact same question popped up in Crochetville not long ago.

So I checked the Things to do with granny squares thread in Crochetville and I retained a few ideas :

• make an unusual top,
• make a cardigan, here you'll find the pattern in a pdf file, it's vintage but this one is just too elegant to be true!
• make a hooded baby jacket,
• make an afghan that folds into a pillow, or pillowghan,
• make slippers, or ... slippers,
• make a hat'n scarf or hat'n poncho set,
• make another sweater for me or my girl, or another one, or another one...

Possibility are endless.
Too much fun!

We're not the only ones wanting to revamp granny squares, there are a few very interesting models featured at Neiman Marcus online shop, some of them using a joined-grannies technique, with a very elegant outcome, like the WOMYN cream coat and the Micco crocheted scarf.

white "woven" scarf

I've just finished this mini scarf with a "woven" effect.
colour : snow-white (the one I've been ranting about earlier),
yarn : sport weight acrylic,
size : about 1mX15 cm
This will be my first featured "free pattern", provided I write the pattern down and find a way to feature it in my blog... I'm so excited to play it like an actual ♥ designer ♥! Wish me luck!


the stitch : back and front post double crochet, organised in a way that creates the illusion of a woven material. 50g were enough to get this result ...

---

update

You can now find a scheme of the pattern here

Delta crochet

I've just found a new online crochet course :
hassdesign.com
They mostly use diagrams, which is OK with me (no more language problem) and mostly talk about filet...

Which I don't like.

I'm really not fond of filet crochet, I've seen some wonderful masterpices, but most of the time I find filet plain ugly and I think the method is boring : squares, squares, squares again... However, they propose a filet based on triangles, not squares, and this really seems very original.

I saved the page named "delta crochet" onto my computer(in case it would just vanish from the web... you never know!) and I surely will use this technic one day or another! Particularly the method allowing to create flowers... I just love them ♥...

home-made variegated yarn

I've just found a way to change the colour of synthetic yarn :crocheting it with sewing thread thus creating my own variegated yarn. In order for the second clour to show properly, the colour must be dark or the thread thick enough. I "invented" that while crocheting a snow-white acrylic yarn... What was I thinking when I bought it? After one whole week spent crocheting it, I couldn't stand the colour anymore! So, as I couldn't dye it, I thought I could give a try to the painted doilies method... It worked! Possibilities are endless! But you must watch out for this thread, it gets tangled easily. I feel like I'm gonna have a lot of fun !

- update -

So I've been crocheting the pink sewing thread together with the white acrylic for a few days now... and it's oh! so boring! I just keep trying to prevent the two from tangling and it's no fun at all. sewing thread is not the best option i think :(

Mango!

If you have time, take a look at Mango 's collection for Autumn and Winter 2005.
They feature a few crocheted garments, not really for the more shapely figures, and quite expensive but, still, crocheted, and if you take into account the fact that crocheted always means handmade, then the price is actually fair.

I had the opportunity to try those:

the darling shawl thick variagated yarn, rather soft and funny, a bit heavy... I think it's a Salomon stitch ("love knot")	the hidra cardigan thin thread, soft, quite fluffy and delicate, crocheted in long strips with a fork, then joined with a golden thread. Hairpin lace is rare enough to be noticed. The whole garment would be fabulous if not for the belt and trims : knitted srips sewn afterwards in a hasty and very unbecoming manner.	the vesa cardigan a king of shawl with a collar and a belt, the idea is both vintage-style and funny, I like it..

Other garments featured in the Online shop : Siena (cardigan and top), Maara and peluche (shawl) among others.
I'm coveting the idea of crocheting a shawl ...

What kind of American English do I speak?

I thought it would be funny to take this poll, I must admit there were three questions I did not understand AT ALL... I don't even know what dixie means... And I'm supposed to speak British English. At least that's what I was taught...
Keep it mind that I'm French...

♥ ~ My Linguistic Profile ~ ♥

♥~ 40% General American English ~♥

♥~ 40% Yankee ~ ♥

♥~ 20% Dixie ~♥

♥ ~ 0% Midwestern ~ ♥

♥ ~ 0% Upper Midwestern ~ ♥

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

ok, so as I'm in with polls, let's just go on...

You are Dishcloth Cotton.
You are a very hard worker, most at home when
you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly
born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain
Jane, but you are too practical to notice.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Another silly thing to try :
I'm a monster, and here's my name decoded!

... or may be this one
"P.Y.O.G.A.Z.E.L.: Person-Yoking Orphan-Grabbing Abomination from the Zodiac Enchanted Labyrinth"

pink popcorn shrug

At first I wanted to make a shrug as Mrs Who explained. Then I thought I really didn't like to sew things up afterwards, so I thought I would crochet in round instead of crocheting a rectangle (which is a minor change to Mrs Who's method). I didn't know if it would be for me or for my daughter... I hesitated untill I had the first arm finished : after all, my daughter needs new clothes more than I do, she grows so fast.



the stitch : I found it on the online stitch dictionary of the site called le crochet (points pour crochet, page 3 n° 24). Unfortunately, crocheted with a thicker yarn and in round, it doesn't look the same at all... but it still looked ok to me. The trim is a single crochet worked into the back loop of the stitches of the previous row, thus creating a ribbing, plus a popcorn-nope stitch (R1:all in single crochet/R2: 2 single crochet, a 4 double crochet cluster, 2 single crochet/R3:all in single crochet) with regular increase (or decrease as I crocheted from wrist trim to wrist trim) for the wrists. The body has a quite similar trim, I tried to create a pattern with the popcorn flaring out...

the yarn : a cone of unknow quality, cotton I think, 6€ for 2_ pounds, which is a very good price. Rather thick, sturdy but smooth and easy to crochet, crocheted with a n#4,5 crochet. I think I used 800g of it.


My daughter agreed to let me take a picture with her unfinished shrug... isn't she lovely?
It wasn't easy...
 I should have figured out something was wrong, she never kept it on long enought for me to take a picture. Now I know what's wrong : she doesn't like it. So I'm not going to line it or add flowery buttons as I thought I would, it will just sit there in her closet untill I manage to sell or give it off...
 
I wish she would like it. But with children this age you can never tell. Never mind. I'll be more lucky next time.

What I learned from this experiment :

• crocheting in round is quick at first then really slow (the first arm took 2 hours, wrist included, the last row took half an hour!),




• Trim should really be done last, what leaves you the opportunity to add rows to arms or fronts, and to have really similar wrists (which is not the case if you crochet from wrist trim to wrist trim)




• popcorn grains are bigger if there is a row without any between two rows with them (dunno if I'm clear...),




• the same stitch crocheted in round looks different crocheted in alternate rows, a gauge might spare some surprises...

More pictures to be found in this album.

Green vest "à la" Russian

I just wanted to wipe up a no-sew sweater, a warm winter one, but I had a yarn shortage accident (I got the yarn from my mother in law, who got it from her mother, reason why I HAD to do something with it although I really don't like this colour...).
So I improvised something to finishthe second part of the front, I used a few cotton ball I had in stock.

The stitch is a basic diamond cluster one. I chose it because it was full while keeping a textured lace-like look. It's crocheted in one piece, from front to front, starting with the leftside one (bear with me). Shoulders were crocheted afterwards in a single crochet stitch, allowing to attach the upper part of the fronts to the back, collar and arms were then crocheted in round, in single crochet too.

There's a button inside to keep the front in place, and one outside to close the collar. They are far less cute than what I expected... You live, you learn, next time it will be better...
The embroidery on the collar and shoulders is a kind of chain stitch serpent, I savedd just enougth of the original yarn to do : I wanted to add a Russian uniform look to the collar (à la "Général Dourakine" ♥ if you know Mme De Ségur's work) and combat the "my mother went out of yarn and I look a hot mess" syndrome...

You'll find details about this vest, stitch scheme and all, on this album

My daughter just loves this vest.
I must admit I love it too now !

It all started with the rules...

With the "crochet blogs" rules. I really wanted to join that community, and what do I read in the rules :

Rules of the Ring:

1. You must have a blog in which you actively write about crochet.


(Ok, this is just what my blog is about : crochet, crochet, crochet! and a little yarn talk.)




2. Upon visiting your blog, it must be clearly obvious that you crochet. Knitting and other fiber arts or crafts are wonderful, but if I have to dig for crochet content, you will not be accepted into the ring.


(No problemo, I'm in...)


3. You must post to your blog on a regular basis (at least once a month).


(I post almost every day... Next one?)



4. The ring code must be correct and clearly visible on the main page of your blog.

(I'm just can't wait to do that! Next?)



5. Your blog must be written in English.

(Argh!)


My blog is in French!!!!
Ok, Ok... Think... Once a month at least, one post in English... Once in a month write in English... Ok.
I can do that!

So here it is...
My English crochet-blog.
Now I hope I will be accepted... Maybe I should wait to have more posted before I apply...

Anyway, dear reader, have fun, I surely will !