Keeping up appearances!
How satisfying is it to have your "darling little treasure" dressed in a cute or handsome little hat?
"awh... how sweet!" "isn't she beautiful" "how handsome does he look?"
and being able to say "I MADE IT!"
Would you like me to make you one?
or if you prefer this is where you can find the pattern!
Sweat and tears!
Finally, after many hours of crochet, writing, photos and the rest....
I have just listed a few more baby hat patterns to help you dress your darling!
Quick and easy with a bit of style.
Check them out and see if anything takes your fancy.
There will be more coming soon...
when I get back from our little getaway (next 5-6 days)... so looking forward to our trip north.
Ciao! for now!
Saturday 5 March 2011
Tuesday 1 March 2011
Patterns, Crochet and me!
WIP - Tick. Done.
Crochet Hearts Doily now done and dusted. Must say for the time I spent on this piece, I could have made a number of baby hats, mittens, bootees, etc. However I appreciate the experience and I will file away the knowledge of this exercise for future reference. Here is a photo of the finished doily, just before cutting thread and prior to blocking.
Heart Thoughts!
I am glad to have chosen two heart doilies to trial. I personally prefer pattern No. 1 from Coats and Clarke "Hearts Desire".... simple, easy beginners heart doily, and a very easy pattern to remember. I really like the ease of crochet, the quickness and versatility .... use it with any yarn and hook size. I think I will definitely use this pattern again ... maybe not as a doily but for use in making a beret or summer hat! Will see!
Today is free day!
I am now ploughing through my handwritten scribbles, which I decipher and turn into patterns which make sense.... I hope.... and of course this is not my favourite part of crocheting. However it needs to be done if my intention nowadays is to crochet for pleasure and for sharing... and opposed to crocheting madly for hours each day just to reach my quota by the end of the week .... so I can have stock for my market stall! Those days are now gone, by choice, and I am now stress free!
I am going to share a few patterns with you soon, which will be free! Simple and quick patterns.
So stay tuned.... there will be ... NEWBORN Baby Hat FREE PATTERN
This "Perfect Wrist and Headband" pattern is so simple to make.
A perfect little accessory for the coming summer months.
PLEASE NOTE: HEART MOTIF - IS NOT included in this FREE PATTERN
PATTERN FOR HEART MOTIF IS AVAILABLE HERE:
Wristband/Headband Measurements:
will vary depending on yarn and hook size.
Aim for easy fit, this stitch will stretch and cotton yarn does relax with wear.
Crochet Hearts Doily now done and dusted. Must say for the time I spent on this piece, I could have made a number of baby hats, mittens, bootees, etc. However I appreciate the experience and I will file away the knowledge of this exercise for future reference. Here is a photo of the finished doily, just before cutting thread and prior to blocking.
Crochet Hearts Doily |
I am glad to have chosen two heart doilies to trial. I personally prefer pattern No. 1 from Coats and Clarke "Hearts Desire".... simple, easy beginners heart doily, and a very easy pattern to remember. I really like the ease of crochet, the quickness and versatility .... use it with any yarn and hook size. I think I will definitely use this pattern again ... maybe not as a doily but for use in making a beret or summer hat! Will see!
Crochet Hearts Desire Doily |
I am now ploughing through my handwritten scribbles, which I decipher and turn into patterns which make sense.... I hope.... and of course this is not my favourite part of crocheting. However it needs to be done if my intention nowadays is to crochet for pleasure and for sharing... and opposed to crocheting madly for hours each day just to reach my quota by the end of the week .... so I can have stock for my market stall! Those days are now gone, by choice, and I am now stress free!
I am going to share a few patterns with you soon, which will be free! Simple and quick patterns.
So stay tuned.... there will be ... NEWBORN Baby Hat FREE PATTERN
Crochet Hat Newborn |
This "Perfect Wrist and Headband" pattern is so simple to make.
A perfect little accessory for the coming summer months.
PLEASE NOTE: HEART MOTIF - IS NOT included in this FREE PATTERN
PATTERN FOR HEART MOTIF IS AVAILABLE HERE:
Wristband/Headband Measurements:
will vary depending on yarn and hook size.
Aim for easy fit, this stitch will stretch and cotton yarn does relax with wear.
Crochet Wristband Pattern |
Enjoy!
ciao, ciao!
Barbara Summers Hand Knit and Crochet www.crocknit.com Copyright (C) 2008-2015 Barbara Summers - All rights reserved. |
Friday 25 February 2011
Loving the Hearts - Crochet Doily Pattern
Crochet Hearts Doily - after row 8 |
Work in Progress
As promised I started the "Crochet-Along Hearts Doily" last night and here are some photos of my progress.
I placed it over my blue doily for size comparison, you can see it will end up a bit bigger which is not an issue, and I am really enjoying the experience.
Thank you to Cylinda Matthews from Crochet Memories for this wonderful crochet hearts doily pattern.
Crochet Hearts Doily Pattern - after row 17 |
Confusion
The pattern is easy to follow, although there were a few moments there, I wasn't exactly sure what it was saying and I actually thought there was a mistake in the pattern, I think it was my haste to get on with it, because as soon as I focused and re-read the instruction it all made sense.
I think this is where a chart would help to explain what is happening in each row.
The end is in sight!
So tonight I will have completed the doily, so excited about it, now it will be interesting deciding where to use it!
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Mandala of Hearts - Love, Love, Love!
Doily Heaven
Have you ever searched for doily patterns on the web? OMG - there are soooo many. I don't know why I never thought to go to this place before. So many designs and colour schemes and amazing little angels and swans and oh my just so much doily stuff. I am in doily heaven.
I spent at least an hour or so, of just browsing and admiring and dared not spend more time searching in case I was swallowed up by the massive array of doily patterns. A bit like a "black hole" - the black hole of crochet doilies!
Joy of Discovery
I was overjoyed to find at least a couple of FREE doily patterns which included heart shapes and didn't seem too complicated or overtaxing. You know, it is my first real attempt at serious doily crochet - and I am so keen on following through with my "hearts" theme - I like to think of these as my heart mandalas bringing in lots of love into my world!
I managed to crochet a total of three (3) doilies (different sizes using different yarns and hooks) all made in one afternoon - this crochet heart doily pattern is really easy and once you have made one doily, it is REALLY easy to remember the pattern and to crochet another doily without having to refer to the writtern pattern (well hardly) at all!
I really, really love this easy heart pattern and have a few ideas about how I can use it elsewhere. Of course, when I get around to crocheting my ideas I will share it with you. But for now I am taking a break from the heart doily thing and focusing on finishing a few other "WIP" which have been patiently waiting in the bottom of my work basket.
Pattern Source
This first pattern is a very good beginner's pattern. If you would like to download the pattern you will find it HERE.
I also found a second hearts doily pattern, however you will have to wait for my next hearts mandala doily BLOG. I aim to start on the lovely heart doily pattern tonight or tomorrow. Depends on how quickly I finish off some loose ends (so to speak)!
The Crochet Memories website seems to have (or used to have - I didn't check it out thoroughly yet) "crochet-along" patterns. So you could join in and crochet a certain amount of the doily and then wait for the rest to be posted. Anyway the Hearts Doily Pattern I am talking about is available to download from HERE.
I hope this has been of benefit to some of you and if anyone has any other websites of interest to share please post a comment at the end of the blog post below, and it will be lovely to see what else is out there for everyone to enjoy!
Enjoy!
Ciao, ciao!
Ciao, ciao!
Copyright © 2008
Barbara Summers Hand Knit and Crochet.
All rights reserved.
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Saturday 19 February 2011
Coffee Coaster Blues
"One of these days Alice!" bang!!! zoom!! pow! "I'm gonna make you some coffee coasters".
Ideas brew!
I love the way ideas just fly into one's head. Rummaging through my stash I came across some cotton ribbon yarn - yes could be a sunhat but is there enough? maybe, no not really. Oh hang on, there is also this bamboo yarn, ooh cool, just the perfect contrast too. OK, now what? um let me handle it, play with the yarn that is, hmm hook size recommended is 5.5mm, no I think I will use a 6mm hook.
This ribbon yarn will have just the right thickness and perfect for coasters. I wonder if I can get six (6) coasters out of one skein? Maybe try it, if not I can also make some from the dark blue ribbon yarn instead. OK let's go for it!
Time tells a story!
From conception to finish, these coasters were a "no brainer". Simple double crochet into a magic loop, for three (3) rounds, and then contrast single crochet and crab stitch to finish.
I like to "just crochet" sometimes. No patterns, no checking gauge, nothing to adhere to - I am free to go anywhere with this yarn and hook. Moments like these I have no thoughts, and I am totally consumed by the process of crochet, totally in the moment, I exist in the present and time is nowhere! Simply heavenly crochet time!
I started these coasters on Wednesday afternoon and managed to make eight (8) coasters from 1 skein, that was a real bonus. I then decided to make a large centre piece, initial thoughts were to use on my circular tray when afternoon tea/coffee is served. Good idea!
Crazy Doily!
This large centre piece was quickly turning into hours of crochet and ripping, ripping and crochet, just experimenting with the stitches so I could make the yarn go further to get the perfect size centre piece to fit the tray. Hey karumba! I am starting to admire doily crocheters.
OK so I was working without a pattern but really how difficult can it be? You go round in circles right? Too easy! Well not so easy when asking a piece of circular crochet to lie flat, it becomes a challenge! I could have easily done the increasing in the usual manner but then I would have ended up with a hexagon or an octagon and that is not what I was aiming for. So changing from double crochet to a variety of V-sts and incorporating the contrast mocha bamboo to help bring the piece together was a bit of a "ripping" experience! Hahaha! So glad it is now finished, I literally spent hours. Phew! Click HERE and watch
Moving along!
After this crochet centre piece triumph? or should I say marathon more like it, so many hours for something so basic, r e a l l y ! I am now keen to try my hand at doily patterns. No, I am not going to re-invent the wheel, I am going to find a pattern to work with. It will be something new to accomplish.
Square Heart!
Earlier in the week I also played around with placing my "perfect heart" into a square. Another small achievement with loads of hours of rip, rip, rip. Yes, it is definitely trial and error week, lucky me!
I believe I am getting a message from the crochet angels telling me to look at doily patterns. Thanks a lot, wish you told me before I started these two (2) projects. I am sure the creations would have been easier to work out with a bit of knowledge of doily construction.
I promise to keep you all posted on my search for a doily pattern which will inspire me!
Ciao, Ciao
Copyright © 2008
Barbara Summers Hand Knit and Crochet.
All rights reserved.
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