The Troublesome Shell St Afghan

In Progress

There is a real beaut story behind this Shell st Afghan. Firstly a face book friend (Debbie) found a photo of a similar one on the internet some where and said she wouldn't mind the pattern for it and after much searching, we could not find one, so another face book friend (Lisa) took inspiration from the pictured shell st Afghan and came up with a pattern of her own and good for her for working it out. But some times a patterns instructions can have 2 meanings and I took the other meaning to what Lisa meant. But the pattern stitch still looked the same making it by either meaning, only that my way I had to carry the second color yarn through out the pattern, which did cause me some loose yarn showing here and there if I did not carry it firm enough. Then I went ahead and made some video demonstrations with my meaning and it was not until after I had up loaded them, that we both realised we had made it differently to one another...but who was right and who was wrong?...neither I would think, the stitch still looks the same. So thus far the pattern is written for the beginning of the shell st Afghan and following soon will be the written instructions for the decreasing. Whilst I made my shells st Afghan I took lot's of pictures and  will put them on this post for you to see, I will also include the video tutorials for more information and I suppose the written instructions will help also, ha ha ha.....

Pictures begin from row 1.

Row 2.

Row 3.

Row 4.

work 1 sc in the 4th dc of row 2

you could call this the dip part.

Row 5.

Row 6.

Row 7.

The view for the 1 sc in the 4th dc of 2 rows below.

Pattern Instructions by Lisa (AKA CrochetQuackers), but some changes are made by me to follow the method in which I made mine.

Matilda’s/ Lisa's Shell Afghan

8 ply yarn, mint and white, or your choice of colors, (US yarn = baby).

4 mm crochet hook (US hook size G)

If using thicker yarn use larger hook

US terms used

Special instructions:

Pattern begins at the bottom corner of the afghan and is made in a triangular shape.

Odd rows are worked using white, even rows are worked using second color, the shells increase in every odd row.

Always carry yarn that is not in use, when carrying yarn on odd rows, keep it loose as this yarn will be picked up in the next row when making the new space for the next set of shells.

The shell is made up of 7 dc and is always worked in the back loop only.

The chain 3 is not counted as a st through out the pattern.

Begin Pattern:

R1. Using white yarn, ch 4 (not counted as a st), work 7 dc in 4th chain from hook, change colors but do not end yarn (7dc = 1 shell)

R2. Ch 3, work 1 dc in each dc across, change color (7 dc)

R3. Ch 3, work 7 dc in back loop of first dc, work 7 dc in back loop of last dc, change color (14 dc = 2 shell)

R4.Ch 3, work 1 dc in next 7 dc, work 1 sc in the 4th dc of row 2, work 1 dc in next 7dc, change color (14 dc and 1sc)

R5. Ch 3, work 7 dc in the back loop of first dc, work 7 dc in back loop of the sc, work 7 dc in the back loop of the last dc, change color (21 dc= 3 shell)

R6. Ch3, *work 1 dc in next 7 dc, work 1 sc in the 4th dc of row 4,* rep from *to* once, work 1 dc in next 7 dc, change color (21 dc and 2sc)

R7. Ch 3, work 7 dc in back loop of first dc, *work 7 dc in back loop of the 1 sc * rep from *to* once, work 7 dc in the back loop of the last dc, change color (28 dc= 4 shell)

R 8, Ch 3, *work 1 dc in next 7 dc, work 1 sc in the 4th dc of row 6,* rep from *to* twice, work 1 dc in next 7 dc, change color (28 dc and 3sc)

Continue on with pattern for length required, then begin decreasing.

Decrease notes:

The shells of this pattern increase at each end of every odd numbered row, there fore they will also decrease in the same manner, at each end of every odd numbered row.

Decreasing is achieved by not making a new shell on either end of the row, you just go straight in and crochet the shell st in the space provided on each end. Do not make a new shell on either end, on the dc rows continue as normal.



Border notes:

At the moment there are no instructions for a border.

I carried my yarn on every row, I did think that it was possible to use 2 skeins of the secondary color, but when I did try that it would not work, take a look at this picture it explains it all. Both of the secondary colors are on the wrong end.

The picture below shows Lisa's technique. The 2 rows that form the pattern are actually made on the one side in the same direction. You crochet across with the white from right to left and leave the end loop, then with out turning your work you go back to the right of the row and crochet with the alternating color across to the left, now it is time to turn your work and repeat the above process. This ensures that you never have to carry any yarn and gives the same affect too. Silly me for not understanding Lisa's way, but I have made so many rows of my Afghan I do not want to frog it now.
I cannot get the decrease to work neatly with this method.

                                    

You will find 6 video tutorials for the beginning of this Afghan on my you tube channel, here is the first of the 6.

There is now a video tutorial for decreasing
This is the introduction


This is the video tutorial for decreasing.



I was able to put together a short tutorial on the alternative method of no carrying yarn for this pattern, see below.

Crochet Heart Squares

 I found this heart graph on the internet and thought it would make a nice baby blanket, I will alternate the heart square with a plain square, I had to make sure that the plain square would be the same size as the heart square and it is, so now I just have to make enough for a baby blanket. Will upload picture when finished and the amount of squares I used too.

Moving along nicely with the heart square baby blanket.

This video tutorial may be of help too :) Thanks Beth...

Where did I go to?

Well I suppose face book is so addictive that I have been spending most of my time there, but I do have a locker hooked project that I want to share with you all. I wanted a unique Christmas gift for my sister and brother in law, I wanted to make them personalized place mats with the locker hooking method. First I gathered my materials, I needed black and white colors, I shredded an entire queen size bed sheet and some black silk, the fabric was all new a good luck find from a second hand shop.

 Next I used an existing place mat to get my sizing.

 I made a fold for an edge and used very thick yarn to go around the edging.

 Then I traced out their initial on each place mat and locker hooked the initial first, then continued from the outer edging and inwards.

 So here they are finished and ready for dinner service, I would estimate they would take a week to make at a leisurely pace.

More on my locker hooking here.

Terry Wood. Body Building.

Terry Wood Body Building Competition

 

This is my husband.

My Locker Hooked Table Mat

You may remember this post I wrote about my discovery of locker hooking and this post about my toilet mat that I used the locker hooking method on.

Well I finally got around to making a locker hooked project with the graph canvas and a genuine locker hook, following the correct procedure for locker hooking.

                                     ....................................
                                           

I wanted to replace this doily with a larger and more dramatic centre piece for my dining room table.

I folded the edging over for about 3 spaces and used 5 strands of yarn for the edging. The I cut strips of this striped fabric for the first locker hooked row. Watching the tutorials had told me to cut the fabric about half an inch thick, so I did, but this fabric is quite thick and I ended up with blisters on my hand by tugging it through, it wasn't until I got further along with other colors that I realised that the material they were using is quite a thin material and I should not have cut my material so wide, once I got over that simple hurdle and used different width's to suit the thickness of each type of material I had chosen to use, it was quite smooth sailing.
                                     

Here are the materials I had been collecting for this project, just scraps from the second hand shop, well scraps to some but very useable to me.

In this picture you can get an idea of the size it is, my husband saw this stage and said it would take me for ever, he under estimated me

                                      

I cut the fabric strips as you would for rag crochet and I held 5 strands of yarn together when I used the yarn.

                                      

I took a chance and changed the pattern for the centre of the mat. I'm glad I did as I like the out come.

The under side of the mat does have loose bit's of material and some joining that you can see, I plan to cut and glue these pieces flat to finish it all off nicely.

I hope that you have enjoyed my locker hooked table mat experience.



Basic Crochet Crown For Hat, Using The Dc Stitch

I use this method to begin most of my hats, with or with out a stitch pattern added after increasing.

4.00mm hook 

8 ply yarn

Begin with 12 dc in a ring and increase in each round with the formula below.
12=24=36=48=60=72

For a child's crown, stop increasing on R5 =(60 dc)

US crochet terms used.

Directions:

Beginning ch 3 is the first dc of each round

Begin:

R1. Ch 4, work 11 dc into 1st ch of ch 4, sl st to top of ch 3 to join ring (12 dc)

R2. ch 3 and work 1 dc in same place as ch 3, work 2 dc in each dc around, sl st to top of ch 3 to join,

( 24 dc)

R3. ch 3, work 2 dc in next dc, *work 1 dc in next dc, work 2 dc in next dc* repeat from *to* around sl st to join. ( 36 dc)

R4. ch 3, work 1 dc in the next dc, work 2 dc in the next dc, *work 1 dc in the next 2 dc, work 2 dc in next dc,* repeat from *to* around, sl st to join ( 48 dc)

R5. ch 3 work 1dc in the next 2 dc, work 2 dc in the next dc, *work 1 dc in next 3 dc, work 2 dc in next dc,* repeat from *to* around, sl st to join (60 dc)

R6. ch 3,work 1 dc in the next 3 dc, work 2 dc in next dc, *work 1 dc in next 4 dc, work 2 dc in next dc,* repeat from *to* around, sl st to join (72 dc)

Once the basic crown is complete, you can create a pattern of your choice for the rest of your hat or continue in the dc st to finish.

Please note: 

Using a sc st for the remainder of the hat pattern will decrease the size of your hat.

If using a thicker yarn and larger hook for an adult size hat, stop decreasing on R5= (60 dc)

Crochet for Summer

Want to make some crochet gifts for Christmas but you live in a hot climate at that time of year?

Well you still can with the help of some light and airy crochet stitches.

Below is a solomons knot st shawl, it was my first attempt at this st also known as the lovers stitch.

I watched some you tube demonstrations then followed this pattern to make the shawl.

The only thing different I would have liked was for the pattern to begin with a row of sc then work the solomons st off that. I did add a row of hdc to the top of the shawl after I finished the pattern, it seems to hold the whole thing in place much nicer.

Below is a scarf I made from recycled yarn, I got the pattern from the pattern book, Crochet Inspiration, pattern number 97 on page 100 of the pattern book. If you do not have this particular pattern book it is a must have for the crochet enthusiast.

Below is a simple crochet filet st made in the cotton I obtained from the yarn purchase below. To make this more appealing I hand sewed rows of small seed beads across the scarf.

I bought this mess of yarn from the second hand shop for $5.00.

After about an hour of sorting this is the amount of yarn I had, not bad for the price.

I'll be back with some more summer crochet idea's to share with you all.

Here is a lovers knot wrap (solomons knot) from a reader who was happy to share her wrap with us all, thank you so very much, you can view her site here.

 

  Here is another solomons knot shawl from Catarina, I think I like it more than mine :) and here is what she has to say about hers.

"Here is mine, I decided to do it to use on neck cause the size of the stich was not very perfect and equal :P but i like it :P"

My Hexagon Jacket

Have you seen the hexagon jackets? Well I made mine into a short sleeve sloppy sweater.

I used a sweater for basic measurement as per the picture below, not a very accurate form of measurement as my garment turned out a bit sloppy, but I rather that than a tight fitting one as I also wanted room under neath it to wear a singlet/tank/t shirt.

I made a center piece in the form of a V to give the garment a bit of shape and to allow for the extra size I wanted in the center.

I filled in the back piece with some Tunisian crochet for a little bit of different texture.

All I had to do next was to give it more length, I pondered abut this for some time and I decided to crochet a few rows in the same stitch I had been using, I  tried it on and decided that would look the best for the rest of the garment, I don't like too many frills and the shape was very good.

Below is the front view of the picture of the garment finished

And here is the back view finished.

As I mentioned it is a little bit large, but looks quite alright on, it passed the hubby test, so that's fine in my book.

Here is a link to a free baby hexagon pattern, granny stitch and dc stitch.

My locker Hooked Mat

So here is the finished mat, I did begin with the rug hooking method and got a bit worried about the materials pulling out, so I used the locker hooking method, the foundation is not quite burlap, it was very fine and did not hold the rug hooking method very well, but was holding with the locker hooking method.

My design began with me thinking to myself, what would a person not want to see when sitting on the toilet and eye's came to me, so that was the only thing I drew on first and made, the rest had to surround the eye's. There is a nose and a mouth, a garden some mountains, eye lashes and eye shadow. I used bits of yarn that were unusable from the frogging of the sweaters, left over shirt pieces from revamping my sweater and some yarn that is lumpy and too difficult to crochet with. The backing it self came from the second hand shop which cost about 20 cents.

Here is the mat in use, but I have taken it out of the main toilet and placed it into my en suite, I think the grand kids may be scared by it. Over all I am quite happy with the mat. Hubby says it looks scary, but it is staying put until it needs a wash.

This is where the mat began.