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.

Not Sponge Bob Square Pants Crochet Hat

It was a bit like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, but I tried.

Sponge Bob round pants hat.

Not Sponge Bob Square Pants Hat



To fit 2 to 4 yr old approx


AU 8 ply yarn (US Light worsted/DK) Less than 50 gm of main color (yellow)


Small amounts of contrasting colours


White, brown, blue, black and red


4.00 mm hook (US G)


US st abbreviation used


Stitches used hdc = yarn over hook, insert hook into st, pull yarn through st, (3 loops on hook) pull yarn through all 3 loops on hook. (htrb AU, UK)


Sc


Hdc foundation row , see video tutorial


Color changing , see video tutorial

Magic circle, see video tutorial

Medium tension used, I am neither a loose or tight crocheter.


Hat begins at crown


Begin.


Beginning ch 1 of every rnd is not counted as a st.


Working with yellow yarn:


Chain up 4, sl st to first ch to form a circle.


Row 1: ch 1, work 12 hdc into ring, sl st to join in the 1st hdc (you will do this on every round)


Row 2: ch 1, work 2 hdc into each hdc around sl st to join (24 hdc)


Row 3: ch 1, *work 1 hdc into the next 2 hdc, work 2 hdc into the next* repeat from *to* sl st to join (32 hdc)


Row 4: ch 1, *work 1 hdc into the next 3 hdc, work 2 hdc into the next* repeat from *to* sl st to join (40 hdc)


Row 5: ch 1, *work 1 hdc into the next 4 hdc, work 2 hdc into the next* repeat from *to* sl st to join (48 hdc)


Row 6: ch 1, *work 1 hdc into the next 5 hdc, work 2 hdc into the next* repeat from *to* sl st to join (56 hdc)


End Increases


Row 7: ch 1, work 1 hdc in each st around sl st to join (56 hdc)


Rows: 8 to 16: repeat row 7, in yellow


Rows: 17 and 18, repeat row 7 in white


Rows: 19 and 20 repeat row 7 in brown


Belt row (can be worked in brown and belt affect can be sewn on later)


Row: 21 *work 4 st’s in brown then 4 st’s in black* repeat from *to* to end


Row: 22 and 23 repeat row 7 in brown, finish off and sew in all ends

Making the features:


Eye’s made with 3 different sized circles: 
Using white: make 2


Make a magic circle and chain 1 (see tutorial for magic circle)


Row 1: work 6 sc into ring, sl st to first sc to join, ch 1 and tighten up magic circle (but not too tight do that when you have finished the circle)


Row 2: work 2 sc in each sc around, sl st to first sc to join, ch 1 (12 sc)


Row 3: *work 1 sc in next sc, work 2 sc in next sc* repeat from *to* to end, sl st to first sc to join, ch 1 (18 sc)


Row 4: *work 1 sc in next 2 sc, work 2 sc in next sc* repeat from *to* to end, sl st to first sc to join, do not ch 1 (24 sc), fin off leaving a long tail for sewing eye’s onto hat


Using blue: make 2


Make a magic circle and chain 1 (see tutorial for magic circle)


Row 1: work 6 sc into ring, sl st to first sc to join, ch 1 and tighten up magic circle (but not too tight do that when you have finished the eye)


Row 2: work 2 sc in each sc around, sl st to first sc to join, do not ch 1 (12 sc) fin off leaving a long tail for sewing eye’s onto hat


Using black: make 2


Make a magic circle and chain 1 (see tutorial for magic circle)


Row 1: work 6 sc into ring, sl st to first sc to join, fin off leaving a long tail for sewing eye’s onto hat and tighten up magic circle


Making teeth use white: make 2


Work a 2 hdc foundation row, finish off leaving long tail for sewing


Making tie using red: make 1


Work a 3 hdc foundaton row, ch 3 work 3 sc in 2nd ch from hook, finish off leaving long tail for sewing


Making nose using yellow: make 1


Start and end with a long tail, work an 8 hdc foundation row fin off, fold nose in half sew one side up finish off, then sew the other side leaving a small opening that will lay flat when sewing onto hat (this will make the nose stand out ward instead of flat)


Putting the eyes together:

Firstly sew in loose ends of all pieces except for the long tail for sewing together and onto hat


Sew blue circle onto white circle in a central position

Sew black circle onto the blue circle in a central position

Sew eyes onto hat making sure they touch one another


Sew nose into the space between the eyes

Hand stitch mouth onto hat coming down from an eye and straight across to the same position on the other eye and go upward to the opposite position you began with (see pictures)

Attach teeth to under mouth, using the nose for a guide, place teeth either side of the nose, so that the nose is centred to the teeth


Place tie below and in between teeth (if you need to sew on belt, do the belt before the tie)

Sew 3 eye lashes above each eye

Sit back and admire your handy work.

You can use this pattern for all purposes, but please do not sell this pattern.

Below are the video tutorials you may need.

This video shows the hdc foundation row.


This video shows how to change colors on the same row (for the belt)


This video shows you how to do the hdc st


This video shows you how to do a magic circle


A big thank you to all of the video tutorial makers.

Crochet Pants

It's just amazing how many crochet pants are out on the internet, I've found just a few to share with you.

If you want to make these, then go here.

These are not crochet but a crochet print, just fabulous!

I would wear them any day.

Rug Hooking

I just wanted to share this video with you. I have watched many rug hooking video tutorials and this one is great, covers just about every thing.

Just a quick addition to this post.
I've been working on my own rug.
I began with the rug hooking method and was concerned the medium may fall out, so I locked it in with the locker hooking method, it may be a bit of over kill, but there is so much work in one of these, I did not want it to fall apart. Here is my mat, I was making it for a toilet mat, but it maybe too good for that.

It is sort of a Picaso design with a bit of my humor in it.

I've been using all types of medium to create it.
From shirts to sheets to yarn.

Small Flower Loom

I watched a tutorial using a small flower loom, the same flower loom that I found in my mystery bag from the second hand shop. It gave me an idea to make grand daughter Bella (5 yrs) a bag for her DS game boy. 
Below is the finished bag, it is the same on both sides.

I made a lining and put a zipper in for security.

As you can see, the game boy fits perfectly in the little bag, along side of the bag is the flower loom that I used.

Below is a tutorial, which eventually gets to the flower making. There were more tutorials, but I found this one the best of them.

What I learned From Recycling Sweaters

My initial research paid off. I knew what to look for, what could be taken apart.
But what I was not prepared for was a thin sweater (too much work), I was also unaware of how long to soak the recycled yarn. After more research, I learned it is best to leave the yarn soaking over night. This will help to get rid of the wrinkles (not totally so far), clean the yarn and leave it smelling like new.

I unraveled the sweater with the help of my yarn winder.

Then I wound the yarn into large skeins by wrapping it around 2 chairs and used about 6 ties to secure it.

I then let the yarn soak over night in a eucalyptus wool wash.

The batch in here are yarn balls I bought second hand and they were smelly so I washed them too.

This is my first lot of  unraveled and soaked yarn, that is now drying in the shower.

You can put something heavy on the bottoms of the skeins to assist with the wrinkles coming out even more.

This is another sweater to unravel.

 After the yarn had dried, I was looking forward to winding it into balls to use with my yarn winder, not that simple. I had placed the skein on the floor and begun to wind the yarn, but it all ended up into a mess!

Put your thinking cap on Cat! There must be a right way to do this, even with out a swift. So I went back to the chairs where I had made the skeins, placed the skeins back over the chairs and began to wind the balls of yarn that way. Yippee, no tangles, but I will still have to go back to the yarn winder and use that if I want nicely wound balls of yarn.

I have now gone just that one step further and attached the yarn winder to the chair to save time.

Some may say why bother with all that trouble?
For me, I found it relaxing (apart from winding the yarn around the chairs). 
The washing means you are almost there.
The money saved is more than worth the effort.
And finally, I finally have the same ply and color to make larger projects, this is very exciting for me.
Some very useful links.

How to Unravel a Sweater to Recycle Yarn 

Reclaiming yarn from a thrift store sweater

I tried some more weaving

In my last post I had made a tiny weaved pouch. I used the same method to make a bag for myself. I used quite thick yarn and tried some different weaving techniques too. I have been watching quite a few youtube video tutorials to learn more about the weaving. I really like the texture the weaving gives you.