Sunday, February 27, 2011

infinity cowl and crochet socks

This has been the week of getting projects done, off my plate and into the hands of someone else. :) Earlier in the week I completed an afghan that took a year to make, intended for Trinity. Today I complete two Christmas gifts. Not Christmas 2011 but Christmas 2010. (So you can see why I'm so excited!!)

First of all, today I finished an infinity cowl for Tabatha. I found it on ravelry, and you can view the pattern at http://brookeanndove.blogspot.com/2010/12/holy-crap-i-need-present-pronto.html. I started it last night and finished this afternoon. I think I spent 3-4 hours on it all together.


And secondly, I completed a pair of crocheted socks for Tyler. This pattern was a real find because the designer created a template that can be adapted to any yarn weight and gauge. (http://www.crochetandknitting.com/sockstemplate.htm) These socks are bulky weight made with a J-10 hook. The first was done in several sessions and felt like it took a long time because I was adjusting the template along the way and measuring the sock for Tyler's foot. The second sock was super easy and quick, taking me 3 hours.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

tip for working in the round

Today I finished my very first afghan. It took me a year to complete and it is a type of chronicle for my growing crochet skills. I learned an incredible amount about working in the round and joining pieces!


These lessons are now passed onto my students at Knit 1. (Interestingly, last Monday's beginning crochet class focused on working in the round and we made granny squares.) With this afghan, the most valuable working-in-the-round lesson I learned was the difference between working into the front of a stitch and working into the back. When working a project where you create ROWS, you are looking at the back of the stitches from the previous row. When working a project in the ROUND, you are looking at the front of the stitches from the previous row. In the picture below, item A is the back view and item B is the front view. Notice a difference? At the top of every crochet stitch is a "V". In item A, the back view, the "V" tip is to the left. In item B, the front view, the "V" tip is to the right.


This is very significant for knowing where to place your hook to create your next stitch. In the picture below, item C shows where you would place your hook to create a stitch when working into the back and it is to the left. Item D shows where you would place your hook to create a stitch when working into the front and it is to the right. When you are working in the round and continue to place your hook to the left, as if creating rows, then your stitches will be off by one space. This one space may not sound like a lot, but in most patterns it will make a big difference.

Monday, February 21, 2011

free patterns

I found a blog with cute free necklace patterns. I suggested to Crochet Connection that we do the bib necklace as a crochet-a-long in March. Check it out: http://blog.a-common-thread.com/search/label/crochet.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

finishing the master crochet course

I have finally submitted my name for the master crochet course review. There has been a backlog of those submitting a portfolio for review so I expect to have a few more months to wait, then a month longer while it is being reviewed. In the meantime, I am remaking some of the swatches. I started the portfolio by using cotton and, based on the ravelry discussion, cotton does not do well with the reviewers. Somewhere near the end I switched to wool and now I'm returning to the beginning and remaking those that could really look better in wool.

Yesterday I went through my yarn, hooks and book stash and cataloged everything on ravelry. Whew! I think ravelry's "bookshelf" is really neat! It is so fun to see all of my books and magazines displayed that way. And the best part is that I can do a pattern search based on only MY books and magazines. So awesome! Not all my books and magazines were in ravelry's system, but life goes on.

My goal is to complete the the master's portfolio and the 2 unfinished projects (a filet crochet tank top and and afghan) before I begin any projects in my ravelry queue!! It does feel good to be productive and not procrastinate anymore.  :)