Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Another Seraphina Shawl

Here is another Seraphina Shawl that I made, I took my time with this one and made it over about 4 days, whilst I was dabbling in other projects. It reminds me of the tortoiseshell cat. I was using up some yarn that I did not really care for. I wondered if any one out there would really like it. But along comes my Sister-in-Law and loved it, so I gave it to her. The link to the pattern and the other Seraphana Shawl is here.

crochet shawl

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Tunisian Entrelac Stitch

The first picture is fresh off the hook! And all I can say is goody goody gum drops! I have wanted to learn the Etrelac st for so long, so I grabbed a big breath of confidence, did some on line research and here it is!


I found the information on 2 sites. One site being easier for me to understand, so that will be the first link supplied. Site one. Site 2.

Below is a picture of my first ever dish cloth I made this week. I was informed that making your own dish cloths in cotton are far better than the bought one's in the shop. Firstly they can be squeezed out easier with very little water left in them, secondly you just wash them and re-use them over and over again!


The internet is full of on line patterns for free. The more ridges in the cloth the better they scrub too. I just made the above cloth free hand (no pattern) with front post and back post dc (US). I really thought the entrelac stitch would make a great looking dish cloth too, so that is another reason I learned that st.
I finished playing around with the Entrelac st above and made it into a dish cloth.


Below are some great links for dish cloths.


http://www.buttonspecialties.com/pdfs/FireBlossomDishcloth.pdf
http://www.peaches-creme.com/ladder_stitch_crocheted_dishcloth.htm
http://cocoacream.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/textured-stripes-dishcloth/
http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/cotton_chenille_crochetwcloth.html
dish cloth mania lotshttp://dishandwashclothmania.com/cloths-crochet/
http://www.freepatterns.com/list.html?parent_cat_id=2&usage=&criteria=dishcloth
Includes recycled plarn in the centre for a scrubbie.http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2008/07/03/sunshine-dishcloth-with-scrubbie/
http://cityofcrochet.blogspot.com/2006/10/crazy-cloth.html



Pattern Book Dish Cloths.http://www.bernat.com/patternbook.php?PBS=530160http://www.ericas.com/needlework/books/dishcloths.htm


Hope you have enjoyed my little adventure here.

Monday, January 19, 2009

I think you can now call me a crochet groupie

It is now Sunday evening, I have the reached the end of a week-end, full of being with and crocheting along with crochet buddie's. I'm a member of 2 crochet groups in Victoria, Australia. One of them is local and the other is a bit further out from me, but covers the State of Victoria.
Saturday saw me at the meet up with the local Mornington Peninsula group, which meet's about 15 minute's away from where I live and on the Sunday I met up with the Crochet Lovers Victoria group, which met at an almost central location on the outskirt's of Melbourne in a lovely park. The weather was perfect which did see me a little bit wind burned though.
So I think I can officially be called a crochet groupie now.
I did take some picture's, but I have not asked their permission to post them as yet. So you may see a photo or 2 in this post eventually.
I will also point out that if it were not for Ravelry, I would not have met or been involved with any local crocheter's.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Crochet at a Fast Pace

I'm becoming a real crochet groupie now. I've been involved in a couple of swaps, met up with some local groups, follow crochet blogs from around the world and now something very new.
Have you seen the word KAL or CAL? Well they are short for knit along or crochet along.
It's where more than one person is making the same item at the same time and you share your progress, ask questions and finally the finished items are shared.
So I entered my first CAL, it was to make the Seraphina Shawl. I've never made a shawl before and I'm also looking for winter warmers for the market this year.
I made this shawl in 2 nights of serious crochet time. Once I had the pattern established in my head, it made the making of it so much quicker.

This is the yarn I chose because I had lot's of it. It goes from thick to thin to lacey.

I thought I would add some plain yarn as well, to make crocheting with the crazy yarn a little easier.

This is a progress shot.


And here it is finished, not sure if I will add the tassel's as yet.

It's a lovely warm shawl too.
Now this is a pineapple scarf I have had my eye on for a while to make.

It's simply, pineapple on pineapple to the length you want it.

I over crocheted the first and last pineapple to give it some more flair'. I'm not really sure if I like it though. I created something similar last year, with the pineapple's on the ends and (US) dc in between the pineapples.