Category Archives: Crochet

A Look Back and Make Nine 2019

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First a look back at 2018:

Raglan tee

Raglan tee 2

Sew stripes top

Dress to Top Refashion

Itch to Stitch Cargo Pants 1

Sequoia Cargo Pants 2

Big Shirt Resized

Quilted Star Potholders

Double Sided Bandana

Sashiko Linen Pouch

Stitch Siters Kaftan

Shirt to Kimono Refashion

Eggs Embroidered Towel

Summertime Embroidered Towel

Santa Wall Hanging

I completed 5 items from my 2018 Make Nine List: summer pants, raglan tee, embroidered kitchen towels, refashion from stash (3 refashions), and Christmas sewing.

Embroidered blouse, crochet yoke tee, basket quilt with (previously) embroidered center, and collared button shirt were not finished (or started). Will anything carry over? Let’s see.

The Make Nine Challenge was started by Lucky Lucille, and the photo collages are popular on Instagram.

Last year my make nine was just nine hand written notes. This year I am being less vague, and I’m showing either the pattern or fabric I will be using.

2019 Make Nine

Embroidered Blouse – Using the Folkwear pattern “Old Mexico Dress”, the yoke will be hand embroidered.
Crochet yoke tee – with the pictured crochet thread.
Itch to Stitch Mountain View Pull on Jeans – for comfort and because they have real pockets. I was planning on using a stretch denim I already had but didn’t have enough fabric.
Maria Denmark Day to Night Drape Top – I don’t have the fabric yet.
Autumn Twilight Cross Stitch Picture – I have never stitched a full size picture for framing before and I like this flying geese scene. This is a kit with 16 count aida. It will be challenging, but it’s doable.
Hand knit accessory – a scarf knitted with the pictured navy and gray yarn.
Stretch Denim Shorts – this is the fabric I wanted to make the pants with. I might use the same pattern for the shorts.
Knit Fabric Dress – I could use a basic dress, and notice I have never liked wearing traditional dresses with zippers. I’m not sure if I will use a pattern, or just make an elongated tee.
Spring Jacket – McCalls 7333 – I am planning to use a linen blend fabric I already have.

The list contains a variety of most everything I know how to do: sewing, freehand embroidery, cross stitch, knitting, and crochet. So much creativity – at least in my mind and on paper, ha!

I have actually started 3 of these projects already! I love making lists, do you?

It’s a Wrap – Granny Square Afghan Completed

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On March 2012 I gathered my yarn and began crocheting an afghan from a little booklet called “Farmhouse Crochet”. I was newly enthused with granny squares and completed almost half of the squares. And then I stopped. Years passed. Late last year, when I was organizing, I looked at my completed squares and partial skeins and decided it was worth finishing. And I did! But there were some challenges along the way.

I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease, a 50% acrylic, 50% cotton blend in ten colors: almond as the background color, and cherry, azalea, terracotta, seaspray, lime, violet, maize, candy blue, and taupe. I randomly combined the colors without any pre-planning.

To get going again, I sat down and made first rounds ten at a time. Slowly but surely, I added to my pile of squares, crocheting while watching TV. Then my yarn started dwindling, and I worried about running out. I did a quick search and discovered that almost all of the colors I used are discontinued. I didn’t want to shorten the afghan so I continued, using every last bit. I even found tiny balls of a few colors that I had saved from when I knitted sweaters with them.

The squares alternate with big squares and four small squares sewed together into a square. When I was running out of yarn, I changed 2 big squares to little squares because I didn’t have enough of any one color for the long rounds. I also had to substitute some cream Sugar’n Cream yarn and fisherman color Wool-ease from my stash for the background color when I ran out. You can see I used the last bit of yarn in the two squares below, not quite having enough to finish the round. I think it gives it character, although these little details are hard to find when looking at the afghan as a whole.

Sewing the squares together by whip stitch took several days. I had already combined the four squares and weaved in most of the ends as I went, so that helped.

Why was this project stalled for so long? I realize that when I ran out of steam back in 2012 I wished I had chosen a different pattern and one or two colors. The only time I had a pleasant time continuously crocheting was at the end when I crocheted a border around the whole thing. It was just too much stop and start, and endless ends to weave in.

Whew! I’m glad to cross this off my list! I’ve known how to crochet since I was a teenager yet this is the first afghan I’ve ever completed.

And the obligatory cat on afghan pic:

I had to improvise and change that up a little, too!

Do you have a long term unfinished project that you are still interested in completing?

Learning to Knit Booklets: Vintage Style

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Let’s start with the oldest one from my collection. It doesn’t have a date on it, but I am guessing it dates from the 1950s or early 1960s. It features a cute cover, illustrations of a prettily dressed young miss, and a cartoon format to the instructions.

The back cover shows a few simple projects.

Wait a minute – what is that? A creepy face on the back of her kerchief!

What was the designer thinking? Well, we need some kind of embellishment to make the hood appeal to the younger set, and what girl wouldn’t want eyes on the back of her head.

I first learned to knit and crochet in 1973 or 1974, and I still have the little booklet from the class. Those faces on the yarn are actually cute.

One of the projects:

Owls were very popular in the 70s, but I’m thinking maybe that’s not the best placement for the owl eyes.

The Gitche Gumee Headband is another groovy design from the same booklet, although it’s neither knit nor crocheted.

I also have a few early 1970s copies of a knitting and crochet magazine called 101 Sweaters. Seventies fashion wasn’t just ponchos – although the hairstyles and makeup are dated, many of the patterns hold up well.

1970s knitting patterns from 101 Sweaters magazine

The magazines also have a section for men’s patterns:

The guys on the left are cool, but could the guys on the right be any more dorky in those outlandish sweaters?

That wraps up a look at the good, the bad, the ugly, and the weird knitted and crocheted patterns and fashions of yesteryear. Do you like to collect old patterns or make things from them?

Adding Crochet Edging Refashion

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Cooler weather and yarn are a combination that go together well, just like soup and sandwich. At the mall this fall, crocheted and knitted pieces started appearing as urban art covering and decorating the plain poles. I especially like the stripes and the colorful strips cut from t-shirt fabric.

I bought this Villager Sport by Liz Claiborne shirt dress with a printed border from the thrift store. The fabric looks like a lightweight denim but I think it’s actually chambray. I didn’t quite like the fit, so I quickly cut it in two, and used foldover elastic for the skirt, like I detailed in my previous post, “Easy Fix for Too Small Skirt”.

I made the cut high in order to preserve the inseam pockets with the skirt portion, and had the idea to add crochet to the top piece to make it long enough to be wearable as a little jacket.

I found a tube of unlabeled number 10 thread that matched well, and began by sewing a blanket stitch with a needle. Then I crocheted a foundation row of single crochet.

Next I started my pattern by crocheting three double crochet clusters in every third chain. On the next row I crocheted in the spaces, which I love because it’s so easy. The pattern is called granny stripe.

I was happily going along at a nice rhythm when I realized after crocheting two inches that I wouldn’t have enough thread to finish.

Oh no, what now? I went to the store and looked online, but I couldn’t find a match. The variegated thread was one I already had. I didn’t like any of the options.

I started crocheting this in June, and it became one of those dreaded UFOs that was cast aside for several months. When I found it while cleaning, I was determined to finish it. I should have bought both the lighter shade and the bright blue, and tried them both as well as the variegated to see which looked best. My idea was to have an equal number of rows of the different shade so it would look like a design plan.

Well, I didn’t do that. I just started crocheting with the thread I already had, and this is what I ended up with. It’s kind of strange looking, don’t you think? I could always rip out and redo with the lighter blue.

Even though I had a problem with the execution of the crochet trim on this project, I love the idea of mixing crochet with fabric and I’d like to do it again, possibly on a yoke of a knit shirt.

Handmade Gifts Given and Received

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Aspire each day to laugh and be happy!

That’s the hopeful message printed on one of the towel toppers I made as gifts for Christmas. I used this tutorial again, like I did in my Hanging out in the Kitchen post.

Amazingly, I remembered how to sew the buttonholes.

I received pretty crocheted potholders from a neighbor to whom I gave a couple of my towel holders. They are perfectly made, and I love the ridges. I found the pattern online on Ravelry as German potholders. The description reads “Every girl born before 1938 in Germany had to learn how to make those in Elementary School – and was graded for this skill! Traditionally, made in identical pairs”. This accurately describes the giver of these potholders; I’ll have to ask her if she knows the pattern by heart.

I also received a gift card in this beautifully handmade wallet. Look at the pretty Asian themed fabric , the Japanese coin used as a faux closure, the perfect stitching, and the many slots for cards. Interestingly, the maker of this wallet was also foreign born.

Although I don’t have the identical pattern for this wallet, the following are some pattern options found on my free little projects page on Pinterest.