crochet – Page 16 – THORNBERRY

adult's clothing, crochet

Bebop Cardi

Back in 2008 I crocheted a cardi for Clare. This week I used the same pattern, in the same small size, but upsized to a chunky yarn and hook to make one for myself.

The pattern is a freebie from Lion Brand, formerly called Giovanna’s Cardi but now for some unknown reason called the Bebop Cardi. I made the smallest size using Patons Wilderness with a 9.00mm hook. I added rows to the body to make it a length I like (I’m not good at cropped tops – I don’t have a waist to show off) and added a few more rows to the yoke than the pattern suggested.

This was finished in five days of bitsy crochet time. So quick! The closure is a flower I made up and attached to a brooch backing. I finished all the edges with a row of US sc rather than slip stitch.

Love it! I recommend this pattern – it’s straightforward but interesting. And for those who think I only crochet now and have forgotten how to sew, there’ll be some sewn items on the blog again soon as I have a weekend of pattern testing ahead of me!

Friday, 25 June, 2010 by thornberry

crochet, my creative space

My creative space…

It’s been all about the hook lately. I’ve discovered the joys of chunky yarn – the speed, the quick satisfaction!

These hexagons have been sitting in my creative space for a few weeks, waiting to be rearranged into a bag. I crocheted over 50 of them, pinned them all together according to the pattern I was using, and discovered that in 8 ply yarn and with extra hexes to accomodate the handles I was using, the bag would be absolutely huge and way too heavy. Now I need to rearrange them again and pin them again using less than before – which means I’ll have hexagons left over. What shall I do with them?

In a spare hour on the weekend I whipped up a beanie for Mr Thornberry. And I do mean whipped up – in chunky Shadow Tweed yarn with a 9mm hook this took less than a hour to make.

The pattern is Truffle Shuffle Skully. I chained 21 instead of 19 to start off with, but probably could have done with 23 chain to fit better. Have I already said that this was quick?

In the past week I’ve also finished a chunky cardi for myself and have started on a poncho for Clare. I need to crochet edging on a knitted vest for my Mum, and keep working on a shawl I’ve started. Then there is the Wool-Eater Blanket I started about a year ago that could do with more work…but I also need to crochet a wrapped vest and some more shawls and and and and….

Pop over to see Kirsty and visit some more creative spaces!

Thursday, 24 June, 2010 by thornberry

2009 CAL afghan, crochet

The big reveal – 2009 CAL blanket is finished!

Do you remember the Ravelry crochet-along afghan squares I posted each month last year? Guess what – they’re all joined together! The ends are all woven in! It is FINISHED!

24 squares, each using a ball or so of Cleckheaton Vintage Hues 100% wool.

Joined using Bendigo Woollen Mills 12ply Rustic, in the colour Midnight Tweed. The joining method is Priscilla Hewitt’s Flat Braid Join (there are even videos on YouTube that demonstrate how this is done) and the edging is Chris Simon‘s standard edging (found under the Afghan Joining Hints link on her blog). I used over 3 big balls of the Rustic – that’s over 600 grams just to join and edge! And each of the 24 squares was a 50g ball – go on, do the maths! That’s a big, heavy, warm blanket.

Although I’ve photographed it on the spare bed it’s actually living on the couch. Perfect for winter nights! Here’s another photo, just because I love it.

Thanks for the birthday wishes and the thoughtful comments on my last post! I’m really interested in your opinions on how we see things and how our views change. I’m still pondering. And contemplating colour.

Monday, 21 June, 2010 by thornberry

crochet

Another granny shrug

Just a quick post – another granny shrug. This one is crocheted in Patons Wilderness with 8 rounds in each granny hex and 2 rounds of dc (US sc) around the edges. It is a gift for a friend – but I was SO tempted to keep it! Good thing it’s already parcelled up to send to her.

Sunday, 20 June, 2010 by thornberry

crochet

All Shawl

My blog posts are actually a fair bit behind my crafty output at the moment – I think that Sewjourn tipped the balance, since I managed to get so much done there. At least I’ll be able to blog something when I have a craft hiatus! This week I finished an All Shawl (Ravelry link).

I reckon that this shawl has been crocheted almost three times to get one shawl. It starts off with a small number of stitches and increases with each row to get the shawl shape, which the designer Doris Chan describes as “like a pie with a wedge missing”.

The body of the shawl is in a mesh pattern, with a six row edging. Except mine has a four row edging. I ran out of yarn. The second time I made it I pulled out the edging because I had loads of yarn left over and decided to make it larger. But before I started the edging a second time I had to pull out more mesh rows and re-do them because I’d missed a stitch somewhere.

So when I ran out of yarn with two rows to go, I decided to cut my losses and just finish it off as it was. If I ever track down another ball or two (which is extremely doubtful, as the yarn was bought on clearance sale last year) I’ll add the final rows.

The yarn is Yarn Bee Down to Earth bamboo tape from Spotlight (colour Nomad). Although it’s all the same dye lot, some rows of the shawl look lighter than others – the balls weren’t really consistent. But I don’t care. I’ve worn this shawl for two days now and I love it.

I don’t wear it as in the above photo – I prefer it draped across me and pinned on one shoulder. This was today’s outfit:

The cap is the Swirls Cap I made early last year.

Have a great weekend everyone – I’m going out for dinner with my husband this evening to celebrate our upcoming birthdays (his is the day after mine). The friend I babysat for last night is babysitting for us tonight!

Friday, 18 June, 2010 by thornberry

crochet

My granny shrug

Here’s my version of Kirsty’s Granny Shrug.

It’s crocheted with a 15mm hook, using two strands of Patons Jet (wool/alpaca 12 ply) held together. It took around 10 balls of yarn. I worked 8 rounds for each half and got very loose and drapey fabric with super chunky trebles. Just what I was hoping for!

I seamed up the back and along the top of the sleeves in dc (US sc) using a 12mm hook, and did dc around the back of the neck as well to stabilise. That’s it! It’s been very warm and toasty today – a little like wearing a granny square blanket.

Thanks go to Kirsty for attacking the challenge of “how do you make this?” with such relish and coming up with terrific instructions and sharing them so freely. Thanks also Kirsty for letting me be part of the granny shrug adventure! You’re ace.

Wednesday, 2 June, 2010 by thornberry

crochet

South Bay Shawlette

While we’re all talking crochet, I thought I’d better show off the South Bay Shawlette I completed at Sewjourn.

This shawlette is a lovely size. I was inspired to start crocheting some shawls/shawlettes by the gorgeous ones made by Michelle. This one is crocheted in wool/nylon hand-dyed sock yarn from One Fat Slug. What pretty colours!

The pattern is basically a two row repeat, so once you are past the first few rows it’s very easy to get into the swing of things. I crocheted this on the train, at friend’s houses, standing up at assembly…

I ran out of yarn before I could do the final edging row, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Now I’ve got the shawl bug – I’ve joined the 10 shawls in 2010 group on Ravelry. I’m a little late to the party, but we’ll see how I go! There are definitely more than 10 shawls in my queue now…

Tuesday, 1 June, 2010 by thornberry

crochet, tutorials

Granny shrug how-to

Paton’s Wilderness has been disappearing from yarn shop shelves ever since Kirsty showed us her wonderful granny shrugs.

The inimitable Kirsty is providing a fantastic visual how-to for the granny shrug on her blog today, with both video instructions and step-by-step photographs. Anyone who prefers a traditional line-by-line written crochet pattern can find a pdf here. I’ll have daylight photos of my shrug for you tomorrow. Happy crocheting!

UPDATE March 2016 – Kirsty no longer maintains a blog, and the visual how-to and video instructions and step-by-step photographs are not longer available. Traditional line-by-line written instructions are below.

Kirsty’s Granny Shrug

Regarding yarn and hook choice:

Yarn: Chunky (14 ply or similar)

Hook: 15mm (or similar)

Use chunky yarn – 14 ply, or two strands of 12, 10 or 8 ply held together – and an appropriately sized hook. You don’t want stiff crochet! Give a 12mm, 15mm and even a 20mm hook a try first and work up the first two rounds to get an idea of how the fabric will feel. Then you can decide whether you need to pull it out and try again with a different hook or keep going.

Kirsty’s shrugs look marvelous crocheted with a single strand of 14 ply Patons Wilderness and a 15 mm hook. She used around 4 x 100g balls (approx 440m).

I dived into my stash to find yarn to make mine. For Clare’s child-sized shrug I used 2 strands of 12 ply (Cleckheaton Country 12ply) held together with a 10mm hook. The resulting fabric was quite thick. A bigger hook would have been much better. I used almost 10 x 50g balls of yarn (approx 540m).

For my shrug I used 2 strands of 12 ply (Patons Jet) held together with a 15mm hook. Round 1 measured 4 inches across, and the resulting fabric was much drapier. I used around 10 x 50g balls of yarn (approx 740m).

Note: This pattern is written in Australian/UK terminology

Abbreviations:

Chain ch
Slip stitch sl st
Treble crochet tr (this is the same as a US double crochet, abbreviated as dc)
Space sp

Round 1: 4 ch, sl st to first ch to form ring.

3 ch (counts as tr), 2 tr in ring, 2 ch, *3 tr in ring, 2 ch*, repeat from * to * 4 times, sl st to 3^rd ch to join.

(you should have six 3 tr groups, each separated by 2 ch).

Round 2: 3 ch (counts as tr), turn.

2 tr into 2-ch sp, 2 ch, 3 tr into 2-ch sp, 1 ch, *3 tr into next 2-ch sp, 2 ch, 3 tr into same 2-ch sp, 1 ch*, repeat from * to * 4 times, sl st to 3^rd ch to join.

(six [3tr, 2ch, 3tr groups] each separated by 1 ch).

Round 3: 3 ch (counts as tr), turn.

2 tr into 2-ch sp, 1 ch, 3 tr into 2-ch sp, 2 ch, 3 tr into same 2-ch sp, 1 ch, *3 tr into next 2-ch sp, 1 ch, 3 tr into next 2-ch sp, 2 ch, 3 tr into same 2-ch sp, 1 ch*, repeat from * to * 4 times, sl st to 3^rd ch to join.

(six [3 tr, 2 ch, 3 tr] groups, each making up a corner, one 3 tr groups in each side, each separated by 1 ch).

Round 4: 3 ch (counts as tr), turn.

2 tr into 2-ch sp, 1 ch, 3 tr into 2-ch sp, 2 ch, 3 tr into same 2-ch sp, 1 ch, *3 tr into next 1-ch sp, 1 ch, 3 tr into next 1-ch sp, 1 ch, 3 tr into 2-ch sp, 2 ch, 3 tr into same 2-ch sp, 1 ch*, repeat from * to * 4 times, 3 tr into next 1-ch sp, 1 ch, sl st to 3^rd ch to join.

(six [3 tr, 2 ch, 3 tr] groups, each making up a corner, two 3 tr groups in each side, each separated by 1 ch).

Round 5: 3 ch (counts as tr), turn.

2 tr into 2-ch sp, 1 ch, 3 tr into 2-ch sp, 2 ch, 3 tr into same 2-ch sp, 1 ch, *3 tr into next 1-ch sp, 1 ch, 3 tr into next 1-ch sp, 1 ch, 3 tr into 2-ch sp, 2 ch, 3 tr into same 2-ch sp, 1 ch*, repeat from * to * 4 times, 3 tr into next 1-ch sp, 1 ch, 3 tr into next 1-ch sp, 1 ch, sl st to 3^rd ch to join.

(six [3 tr, 2 ch, 3 tr] groups, each making up a corner, three 3 tr groups in each side, each separated by 1 ch).

Remaining rounds:

Continue on in the same manner. Each row will have one more 3 tr group in each side than in the previous round. Keep laying the piece out in an L-shape to check whether it has reached the size you’d like. About 8 rounds seems to work well for an adult, but it will depend on the yarn and the size and fit you’d like. It doesn’t take long to add another row (or undo it). Finish off when you’ve done enough rounds.

Make another granny hex to form the other side/sleeve of the jacket.

Seam the two sides up the centre back and across the top of the sleeves, leaving a space for your neck. Use whatever seaming method you prefer. Kirsty crocheted hers together with a much smaller hook than she’d used for the rest of the shrug.

Finish the front, sleeve and neck edges with a row of slip stitch or double crochet, or a fancy edging if you prefer. The neck definitely needs some edging to give it some stability; the rest of the edges are up to you. You can leave them plain if you like. Weave in your ends and wear your granny shrug with pride!

Monday, 31 May, 2010 by thornberry

crochet

Big granny hex love

After seeing this granny hexagon shrug I dived into my yarn stash and pulled out 10 balls of Cleckheaton Natural 12 ply. I had six balls of green and four of cream. After two evenings following Kirsty’s instructions I had this!

I used a 10mm hook with one strand of each colour until I ran out, so I switched to two strands of green for the final round of each granny hex. I was hoping that it might fit me, but there wasn’t quite enough yarn for that – so it’s for Clare. (These photos are taken at night with a flash, and really don’t show the jacket or the yarn off well – sorry about that).

I did a row of sc around the bottom, front and neck edges of the jacket to give it a bit more stability, and Clare asked for a bow closure. She’s wrapped the fronts across a little, so I reckon that this will fit her for about another four years – then she can pass it on to Stella!

Working with thick chunky yarn was loads of fun, and astoundingly fast! So that’s ten balls out of the stash, all used up in about five hours total of crochet – including weaving in ends.

But you should see the divine adult version that Kirsty’s just posted! I’m diving back into my stash for some taupe Patons Jet to whip one up for myself, on a bigger hook this time. Watch this space! Thanks Kirsty for the inspiration and motivation.

Tuesday, 25 May, 2010 by thornberry

craft, crochet, miscellaneous, musings, other people's craft, sewing

Did I step into the tardis?

The weekend went much too fast to be a normal one – I must have been inside the tardis with the hands of the clock spinning twice as quickly as usual! Sewjourn was marvellous.

Lucky for me Nikki has written a great summary and provided photos over here. Surprisingly, we didn’t take many photos – I think that we were too busy sewing, chatting, eating, and um, drinking. There was even crochet – but by (blogless) Megan, not by me! I love it!

We had learned a couple of lessons from last year and took the weekend at a (slightly) more relaxed pace this time. Trips down to the farmer’s market, a wander through the op-shop (successful as always), browsing in the boutique, watching the cockatoos and rosellas, marvelling at the first frost we’ve seen this year, and admiring the fog over the hills.

Turning the pages of various craft books and admiring the brilliance that is Vionnet. Playing with stretch fabrics and the wonder that is the coverstitch machine. And unlike last year everyone was in bed before 1.00 am each night.

And yes, I made loads! Lots of clothes for me, me, me. I’ll share them over the next week or so. Can I get back into the tardis again and go back in time so I have the chance to make some more?

But do you know the best thing? The opportunity to spend time with this diverse group of clever, funny, caring, talented, generous and inspirational women. Thanks to all of you, and huge thanks to Jan for making her dream of the perfect craft retreat into Sewjourn.

(and thanks for the group photo Nikki!)

Monday, 24 May, 2010 by thornberry