Tag: crochet

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Hooking Away

As a couple of friends pointed out here, I’m just too used to “needles”. And I finally found the need to change my terminology to “hooks”! 🙂 Crocheting has recently become my go-to option when I’m tired of knitting. While knitting usually involves wearables of some sort, they take a lot of time to complete. On the other hand, I crochet only to take a break from garments. So these are small projects, doilies to be precise.

Here are a couple that I’ve completed recently:

  • Floor Show: Every bit of this rug/mat is a gift. The yarn was a gift from Rinku, and the pattern came from a crochet magazine gifted by Swapna… And I just couldn’t resist putting it all together!

 

Floor Show!
Floor Show!
  • Mallika: My very first test pattern. Designed by Srividhya, and tested on the Crafty Dozen forum on Ravelry.. and helped through the process by Jaishree and Swapna on WatsApp! 😉

 

Mallika
Mallika
  • Dove Doily: I wanted to challenge myself… and challenge I did! It definiltly challenged my patience to stick to it till it got done. As it is i skipped the last few rows. 😛

 

Dove Doily
Dove Doily
  • Clematis: this was pretty motif that I found in a book… and decided to make a couple. Not sure what I’ll do with them though….

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WIP – A New Crochet Motif

Now that I’m done with granny squares in crochet, I thought it was time to learn something new. Of course, I cannot do this the easy way and look for a nice stitch and learn properly. I HAVE to go for something more difficult. So I decided to make a collage of motifs. I’m not sure how the whole thing will look, but I’ll try anyway.

In spite of the difficult task I set myself, I did manage to land on my feet anyway. The motif I found on YouTube was posted by Crochet Geek, and featured how to make a circle into a square. The problem was that I’d never crocheted a circle, forget making it into a square. But I managed. And I’m pretty happy with the result!

Couple of things that I learnt along the way are:

  • sc and hdc –  I already knew dc but the others had to be viewed a couple of times before I got the hang of it.
  • Crocheting through a stitch – I had to rip up a couple of times before I got the hang of this one
  • 4-ply could mean anything – When the presenter spoke about 4-ply I assumed she meant fingering weight. But when I got done, it seemed much lighter than the motif shown on-screen. Then I figured that though she said 4-ply she meant anything up to DK :(! While what I used was almost light-fingering. So lesson learnt was to watch the videos VERY carefully, esp when they show the yarns! 🙂
Crochet Motif
Crochet Motif
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New Bag : Contrast

This particular project is the only one to take on so many forms before finalizing. This was one of the crochet projects I’d started a couple of months back.

It started as a table runner for my dining table. The orange-gray combination was striking against the brown of my table. The I found it was too much of work, so it became placemats, starting with 2 mats, the remaining to be made slowly. This has now taken the form of a bag, simply because I just couldn’t get myself to complete even the 2 placemats!

Anyway, I’m still liking the way it looks. Its been a different experience for me: to sew up so many pieces together. It is only the position of the pieces against each other changes it from a table piece to a bag.

The handle is an i-cord made with 3 strands held together and knit with 5mm DPNs. Hmm. Just can’t leave knitting behind, can I?! 🙂

Here is the result:

The completed bag
The completed bag
another shot :)
another shot 🙂
Before the handle was added
Before the handle was added
The opening at the top
The opening at the top
How it all began
How it all began

 

 

 

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New Achievement: Doily in Thread!

Well, lots of people knit with thread. But this is the first time I actually managed to make something big… in thread. Now, we’re not talking knitting cotton, but proper thread. The type used for doilies, crochet and heavy embroidery! 🙂 So, YAY me!!

I did manage to knit a doily with the Crossed test knit. But have been thinking about the thread one long and hard. I started a couple of times with lace weight wool. But I figured I liked that even less than thread. 🙁

Faced a couple of problems at the beginning. I managed the center crochet cast-on but wasn’t very happy with it. But I still plowed on to find a massive mistake that I made on Line 7. That meant ripping up completely. So I decided that the 2nd attempt would have a knit cast-on. Well, I should have figured there was a reason for the center to be crocheted! Mine turned out messy. But I wasn’t in the mood for ripping again. So I plowed on, and made the smallest size possible!

But it’s done, and that’s all that matters! 🙂

vintage doily
vintage doily
Another angle
Another angle

 

without the flaws visible! ;)
without the flaws visible! 😉

 

 

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Project: Finished!

I’m finally done with the Quadrant project. Unlike the original, I didn’t use so many colors, and I made only 2 quadrants. But joining the 2 parts, and then crocheting along the border were all new to me, so I’m pretty happy with myself!

Crocheting doesn’t really come naturally to me. I’m essentially a knitter. But i hope to also develop my skills in other crafts. This is just my first step in learning crochet. Sill a long way to go….

Here are the pics:

Before joining
Before joining
A closer look
A closer look
The joining
The joining
The color progression
The color progression
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Squared Away

Am I thrilled with myself or what!?! I started with the Quadrant design a few days back. The purpose of that one was still in progress as I was crocheting. But the design was just so easy! The main thing is that there is one stitched that you have to learn. And that’s it.

That stitch is the Double Crochet (dc). One of the basic stitches in crochet. It’s not even a design, for God’s sake! But the design was formed using this one little stitch. So it’s a great beginners project.

Have done one Quadrant, I was thrilled to bits. Also at that time I found some leftover yarn, which wasn’t good for any project. So I thought why not make some coasters. I’ve always wanted crochet coasters. But most designs seemed to do it in thread. Umm. Not yet for me! So I went ahead and made it in yarn.

This is the final result. A quick 2 hr project (I’m guessing it took 2 hours because I’m a newbie), and fun too! 🙂

small sized beauties! ;)
small sized beauties! 😉
one more pic!
one more pic!
The coasters
The coasters
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Quadrant : New Craft, New Project

One of my crafty resolutions this year has been to learn crochet. But somehow, I have been delaying this, on grounds that I’m just too busy with knitting.

In one of my Ravelry groups, a new C/KAL has been started: Motifated. This one looks are any item (garments, accessory,home needs) that can be made with motifs. Of course, there are a lot of motifs and large stuff made with knitting. But then again, crochet is on my to-do list.

Then came in the question of what to make. The motifs were very pretty, and plain gibberish to my knitting mind. For the life of me I couldn’t keep them straight in my mind. Then came in the Quadrant Blanket pattern. It was being made by another crafter. Having seen it, I figured there was only 1 stitch being repeated over and over and over again. the remaining are basic and design elements. But the stitch stayed the same. I’ve found my dream starter crochet project! 😀

Done with the first block 🙂

my basic motif
my basic motif
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Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2013! ok, I’m a lil late, but so what? Happy New Year!!! 🙂

It’s that time of the year when we make resolutions and goals, in the fond hope that we’ll actually stick to them. 😉

Well, here’s my list for this year. Since last year didn’t have any resolutions, I decided to make some this year vis-a-vis my crafting life. So here follows my list:

Knitting:

Sewing:

  • Start! that is so important!!!

Crochet:

Learn a new craft:

  • Haven’t decided what.. but I want to learn something new and different; something not related to yarn!

Cross-stitch:

  • Complete my table-cloth, and design more bags.

What’s your resolution list?

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The Home-made Designer Bag

This has been a project that’s been long pending. The bag itself was made fast enough.The jute thread came from an earlier trip to Pune. So Sis-in-law quickly though up a design and crochet-ed it as fast as possible.

Then came the hunt for exact matching lining and handles. While I found the lining I wanted within 10-15 days, along with an exhaustive walk with my FIL through Hyderabad‘s General Bazaar, the handles took me a couple of months. Finally I found them in Pune (yet again) on a recent trip.

And then came my busy-ness with other project, and lack of time to actually put it all together. Also when the lining was done, Hubby wasn’t quite happy with the way it came up. So he suggested another layer of stitches where the lining wouldn’t move quite so much. So that was incorporated as well. 🙂

The show-piece on the front of the bag came from an old junk necklace, which I haven’t worn in a long time.

So finally here it comes! 😀

The Bag
Check out the neat design!
My finishing touch! 🙂
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Daily Use Mobile Pouches

After my last attempt to make a pouch in wool, I wondered if I could make the same with thread.. this time with knitting cotton. I did buy some knitting cotton, but more for the reason to try and make some tops to wear with jeans (for myself) or to try n make some doilies … again inspiration from the crochet work sis-in-law makes. 🙂

So this is the result from my attempts.

Red Beauties! 😀

Pouch 1 was done in a single color… I took a guess with the size. It came out a lil squat, but actually fit a Blackberry like a glove. The design is something I came up with myself. Am not sure if it already exists, but I definitely didn’t see it anywhere! 😀

BlackBerry Pouch

Pouch 2 was my first ever attempt to use 2 colors while knitting. Nice job, even if i say so myself! 😉 The design is called Bird’s Eye.

Bird's Eye Pouch