How to read a crochet chart.

I have a vague plan!😕
The next few posts will be all about patterns and diagrams. ('Few' in this case being an uncertain number!!)
Like all things Crochet there are no standards beyond the basics. This makes everything just that little bit harder. You can read about the craft yarn council standards here. 

You may be struggling to read diagrams, put off by written patterns, or you may be thinking of writing your own patterns. Whatever the reason, before you can write a novel you need to learn to read. It's said a picture is worth a thousand words. So let's start with diagrams. As we are thinking of this like learning to read let's begin with our alphabet. Here is a downloadable chart with some of the elements you might expect to see. I have also included links (in the download only) to some of my previous posts, just in case like me you can never remember the difference between a popcorn and a bobble!

 

 

Let's start by looking at a simple chart. This is the chart for a common stitch often referred to as seed stitch.

The information that is given in a chart varies from illustrator to illustrator and is usually intended to be read along with written instructions. As most designs begin either with foundation chain stitches or a magic ring, that is what you would look for first. In this case there is a helpful arrow which shows us where to begin. I also prefer to make sure each row or round of my chart is in a different colour, it makes the chart easier to read. It doesn't mean that you'd change colour at the end of the row.

Here you can see that we start with 'Make 10 chain stitches'.

The little 1 indicates the row number and the fact that the last chain stitch is hovering like that tells us that it is first stitch in the row. The instructions would read something like: 'Row 1, Dc[Sc] in the 2nd chain from the hook, *Ch1, Skip 1 st, Dc[Sc] in next st, repeat from* to end of row,Turn.' In a normal row by row stitch pattern you would normally turn at the end of each row, so there wouldn't normally be anything in the diagram telling you to turn. 

   Row 2 might read, 'Ch1, skip 1st dc[sc],Dc[Sc] in next st,*Ch1, Skip1 st, Dc[Sc]in next st, repeat from* to end of row,Turn.'

Row 3 would read 'Repeat Row2'.

 

Now let's look at that Granny Square diagram. The first thing you notice (I hope!) is that it already looks a lot like a Granny Square. The symbols are drawn to the same proportion as the real stitches. So here you can see that the Treble [Dc] stitches are about three chain stitches high. 

As we are working in the round you'd expect to start in the centre. This squiggly spiral is my attempt at representing a magic ring. Each round is then numbered the same as the written instructions would be. So we begin Round One with three Chain stitches in place of the first Treble[Dc] stitch. The round is closed by the dot which represents the Slip stitch. 

Round Two begins with an open arrow, so without being told in a long-winded way we know that this round uses a different colour yarn from Round One. You can also see from the placement of the stitches in the diagram that the Treble[Dc] stitches are made into the chain spaces of the round below. If you don't use the English stitch names like me, by this point I am sure you appreciate how the confusion with stitch names is also so much less confusing with a diagram! 

I find written patterns to be scary. I've found them a lot more manageable if I just take the instructions section by section. In the same way, if you look at a chart line by line it will all fall into place! 

I haven't even touched on Tunisian crochet. I'm only just making my very first Tunisian garment so I am in no way qualified to talk about that. Maybe one day I can do that Blog post.

I think it would make sense if I told you how I draw my diagrams in the next post. I'll look at deciphering crochet patterns in the third post.

5s Your Creative Space!

This is what the inside of my head looks like! 

But just lately I've been getting organised. It's most certainly Not something that comes naturally to me. It's all Nick's fault, he told me all about 5s Methodology and got me all inspired. Mr Untidy himself, went out to his wood turning shed and turned it into a workshop to be proud of.

If you've heard of 5s Lean Manufacturing you might be wondering what on earth it's doing in a crochet Blog. If you haven't... well either way stay tuned and I'll do my best to inspire you to.

5s is part of the Japanese Manufacturing philosophy, it goes along with 'just in time ordering' and all that. It doesn't sound very creative but funnily enough I've just read a LookatwhatImade Blog post where Dedri talks about 'eating your frog' and 'touching it once'. This is a lot less scary and much more easily achieved than any of that. It doesn't matter whether you have a craft room, a corner of the living room or just a pile of stuff under the coffee table, this will help.

The 5s are:

1. Seiri -Sort
2. Seiton-Set in order
3. Seiso-Shine
4. Seiketsu-Standardise
5. Shitsuke-Sustain

So let's walk through them one by one.

Sort
Basically, as far as you and I are concerned, this means throwing out the stuff you've been hanging on to but will never use. You have to be honest with yourself. How long have you had it? Will you ever really take up patchwork, bead weaving, arm knitting or whatever it is? You never liked that antique work-basket that Great Aunt Ethel gave you but she left it to you in her will. Throw it out, take it to the charity shop, give it to your sister, just get rid of it! (Blame it on me if it helps!) What you're trying to achieve is more usable space and less clutter. This was the bit that I found hardest, I hated it but everything after this is fun - promise!

Set in Order 

Have you ever put something in a safe place and not been able to find it again? Or how about 'but I just had it in my hand'! This is where you organise everything that's left after the big clear out. You are going to make it easy to find and use your stuff. No more searching through bags and boxes, or peering under beds. The best way to explain this is probably with your kitchen. I bet that somewhere close to your kettle I would find some mugs and some tea, coffee and sugar; close to your sink a hand towel; and close to your cooker some wooden spoons maybe? The things that you use frequently want to be close to hand, things that you use together need to be close together. Basically 'it' needs to make sense as a working space.

The Overlocker is next to it's manual.

The printer is next to the ink.

Close to hand!

Shine 
Shine is just about cleaning. If you were running machinery it would mean cleaning it so you could see if it is in good working order. In Nick's case he painted his work shop white to bring in more light.

Standardise and Label!

Standardise
In my mind this starts with 'set in order'. What a great opportunity to persuade the other half that you absolutely must have that craft storage cabinet! For the rest of us however there are a huge range of drawer units, stacking boxes and storage solutions. The word to keep in mind is standardise. Hopefully you've already thrown out the old cigar boxes and biscuit tins that you were using before. From now on we are going to keep it clean and tidy. Everything in it's place and a place for everything.
Now you are going to label. You should be able to see at a glance what is where. Never again let me hear those dreaded words, 'now where did I put that?' You can use visual clues like colour coding, different fonts, or symbols on your labels. Different coloured lids or containers help. Imagine I am going into your space to find something, how easily will I find it?

Use colour to identify.

Sustain
This is the really hard bit! Now that my workspace is clean I can't wait to get in there and start work. Now I have to develop the good habits that leave my work space exactly the same as it looks right now. Nick says he is never going to leave his shed in a mess at the end of a project. He is always going to tidy up before putting it to bed at night. For me there will be no 'in-tray'. An in-tray is an excuse for me to leave things to deal with later. I have given myself a 'WIP (work in progress) / next project' basket, this is because I get easily distracted and absent minded. I am never going to say 'what was I going to make with this?' again! Of course you can also use Ravelry for this purpose. If you go into your 'Notebook' you can put items in your 'Queue'. If you've added the yarn to your 'Stash', it even lines up the yarn for you. Or alternatively you can write it up in your 'Projects' and mark it as a WIP.

My magazines are going to stay upright and in order!

OK so I've given you some images of what we've done. (Nick is wondering why I've not included 'before' images. Because it was shocking!) I hope we've inspired you. No matter what I do the inside of my head will remain a creative confusion where bizarre ideas bump up against each other. But now I stand half a chance of creating some of them!

StarFlower Overlay

As promised here is the sister pattern to the last post.

Sadly I lost my Mum last month so I'm naming this pattern for her. Here she is in better times looking like a real 50's chick.

My Mum was a real inspiration. She was amazingly creative and always curious about the world. Born in London before the second world war she had to live through the horror of the blitz. Like many of her generation she grew up without her father just when she was in her formative years and when he came back he must have seemed like a stranger. 

Here they are together on Alf's first leave.

One of the many things I inherited from my Mum was her love of nature.

Sadly gardening and crochet are unhappy bed fellows. That's why my hands don't often feature on my crochet blog. They end up dry and split after an hour or two at my other hobby!

 Here then is the PDF for Barbara's Borage! It's my favourite of the two patterns, but you will immediately see the similarities. I'm really hoping that someone out there will find a way of putting the two patterns together in something!

Incidentally the last two rounds (rounds7 and 8/8a) are interchangeable with those of Ruby's Rue. You can give your Borage rounded petals or the Rue pointy ones, if you want more options.

Among Barbara's inspirations were Dragonflies and Peacocks plus she had an unnatural penchant for Turquoise! All of these came down to me in my genes, so these are the colours that I'm using.

As with Ruby's Rue, here are the round by round images. Some of the front loop stitches are a little awkward to find. So I have included a few images in the pattern to help you.

Once again made with a DK yarn like Scheepjes Softfun, Softfun Denim and 4mm hook, they are a perfect size for a mug mat. (I like the way the petals wrap upwards to hug your mug!)
  
Made with a 4ply yarn like Scheepjes Cotton 8, Sunkissed and a 3mm hook, they are great for card toppers.

The one I made with Scheepjes Maxi, crochet thread and a 1.75mm hook makes a fabulous little broach. (If I do say so myself!) I think the pointy petals benefit from a light blocking. I soaked mine, squeezed out excess water, sprayed lightly with starch and blocked upside down. I pinned the petals out but didn't stretch them.

I was curious to know what it would look like made in a thicker yarn. So I tryed it in Wendy Supreme Chunky, 100% cotton and the recommended 6.5mm hook. This is the yarn I use for my tutorials because it photographs well but sadly I don't think this is still produced. The finished item comes out with a 20cm/ 8inch diameter. At this size it's big enough for a trivet.
 
The trouble with experimenting is that I never know when to stop! So here it is in a locally hand spun wool and silk mix and 6mm hook. Mum would have loved these colours! I made the central 16 sts around a rubber 'O' ring, and then made the next row through both loops. I think the dreamcatcher (?) might benefit from a few feathers and some beads.

Whatever you chose to do, have fun experimenting!

Mug Mat Maybe?

 No it's not a crossword clue it's a mini mandala overlay pattern!

I've had two mini overlay patterns hanging around for sometime, which I've been intending to do something with. I've finally admitted to myself that I'll never get round to it. So I thought that maybe you could do something with them! 

I'm absolutely rubbish at naming patterns, but just as I started writing this the Chinese Meadow Rue came into flower in my garden. (Thalictrum Delavayi) 
Here is the white one nestling in the shade of an Acer. I've made the flowers look massive but the blooms on this incredibly delicate looking plant are only about a centimetre in diameter. So I'm naming this also for Ruby, my rescued Lurcher who is now old and doddery.

Made out of 4ply they are the perfect size for card toppers.

Made out of a thicker (DK maybe) cotton they make excellent mug mats. 

For the Mug mat I've used Scheepjes Softfun and a 4mm hook. I've gone with Scheepjes Sunkissed and Scheepjes Cotton 8 with a 3mm hook for the card toppers. Or for a really cute lighter weight motif you could try a crochet thread like Scheepjes Maxi. This one uses a 1.75mm hook.

Click here to open the Pdf Pattern. I've added a couple of links on the pattern which take you to two of my previous Blogs. If you're unfamiliar with these terms you might find them helpful. Normally I would start a pattern like this with a magic ring but instead I'm using the 'Chain 2' technique I told you about in the last post.

 I've given you two options for the final round, mainly because I hate making decisions!

To save your printer's ink I'm putting the round by round images here.

 The pattern comes with a diagram/chart which will hopefully make stitch placement a breeze. It's the first circular chart I've drawn all by myself. Actually that's not quite true I still had to get some help from Nick, acting as my technical guru! Hopefully the sister pattern to this one won't take as long now I've had some practise. I'm planning to have it ready in a fortnight.

Hope you enjoy using up some of your odds and ends.

Magic Ring Alternative

This week I promised you a free pattern. You know what happens to best laid plans?!  But in the mean time here's a little morsel or an update on my previous post about Magic Rings.

Last week was a pretty awful week and it's messed up my plans a bit. As my Grandpa, a seaman used to say, "worse things happen at sea"! Although my pattern is nearly ready to go, my dyslexic brain means I always check, check, check and check again. So sorry chaps but you will definitely have that in a fortnight come hell or high water!

So I've been having a Jen Tyler marathon. I hope you've heard of Jen Tyler from Hooks 'n Tales. She is both barking mad, amazingly sweet and ridiculously talented. She is currently embarking on a "Karoo Vintage Mystery-A-Long".  

Any hoo- I was doing one of her patterns the other day and watching one of her videos when she mentioned a different way to do the magic ring. She claimed to have learnt it from Esther Dijkstra, It's all in a Nutshell. (I can't find it on her Blog.) I know some of us struggle with the Magic Ring. Some of the instructions I've seen also make it look much harder than it is and have you doing some weird thing wrapping the yarn round your fingers!! This struck me as so sensible that I've been using it ever since.

Without a slip knot on your hook Chain one! That's it!

If you are going to Double Crochet (Sc) into the ring, 'Chain One' (that counts as your first stitch)

and continue to make your Double Crochets into the first chain.

If you are going to Treble Crochet (Dc-USA) then Chain Three (that counts as your first stitch)

and continue to make your Trebles into the first chain.

When you've completed your stitches, pick up that loose tail and pull tight!

 It's exactly the same as the way I told you before, but it's a much simpler way of thinking about it, and that's what makes it easier!

So come back in a fortnight and I will DEFINITELY have a freebie for you. Consider it carved in stone!

Herringbone Stitches

I am aware that it's a bit odd to be obsessed with the minutiae of crochet! Herringbone Stitch is one that most definitely rings all my bells!
This post is the sister of the last post where I talked about Extended stitches. I described these as a stitch standing on the shoulders of a Chain or Slip stitch. The Herringbone stitch certainly fits into that family. It's the slip stitch at the base that makes it lean to one side.
As usual no one in the crochet world can agree, so there are several examples of Herringbone stitch. The English being eccentric also call it Knotted Stitch! This is my blog so I'm going to decide what seems sensible to me!

I'm calling this Herringbone Half Treble.

 This is what it looks like when worked to and fro.

  This is worked on the right side only.

 Here are the instructions:

Ch2 to start a new row.

Yarn over hook and insert hook in first st,

Yarn over, pull thru st and 1st loop on hook,

Yarn over, pull thru both loops on hook. 
 

Let's call this Herringbone Treble.

First worked to and fro.

Followed by from right side only.

Here are the instructions:

Ch3 to start a new row.

Yarn over hook and insert hook in first st,

Yarn over, pull thru st and 1st loop,

Yarn over, pull thru 1 loop on hook,

Yarn over, pull thru both loops on hook.

If you look back at my book review of Edie Eckman's Crochet Borders you'll see an example of how she has used Herringbone.

Just a short and sweet post this week, but I hope you can find a use for these fabulous stitches.