Mistakes are Learning Opportunities!

What you should be seeing here is a new pattern, what you are getting instead is a whole heap of idioms! What I mean is that this week I put all my eggs in one basket and counted my chickens before they were hatched! This dear crochet friends is what my dining table currently looks like.

This is the conversation I had with Nick.

Rach:I've been working on a pattern for the last couple of weeks and at the last moment it's all gone a bit Pete Tong [Pear shaped] and I don't have anything to Blog about now.

Nick: So that's OK, why don't you blog about that, people learn more from their mistakes than they do from their successes.

That really got me thinking. You know how we live in a blame and shame culture, so that when you make a mistake the last thing you feel you should do is own up to your mistakes. But I'm going to stand on my soap box and right here and now and say, 

"This is a learning opportunity!" 

So what went wrong? I followed the design principles that I'd been taught. I researched my subject and experimented with my materials.

I chose my yarn and made a gauge swatch.

I made careful measurements and tested my ideas.

 I recorded all the details and wrote a detailed pattern, drew a beautiful schematic and a stitch diagram and started to put it all together using my Pattern Template...Uhoh!

Somewhere along the way my rigid plan changed from looking like the scribbled sketches I'd made and evolved into something more organic. The stretchy fabric I was using because it was stretchy, stretched!

So what have I learnt from it all? Well not to count my chickens too soon and to be prepared for my ideas to evolve. To generally enjoy the ride and not give myself unnecessary time constraints. 

And perhaps to have a few back up Blog posts just in case!!

Hopefully the next time you drop by there will be a new pattern here but no promises.

 

Wire Crochet Experiment.

 This week I have mostly been crocheting with wire!

Nick has been busy doing something in his man-cave, so when I spotted this coil of 0.25mm coated copper wire going begging I just had to see what I could do with it.

The only thing I knew about wire crochet was what I had read in 'Crochet Masterclass' and the chapter written by Nancie Wiseman. She uses 30 gauge Brass wire and a 2mm hook to make a sweet little purse.

I couldn't really think what to do so I grabbed up my copy of Edie Eckman's 'Connect the Shapes Crochet Motifs' and a 2mm hook. The first motif I made was No.17. It looks a lot different when it's worked in wire rather than yarn and presents different problems. The first thing I realised was that it was quite hard to identify the different stitches. The trebles (Dc-USA) look quite strange. When I'd finished I couldn't work out how to block it!

My next experiment was motif No.20 and I used a 1.5mm hook. I was hoping that this smaller hook would create tidier stitches. Those treble stitches are still not quite right and no matter how much I stretched it, it still won't lie flat. This little chap measures 6.5cm and weighs a mighty 4 grams.
 
It occurred to me that a design made of chain stitches and slip stitches or double crochet (Sc-USA) might look better. So still with the smaller hook size I moved onto motif No.25. I'm really happy with the way this has turned out. It was easier to pull it into shape, and with a little tweaking it will lie reasonably flat.

Being a practical person I am of course wondering what I can do with these motifs. With a few beads added the right motif would work well as a pendant. With a textile backing perhaps a brooch.

The fact that one of my motifs wouldn't lie flat made me think I could make a bowl or a bangle.

After a few(!) false starts I got the hang of it. I found that a bigger hook size was better. A large tapestry needle helped to open up any stitches that had got squished. Once the disc was large enough it was easier to work the bowl from the outside. I also found that putting some of those self adhesive thimbles on my non hook hand helped! It's definitely hard on the hands.

 
I worked the bowl in a spiral, increasing 6Dc (Sc-USA) per round for 8 rounds. A total of 60 stitches in the 8th round. At that point I continued without increasing.

I finished the edge of the bowl with a row of Slip Stitches. My finished bowl measures 9cm/31/2" in diameter and weighs 16g. It might look nice with a ribbon woven around but what I'm going to use it for I have no ideas!

I decided to make the 'Edie Eckman' motifs into greetings cards. I chose to sew the copper designs onto the cards, rather than attempt to glue them in any way.

 

The Armchair Traveller's Cushion Cover

I have a crochet cushion cover pattern for you today. I'm calling it Armchair Traveller. I hope you'll like it and make it your own.

My Armchair Traveller's Cushion takes you to an ancient place. 

I have woven into my Celtic Tartan the colours of Credenhill Camp. It's the second largest iron age Hill Fort in Britain and it just happens to be up the road from me. It's a place of magic and refuge. What more could you ask from a cushion!!

Standing sentry at the hill top are a ring of Yew trees with their roots dug deep into the red soil of Herefordshire.

So let me tell you a bit about the pattern. It uses Surface Crochet, and is hopefully just the first pattern using this technique that I will produce for you. If you weren't following my series of blogs post Here is a link to the first one.

For the first pattern I've started off simply with a traditional stitch pattern. You'll find something similar in Betty Barnden's 'Handbook of Crochet Stitches'.  I actually tried really hard to come up with something else, but there's a reason why these traditional patterns continue to be used! Despite ending up with a huge pile of swatches, I eventually went with a few gentle tweaks.
 
The best feature is the yarn itself and for that we have to bless those clever people at Scheepjes. I have used two different weights of yarn, two different sized hooks but the same glorious colours. I've used the Sport weight to create the filet base and the Aran to surface crochet on top. This has given me a thick, yet light weight, soft comforting cushion.The first thing you'll want to do when you finish your cushion is just sit and cuddle it.

  
I have used Scheepjes Stone Washed which comes in those two different weights but the same colour range. It has a white cotton core which sparkles through the gem like acrylic colour. I expect you have your own favourite place and colour choice so if you can't find the colours you want in that yarn you can also look at their River Washed yarn. It also comes in the same two weights, Sport and Aran. This time the yarn has a coloured cotton core which really glows through the acrylic layer.
 
After all those swatches I mentioned, I decided to work the surface crochet into a Back Bump Treble Filet Base  [DC-USA]. The back bump stitches do a number of things. Firstly they slightly reduce the height of the trebles leaving a nice square gap to surface crochet into. Secondly they stack the Trebles neatly on top of one another, ensuring our chain stitches form up in nice orderly rows. Thirdly they twist the tops of the stitches forward creating a mock line of surface chain.

So what do I mean by Back Bump Stitches?When we talk about working into the Back Bump of chain stitches we're merely referring to that third loop at the bottom. By working into this loop it turns the chain stitch upside down.
When we talk about the Back Bump on other stitches we're talking about that little horizontal bump at the top of the 'post', on the back.
Insert the hook down from top to bottom. Like all things crochet, it's fiddly to start with but you'll quickly get the hang of it.
 I've also tried really hard to reduce the number of ends you have to sew in. We start by stitching in the round and then later we join the tube at one end to cut the number of surface crochet 'ends' by half.

CLICK HERE! for the free down-loadable PDF. I'd love to see your finished designs on Ravelry and hear about the places your armchairs take you to!

Book Review: Blueprint Corchet Sweaters

I was gifted a copy of Robyn Chachula's book for my birthday. I have now had time to take it to bed with me and read it thoroughly from cover to cover. (I know how weird that sounds but I also dream in stitch diagrams as well. Possibly the two things are related!) I learn a lot from crochet books and spend a lot of time choosing what to put on my wish list, so I thought you might be interested in more information than the blurb gives you.

The blurb seems to describe this book as an introduction into crochet garment design. I don't think this means it's for 'would be designers', rather it helps us to understand what it is we are making. I keep hearing that crocheters are afraid of making garments. I have certainly picked up patterns that I didn't understand. Maybe I couldn't work out how the peices fitted together or how to alter the size to fit me. Not so here, all the pattern's come with schematics and stitch diagrams. If you don't understand diagrams there is page dedicated to you! There are also plenty of photos of each garment.
I'm a big believer in learning from my own mistakes, although of course that can be a costly exercise with garments! Robyn is obviously of the same mind and the book opens with a generous list of fixes for when it all goes horribly wrong. She also gives us some help working out how to alter fit.

Basically the book is divided into four sections, each a different way to construct a garment. These are Classic, Top-down, Motif, and Unique. Within each discipline are four patterns, each a different solution within that brief.

Classic Construction 
For some reason designers are often stuck on the idea that crochet has to be constructed in the same way that a fabric garment would be. That is from a number of panel pieces which are then stitched together. I don't know about you but it is always my seaming that lets me down. The clever shaping of the four garments in this section allow for minimal seaming, often joined and shaped by the addition of edgings and collars.

Top Down and in-the-round
My favourite garment type. The problem here is how do you sneak increases into your design without destroying the stitch pattern? Maybe you use a lacy panel to make the raglan design a feature. (see stitch sample above) Or maybe you use a strong linear element and sneak the increases in between the lines! (see stitch sample below)

Granny Motif
Granny Motifs make me think of those garish things that haunted my 1970's childhood. Not here however, these stylish motifs create clothing that you can dress up or down in. At the end of each pattern in the book are a few helpful suggestions to create the perfect fit and finish.

Unique Construction
Fabric consists of a warp and a weft, with knitting you have to fit all those loops on a needle. Crochet doesn't have these restrictions, it can go up, down, forwards, and even backwards! There will always be a crochet solution which doesn't fit easily in a category. Perhaps it is made in one piece and folded with clever minimal seaming, or perhaps it has a sneaky hidden seam.

I should probably have mentioned that four of the designs in this book aren't by Robyn. Despite this the book seems to have a cohesion so the other designers' work doesn't leap out at you. One of the things I really liked was the use of post stitches to give not just stitch texture but also definition. There are some more traditional cable designs, but four of my samples here use post stitches.
(I should probably say my fabric swatches are not made using the same yarns as in the book!)

Sometimes you pick up a book that claims to have 20 patterns in it only to discover that that includes 3 cowls and 2 scarves. While I have to say that there are more cardigan/jackets than sweaters in this book, they are all substantial patterns. If you want to see all 16 designs, check them out HERE on Ravelry. The good thing about a book being around for a while is (if you're a Ravelry member) you can go on and see what the designs look like when other people have made them.You can even read their thoughts, the problems they encountered and ask for help yourself should you need it!

A Rose for Kimberley

This week I have a little pattern for you. Sometimes you need to say a special Thank You! And that's what this is, a special thank you to Kimberley. Kimberley is from Yorkshire and she has that beautiful accent which is exactly like she is; open, honest, friendly and down to earth. So I decided to make her a Yorkshire Rose brooch.

Traditionally there is supposed to be some antaganism between the people of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Having lived on both sides of the Peninnes, (the line of hills that runs like a spine down the north of England) I cannot choose between them! So I am offering you this rose in white for Yorkshire, Red for Lancashire or diplomatically combine them both with the Tudor Rose!

Did I mention that I was the slowest crochet designer ever? I'd really like to be a fly on the wall of another designer to see how they go about things. Usually I start with very rough sketches of what I want, then I try to translate that into stitch diagrams. When I finally pick up a hook and find out what it will really look like I start to make alterations. My problem is not knowing when to stop! As you can see I ended up with a big pile of alterations!
Usually each of my patterns begins with a problem I want to solve. In this case I wanted something which would hold itself together tightly as a brooch and keep it's shape. So the problem was how to join the two layers of leaves and the two layers of petals together. I've done this by using front and back loop stitches.

Being dyslexic I am very aware that we all comprehend information in different ways. So here are the round by round images which will give you an idea of what is going on!

 

Here is the free downloadable PDF pattern! It includes a stitch diagram for each round. I've made mine using Scheepjes Cotton8, a fine 100% cotton yarn which usually uses a 3mm hook. I've downsized the hook to get a tight finish so that my brooch will stay looking good.

EDIT: Due to popular request I have produced a longer version of the pattern with images for each round. Here is the UK version. 

Here is the US version. 

 

Of course it could be any colour or any size you choose, just have fun.

Slip Stitches are Fun!

That's not the sort of thing you would have heard me say until recently! After reading Doris Chan's book Convertible Crochet I became a convert. (read my review HERE) I used her Slip Stitch Rib instructions on my version of Lilla Bjorn's Esja Sweater.

I've owned a copy of Robyn Chachula's Crochet Stitches Visual Encyclopedia for a while now. It opens with four slip stitch patterns. At that time I tried a swatch of the first one but it looked awful. Now that I have more experience I decided to revisit these designs and have another go.

Slip stitches are the work horse of the crochet world but mainly we just use them to join things. I've definitely never thought of them as a stitch in their own right. So after successfully producing these four samples I decided to do a bit of research. Here's what I discovered!

I was just thinking that Slip Stitches were an overlooked stitch that could be much more useful than I'd previously imagined. Then I started to discover that it really is a 'thing'. Not only is it a thing but it has a name, actually many names like Bosnian Crochet and Shepherd's Knitting among others. It even has it's own hook, a pjoning hook. They are hard to get hold of so instead a pointy inline hook would definitely be of benefit but not essential.

The first thing you need to know about using slip stitches is that you need to use a LARGE hook!  Try for two or three times larger than the recommended size. These samples are made with a 6mm hook, the recommended size for this Scheepjes Soft Fun yarn is 4mm.

Then you need to pull up an over sized loop and try to keep it as large as possible. You might find it helpful to hold the base of the stitch as you pull the loop through, at least until you get the hang of it anyway!
Keep counting your stitches, it's easy to loose one, and expect your fabric to shrink in width after the first few rows. (At least until you get the hang of it anyway!!)

I really love that there is SO much to crochet, there always seems to be something new to learn. In writing this post I have discovered 'inverted slip stitches'. If you follow This Link you'll find out how to do inverted stitches.

This gives us six basic stitches in our arsenal; Slip stitch and Inverted Slip stitch, Front Loop and Inverted Front Loop Slip stitch, Back Loop and Inverted Back Loop Slip stitch. (Front Loop slip stitches are simply slip stitches made in the front loop only of previous stitch. Back loop slip stitches are made in the back loop only.)
I've tried out 18 simple variations using those stitches. Some of them are very similar but I hope it will give you a basic knowledge that can be built on.

Dark Purple: This sample is basic Slip Stitch. It creates a thick slightly stretchy fabric.

Yellow: Inverse Slip Stitch. Made in exactly the same way as a basic slip stitch but the yarn is brought to the front and the hook is inserted from the back to the front.This is the thickest of all my samples and also has some stretch.

Pink: Rib Stitch. Back Loop Slip Stitch. This is slightly thinner than basic Slip stitch but is much stretchier. It's the stitch I used on my Esja sweater.

Mauve: Inverse Front Loop Slip Stitch. The ribs in this stitch are much further apart. It makes a warm fabric but isn't very stretchy.

Mauve: Garter Stitch. (I'd love to know why it's called that.) It's simply Front Loop slip stitch.

Pink: Inverse Back Loop Slip Stitch. The photo doesn't do this justice. It has a lovely crisp texture.

Red: Alternating rows of Back Loop and Inverse Front Loop Stitch. These are the front and back of the same stitch. I found it impossible to make it even and tidy.

This is crochet 'spot the difference'! These are four different stitches. There are subtle differences between them. The fabric is double sided, lets call the first group of images the front. All these samples have a tendency to roll up until they are blocked.

Beige: Alternating rows of Front Loop and Inverse Front Loop Slip stitch. Notice how it leans to the right.

Blue: Alternating rows of Back Loop and Inverse Back Loop Slip stitch.Notice how it leans to the left! 

Left hand Green: Purl Stitch. Alternating rows of Front Loop and Back Loop Slip stitch.

Right hand Green: Alternating rows Inverted Front Loop and Inverted Back Loop stitch.

Flat stitch. This is alternating rows of Front Loop and Inverted Back Loop stitch. Why is it called Flat stitch when it clearly wants to roll up? This could be annoying but it could also be useful for rolled hems, necklines and cuffs perhaps?

All of the last six examples are produced by repeating pairs of stitches. This is where the magic really begins. Suddenly we're starting to see something that that doesn't look at all like crochet.

Grey: This is made by repeating Front and Back Loop Slip Stitches. It has a wonderful waffle like texture with a small amount of ribbing.

Pink: Repeating Inverted Front and Inverted Back Loop stitches. This has a crisp texture with a little more ribbing than the grey sample.

These two examples have even more of a waffle texture.

Beige: This one is repeating Front Loop and Inverted Front Loop stitches.

Blue: Repeating Back Loop and Inverted Back Loop stitches gives this sample more texture than it's sibling.

Blue: Moss Stitch. This is my favourite stitch. It takes a few rows before the pattern emerges. Repeating Front Loop and Inverted Back Loop Stitches.

Yellow: Repeating Back Loop and Inverted Front Loop Stitches.

 It's not just me that's excited about these techniques. There are some incredible patterns available. If you're starting to get hooked then you definitely need to go and visit Vashti Braha, and A Yarnified Life. If you're a member of Ravelry check out This Group. (If you're not a member of Ravelry - why?! Go join now!!)

Photographing these samples can't convey their tactile qualities. I definitely recommend taking some time out to practise this technique, it's well worth the effort you put in!

P.S. I decided to try a quick pattern to prove to all of us (you and me!) that it is possible to make something completely using slip stitches. I chose Ann Linderhjelm's 'Hat in Slip Stitch Crochet'. Xx