Crochet Tote Bag

This is just a quick post about a nice little pattern I found. During the summer, my much loved and well used leather handbag broke. I'd had it for years, and it was well used and abused, so it owed me nothing, but I was gutted nonetheless! To make matters worse, this happened about a week before payday and I was way too smashed to go out and buy another one. Considering that I had no money, but plenty of yarn at home, the solution was obvious; make another one!!

So I browsed around the internet and eventually found one I thought looked good. My criteria for a day-to-day handbag is that it has to have plenty of room in it (not massive, but not a clutch purse either) and also it needs to have a reasonably long shoulder strap. The pattern I used was from Naztazia.com and it was simply titled "DIY Easy Beginner Crochet Tote". Although I'm not a beginner, I wanted a nice bag that I could knock out in a couple of hours, and I really liked the look of this one. She also has a YouTube channel, and most of her patterns have a crochet-along tutorial. I've watched a few of her tutorials before and they're very clear and easy to follow.

For the main part of the bag, I used 2 skeins of Red Heart Super Saver which I had originally bought to make a wrap/stole, but found the colours didn't really work. The lighter contrast colour was also Red Heart Super Saver, and it was just the end of a skein I had left over from another project. 

It took me about 2.5 or 3 hours to complete the bag, and I'm delighted with the finished product. Using two strands at once makes it very sturdy, and it doesn't stretch or lose its shape, which is a problem I've had with other knitted or crocheted bags I've made in the past. To give you an example, I've had my large wallet, phone, glasses, baby wipes, tissues, and a full 750ml bottle of Pepsi Max in this thing, and there was no change whatsoever in the shape, and the strap is thick enough that it doesn't dig in to my shoulder.

The only downside to it is that it's not waterproof, so I've had to put it away in the last few weeks and buy (faux) leather handbag with a zip. Unfortunately a crochet handbag just isn't practical during Autumn and Winter in Ireland. Actually, lets face it, it probably wouldn't be practical in Spring either! But I fully intend on putting it to good use again next summer!!

Pattern: Naztazia.com DIY Easy Beginner Crochet Tote or Handbag

Hook: 5mm hook from my own collection

Fastener: Wooden duffle that I robbed from my Mum's button box :D

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Economy

           Main colour: Fall (2 x skeins)

           Stripe colour: Buff (about two thirds of a skein)

FIlet Crochet Shawl

This is a project that'e been on the go for ages. I started it off around February 2014, but after a while it got very tedious, so I set it aside for a while. Admittedly, I thought it would probably end up filed under "stuff I never finished" but a few weeks ago I was doing a clean out of my vast yarn collection and came across the shawl, so I thought I'd take it out and give it another go.

My brother in law is getting married in September, so my goal is to have it finished in time to wear to the wedding. Whether or not I'll manage that remains to be seen, but I'm certainly making progress on it a lot quicker than I did when I was working on it before.

This is the first time I've ever done Filet Crochet; to be honest, I'd never even heard of it until one day I saw a YouTube tutorial by The Crochet Crowd and I decided to try it out. I consulted Google to find a nice pattern, and considering it was my first attempt at Filet, I probably should have picked a very basic doily but when I saw this pattern I just loved it!

                                                             via

It's called Ginevra Shawl by Adriafil Yarns. I'd used the Memphis yarn by Adriafil to make a bedspread for my son just after he had been born, and I liked the quality a lot. Unfortunately, the store where I had purchased that yarn had gone out of business, and I couldn't find any other local stockists of Adriafil yarns. I could have ordered in from abroad, but I was keen to get started on the shawl (patience is not one of my strengths) so I went out to Springwools to see what they had in stock. I ended up choosing Rico Essentials Crochet in shade 07. 

 I love the purple!!

I picked this thread because firstly, I liked the colour, and secondly it's a very common yarn, and would be stocked by most of the wool shops in Ireland, so if I needed extra, I could buy it locally or buy it online without having to pay through the nose for shipping. This thread is slightly thicker than what the pattern suggests, so this meant that I would also need to increase the hook size - I'm using a Prym 2.0mm hook instead of a 0.75mm hook.

Having gathered all my supplies, I was ready to get hooking.... right? Wrong! The problem was the pattern - I had printed it out, and while the "spider motif" chart for the edges was clear and easy to follow, the filet chart was absolutely miniscule. There was no way I'd have been able to read it without a magnifying glass!! If I was looking at on my laptop or iPad it was fine, because I could view it as a PDF and just zoom in on the various parts I was working on. However, I didn't really fancy having to lug a laptop/iPad all over the place with me, so my only other option was to re-draw the pattern on to a bigger piece of paper.

That's right...6 A4 PAGES!!!!

This was a real labour of love, let me tell you! As I was sitting there, painstakingly drawing tiny dots onto graph paper all I could think was "This damn shawl had better be worth it!" in between a string of swear words. Eventually I was ready to start. The spider motif looks complicated on the pattern, but actually it's really simple, and once I got to the part where the filet grid began, I didn't need to look at the motif pattern anymore. 

Unfortunately there's quite a few rows of filet on its own before you get to the beginning of the flowers, which was a bit boring. When I got to the flowers it started getting more interesting, and it's also where you really need to start concentrating on whether you're working from left to right or right to left, depending on which row you're on. I found it helpful to put a line through each row as I finished it, because it was very easy to mix up the rows and there was a couple of times when I'd get halfway along a row and realise that I'd been working in the wrong direction.

Slowly moving towards the finish line!

Funnily enough, since I've taken a break from it, I'm finding it a lot easier to work on now. I'm not sure if it's because it's actually starting to look like a shawl now, so it's more encouraging getting an idea of what the end result will be, or if it's just because I left it to once side, but I'm actually enjoying working on it at the moment, whereas before it just felt like a chore. Hopefully I'll be back before too long, posting an update with the finished piece!


Pattern: Adriafil Ginevra Shawl
Yarn: Rico Essentials Crochet

Entrelac Hat!

Hi All!

Well first, I must once again apologise for my lack of posts over the summer. What with the unexpectedly warm summer we had, I found it very difficult to actually get any knitting done. I love sitting out in the sunshine (ok, under an umbrella, but watching the sunshine) and knitting along, but it was just so hot that trying to knit anything was like sitting under a woolly blanket, so I ended up packing away my knitting for those lovely sunny days.

A couple of weeks ago, when the weather started to turn, I picked up my needles again and started a new project - Entrelac. This was something I'd never tried before, and any time I'd looked at pictures and videos of it, it looked terrifying! I decided I'd give it a go, so after watching many, many youtube tutorials, I grabbed some chunky wool and thick needles and knit up a sample piece.

It actually turned out to be easier than I thought, once I got into the rhythm of it. The main thing I found was that it was really important to keep count of your stitches, seeing as it's not like knitting straight along until you reach the end of a row, but once you remember to do that then it's a lot less complicated than it looks.

Each winter I've knitted a hat for my son. Unfortunately for him, he inherited my slightly large size head, so it can be difficult to find nice hats to fit him. I decided that this winter's effort was going to be in Entrelac. Knitting it in the round actually turned out to be easier than knitting a flat piece, and I was surprised how straightforward it was, once I'd joined the two sides together. 

I used double knitting wool that I had in the house already, and 4.5mm circular needles. It took me about 2 days to complete, but that was two days of doing not-a-whole-lot else. 

I'm very pleased with how it came out, and most importantly, so is my son! I'm currently knitting one for my husband and one for my mum, so my knitting schedule is going to be nice and full for the next few weeks!

Here's my handsome little man modelling the finished product!

First-Time Cardigan

 

Well I'm cutting my "garment" teeth on this delightful cardigan here. I'm knitting the navy cardigan in the main picture for my sister.

Yes, I'm aware it's a bloke's cardigan, however she wanted something a bit big and warm, kinda like a woolly version of boyfriend jeans. Her boyfriend will also likely benefit, because she might be less inclined to steal his sweaters once this is finished. 

When I first read the pattern, it seemed a bit daunting, but I'm making good progress with it and so far (touch wood) there haven't been any major disasters. Because the wool is nice and chunky, the size of the pieces increases quickly, which is a nice motivator - you can start to see the piece as part of the finished item, as opposed to knitting something with 4 ply and for ages it just looks like a random strip of knitting which can be almost soul destroying!

I'll post a full write up when I'm finished (hopefully not too far in the future) and I'll also put up pictures of the finished product!

If anyone's got any tips for making clothes, particularly for sewing all the bits together, I'd love to hear them!

Blast From The Past.........Friendship Bracelets!!

Anyone else remember these dealies? I made loads of these when I was about ten but apparently they're the 'in' thing right now (?). 

Anyhoo, seeing them in various magazines and blogs over the last while made me awfully nostalgic, so I got out my embroidery thread and decided to have a go at making one.

It's been about 15 years since I made friendship bracelets, so I was a tad rusty, but once I got going it was like riding a bike! In fact, it was easier than riding a bike, especially considering that when I ride a bike it usually results in a terrible crash and a visit to the hospital!

I think I managed to knock out this friendship bracelet in about an hour (my ten year old self would be disgusted) and while it's not as neat as it could be, I'm pleased with it! 

I'm going to make a toddler sized version of this for my son next!

Ruffled Fancy Scarf - Finished Product!

Following on from my last entry about what I'm currently knitting, behold the finished ruffle scarf!

I'm delighted with how it came out and I've actually been wearing it every day since I finished it. As I said before, the yarn caught my eye as I was shopping for supplies to make a scarf for my godmother, and being a total sucker for anything that's multicoloured, I couldn't resist buying a ball of it. 

There was a sample scarf knitted up with this yarn in the shop, and I thought it looked similar to the Rico Loopy yarn only slightly frillier. However, when it came to actually knitting with the stuff it turned out to have a few differences. Firstly, I didn't find it quite as easy to knit with as the Loopy. Also there were no instructions on the yarn wrapper band, which was a bit of a pain in the arse. The only thing it said was to use a 5mm needle. Now, if you decide to try knitting with this yarn I would strongly recommend that you DO NOT use a 5mm needle - it's much too skinny, the loops can come off the end of it (yes, this happened to me). I used the same 8mm one that I used on the Loopy scarf and found it worked much better.

On the band of the Loopy wool, it shows that you knit the scarf up by knitting into one of the 'thicker' holes on the top edge, skipping a 'thicker' hole and then knitting the following 'thicker' hole (as illustrated by this incredibly crappy MS Paint diagram):

So anyhoo, I figured that you'd knit the Krystal scarf in pretty much the same way as you'd do the loopy one (considering the lack of instructions on the band, it was pretty much trial and error). All was going well until I started to get to the end of the ball of yarn and realised that the scarf was only about a foot long, and unless you've got a neck like a Barbie doll, it's not going to be much use as a scarf. I'll admit the air turned blue for a moment, but I took a deep breath, counted to ten, and logged on to YouTube to see was there any joy to be had there. 

I couldn't find any videos to help me, however after a bit of googling I discovered that unlike the Loopy scarf where you'd do "knit, skip, knit, skip, etc" like in the diagram above, you actually knit into all the thicker bordered holes. Once I learned that, I unraveled the scarf and started again, thankfully it knits up pretty quickly once you've figured out how to make the damn thing!

 

The above picture is a closer view of the yarn, and as you can see it's beautiful! My favourite part is where the yellowy-gold transitions into the pink; it reminds me of a sunset. 

Overall, I really enjoyed knitting this scarf, despite the few hiccups at the start. Also, the range of colours in the other yarns they have is gorgeous, so I'd be surprised if I don't knit another one. It took me about an hour of leisurely knitting to finish it and I'm very happy with the end result, it's lovely and soft and goes with a variety of my outfits.

I found out later that there's actually a pattern booklet that is supposed to come with the yarn (it's free) and you just take one from the shop, however I think that it would be much easier if the manufacturer put the basic instructions on the wool band, and also maybe a link to where you can download the pattern from their website because I can't imagine I'm the only person who hasn't realised that the pattern comes separately. (Or maybe I am...........that's embarrassing!!)

Wool from: Springwools

Needles from:  my personal stash :-)