Trend Setters - Part 3

Today we will be making the mask part of our project. And it is far easier than it looks. Really it is. :-) You will need two colours for this part. Your main colour and one other. We will be starting at one end and working straight to the other end. No joining needed. 

We begin with a simple chain 7 using your main colour. (So either two strands of your DK choice or one of the chunky yarn).

Work 1TR into the 5th chain from the hook and 1TR into each of the next two chains. 

Now turn your work to the side (clockwise) and we work straight along last TR. Starting with a Ch3 which counts as your first DC. Work 4 more DC into the TR space. 

Turn, Ch1 and work 1sc into all five DC

This creates your foundation as well as your button hole. 

Now we change to colour two and once more ch3 (counts as first dc) and then dc into the same stitch. (Increase) Then work 1DC into next 3DC and 2DC into the last DC. Turn ch1, work SC in each DC across (you now have 7 DC). 

Note my colours are reversed here but this is just to give you an idea that you are doing it right. You might like to cut your yarn and weave it in after each round for a neater look. I however am too lazy for that and just wound mine up the side. ;-) I was under pressure I tell you to get it finished ASAP!!!! 

Switch back to your main colour and again ch3, work 1DC into same stitch, DC in next 5 Sc, 2DC in last sc. Turn, ch 1 and SC to end (9DC) 

You continue to increase in this manner to desired width. 

Depending on which yarn you are using and how big you want your project you are going to have to use you discretion as to how big you work your increases to and for how many rows. 

For example when I worked the DK yarn I increased to 17 stitches whereas the chunky yarn I only increased to 15 stitches.

When you reach your desired width you now work between 2-4 rows of the same width. eg. 15 stitches of DC and then 15 st of SC back for those rows. A good guide is to hold your work at the side of your mouth. The same st section should cover the whole mouth when finished. Of course it does not have to be exact. As you can see ours differs in size greatly despite the larger one using less stitches. We wanted a bigger mouth guard this time. 

Once our work covers the mouth we begin to decrease. Keeping our colour stripes correct. You simply start with a ch2, work the first half of your next DC and then pull the yarn through both stitches to decrease the 1st stitch. DC to last 2 stitch and DC2Tog. Turn ch1, SC to end. 

Rpt these two rows until your are once again left with 5DC finishing with your row of SC. Now your right side should be facing you. Chain 7

 Work 1TR into 5th Chain from hook

And 1TR into each of the next 2Ch. Join with a slip stitch to last stitch on other side of your 5sc. 

Now you work your edging all the way around. In the case of the chunky yarn. I used SC all around the edges to catch up that loose yarn and hide it. 

Alternatively, you can work SC around the button hole section and ch3, 1SC into the sides of each section. This gives a slightly different look and I used this method with the grey and yellow version at the yarn sat nicer that way. 

Now all you need to do is sew on your buttons and Ta-dah.....your mask is finished. One of the bonus's of making the button holes this way is that you can also use the spaces between the button hole and the end if you want to adjust the size. 

This one is in the button hole. Our button is a little small. 

And here he has moved it along to the last hole. 

And that is all I have for you today. Enjoy. I hope you can understand my waffling! :-)

Take care lovelies. Will try and post how to do the top part on Wednesday. Tomorrow is my crochet charity morning tea. 

Love and Light xoxoxox

Restful Sunday....

Well one can only dream......I just sat down after vacuuming and cleaning up after Miss Sibel who decided of all times while her mama was away for the weekend to knock down a glass of water and smash it, spread her toys and goodness knows what else all over the house, and top it off with a pile of chuck up! Errrghhhh!!!! At this rate I am thinking I might start charging baby sitting fee's for this one. She is no easy baby. LOL

I am battling with a head cold this weekend so not a whole lot of crafting going on. The knitting bug is upon me but I am reluctant to pick up my knitting as I had a few set backs last week and would rather do it without the fuzzy head. I have however been crocheting some little goodies for a charity run I organised for the local hospital.

I am getting together on Tuesday with some friends for a crochet/knitting morning tea and have been looking for quick and easy projects for everyone to do so we can donate them to the hospital charity shop to sell.

I pulled out a few unfinished projects from my stash too and added them to the mix and also put out a call among some crochet friends and there are some lovely toys on the way in the post. The little hats are really quick to whip up, I have been making them in varying sizes.

Now I am off to drink my coffee and go out into the garden for a bit. Take care. Love and Light to all xoxox

Trend Setters - Part Two

Hello my lovely friends, how are you today? The weekend is fast creeping up upon us and I have not had time for updating the blog. I have been rather busy whipping up little goodies for a good cause though. Will tell you more about that in my next post. For now I shall give you part two of our sneaky project. By now you should have something that looks a bit like this....

You can end off your work as we will be starting in a different spot now using the same colour. Using the back seam as the centre. You will need to count stitches to either side and place markers accordingly. 

If you are using the DK yarn in two strands you need to count 19 stitches each side. (38 stitches) 

If you are using the Chunky yarn, count only 18 stitches either side. (36 stitches)

With right side facing you. Join in your yarn and beginning with a chain 3, for your first stitch work in DC across to your other marker. If you don't have markers just remember to count your stitches. 

Turn and rpt this row 3 more times. You should have four rows. Do not end off. Now we are going to work an edging around the whole thing in HDC. So starting just where you left off Work 2HDC into the corner as you turn the work and then 1HDC all the way around to the other side where you work 3HDC in the other corner. (No need for corners around the face part, just keep working 1HDC in each stitch and it gives it a nice curve). When you get back to where you started. Work 1HDC into the corner st again and then slip stitch to the first st and end off. This gives the corner a nice neat edge. 

The bottom of your work should look like this.....

I would give you more today, however I have a little tidying to do......someone decided I needed a little help with this project ..... creative little bunny that she is.....

Of course if this had been a knitting project I may have panicked right about now.. but being crochet... I could not help but giggle and run for the camera.

Ahem... "What ARE you doing Chelsea?" 

"I Helping!"

Really? 

" Yeah! I playing da your sticks! See. Hehe!"

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Love and Light to you xoxoxox

Trend setters - Roman Style

After much deliberation among friends about whether I should write up a pattern for "that" hat I showed you all yesterday, I have decided to share with you what I did a bit at a time and perhaps give you a different choice in some areas too. I was a little concerned about getting accused of copying someone else's design. However, after much research and close inspection of enlarged pictures of a similar pattern, I noted that mine is different after all so it should be ok. That said, I have also decided to have a little fun with it and give out the pattern in parts as I make another one. A bit like a mystery project except those that were paying attention will already know what we are making.

So for those of you who wanted it, I advise that you grab a pen and paper and keep in tune for the clues. I will be making another version along with you.

Before you start you will need either ....

a 6mm hook and some bulky yarn (12ply) in two colours  (I am using Sean Sheep  filo grande acrylic, yes acrylic, don't faint but it was the only chunky yarn I could find ok? LOL and my previous choice was a bit alpacary so annoying to the boys nose)

OR

a 5mm hook and two strands of DK (8ply) yarn used together again in two colours.

OR

as this fits my teenage son who is quite big and if your would like yours to be smaller maybe try using one strand of 10ply yarn with a 4 or 5mm hook.

If you are feeling adventurous I also urge you to buy some bright red yarn as well as I will be using that in my project this time too. For that little something extra.

* US terms will be used throughout


Instructions Day One:

Using main colour make a magic loop OR ch4 and join with a slip stitch.

1:   Ch3, (counts as 1st dc in each round), work 11dc into loop. Join with ss to top of ch3  (12dc)

2:   Ch3,  work 1dc into same st, 2dc in each dc around  (24 dc)

3:   Ch3, work 1dc into same st, 1dc in next * 2dc in next dc, 1 dc in next dc  *rpt to end join with a ss (36dc)

4:   Ch3, work 1dc into same st, 1dc in next 2 dc *2dc in next dc, 1dc in next 2dc *rpt to end join with a ss (48dc)

5:   Ch3, work 1dc into same st, 1dc in next 3 dc *2dc in next dc, 1dc into next 3dc * rpt to end, join with a ss (60dc)

6:   Ch3, work 1dc into same st, 1dc in next 4dc *2dc in next dc, 1dc into next 4dc * rpt to end, join with a ss. (72dc)

7-12:  Ch3,  work 1dc in each st around.


That should keep you busy for a bit.  Have fun....

Love and Light xoxoxox

*If using the chunky yarn you might need to omit row 6 if your work is too big. I have found that it is working one row bigger than doubling up the dk in alpaca. Different yarns may have different effects though so just measure it on the top of someones head to give you an idea of what width will suit you best. Remember there is no right or wrong size, its all part of the fun. 

Oh my, we have started a new trend...

He sat next to me on Wednesday while I was looking at a post on a friends fb page when he leaned over and said, you will have to make me that. I will need it by Friday thanks. 

 No pattern, no amount of searching could turn one up so I looked at it and made a start and this is what we came up with. 

Now of course his friends NEED one too. And he would like one in other colours. This colour was all I had that I deemed suitable. Hmmm I think I will need to go yarn shopping. We are thinking of tweaking it a bit as well and adding some plumes! Ancient Rome is our next trip into history. Can you tell? A nice red plume might work for that. Just for something different, you know? 

Have a wonderful weekend lovelies. 

Love and Light xoxox

Sparkles......

Take a little vintage pattern and some bargain wool purchased for the grand old price of $1 for two balls from an Op-Shop and what do you get? 

Sparkles my friends, you get sparkles!!!! So named because this yarn has some sparkly bits through it that look so pretty when the sun hits them.  Not that you can really see it in the pictures here, you will just have to trust me on this one. ;-) 

The pattern is from Patons Royal Babies booklet which is full of lovely patterns for baby. I think I shall be making a few more from this publication. Very easy to follow patterns and very sweet. 

The yarn used is Craftworks Baby Yarn (with a sparkle of love) in 4ply, knitted on 3.25mm needles. I added the little leaf shaped heart buttons as they also have a bit of a sparkle to them and finish the little cardigan off nicely. 

I enjoyed knitting this one despite the repeated efforts of Miss Sibel the kitten to rip it off the needles. The yarn was nice to knit with, however the sparkle parts did tend to snag on the fine needles. It was also quite hard to pick up the stitches around the neck because of this. (There was not enough give in the yarn). The overall effect though is really nice. As you can probably tell, I did not block it before sewing. It would probably benefit from this process but well.........you know me by now. LOL Its going to get washed and spring back anyway. 

One of my girls has already claimed this one. She wants me to keep it for when she has a baby. We are getting quite the stash of "keepers" in this house and yet no grandchildren on the horizon as far as I can see. Hmmmmmmm.

Have a Beautiful week all. 

Love and Light xoxoxox

On and Off again.......

My week between sick children and sick me has looked a lot like this........

A little magazine hopping and finding more to do patterns. Catching up on unfinished projects. Yes that is a bag under there awaiting a little embellishment before I reveal it in full.

And then I made a swatch....shock horror..... I had to as I really needed to check the hook size this time and yep it was worth it......

I believe its called the Chevron Cardigan, I will post more on this later...... outdated picture I am already onto the body part. Its very easy to hook and has become my handbag project for now.

And now for the on again off again part.  This little lovely has been "off" the needles several times with the help of Miss Sibel the kitten. I very nearly frogged it but decided to patiently sit and pick up and give it one more go. Glad I did as so far its coming along nicely as you can see by the picture at the top of the page. A simple lace pattern but very pleasing to the eye....

And then there is this........hmmmmm.....errrr....arghhhhh..... I think I will be ripping this one out unless I write my own pattern from here on....Its a drops pattern and while this part was easy...the rest of the pattern is ridiculous and I won't share it as maybe others would  not think so. Personally I found the method not only hard to follow (although with a bit of deciphering I could probably do it) but the whole putting the sleeve aside whilst it is still on a set of four needles was the limit. Who does that? Sounds like a lot of un necessary hard work. So yeah I think its back to the drawing board for this lovely yarn.......

That said, whinge over and despite the icky pattern. I am quite loving the loose knitted feel of these larger bamboo needles. (No they were not in the pattern LOL) Its something different you know? Hmmm maybe I will make something up.

I forgot to show you the little flower broach I made for Chelsea's dress... Here it is....

Now I must away and wake up my lazy student. The rest of the household are up and off and doing their thing while Mr lazy snores away.

Have a wonderful week all.

Love and Light xoxox

Oh Murano......

You are so so beautiful. Why do you have to be so ITCHY???????

I was so excited when I saw my favourite Aussie Yarn store, Bendigo Woollen Mills was finally selling some yarn in colours that were right up my ally. I have so far loved every single ball of yarn or cotton that I have purchased. Especially the fact that the yarn comes in a continuous 200gram ball with no joins. It is generally also lovely and soft. As you all remember I could not wait to try out this new yarn and quickly chose a simple pattern so I could test the see how the colours came out. 

When I first looked at the yarn it reminded me of Sean Sheep yarn a bit. It is spun very loosely and I was a little concerned about it breaking. It was however much stronger than it looked and knitted up really well. I did find a join knot in the middle of the first ball which was disappointing. I was not terribly concerned though and undid it and blended it in. 

When I started to sew the cardigan together though, the action of pulling the yarn through over and over did end up with it constantly breaking. :-( It was a bit of a chore to say the least. While I was tempted to use a different yarn, I did not want the stitches to show so I ended up cutting small lengths and doing it a bit at a time. 

And I managed to finish it and quickly tried it on and then went OH NO! It was so so itchy! I thought at first it was just me so went and got my daughter to put it on so I could take pictures. She did not love it all.........Can you tell by that expression? Just hurry up mum! LOL 

On the upside. The colours are amazing! This whole project took only 2 1/2 balls of yarn to finish it. 

On the down side. At this stage, no-one wants to wear it. Its too itchy. I have to admit that I was rather excited that I still had 1 1/2 balls left and I could knit my nephew a little sweater too. I won't be doing that unless I can work out how to soften it first. (I have come across a few suggestions of using vinegar and or shampoo and conditioner. I think I might consult the experts first though as I have never tried either before on yarn). 

I found the pattern in Creative Knitting Magazine, Issue 9 Autumn/Winter 2009. It is called High Button Cardigan and I chose it as I thought it would give me a good look at the colours as I said. It was quick and easy to knit, and the pattern really easy to follow. I really have to laugh at the choice of name though. There are NO button holes in this pattern and although my instinct told me to put them in myself, I was a bit under the weather this week and ended up just following the pattern. Their idea of poking the buttons through the holes in the yarn is NOT going to work.  

I am yet undecided on whether to add press studs and use these mis-matched buttons or use some tiny buttons which may or may not fit through the tiny holes in my garter stitch. Or perhaps I could put some wooden toggles on instead. 

At this stage I am doing nothing until I see if it softens or not. I hope so as I still have another six balls to play with now don't I? 

And now for those of you who are thinking "thats not like her, following the pattern all the way" well I am not so sure that I did. I have a feeling that this cardigan is supposed to be sewn together inside out. I could not tell from the picture in the magazine as the colour was so dark but reading the pattern the right side is the side with all the garter stitches showing. I preferred it this way though, it looks much neater and I like the way the stitches stand out. 

Wish me luck my lovelies. Heres hoping I can soften this baby! I really do like the colours so much. 

Love and Light xoxoxoxox