Darkness too has its place
Posted on: 17 March 2024
- In: Vests
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On Sunday, 25 Feb, I’d finished my “at home” project and went looking for what spoke to me for the next project. I kept pulling out the gray, black, and dark purple yarns, which is unlike my usual palette of bright colors, except maybe for stripes. In particular, some handspun in a colorway named “Layers of Darkness” looked like it would work with some other hand-dyed yarn in a blue-gray that was also not characteristic of most of that dyer’s yarns. Knowing that wouldn’t be enough for a 36” vest, I also pulled out some other dark handspun, as well as some other yarns that might work with those.
Side 1
Side 2 with flash – true colors are somewhere in between
Two days later, on Tuesday, I got an email that a close family friend who was also my pastor when I was in college and who’d preached at both my parents’ memorial services had died – on Sunday. Then I understood why I was working with those colors – the resulting vest is my tribute to him and an expression of my grief…
He’d have been pleased to know the vest was sent to Wool-Aid, to be distributed to a displaced teen in need of warmth and comfort. When have you found yourself realizing what your creativity was showing you?
Searchin’ for a Heart of Gold
Posted on: 28 February 2024
- In: Hats
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What a perfect project for addressing two needs!
- A February “hearts” theme in the Wool-Aid group on Ravelry
- A focus on mosaic crochet in my fiber arts study group
Searching for suitable patterns available on Ravelry, I found “The Head of Hearts” pattern by Cathy Wood, featuring heart motifs worked in mosaic crochet. This pattern is worked from the bottom up, which is not my favorite method, especially knowing my stitch and row gauge rarely match that of pattern-writers. This pattern in particular called for using an F (4mm) hook with Aran weight yarn, which would be positively painful unless one is a very loose crocheter. In addition, its circumference of 58 single crochet stitches would not fit most adults (or even teens), even with a larger hook.
Nevertheless, I scrupulously followed the pattern and charts using hook sizes better suited to the yarn weight. The resulting hat turned out lovely, as seen in these views of the front and side, the motifs clear and well-proportioned for the hat size.
However, as I suspected from my previous experience, it came out quite small. I also really didn’t like the gap left at the top that required lots of shenanigans to close up!
So what to do? Why, re-engineer the pattern to be top down with enough stitches for an adult head, of course! And use the inverse color scheme, just to make it distinct.
I started with 10 half double crochet (HDC) stitches in a magic loop, increasing 10 stitches per round (doing HDC in the back bar) until there were 60 stitches, then increasing 6 more in the next round for a total of 66 HDC stitches. This is the typical start for my favorite top-down hat pattern, so I know how big a hat it will make.
Then, rather than inverting the chart, I just turned the first hat upside down and followed the motif stitch counts from looking at it, adding extra stitches in the “brick” motif on either side of the “seam” where the rounds are joined. After completing the heart motifs, I did an additional set of brick motifs and a round of single crochet in the back loop only (SCBLO) in the main color. That added enough length to be proportional to the larger circumference. I added the SCBLO “ribbing”, using the attachment method I’d learned from my favorite sweater pattern: slip stitching into two stitches on the last round of the hat at the end of each “rib” before starting the next row of “ribbing”.
As you can see from the views of its front and side, this inversion and expansion turned out well!
Hmm, in looking more closely at the photos, I see I also added an additional row in the heart motifs, improving the proportions of the hearts for this size hat and adding a bit more needed length.
While I probably won’t make this pattern again, I was pleased at being able to successfully modify it to achieve the goals I’d set: wearable hats in mosaic crochet with a heart theme! How have you adapted, adjusted, or innovated when your project didn’t turning out as you’d wanted??
The More Things Change…
Posted on: 1 October 2023
- In: Vests
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I’ve discovered a “Testimonial” I wrote back in October 2017:
“My first steps into charity crocheting were preemie hats (for the “Caps to the Capitol” campaign), then chemo caps (for a local cancer support organization). Those were mostly synthetics or cotton, so I was thrilled to find recipients for wool items, especially (a more recent heart’s call) for Syrian refugees. As the volume of yarn people donate to me has ramped up, I’ve moved to larger items – first vests, then blankets and sweaters. This year I even “designed” my own vest pattern to use some particularly lovely and bright hand-dyed yarns to maximum effect. I’m also part of both local meet-up groups and on-line connections. I’ve come to recognize crocheting as part of my call to healing: for myself, the recipients, and the fiber communities in which I’m involved.”
In these 6 years since, I’ve continued to be drawn even more into crocheting for displaced older children in places where wool items are essential. We’re back full circle with a recent call for items needed by Syrian refugees in Lebanon, through Wool-Aid.
As my previous posts (has it really been that long ago?!?) show, I’ve continued to improvise. I still gravitate to bright hand-dyed yarns and love browsing local yarn shops when I’m traveling, to find unique local yarns as my souvenirs. While I have not returned to local meet-up groups since the start of the COVID pandemic, I sometimes get together with a fiber friend or two and remain active in the on-line Wool-Aid community. And yes, I still find crocheting remains a healing activity in multiple ways.
“But what about the improvised vest you mentioned?” I’m so glad you asked, since I see I haven’t previously shared it. It started with multiple yarns by a favorite indie dyer that all went well together. They weren’t sufficient for a vest on their own and some needed a little “space” from each other, so I knew another “anchor” yarn would be needed. Wanting to keep the special yarns near the face, I started at the neck opening on the front, crocheting a U-shape. Because vest measurements don’t usually provide information on the width of the front between the armholes, I used a vest made from a pattern as a template. Then I crocheted the back yoke to the depth needed for the armholes.
At this point, I’d used up a number of the yarns, so it made sense to start striping in the “filler” yarn. Finally, when I had too little hand-dyed for another stripe, I finished out with that yarn. But wait – the bottom is starting to flair because that yarn is slightly heavier than the hand-dyed yarns. No problem! Switch to a smaller hook to finish, pulling in the bottom slightly to hug the tummy of the recipient. Add a crocheted tie to snug up the neck opening and Voila! a vest!
When have you allowed apparent limitations to spur you to creative solutions? This vest sparkles because of those limited resources and so can your creations!
Turtle Tester
Posted on: 24 August 2023
- In: Toys
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My first venture into being a pattern tester ended on April Fool’s Day, so you be the judge!
A friend with a rather solid reputation as a knitted sock designer suddenly got a yen to crochet, diving into an intense study of using “African Flower” motifs to crochet stuffed animals with all pieces assembled “join-as-you-go.” Then of course the only logical next step was to design her own! So as an intrepid crocheter and good friend, how could I turn down the opportunity to be a tester for her pattern?
Bringing a certain skill at detecting potential ambiguity in writing, I started off, noting all the places that could be misinterpreted or cause confusion. This took effort, since typically I can see what the designer was trying to achieve and thus can fill in any gaps in the instructions. Needless to say, jotting copious notes and providing periodic reports slowed progress considerably. So it was over 2 months later when this cute little darling was finally complete.
The pattern has been published (African Flower Box Turtle: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/african-flower-box-turtle) – and now I need to make a second turtle to see whether any of my suggested updates really did make a difference!
The Joy of Creating
Posted on: 25 November 2022
- In: Vests
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What do you do when a fiber art sale lands 30 skeins of yarn in your stash? When it’s handspun by my favorite local spinner, I immediately start crocheting warm woolly items for Wool-Aid. If my previous enthusings about Wool-Aid haven’t registered, please do check out their website (http://www.wool-aid.org) or the Ravelry group (https://www.ravelry.com/groups/wool-aid). Wool-Aid items are sent for distribution to displaced children where open fires are used for heating and cooking (hence the need for all wool, which self-extinguishes when sparks land on it).
Given that the skeins were each unique – different fiber clubs, different colorways, different sheep breeds, even different yarn weights – I was surprised to observe that multiple skeins fit together perfectly! In fact, four skeins of Aran weight yarn were begging to be a vest, so I dived right in. Each skein flowed effortlessly into the next until I was almost done – and came up a bit too short.
But wait! Holding a DK weight yarn double is about equivalent to Aran weight. What might work? Sure enough, a skein of her DK handspun worked perfectly to anchor the bottom of the vest, a symphony of spring flowers above a bed of redwood chips!
With a 36” chest, this vest will bless an older child with its thick, warm, colorful comfort. The pattern is a crocheted version of the knit “Milo” vest, which (of course) I modified heavily to use my favorite stitch throughout. In the photos, the modeled one shows the front and the other shows the back.
May the yarn you use and the items you create bring you the same deep joy I experienced from this project!
- In: Hats | Sweaters
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What to do? There’s an interesting crocheted cable stitch pattern on a sweater I’m thinking of making for Wool-Aid (http://www.wool-aid.org). Will it meet the guidelines for no holes? I’d rather not crochet an entire sweater only to discover it isn’t suitable after all! And, like many of you, I dislike swatching.
But look! The sweater front starts with the same number of stitches I usually use for a hat! Perhaps there’s a way to test the stitch pattern and still warm someone’s head? Since I also plan to adapt the pattern to work in the round, a hat would let me test out that aspect as well. And so was born …wait for it… The Swatch Cap!
While the resulting hat looks a bit wonky in the photos, it fits great on a head. I was able to confirm that, indeed, there are holes behind the cable crosses that are bigger than would normally be acceptable. However, when the stitches are stretched laterally, such as happens when wearing a hat or sweater, the holes close up completely. Just to be sure, I sent off the hat to Wool-Aid and asked for verification that the stitch pattern would be acceptable. The enthusiastic response endorsing its use was more than enough encouragement to get me started on that sweater!
Then of course I had to modify the sweater pattern as well – yet more improvising. And here’s what resulted!
Evolution of a Project
Posted on: 19 April 2020
- In: Stash | Sweaters
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Sometimes projects don’t turn out the way I’d planned. There’s the challenge: to adapt and modify – and end up with something even better!
I’m getting ahead of myself – let’s go back to the beginning. How did this project evolve?
Start with 11 balls of a lovely multi-stranded, multi-colored wool yarn in a DK weight donated from someone’s destash, which is too thin for a Wool-Aid project.
Start with multi-colored DK weight wool yarn…
Bulk it up by finding 4 skeins (also donated) of solid-color fingering weight wool yarns, each in a color that picks up a different one in the DK yarn, holding the two yarns together to get the right density. Stripes formed by swapping out each solid color!
…add some solid color fingering weight wool yarn…
Not quite enough yards of the fingering weight (and odd numbers of colors are more interesting), so hunt down a fifth coordinating color in the same yarn in the stash of – perfect! – another Wool-Aid Ravelry group member, which she most generously sent for this project.
…add a fifth color…
Start a square seed-stitch blanket, working in the round, changing direction at the end of each round to keep it square, and rotating through the solid colors, swapping colors every two rounds to form stripes.
Finish the first ball of multi-colored yarn, weigh and measure the square – oops, less than 10 inches square, so definitely not enough yarn for the minimum 40-inch square blanket that Wool-Aid needs.
…start a blanket…
Reconsider – what else could be based on a 10-inch square? How about a vest? This square can be the top of the back.
Improvise a pattern, continuing the two-row stripes in the same sequence of colors, aiming for a 30” chest.
…morphed into the back of…
…a vest…
Notice how much yarn is still left and reconsider again. Probably enough yarn to convert the vest to a sweater!
Improvise how to connect sleeves so there’s not too much excess under the arms.
Miscalculate how quickly to decrease on the first sleeve, correct the problem on the second sleeve, dread the thought of undoing all the wet-felt yarn joins where the colors change.
Start crocheting a hat with the yarn as it’s unravelling from the first sleeve, redo that sleeve, and add a funnel neck collar. Voila – a sweater that will colorfully warm a child!
…and grew into a sweater!
Finish the hat, using up every last scrap of the solid color fingering yarns – perfect!
Set aside the rest of the multi-colored yarn for some future “scrap” project.
How are your projects evolving?
- In: Hats | Scarves | Stash | Sweaters
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Wondering what became of all that beautiful hand-dyed handspun yarn in my post two years ago? Wonder no more, as the last of it turned into cowls in time for this summer’s county fair!
Some of my more observant readers will have spotted some of those yarns in sweaters and hats described recently, using my new favorite stitch. A number of the projects also did well at the 2017 county fair, such as this child’s vest from the incredibly luscious Rambouillet skeins.
Its matching hat was one of those listed in that previous post, along with the following items that incorporated one or more of the handspun yarns:
- Polworth Handspun Braid Balaclava
- RamboCorriedale Braid Hat
- Handspun Browns Braid Hat
- Targhee Handspun Sweater
- Sunshiny Day Pullover
- Portuguese Handspun Pullover
- Merino Handspun Pullover
Using a different pattern and combining the last of the Rambouillet with handspun from a different source, the result was this very dense and warm hat.
While all those items were sent to Wool-Aid to warm refugee children, the last two skeins weren’t well-suited for those tough conditions. They were perfect for lovely warm cowls, the first in a luscious blend of Merino and baby camel (maybe with some silk in it) and the second from alpaca. They too did well at the county fair and are a delight to wear.
So am I bereft that all that lovely handspun yarn is now used up? Why, no, because that same spinner donated more handspun to this year’s fiber arts guild sale! This time the spinner very thoughtfully included the labels of the hand-dyed roving from which the yarns were spun.
While I didn’t get the same rock-bottom price on the handspun as I did last time, it still cost way less than I suspect the spinner paid for the roving!
What lovelies have you made recently and who has been blessed by it?
- In: Chemo Caps | Hats | Sweaters
- 3 Comments
Sometimes something comes along that is just so perfect for the need! My new favorite crochet stitch certainly fits that, showing up in a lot of what I’ve been crocheting this year. For me, its perfection is in combining properties important to showing off hand-dyed yarns in dense warm items that stretch to fit a range of sizes. For those following my adventures, you’ll know this means the stitch is exactly what’s needed for anything I make for Wool-Aid!
While I first encountered this stitch in a hat pattern, once I’d found it, it suddenly kept turning up in other patterns, with other names, used in different ways. Things really took off when I found a sweater pattern using the stitch – I even paid for that pattern (something I rarely do) and it’s been worth every cent.
What is this mystery stitch you ask? While it goes by many names and is described in a variety of ways, I think of it as “half-double crochet in the back bar.” That is, work half-double crochet (hdc) stitches into the bar found across the back of the hdc stitch of the row below, instead of working into the top of the stitch.
This stitch works best in the round, pushing the tops of the stitches to the front to make braided-looking stripes and forming a nubbly texture on the back. Changing directions alternates these textures to good effect in large items, such as sweaters, giving an opportunity to stripe yarns that otherwise might not work well together. This is particularly important when I don’t have enough of one yarn (or even two) to finish a sweater. In the past two years, I’ve made 12 sweaters in varying sizes with everything from bulky hand-spun yarns to workhorse worsteds.
The stitch is also well suited to working in spirals, such as in top-down hats, where stripes can be formed by starting multiple spirals that are worked into each other. This is particularly useful when using up scraps of yarn, where each spiral uses yarns held together in combinations that have about the same “weight”. That is, think of fingering weight yarn as a “1”, sport as “2”, DK as “3”, worsted as “4”, Aran as “5”, and bulky as “6”. Then any two yarns held together that add up to the same number as another combination will work to give approximately the same size and thickness of stitches. For example, holding a fingering weight (1) with a worsted (4) works with a sport (2) held with a DK (3), since each combination adds up to 5. This has led to a HUGE collection of hats and balaclavas made for refugee children in cold climates! I’ve also used the same pattern for chemo caps and acrylic hats for local charities.
Yup, that’s a lot of hats! For the balaclavas, the recipients will probably want to wear the braided side inward, as it’s smoother and softer on the face, plus seems to trap warm air better. The others can be worn equally well either side out, with the turned back brim providing the contrasting texture.
What’s your favorite stitch and why? How are you exploring its potential to transform what you make?
Cleaning up with cotton!
Posted on: 6 January 2018
Done! Complete! Mission Accomplished!
What accounts for such excitement? Way back in August 2015, I planned to make a cotton dishcloth and wanted to narrow down the options in my book of 99 patterns. Consulting Ravelry, I found that 26 of those 99 had not yet been added with at least one project and a photo. So as I’ve made dishcloths over the years since then, I have selected from still-missing patterns and then added each one as I finished the corresponding dishcloth. Today, at last, there are now linked projects with photos for every.single.one of the those 99 patterns!
Here are the ones made since setting that goal, roughly in reverse chronological order.
And here are ones I’d already completed before setting the goal.
What goals have you set yourself and which have you finished recently?
Crocheting Creativity 