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segunda-feira, 5 de dezembro de 2011

Crochet purse handles tutorial

Hello my friends!

Some of you may know I have a Pinterest profile--it's hard not to get addicted to that place! I've discovered so many gorgeous things to craft, so many talented people... but above all, I've been creating a sort of "box of favourite crafts" I can get back to when I get the time and the opportunity to try something new.

On my dwellings I found this image of crochet purse handles, and a link to the blog with the tutorial.

The blog is Roberta Crochet & Cia and the tutorial is written in Portuguese... so when I saw someone asking for a translation (sorry, I can't find the original request!) I offered to do so.

Here's my translation, hope it's clear enough (it really is very simple!)

Crochet purse handles

Step 1

Make a chain 140 stitches long (approximately 90 cm long) and make 4 rows of sc (single crochet). Slip stitch the top and bottom rows together to form a tube. Join both ends of the tube, to form a circle. Reinforce these stitches to make sure they don’t come apart.

Step 2

Make a chain 35 stitches long (approximately 20cm) and make 8 rows of sc. Form a roll around the tube you made in step 1 and slip stitch it together, top and bottom row of your crochet strip.

Step 3

Chain 3;

Row 1: 3 sc;

Row 2: 4 sc;

Row 3: 5 sc;

Rows 4 to 16: 6 sc;

Row 17: 5 sc;

Row 18: 4 sc;

Row 19: 3 sc;

You can make it wider or longer if you’d like; work with crab stitch or single crochet around it to finish off . Make 2 to secure the purse handles onto the purse itself.

Please refer to Roberta's blog to see all images, I only added one for each step here but she has a step by step tutorial with more images. Thank you Roberta, for your very clear tutorial!

Hope this is useful!

Have a wonderful week :)

xxxxx

sexta-feira, 2 de setembro de 2011

Slanted edging, anyone...?

I always feel flattered when someone asks how I made something in crochet--you know, I'm a self taught crochetter and knitter because I'm lefthanded and back when I was a child eager to learn (and most people thought using the left hand was not polite) nobody knew how to teach me otherwise.

So I'd position myself in front of the other person working and tried to copy their work from the reverse side--your right is actually my wrong!--and in the end it would come out exactly the same.

When MeMe Rose asked how this edging was done I thought it was a good opportunity to help out! Everybody comes up with such gorgeous projects, I'm glad my simple ones can be of use and inspiration :)

I'm sorry if I don't use the right terms, aside from being lefthanded I'm still a bit at a loss with the terminology in English :) so I'll try to show you instead...

This was the itty bitty sample I made for the baby blanket tutorial--ripped the last row appart and made a single row of short stitch instead.

With a different color yarn to make it stand out more, I attached it to the corner stitch and made 3 chains (you can either use a different color or just continue with the one you're working with)

...then skip 2 or 3 stitches (depending on how flat or frilly you want it to be... I find myself using 3 stitch intervals most of the time, alternating with 2 stitches whenever I feel it's becoming too taut) and make a double stitch. You get a triangular shape and you'll be using this double stitch as the basis for the little sideways square on the edge.

Make 3 more chains and crochet 3 double crochets on the slanted one. There's your first slanted square...

When you finish it you'll be making another one that is going to attach 2 or 3 stitches further, creating another triangle union. See?

Keep going all the way to the end of this side--to the corner stitch again. You may find you don't have the right amount of stitches (I do, as I'm not one to follow patterns too closely!) so then just ajust the distance by increasing or decreasing a stitch between the "legs" of the triangle.

Now the corner...I've tried this several ways, but the one that seems to work best for me is to make a small skip (just 2 stitches) before and after the corner, and just work exactly the same way you've been doing, as if it were round.

It looks roundish here, see? But then the sample is merely 5inches long so it's difficult to get very square... And you can see the back side of the cushion with the same edging.

Just keep working, all the way around (looking a bit pointier here...)

Until you reach the end of the road and poke into the last / first hole of the border. You want this to look perfect, right?

So here's how I do it--it doesn't mean you can't join differently, but this worked out perfectly for me.

I just make the 3 chains (that correspond to the 1st double stitch) and 2 double stitches instead of 3, and bind on that little corner up there so that this first "leg" of the edging triangle makes up for the missing double stitch.

There you go... all set to bind off and tuck in the tails!

Now... that was easy enough, wasn't it? Please let me know if this helped at all... and if you have trouble understanding my very unprofessional instructions, please yell out!

Have a wonderful weekend (it's going to be a rainy one here, it seems...)

xxx

terça-feira, 14 de junho de 2011

Baby blanket tutorial

Well, my dear ladies, you asked for it so here it is! Please let me know if you find anything unclear, ok?

These were the 2 colors I used, white and an almost lavender pink and a size 3 crochet hook (sorry, I don't know what this translates into your sizes).

It's 100% cotton, Mississippi Tex by Katia--I don't know if you can find it where you are but I'm sure you can find a lovely cotton yarn that will produce the same results.

Off we go!

Make a chain as long as the width you want your blanket to be. The finished size of mine is about 50cm x 70cm, so I made a chain of 140 and made 64 clusters of 2 double stitches.

Now what's that?!

That means I turned around after I made the chain and stuck the hook in the 4th chain, to make a double stitch.

Then one chain and a cluster: stick the hook in the next chain, pull the thread once, twice, and leave the other 2 loops in the hook. Stick the hook in the next chain, pull the thread up again, one, twice, and all 3 loops together at last. That means the 2 double stitches will be joined together at the top, forming a cluster of 2.

*Cluster of 2, chain, cluster of 2, chain**...repeat from * to ** for as long as you want it to be.

Still with me?

Good, then all you have to do is repeat this until the end of the chain. As I said above, I made 64 clusters. That means I had a few chains left at the end of the row, but that's ok, you can pull them apart later.

Now that your first row is ready, it's time to join the other color. I used pink because it's for a baby girl, but it looks great in blue and I can imagine it is lovely in aqua too!

So here's what you do at the end of the row: just pull the ball of white through the last loop as if you wanted to bind of, but don't cut it. That way you won't have to tuck in a bunch of little tails when you're done :)

Then attach the pink. Or the blue or acqua or whatever color you chose. Just pull it through the beginning of the row, as you would with the previous color. And then you do a short stitch over each chain of the previous row and a chain over each cluster.

Easy, isn't it?

And at the end of the row. pull the thread through too, so that it doesn't come undone.

Next row: back to the clusters.

Just pick up the white thread wherever it is (either left or right) and work it as it is. It doesn't matter if the pink row goes left to right or right to left. You just work the next row as you would if you didn't have a pink one in between.

Make a cluster over a chain and a chain over a short stitch. Each cluster ends up on top of the one you made before, see?

So now... just keep working! Make it as long as you want--I made 51 rows of white with 50 rows of pink in between.

It's easy and really nice to work on!

When you want to finish, you will work the other way, that is, instead of making clusters you'll be making simple double stitches. I tried it both ways and decided this way looked nicer.

Sorry this only has 3 rows of white but I was running out of yarn and needed to show you the border!

So now you're ready for the border. That's really easy too! Just like you did for the pink row: one short stitch, one chain, repeat until the end of the row.

That's very easy, right? The only tricky part is in the corner: you make a short stitch, a chain and another short stitch in the same hole to turn around. Then you make the side of the blanket. I made 2 short stitches separated by a chain per set of 2 rows (white and pink), that was the way it worked best for me. Just keep at it until you have made a full round.

"Jump" up to the next row. Just make a short stitch over a chain and a chain over a short stitch... and always a short stitch, chain and short stitch for a corner.

3 rows done, this is what it looks like. I made 4 on my baby blanket.

Finally, the last row. It's just like the previous ones.

But now you're going to do a little variation. *One short stitch, one chain, one short stitch. Then 3 chains, attach to the short stitch to form a picot**, that little loop you see, over the next short stitch. Then back to * and repeat to ** until you've done the entire row.

Bind off... you're done! And as you can see, no "icky" nasty little loose ends to tuck in except for the last one...

And it looks just as nice from the back side as it does from the right side.

I really hope I was clear enough--but if you have any questions, just let me know!

And let me know if you've started something with this pattern :) baby blankets are so nice to make! Have fun and have a great week :)

xxx

Oh, I almost forgot! The flower... is just a variation of a Japanese flower, with 8 petals :)

terça-feira, 24 de maio de 2011

A new WIP and a small tutorial

One of my nurses is pregnant, a baby girl on the way... so I decided to make her a little baby blanket (those girls most certainly deserve it! They are always so sweet and caring...)

In pink and white, of course...

...and a lovely soft cotton thread because she will be born in August and that is a very hot month around here!

About a quarter of it is ready, it's so easy to make and will be ready soon!

In the mean time, as some of you have asked for a tutorial on this stitch, here it is (you'll see how easy it is!)

Most of the effect on this comes from the variegated yarn but it will look good too if you use single colour yarn. In fact, as I was making a small sample I thought it would be a great stitch for a baby blanket too, if you make it in a soft yarn instead of mercerized cotton as I used in my bag.

Here's a tentative description for it.

For starters you have to make a chain as long as you would like, multiples of 4 stitches plus 1 or 3 (3 may be better but I used only 1 in my tutorial). Then make 3 rows of short stitch as a basis for the work. Remember, my tutorial won't be exactly as my bag because I was working in the round (not turning it around at the end of each row) so all stitches are facing the same way. That will account for a slight difference but I don't think it's too important as the final result is similar.

After the first 3 rows in short stitch you'll start the pattern itself.

Make a *double stitch on the first short stitch; for the next one insert the needle 2 rows below in order to create that "pulled thread look" making a "long double stitch"; another double stitch; chain one**. Repeat from * to ** to the end of the row.

The next row is all made in short stitches.

Then switch colors (or you could use the same, the effect will be less visible but it will be a more textured effect).

As you start, keep in mind that you'll be making a long stitch over the "holes", that is, on the spaces where you have made a chain previously. So you'll be setting off the pattern by 2 stitches--start by making a *double stitch, chain, double stitch, long double stitch, double stitch** and then repeat the pattern.

Confused yet? I hope not :( Now in pictures...

The base 3 rows of short stitch are done, and then starting the pattern itself: double stitch, "long double stitch" inserted 2 rows below, double stitch, chain, repeat...

When you finish that row, make a new row of short stitches

Switch colours again and offset the pattern so that the long double stitch ends up on top of the chain stitch 2 rows below: start with one double stitch, chain, double stitch, long double stitch, double stitch, repeat. Make sure you don't pull the thread too tight so that it doesn't "crumple" and stays flat.

And again changing colours (this is optional...)

And this is what it should look like in the end!

Sorry about the poor quality of the photos, my cell phone really does not cooperate sometimes!

But I hope I was clear enough in this tutorial--it's the first I've made so please forgive me if it's not too good. Let me know if you have any trouble and I'll try to straighten it up :)