crochet – not your average crochet

crochet clamshell blanket: begin!

April 7, 2015 by HannahOwens 13 Comments

Finally, something crochet to share with you! I’ve started a blanket using the clamshell tutorial from Cherry Hart (click here for free pattern). This has been on the to-do list literally for years!

So far, so good. I changed a couple things in the pattern: I did a foundation sc rather than a chain and row of sc, and I’m using a different stitch when the pattern says to ch 3 at the beginning of a row, just to make it look neater. The pattern is not hard to memorize and is easy to work.

Here’s the color palette I’m working with:

It’s KnitPicks’ Brava Sport yarn, which is really soft. I think the dark purple will be for a border.

Well that’s all for now. There’ll be an update soon! Thanks for stopping by!

Filed Under: crochet Tagged With: baby, blanket, clamshell, crafts, crochet

top 4 yarns of winter ’14/’15

March 17, 2015 by HannahOwens 9 Comments

There are a few wooly faves for this past season, and since the last day of winter is in 2 days I thought it’d be a good time to share what I very happily used. In no particular order, my top 4 are as follows:

KnitPicks Hawthorne Fingering in Ladds Addition colorway:

This yarn is absolutely gorgeous (both the colors themselves and the way it made a pretty zigzag pattern in my Gentille cowl). Soft to work with and wear next to the skin. It is a fingering weight/4 ply yarn made up of 80% wool, 20% nylon and comes in skeins of 357 yds/100 g. Pick it up from KnitPicks for a really good price.

DyeForYarn Fingering Merino/Babycamel in Dyeing Rose colorway:

This super-soft fingering single ply yarn is made of 55% merino, 45% camel and comes in skeins of 525 yds/100 g. I’d say it’s really more of a light fingering. Very strong for a single ply yarn! It made a great Phoenicia crescent shawl (and a Plume beanie from last year), and while this colorway is no longer available you can pick up a gorgeous array of colorways at the DyeForWool Etsy shop.

Berroco Vintage in 5176 colorway (a heathery autumn orange):

The Gothic Lace Cowl I made was pretty quick to work up using this worsted weight 10 ply yarn. Made up of 50% acrylic, 40% wool, and 10% nylon, it is soft enough to wear against the skin and can be washed in a machine (if you want to slightly felt your work it will do so if you use hot water and put it in the dryer, too — this is an advantage when you make blankets that dog claws might snag and you want to avoid that problem). It comes in skeins of 217 yds/100 g. This was purchased at a yarn store in North Carolina.

Malabrigo Yarn Arroyo in Coffee Toffee colorway:

These Nara mitts were made in 2013 but I’ve made something with the leftovers this winter that will be posted next week. Made of 100% merino, this sport weight 5 ply yarn is very soft and comes in skeins of 335 yds/100 g. The Coffee Toffee colorway is hard to capture properly in photos — it’s a purplish brown with a hand dyed look and is very beautiful! I purchased this also at a yarn shop in North Carolina.

So that’s it, my top 4 yarns of this winter! I’d recommend them all. All beautiful, all soft, all fun to work with! Thanks so much for stopping by, see you soon!

Filed Under: announcements Tagged With: crafts, crochet, knitting, winer, yarn

top 5 iOS apps for knitters & crocheters

March 14, 2015 by HannahOwens 11 Comments

Even aside from craft store apps that give you coupons, there are tons of apps out there for knitters and crocheters. These are my personal favorites.

Knit: a row/stitch counter that can keep up with multiple projects at once. The developer doesn’t speak English that well, but the cuteness of the app makes up for that.

Wooly: If Ravelry had developed an app, it would be like this. You can add projects, add stash items, and queue patterns, you can add photos (which is great if you’ve experienced the frustration of trying to add photos to Ravelry on a mobile device), check your messages, and more. Super handy.

YarnPro: Like a reference book in your pocket, and this screenshot says it all (or almost — I should add you can customize the units of measurement):

Granny Square (by Simply Crochet): Free granny square patterns! A variety to choose from.

Raglanify: Haven’t acually used this yet, but it will generate a custom raglan sweater pattern for you if you imput your desired measurements, gauge, etc. It thinks of everything!