fix that ugly turning chain!

March 29, 2013 by 4 Comments

Ever been doing rows of double crochet and been aggravated that the turning chains leave a bit of a space?  Well, no more!  Check out this video:

I have a feeling one of you introduced me to this video but I don’t remember who it was — I beg your pardon!  I just wanted to share this brilliant idea.  I have a feeling the same technique could be applied to half-double crochet as well, and maybe even single crochet… I’d have to mess with it but it sounds possible.  (I’m using US terms here, btw).  I hope that’s a helpful tip for you — I’ll certainly be using this method from now on!  It would probably work when crocheting circular rounds as well, like hats.  Those chains always bother me and there’s always a “back” to my double crochet hats.

Also in crochet news, Deramores has the “Lucy Pack” of Stylecraft Special DK back in stock.  I was initially very excited, since I am wanting to do another crochet afghan/blanket with this yarn, but in the absence of the pack being available I kind of lined up my own color scheme.  It was similar to the “Lucy Pack” but left out a couple of colors and added some others.  The pack does save a bit of money compared to buying the skeins separately, though, and even though it might not be much, since I’m short on cash it’s worth some consideration.  Basically I don’t know what I’m going to buy, if I can even afford to buy yarn for an afghan at all.  I’m almost out of scraps, and I’m getting frustrated with the lack of things to crochet.  I have a couple of knitting WIPs but I think I’ll always want to have a crochet project on hand too.

Thanks for stopping by!  I’ve got TONS more to post about but I’m trying really hard to space out my posts by at least 2 or 3 days, both to keep from annoying you and to keep from running out of things to talk about.  Also, have a happy Easter!

Filed Under: crochet Tagged With: , ,

Easter and gifts

March 21, 2013 by 11 Comments

My dad just got back from a trip to England and Scotland, and he brought me back a couple of things I want to share with you.  First, this t-shirt:

elephanthouseThat’s the logo on the front for a cafe in Edinburgh called The Elephant House.  The back says “The Elephant House: Birthplace of Harry Potter.”  JKR started writing the first books in that cafe.  I ate there last time I was in Edinburgh (and it was delicious) but neglected to purchase a souvenir t-shirt, so my dad got me one.  I love it!  He also got me a knitting book:

easterknitsbookI’ve never been one for Easter decorations but I couldn’t help loving these patterns.  They could actually be considered decorations for any season, depending on the colors used.  I just love all the pretty balls and eggs:

easterknitseggtreeSuper cute!  Here’s a closeup of the tulip egg:

easterknitseggI want to make one so badly, but I’m afraid my knitting skills might not be quite up to it yet — tiny double point needles and changing colors combined sounds like a recipe for disaster.  I thought about adapting the charts to make some crochet eggs instead, but if you’ve ever tried crochet intarsia (changing the colors to make a pattern or picture) in the round you’ll know that everything slants a bit to the right.  A crocheted egg made to look like the tulip one above would just look like wind was bowling the tulips over.  Looks like I’ll have to beast out some knitting and at least try it.  I just need some tiny needles and yarn…  KnitPicks, here I come!

Wasn’t that sweet of my dad though, to think of me on his trip?  And he’s not the only one who’s been sweet.  I never mentioned a certain gift I received for Christmas from my friend Lauren.  She and her husband actually got me quite a few really awesome things, but I wanted to share this bowl with you:

laurensbowlLauren made it herself!  She’s been doing pottery for a few months now, I believe, and this handmade bowl she gave me is perfect for holding my crochet/knitting notions!  It’s nice because I don’t have to rummage through my pencil case looking for the needles at the bottom anymore (I wasn’t comfortable with leaving them out on the table or sofa arm, because my dog ate a sewing needle a couple of years ago and getting it out of her tummy was a horrendous and expensive experience).  The bowl is gorgeous and I’m really happy.

Big thank yous to Lauren and my Dad!  And thank YOU for stopping by my blog today!

[EDIT]: If you’re not enraged about the Steubenville rape, sentence, and media coverage, or if you haven’t heard about it at all, read this and this, please.  If these words, pictures, and videos upset you, please speak out in some way.

Filed Under: crochet, knitting Tagged With: , , , , ,

crocheting from leftovers

March 15, 2013 by 13 Comments

I love using leftovers because it makes me feel like I’m being economical.  The past 3 days I’ve been making this baby blanket out of leftover Stylecraft DK:

babygrannyI used the join-as-you-go method for the squares, since I hate sewing/crocheting them together at the end (although it does look neater).

babygrannycloseHere’s pictures of the border and corner:

babygrannyedge

babygrannycornerAnd no, these were not taken at my house.  My internship has better light and I only saw 1 person today so I had plenty of time.

And guess what?  The cluster stitch, which I recently made a tutorial on, made an appearance (although I clustered 2 instead of 3 stitches together):

babygrannyjoinMuch the best way of joining granny squares at their corners — keeps the border from becoming ruffle-y.

It felt good to be crocheting something again afters such a long break.  I am sorry it’s been so long since I’ve shown you a crocheted item.  Very shameful for a blog called “not your average crochet.”

The baby blanket is kind of small, though… It’ll have to be for a newborn or something.  I just ran out of yarn for some of my colors and I couldn’t put the blanket’s colors into imbalance by continuing further.  I dunno.  Maybe I could use it for something else?  I mean it’s not like I know any babies, or any friends who are about to have babies.  I don’t know what else I’d use it for, though.  My dog does not get such nice things because she unwittingly tears up yarny things with her claws.  *sigh*  The blanket might just stay stowed away until someone I know has a baby.  I could donate it, I suppose.  We’ll have to see.

Well, that’s all for now, thanks for stopping by!

[Edit]:  Btw, did you know that Deramores isn’t stocking the Lucy Pack?  I looked to get another one and it’s gone.  I’ve emailed them to see if they might be getting it back.  I don’t know where else to get one. 😦

Filed Under: crochet Tagged With: , , ,

2 more stitch tutorials up, plus other stuff

March 12, 2013 by 15 Comments

I’m pleased to introduce two more stitch tutorials!  Please welcome the cluster stitch and the pineapple stitch to the crochet tutorial family!

cluster stitch

cluster stitch

pineapple stitch

pineapple stitch

I hope you like them!  If you have any questions feel free to ask!  Now on to the other stuff…

I took a trip to my local yarn shop today, seeing as how it’s been a really long time since I’ve been and I always love buying yarn (who doesn’t?).  After perusing their usual wares for some time, I realized that I was finding all of their usual prices to be really high.  I suppose it’s because my most recent yarn purchases have been such good online deals that I’m finding the store’s prices so exorbitant.  I’ve always preferred buying from the LYS because I want to support the local business and I really like feeling the yarn before I buy it, and the only reason I started buying online is because the LYS has a rather limited and unchanging selection.  So now I’m thinking that I’m probably going to take most of my business to the Internet because there’s more yarny variety and it’s so much cheaper, but I can’t help feeling a twinge of guilt, abandoning the LYS like that.

What do you prefer?  Do you have a nice yarn store near you that you prefer, or do you purchase your necessities online?  Perhaps a combination of both?  I’m interested to see how many people in the current day and age buy online versus in-store.

Thanks for stopping by!

Filed Under: crochet Tagged With: , , ,

3 new textured stitch tutorials up!

March 8, 2013 by 12 Comments

I asked, you told me, I listened!  Here are new tutorials for the bobble stitch, the popcorn stitch, and the puff stitch!

bobble stitch

bobble stitch

popcorn stitch

popcorn stitch

puff stitch

puff stitch

I’ve got two more textured stitches that I am going to make tutorials for, as well: the bullion stitch and the cluster stitch.  Hopefully I’ll get those photographed and written out soon, but I must say it might be a few days.  I’ve got a really long take-home test to do, some studying for a national counselor certification exam, and I’m hanging with my mom tomorrow and having a dim sum day on Sunday.  Of course, it may be tomorrow, or even later tonight — you know how I love to procrastinate and do yarny things instead!  After the next two textured stitches, I do have more stitch ideas to add, as well.

I also realized that some of my knitting tutorials had somehow gotten their pictures all mixed/messed up (probably when I merged my knitting blog with this one), and I’ve fixed those.  I apologize if you’ve looked and been confused — they should make much more sense now!

Thank you for letting me know what you wanted to see!  I enjoy making these tutorials.  Also, thanks for stopping by, and let me know if you have any questions or things I need to fix!

Filed Under: crochet Tagged With: , , ,
«Previous Page
Next Page»