Sunday 9 August 2009

Besides Lace....

Besides lace while I've not been blogging there's been quite a lot of crocheting, mainly inspired by the Japanese crochet books that are out there, peoples Ravelry projects and Lucy aka Attic24

I've been fiddling on and off for years with crochet but counting was always the problem... anything other than a sample of a stitch would see me get to the end of a row with either too many or not enough chains left to work into!

Anyway I seem to be getting somewhere and enjoying it especially the motif style crochet as it doesn't require you to commit to too much time in one sitting and I have to admit was a godsend earlier this year when things were up in the air... Anyway as there's quite a few photos to show you I'm not going to waffle, if you want to ask questions you can always leave me a message and I'll reply or you can contact me on Ravelry, I'm what else but 'littleberry' on there :o)

There was
Kaban from Rowan 35 worked not in Rowans Summer Tweed but Patons Vintage which gave it a firmer and IMHO more useful fabric for a bag...




Followed by
Ingas Haekelbeutel worked in Anchor Magicline, this colourway is discontinued but manage to score this yarn on Ebay as I'd previously seen a bag done in this colourway and just thought it was stunning...




Next came Meadow Scarf by Robyn Chachula from the premiere issue of the UK magazine Inside Crochet which I worked in Patons Serenity as I already had an odd ball of green & red, so just added the yellow...

I also completed Sambuca by Doris Chan in Rowans Pure Wool DK in 'Spice (034) This was my 1st attempt at 'lacy crochet' and can honestly say it was a pleasurable experience ....



I then got hooked on Hexagons, easier than circles and more interesting than squares and also the join as you go method illustrated by Moonstitches ! If I hadn't have discovered hexagons and this method to join I doubt I would have contemplated starting this let alone complete it... My Hexagon Throw based on the Hexagon-how-to by Attic24

I used 13 colours all of one of which were Patons 100% Cotton DK at £3.95 per 100g (210m) for mercerized cotton is ridiculously cheap and IMHO is the best cotton of its type out there on the market, the other colour used was Rowans Cotton Glace in 'Shoot' and at £3.95 for 50g (115m) you can perhaps understand why I think the Patons is a cheap cotton... Patons IMHO is a very undervalued brand in this country and they really produce superb yarns for a good price...








Last by no means least completed only last week my Kaleidoscope Cushion based on the free hexagon motif Kaleidoscope by Lisa Donald which can also be found in the book Blue Ribbon Afghans from Americas State Fairs

Worked in a mixture of Patons 100% Cotton 4ply again £3.95 for 100g (330m) and Rowan's now discontinued 4ply cotton


Front


If anyone wants more details or to ask questions either leave me a message or contact me on Ravelry.

6 comments:

fleegle said...

You have been busy! I do like the lined bags. I haven't seen them before. And your cardigan is gorgeous! Beautiful crocheted sweaters are a rarity, but yours is very delicate and fits well. Still can't get excited about motif crochet--reminds me too much of my mother-in-law's 50-pound afghans :)

Soo said...

Wow! What an amazing collection! My favourite is definitely the scarf. Way in the back of my head (along with a gazillion other ideas) is a plan to make a crochet scarf next year.... wonder if it'll ever happen?! :)

suse-the-slow-knitta said...

your crochet is wonderful! I definitely agree with you about the Patons, it's good value and performs well.

EGunn said...

I used to like crocheting more than knitting (I know!). Then, I ran into a poorly conceived monster of an afghan and put the yarn away for a while. A few years later, I discovered stitch patterns for knitting haven't looked back. Seeing these projects is tempting me, though...

fleegle said...

Well, the designer pointed out that if the neck were too long, it would fall over. But it does have horns!

Knit a hippo if you have too much time on your hands. The pattern is very cleverly done.

Anonymous said...

Good grief woman, when do you sleep?!

Sorry, I'm just jealous because I have next to no knitting time at the moment.

Your work is always beautiful Littleberry, I always feel so inspired by seeing what you've been up to.