quote:Originally posted by ctm: Megan, I love that bag, how did you do it? I'd like to make one...
On my mom's advice, I just knitted a rectangle of stockinette stitch (32 stitches, size 9 needles, bulky yarn), twice the width of the bag I wanted, and as tall as I wanted it to be. Then, I folded it in half and sewed the bottom and side seam using a whipstitch. Finally, I cut two lengths of cording twice the width of the bag and wove them through the second row of stitches all the way around, starting on opposite ends of the bag. I knotted the ends to make the drawstring.
I've made drawstring bags before out of fabric, but this was actually even easier, because I didn't have to make the tube for the strings.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I like it, too. I actually have my husband to thank for that yarn choice; the bag is for him, and I took him into Michael's and said, "Pick a yarn for your bag." And that's what he chose.
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I'm currently working on a little cross-stitch right now. Just something for fun to do while I'm watching TV. I haven't done any crocheting in a while, but since I can only make scarves and all my friends already have one, I think I'll be okay. I need to learn how to make something different!
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Does anyone know where I can get wool in pound skeins (is skeins the right word?). breyerchic told me she saw some online, but she doesn't remember where, and I don't know anything about shopping for yarn online. I make a lot of afghans, so pound rolls are much better for me than any other kind, but it's hard to find ones that aren't acrylic.
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I know. I almost always use the Caron or Red Heart acrylic, as they are the cheapest stuff going.
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I've had good luck buying natural fiber yarns on ebay . If you watch the auctions for awhile, you can get some terrific deals. There are often large cones of yarn for sale which could be convenient for knitting afgans or other big things.
If I'm going to put the time in to knit something, I want to use a quality yarn. By the time I'm finished the time I've put in is far more valuable than the yarn. It seems a pity to put in all the work and end up with something I'm not satisfied with because I started with a cheap yarn.
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I've started my mom's sweater made with Rapture yarn, half wool, half silk. It really is more fun with nice yarns.
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I have an afgan my grandmother knitted for me about 25 years ago. It's beautiful and means alot to me particularly since she is now dead. Unfortunately, it is knitted with an expensive acrylic yarn and it hasn't worn very well. It has pilled and is starting to look old. I have another afgan I croqueted from red hart yarn about the same time and it also is looking a bit beat up.
My mother has an afgan her sister knitted for her about the same time from a wool yarn and it has held up much much better. It still looks practically new despite the fact that it has been in use for over 2 decades.
That's why I think its worth the extra cost in the long run to use a better yarn.
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Aren't a lot of people sensitive to wool? Does that make it harder to use as gifts?
I suppose I should add I basically spent the first 24 years of my life in Texas. The thought of using wool for knitting/crocheting anything was never, ever brought up. Acrylic afghans are lighter, less hot, less scratchy (well, perhaps) and more suited to hot Texas weather, from what I could see.
Now that I'm not in Texas I'm learning how useful wool can be.
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I really don't like giving wool things as gifts, you have to hand wash it or it ends up felted, it can make people itchy. And though I respect afghans, I really don't use them, so a wool one would feel like a waste of great yarn and money to me. But I do swear I saw somewhere with not too bad pounds of wool somewhere, maybe $12 a pound.
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Not entirely happy. My tension is all screwy so it pooches in places. It's like you can read my mood swings in my work.
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Oh, I totally see your point about using a good yarn, most of the time. But not for a kid's ourfit- mine at least will trash it anyway. And my 8 year old is sensitive to wool, though I suppose I could make him something cotton.
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My first crochet project was a terrific and big Afghan -- about 7 pounds of yarn are in it (it's a heavy Afghan). Now I sleep under it every night, and it is wonderful. I started another, using cheaper yarn, and I'm not as happy with it. It is stiffer and scratchier.
But 7 pounds of good yarn can get pretty pricey.
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romany- I love your sweater. It's so pretty. I don't know what you mean about pooches, I don't see any.
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I'm planning on finishing up a purse for my teenager, I've been working on it off and on since before I got sick. Bless her heart, she hasn't complained yet that I'm taking 10 forevers to complete it.
I'm crazy quilting the front in fabrics of pink and black, think very Parisian. The back is a drapery fabric in pink with black polka dots. The lining is solid fuchsia and it has black handles. If I finish it this week I'll post a picture. The crazy quilting is all done, now it's just construction stuff to do.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I have a question for the crochet gurus out there.
I'm working on a pattern that is a lot more complicated than anything I've done before and some of the terminology is escaping me. Every row I'm supposed to work either in front of or behind chains from the previous row. I don't understand what is front and what is behind. Is in front of just the side of the work that is facing me? Or is it the same side every time, so that if in the first row the front was the side facing me, in the next row it's the side facing away from me?
Also, here is a bit of the pattern that is confusing me. In the row previous I had done blocks of dc seperated by 3 skipped stitches connected by ch 4 sections. In this row the pattern says exactly: "working in front of ch-4 sp, shell in the 2nd st of the next 3 sk sts in row below and in ch-4 sp at the same time" (the shell is 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc). How do I work it in the ch-4 space at the same time? Am I supposed to somehow work the top of the dcs into the ch-4? If so, how do I do that.
I know this is complicated, but if anyone could help me out I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
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quote: Is in front of just the side of the work that is facing me? Or is it the same side every time, so that if in the first row the front was the side facing me, in the next row it's the side facing away from me?
It's always the side facing you (assuming you're turning your work).
I haven't done shells yet, though.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Wow, is this the same pattern beating you up from when we were IMing the other night?
I *think* that when they say front and back, they mean to only take up half of the loop from the prior row of stitching. Normally you put the hook under both loops, when you work in the front, you put the hook only under the loop closest to you. That helps the stitches of the shell to poof out.
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quote:Originally posted by blacwolve: Also, here is a bit of the pattern that is confusing me. In the row previous I had done blocks of dc seperated by 3 skipped stitches connected by ch 4 sections. In this row the pattern says exactly: "working in front of ch-4 sp, shell in the 2nd st of the next 3 sk sts in row below and in ch-4 sp at the same time" (the shell is 2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc). How do I work it in the ch-4 space at the same time? Am I supposed to somehow work the top of the dcs into the ch-4? If so, how do I do that.
Is the pattern supposed to create a kind of poofy 3D-thing? If it is, I think they mean for you to actually fold the previous row with the "ch-4 sp" behind the "2nd st" part, and work your shell through both those stitches, sort of like hand-sewing when you put the needle through both pieces of fabric at once. I've never had to do anything like that, though, so I'm not positive, but that would be my best guess. And the stitching in the ch-4 space means to just stitch around the entire chain, rather than any one particular stitch in the chain - I couldn't tell if that was part of your question or not.
Does the pattern come with a picture of the finished product that you could post? Usually with complicated crochet patterns I can figure out what they want more easily if I know what the outcome is supposed to look like.
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Nope, I finished that one. This one is a baby afghan and it's significantly more complicated.
If I knew someone in my physical area that I could ask for help, I think I could get it pretty quickly, since most of my questions are basic. I just don't know anyone who crochets IRL.
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Does the pattern come with a picture of the finished product that you could post? Usually with complicated crochet patterns I can figure out what they want more easily if I know what the outcome is supposed to look like.
If I can find a scanner, I can post it, I'll ask my boyfriend if he knows someone who has one. The pattern doesn't look like it's supposed to be puffy. It looks like there is a backgroud of double crochet with slightly raised diamonds with corners touching all over. Does that make any sense?
Also, Sarah- I don't know who April is, I doubt you can help, and your grandma is not in physical proximity to me.
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If you could see me examining that picture with my nose about 6 inches away from my screen, trying to see the individual stitches, I'm sure you'd laugh at me.
Okay, I'm guessing that if you rotate the afghan in the picture 90 degrees counter-clockwise, that would put it right-side-up in accordance with the pattern instructions, right? So rather than looking at it as a pattern of raised diamonds on a vertical dc background, I'm seeing it more as a bow-tie shaped pattern (going shell-to-shell) with horizontal dc rows in the background. Does this make sense?
(Sorry, I have a hard time describing things that I understand on purely physical and visual levels with words.)
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To be honest, I can't tell. The shells are each seperated by what amounts to eight double crochets, if that helps?
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Wait, I think I get what's going on now. "3 sk sts in row below" - I missed that word the first time through, sorry. So you're basically working across the front of the previous two rows in order to start the raised diamond/bow-tie part, right?
*getting frustrated by trying to mentally manipulate yarn and hook that aren't there*
*going to get real yarn and hook to test ideas that I don't have words for yet*
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Okay, I think I may have figured it out. That is complicated!
Here's what I did: When you go to do the shell, do the first half of each of the dcs in that 2nd sk st in the row below, going in front of the row with the 4-ch space. And when you do a dc in general (not that I think you don't know, just for an attempt at clarity), it's YO, insert hook through front to back, YO, pull loop back to front (there's 3 loops on hook now), YO, pull new loop through 2 loops on hook (2 loops on hook now), then at THIS point, YO around the 4-ch space - as in, insert the hook under the 4-ch space as if it's one big stitch, then grab the new loop from in front of the 4-ch space - and then complete the dc by pulling the loop through both loops on the hook. That gets the new row of dcs laying across the front of the previous rows.
Mind, I've never worked with a raised pattern that works across the front like this does before. Well, I think I tried crochet cables a long time ago, but mostly I've done a lot of lacy open-work, doily-type crocheting. This was just what I got from experimenting to see what would get me something that seems to follow the instructions and also looks like what I'm interpreting the picture to show, so I could be totally wrong, and if I am, someone please correct me! But that's what I'd do if it were my project. I'm guessing the next step on that row is to do a bunch of ch (like 12-14ish?) to connect to the next shell in the row, and that after a bunch of rows (6, or maybe 12, from the picture) the parallel chains get gathered together in the middle somehow to form the bow-tie/butterfly image? That's the guess that I was basing my shell-guess on, anyway.
I hope this helps! And that's a gorgeous pattern, btw. I hope you post a pic when you get it finished!
posted
Thanks! That does help a lot and the whole pattern makes a lot more sense now. Thank you so much.
I think my next project is going to be doing something lacy (note the vagueness there) mind if I ask you for help when that comes about?
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Sure, ask away. I haven't done a lot of crocheting lately, so I might be rusty, and I'm not an expert by any means, but I'll be glad to help where I can.
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My twin baby blankets are all done, and they are so sweet. The twins are due any day, and I hope they like their blankets.
I made each out of a very soft baby blanket-sized piece of fleece. Then I snipped holes about 1.5 inches from the edge, every 1.5 inches apart all around the border. I crocheted into the holes using this impossibly soft baby chenille, with one single crochet, two chains, then another single crochet in the next hole, all the way around the border. The edges kind of folded under and hemmed themselves in the process. Then I continued single crocheting around the border for a few rows, for the contrasting border. At the last row, I switched yarns to a color that matched the fleece. I made two matching blankets. One is soft green fleece with a pale yellow border, edged with soft green. The other is pale yellow fleece with a soft green border, edged in pale yellow.
(they are not giving up the genders of the twins, so they get yellow and green)
If I had a camera, you could see them. But I don't so, well, let your imagination picture them for you.
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Awww that does sound adorable, Tante. Maybe I should borrow that for the fleece throw my daughter wants but I can't seem to get around to making.
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Also, super easy to do! No pattern to follow, and all the work is the border. Which, by the way, is made from a super chunky yarn. I used an "N"-sized (9mm) hook, and Lion Brand Velvet Spun Chenille. The main part of the blanket is just bought from the fabric store.
Still, if I were the baby, I'd be very happy to be under such a blanket.
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Have any of you heard of the website www.etsy.com ? I'm not a very crafty person, but I love handmade, unique items, and etsy seems to be the best site on the intraweb for these things. A couple of friends of mine who are crafty love to browse the site to look for ideas... I love to browse it to see all the pretty things I wish I could afford. Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I've been there Jhai. It has some great crafts there. I do have an account there, but I have yet to place anything up there.
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So you're basically working across the front of the previous two rows in order to start the raised diamond/bow-tie part, right? 
