Sunday, January 22, 2012

Week 3: Tawashi!! (Eco Scrubbies)

     Since I moved into my new place my list of "to buy" items has filled up pretty quick with cheese graters, dishcloths and everything in between.  This week, while browsing for a project to work on I took a look at some dishcloths and scrubbies.  Earlier in the week I noticed a friend on facebook mentioned making scrubbies so I looked some up and decided to give it a try myself, here is what I've come up with so far;

Tawashi (Eco-Scrubbies)

    I looked up a few patterns and tried out 3 of them.  There's a few variations I'd like to try at some point in the future, experimenting with different yarns and stitches, but the patterns seem quite promising.  

Spiral Scrubbie

Tawashi Knot


Tawashi


     My fav so far is the Spiral Tawashi.  My next endeavour will be to combine the acrylic yarn and cotton yarn with the Spiral Tawashi pattern.

I'd love to go into more detail but that will have to wait until tomorrow or Tuesday as it is late and I gotta get up early for work.  The patterns for both the Spiral and Regular Tawashi's are both found online, (click on the photo for the link) the Tawashi knot however was a purchase pattern that I improvised on.  I will share the pattern once I've tweaked it a bit and write it out.

Have a good night everyone!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Week 2: Pretty Headbands

Week 2: Pretty Headbands

     This week I worked on a much smaller project: simple headbands with small flowers.  I'm hoping to get a little more creative with this idea in the future, provided something else doesn't snatch away my volatile attention.  I'd like to make some with different flowers, different colours, lots of flowers, different band pattern, ect... For now, here is what I've got for a pattern.  


     This pattern is 100% HN&S, I browsed photos for ideas then just came up with this.  Feel free to use it as a base then tweak it to make it your own.  I'd love to hear of any projects made and evolved from this simple pattern.  You can leave a comment here on the blog or message me privately at HookNeedleSpindle@gmail.com  Enjoy!

Pattern:
Materials used:
5.00 mm crochet hook (size H/8)
1 skein pink
1 skein light green
1 skein dark green
* any scraps will do, this pattern doesn't require much yarn*

Headband:

Chain 105 bind off.
Count 32 from each end and mark the loop.
Start at chain 32, attach same colour yarn and do slipstich through next stitch (stitch 33). Crochet as follows: slip stitch (in chain 34), single crochet (in 35), single crochet (in 35), half double (in 36), half double (in 36), double crochet (in 37), double crochet (in 37), triple crochet ( in 38), continue to triple crochet in stitches until stitch 59, triple crochet (in 59), double crochet (in 60), double crochet (in 61), half double (in 62), half double (in 63), single crochet (in 64), single crochet (in 65), slip stitch (in 66), slip stitch (in 67), slip stitch and bind off in 68 (same stitch as second marked loop)

Flower:

Chain 5, join to form ring.  In ring fit the following, *Sc, hlfdbl, dc(x3), hlfdbl, sc, repeat from * 3 more times, bind off. You now have a a four petaled flower. in a contrasting colour.  Sew the flower to the headband and you're done!


     This post is a rather quick one as I have to get up early for work tomorrow, but I hope to have a little more detail and some better pics up later in the week.

Thanks for checking in, hope all is well, and of course, Keep Crafty Everyone!


Saturday, January 7, 2012

Week 1: Half-Double Afghan

   The first week of the new year has passed and it's now time to start the weekly project posts. Enjoy!

Half-Double Afghan

    I started this project over the holidays and finished it within a couple weeks.  I didn't use a pattern, just a half-double variation stitch and randomly switched between green and brown. 

Half double afghan and kitty
Close up of the stitch and border


   I started this afghan with the idea of it being part of a set.  The set, when complete will consist of this afghan, a large full sized blanket and a pair of matching slippers.  I started the slippers first but when I got a pair of awesome slippers from my dad for Christmas I moved on to the afghan and put the slippers on hold.  But hopefully soon enough the matching slippers will be featured in a weekly project over the next few months.


Afghans are always kitty approved, no matter the kitty

Pattern:
Materials used:
  • 6.00 mm crochet hook (size J/10)
  • 3-4 skeins of "Medium Thyme" Red Heart Super Saver yarn (198g/7oz/333m)
  • 3 skeins of "Coffee" Red Heart Super Saver yarn (198g/7oz/333m)
Main
I started with green and chained 82.  Then crocheted half double stitches interspersed with single crochets.

Base: Chain 82
Row 1: *yarn over, insert hook in 3rd chain from hook, yarn over, pull yarn through chain, yarn over and pull through all loops on hook (3). [This completes a half double.] Chain 1, skip next stitch Repeat * until the last two stitches. Half double crochet in both stitches (with no chain 1 in between). Turn
Row 2: Chain 3, *half double crochet in next chain 1 space, chain 1. Repeat from * till last two stitches. Half double crochet in first double crochet of previous row. Turn
Row 3: Chain 2, *half double crochet in next chain 1 space, chain 1. Repeat from * till last chain 1 space and stitch. Half double crochet in last chain 1 space, half double crochet in last stitch (with no chain 1 in between)

Repeat rows 2 and 3 for

10 rows green (starting with row 1 of pattern)
5 rows brown
10 rows green
10 rows brown
12 rows green
2 rows brown
8 rows green
4 rows brown
2 rows green
3 rows brown
2 rows green
10 rows brown
7 rows green
4 rows brown
4 rows green
2 rows brown
3 rows green
7 rows brown
2 rows green
2 rows brown
12 rows green
4 rows brown
8 rows green

Border 
With green join to anywhere on main afghan edge. Work half doubles all around afghan. On verticle edge, work stitches in row spaces, *1 half double in each 3 spaces then 2 half doubles in the 4th space, repeat from *till corner. 2 half doubles in corner space, chain 3, 2 half doubles in same space. 

For horizontal edge I did half doubles in each stitch, however this seemed to be too many stitches as my horizontal border is quite 'wavy'.  If I were to do it again, I would try a variation of 3 half doubles then 1 half double over 2 stitches.

For the half double border rows I did 2 green, 2 brown, 2 green then 1 final row of single crochet in green.
     I'm not all that great at writing out patterns from memory, so you'll have to bear with me over this year as I learn to eloquently write out instructions on my creations. But on the off chance this project inspires anyone to get crafty I'd love to hear about and better yet see a photo of your creation.  Leave a comment or leave me an email at Hookneedlespindle@gmail.com.

Keep Crafty everyone! See you next week!

Welcome 2012!

     Happy 2012 everybody!  I hope everyone is having a great start to the year.  As I mentioned in my last post the end of a year and start of a new one always brings about some sort of reflection, and with evaluation often comes improvement.  Here are a few things HN&S hopes to acheive in the new year and some of the changes we're looking forward to.

Renovations

Here are a few changes that HN&S will undergo in this year,

  • Overhaul of the blog; I'm going to be changing the layout, look and content of the blog
    • Blog layout; background, sidebars, charts, search buttons...
    • Weekly projects; I'm hoping to blog and complete a project a week.  These will include small projects as well as a large one here and there when I've completed it.  They will usually but not always contain a pattern.
    • Blog tone; I will be adding a more personal touch to the blog, instead of dealing mostly with business information I will be blogging also about personal matters relating directly or inderectly to the business and crafting.  I will also be including more stories and photos of my kitties as they tend to gravitate towards anything crafty.

  • Official website; I'm hoping to get an official website up and running this year

  • New media outlets; I don't want to go into details as they are still in the early stages, but I'm hoping to launch at least one new 'site' (hint: it will involve tutorials) *exciting*

Projects

Here are some projects HN&S will be working on this year,

  •   The New Line; it hasn't been forgotten, just put on hold while other things get sorted out
  •  Clothing line; last year I started working on some clothing designs and I hope to get out a few products in 2012

  • Misc Projects; this year I'm hoping to take some of my other crafts to the next level and experiement with new ones
    • Paintings; I'd like to start a few basic florals or abstracts and put them up on my site.
    • Photography; mostly landscapes and nature, but I'll be dabling into other areas as well.
    • Soap making; I've always wanted to try this, perhaps the new year will bring on the opportunity.
    • Jewlery making; another hobby I set up some time ago but haven't worked on in a very long time.  I hope to get the opportunity to play with it a little more this year.
     I'm sure as the year progresses these goals will change and new ones will emerge.  I hope you'll follow along with me as I tackle 2012!
Keep Crafty everyone and happy 2012!