Crafting 101

I wanted to stick this post in here for awhile, but haven’t been able to. I have a wonderful friend Allena (who you can find here and here) that wrote an easy LTC Scarf (Learn to Crochet Scarf). I didn’t know she made one until she mentioned it and I wanted to give her a plug! Also, to show how easy it is, I made one myself! I had some yarn leftover from a lapghan I made and I had a friend mention she loved that yarn and the colors so I decided to make her a scarf.

The yarn I used is Vanna White solid and one that was variegated. They looked really good together. I have never used that type of yarn, well, not something so fancy as Vanna White, but it was nice and at least at Wal-Mart it wasn’t too expensive.

So bad to the scarf, it was so super simple! I finished it in about an hour, that’s how simple it is! I used several different skeins of yarn, but you can use just the one and have it made in less than two hours. It’s also a great small and easy project to keep in your bag for when you are on the go. You can get the pattern here (it’s a Ravelry link). Again, if you haven’t joined ravelry yet, you must and LMK your ravelry user name so I can see what you’re doing!

I threw in a few pictures of the scarf. I think it looks really nice and it’s short to wear with just a nice outfit, but you could add more rows to it to make it thicker or add more chain stitches to make it longer. Anyways, it was fun and easy to do!

My apologies for not posting the last ten days. March got a little bit busier than expected, kids got sick and more. But I have several posts planned for this week to wrap up what we need to learn. As promised, this post is all about the different stitches in crochet. I hope that it’ll be a post you will bookmark for reference and I’ll post a link on the side for the future. Enjoy!

Crochet Stitches:

Basics:

ch: chain
dc: double crochet
hdc: half double crochet
sl st: slip stitch
sp: space
tr: treble  (sometimes called “triple”)

Advanced:

bphdc (back post half double crochet): Yarn over, insert hook from back to front to back around post of half double crochet one row below, yarn over, draw up a loop, yarn over, draw through all 3 loops on hook (this is worked on even # or wrong side rows)
bptr (back post triple): Yarn over twice, inserthook from back to front around post of stitch on previous row and pull up a loop, (yarn over and draw through 2 loops on hook) 3 times.
fphdc (front post half double crochet):
Yarn over, insert hook from front to back to front around post of half double crochet one row below, yarn over, draw up a loop, yarn over, draw through all 3 loops on hook (this is worked on odd # or right side rows)
fptr (front post triple): Yarn over twice, insert hook from front to back around post of stitch on previous row and pull up a loop, (yarn over and draw through 2 loops on hook) 3 times.
hdctbl: Half double crochet worked in the back loop
hdctfl: Half double crochet worked in the front loop
For even more stitches that actually combine several of the basic stitches to create a unique look to your work, check out the extensive Crochet Stitch Directory at Crochet Pattern Central.  They have lots to show you!

I hope that you are enjoying working on the basic stitches of crochet. How did the videos work for you? I hope well! I hope to be able to show you more stitches with the videos on the other difficult stitches. The hubby and I are working on a little bit better set-up for making the videos.

So, if you haven’t done the pattern already, check out the Learn Your Stitches Coaster pattern that I wrote last week for learning the basic stitches.  I have the pattern on Ravelry too so if you make it and you’re a member of Ravelry, please let me know!

So besides posting the link to the pattern, I wanted to give you a run down on all the other stitches that are out there in crochet. I found a few lists, one on About.com, another one on Just Another Crochet Site, and another one at Needle Pointers. They are all great and let everyone know all the stitches out there and give explanations. So I wanted to post them here. But since I want to make it all in one post without any other jibber-jabber, I’m going to post those tomorrow. So you have to tune in tomorrow for that!

Please, please, please ask questions if you have them and if you’re making things, I’d love to know. Show me the pictures too! Hope you have a great weekend! TTFN!

As promised, Day Two of Crochet 2.0! I know we are running late, but better late than never! I have included the two videos on making double crochets and triple crochets. Tomorrow I will talk about the pattern that I used created by me! I would love to see any pictures of projects you’ve made with the pattern. Enjoy and please leave any feedback good or bad!

After watching the videos, what questions do you have? What can I help you with? I hope that they are good explanations of the stitches. I learned by watching others so I feel that’s the best way to learn. Now, if you learn better reading something and looking at pictures, check out our lessons from last year where I have pictures and I have it all typed out for you.

http://crafting101.today.com/2008/06/02/day-two-crochet-craziness/

http://crafting101.today.com/2008/06/02/day-three-crochet-craziness/

http://crafting101.today.com/2008/06/02/day-four-crochet-craziness/

http://crafting101.today.com/2008/06/02/day-five-crochet-craziness/

Today we will be learning about making a chain in crochet and making a single crochet stitch. Both are pretty simple to do, you just have to learn to do them! For today and tomorrow, grab an size crochet hook between G and I to use and some yarn that you have laying around the house. I am using a size I hook and some cotton yarn, but you can use some scrap yarn. I have created two videos for you to watch to help explain how to do these stitches. Please watch both of them, starting with the making a chain video before watching the single crochet video.

After you watch these two videos and the two tomorrow, on Friday I will post the link to a pattern to help practice these skills. If you were here before when we worked on crochet, I posted a pattern called Learn Your Stitches Dishcloth . Since it posted, I’ve had several people make the dishcloth and were successful at helping themselves or others learn how to crochet. That makes me really excited! (If you’re a member of Ravelry, check it out here.)

I would appreciate any feedback you have regarding the videos. This is the first time I’ve done these type so I’d love to know how to do better! Thanks and good luck!

So tonight is my oldest two girls mall lock-in with the Girl Scouts! I have volunteered to help out with a booth, not sure which one, but something! We will be locked in the mall starting around 10pm and won’t be let out until after 6am! Wish me luck! I didn’t get ay crocheting done today, though I did sew both girls a backpack to take to the lock-in to hold their things Friday evening. I had some flannel High School Musical fabric and lined Deanna’s with some blue fabric and made the straps out of the blue fabric and lined Megan’s with pink and used pink for the straps. I plan on making Kathryn one as well, but her’s is lined with purple and I didn’t have any purple thread. I will get a picture of them tonight with it and post it tomorrow.

Today I didn’t crochet mainly because I needed to clean house and the girls were selling Girl Scout cookes outside a grocery store this afternoon. They did really well and I’ll post a link to pictures tomorrow. They love selling cookies, at least Deanna does. Megan wasn’t sure what to do, but we had her restock the table and she liked that.

So tomorrow, I’ll probably sleep most of the day, but will come home tomorrow night after church and post something. I still have to teach my Sunday School class in the morning so I’m going to come home, shower, eat something, guzzle down some caffiene and go to church and come home after Sunday school. Then I’m crashing!

So I hope you have a nice evening and good Sunday and I’ll talk to you then!

Today I thought I’d offer some tips and tricks for crocheting! I found these all over the internet and they are great things to know. Plus I’ll throw in a few of my own.

First off, take a look at ALL the tips and tricks at Crochet Pattern Central. They have over forty pages of them! I was in awe! I couldn’t believe some of them either. I hadn’t thought of a few of them so they have been helpful to me as well. My two favorites were: “My comment is on keeping blocks clean as I crochet them before putting them together. KEEP THEM IN A ZIP_LOCK BAG. Also keep a small pad of paper and pen and keep track of how many blocks are made. Have fun!!!” and “Use scrap yarn to make potholders: chain 35 stitches with a G,H or I hook. then single crochet down one side and up the other, Keep crocheting AROUND the chain (up one side, around the other) This will make a square shape if you pull down the top and bottom corners….Finish by sewing up the middle seam…….this seems difficult to describe, but it works.” I can see me doing the second one and the first one, I’ve done that! I know I have tons of scraps that I can use up doing this. I usually use them to knit dishcloths, but I can change!

HomesteadGarden.com had 22 tips and tricks to look through and my favorite one was writing down and taking photos of all the projects you’ve made. I’ve thought I should have done this for when I want to sell things, people can see what I’ve made before and I can make them the same thing. It’s a good thing to start!

Try checking out this article on crocheting tips for some new advice.  This website gives advice on making different things in crochet. There’s tons of advice out there! I could write a book! LOL! Hmmm, I just might!

Well, that’s all I have for today. Still waiting on the videos and we’ll see what happens there. Have a great weekend!

So I’m not happy that my videos are still not ready, I want to show them to you guys! I hope you’ve had a chance to see the coaster pattern and hopefully you’ve been able to try it out. I think it looks neat and works up quick. I am crocheting a few things and should have them done tomorrow for you to see. My girls and I are going to a lock-in this weekend so I’m making us backpacks to wear to keep our things in. I hope they look good!

So since we had some neat winter photos, I made them into a short slideshow that I’d love for you to see. It’s just a few pictures, but they are some of the best! Check it out!

Winter Wonderland
Snow hardly falls in Central Virginia, but March roared in with snow blanketing tree limbs causing a beautiful landscape outside our windows. The sun slowly finds it way through the clouds to produce a fitting backdrop to the unexpected day.
http://www.associatedcontent.comslideshow/13112/winter_wonderland.html

So I hope that those of you who already know how to crochet are making something. I’d love to see the things you are making!  And if you don’t know how to crochet, stick around because I will have videos for you, I promise! I hope that you are doing well. We are warming up here and the snow is about gone. It’s sad as I love the snow and how pretty it looks undisturbed. But it never lasts unless I lived in the Arctic! Well, TTFN and tune in tomorrow!

Again, I’m still waiting on the videos to be approved (really didn’t think it’d take this long, I promise!) So I have written another pattern for you to learn your stitches. Last year I wrote one that created a dishcloth, this time it’s a coaster. It’s a little bit larger than a normal coaster, but I guess there’s no set dimensions for a coaster, are they? But here you go! Enjoy! Send pictures if you finish it! View this project on Ravelry!

Learn Your Stitches Coaster

Copyright 2008 by Pamela Foreman

This is a great quick and easy project to learn the basic stitches of crochet! You’ll have this worked up in less than 20 minutes!

Materials:
Cotton Yarn, one skein will make at least four
G, H or I hook, depends on the size you want

Directions:
The ch stitch at the beginning of each row is the beginning stitch for that row.

Row 1: ch 16, sc in 2nd ch form hook, sc across (15 sc)

Row 2: Turn, ch 2, dc across (15 dc)

Row 3: Turn, ch 4, trc across (15 trc)

Row 4: Turn, ch 2, dc across (15 dc)

Row 5: Turn, ch 1, sc across (15 sc)

Row 6: Turn, ch 2, dc across (15 dc)

Row 7: Turn, ch 4, trc across (15 trc)

Row 8: Turn, ch 2, dc across (15 dc)

Row 9: Turn, ch 1, sc across (15 sc)

Row 10: Turn, slip stitch across (15 ss)

Fasten off, weave in ends.

Here are today.com, they like for us to host videos on their servers instead of linking them from some place else. I have uploaded my videos, but I am currently waiting for them to be approved before I am able to post them on here. So my posts on learning the stitches will be delayed by a day, hopefully not any longer than that!

So instead of not learning anything or not posting anything today, I wanted to get something up here for you. So I went searching for stuff! We are going to be learning the basic stitches of crochet this week and one website that I came across is called Crochet Patterns Only and the patterns listed here use all the stitches that we’ll be using this week.  What I love about her patterns are they are quick and easy so if you want to practice your stitches, there are several small projects to make.

One pattern that I liked on her site (well, I liked all of them, but this is one I think I will try and make tonight) is for a little wrist bag. I go out with my friends a lot and this is a cute thing to bring so I don’t have to bring my purse out when we go to eat. I have plenty of yarn to make it, but it also uses single crochet stitches so you can practice them once you see the video tomorrow.

She also has a cute pattern for squid and octopus finger puppets and  a baby sock laundry bag which I would have loved years ago, but I think I’ll work one of those up really quick. I might make four of them, actually six so I can put all of our socks in their own bag! Maybe it’ll keep the dryer monster from eating one of the socks in a pair! LOL! Check out her pattern for a scrap trap . Basically, it holds your scraps of yarn that you cut off the ends of projects so you have them all in one place to throw away. You have to check out her blog to see the pics!

So tune in tomorrow to see the videos. Hopefully they will be ready! If not, I’ll come up with something else to teach you! Have a great day and keep warm or keep cool!