May 13, 2014

How To Crochet A Cushion And Make An Insert Using An Upcycled T-Shirt

Once again, I am doing some crochet for our local school: the crochet class is crocheting cushions that they will sell in a fundraising event next week in the school.

It all started with a bake sale: every year now for a while, the 6th class girls organize a bake sale in order to raise money for the school (don't get me started with why we need to help our schools on top of paying our taxes; I don't want to involve politics or I would need to start a whole new blog and make a lot of enemies in the process! I still want you to think I'm a nice person:)

As the girls' crochet skills have been improving, the teacher decided that they would make 2 cushions each: one to keep and one to sell at the Bake Sale (which should be now called the Bake and Craft Sale).

The teacher had a pattern for the crochet circles, but that pattern just didn't make sense to me, as the increases were not regular and I ended up with a volcano shape when I tried to follow the exact instructions, so I followed my daughter's advice (who does not read patterns and in this case it served her right!) and crocheted 2 basic treble crochet circles.

For the crochet circles, I used 2 colours of DK acrylic yarn, and crocheted flat circle shapes, 16 rounds for each. Here are some quick instructions for the beginners:

For each circle:
Chain 4 and slip stitch in the first chain to join in a circle.
Round 1: chain 3, work 11 trebles in the circle and join with a slip stitch to the top of the first chain 3. (12 sts)
Round 2: chain 3 (counts as 1 treble), 1 treble in the same stitch, work 2 trebles in each stitch and join with a slip stitch to the top of the first chain 3 while at the same time changing colour (if you are using just 2 colours, keep both balls attached to the circle, it will save you cutting and weaving in ends when finishing). (24 sts)
Round 3: chain 3, (counts as 1 treble), 1 treble in the same stitch, * 1 treble in next stitch, 2 trebles in following stitch * repeat from * up to the last stitch, 1 treble in the last stitch, join with a slip stitch to the top of the first chain 3 while at the same time changing colour.
Round 4: chain 3, (counts as 1 treble), 1 treble in the same stitch, * 1 treble in each of the next 2 stitches, 2 trebles in following stitch * repeat from * up to the last 2 stitches, 1 treble in each of the last 2 stitches, join with a slip stitch to the top of the first chain 3 while at the same time changing colour.
For every new round, you need to space the increases (2 trebles in the one stitch) by 1: for example for round 5, there are 3 stitches with 1 treble, then 2 trebles in the next stitch....
Continue in this way until you have reached the desired size (for a medium cushion using DK yarn I had 16 rounds, but you may want yours larger or smaller).

When you have both circles finished, all you need to do is join them: place them both together with wrong sides facing and using a colour in contrast with the last round, first chain 1, then double crochet (that's Single Crochet for people in the US) in both sides together about halfway before inserting the stuffing or cushion insert, then keep joining until you have the whole circles done and bind off.
Weave in the ends, and Voila! Cushion done and ready to ship to the Bake Sale (or cuddle with).

As it's the school children who are buying the goods, the cushions have to be affordable: I spent a good few hours myself crocheting my cushion, and I would be quicker than most of the girls in the class (I am ashamed to admit that my own 12 year old is quicker than me at crochet: she just whips it up with her skinny little fingers and it comes out perfect even though she hardly even looks at a pattern!). As I was saying, a lot of time and effort is going into crocheting these cushions but sadly, we need to compete with cheap mass-produced items if we want to attract buyers for them, so even though I'm not sure of the definite price yet, they will have to be cheap if the school wants to sell them.

In order to cut down on cost, I made my first cushion insert using an old clean T-shirt and some toy stuffing. I had the stuffing in the house so that's what I used but I won't have enough for the 2 cushions my daughter is making, so I washed an old pillow and will open it up to get the stuffing out of it and into her cushions.

Because the cushions are made using treble crochet (double crochet in US terms) which tends to give gaps in a finished item, I decided to cut up an old T-shirt, making an insert from the suffing and the upcycled T-shirt.

First I used some chalk to trace the outline of the cushion on my t-shirt, and then I cut it up: it looks a bit rough because I was trying to do this quickly, I should probably have ironed the T'shirt first:



Then I started sewing it about 3 quarters before starting to insert the stuffing inside. Even though my fabric cutting skills are atrocious and the 2 circles didn't match one another very well, adding to that the fact my hand sewing skills about the same as that of a 7 year old (I don't own a sewing machine, but judging from my home economics class in school, I wouldn't have done a great job either if I had one), I managed to get a nice round shape: a bit bumpy because the stuffing was quite compact, but nothing a bit of thumping can't correct!


As you can see from the above picture, the insert is far from being perfect, but watch what happened when I put it in between my 2 crochet circles:


Not bad for a first!

I will try making another one (I hope I won't have to tear out another pillow) and I'll also have to bake a few quick treats - There will be chocolate involved, but for now, I need to go and make a new cushion insert for my daughter's cushion before she comes back from school or I'll be in trouble!

This blog entry is my submission to the Deramores Blog Awards 2014. Deramores is the UK’s number one online retailer of knitting and crochet supplies.






May 9, 2014

My Failed Knitting Project

I was excited about an extremely soft bandana style scarf I was knitting last week end using James C Brett's Pure Merino Yarn. I had 1 ball in 5 different shades, plus 2 in Royal Blue. I wanted to knit the same scarf in all 6 different colours for my Etsy shop and I decided to use the blue first in case the scarf would use more than 1 ball (it did), and quickly ordered whatever I could get my hands on from the other colours I had, before this yarn would be completely gone out of stock from most places and impossible to reorder.

Yummy Soft Pure Merino from James C. Brett

I loved how soft the 100% merino wool felt and after a few trials, I was finally happy with its shape. Then I gently handwashed my royal blue scarf, my pride and joy: it felt loose and squishy in the water, and I was really careful not to stretch the fibre while washing it, squeezed the excess water in a dry towel and left it out on a flat surface in my hot press to dry yesterday.

Soft blue bandana scarf before washing and shaping

When I checked it this morning, to my shock and horror, my previously beautiful perfectly shaped triangle bandana scarf looked a bit wider than I remembered when I had been knitting it, but the length looked similar to what it was before. It was still as soft if not more than before washing, but the scarf had gone all floppy and didn't hold its shape when I tried it on.

After washing: unwearable floppy mess
This yarn really shows off imperfections: must apply myself more!

I could nearly kick myself for not knitting a sample square and washing it before going on to knit a scarf that needs a yarn that needs to be rigid, not a yarn that has drape like this beautiful merino yarn.

I think I learned my lesson: ALWAYS knit a sample and wash it before starting a knitting project! Unfortunately, a yarn you really love may not always be suitable for a knitting project that you really want to make. For some yarns it doesn't make a difference, but it's always better to be safe than sorry, so preparation might save you from disappointment.

I still want to make this bandana scarf come to life somehow, but I will have to find a more suitable yarn from my stash (I have a bulkier one with Merino but NOT 100% merino, so hopefully this one will do).

No point crying over wasted time: I have some ripping to do and a new project to think of using my Pure Merino because I have ordered so much of it (my first order arrived today:): I'm thinking cabled tube cowl, what do you think?

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May 3, 2014

Free Crochet Heart Pattern

My daughter's class is studying the heart at school, and I know that the love heart shape is not very realistic, but it's cute, so I looked for a crochet heart pattern online.

I found a few crochet heart shape patterns, but they were always too small: for some reason it seems impossible to find a crochet heart bigger than 2 or 3 inches, so I had to put my overactive brain to work, and after a few trials, I came up with this:
Big Crochet Heart
I'm sure I'm not the only person who has been looking for one of these, so here is my Big Heart crochet pattern:

Notes:
I used some pink acrylic DK yarn and a 4mm (G) crochet hook ; it would look great in cotton too, and you can use thicker/finer yarn with a bigger/smaller crochet hook for different results.

I am using UK/Ireland crochet terms so if you are more familiar with the US crochet terms, here is a list of the terms and abbreviations used in this free heart crochet pattern:
ch = Chain (same for US and UK)
sl st = Slip stitch (same for US and UK)
dc: UK Double Crochet  = US Single Crochet
tr: UK Treble Crochet  = US Double Crochet
htr: UK Half Treble Crochet = US Half Double Crochet

Important:
  •  Insert a stitch marker into your starting chain at the beginning of each row. 
  • When counting your stitches, do not count the slip stitch at the end of the rows, or the starting chain at the beginning of the rows.

Instructions (in UK crochet terms):
ch4, join with sl stitch in the 1st ch to make a ring.
Round 1: ch1, 11 dc into the ring, join with sl st to beg. ch1 (11 sts).
Round 2: ch1, dc and htr in first st, 2 tr in each of the next 4 sts, 5 tr in the next st,  2 tr in each of the next 4 sts, htr and dc in last st, join with sl st to beg ch1 (25 sts).
Round 3: ch1, 1 dc in each of the first 2 sts, 1 dc and 1 htr in next st, 1 htr and 1 tr in next st, 2 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 1 tr in each of the next 5 sts, 5 tr in the next st, 1 tr in each of the next 5 sts, 2 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 1 tr and 1 htr in next st, 1 htr and 1 dc in next st, 1 dc in each of the last 2 sts, join with sl st to beg ch1 (39 sts).
Round 4: ch1, 1 dc in each of the first 2 sts, 1 dc and 1 htr in next st, 1 htr and 1 tr in next st, 2 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 1 tr in each of the next 12 sts, 5 tr in the next st, 1 tr in each of the next 12 sts, 2 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 1 tr and 1 htr in next st, 1 htr and 1 dc in next st, 1 dc in each of the last 2 sts, join with sl st to beg ch1 (53 sts).
Round 5: ch1, 1 dc in each of the first 2 sts, 1 htr in next st, 1 tr in each of the next 2 sts, 2 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 1 tr in each of the next 18 sts, 5 tr in next st, 1 tr in each of the next 18 sts, 2 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 1 tr in each of the next 2 sts, 1 htr in next st, 1 dc in each of the last 2 sts, join with sl st to beg ch1 (63 sts).
Row 6: 1 sl st in first st, 1 dc in each of the next 2 sts, 1 htr in next st, 1 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 2 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 1 tr in each of the next 21 sts, 5 tr in next st, 1 tr in each of the next 21 sts, 2 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 1 tr in each of the next 3 sts, 1 htr in next st, 1 dc in each of the next 2 sts, 1 sl st in last st, join with sl st to the back loop of the first sl st (73 sts).

Here is the link to the free Ravelry PDF download: Big Heart Crochet Pattern.

If you share this big heart shape crochet pattern, please include a link to my blog or my Ravelry Designer page!

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Apr 29, 2014

Quick and Colourful Improvised Crochet Top

I am very impressed with how quickly I finished this super easy crochet top for my daughter: I started it on Saturday night, did a few hours on Sunday and Monday (not all day, as I was busy shopping, having to get my car's alternator fixed and cutting my lawn), and put it all together today.


This top was made for a child size 10 years and the colourful stripes (her choice) are each made of 2 rows of treble crochet (that's double crochet to US readers). I used some acrylic DK yarn: a bit less than half a 100g ball of each of the 3 colours so it was also cheap to make.

Being acrylic, it's not a top she'll be wearing on hot summer days, but we live in Ireland so that's fine. I would have used cotton yarn for a real summery top, but being broke, I did with what I had in the house.

I didn't waste time looking for a pattern. My daughter was wearing a cute top at the time with a simple shape: a front and a back piece with short sleeves as extensions of the top's shape, so I used that top as a template.

My daughter being the one who chose the colours and told me she wanted the same shape as the top she was wearing a the time, she also requested that I do 2 rows of treble crochet per stripe (first she asked me what was quicker and that was the quickest stitch I could use in making a crochet top so I think  she was just in a hurry to have it), and she demanded that I start with the pink stripe, then the white, then the yellow, I might as well say this top was designed by her (I'm just the maker).

I finished by adding a pink border made from 1 row of double crochet (Single crochet for our US friends) all around the neckline after sewing the top together). I was going to do the same for the sleeve edges, but it looked good enough without, and I was afraid this would make the sleeves too tight (not that my 9 year old has huge biceps, but I want her to have freedom of movement for those star jumps and cartwheels!)

With all the stripes, the yarn ends were a bit of a pain to sew in, but not a major issue.

And that's how you crochet a piece of clothing like a Boss!

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Apr 26, 2014

Crochet Projects For The Family


This week I decided to use some of my yarn stash and practise my crochet skills to make myself a summer top: I am using some grey Sublime Tussah Silk DK for the bottom part and I have just finished the waist band in dark green Filati Da Collezione Star: it has got glittery silver in it, and I think it goes well with the shiny silk from the gray yarn:


I am also starting a top for my youngest daughter. The three of us were shopping for clothes on Wednesday and the eldest always gets more: I bought her little sister a cheap pair of jeans but most of her clothes get passed down to her from her big sister, so she can feel a bit left out sometimes.

So this afternoon I let her pick some of the DK acrylic yarn previously bought from Aldi, if I had had some bright cotton I would have used it but as we live in Ireland and summer never gets hot and doesn't last more than a fortnight (and that's if we're lucky!), acrylic will do. It will be also perfect in the autumn over a plain long sleeve T-shirt.

So she decided on fushia pink, white and yellow for her top. She may be only 9 but she knows what she wants and judging by some of the drawings she's been doing, she has an eye for fashion! She requested that I do it in treble crochet (that's double crochet if you're in the US): 2 rows of each colour between changes to be exact. It is going to have the same shape as the top she is currently wearing today, which I am going to have to steal tonight when she changes into her pyjamas in order to measure it properly (it's not easy to measure a slightly hyper happy child who likes to jump up and down all the time!).

I made the swatch as requested by her and measured the bottom part of her top just so I can make a start on it. It will be bright and wonderfully colourful, just like Emilie's happy personality:


I will now leave you with some crafty bits that Emilie wanted me to share on my blog: about 80 chain crochet bracelets, necklaces and rings made by herself using her own stash (yes I know!) and some of my leftover bits of yarn:



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Apr 18, 2014

DIY Dummy Put To Some Good Use: Alpaca Lace Hearts Shawl And Knitting Pattern

Today is the day when I unveil my finished DIY dummy bust shape.

After I finished stuffing and covering Barbie twice with papier mache, I painted it all over with white poster paint. I used 2 coats but she could really have used 3.

I was very lucky with the nice sunny weather here at the beginning of the week, so I did all this outside, where I managed to dry the 2 coats of paint in one afternoon, while worriedly watching and hoping the wind wouldn't blow her out on the uncut grass.

After I brought the dummy home, I noticed the paint was looking a bit cracked, so I covered it with a thick coat of craft glue in order to seal everything in place.

So now I have one bumpy dummy bust, which I dressed using one of my summer tops, to hide all the bumps and not too even white colour.
It's not perfect but it will do for what I need: something that is not me to help me display knitted scarves, wraps, shawls...
It was a lot of time-consuming work, and I resent it a little for all the time I spent making it, dirtying my kitchen, and not letting me knit as much as I would have liked. 

In the end, I am glad I have my display dummy now, and I have already put it to work to display my latest knit of art: the Alpaca Lace Hearts Shawl:

This shawl is available to buy now from my Etsy shop Sophie's Knit Stuff.





















During all this week, I have also worked very hard on the shawl pattern, and I am proud to announce, that after even more time drawing charts on my computer, typing the corresponding instructions making sure there were no mistakes, translating the same instructions in French, and an awful lot of proofreading, the knitting pattern for my Alpaca Lace Hearts Shawl is now also available to buy from Etsy, Ravelry and Craftsy.



I am going to have a cup of coffee now, before I replenish my food supply and clean the house, and then hopefully I will be able to enjoy a nice long Easter week-end.

Happy Easter!

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Apr 13, 2014

Making A DIY Bust Shape: How To Build A Dummy Body Using Chicken Wire

For a while I've wanted to get a dummy body to display the scarves I knit but unfortunately, living on the Island of Ireland leaves me with 2 choices: paying astronomic shipping rates to get a large item delivered to me, or making one myself.

There are a few YouTube videos that show you how to make a dress form: you can get someone to cover you with duct tape, get that someone to cut you out of the shape made, close it up with more tape and fill it with stuffing, newspapers, expanding foam...

Being the only adult in my house (I'm not sure I should trust a 12 year old to have the patience to do all that work: she might give it up, leaving me half stuck for a few hours, and the cutting bit might be a bit tricky - I don't want blood on my dummy!), I decided to use another DIY method to build my dummy body: of course it had to be the hardest and slowest one!

First I got a small roll of small gauge chicken wire in a local shop: you can get some in most hardware stores, you don't need a very large quantity, a 100cm length is enough for an average size bust.

Then I put on my gardening gloves and tried shaping my roll into something that looked like a female body shape:

You really need gardening gloves for this, as chicken wire has sharp bits and if you're a knitter or a crocheter, you need to protect your hands! You might want to cover your kitchen table with newspapers before you start, I left my cheap tablecloth on to protect the table from scratches and the tablecloth is still a bit grey.

Shaping is a bit tricky: you need to pull the holes in the wire slightly apart for wider areas (chest, shoulders and hips), and push them tighter for skinny areas (neck and waist).
I call her Barbie: she's not made out of barbed wire, but her waist is Barbie-like skinny. Hopefully I'll manage to fatten her up a bit, but as she'll only be used for scarves, she doesn't need to look too realistic (she has a bigger chest and tinier waist than me, but the height and shoulder to shoulder width are about right).













Now comes the messy bit: that wire is pretty sharp and not that pretty at the same time, so I decided to cover my dummy body with papier mache.

I started tearing up strips of newspaper in front of my kids hoping they would want to finish the pile and it worked!

Then I got my 12 year old to show me the papier mache mix she had used in school for her art classes: I thought it would be more complicated but it's only a pancake consistency mix of flour and water (messy, but easy enough to clean afterwards).

While my youngest was out playing with a friend (being a bit of a mess hater, I was a bit relieved that she was not around), I enrolled my 12 year old to help me cover the dummy shape with papier mache: it took us about 1 hour before the shape was all covered but it needed more layers so I let the first coat dry outside for the rest of the afternoon.

At that stage I had papier mache over the neck opening but not the bottom opening, which was a good thing because one of my very wise Facebook likers advised me to stuff it with newspapers to avoid it becoming "wonky".

The next morning I turned the bust over using my clean recyling bin: I used clean papers and cardboard found in the said recycling bin, as well as lots of old brochures and magazine pages to stuff the body, because I didn't want to run out of newspaper. Now is the time for me to confess to very rarely buying a newspaper, but I take all the local free newspapers I can get!

After stuffing it, I covered the bottom part of my dummy form with papier mache (still turned up neck down in my recycling bin).













Then after lunch, I added some white craft glue to the mix and added a layer to the front, while at the same time trying to fix some gaps and bumps, before letting it dry on the sunny patch in my kitchen.

I'll be doing the same with the back later on, and I will be painting it when I can rely on the weather to be dry and not as windy as it is today because I'm not cleaning paint stains off my kitchen floor. It needs to be sealed with some kind of paint or varnish (I will be using matte paint I had bought for another DIY project that did not happen and I don't want a shiny dummy when taking my scarf pictures), because I am afraid the smell of pancake batter would attract mice into my house in winter: it will need a thick coat of paint!

If you want to do this in your own kitchen, set aside 2 full days of no serious cooking because this will take over your kitchen as well as your time. I think using a hair dryer on a low setting would help it dry more quickly but I decided to let it air-dry, as I have plenty more things to do in between papier mache layers (I just hope my kids don't step in the papier mache mix bucket or on my dummy while I'm upstairs typing this!).

I'm not sure when I can post a picture of the finished dummy (or list the shawl I finished making, since I'll need this dummy to be finished and completely dry before then!), but when it is, I will let you all know!

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