Chunky Stitches: February 2014

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Making Granny Squares with Friends

Two of my friends have been saying they really want to learn to crochet.
So we finally set up a little crochet date so I could teach them.

I brought over some pretty pattern books to show them, as well as my Crochet Bible (which unfortunately for my friends, was UK terms).

I did let them know that there are UK and US terms, and technically we should be using UK terms, but I learnt with US terms, so that's how I'm teaching them. Once you know the different names for the same stitches, it's not hard using both terms.

I was pleasantly surprised at how fast they picked it up. After roughly 2 hours (in between making a failed dinner) we all had a three round granny square!

We are already planning more little crochet dates to keep practicing, with the hope of starting to work in the rounds soon, as they are desperate to start making the toys that I have been making.

Some tips for learning (and teaching) crochet: Be Patient!! Both learner and teacher need to be patient if they truly want to learn.

Keep practicing, after all - practice makes perfect.

And have fun! Don't stress if it takes a while to learn and you feel like you aren't going anywhere. Before you realise, you'll be granny squaring-it-up all over the place!

photo from Instagram - @emilybrooke_m

Friday, February 21, 2014

Crochet Mood Blanket February 9th

So . . . I'm a little bit behind with posting

updates for my Crochet Mood Blanket

but here is progress up to 9th February.

As you can see, it is getting harder to take

"good" photos of progress.

Here is a close up of some of my squares.

Follow me on Instagram @emilybrooke_m

to see my updates and all my other

projects, plus cat photos!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Ribbed Beanie with Pom Pom - MINI TUTORIAL

Remember this Ribbed Beanie?

Here's a quick little how-to

on how I made mine.

((( I got the idea for this from All About Ami

who found the pattern from Lion Brand Yarn )))

First Step: Crochet a rectangle to fit around your head in single crochet ribbed stitch.
Single crochet ribbed stitch is just plain old single crochet (US terms)
stitched into back loops only on every row.

I used a 5mm crochet hook and chained 41 to get 40 stitches per row.
I crocheted 86 rows for my rectangle to measure 42cm/16.5" long.
The long part needs to fit around your head.
There is some stretch in this piece so make sure it fits comfortably.

Second Step: Once your rectangle is big enough, stitch the two shorter sides together with whip stitch.

Third Step: Sew around one of the openings and pull yarn tightly to close this end. Tie a knot under the pulled top and secure.

This makes the top of the beanie.

I found that pulling it tight while sewing it closed worked better - instead of waiting until you've sewed through the whole top and then pulling the yarn.