Week 3

After days of being inspired off Pinterest and now having collected a few balls of wool, it's about time I had a go at making something. Wanting to put my 4 hour double crochet practice to some use, I thought I would make something using this now familiar stitch. Something I could use..... that would take less than 4 hours..... a mobile phone cover!!!

First complete useful thing!!

After looking at a few different options online, I settled for a single colour with a flap and nice button look. The finished is project took just 2 hours, and I'm relatively pleased :)

I improvised with the loop, and am really pleased with the button I used (though I did head off to the sewing shop with the aim of finding a big daisy shaped button).

If you would like to make this case, I have 'produced' a step by step picture tutorial to follow, just click this link. The instructions all use UK crochet terms.

PLEIN AIR CROCHET

Depending on the size of your project, you can probably crochet just about anywhere! With hook, yarn and scissors you can sit or stand while you work on your creations. This week, I gave portable crochet a try.

Now we've been having some gorgeous weather over the past few weeks, and it seemed fitting to enjoy some of it on the beach.......Chesil beach. The fishing rods haven't been out for a LONG time, so while Mr Nolan gathered his gear together, Mrs Nolan packed her own hooks :)

Looking forward crocheting away an hour or two on the beach, I decided to take a simple project, some flowers that I had started making already. I had found this garden cotton twine in our cupboard and had grand ideas for it.. (yes, you can crochet with all sorts of yarny type things).

I thought it might make a nice basket to put my carrier bag stash of wool in, and after a little practise crochet with it, I felt confident to go ahead. But why make just a plain basket when you can complicate things and add flowers as a border in the middle?? After all, I've conquered the double crochet and have my own handmade mobile phone case!!

Liking a challenge, I set about making some eight-petalled flowers, to then be set in a square that could be made into a border for my, yet to be made, basket. The centre of the flower is made using a magic ring (more on that in the next post) using the cotton twine with a size 5 hook, and the fluffy petals from double knit yarn, size 4 hook.

They were great for making on the beach...

 the flowers...

They are experimental at the moment, but if the basket works out, I will post the pattern!

I loved working outside, it was easy with the few things I had taken along (yarn, scissors, hooks and wool needle), and once I'd got used to working in the wind, I was on a roll! 

Why not give it a try yourself?

Where to buy wool

Where does one buy wool?

Being totally new to the wool world, I had no idea what double knit and aron were, or what a 4ply 50g ball looked like, let alone where to buy them.

Of course, you can get anything online these days, but it's kind of nice to see for yourself and have a friendly face who's happy to answer all your 'not a clue' questions.

So as I've been out and about this past week, I've also been playing the spot the yarn game, and I've discovered that there's wool all around me and I never knew it!

THE HIGH STREET

There's the knitting shop in town, that provides a range of different companies, with middle of the range prices (£1.85-£4.00 per 100g)
Amongst other companies, they stock...
King Cole wool who go from 3ply to super chunky, with a stunning colour range, 
Style Craft Yarns who have a fabulous range, and is not overly expensive. I saw the double knit wool in 100g balls for £1.85 in this Weymouth shop.

INDOOR MARKET

Then I discovered a wool shop in the newly opened indoors market. These stock more economical wool, where I bought a nice double knit ball of duck egg blue for £1.50. Happy days!

CARBOOT SALES

At a carboot I met a lovely lady selling bargain yarn from as little as £1.35 (I bought 3) along a mixed lot of end of the line colour ranges from higher end companies, at over half the price! You have to grab it while it's there, but the colours are not guaranteed to be your cup of tea. Great thing is, she's a regular every week, so there's always new yarn to watch out for from her.

OUTDOOR MARKETS

While at Dorchester we spotted another lovely lady selling yarn along with her crochet creations. The selection is smaller, but there is a little mix of cotton yarn as well the cheaper acrylic wool. I bagged two nice blues for £1 each.

CHARITY SHOPS

Did you know you can buy new wool in the Sue Ryder charity shops? The one in Bridport had a great collection.

Most charity shops have a basket somewhere with bundles of wool left over from other peoples projects. These are worth a look, but they usually have no labels with them so you may be unsure of what the 'wool' is made from, and which 'ply' it is too. 

WILCOS

Yes! Wilcos even have a small selection, including baby wool for just £1.00!! Colours are limited though, as you can see.....

Now, if you're after something with a bit more finesse, a new yarn shop has opened in Dorchester (Fudges wool and haberdashery) which stock the best stuff. We're talking alpaca wool here, merino, REAL wool, and also cotton yarn. 



So whatever the budget, it's handy to know where to go for some instant yarn, where you can talk crochet, and even get a few free advice on the ins and outs of washing your newly crocheted piece.

So while you're out in your town centre, keep a look out for places expected and unexpected for that next ball of yarn to keep you hooked :)

It's only just begun........

The 5th of June is a very special day in the history of the universe, the day my amazing mum was born.....hence the need to find an appropriate birthday gift on my less than modest budget. She mentioned an interest in rekindling her crochet skills, so I found a great pattern online for her to crochet a Westie (Ahhh, like her new family member :) and a trip to The Works bookshop seemed like a good add on. Little did I know that this visit would reinspire me too!! 

Having always done something "arty," I'd noticed that I had come to a bit of a stand still with my watercolour painting, and perhaps it was time to have a break and throw myself into learning something new. Well, I came out of the book shop with a book for mum, and a duplicate for me, projects for beginners.....

Learn to Crochet by Nicki Trench

The book and the Westie pattern went off to the post office, and I went off to the nearby Dog Rescue Charity shop to buy the one crochet hook they had, wohoo!! and a little ball of wool.

I had a lovely first evening with my number 4 hook and my ball of wool just practicing three basic stitches.

MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT CROCHET

After having a look through my new book, I opted for the first project on the list, a simple set of table mats, rectangles using just the double crochet stitch throughout.
I didn't reckon my ball of brown wool would give me six mats, so I thought I'd try just one, and a bit smaller.....and see how long it took.

I choose a simple pattern with just three basic stitches:-

Slip knot
Chain stitch
Double crochet

HERE'S MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT A SIMPLE BLOCK MADE FROM DOUBLE CROCHET

TIME TAKEN......4 hrs 20 minutes (Yes, I'm shocked too)

MEASURES.... just under 10 inches, 

WEIGHS.....47 grams (which I'm surprised at since the ball was marked at weighing only 29g to begin with...)

CROCHET PROJECT REFLECTIONS???

Well, I don't know if you noticed, but there's something a little odd about the shape..... it seems that my first few rows are shorter than the rest of the block, but after the stitches are the right count, so the problem must be that I started off to tight (especially with the chain) and then got super relaxed as I got into the double crochet rhythm.

I'm not entirely sure what the future holds for my first square, I'm going to put it on one side for the moment until I've learned some other stitches to maybe put some granny squares round the edges and make a cushion. To be continued...

If you fancy a go at this, just to practice, here's the instructions...

1. Make a slip knot, then make 41 chain stitches (cs)
2. Make your 1st double crochet (dc) through the 2nd chain and work through each single chain to the end.
3. Make 1 single chain stitch (cs) then flip the work over
4. Make a double crochet in the 2nd chain, and continue to the end 
5. Keep going until you've had enough


Here are the stitches I used...


STITCHES NEEDED

1. The first is the slip knot, essential for starting any project. 

Go here for a written step by step tutorial

2. Next, the chain stitch, also essential for every project, as this is the foundation chain. (I did 40 of these on this project, then an extra chain to start the second row (see instructions below))

Go here for a written step by step tutorial

3. And lastly, the double crochet stitch. (My tutorial has loads of pictures, for this, so go straight over to the double crochet step by step tutorial.

CROCHET TIPS?

From one newbie to another, I'd recommend:-

A. Spending some time just getting used to how the yarn tension is kept consistant between the fingers of both hands,

B. I found that I was getting tense myself at times (not exactly stressful activity...) so just be aware of keeping relaxed and not tugging too much with the right arm (right handers advice) otherwise your shoulder and wrist will not be happy with you!! 

C. Crochet is not to be an exhausting workout, but it does help to move your shoulder round every now and then, and your head, just to loosen any stiffness in your neck. 

D. Try and keep your stitches loose

E. I found that if I kept the ball of yarn on my lap, it was a comfortable place for it be as I gently tugged the yarn free from the ball from time to time

Enjoy practising your first stitches!! Happy crochet :)