Creekside Crochet

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Technical Thursday: Awesome Cat Sack Hat FREE pattern!

Everything is awesome here at Creekside Crochet this week. So I decided to make up a pattern for my daughter's crazy hat day tommorrow and share it with you all. She loves cats and unicorns and all that stuff(she must get it from her father, I prefer skulls and skeletons hehe)

Now this pattern is ranked just between easy and intermediate- it requires some knowledge of working amigurumi in spirals. As well as front post/back post and working in the round.

The AWESOME Cat Sack Hat

You need the following colors in a worsted weight- I used Red Heart Super Saver

White

Petal pink

Shocking pink

Black

Aruba Sea

J(6mm) Hook

Needle for sewing

HAT:

Round 1:With white, do a chainless HDC Foundation of 64 stitches.

Round 2: Ch 1, HDC in same stitch(counts as first BPHDC). FPHDC in next, alternate around, join in Ch1(32 FPDC/32 BPHDC)

Round 3: Ch 1, BPHDC around both Ch1 and the first BPHDC of the last round. FPHDC around next front post, BPHDC around next back post. Repeat around, join in ch 1(32 FPHDC/32 BPHDC)

Round 4: Repeat round 3, tie off when finished.

Round 5: With Petal Pink, join in any stitch and ch 1, HDC in same stitch. HDC around, join in ch 1.

Round 6: Ch 1, HDC in same stitch. HDC around. Join in Ch 1.(64 HDC)

Round 7-19: Repeat Round 6

Round 20: Repeat Round 6, tie off and weave in ends(We'll sew with a doubled string of yarn for strength and tension)

Set Hat Aside

Horn: (Make 1)

We are working in spirals, DO NOT JOIN!

With Aruba Sea and the J hook:

Round 1: Magic Circle, 6 SC in circle. (6)

Round 2: 1 SC in next, 2 SC in next. Repeat 3 times(9)

Round 3-4: SC around. (9)

Round 5: SC in next 2, 2 SC in next. Repeat 3 times(12)

Round 6-7: SC around. (12)

Round 8: SC in next 3, 2 SC in next. Repeat 3 times(15)

Round 9-14: SC around (15)

Round 15: SC in next 4, 2 SC in next. Repeat 3 times(18)

Round 16-19: SC around (18)

Slip stitch into next stitch, press flat and slip stitch through 2 layers 4 or 5 times before tying off.

Ears: (Make 2)

DO NOT JOIN! (This section is hard to write out, so bear with me- I'm going to write it as I did it)

With Shocking Pink and J hook:

CH 6. We will be working BOTH SIDES of the chain, one end has no increases, while the other increases to give us the desired shape.

Round 1: SC in 2nd ch from hook and in the next 4 stitches. Turn your chain and place a SC directly opposite the last one made to work up the other side of the chain, and in the next 4 ch stitches. 4 SC in the last remaining stitch. (9 SC, 4 in one)

Round 2: 1 sc x 14

Round 3: 1 sc x 11, 2 sc in next 2

Round 4: 1 sc x 17

Round 5: 1 sc x 13, 2 HDC in next 2

Round 6: 1 sc x 19

Round 7: 1 sc x 14, 2 HDC in next 3

Round 8: 1 sc x 22

Round 9 and 10: Repeat Round 8. Sl st in next. Flatten the ear and working through both layers, slip stitch the bottom shut for a few stitches.

Eyes: (Make 2)

We WILL be joining, and turning. Pay attention!

With Black
1: Magic Circle, 6 sc(6) Sl st into 1st stitch to join
2: Ch 1, 2 HDC in each stitch around(12) sl st into 1st HDC to join
3: Ch 1, HDC in next, 2 HDC in next stitch. Repeat 6 times, tie off black, weave in end (18)

With ARUBA SEA
4: Pull up a loop in any stitch and slip stitch into the next 2 stitches. 2 sc in next, sc in 2, 2 sc in next, sc in 2, 2 sc in next, 2 slip stitches. Ch 1 and TURN (14)
5: Sk 1st slip stitch, slip stitch in 2nd stitch and next 2 stitches. 2 sc in next, HDC in next 3, 2 sc in next, sc in next 4, working around both of the last 2 rows(black and aruba slip stitches). Tie off, weave end into same color. (14)

With WHITE
6. With the right side facing you, pull up a loop in the same black stitch you started the Aruba Sea. SC in next 4, 2 Sc in next sc in next 4, 2 sc, sc in next 4, slip stitch into the black on the other side. (18 sc, 1 sl st) TURN
7. Ch 1, skip next sl st, sc in next 3, HDC in next 2, 2 HDC in next stitch, hdc in next 5, 2hdc in next stitch, sc in next 3, sl st. Tie Off, weave in ends

With BLACK:
8. Join in any stitch. SC in next 5, 2 sc in next. Repeat around. Join, leave long tail for sewing.

FINISHING

Use a doubled strand of petal pink(Put it on the needle and tie the ends together, it'll be a big loop) and use that to sew the ears and horn in place. Sew the first ear, then count how many stitches you used to do so and count in from the other side, use a marker. Then center your horn in the space between and sew it in, then sew in the other ear.

Attach the eyes, and when you reach a good spot for some eyelashes for that girly feel, put them on there.

Stay Happy, Hookers!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Instead of our regularly scheduled program

Please allow me to act all crazy weird. I'm wired. Why?

BECAUSE I DID IT!

I finished this beast of a blanket. 6 weeks and 4857 yards of Homespun. Somewhere around 7 by 9 feet of C2C done in wildfire and pearls

So I'm going to go do a happy dance and allow myself a few days to just wow it. Have a great week!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Technical Thursday: Hearts on Parade

Good morning hookers!

I'm making the effort to get back on track this week. We are having a crazy week yet again here at Creekside. The IRS paid our tax return to a state that claimed we owed back child support for a child that was adopted by her stepfather last spring, charging us over a thousand dollars a month for each month AFTER the adoption was completed. (No good deed goes unpunished- it was initiated by the child's mother for legal reasons). So my camera is on hold for now :/

And my hot water pipe is frozen, it's only -13 outside.

So anyways, I'm in the mood for a little something cheery and thought I'd do a free heart pattern roundup. I've made some of these, but not all, and just figured I'd put some together to lift my spirits.

1. My favorite doily- The Hearts Desire Doily- pattern available here by Red Heart/Coats and Clark. I went a little insane last year with them, because they're so quick and easy.

2. My favorite stand alone square, pattern by SmoothFox on Ravelry here

I made this quick little apron for a swap I was in last year.

3. A most adorable heart rose applique is available here, written by Mia's Heartfelt Hands on ravelry.

4. Need something quick and easy to make for a child? Try this most cute heart coin purse, pattern by I'm hooked 25 and found on their blog here

5. Coffee cozy with a heart applique? Cute and functional- find it here on the This ninja creates blog.

6. A heart shaped picture frame? Love it! I had a dreamcatcher in a heavily starched one of these as I was growing up, I LOVED it! Pattern is by Helen Free and available here in both UK and US terms ;)

7. I can't forget about the Danish Heart that keeps appearing in my newsfeed- it's adorable, and available here, written by the talented Alipyper

8. ADORABLE baby legwarmers(and really, what's cuter than a baby wearing legwarmers?) from Dearest Debi's blog here

9. Sachets never go out of style- There's a quick one at Red Heart here

10. A scarf you say? Okay- how fun is this one? Available here , written by Alice Merlino

11. Need a kid sized bag so they can carry their valentines around? Try this one here , written by Andee Graves and published on Red Heart's website.

12. And last, but not least, we need a small basket of some sort- so give this Petal to Picot's pattern a try here

An even dozen seems like a good number to me, should keep you busy for at least a little while.

Love, live and laugh my hooker friends, and have a Happy Valentine's Day :)

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Technical Thursday: C2C Color changes

Apologies! I'm late, again :/ My mother was in the hospital this week and was diagnosed with COPD, so I was understandably a bit distracted.

Anyways, here it is- my favorite method of color changing while doing c2c. You know how to size and shape it, and how to do increase and decrease stitches.

First up, we've finished color A. There are 2 different types of color change, for increase and deacrease stitches. Remember, I use liquid stitch to help me here, I find it helps me save on yarn to not have to leave 6 to 8 inches to weave in properly and I've yet to have anything I put liquid stitch on pull apart under normal use.

To INCREASE color change: First, take your hook and work it through the last loop made as well as the top loop of the inside of the last dc(the 2nd pull up a loop motion). Note the I already cut color A and pulled it through.

Now, I'm going to pull up a loop of color B and CHAIN 6 OVER BOTH MY WORKING YARN AND THE TAIL- I generally try for 2 or 3 chain stitches before I run out of tail. I will go back later and apply a bead of liquid stitch to the ends after I'm finished with the entire project(in case of frogging).

Then I stop and weave in the tail of color A and return to the end of the chain. I turn and do my 3dc in the 1st 3 chains, working of the tail of color B as well. Slip stitch over the tail of color A and continue your row.

To DECREASE color change. Tie off color A, and insert your hook in the space between the chain and first dc(the space where you slip stitch to. Chaining over BOTH the working yarn and your tail, chain 3 of color B then make the rest of your block.

It can look quite messy(and homespun frays on the ends, so forgive the fluff.

Remember, I'll be coming back when I'm done and using some fabric glue, then trimming the fluff off when I'm done. I'm working a rectangle with a 6/3 color repeat, so when I get to the side I'm increasing, I'll just do a normal increase on one side, and a decrease on the other. This is what the increase looks like.

I'll come back and clean this up, in a month or two, so leave a comment with any questions and I'll try to include them. 8 days until I order my camera, and a learning curve, and I'll be redoing pictures for most everything, but I wanted to get this out there because I know some people have been waiting for it.

Happy Hooking!

Friday, January 31, 2014

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Technical Thursday: C2C Sizing and shape.

How are you, hookers? Hope you're well. It's been a crazy busy week here creekside, with a fresh wave of subarctic temperatures, a MIL birthday, new furniture and our troop started meeting again :)

So this week, we'll be discussing the sizing and shape from your C2C project. Once I can hold a hook again and get back to work on my afghan(hammer, cheap screwdriver and speed work with an unpadded F hook have left me unable to hold a hook right this moment), I'll get the color change technique up and running.

So there are 3 types of "blocks" you can do with your C2C.

1. Increase- Chain 6, turn and put a DC in the 4th, 5th, and 6th chain from the hook.

2. Decrease- Slip stitch across the top of the most recently completed block, Ch 3, 3 DC in the same space

3. Interior- Ch 3, 3 DC in same space, slip stitch into next space.

So those are pretty simple, correct? We've already done our basics. Now you want to make it to the proper size.

First off, the basic shape is a square. You simply do increases on both ends until a flat side is the size you want it to be, like so:

Please note that 1, the picture is sideways(I still haven't figured out how to fix orientation on here yet) and 2, I always put the tail where I started on the left hand side closet to me when I measure. That is just my personal preference. As you work on your C2C, you noticed the characteristic triangle shape, with 2 straight sides and the wavy working edge. You can measure on either flat side for our purposes.

For a Square shape, once one of your straight edges has reached the size you want it to be, you simply decrease on both sides until you are done.

Now comes the more difficult rectangle. Now, you're going to pick a straight edge to be the bottom(A). So when you get to that corner, you're going to do a decrease block with the slip stitch up the recently completed box, and work interior blocks until you get to the other side. On that side(B), you're going to do an increase block, then turn and continue back towards the bottom corner. Complete as many rows as it takes, taking care to increase on the same side as you did previously, and decrease on the same side(C-though I didn't put it on my sketch). So then you have your bottom edge, and a side edge. Once your side edge on the increase side is the size you want it to be, you will switch to doing a decrease on both sides.

I've prepared (embarrassingly) simple sketches showing the progress of a rectangle C2C.

Remember, Side A is the BOTTOM edge. It is the size I want it to be. Let's call them 1" blocks, so it's 4". So every time I get to the end of a row on side C(again, that'd be the right side of the sketch, D will be the top of our project), I will DECREASE- which adds no more blocks along side A.

So once I get back to side B, I'm going to INCREASE which makes my project start to take a rectangle shape.

And again, I will Decrease on side C, and Increase on side B.

Now, side B is my desired 6" tall.

So now I decrease on both sides(C and D).

And finally, I've reached the corner again. And it's a rectangle! Practice with a scarf, or if you have a tablet, you can make a quick practice tablet holder by making side A just as wide as your tablet, and side B twice as long, then fold it in half and sc or slip stitch the sides together.

^That's my kindle sleeve, made with a sport weight yarn and G hook.

Thanks for reading :) And have a happy hooking day!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Technical Thursday: C2C basics

Hello Hookers!

Welcome to TT ;) This week, we're beginning a mini series on C2C, aka Corner to corner- sometimes referred to as a diagonal box stitch and even called a slanted shell stitch.

Confused yet?

Don't be. C2C is actually an extremely simple(almost too simple!) stitch pattern to pick up. Can you chain 6 and 3, slip stitch and make a DC(US terminology)? If so, you can join the C2C craze.

For this tutorial series, I'm going to insist on using some liquid stitch- it's important for the almost seamless method I use to change colors. So you need yarn(any size), the appropriately sized hook for the yarn(I used a worsted cotton and an H hook as recommended by the label), scissors, and the liquid stitch(or other permanent clear fabric adhesive).

Today, I'll go over the very basics. For the next couple of weeks, I'll take a more in depth look at both the color change, increasing and decreasing, and how to make taller than it is wide.

Starting your C2C:

Chain 6. DC in 4th, 5th and 6th chain from hook. (Sorry, some of the pictures are sideways and it's not letting me rotate them)

After completing the 3rd DC(in the 6th chain), chain 6 again. It should look like this:

Now DC in the 3 chains closest to the orignal box:

Now comes the part where people get confused(sometimes): You're going to rotate the box you just made and slip stitch between the end of the ch 6 and first DC you made in the previous box. It's the opposite corner from where your tail is:

Now, we're doing an increase row, so that means we need 2 boxes before we move onto the next row(for a total of 3 altogether). So we're going to chain 3 after completing the slip stitch.

Now, make 3 DCs around the same chain. Then, we're moving onto the next row, so chain 6 after the final DC:

Again, make 3 DCs in the last 3 chains. Turn, and slip stitch into the ch 3 space from the previous row. Because it's an "interior" box, you're going to Ch 3:

Just remember- interior boxes are ch 3, 3 DC in same spot, slip stitch in next ch 3 space and continue until you get to the outside edge. It will look like a triangle because we're on the increase side. When doing an outside edge, you ch 6, 3 DC in last 3 chains, turn and slip stitch.

I'm making a coaster, so I want it to be about 3.5" square. With the worsted weight yarn, that's five rows. (For more information on color change, see NEXTWEEKINSERTLINK).

So to measure, I'm going to lay my measuring tape along one of the straight outside edges and put the zero at my tail. Now we're ready to decrease.

To decrease, we're going to slip stitch across the tops of the 3 DCs in our corner box, and into the ch3 space. In the picture above, I'm also doing a color change, so I'm just going to tie on in the space I need to be in. Note that the decrease side is similar to the increase side, but instead of Ch 6, it'll be slip stitch in next 3, chain 3 before you continue.

So you've got your chain 3, now do the 3 DC in the same space. Slip stitch into the next stitch and continue across until the next to the last box. Complete the slip stitch, and instead of ch 3 to make another box, you're going to turn your work and slip stitch back across the tops of the 3 DC you just finished.

Ch 3, 3DC in same spot, and move on. You should be counting(When in doubt, count it out!). Because my increases stopped at 5, the first row on the decrease will be 4. Then 3. Then 2. And finally one. Please note that you will NOT be finishing off in the opposite corner from the tail.

Now, I could tie off here, but using a varigated makes my slip stitches on the decrease size more visible than I'd like, so I'm going to put a simple border on it- Ch 1, sc in same spot, then sc around, putting 1 sc on the top of each DC, or 3 across a ch 3 space. On corner squares, I'll put 2 dc across the tops or ch3 space, then 3 sc in each corner until I come around again and am able to finish off.

The SCs cover the slip stitches nicely.

And that, my hooker friends, is how you join the C2C craze ;)

Until Next week!