99 Days of Crochet - Day 6 Textured Diagonal

This pattern intrigued me after Posted Chevrons, as I was thinking that I could make interesting diagonal patterns inspired by the chevrons. I made it with an H hook and Red Heart Super Saver Medium Purple. I used the smaller hook because I wanted a tighter stitch on this one after the previous few squares turned out too loose. Overall, I think it turned out great!

The diagonal texture and pattern of this stitch would make a great scarf. I'm interested in seeing what it would look like with two colors. I'll have to add it to my list of extra experiments to do after the 99 Days project!

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99 Days of Crochet - Day 5 Posted Chevrons

I was excited to start the Posted Chevrons stitch; it looked very neat in the picture. Mine didn't turn out quite the same level of goodness, but it still looks pretty nice I think! I used Lion Brand Pound of Love Spring Green, with a K hook. I probably should have used a darker yarn for this pattern so it would show up better, and a smaller hook would have made it neater but I am trying to make all the squares 7' x 9' and have to get the number of stitches right to make the size I want.

I really like this stitch and can imagine making all sorts of different patterns with it: squares, circles, letters, and more! The back also gets an interesting texture in the same pattern as the front. This would be a great stitch to use for an afghan, especially for different shapes. Concentric squares might be interesting!

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99 Days of Crochet - Day 4 Little Boxes

I like the waffle stitch and the pattern in the book, Little Boxes, looked quite similar. However, a key difference is that the stitches in Little Boxes are less pronounced than in the waffle stitch.

The stitch pattern is very simple as well, so it was quick to work up. It wasn't as fast as some of the others but definitely took less time and yarn than the Ladder stitch. This square was worked using a K hook and Lion Brand Pound of Love Pastel Green. I really like this yarn; it's much softer than the Caron One Pound and was the same price on sale. These pictures don't do justice to the pretty color of the yarn!

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And here are some pictures of the Waffle stitch square I had made previously, for comparison:

99 Days of Crochet - Day 3 Duet

Today's stitch, Duet, is another that includes shells as well as posts. I used an I hook and Red Heart Super Saver Spring Green yarn. After attempting the first few rows of this multiple times I concluded that whenever these patterns want me to chain 3 randomly in the middle of the pattern, one two chains are probably sufficient.

The stitch looks a lot like the Recessed Shells, and I'm not very fond of it. Crocheting this stitch was agonizing. It took me several hours just to get through the first few rows until I memorized the pattern. In the end, I made a lot of mistakes and I don't feel like it looks very interesting.

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99 Days of Crochet - Day 2 Ladders

Day 2 is the stitch Ladders, which is very similar to a Basket stitch except it isn't alternating. The stitch is very simple and works up fairly quickly, though because it's entirely post stitches it's quite dense and rows are shorter than normal double crochets. It's fast and easy to do, but to make a length takes a while and unless it's stretched it's very bunched up and dense.

After doing 3 or 4 rows, I decided that I was going to forever ignore any instructions to chain 3 at the end of rows; chaining 3 almost always results in a wavy, crooked edge. Chaining 2 looks much better, in my opinion.

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99 Days of Crochet - Day 1 Receding Shells

The first pattern in the book is Receding Shells, which alternates between shells and double crochet posts. The shells have some back post crochet in them. Overall, I wasn't too impressed. Perhaps I needed a lighter yarn and tighter stitching? I used a K hook and Caron One Pound Blue yarn.

I found the stitch itself to be fairly easy. I did have trouble getting the right number of chains in the beginning, but I think I may have been just messing up with the stitch instructions (there are a lot of steps in each repetition).

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99 Days of Crochet

For the past few days I'd been working on various afghan squares for the Warm Up America effort, and was using the opportunity to learn different stitches. I had a few finished when I realized I couldn't find many post stitch guides out there, so I bought the book 99 Crochet Post Stitches at my local crafts store.

For the next 99 days I'll be making one square of each pattern in this book (or at least my best attempt)! I won't be posting the patterns for the stitches (some of them are out there, check the Look Inside! feature on Amazon). So far, post stitches are my favorites, and I hope you enjoy taking the journey through this book with me!

Catherine's Wheel Circle Scarf

My friend showed me this Catherine's Wheel Scarf pattern over at people webs, and I just had to make it! However, I didn't have any colors of Caron Simply Soft that matched, so I used some Red Heart Super Saver Baby Pink and Loops and Threads Impeccable Big White, crocheted together.

Needless to say, it didn't come out very well. It was my first attempt at the Catherine's Wheel, and proved very difficult with the bulkier yarn and two strands. I didn't do it long enough, and it was quite stiff. The stitch itself is very pretty, but I wasn't satisfied with the result. Perhaps I'll try this stitch again sometime, but for now I have other plans...

3DS XL Case

I made these two 3DS cases during a weekend of crochet inspiration at my friend's house. One is made from Red Heart Super Saver Earth & Sky, and the other is made from Caron Simply Soft Iris. Both of them are made with the same pattern.

This is the front of the Earth & Sky case. It took me only about 2 hours to whip together. The yarn is fairly bulky so it was very quick. The 3DS is completely inside the case, so when you fold over the flap it's protected.

This is the back. You can see where the flap begins because the pattern gets a bit off-kilter.

This shows the front/top of the case. Note how it can sit upright with the 3DS inside!

For this picture I placed the 3DS inside and folded the flap over inside the case.

The front of the case has a button my friend gave me. I think it was an extra button from a peacoat. It's off-center because I wanted it to be right in the middle of two of the shells. If I had made the loop one row earlier it would have been right in the middle.

This is the back of the case. I really like the pattern it made, and the shell stitch makes it have a cool texture!
This picture looks really neat if you scroll up and down while looking at it.

Finally, here's the case with the flap up and the 3DS XL inside!

Pattern

This pattern is worked in the round (continuous).

Key:
sc: single crochet
sl st: slip stitch
ch: chain
shst:

Base:
Round 1: Ch 24. Alternate start in 2nd hump from hook with 4 sc in last st, continue to the other side, 2 sc in last st.
Round 2: 2 sc in first st, sc in each st to the end of one side, 2 sc in last st, 2 sc in first st of the other side, sc in each st, 2 sc in last st.

Sides:
Round 3: Begin shell stitch: sc in first st, skip 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip 2 st. Continue the shell stitch around.
Round 4+: When you come to the first shell stitch, ensure you make the sc in the 3rd dc of the previous shell stitch, and the 5 dc should be in the sc. After you have done this a few rows you will know what to look for and automatically notice when you miss a stitch.
Round 5: When you have made the case fit the 3DS XL, end your shell stitches on one end of the case so you can start the flap. When you're ready to turn, either end on a sc or the third dc of one of the shells.

Flap:
Row 1: If you ended on a sc, ch 3, turn, and sc into the same stitch, then 2 dc into the same stitch. Skip 2, and sc into the 3rd dc of the next shell. Continue with the shell stitch to the end of the row (and end with either a sc or the third dc).
If you ended with the third dc of the shell, ch 1, sc in first st, continue with shell stitch to the end of the row (and end with either a sc or the third dc).
Row 2+: Repeat row 1 as many times as you'd like for the flap.

Button:
On your last row, you can pause at any time and make the button loop by chaining. Sc to attach the chain to the piece where you stopped working, and check that the button just slips through without being too loose or tight. If it's too small, make a few more chains and if it's too big, just pull out some chains. Once it's the right size, continue with the shell stitch to the end of the row and finish off.

Affix the button with some thread and you're done!

Good luck with your project! Let me know if you have any questions!

Infinity Scarf

I made this scarf as a slightly-late Christmas present for my best friend's mom.

I found the yarn at a rummage sale for cheap, only $1 for 4 skeins. I had never even heard of FedMart! It's called natura Ultra-Aire, 50% Acrylic, 50% Nylon, in Brick color. You can't really tell from the picture, but the yarn was orange inside and had clearish-silvery fluff coming off it that made me want to use this for a scarf. I used about 1.5 skeins of this yarn. Each skein was 3oz, but there was no yardage listed on the packaging.

Here's a picture of the scarf flattened out. The dimensions are approximately 9 inches wide by 40 inches around.

Pattern

This pattern is worked in rows (not in rounds). I used a K hook. Stitch markers are recommended. Key:
sc: single crochet
dc: double crochet
hdc: half double crochet
slst: slip stitch
ch: chain

R1: Foundation chain the length you want. Mine turned out about 40 inches long. I recommend checking the size around your neck to make sure it's a good size for you.
slst into the first back "hump" to join into a circle, ensuring there are no twists in your chain.
R2: hdc in each of the back "humps" around, slst to join.
R3: dc in each stitch around, slst to join.
R4-R22: alternate R2 and R3 around. You can do more or fewer rows if you'd like.
R23: sc around, slst to join.
Weave in ends and you're done!

Let me know if you have any questions about the pattern so I can improve my pattern-writing skills, and help you with your project!

Drawstring Pouch

While visiting my friend I had some extra inspiration to crochet, and one of the projects I decided on was this drawstring pouch based on this pattern by Coder Mommy.

I had lent some Red Heart Super Saver Earth & Sky yarn to my friend to learn to crochet with, so I used that for this pouch. It worked up in just a few hours; it actually took me longer to remember how to make a magic circle since I hadn't crocheted one in so long!

The only change I made to Coder Mommy's pattern was to add an extra row to the top of the pouch to give it a cute edging. For this I picked a shell stitch.

The drawstring was the funnest part to make. I used Caron Simply Soft Black and made a chain. The chain was the perimeter of the fully-opened bag plus a few inches on one end. I then started to single crochet in the back "hump" of the chain to stitch the ends together so the string would not need to be tied together or get stuck inside the edging of the bag.

The pouch closed up with some stuff inside

The pouch opened up

The bottom of the pouch. I don't really like how working in rows for circular crochet looks, but at least you can't see it too bad on this project.