Scarfs and other Winter things

I'm like a squirrel storing nuts for winter.  I finished the WG's hat, then a v stitch scarf in raspberry with pale pink fringe to match the hat.  Then I decided a ruffled brights scarf was in order, I mean everyone should have choices right?

The WG will be going to intermediate school next year and that means uniform.  This is the last year that I get to dress her, kind of.  Make no mistake, she chooses her own clothes every day but I still get input to the larger wardrobe.  The boho crochet beanies I made her last year are the envy of many a little girl at her school, as is her pencil case.  These are one of a kind things that nobody else has, that make her a little exclusive.  So she's keen for more.

Ruffled scarves are easy peasy, but look somewhat complicated and they use quite a bit of yarn.  It's simply a matter of crocheting a foundation stitch to your desired length, then adding 3 for the first treble.  Then you crochet two trebles into every stitch till it's spirally and ruffly as you want it to be.  I used the Moda Vera Willowy from Spotlight (it's on special for $3.99 a ball) and a 3.75mm hook. 5 balls though is a lot of yarn for a scarf.  Still it's exactly what I wanted it to be, it reminds me of a carnival and I'm sure it will brighten the greyest winter day.

I'm making another in black and silver.

Meantime I've had some adventures with the girls.  Western Springs was sadly missed, they (the girls) decided they just had to go to the movies.  I wanted to go so badly on the off chance I would meet up with Aunty Mum who was up visiting Auckland from Tauranga.  Unfortunately you have to learn to pick your battles with teens and tweens without letting them know there is a battle of wills.

I made the argument that it was a waste of a lovely day to spend it in the dark in a movie theatre, that rain was coming in the next few days but they held firm and pooh poohed my forecast of rain in coming days.  Deciding it wasn't a hill I wanted to die on, I dropped them at the mall and came home to do some housework in relative peace for a couple of hours.

The Man Child has no interest in being seen at the mall in the company of his 10 yr old sister (and up until her second year at school she was dead set she would marry him, cried her eyes out when he went off to intermediate and left her at school by herself and would love her friends to see her with him!) despite the enhancement being seen with a somewhat comely 16 yr old female cousin would afford, stayed home to help his dear old Mum.  He really can be very good.  He mowed the lawn and cleaned the deck while I vacuumed and dusted.

This afternoon (apparently sleeping until midday is de rigeur for school holiday teens although the tween is usually up by 9am) we are heading down to Save Mart to see what we can find amongst the racks.

Then I expect there will be a fashion show.

The one with the versatile hat...

I finished the WG's hat today, made with spotlights DK (8 Ply) Shepherd very crafty pure wool, left over from the granny stripe I made her.  It takes less than a ball and only a few hours to make these berets, they are simple.

To make hers larger than the red one in the previous post, I changed the pattern considerably so I don't think I am infringing on the authors pattern because of the changes so here is how I did it.

The basics are as follows: To make a flat circle -

chain 4, join the last chain to the first chain to form a circle.

Row 1:  Chain 3, counts as first treble.  11 tr into the centre to create a circle of 12 tr.

Row 2:  Ch 3, 1 tr into the same stitch, 2 tr into every ch = 24 tr.

Row 3:  Ch 3, *1 tr into the next stitch, 2 tr into the next stitch rpt from * to end.

Row 4:  Ch 3, *1 tr into the next 2 stitches , 2 tr into the next stitch rpt from * to end.

Carry on increasing the number of single stitches between the 2 tr into 1 stitch until you have 7 single trs between 2 tr into 1 stitch. This should be row 8.

This is a standard flat circle pattern used for many different objects from bags, pot holders and hats to  mats and simple doilies.  Lucy from Attic 24 has a good step by step flat circle tutorial, you'll find her site in the sidebar to the right.

When you have 8 rows as above:

Row 9: Ch 3, tr into each stitch to the end.

Row 10 & 11 As per Row 9 .

so that is 3 rows of plain trebles no increases.

Row 12:  (This is where you start a standard decrease click to see how) Ch 3, 1 tr into each stitch 7 times. Then tr decrease into the next two stitches to turn two into one.  The result will be an upside down V

Row 13:  Ch 3, 1 tr into each stitch 6 times then tr decrease into next two stitches as above.

Rows 14-18:  SC into each stitch join at the beginning with a slip stitch OR if you prefer, keep going to crochet in a spiral and avoid a seam on the band which is what I did, that part is at your discretion.

Row 19:  Crab Stitch to end. Tie off and weave or sew in your ends.

Note crab stitch gives a pretty edge but it's kind of fiddly at first, it's almost backward sc.  Here is a video tutorial that will help.

The crab stitch also firms up the edge slightly.

If you prefer a small picot edging would look pretty too.

I did this in a solid colour but there is no reason why you can't do stripes or blocks of colour.  It's entirely up to you.  The hat can be worn in a variety of ways, as above the WG has it like a beret but you can pull the front forward to form a peak like a cheese cutter cap or wear it further back with hair tucked into it kind of like a snood.  The WG is well pleased with hers.

This hat fits me too.  For a larger head, I am guessing you should add another row of increase as required and the decrease rows should be adjusted accordingly e.g. 8 tr between incr then 8 tr between decr.  I haven't tried it out.  Or you could try a larger hook for a looser stitch.

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For my next quick project, before I get back to my squares, I am making a V stitch scarf for P, my niece who arrived at lunch time from Tauranga to stay for the holidays.

Here is the wool although the colour is kind of off under the lights.  It's Shepherd 8 ply lambswool felted from spotlight. $7.99 a ball which is more than I usually pay but I wanted to see how it went.

In real life it's more a reddish purple, almost a raspberry colour and it will look fantastic on P with her dark hair and peaches and cream complexion.

The V stitch looks pretty good with this wool.   I wanted a stitch that would use the yarn to best advantage but still be warm and cosy.

I found the pattern on Ravelry it's the Rosey-Posey Scarf Pattern.

The yarn helps the stitches look nice and defined although it is a little uneven in thickness some bits being thicker and others thinner as you crochet through the ball.

I am using a 5mm hook.  Even though this is basically a DK wool, I felt that a smaller hook would make the felted wool quite thick and solid feeling, too stiff for a nice scarf.  I could of course be wrong.

Happy St Patricks day!

It's 9am and everyone is sleeping.  Last night we went out adventuring till late.  The husband had a rare night off i.e. he wasn't "on call" for fires, which meant we could go out and not worry about having our evening interrupted by the pager.

We took the children out to play mini golf, something they've expressed an interest in doing over the years.  My hockey playing children were somewhat confused by the golf putter but adjusted well, the man child got a couple of holes in one.  The match took about an hour and was won by the hubs who has previous experience playing golf but professes to be useless at putting.  The man child came second and the wee girl 3rd.  I brought up the rear as usual my lack of competitive spirit and skill at things sporty no doubt had a bearing.

Then we tootled down to the Wynyard Quarter for dinner.  The man child showed a great interest in the "hot" girls walking down Quay St to Vector Arena for the Taylor Swift Concert.  We had an awesome meal and got home around 10pm, everyone was in bed before 11pm.  And now I am up alone as they slumber on.

Spotlight are having a sale and whilst wandering looking for odds and ends for my squares (I have 30 now and I've used up quite a bit of my stash) I stumbled upon this:

Moda Vera Willowy, 100% Viscose for $4 a ball.

It was calling to me to play with it, I swear!  I've never used 100% viscose.  It has a pretty sheen and it's soft.  So beautiful and soft!

I had to buy some, had to!

So I got 3 balls, the pink, green and white.

I brought them home...

I sat and contemplated...

What does this want to be? I asked myself.  I thought and thought.

Flowers, definitely flowers.

And so I hit on African Flowers.  They are unbelievably soft and pretty.  I put aside my squares to make them.  This is going to be my scarf this winter.  Two hexagons wide and as long as I can make it to wind around my neck.

There is a darker purple I might have to go back for as a contrast, I haven't decided yet.

It's going to be just warm enough for Auckland and I have wanted a new scarf for a while now.  The wee girl has her own flower scarf but this stuff is so pretty and so lovely to work with, I might have to make her another!  It glides over the hook and feels absolutely silken as it runs though my fingers to create the tension.  I'm in love!

My days off have been busy this week.  With my new sew pouch I have created a cellphone sock in cotton.  fiddly to work with but I think it looks pretty good.

It looks better on the phone but I couldn't take a picture of it with the phone, while it was on the phone.  I could have gone and borrowed one of the other phones but they were all tucked up on their chargers, in the bedrooms of their slumbering owners and if I have learned one thing being a mother, it's to let sleeping husbands and children lie, if I ever want time to myself!

And of course today is St Patricks Day.

May your pockets be heavy, your heart be light and good luck pursue you each morning and night.

Slainte.

More flower scarf

All done!  I'm feeling proud!

My Wee Girl is going to love this and it's going to look just awesome with her denim jacket.

I crocheted the flowers together top and bottom using two petals for strength, then for added security, I used lime green cotton to edge the whole thing in single crochet.  I used a 1.75mm hook to do the edging and that raised the petals slightly .

I also added a decoration to each end, a flower bead and a circle made of the same cottons one end and a simple flower at the other.  Both hang off a chain.

It's not super long nor is it super thick or warm, this is purely decorative.

I so cannot wait to go pick her up from her friends this afternoon and give it to her.

Each flower measures 8cm across and there are 14 in all.  I'm so, so happy with the way it turned out!  I'm considering using left overs from her blanket to create a winter scarf for her with hearts and or stars.  It's the perfect time of year to make smaller projects.

This morning saw my husband wake up with the worst stiff neck in history.  He's had a stiff neck that has slowly got worse since Boxing day, he has no idea what he's done to it but the pain was so bad last night that he was up every other hour.  So this morning saw us off to A+E for some relief for him.  He has the added complication of being on duty for Fire calls so he can't take any really decent medication.  Hopefully the muscle relaxant and will help.

Between projects

Having finished the granny striped blanket and it being Christmas break, I find myself with time on my hands.  It's also a little hot and humid to be playing with wool quite frankly.


So I've been doing this...

With 2 ply crochet cotton and a 2.5mm hook.  I've decided to make a flower scarf.  I've seen a number of them on line including Lucy's at Attic24.  I found a flower tutorial here  at Revving it up,designed by Revlie Schutte and modified it slightly as follows.

Do the first three rows as per the tutorial, 

chain 6, sl stitch into ring
Round 1: chain 4, dc1, ch1, dc1, ch1 around, slip stitch to join (12 dc)
Round 2: chain 5, dc1, ch2, dc1, ch2 around, slip stitch to join (12 dc)
Round 3: chan 3 + 3dc in 1st loop, 4 dc in each loop around, slip stitch to join

Then my modifications 

Round 4: *chain 4, skip 4, slip stitch to join, continue between * around, slip stitch to join

Round 5: *1 sc 8 dc 1sc in each loop, slip stitch to join* around finish with a slip stitch. 

Crochet together with a slip stitch by placing flowers with two petals matching and right sides together.   I've done a dozen flowers so far and this is how it looks.  This one is going to be a lightweight summer version single row, but I will make a woollen version with three rows or maybe four for winter.