Archive for the Category »The Art of Crochet «

Aug

Yesterday I received a lovely comment from Tracey about the fringed shawl that I recently made and also a query about the pattern. So it struck me that maybe other people are also having the same problem.

The pattern is from Issue 4 of The Art of Crochet partworks. Now the pattern itself is easy but the really hard part is keeping the diamonds evenly matched and spaced out as you increase. I must admit I found it very difficult at first, just couldn’t get my head round it. I reckon I must’ve ripped back at least a dozen times before it finally clicked. It took an awful lot of staring at the photo illustrations in the pattern and lots of counting and scribbling but this is what I did.

Have another look at the close up picture of the pattern detail below and see if you can follow where I’m going

There are 3 rows to the diamond. Notice that when you complete the row that ends the top of the diamond, the following row will commence the bottom of the next set of diamonds. With me so far? Cool cool

Now, the open weave pattern of 5ch, 1 dc in next 5ch arch is what separates the diamonds. If you notice, when you place the bottom of the diamond it is exactly 2 sets of open weave from the top of the diamond on the previous row. Using this you should be able to work out where to start placing the bottom of the diamonds as you increase at the sides.

So, going back to the original pattern instructions in the part work. The 8th row and 9th row would finish the diamonds following the pattern as set. The next set of diamonds would start on the 10th row and the open weave would be repeated as follows. 5ch, 1dc in 2 ch sp, (5ch, 1 dc in next 5ch arch) 5 times. I then placed the diamonds as set in the pattern.

The next set would start on row 13. This time I would start the row as above but work the open weave 4 times. The set after would start in row 16, repeat open weave 3 times. Row 19 twice, then row 22, once. Then start again at 5 times.

I found that this worked for me and all the diamonds matched up perfectly.

I hope I’ve explained that properly as I’m pretty lousy at written instructions.

Hope that helps anybody who’s stuck with this out there. If not you can always leave me a message on the blog and I’ll try to explain myself better directly in a personal email.

Category: Crochet, The Art of Crochet Tags: crochet, fringed shawl, the art of crochet Leave a Comment

Jul

Vintage Squares 5 – 8

Ruby

Continuing on my vintage squares, here are the next 4 in the series.

Square 5 is a treble square with a large cross. Worked in Turquoise, this square is just rows of basic treble crochet.

Using some leftover Clover Pink yarn, a cross shape made of cross stitches is embroidered in the centre. This one was quite easy to embroider.

Square 6 is a ribbed pattern square. Looks very much like knit one purl one in knitting.

Worked in Maize, the ribbing effect was achieved by working in relief treble crochet. This is normal treble crochet but it is worked around the stem of the stitch through the back and through the front. Not a difficult stitch to master.

Square 7 is a half treble square with a star motif.

Worked in Sailor Blue yarn, the square is worked entirely in half trebles,forming a dense fabric. With Redcurrant, a simple star was embroidered in the centre in straight stitch. A couple of small stitches helped to fasten the straight stitches.

Square 8 is a square with coloured bobbles.

Using Aubergine yarn, this square has a treble crochet background. The bobbles are then worked in alternate rows using leftover Redcurrant, Clover Pink, Maize, Sailor Blue and Vanilla yarn.

Got some more squares to make up, but at the moment I’m busy working on the rug for my DD. I’d like to have it ready for when she goes to Uni in September.

Category: Crochet, The Art of Crochet, Vintage Style Throw Tags: the art of crochet, vintage style squares, vintage style throw Leave a Comment

Jul

Fringed Shawl

Ruby

Well I’ve finished crocheting my first shawl. In my previous post I was hoping to have it finished by the weekend. Well, I finished it on Wednesday evening. Spent yesterday blocking it and adding the tassels.

The pattern came from Issue 4 of The Art of Crochet. They used a designer yarn, as in the majority of the patterns in the part work. The original pattern was done in Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK. At £4 for a 50g ball it’s a bit out of my price range for this particular project. I decided to look for a substitute yarn and whilst in my local Hobbycraft, I found some Sirdar Juicy DK. Better still, it was half price

I picked a nice pale blue colour called Foam. It’s a lovely soft yarn, 80% bamboo and 20% cotton, just right for a summer project. The only thing I did find was that the yarn was extremely splitty.

Here’s a photo I took, it’s a little bit blurry as I was trying to focus on the yarn on the hook, but I think you can see what I mean.

The pattern itself is fairly easy once you get into the rhythm. It’s a triangular shawl featuring an open weave pattern with diamonds. It does take some concentration to work the diamonds as you increase. I did have to unravel it a few times as I missed the spots to place the diamonds. Here’s a piccie of the shawl taken at the beginning of the month as a WIP (work in progress)

Here you can see a close up of the pattern detail.

So 3 weeks and 10 1/2 balls later here is the final finished project modeled by yours truly.

Perfect as a cover up for those cooler summer nights.

So what’s my next project??? Well, I’ve already made a start on it. I’m just waiting for the rest of the wool to turn up from the US. Should be here sometime today as yesterday I paid the custom charges.

Wanna know more? OK. This is it.

It’s a lovely rug made in a pom pom style yarn. When I showed it to my daughter LJ, she fell in love with it. So I’m making it for her to brighten up her room for when she starts Uni.