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Remember the packing twine I used for my towel topper a few weeks ago (scroll down)? I had some left over and I badly needed a thingy for a side table (you’ve got to love the Military Engineering Services for the sheer numbers of dinky little tables they provide you with), so in overweening optimism, I started a doily called Pineapple Posy from Pineapple Crochet Designs ed. Rita Weiss. Naturally, the twine ran out, and I ended up with this. It shall remain in this condition forevermore, so in my books, it’s a finished object. At least the pineapples are done!
For my August CAT PAC, a friend sent me lots of blue-themed yarn and the Spring issue of Interweave Crochet, which had the Boteh scarf pattern. I had to start it immediately, so I grabbed the Patons Kroy sock yarn Rosi sent me as a contest prize and set off. The pattern repeat is simple enough, but I had to rip a bit after the second motif, having confused myself with right and wrong sides. Now it is making sense, though, and I’ve made quite some progress. Here it is:
Please forgive the blurry pictures, I’ll try and get a better one of the Boteh once it’s done.
I’ve also finished and added a zipper to Jacque‘s pattern that I was testing. Turned out a bit small, but more on that later. Have a hat FO in the wings, also, perhaps tomorrow.
I’ll never understand the fascination of the Larger than Life Bag, though. It’s just some motifs, right? Perhaps I’m missing something.
Well, not really, but it does look a lot like an eye! (Now I shall get lots of LOTR fan visitors.) This is the finished doily whose chart I had a problem with last week. Sorry for the horrible photograph! Specifications:
Thread: Red Heart thread, 50 gm ball, probably size 10 (the big balls don’t have a size written on them). I was stashbusting as usual and thought I had enough, but apparently I didn’t. My favourite local craft store didn’t have the exact shade of pink, so a lighter shade and an interesting twiny thread came home with me. I forayed to another craft store and picked up two 20gm balls of the right shade, but the wrong thickness. Now, these smaller balls have #20 on them, so I know the size, but held together they ended up thicker than my original thread, so I just shrugged and used a single strand. Apparently 20+20≠10 (wowie, I just used WordPress’ new advanced editing to put in that not-equal sign). This has happened to me before and I used a strand of sewing thread held with the size 20 to finish my Crochetville Doily Swap doily in September 2005. Somehow it didn’t occur to me and in any case I didn’t want to do that this time. Why didn’t I remember that simple equation (or un-equation, if you will)?
Hook: Started off with the plain Pony 1.75mm and when in the middle of the project I received the handle ones from Jaishree, I swapped for one of those. These Pony hooks with handles look identical to the Profi hooks, except they aren’t gold-tipped and obviously aren’t made in Germany. They are light and I think I might exclusively work with these for all my thread projects, unless of course I need a size they aren’t available in. I shall do a separate post showing off all the hooks she sent. Why don’t the company behind the Profis have a website? Maybe they do in German, but not, it appears, in English. You’d think at least Western companies would be well-established online.
Pattern: From Burda Handicraft Series Vol 1 No 3, Crochet Lace, E 227. Lovely patterns, lovely photography, and all patterns are charted, of course. Despite the hype about Magic Crochet, I find some of their photos are really sloppy. Although well-lit, the doilies look unblocked and even unfinished sometimes. There should be a difference between how I, an amateur, present my work and how a magazine showcases its designs.
Time: About a week, not including delays for thread emergencies and chart puzzling.
Size: About 33.5″ long and 19″ wide. Bigger than the specified size, since I used a larger hook.
Extra: #1 This is for my mom, whose birthday is coming up later this month.
#2 This is a pattern I’d love to redo, which makes it a very rare thing indeed (other than winging-it stuff like funfur bags for visiting small girls). And use the right size hook this time. And avoid the booboos I made in this one.
#3 That part of the chart I didn’t understand taught me a new technique, that of turning in the middle of the row to end up with loops that look as though they’re hanging in the air. Nice challenge, even if I didn’t solve it myself.
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On the book front, I finished Martha Grimes’ Lamorna Wink. Good read. I’ve now gone back to Pico Iyer (Falling off the Map). I find he doesn’t particularly make me want to visit any of the places he’s written about, but perhaps that holds true for most of the travelogues I read. Perhaps that is why I read them, to savour the experience without the effort.
How do I do the chain loops and the trebles into them? More precisely, how do I move from one chain loop to another? Please help me! This is from Burda Crochet Lace N.227. The picture is clickable.
ETA: With the help of experienced and helpful neighbours at Crochetville, the problem has been successfully solved! What looks like two rows are in fact worked as one (very clever and a technique I’ve never applied before, in this manner, at least) and hey presto, you have the magical “hanging in the air” impression.
There was another minor (potentially major) hiccup when I ran out of thread, and this morning’s expedition to the local craft store only led to a paler shade. Another expedition in the afternoon to another craft store yielded what the husband assures me is the same shade, only packaged in 20gm balls rather than 50gm. We shall now resume our scheduled crocheting.
Another remarkable thing is that facing the prospect of having to redo the entire doily in a colour I had more of, I wasn’t daunted. There are very few patterns I ever redo, so that says something about this one, I think. How about you? Do you usually redo patterns, or never?
Also, WordPress now has an Advanced toolbar in its editor. I must explore it sometime, and see if I can post tables, for example.
One of my commentors asked me for the instructions for the block and offset shell pattern I used in my blue blanket. It is from the Harmony Guides. What’s the legality or otherwise of posting the stitch instructions on the net? It isn’t a pattern, but a stitch pattern.
And here for the curious, are the front and back covers of the Southmaid booklet I made my last doily from.
As you can see, the Berka shells doily is on the back cover (framed). The one at the bottom is a larger version, which I didn’t make since I wasn’t confident I had the time to finish it and get it framed.
No one has yet told me what a Berka shell is! Is Berka a name?
There’s another wedding coming up this week, so I made another doily and got it framed. This is it before framing (and after impaling blocking).
It’s been framed against an off-white background and with a dark brown frame. Maybe I will take pictures later. Some of the specs:
Thread: Red Heart 100% mercerised cotton from Madura Coats. Size 20, I should think. The balls give amazing yardage.
Hook: Nameless 1.75 mm steel, probably Pony (could be Tulip also)
Pattern: Berka Shell doily from Southmaid Timeless Doilies to Crochet. (Someone will please explain what a berka shell is.)
Time: A day or so.
Size: Forgot to measure it before framing. I might measure it before wrapping it.
Extra: #1 Quick and easy.
#2 I used Pony Pearlised pins to block this and found they didn’t rust! Yay! Normally when I leave my doilies to dry overnight, I find the pins have rusted. Of course these could just be slow rusters, but maybe not. I shall have to buy lots more of them. This was only a small doily, so I didn’t need too many.
#3 I seem to have found my thread mojo again. Actually I was planning to make a couple more to frame as gifts for the husband’s hospital/mess, but he told me they aren’t classy enough. Ah well. That’s put me in my place, proper, it ‘as.
Not a party, sorry. Just this Trish Kristoffersen doily that I made to give a neighbour. She’s going to visit her sister in the US and I offered to make something for her to take. She asked for “something to put on the table”. I think this qualifies, don’t you?
Here are the specs:
Thread: DMC Baroque size 10. White.
Hook: 1.5 mm Tulip steel
Pattern: Diamond Landscape by Trish Kristoffersen, from Southmaid Masterpiece Doilies, Book 1411.
Time: A day.
Size: 13.3″ across from picot to picot.
Extra: #1 I used the thread weight recommended and the hook size recommended. Wow. At least it wasn’t the same thread brand.
#2 This was my third attempt after I tried an oval doily (the one on the cover) and another round one from the same booklet. The oval doily was ruffling. I kept at it to see if it would straighten out after a few rounds, but it didn’t, so I frogged it. The round doily had a bit of slip stitching to the required stitch, which I tried to do differently (join with ch, dc instead of ch 3), and then I got confused with what I’d done and where I was supposed to end up. Plus the thing was cupping slightly. I think I make my chains too tight. That would explain why the oval doily ruffled (because it starts with a base chain, obviously).
And here’s the salsa. With red capsicum, tomato and spring onions. Now I have to make something to eat it with.
I tested this pattern for Katchkan. Stash busted the thread. It really feels good to bust your stash. From a distance:
And close up:
Pictures are clickable.
One of my friends says she cannot see my photos when they are Flickred because her net server blocks the site. Does this happen to anyone else?
Here are the details of the project:
Thread: Size 20 Anchor in Green, Size 20, some odd size held together with sewing thread and unmercerised thread about size 20 in White. (I did say I was busting stash!)
Hook: Tulip 1.5 mm steel (one of my favourite sizes/hooks)
Pattern: Katchkan‘s Summer’s Promise (tested)
Time: Over 2 weeks
Size: 22.5″ from picot to picot.
Kathy is an amazing designer and I always learn something from each of her patterns. She’s also wonderfully fast and seems to whip up these patterns overnight. Currently she’s working on a skirt and top. Wow.
After a gap, I've been testing for Kathy again, and here is the result:
Here it is in close-up:
And here are the gory details:
Thread: Anchor/Red Heart size 40 (2 strands) initially and then size 20 (1 strand) later. Stash busting!
Hook: Tulip 1.5 mm/size 2. It's one of my favourite sizes.
Pattern: Torchlight doily from Katchkan
Time: About 10 days
Size: 32"
Extra: #1 Got back to thread crochet after a few months away
For the first time ever, I framed one of my doilies. This was the Amethyst doily from Kathy‘s birthstone series. This went as a housewarming present to someone who is also a crocheter, so hopefully she’ll value it. Another housewarming present was the mammoth Ruby Dreams (unframed), and it seemed to be appreciated, though I’m always unsure about my presents…
The framing cost Rs 160/- and the background is cream/off-white handmade paper. 
By now my dear readers must have given up on ever finding the right colours under the titles of my posts. Suffice it to say I’m using up my stash to make these doilies, rather than going on a shopping spree, when quite possibly I wouldn’t get the recommended colours anyway.
Here is the info on this one:
Thread: Madura Coats Red Heart size 20, Grey
Hook: Tulip size 2/1.5 mm steel hook
Pattern: Kathy‘s Aquamarine Starcatcher
Time: 2-3 days
Size: 19″
Extra: #Can’t think of anything right now.
Update: Sent it to Amy for CLBFX
swakrta.com 