Finished the Crocodile shawl

I finally finished it !  It has taken more than 1300m (1.3 km) of yarn to finish the main body of the shawl and 130m of yarn for the tassels.  It measures 160cm across the top and 100cm along the sides.

I hand spun all of the yarn for this.  It has been made with 3ply Blueface Leicester for the shawl and 2ply kid mohair for the tassels.

Crocodile stitch

I ran out of yarn again, so I thought I'd make myself useful and show you how I am making the shawl and update progress.

I've captured a few stills from my video below to explain what I am doing - I'm not confident enough to speak on my videos yet ... I'm working up to that, you can just enjoy the birdsong and not have to listen to me droning on.

A crocodile stitch is created over two rows, a row of triangles (created by  DC, CH, DC in a single chain space) and then the second row creates the crocodile scales by working into these triangles.  The image below shows the triangles row.  To get to the overlapping scales look you skip one triangle and work into the next.

The stitches are worked around the posts of the DC stitches of the triangle.  Each half of the scale is 6 DC stitches.

Once the 6 DC are worked, then you need to work 6 more DC round the second DC of the triangle. 

I find that if I fold the rest of the work under so that I am just holding the stitch I am working around it is easier.

When you have done the second 6 DC you have created your crocodile stitch scale - ta da!

And here it is as a video, you get a great view of my chubby hands .... enjoy (I don't think Stephen Spielberg has anything to worry about)

This is how far I have got with my shawl so far ... I think another 10 or so rows should do it once I have spun up enough yarn.

Crocodile Stitch Shawl

Since spring has failed to arrive in the UK, and I hold out very little hope of having a summer I decided that I would crochet myself a warm shawl.  This is the one I decided on, its a crocodile stitch shawl from Annies Attic 

Its lovely, isn't it?  The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn and a large hook to get the drape.  So I, in my wisdom, have ignored that :)

I decided I would spin my own yarn for this one.  I am using blueface Leicester and making my usual 3 ply yarn - so definitely not fingering weight! It is turning into a labour of love.  So far I've had to spin up 8 batches of yarn !! and I'm not done yet. 

I think mainly because I am using much thicker yarn the shawl is crocheting up smaller than the picture.  I so far have 5 additional crocodile rows compared with the pattern and I am thinking I will need another 5 extra on top to get to the length I want.

Once I finish I'm going to have to weigh the shawl, it is already quite weighty.  I think perhaps this will end up being a winter shawl rather than a spring/autumn one ....

Finished my Shawl

I have managed to finally finish my Midsummer's night shawl.  Woo and indeed Hoo.

After my wopping mistake and the painfulness of having to rip back 17 rows when I had almost finished, I finally got there !!

In the end I really like how it turned out.  Even if it tested my patients enormously during the creation.

 I packed it up to day and posted it off to my mum.  I really hope my she likes it, fingers crossed.

Well frog it all to hell....

I have been working on my Midsummers night shawl that I am making for my mum.

I was getting on great, progress was going well - given that I only have a couple of hours a day at most to work on crochet.

I got up to the final piece of the edging and then disaster struck ... the pattern just didn't work.  After a couple of attempts and  a bit of head scratching I finally thought to check that the shawl was even on both sides.

AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.

It wasn't, damn it all .... I'd made a mistake, and not one of those "I can cover this up" sort of mistakes - a proper, buggered it up mistake.

So I took a deep breath and thought to myself. "It might not be that bad.  Just start frogging ("rip it") and see when the mistake happened, its probably not that far back".

17, yes 17 rows of frogging and I finally got back to where the shawl was correct.  17 !!!!!!!!!

Feeling pig sick, I wound myself up the largest ball of yarn and got back to crocheting those 17 rows.  So far I have managed to rework 6 of my rows.

I should chalk this up to a learning experience, at least now I am checking that everything is as it should be with every finished row.  I don't plan on frogging this one again.

Midsummer's night Shawl

After returning from my holidays again and having put my shawl to good use again I have decided to make another one.  This time for my mum.

I had a good look through my existing patterns but I found that a lot of shawl patterns are too light weight for what I had in mind.  I wanted to create something that had a little warmth but not heavy weight.

I found this pattern for a Midsummer's Night Shawl on Interweave Store.  It's just what I was looking for. 

It is substantial enough to have some warmth but also not too heavy.  The pattern is pretty easy to follow and has a really useful stitch diagram - actually after the first couple of rows I put the rest of the pattern to one side and just followed the diagram.

I am creating this using Adrafil Azzura 3 ply yarn, this is a 70% Wool and 30% acrylic mix.  It is lovely and soft, east to work with and comes in a pretty good range of colours.

Shade Card

I've chosen to use shade 33 Turquoise.  I've really only just stared with this project, but so far so good - I think its going to work out quite nicely, fingers crossed anyway.

Finished my shawls

I can't believe how long its been since I posted here, the fact that I have completed both the shawls I blogged about before says it all !!

These are the two shawls that I planned to create, the patterns are by Kristin Omdahl from her Crochet So Fine book



Here are the images of what I was attempting from Kristin's website

I made the first shawl for myself.  For this one I used Louisa Harding Willow Tweed in Heather.  Its a wonderful luxury yarn of 40%Merino Wool 40%Alpaca 20%Silk

My shawl has already been put to good use on holiday :) 

Having finished this one I was inspired to start the second shawl, I started making it using Anchor Aida #10 crochet thread but no matter how I tried I just couldn't get it right.  I had to use a large hook to get the right gauge and it was working up very loopy, even when blocked.  So I took an executive decision and went for a completely different yarn, I used Rowan Panama in Daisy. 

Rowan Panama is 33% cotton, 12% linen, 55% viscose, it has a sheen to the yarn and is lovely to work with.  I found that using this heavier weight yarn I could work with a smaller hook and get a less loopy outcome.


I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and thankfully so is my mother-in-law who I made it for (or maybe she's just being polite!)  :)

So many things on the go

I am in one of my flitting between projects stages right now, I currently have 5 projects started and none of them finished.

I am still working on the shawl for my mother-in-law, but its proving to be quite a task.  I just can't get into it, I keep being distracted by other things, the thing is ... it would be lovely if I just could get up the enthusiasm to finish it.

In the meantime I have started another shawl, for myself this time

And before I've finished this I started making myself a pair of gloves

Which I am making with some lovely multi-coloured Noro yarn

Having made one glove I then started a new Kindle cover, which I am crocheting in Tunisian crochet.  My first attempt at Tunisian crochet was an iPad cover I made somewhere in the middle of starting all of these projects (I've not got round to taking photos of it yet).

Oh..... and I also have a belt just started in Tunisian crochet too ....

I think I need to get some focus !!!!

So frustrated !

One of my "to do" projects is a wonderful shawl by Kristin Omdahl from her Crochet So Fine book

I decided that I would make this shawl for my mother-in-law, thankfully I didn't mention I was doing it so there is no pressure to finish.

The shawl calls for No10 crochet cotton and 3.5mm hook.  Well I'm really struggling, my crochet is coming up really loopy and messy looking - not at all like the photographs in the book.  I have been half tempted to go for a smaller hook and just keep crocheting until the size looks right

To make matters worse, when I made up the swatch to measure the gauge it came up small !!  I really can't go for a bigger hook since its already so loopy with a 3.5mm one.  So I've ripped it back and started again - I can't say it looks much better this time but I don't really know what else to do with it.

I'm so frustrated with it right now, I've put it to one side and started making something else until I have some inspiration on how to make this look better.

Any hints or tips will be extremely welcome !! 

Finished my Crochet Shawl

After much frantic crocheting I managed to finish my shawl in time for my evening out.

Here it is modeled by my faithful "head". 



I am really pleased with how it turned out, the yarn choice was perfect.  A little bit of shine from the silk fibres and so warm too.  Exactly what I was hoping for.



I finished the whole shawl off with a ruffle edge, just so that it wasn't too plain - but also not too fussy.



Next thing will be to write up the pattern for this and hope someone likes it enough to try to make it for themselves.

Just never enough time in the day ....

I have so many projects on the go right now and just not enough time for them all.  I work full time, I leave the house at 7am to get to work and generally don't get home until 7pm so during the week I really don't have much time for crafting.

Right now I need to get my shawl finished, I only have 3 days and there is still a lot to do... I have to crochet at least 1 ball of yarn every day to get it finished in time!!!  and I don't know about you but the faster I try to work the more likely I am to make mistakes and have to frog-it.  In an effort to try to catch up some time I used a few minutes of my lunch hour today to ball-up my yarn.  I  can't find a way to work with this yarn with out it ending in knots without unravelling it and balling it up myself. 

So the aim this evening is to finish the ball I'm currently working on and also the one I just balled up this afternoon - maybe I can get a bit ahead that way.

I've also got a cap on the go that I'm making for my DH.  He wants a crochet peaked cap.  The cap is made but not the peak ... I think I have worked out what I need to do now, having tried crocheting the peak without an insert I think it definately needs one -  now I have a plastic insert so that the peak will hold its shape, I just need to find the time to finish it.  If it works I'll write up the pattern.

Speaking of patterns, I also have to write up patterns for a pair of fingerless gloves I made

And also a hooded scarf I made myself.





I hate wearing hats - they make my head itch!! so I decided to make this hooded scarf to keep my head warm with all this freezing weather we've been having ...  It turned out quite well so I'll have to get the pattern written up - just in case anyone else wants to make themselves one :)
Then I have a few other projects waiting in the wings ..... Just never enough time in the day !! 

... I'll just make one ...

Its our office "Christmas" party this week.  I got a dress .....

But its winter & cold ... so I need something to cover up without having to wear a great big overcoat. 

I had a look around in the shops and everything that they have is either really flimsy or ridiculously over priced. So I decided I could make one myself.

First thing is first, what yarn to use.  I thought of getting some fine mohair yarn but decided against it because it wouldn't be warm enough.  Then I thought of getting silk yarn, but couldn't find one that I liked.  So I settled for some Debbie Bliss Andes - which is an alpaca/Silk blend and absolutely lovely to work with.

Then the next thing was to make my shawl.  I had a look through my pattern books but couldn't see anything I liked - I didn't want it to be too lacy, but then again I didn't want it to be too solid either.  There was nothing in my patterns that was quite right.

So the only thing for it was to make one up myself.  This is what I have come up with.



Its offset fans with blocks of treble crochet between.



I think I've managed to get the balance between lacy and solid I was hoping for. 

Only thing I need to do now is work very quickly to finish it on time ... I have more yarn on order, fingers crossed it arrives today or tomorrow or I'll have no chance !!

Aran Crochet Shawl

As promised, an update on the progress with my aran crochet.  It certainly is not a forgiving art, there have had to be a couple of re-do's on this one following lapses in concentration.

As a first attempt I am quite happy with it.  All I need to do now is add a the finishing touches, a feature to the bottom & a button.  I have a lovely huge coconut flower button I plan to use.

The biggest challenge with this has been getting the twists to work well, I changed how I was doing them as I went along & really was only happy by the last one - isn't that always the way?

The shawl is still curling a bit too so I think that I'll have to wash & block it, which is going to be a challenge given the length.

So what do you think for a first go?  Was it a success or not?

Aran crochet diamonds... lesson

My aran crochet shawl is progressing quite well now.  The first critical lession I have learned is that its a very visual process.  You really need to view the pattern and keep a close eye on where things are going, the pattern description can be complicated or indeed simply confusing.  But that can be easily overcome by watching the pattern progress.

The key stitch is a front post treble (FPTR) in combination with half treble (HTR) stitches.  The plain parts of the work are done using HTR and the cables and raised areas are achieved using FPTR's

The "back" rows are all done using HTR, therefore the raised stitches are worked into the last "Front",

The difference in the heights of the stitches (TR & HTR) keeps things level while the TR is worked into the row below.

The classic aran pattern of cables & diamonds is worked by altering the number of stitches before & after the FPTR sitiches, this pulls or pushes the raised rows into the right position.

In the pattern above there are raised rows either side of the diamond, this really helps to keep the pattern right.  These raised rows don't move so they can be used to visually ensure that the pattern is working out right.

To achieve the diamond shape, each front row the number of HTR's worked before making the FPTR is changed, starting with 3 HTR in this particular pattern.  The FPTR is always worked into the lower FPTR.

This means that when the V of the diamond is being worked you are actually skipping an HTR from the previous row & then working these skipped HTR's into the centre of the diamond.    Then the reverse is true for the ^ of the diamond.

As you can see its quite difficult to explain in words ... Much easier to visualise.

The patterns are worked over a consistent number of stitches, it is simply the number of HTR's that proceed & follow the FPTR stitches that are altered to create the diamond pattern.

In my pattern above the diamond is worked over 11 stitches.  I'm ignoring the bobble for the purposes of this explaination.

1. 3HTR, 2FPTR, 1HTR, 2FPTR, 3HTR ( 11 stitches)

2. 2HTR, 2FPTR, 3HTR, 2FPTR, 2HTR  - To achieve this, work the first 2 HTR, skip one HTR before the 2 FPTR, work the 2FPTR stitches,  then work into the HTR sits above the second FPTR, work the 1 HTR from the middle of the diamond, work the HTR  above the 3rd FPTR (creating the 3HTR for the middle of the diamond), then work the 3rd & 4th FPTR, skip 1 HTR and work the last 2 HTR stitches

3. 1HTR, 2FPTR, 5 HTR, 2FPTR, 1HTR (worked in the same manner as above)

4. 2HTR, 2FPTR, 3HTR, 2FPTR,  2HTR - to achieve this I work the 1 HTR, then 1 HTR into the HTR that sits above the 1st FPTR.  Work the 2FPTR. skip 1HTR, work the 3 middle HTR, skip 1HTR, work the second 2FPTR, work 1 HTR into the HTR above the 4th FPTR, work the last HTR

5 3HTR, 2FPTR, 1HTR, 2FPTR, 3HTR - in the same manner as above.

This may not be a classic way of working aran crochet, but it works for me.

Aran crochet

I have done quite a lot of aran knitting over time, but up until now I have not tried anything more aran than a simple twist using crochet.

So always one for a new challenge I thought I'd try to create an aran shawl in crochet.  So far its slow going,  It takes a bit of time to understand how to create the shapes and make sure that everything hangs together.

I have chosen to use Sirdar Click chunky.  I have always preferred the look of aran when done with quite chunky yarn.  I am using the Cobble (0129) shade.

You can see my attempts so far

I think I have mastered the bobble ... the jury is still out on the cable though !!

I'll update with progress as things move along.

My hairpin crochet work

Here are a couple of examples of my hairpin crochet work.  Its quite versatile.

The first example is a shawl I made, its worked with a mohair mix yarn to make the shawl even more etherial. 

Another example is using hairpin crochet to create jewellery.  I made these earrings using my loom, in the second example I have added in some pretty little beads.