Second-Chance Afghan

The Second-Chance Afghan will be my first-ever blanket, and has a cute back story.

The yarn, which I eventually determined to be named "Country Print," was given to me by my mother, who originally purchased it with the intention to crochet an afghan as a wedding present for a good friend of mine. Unfortunately, a few rows in, she determined that it was intolerably ugly, and had to gift plan B.

Well, I went crying to her near the beginning of March, because I've been zipping through crochet projects so quickly that I had nothing to sink my hook into. This is how I inherited a very heavy bag of yarn and a Q-hook.

I vowed to try out different patterns until I found one that brought out the beauty of the yarn, and assumed that if I could not, there were charities that would appreciate it regardless.

Fortunately, it is actually working up rather nicely! I chose a pattern from a booklet, Leisure Arts #75029, Quick and Easy Q-Hook Afghans. The pattern is called Comforting, by Mary Ann Sipes, although I have modified it a bit, adding symmetrical rows of single crochet into the pattern.

This was for two reasons; 1) the pattern ideally calls for two colours of yarn and not one variegated, which meant that I was doing a lot of work for a heavily diminished effect, and 2) it lessons the time-spent and allows the pattern to pop.

The pattern is worked double-stranded, which I've never done before, and with a hook much larger than I've ever used, so it has been a wonderful learning experience and confidence booster.

Because of the colouring, which isn't looking too shabby, I may gift it to my Grandmother when I'm done, as it reminds me of her.

First Amigurumi: Hearts by Tamie Snow

A few weeks ago, I was surfing the boards on Ravelry when I came across an idea that was novel to me. Amigurumi, the art of knitting or crocheting stuffed animals and other such things, is open to beginners.

Excited, I asked for some suggestions, and finally settled on the pattern Hearts by Tamie Snow. It seemed simple, yet more appealing than crocheting a ball, and the fact that it lacks limbs and more complicated accessories drew me in. Of course, this was also a week before Valentine's Day, so I was in the mood.

The fact that I had free red yarn in my stash didn't hurt either!

First, I had to teach myself the crochet version of the "magic adjustable loop technique," which is both easier and more difficult to master than my book suggested. Creating the loop and holding the yarn was super easy during the "difficult" first stage, and baffled me somewhat during the "easier" part where you actually begin to crochet.


A little bit of fiddling and some frogging over about a half hour period saw me making adjustable circles with ease. Whew!

This was also my first time working in the round, and more specifically, in a spiral. I didn't find this difficult, although eventually, counting my stitches and rows did become more difficult. I was being very cautious with the stitch markers, until I had to frog a row. How far do I frog back? Where was the beginning of the row before last? Not good. So, I improvised.

I also think that I was crocheting quite tightly, so I omitted two rows and closed up early, which did leave me with the correct measurements.

Unfortunately, I can't find my miscellaneous button stash and I am concerned that it isn't going to crop up any time soon. Because of this, the "finished product" is currently naked. Once I've done a little shopping, I'll post the final photo! Michael's was extremely disappointing for buttons, so I might have to check out Wal-Mart or better yet, Fabricland. Heck, I might even be able to convince Mom that she wants to take a trip to G&G.

Crochet Project Two: Fingerless Gloves

Tonight, I am looking forward to some much-needed downtime. I'm hoping to finish up the second panel of my January bag, as I've taken to calling it. I doubt I'll have time to attach the panels to each other tonight, but maybe by the end of the weekend.

Last night, I wanted to crochet so badly, but it was after 11:00 p.m. before I had the time, which ruled out working on the bag. Because I did not count my rows, and varied from the pattern some, I will need a block of time to wrap up the panel, matching it to the first.

I decided to snag some yarn from my stash and try my hand at the third pattern in the book I've been reading, The Chicks With Sticks Guide to Crochet, for a pair of fingerless gloves.

My love of such gloves knows no bounds.

Because I did not have the right type of yarn, I ended up doing and redoing my foundation chain so many times that I finally settled on a size 9.00mm hook (rather than the 5.00mm recommended).

I have to say, half double crochet is much harder than single crochet. Or rather, it is more awkward. You actually yarn over before you dip into the stitch, and I find myself using my left index finger to keep the yarn from slipping off before I make that move.

I also have some sneaking suspicions that I occasionally revert to sc, or some interesting variation thereof, although I'm not certain. The stitches aren't as pretty as the ones on my bag, but the yarn seems to be a bit fuzzier anyway, so once I've worn them a few times, no one should notice. Besides, that's what first projects are for, right?

My main worry is the measurement. I've been doing 27 stitches across, and it seems like it will be a perfectly loose fit before they ever stretch out. I'll totally rock 'em though.

Panel One, Done

Ahh, the sweet sensation of success. Last night, I parked myself down in front of my television set for a few hours and finished off the first panel of my bag. I haven't sewn in any of the ends yet, but it looks gorgeous.

Of course, this means that I still have one full panel to go. My measurements are a bit off, at 13.4 inches across and 19.6 tall, off from 14 inches by 19. This is mainly due to one dropped stitch at the beginning, and my inability to count rows. Replicating it should be easy enough though.

I did run into some trouble shaping the handle. Because this is my first time reading a pattern, and I've been doing it alone, I made one mistake when beginning the shaping. Instead of attaching a second ball, as is recommended, I decided to use only one, and simply cut it off when I was done the first side.

This would have gone fine, if not for one small oversight on my part. You work toward the middle, back, toward the middle, and back, and so on. Ideally, I would have done this for one side, cut it off at the corner of the panel, repeated this for the other side, and then beginning at that corner, made one more row, chained 13, and then continued on the one side.

Alas, I ended up having to cut and attach the ball of yarn three or four times because I ended the row in the middle rather than the corner, which would have resulted in one handle having one more row than the other! Oh well, that was easy enough.

The chaining didn't go as well. I thank my lucky stars that when I crocheted back over it, I did not drop a stitch, because each was very difficult to determine, and nearly impossible to shove my hook into, despite my best efforts to make a loose chain. Simply crocheting over that 13-chain probably took me well over half an hour. Now, to repeat the process!

In other news, I finally got my ravelry invitation today! I've spent all afternoon cataloguing my yarn, hooks, this project in-progress, adding the pattern to the database, joining groups, and much more! Find me as starlitafternoon.

My First Crochet Project

My first attempt at crochet 2, originally uploaded by starlitafternoon.

This is a snapshot of my first work in progress. Soon, this will be a gorgeous felted bag in my fave colour, teal.

The pattern can be found on page 33 of The Chicks with Sticks Guide to Crochet by Nancy Queen and Mary Ellen O'Connell, and is entitled, "Chicks' Slit-Top Felted Bag."

I have chosen Lion Brand 100% wool that is "perfect for felting." The weight is medium (four), and the colour is "Dark Teal." I was so pleased when my Mom found a stack of it on sale, because teal and turquoise are my favourite colours.

Because this will be my first project, I wasn't going to spend too much money on it. I kept joking that I'll be walking around with a homely little craft bag as my badge of honour as a beginner.

I've actually spent some time playing around with chaining and the single crochet, although my first "piece" was just a chain with a few rows on top of it using some leftover acrylic yarn from my Mother's stash. It looked all right, although I later found out that I was doing it, well, not wrong, but I was crocheting into the back (?) loop only, rather than through both.

I also had a habit of losing stitches.

After some extremely unsuccessful attempts at playing around with the 8.00mm hook that I am using for this project, I thought, why not just start? It'll sort itself out.

I'm so pleased that I did! My stitches are prettier than I could have imagined, and I feel like a pro. All of the things that I had been practicing that hadn't quite clicked yet, such as stringing the yarn along through my left hand, just fell into place. I can't wait to get more of it done.

I am also finding myself quite addicted already! I'm anxious to start connecting with other crocheters, and developing my skills so that I can try different patterns. First, of course, I have to finish this bag!