Born to crochet, forced to work: May 2016

Monday 30 May 2016

Stripey: Lunch bucket + Apple

The second add-on pack is live!

Today we have a lunch bag and an apple. You can choose any matching colours.

The patterns are written in the US crochet terms. The abbreviations used are as follows:

ch. - chain,
sl. st. - slip stitch,
sc - single crochet,
sp(s) - space(s),
hdc - half-double crochet,
dc - double crochet,
BLO - back loop only,
FLO - front loop only,
NJ - needle join,
decr - decrease (2 sc crocheted together),
incr - increase (2 sc worked in one stitch),
Rnd - Round.

You will need:

2,5 mm crochet hook (US size C/2),
DK yarn leftovers. I used:

For the lunch bucket:

1. Purple - 5 g,

2. Lilac - 5 g,

3. Yellow - 2 g,

For the apple:

1. Red for the apple - 10 g,
2. Green for the leaf - 2 g,
3. Brown for the stem - 50 cm (about 2 feet).

polyester fiberfill,
tapestry needle,
stitch markers,
a pair of scissors,
good mood,
a glass of ice coffee (God bless the one who invented it!)

Notes: the lunch bucket will be a bit tricky with several rounds of sl. sts for a more distinguished bottom and NJs for colour changes. But you can just skip the tricky details and work it the way you feel confident. However, I'm all in for constant learning :)

Lunch bucket:

Starting with the bottom and lilac:

The bottom is worked in spiral rounds without joining:

1 Rnd: ch. 2, 7 sc into the 2nd ch. from the hook = 7 sc,

2 Rnd: incr around = 14 sc,

3 Rnd: (incr, 1 sc) - repeat 7 times = 21 sc,

4 Rnd: (2 sc, incr) - repeat 7 times = 28 sc,

5 Rnd: (incr, 3 sc) - repeat 7 times = 35 sc,

6 Rnd: working into the FLO of Rnd 5 - sl. sts around, fasten off, weave in the ends.

Join purple into the BLO of Rnd 5:

The body is worked in rounds that are joined with sl. sts. As we have no increases and decreases here, there is a nice trick to make the the seam less visible: start every round with a chain, but don't count it. The first stitch will be the full-size single crochet of the round, the last sc will be worked into the same st as the first ch.

1 Rnd: working into BLO: 35 sc, sl. st into the first sc, ch. 1,

2 Rnd: 35 sc, sl. st into the first sc, ch. 1 = 35 sc,

3 - 5 Rnd: repeat 2 Rnd, finish off with a NJ (or a sl. st.), join yellow,

6 - 7 Rnd: repeat 2 Rnd, finish off with a NJ (or a sl. st.), join lilac,

8 - 10 Rnd: repeat 2 Rnd,

11 Rnd: 3 sc; ch. 10, skip 5 sc; 10 sc; ch. 50, skip 10 sc; 7 sc, sl. st. into the first sc, ch. 1 = 20 sc, 2 sps,

12 Rnd: sc into every sc and ch around, sl. st. into the first sc = 80 sc,

13 Rnd: sl. st. around, finish off, weave in the ends.

Holding the bucket upside down and working into the BLO of sl. sts of Rnd 6: sl. sts around. You can skip this round, but it will make the bucket more.. um.. bucket-ty.

Apple:

Starting with the leaf and green yarn:

1 Row: ch. 8, sc into the 2nd ch. from the hook and the next 6 chs, ch. 1, turn = 7 sc,

2 Row: 1 sc, 1 hdc, 3 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc, (1 sc, ch. 1, 1 sc) into the corner ch.; working around the remaining loops of Row 1: 1 sc, 1 hdc, 3 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc; ch. 1, turn = 16 sts, 1 sp,

3 Row: 8 sl. sts, (1 sl. st., ch. 1, 1 sl. st.) into the ch.-1 sp, 8 sl. sts; sl. st. into the first sc, finish off and weave in the ends.

Stem with brown:

Leaving a long tail at the beginning: ch. 7, sc into the 2nd ch. from the hook and the next 4 ch.; holding the leaf and stem together - sc into the last ch., finish off, don't cut or weave in the ends.

Apple with red:

Working in spiral rounds without joining:

1 Rnd: ch. 2, 8 sc into the 2nd ch. from the hook = 8 sc,

2 Rnd: incr around = 16 sc,

3 Rnd: (incr, 1 sc) - repeat 8 times = 24 sc,

4 Rnd: (2 sc, incr) - repeat 8 times = 32 sc,

5 - 9 Rnd: 32 sc,

10 Rnd: (decr, 6 sc) - repeat 4 times = 28 sc,

11 Rnd: 3 sc, (decr, 5 sc) - repeat 3 times, decr, 2 sc = 24 sc,

12 Rnd: (decr, 4 sc) - repeat 4 times = 20 sc, stuff,

13 Rnd: 2 sc, (decr, 3 sc) - repeat 3 times, decr, 1 sc = 16 sc,

14 Rnd: 16 sc,

15 Rnd: decr around - 8 sc, fasten off, stitch the opening close, weave in the ends.

The wide end of the apple is the top. Pull the long tails of the stem from top to bottom, tighten them shaping the apple, make the double knot and cut the yarn.

Voila!

The basic Stripey pattern (with a backpack and a pear) is available here:

Etsy

Ravelry

Amigurumipatterns

Craftsy

fingerless gloves

I resumed crocheting with small winter pieces: berets, fingerless gloves, mittens. That happened 10 years ago. This spring I'm participating in Woolly Wellbeing Research Project, and the item designed for it is exactly a pair of fingerless gloves.. Maybe, it's a little reminder that crocheting isn't only about amigurumis.

Thursday 19 May 2016

Stripey: Mesh market tote + Strawberry

I was planning to draft patterns for a couple of other accessories for Stripey for quite a long time. So, I managed to sneak several hours at the beginning of May to design and take pictures. But, writing out the patterns themselves takes much more time than making. Then there was my short adventure in Belgrade, and it's finally time to share the first bundle.

The patterns are written in the US crochet terms. The abbreviations used are as follows:

ch. - chain,
sl.st. - slip stitch,
sc - single crochet,
sp(s) - space(s),
hdc - half-double crochet,
dc - double crochet,
BLO - back loop only,
FLO - front loop only,
decr - decrease (2 sc crocheted together),
incr - increase (2 sc worked in one stitch),
Rnd - Round.

You will need:

2,5 mm crochet hook (US size C/2),
DK yarn leftovers. I used:

Pink for the tote - 15 g,
Cherry red for the strawberry - 5 g,
Grass green for the leaf - 5 g,
Yellow for embroidery - 50 cm (about 2 feet).

polyester fiberfill,
tapestry needle,
stitch markers,
a pair of scissors,
good mood,
a cup of hot beverage (thank you, Dr Cooper).

Mesh Market Tote:

1 Rnd: ch. 4, work 12 dc into the 4th ch. from the hook, sl. st. into the 1st dc = 12 dc, ch. 1,

2 Rnd: incr around = 24 sc, sl. st. into the 1st st, ch. 1,

3 Rnd: sc into the 1st stitch; *ch. 3, skip the next st, sc*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 1, skip the next st, hdc into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-3 sps, ch. 1,

4 Rnd: sc into the same ch.-3 space; *ch. 5, sc into the next ch.-3 space*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 2, dc into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-5 sps, ch. 1,

5 Rnd: sc into the same ch.-5 space; *ch. 5, sc into the next ch.-5 space*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 2, dc into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-5 sps, ch. 1,

6 - 9 Rnds: repeat 5 Rnd,

10 Rnd: sc into the same ch.-5 space, *ch. 3, sc into the next ch.-5 space*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 1, hdc into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-3 sps, ch. 1,

11 Rnd: sc into the same ch.-3 space, *ch. 2, sc into the next ch.-3 space*, repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 2, sl. st. into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-2 sps, ch. 1,

12 Rnd: sc into the 1st st, *2 sc into the next ch.-2 space, sc*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; 2 sc into the last ch.-2 sp, sl. st into the 1st sc = 36 sc,

13 Rnd: sc around = 36 sc, sl. st. into the first sc, ch. 1,

14 Rnd: repeat Rnd 13.

15 Rnd: 4 sc, ch. 40, skip 10 sc; 8 sc, ch. 40, skip 10 sc; 4 sc = 16 sc, 2 ch.-40 sps, sl. st. into the first sc, ch. 1,

16 Rnd: 4 sc, sc into every BLO of every ch. of ch.-40, 8 sc, sc into every BLO of every ch. of ch.-40, 4 sc = 96 sc, sl. st. into the first sc,

17 Rnd: sl.st around, fasten off, wave in the ends.

Strawberry:

Starting with green:

1 Rnd: ch. 2, 5 sc into the 2nd ch. from the hook = 5 sc, sl. st. into the first sc, ch. 1,

2 Rnd: incr around = 10 sc, sl. st. into the FLO of the 1st st, ch. 1,

3 Rnd: *ch. 6, sl.st. into the 2nd ch. from the hook, sc, 2 hdc, sc, sl. st. into the FLO of the next 2 sc of 2 Rnd*, repeat from * to * 4 times more, fasten off, weave in the end.