The Falling Leaves Prayer Shawl - Part 2

 And the shawl is done, just in time for the knitting circle.

I couldn't get a good photo of the edging but the yarn overs can be seen if you look hard.

The worst part is weaving in the edges, especially because there's no good method to follow. I can't weave in the ends like I would for garter stitch because of the loose weave of the shawl and because of the yarn overs. I ended up weaving through the beefy parts of the stitches a few times, just to make sure the yarn stayed. It's not noticeable since Homespun yarn is very forgiving.

Next time I'll try a different method of binding off than the basic bind off. It doesn't stretch enough for my liking.

The Falling Leaves Prayer Shawl - Part 1

Here's a project I've been working for the past week:

This is a prayer shawl made for my church's knitting circle. The pattern is almost entirely garter stitch with a yarn over in every row to get the lace effect at the edges. You can find it here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/knit-triangular-prayer-shawl-archived.

The pattern needs two or three skeins of Lion Brand Homespun yarn (this color's Wild Fire), and size 13 circular needles.

Homespun yarn does hide a multiple of mistakes and the dye lot numbers aren't that important, unlike other yarns. As projects go, it's fairly simple.

Why call it Falling Leaves instead of Wild Fire? It reminds me of the changing leaves in the middle of fall. And with all the rain, that's something of a rarity around here.

How To: Crochet a Produce Bag from Plastic

How To: Crochet a Produce Bag from Plastic

Materials Needed

• 10 plastic bags
• A pair of scissors
• Crochet hook, size G or larger

Step 1: Find 10 plastic bags.

Step 2: Flatten out one bag.

Step 3: Cut off the bottom edge and flatten the sides.

Step 4: Fold the bag nearly in half, leaving one inch as a buffer.

Step 5: Continue to fold the bag in half until the folded section is one inch in width.

Step 6: Cut off the handles.

Step 7: Cut into the folded section every one inch but don't cut into the top, unfolded section.

Step 8: Open up the unfolded section and cut diagonally from strip to strip, as seen here.

Step 9: Roll the plastic strip into a ball. If you cut the strip into several pieces or the bag into several strips, it's not a problem. Just tie the ends together with a granny knot.

Step 10: Repeat Steps 2-9 with the remaining bags and tie the strips together. This should make enough yarn for a small-sized produce bag, but if you run out of yarn, you can cut up more plastic bags for more material.

Step 11: Ch 4, sl st into 1st chain.

Step 12: Ch 3, 11 dc into ring formed in Step 11 and sl st into the chain. (12 st)

Step 13: Ch 3, dc into the same space between dc, and *2 dc into the next space between dc. Repeat from * 10 times and sl st into the chain. (24 st)

Step 14: Ch 3, dc in the same space, dc in the next space between dc, *2 dc in the next space, dc in the next space. Repeat from * 10 times and sl st into the chain. (36 st)

Step 15: Ch 3, dc in the same space, dc in the next two spaces, *2 dc in the next space, dc in the next two spaces. Repeat from * 10 times and sl st into the chain. (48 st)

Step 16: Ch 3, dc in the same space, dc in the next three spaces, *2 dc in the next space, dc in the next three spaces. Repeat from * 10 times and sl st into the chain. (60 st)

Step 17: Ch 11 and sc in the second space between dc.

Step 18: *Ch 8 and sc in the second space between dc. Repeat from * until you reach the beginning of Step 17.

Step 19: If the last ch 8 from Step 18 is right next to the chain from Step 17, ch 3 and sc into the ch 11 from Step 17. Otherwise, ch 8 and sc into the first ch 8. *Ch 8 and sc into the below ch 8. Repeat from * until you reach the beginning.

Step 20: Ch 3 into the next ch 8.

Step 21: *Ch 8, sc into the next ch 8. Repeat from * until the bag is the size you want.

Step 22: Ch 180 and sc into the beginning of the chain.

Step 23: Weave the chain through the upper spaces until you reach the beginning of the chain. 3 sc into the beginning of the chain.

Your bag is ready for use.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Total time: about ten hours.

I didn't weave in the ends because the plastic won't unravel but most of the excess plastic could be pinched off.

This project was inspired by http://www.pieandcoffee.org/2005/11/17/how-to-knit-a-plastic-bag/ and http://tracyscrochetbliss.blogspot.com/2014/03/simple-market-bag-produce-bagfree.html.

The Plastic Crocheted Produce Bag

Does this look familiar?

How about now?

I crocheted the bag on the left using yarn made of plastic. It's a good use for old grocery bags and it ensures that I will never need produce bags again.

Tutorial coming soon!

Crocheted Produce Bag, Take 2

Second time's the charm, I suppose. After trawling Ravelry for another bag for apples, I stumbled upon this pattern, helpfully worked with a G hook. I had a lot of craft yarn from Michael's lying around and put it to good use.

After about an hour listening to Pandora, I was halfway done.

The bottom base is far wider than my palm which makes the entire bag rather unwieldy. Next time, I'll take out the last round before working the sides.

I liked the pattern of chain 8, double crochet, though I did ignore the instruction to slip stitch into the beginning chain three times. Slip stitches aren't stretchy and the few that I did gave the bag a lopsided appearance. The chain 80 drawstring fits nicely around the double crochets and pulls the bag closed.

There are six medium to large potatoes and a handful of smaller ones in there.

A fine market bag!

Crocheted Produce Bag, Take 1

Today I decided to crochet this produce bag. I don't like using plastic bags to hold apples or avocados and if I only have one or two pieces, I won't bother using a bag. 

I needed something that could hold a lot of onions or potatoes. Besides, I still have several skeins of yarn to mess around with and a lot of time on my hands. The entire project took about three hours and consisted mostly of chain stitches. The result... was much smaller than I was expecting.  

To be sure, I used my trusty G hook instead of the I hook the pattern called for and I messed up on one of the increasing rounds.

But this bag can only hold two apples and a peach! The top is also wide open so I wouldn't want to stuff it full of anything. I think I can get two or three medium potatoes in there but I won't try for more.

Looks like it's back to Ravelry for me.

Refashion: Pajama Leg into Pillow

This cut off pajama leg has been sitting in storage for a while. Instead of throwing it out, I wanted to put it to good use. I also had a mostly full bag of pillow fluff sitting around that I haven't touched in years. The solution was obvious: refashion the leg into a pillow!

The pants involved were a cheap but soft pair from Walmart, which meant that the seams didn't line up even after ironing.

I turned the leg inside out and stitched down the cut off end. One side is straight, the other isn't - I'm not sure what happened.

I turned it right side out and stuffed it with all the fluff. It's not quite even but I didn't care too much.

I finished by stitching the leg cuff closed. The pillow is useful if not pretty and I didn't have to throw out the scrap. A no-waste sewing project!

The Crochet Water Bottle Holder

I finally crocheted something useful: a holder for my water bottle. I came up with my own pattern, though since it's pretty simple, it might look like other patterns. 

Water Bottle Holder Pattern

Foundation Ring: Ch 4, sl st into first stitch 

Round 1: Ch3 (counts as first dc), 11 dc into the center

Round 2: Ch 3 (Counts as first dc), dc into space between Round 1 dc, ch 1, (2dc into ch1 sp, ch1) 11 times, sl st into first dc

Round 3:  Ch 3 (Counts as first dc), 2 dc into ch 1 sp, ch 1, (3dc into ch1 sp, ch1) 11 times, sl st into first dc 

Round 4: Ch3 (counts as first dc), dc into ch 1 sp, ch 2, (2 dc into ch 1 sp, ch2) 11 times, sl st into first dc

Rounds 5-10: Ch3 (counts as first dc), dc into top of dc, ch 2, (2 dc into top of dc, ch2) 11 times, sl st into first dc

Rounds 6-Finish: Ch4 (counts as first tc), tc into top of dc/tc, ch 2, (2 tc into top of dc/tc, ch2) 11 times, sl st into first tc

Strap: Ch 3, 2 dc into space between tc, dc into top of tc, turn and repeat until strap is long enough (it will stretch). Weave into tc on the other side, weave in ends.  

Note: I used worsted weight yarn and size G (4.25mm) hook. The sides could be done completely in dc or tc - I switched to tc to save yarn. 

Edging and Blocking the Hexagons

Almost done with the dishcloth. 

I wanted to make this piece more professional so I tried to fill in the gaps and add a border.

The original pattern didn't include a way to make half-hexagons to fill in the gaps on the side. A little Google Fu turned up Polka Dot Cottage, which also includes a way to make regular hexagons. This site, meanwhile, was exactly what I was looking for a month ago.

You might think that the half-hexagons don't fit the space and that's... accurate. Turns out the new hexagon pattern is much bigger than the one I used, so I had to wing it. Specifically, I skipped Rows 3 and 5 in the pattern and whip stitched the half-hexagons into place.

I then tried to do something for the corners and the inverted triangles, took a second look at the difference between my hexagons and the pattern's hexagons and decided to screw it.

That left the border.

I did a single crochet border using the below tutorial, which I think helps to... contain the piece. My dishcloth looks more polished and less like I gave up on it.



I can finally say I've blocked a piece. I never blocked my knitting pieces but after reading this, I decided it would be a good idea.

The dishcloth is lying flat now.

I also crocheted a new hexagon using the pattern found above. It's twice as large as my original hexagons.

Polka Dot Cottage also contained a tutorial for winding a skein of yarn into a center pull ball using just a pencil.

This project was a good idea. I improved my crocheting skills, learned how to edge and block a piece, controlled my skein of yarn and found a new project in the form of a hexagon blanket.

Putting it all together: Crochet Style

I now have eight crochet hexagons, none of which are useful on their own. Sewing them together into a dishcloth gives them purpose and me practice with the whip stitch.

 Yeah. Practice is a good word for this.

For some reason, the red hexagon is larger than its neighbors which throws off the edges. Not that the edges will line up anyway.

So that happened. I also don't know where the last of the white yarn went so I stitched the two pieces together with red yarn.

My dishcloth looks like the crochet version of Frankenstein's monster but it was good practice! It taught me what not to do next time.

Up next: Edging the piece with red trim.

The crochet hexagon pattern

I found a good hexagon pattern here - while each hexagon is about the size of my palm and I can't increase the size, I can sew them together.

Two things I learned from this pattern: a) I can crochet over the beginning tail with the 12 double crochets and avoid weaving in the end and b) understanding what the pattern requires is more important than following the pattern.

For instance, my first two tries were mistakes because I didn't understand what Round 3 actually required. Once I understood the repetition - 2 double crochets in one space, chain 3, 2 more double crochets in the same space, then 2 double crochets in the next space - I could ignore the written instructions. Round 3 starts on the 2 double crochets after the chain 3 and ends with 2 double crochets, chain 3 and slip stitch in the original space.

I also used up the dark blue, light blue and white yarns, leaving only the red to play with.

French Revolution Cockade

Time for a break from granny squares. This is the French revolution cockade, which you probably saw in Les Misérables.

The pattern came from here and was easy to follow, though next time I'll switch colors right before the slip stitch. 

I'm finding crochet to be more versatile than knitting - I can make cooler things.