Perdita's Shawl

Howdy! Here's yet another recently finished project, which I made for the Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild Guild Wars 3. I blogged my other project for GW3 here, my first Rippled Wrap. This here is my second, because I really like this pattern! Plus, I found the perfect yarn for it while up in my attic fibre storage area: it's naturally-dyed, fingering-weight alpaca yarn that I dyed a few years ago. I had been thinking of weaving with it, so I'd purchased some black alpaca of the same weight to use with it. Sadly all of it became moth-eaten :( I was able to reclaim the yarn I'd dyed with not much loss (the black was chewed terribly), and was looking for a project where I could use the multiple, small balls of yarn that I ended-up with. Enter the Ripple! 

I used an I/9/5.50mm hook to get as light a fabric as I could (without it being to loosey-goosey). The alpaca is slightly fuzzy so it has more body than a fingering-weight yarn usually has, but it feels nice on my shoulders (& will feel even nicer when it isn't 80 degrees out!). 

As you can see in the close-up, I decided to edge it on black single-crochet. As mentioned above, the black alpaca fared much worse than my hand-dyed yarn & has sat around looking sad for a long time.

As I was getting close to finishing Perdita I decided I should try to reclaim some of the black for edging, so I put it on the swift & have been hand-unwinding separate strands for a few days now. Just one lump of it was sufficient to finish the shawl, luckily! Who knows how long it may take me to unravel it all from the swift, though...

As you've probably guessed, each stripe was cut at the end of each row & a new colour tied-on. 

It was kind of a pain early on (although it used-up the smaller balls of yarn nicely), but got better as the rows got longer. As it got larger & the ends proliferated, I periodically stopped crocheting & spent some time working the ends in, so that I wouldn't have it all to do at the end. That way, when I was actually done crocheting, there was only about an hour left of weaving ends, then I could do the single crochet along the straight edge (which helps cover up any bumps from tying new colours on...).

And, who is Perdita, you may ask? She's a character in some of Terry Pratchett's Disc World books, of course. She's the main character of Masquerade & becomes one of the Witches that Sir Terry likes to write about. I like to think she'd have worn a shawl of this kind during her brief, dazzling career on the stage!

Spiral Motif String Bag

Hello! This may look familiar, since I posted a similar string bag a couple of weeks ago, but this one is leaner & meaner (um, not really) & has been written up as my third free pattern posted on Ravelry. Yay!

I'm very pleased to finally get this pattern uploaded because there were some nice comments on the flower motif bag pattern and I wanted to make the spiral one available, too. Since I'd already made a spiral motif bag I thought it might go quickly. But I had to modify the spiral motif (pg. 74 in the Harmony Guide's crochet stitch motifs) because it was a bit too big, so I ended up making another bag & rewriting as I crocheted.

I used KnitPick's CotLin again which is dk weight, using Coffee colour this time, and a size F/5/3.75mm hook. It took just under 2 skeins to make the ~22" long bag. I like how it turned out, & at the rate I'm making string bags, I'm getting a head start on Christmas gifts :) 

Crochet Flower Motif String Bag

I just got done uploading my second pattern over at Ravelry, the Crochet Flower Motif String Bag. I'm really excited about finally getting some of the patterns I've designed available online. Both this one & my first, (the Shell Crochet tea Cozy) are available for free as pdf downloads from Ravelry.

As you can see, it's your basic string bag (about 22" long from handles to bottom) but it has a pretty motif on the bottom. I blogged my first motif-bottom string bag a few weeks ago, & decided to make another one & write the pattern as I went. I used the Harmony Guide- Crochet Stitch Motifs again for the motif, the flower hexagon on pg. 54, which I adapted slightly for the bag. I used KnitPicks CotLin, which is a sport weight, cotton & linen blend, & a size F/5/3.75mm hook. The motif string bag that I made previously was based on a Red Heart company pattern, but this one is my own design because I liked the idea of a simpler top & handles for the bag. It also takes less yarn to make than the Red Heart pattern, but the bag is the same size. Go fig...

I like the way it turned out. I plan to make a pattern for the swirl one from the earlier blog post soon...

The Final Tea Cosy is Done!

I am so relieved! I like the way they all turned out, too (whew!). This is the second one made from Noro Silk Garden worsted wool (it's in colour #276). The trivet is motif #57 from Edie Eckman's Beyond the Square- Crochet Motifs. As with the other one, I used a G/6/4.25mm hook & it took just 1 skein to make (with a little left over).

Packing these to send to Japan has worked really well, too, because I can use the box they came in.

I take off the lid & put the cosy back on the tea pot,

fold down the liner & put the lid on it,

add the trivet,

close it up & label it for the recipient! Yay!

A Nerd Wars friend over at Ravelry asked for more specific instructions for making the cozies, so I'm going to try & write it out here.

I used 2 different yarns, KnitPicks Swish DK (123 yds./50 gm) and Noro Silk Garden worsted (100m/50 gm). Because of the difference in the weights of yarn, there are 2 different patterns, so I will put the worsted info in ( ).

This cosy, in either weight of yarn, fits a small, 20 oz tea pot (mine were from Republic of Tea).

Hook size that I used: E/4/3.5mm (G/6/4.24mm).

The cosy begins with a crocheted band that is slip-stitched together into a loop, then the shell stitches are made along the side of the band. This solves the problem of a crocheted cosy not being stretchy enough to fit over the tea pot. Here's what it looks like at the bottom:

To begin, chain 5 (4). Beginning in 2nd chain from hook, single crochet across- 4 (3) sc.
Next row: Single crochet in back loop only across row, chain 1, turn.
Repeat this row until you have 56 (48) rows.
Put foundation chain together with row just finished, making a loop (make sure it's not twisted). Working with foundation chain in front, make a slip-stitch through a foundation chain &  back loop of next stitch to be worked. Continue across row, end with a chain-1, cut yarn with a 6"-8" tail & pull through to fasten-off.

Body of cozy, first side:

Row 1: [RS] Begin where you slip-stitched the band together. Make a sliding loop on hook & sc into hole to left of slip-stitched row if you're right-handed or right of slip-stitch row if you're a lefty. If you look along the band, there is a series of bumps (made of 2 rows of sc). In the first bump, make a 5-double-crochet shell, then single-crochet in the next bump. Repeat this until you have 7 (6) shells, ending with a sc. Chain 3 & turn.

Row 2: [WS] Double-crochet in the same sc as chain-3, single-crochet in the middle stitch of the next shell, *5-dc shell in next sc, sc in middle stitch of next shell* repeat to the end, ending with 2 dc in first sc in row below. Chain 1 & turn.

Row 3: [RS] Sc in first dc, *make shell in sc & sc in middle stitch of shell* repeat  across, ending with a sc. Chain 3 & turn.

Row 4: [WS] Repeat row 2.

Row 5: Repeat row 3.

Row 6: Repeat row 2.

For DK weight yarn, make 2 more rows (8 total), fasten off.

For worsted weight yarn, stop here & fasten off.

Second side of cozy:

Row 1: [WS- shaping is reversed for 2nd side of cozy] Make a sliding loop & fasten yarn with a sc in hole on the other side of the slip-stitch row on the band.

Work the second side as the first, but, as mentioned in row 1, you're starting on the WS & will finish on the RS, which will allow you to keep going when you've finished the second side. In other words, after row 8 (6) do not fasten off.

Top of cosy for DK weight yarn:

Round 1: [always on RS now] Pull up a loop in sc just worked, and another one in first sc on the first side of cosy, bridging the gap, sc these stitches together. *Make a 4-dc shell in each sc, sc in middle stitch of each shell* repeat around (repeat bridging at other side of cosy by pulling a loop up in the top of each ch-3, sc together), end with slip stitch in first sc- 14 shells. Chain 3 & turn.

Round 2:  1 dc in sc, *sc in 2nd dc of 4-dc shell, 3-dc shell in next sc* repeat around to beginning, 1 dc in same sc as ch-3, slip stitch to 3rd chain of ch-3. Chain 1 & turn.

Round 3: Sc in in same place as ch-1. For this row, only the shells will be worked in (this decreases the top). *Make 5-dc shell in middle stitch of next shell, sc in middle stitch of next shell* repeat around, finish with a slip-stich in first sc. Chain 3 & turn.

Round 4: 1 dc in same place, *sc in middle stitch of next shell, 3-dc shell in next sc* repeat around, end with 1 dc in same stitch as ch-3, slip-stitch in 3rd chain of ch-3. Chain 1 & turn.

Round 5: This round also only works in the shells. Sc in same place as ch-1, *work 5-dc shell in middle stitch of next shell, sc in middle stitch of next shell* around, end slip-stitch to first sc. Chain 3 & turn.

Round 6: 2 dc in same stitch as ch-3, *sc in middle stitch of next shell, 5-dc shell in next sc* around. End with 2 dc in same sc as ch-3, slip-stitch to 3rd chain of ch-3. Chain 1 & fasten off. This cozy ends with 4 shells.

Weave all ends. I block the cozies by soaking them in warm water, rolling them in a towel, then placing them on the tea pot & setting on a heating vent to dry.

Top of cosy for worsted weight yarn:

Round 1: [always on RS now] Pull up a loop in sc just worked, and another one in first sc on the first side of cosy, bridging the gap, sc these stitches together. *Make a 3-dc shell in each sc, sc in middle stitch of each shell* repeat around (repeat bridging at other side of cosy by pulling a loop up in the top of each ch-3, sc together), end with slip stitch in first sc- 12 shells. Chain 3 & turn.

Round 2:  1 dc in sc, *sc in middle of shell, 3-dc shell in next sc* repeat around to beginning, 1 dc in same sc as ch-3, slip stitch to 3rd chain of ch-3. Chain 1 & turn.

Round 3: Sc in in same place as ch-1. For this row, only the shells will be worked in (this decreases the top). *Make 5-dc shell in middle stitch of next  shell, sc in middle stitch of next  shell* repeat around, finish with a slip-stich in first sc. Chain 3 & turn.

Round 4: 1 dc in same place, *sc in middle stitch of next shell, 3-dc shell in next sc* repeat around, end with 1 dc in same stitch as ch-3, slip-stitch in 3rd chain of ch-3. Chain 1 & turn.

Round 5: This round also only works in the shells. Sc in same place as ch-1, *work 5-dc shell in middle stitch of next shell, sc in middle stitch of next shell* around, end slip-stitch to first sc. Chain 3 & turn.

Round 6: 2 dc in same stitch as ch-3, *sc in middle stitch of next shell, 5-dc shell in next sc* around. End with 2 dc in same sc as ch-3, slip-stitch to 3rd chain of ch-3. Chain 1 & fasten off. This cozy ends with 3 shell stitches.

Weave all ends. I block the cozies by soaking them in warm water, rolling them in a towel, then placing them on the tea pot & setting on a heating vent to dry.

I hope these instructions are clear. Let me know if they need correcting or explaining.

More Tea Cozies

Oh my goodness & Hallelujah! I am nearly done with the tea cosy project. In another post I explained the Tea Cosy Project, but the short & sweet is that I'm making gifts to take to Japan (at the end of June) & hope to send as much as possible (as soon as possible) by mail. Which means that I need to be done with said gifts so I can mail them...

 I hit a wall (which happens a lot when I try to make a bunch of the same thing) which slowed me down a bit. But the latest three are done, along with their matching hot-pads/trivety-things. In fact, the first teapot & cozy are on their way to their recipient, whom we will be meeting in Japan, but lives in the US these days. I thought it would be kinder to send their gifts before they leave for Japan so they won't have to drag them around Japan all summer.

So four are made & the last one is partly done, hooray! I started the project using KnitPicks Swish DK superwash wool in multicolours, & the teal/burnt orange & rainbow ones are in this yarn.Then I hit that wall...

I enjoyed picking out motifs to crochet for the trivets, & that kept me going...

I really like both of these motifs as trivets, as they are dense & cushy & will help retain the heat well. I found all the motifs that I'm using in Edie Beckman's Beyond the Square-Crochet Motifs.

Then I received an order of sale wool from Halcyon & the wall just melted :) I had ordered some Noro Silk Garden on sale in 3 different colourways. Actually, I thought I was ordering the sport weight wool, but it turned out to be the worsted... what to do? The cozies I've crocheted so far are in DK weight... should I try to change the pattern I made for the others...?

That's exactly what I did, basically by picking up a (larger) hook- I used a G/6/4.25mm- and winging it. I ripped a bit but the adaptation came quickly, & being in e heavier weight yarn, the cozy worked-up even faster. yay! The cosy & trivet took just under 1 skein of the yarn (~100 m). Plus, I got to use new, gorgeous yarn almost right out of the box!!

You might be able to see, there are 3 petals around the tea pot knob with the Noro yarn, where there are 4 petals with the DK yarn.

The two sides are slightly different (since I crocheted each side separately & then united them above the handle/spout). But I really like the way they turned out! And only one more to go!!! I really hope that folks like them...

"Granny's Shawl"

Hello! Here is my first entry for the Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild's Guild Wars 3, challenge 1, over at Ravelry. It's the Rippled Wrap, which is a free download pattern at Ravelry, by Cheri McEwen. I was immediately taken by the photo of this wrap when I was doing a search for crocheted shawl patterns at Ravelry, which showed it made in a rainbow of colours. I decided to make it using Noro Silk Garden sock wool that I had waiting for the right project, because the colours looked just right for this pattern. I used an I/9/5.50 hook to make a drapey fabric, although it's still fairly dense as well. The pattern is all double-crochet, with strategically-placed shells & skipped stitches making the ripples. Once you get the points established (which required careful following of the pattern) it's really easy to do & I enjoyed the process.

I'm thinking of putting a button at the front corner & using the opposite double-crochet loop to fasten it closed in front, which will keep it on very nicely. It's not huge, but the points come below my elbows & it will work very nicely as a wrap.

 I couldn't wait to be finished with this wrap, it was so much fun to make! I started it on May 6th & finished it today. I plan to make another one in some naturally dyed alpaca yarn (a finer yarn, which should give an even drapier fabric) that I found while rooting round in my sewing room today. And then I hit the sale Noro yarns at Halcyon because I could make a bunch of these! For gifts of course!!!

String Bags

During the recent Guild Wars 2 at Ravelry's Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild there were a bunch of string bags made (for the challenge to make things for a witch's kitchen). I was intrigued & hadn't crocheted one before, so followed the link from one I liked to this pattern. The yarn the pattern calls for, Red Heart Eco Cotton Blend, is considered a size 4 (worsted weight) yarn, but the thought of crocheting a string bag with such heavy yarn did not appeal to me, so I decided to try DK weight yarn instead. I used KnitPicks CotLin for my first bag, & since I only had 2 skeins, I fudged the pattern a bit so I wouldn't run out. I used a size E/4/3/5mm hook which gave a good fabric- not too loose, but not too firm either. The brown bag in the picture came out about 10" long (excluding the handles) which is a very nice, usable size. Along with making the mesh part of the bag shorter (by about 5 rounds), I also made the top edging much briefer than the pattern calls for, working just 3 rounds before making the handles.  I made the handles from regular single-crochet rows, rather than the firmer (but yarn-eating) stitch they recommended. I think it's perfectly sturdy this way, & I like it so well that I decided to make another one.

As you can see at the bottom of the brown bag, it starts with a medallion made of single crochets. It occurred to me that you could substitute one of those lace motifs that end with a mesh for the medallion, so I looked through my trusty Harmony Guide of crochet stitch motifs & decided to try the Spiral Pentgram motif found on page 74.

I used another DK weight yarn, Elann.com's Cotone Lin limited edition, with the same size hook as the first bag. As you can see, the motif came out really nicely at the bottom of the bag.

It's about the same size in length as the first bag, although it's actually a bit bigger around (I ended-up with 35 chain spaces in the mesh, rather than 32 (as in the original pattern), but it was easy to work the top edging & handles based on the original pattern. There are a few more motifs in the book that end up with a mesh, so I'm looking forward to trying them, too. I have knitted string bag in my UFO pile, & it just may become another crocheted string bag! They work up so quickly, look nice, & are very useful (& good for gifts). 

Tea Cozy Project

At the end of June my family & I will make our third visit to Japan. My son Brendan & I have been studying Japanese for nearly 6 years & we find an every-other-year trip to Japan really inspires us in our  studies.  Also, when we visit Japan, we visit the friends we've made over the years, & each time we go we have more people to visit & it all becomes more like a reunion than a trip :) In Japanese culture, part of visiting is bringing gifts, called omiyage, to the friends you go to see. In Japan omiyage is often food from where you live, or someplace you've visited on your travels. Since we'll be staying with friends there, we like to bring things that are made in our part of the US, or have some personal significance to us. It's always a challenge to think of things that would appeal to people from a different culture than our own, as well as appeal to people of varying ages.

Tomoko's family & our family, in front of Asosan (a live volcano) on Kyushu.

During our first visit to Japan, 4 years ago, we stayed with the family of our first Japanese teacher, Tomoko, who live in a small town outside of Fukuoka City, on the southern island of Kyushu. We had met Tomoko's mother, Nobuko-san, about a month earlier than this, when she visited Tomoko in the US. Being keen to learn some things about Japanese cooking, during her visit to our house I asked Nobuko-san (through her daughter, since she speaks very little English) if she would show me how to make tamago-yaki, since I had bought a rolled-omelet pan & wanted to see how it worked.

Getting ready for a simple tea ceremony at Nobuko-san's house.

 I also asked her to make tea for us (Nobuko-san is a tea ceremony master & teacher :) & learned more than any words could tell about how to properly make tea by just watching her. I had been hoping for some more impromptu cooking lessons when we visited Japan, but, sadly, it wasn't to be. Since I was a guest in her home, Nobuko-san wouldn't think of letting me into the kitchen :( The food was wonderful, though, but I had to observe at a distance... 

Breakfast table settings at Nobuko-san's house.

Last summer, when Tomoko was in Japan visiting her family, we Skyped with she & Nobuko-san. It was wonderful to see her & talk for the first time in 3 years. During our conversation I asked Nobuko-san, in my best Japanese, if she would allow me to cook with her. She seemed surprised & delighted, and agreed, but asked if I would teach her how to cook some western food. During intermittent discussions about this with Tomoko over the next few months, we decided a good thing for me to cook with her mom would be scones & cookies. Although ovens are not necessarily found in every kitchen in Japan (I've never seen one in any of the apartments I've stayed in there), Nobuko-san does have a small one & has been experimenting with making breads. Scones & cookies are a natural next step, so along with assembling supplies to send (like measuring cups & ingredients), and getting ready to work on translating some recipes into Japanese with our present teacher so I can make a little cook book to bring, I thought it would be fun to bring western-style teapots & crochet cozies for them, to give as omiyage to various friends in Japan.

Hence the Tea Cozy Project! I made my first crocheted tea cozy a few weeks ago (& posted about it here) & from that project I discovered some important things about crochet & tea cozies. In general, crochet is less stretchy than knitting, which is why Alice's original pattern for the Granny Tea Cozy has a button closure at the bottom. I didn't use a button for mine, but adapted the pattern so it fits over the teapot (just barely...). In designing my first cozy for the Project I decided to try making a stretchy foundation band 4 stitches wide from crochet ribbing (single crochet through the back loops only). Then I picked-up all along the edge of the band in shell stitch for the body of the cozy.

I made it from KnitPicks' Swish DK in heathered colours (sort of a heathered rainbow :) using a size E/4/3.50mm hook. The teapot is pretty small (~16 1/2" around), one of the 20 oz. ones from Republic of Tea (perfect for tea-for-two) & so the cozy worked up pretty quickly, in spite of occasional ripping (as I was creating the pattern as I went along...). 

I used shell stitch, since it's dense & makes a good fabric for keeping thing warm and I borrowed Alice's original opening in the top to let the lid peep through because it's really cute :) After washing (& blocking on the pot, over a floor vent) I am pleased with the results. Good thing- I need to make 4 more! All variations on the theme, of course. But first, I need to write the base pattern down!! Stay tuned for more cozies...

Brendan's Story

A little over  year ago my son Brendan was in the process of writing a story in Japanese. He had just finished the level 2 book he was using for Japanese lessons & our teacher suggested he do some outside-the-book learning before starting the next level. They decided to write a story, so Brendan thought up one about a fox and a rabbit. I it just happened to be around Easter time, & I had made him a bunny holding a carrot amigurumi for his Easter basket. As I mention in this post, I was in the middle of a big amigurumi project anyway, so I offered to make a fox so we could illustrate his story with photos & turn it into a picture-book (btw- amigurumi is the Japanese word for toys & figures made by knitting or crocheting).  The story ended-up involving a fish as well, so I designed a tiny fish to the scale of the other guys (they're about 2"- 2 1/2" tall).

The bunny pattern is from a book my friend Momo brought me from a trip home to Japan, called "ちさなかわいいあみぐるみと小物”　which means "small, cute amigurumi and small things". The book is from the レティブティックシリーズ no.2761, published by the Hamanaka Yarn Company. The fox pattern is from Tamie Snow's tiny Yarn animals. I used KnitPick's Pallette fingering & a size C/2/2.75 needle, to get a firm fabric.

The first page of the story goes like this:

あるひ、いたずらなきつねくんは、かわいいうさぎちゃんにあいました。いたずらなきつねくんは、いいました。

「うさぎちゃん、いっしょにあそびませんか。」

かわいいうさぎちゃんは、こたえました。

「はい、あそびましょう。でもどこであそびましょうか。」

いたずらなきつねくんは、いいました。

「おおきないわは、どうですか。」

かわいいうさぎちゃんは、こたえました。

「はい、いいですね。 そうしましょう。」

It means, basically, "One day a mischievous fox met a cute bunny. The fox said, cute bunny, let's play! The bunny agreed, but wondered where they should play. The fox suggested a large field nearby, & the bunny agreed."

Brendan's words are more interesting, but that's the gist of it :) The story goes on to tell how they played for a while, then went to the river for a drink, where they met a fish who was hurt. So they took him to the fish doctor (on the fox's back :) and after he was well they took him back to the river (aka watery blue scarf :) & he thanked them. Brendan came up with not only the story, but as is common in Japanese stories, a page describing the characters & an author page. Then we took the camera out to the back yard & created the different scenes, along with Shizuka, our Japanese teacher. It was a lot of fun. Brendan typed it all himself on the laptop, & spent a lot of time learning how stories in Japanese are punctuated (how to indicate quotes, etc.). This process helped him with his understanding of punctuation in general, so that he does it really well in English now, too :) After it was all done, he translated his story into English, put the Japanese into superscripts below, & we sent the story to some kids in Japan that we know, since they are taking English lessons.

Here is the picture from the author page, Brendan with his (& my) creations. It was such a fun collabouration.  I hope we get to do something like this again some day :) 

Rainbow Cowl

Another finished rainbow project, hurray! I was inspired by Alice's post "Do You Dare to Wear a Granny Square?" & wanted to make a rainbow version of her granny square cowl. As mentioned in this post, I started it then found I wanted/needed some more colours of the KnitPicks Swish (superwash merino) DK that I was using to make it. The box arrived on Saturday, and after finishing the rainbow bunnies I got right to work on finishing the cowl. I used an I/9/5.50mm hook so the fabric would be drapey.

And I used Alice's Grandala Square instead of a regular granny, extending the square by a few rows so it would be the right size (approx. 7"x7" square). I added a scallop along the edges to tie it all together.

It is the right size, too! It wraps twice around my neck, or once around my neck & up over my head like a hood. So, here's the thing: it's struggling toward Spring here in the NE US, so it's likely that I won't be able to wear my cowl for 6-7 months... (Alice is in New Zealand, so she's gearing up for Winter right now). Unless it really does get down into the 40's by mid-week, as the weather sites have been reporting... Sigh.

You can see why I've been rainbow-addicted during this grey, rainy Spring, can't you?

Well, the rainbow bunnies have found a roost (for now) and are settling-in nicely:

Surrounded by a rubber tree, a Tribble, & the Common Cold, they should feel right at home :)