colour me happy

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As we approach Holi, the festival of colours, happiness came my way through friends who participated in my design-along challenge!

On a lark I had converted my motif into a DAL challenge here and am so happy to see the motifs flowing in, along with respective patterns!!! Instead of waiting, let me share the progress so far. Interestingly, 5 of the 7 current participants are my Italian friends. They never fail to impress.

Compiled in this document, Muskaan's 2025 DAL Challenge  - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mQmdXWXQmcbXQ48nRz9FBeTJf_DoJqKz/view  Save this link and read for more details and updates (and larger images).

In the order the first image appeared .... 

Daniela Galli

Paola Bevilacqua

Silvana Buonvino

Michelle Forclaz

Adriana Tomanin

Lella Loops

Muskaan

I've tried to keep this post short and direct since all details are already in this document -https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mQmdXWXQmcbXQ48nRz9FBeTJf_DoJqKz/view

There are no words to profusely thank Daniela, Paola, Silvana, Michelle, Adriana, & Lella!

Most of them had participated in last year's DAL Celtic Snowflake challenge, too! You can join any time you wish and contact/tag me when you do! I'm sure most of these models will inspire you to take up the challenge. It doesn't matter if you tat with a needle or shuttle, if you haven't designed before, ... you can do it!

power winding

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You’ve heard me mention Jean Gordon in a few posts where I also shared a few of her projects. She calls herself my “dedicated reader” ;-D. She has been a crocheter but has taken up tatting for the last few years. Before I continue with the main purpose of this post, here’s some eye-candy from her...

Hummingbird Rose Doily  (crochet Jean Gordon)

JAG Filet Mat  (crochet Jean Gordon)

Rosette Doily  (tatting Jean Gordon)

 Powering a Shuttle Winder – how to

Jean Gordon

pdf download ; video

A few months back Jean shared a rapid shuttle-winding idea with me – “a simple Magic”. Now who doesn’t love magic, especially if it gets our shuttles filled in a jiffy, with no elbow grease?! She has kindly prepared a 2-page document with written instructions as well as a video – a lot of ‘firsts’ for her…

Disclaimer : We are not associated or affiliated with the products/companies/brands or sellers mentioned. Jean would simply like tatters to draw full benefit from the tools if they so desire. 

The following is mostly in her words ….

I’ve been seeing people with the Tatting Shuttle Winder picture attached and wished that it was powered.  I’ve had one for couple years and my husband found THE WAY to make it power wind.

And the magic wand that powers and speeds up the winding process is … wait for it …. a small 4v drill !!!

With power comes motion – some undesired ;-p Hence a non-slip surface (like a shelf liner seen in pics) will keep the winder stable when the drill is in action.

Besides speed and comfort, this process helps to eliminate the thread twisting like when the shuttle is filled by hand. It can also be used to unwind shuttles.
There is also a tip about how to wind 2 shuttles continuously using these tools.

There have been so many Tatters that have offered online help to Tatting Newbies that this will be sort of my way of pay-back.

Click to download this free pdf document for all details, with more pics and video :

Powering a Shuttle Winder (pdf) ; Using a Powered Shuttle Winder video.

So who wants to power their winder ??? Jean found a video showing the multiple uses this 4v drill can be put to - so it's more bang for your buck !!!

waffling

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‘waffling’ [North American]  : fail to make up one’s mind.

Apt! 

I first saw Diane’s admirable waffle stitch afghan(s) and immediately liked the texture! Several months later, Denise’s enthusiasm proved too contagious to resist. And the timing was right as I was convalescing in Dec.

 

After these learning trials, I set about crocheting a cushion cover for hubby’s chair. Which is why I started out with a 15” length. But started to get bored with the single colour (wish I'd factored in some white!) and tied off, changing my plan to an afghan. This first strip is worked along the length, but rest were worked up from the shorter side.

8 strips worked so far in 4 different colours. Each measures around 15”x3½” and weighs about 20gms. Jaypee knitting yarn/wool and 2.25mm/size13 hook.

Multiples of 3 and 2 extra chain stitches to start off, so that I get the same effect on either side.

I used only 2ch to turn.

Wanted to lay them flat before posting, but …

I need plenty more, but don’t know how to arrange them yet. Lots of arrangement ideas jotted in my grid pages, however my current waffling hampers progress!

Meanwhile I had other deadlines to meet, stuff to finish.

One thing is for certain; the entire afghan won't be waffle stitch. I intend to knit a few panels/blocks using different stitches – perhaps in batches of 8.

I kind of got into a rhythm with the stitch and it went fairly quickly; it consume a lot of yarn.

‘waffling’ [British] : speak or write at length in a vague or trivial manner.

Yelp! I’m leaving I’m leaving ;-P

seasons greetings

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When Denise sent me a picture of her crocheted Santas/elves I was hooked immediately! They were a hit with the kids who received them as well. 

It would make a lovely gift wrap adornment for my niece, along with a Christmas/party themed wrapping paper for one of the books.

She kindly sent me the pinterest link. After some searching, this is where I found the original pattern 'Noelzinho' by Norminha.

There are many versions of this face, but I like this the best.

Crocheted in wool in keeping with the season - it is getting chilly here with the minimum in single digit! It measures 4 inches vertically, including the pompom.

And I also fell in love with this snowflake which Bernice worked and tatted it immediately. I’m going through a slowdown phase but this snowflake truly perked me up. I'm glad to be reminded of this blog which has so many patterns and tutorials.

Worked in size 40, it measures 2¼” across. I worked it in one pass, climbing out with a split ring.
The pattern is Snowflake for the Christmas tree by Agnieszka Michalowska 
    

I used to love Josephine Rings, but have gradually veered towards dots. Dots turn out smaller than the JRs as I had discovered earlier.

  

This is one of the rare snowflake patterns that has 7 arms! 

An error on my part had led to 7 arms on this Ice Snowflake and I didn’t discover it till months after it was shared!

In the wake of such lovely patterns, I don’t really see the obsession with 6 dendrites. Do you?

This is one snowflake I’m going to find difficult to give away, despite the watchful eyes of Santa ;-P And for 'the flower within' look, I would love to use 2 colours next time, working the rows separately.

I wish my readers a very happy, creative and satisfying future 

filled with daydreams that come true !

Z

whipPINg up …

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… a creamy frothy foamy edging around a surging sea of flowers & wooly memories !

Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to present my ta-dah post. Well, I can finally strike it off my list.  

Although completed much earlier, I am entering this as my pinterest challenge again because it took me many searches through pinterest, many cloudy moments, many trials & errors to finally settle on what was the best or closest fit for what I wanted. It is also the first time I have done something like this in crochet.

My goal : Keep it simple, but keep the focus on the elegant curves & diamond points of each motif around the edge.

When my earlier ideas didn’t quite work the way I would’ve liked them to, another option dawned on me. 

Let me walk you through the process & a few tips that work for me …

Border 1

I had some strong advice to go with lighter shades for the border. Always heed to experience & wise counsel. Decided to make the penultimate round all cream, with only a touch of colour. This made work so much easier ! I could crochet Round 1 all together; then choose the colours & crochet Round 2 ; then the cream for Round 3, attaching on the go.

This pic shows how much fun it was.

Sorry, no pics for the finished penultimate round. I was simply enjoying the rhythm and it was too cold to arrange & take pics. Also, I had begun working at a frenzied pace, coz I had to knit leg warmers before I could get back to tatting (major withdrawal symptoms ☺) Or maybe I just forgot!
Pics lower down give a fairly good idea of the penultimate round.

TIP 1 - how to remember colour choices

As I neared the last rounds of the project, colour choices & combos became more of an issue. Choosing colour combos for specific area took a lot of consideration. Then remembering those choices! I hit upon a simple way. 

After selecting, I crocheted the 1^st round & loosely attached it to the adjacent motif where I wanted it. Thus I could cover larger areas quickly & fearlessly, spreading out the shades as much as possible.

Border 2

By now I knew what was required – a cream-only half motif to fill in the triangular space.

Never done it before, and didn’t want to have to cut after every single triangle. Solved it with a couple of trials. TIP : Always use the same yarn for final trial .

Made the 2 center rounds individually; keeping only half the pattern (in center of collage)

Then the last round was crocheted around, joining to the border, and continuing to the next triangle, all in one pass. After 220 motifs (not counting the triangles), each requiring tie & cuts & hides for each of the 3 rounds, this round was a breeze! I could finally crochet all the triangles in one pass !!!

I slip stitched around the corner motif, continuing with the next side till it was all done.

TIP 2 - how to store work safely

Large projects always require stops and starts over many days. Crochet stitches are very easy to unravel – one tug by a curious child or pet, and a whole day’s work may get lost! Here’s what I do to avoid any accidents.

Start to make a chain as usual but pull out a loop long enough to pass the entire yarn/thread ball through ; tension the loop just a bit so as to avoid snarls. That’s it. Even an accidental pull will only end up tightening the ‘noose’ into a stitch; it will never unravel the previous work.

When one is ready to pick up the project again, pass the ball backwards out of the loop & continue as per pattern.

I already delineated some of my tips on how to keep large projects clean when working over a length of time.

My Rainbow !

I’ve always admired Lucy’s cheerful colour palette & wished I had those many colours/shades. Well, guess what, I did !!!

This pic is only a slice – shades chosen from the already crocheted rounds. If I had the patience, the spectrum could’ve been much better. These motifs have the crochet hook inserted through their center.

Final Edging

I had bought this beautiful blue shade just a few weeks back, and it was perfect to rein in the creamy foam of the sea of flowers. 2 rounds of slip stitch (I think). 

All ends trimmed 

So that’s it. Ta-Dah ! Hoped to block the edge before taking pics, but didn’t get around to it. I can live with it, hopefully you can too ;-P

Pattern : Floral Fiesta Afghan by Maggie Weldon. My immense thanks to her for sharing this pattern ! I enjoyed every bit , including figuring out a personalised finish !
Total Motifs : 
Main body - coloured : 12x18 = 120+36=156

Border 1 - complete motifs : 13x2 +19x2 = 26+38 = 64

Border 2 - triangles : 18+18+12+12 = 60

Crochet hook # 9 (3.50 mm)  

Final dimensions : 44" x 64” ; 112cm x 162cm (approx)

Each motif : 2.5" x 2.5" (sides) or approx. 3.25" x 3.25" ( diagonals )

 It’s already in use and is adding such a fantastic splash of colour & cheer ! Although many colours appear same or similar n the pics, in reality, there are differences, and many more shades are visible than in the pic.

It does look like a textured sea of flowers when spread out ☺☺☺☺☺

Just one more pinterest challenge left for this year. 

Let’s see what the talented pin chicks have been up to this month ….

Suzanne

Margaret

Carollyn

Margaret II

Imoshen

Related Posts :

Pinterest Challenge (click on the tag in right panel)

Memory Afghan Part 1 ; Part 2 ; Part 3 

Keeping it clean

Trying border/edging options

coPINg with memories

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Jogging your memory on this Memory Afghan from the Floral Fiesta Afghan pattern by Maggie Weldon. I started it in Nov 2014 & completed on Jan 10^th 2016 spanning two winters. 

I am entering this as my very first Pinterest Challenge. The challenge has entered its 2^nd year and we are now the Pin Chicks !!! It is a novel idea started by 2 bloggers Suzanne & Margaret to choose one pin every month & do the project/task/activity. It can be Anything you wish, and everybody posts on the last day of the month. Adding to the fun & mystery, the project remains a complete secret till posted. 

So why am I picking this as my first Pin Chick project ? Because it all started two years back with this pin on pinterest ! The image immediately caught my fancy – such a beautiful pattern that would use up my yarn stash! A stash that had built up over the past 20 years from leftover yarn. Later, in my bid to work out a border/edging, I referred to several other pins.

I will let the pictures do most of the talking, even though the photographs have failed to replicate the cheerful brilliance & subtle shade differences of actual colours … And remember, there is more to come (read on)

 

Following the strong & almost unanimous preference here to use a lighter colour for border, I had lined the periphery with darker colours/shades. This would create more of a contrast with a lighter border.After joining 12 motifs, laid point-to-point, along the breadth & 18 along the length, I decided it was complete, and required only a border & edging. 

Maggie's pattern does not have any border/edging ; she weighs down the points with tassels. Tassels look very pretty but are not always practical. So I had to figure something out. I did so want to keep the ridges intact - no plain old rectangle ! 

Following is some of what I tried. This is inspired by another pin here, with image only & no pattern. I looked at many other pins on my Crochet Stitches & How-tos board for inspiration & pattern, but loved the slight overlapping effect created by the spike/dropped stitch.

• Spike/Dropped stitch : Insert the crochet hook through the base of previous row & pull up a loop to crochet.
• Picot : chain 3, slip stitch in 3rd chain from hook.
• All stitches are worked in/through the back loop.

Trial 1 : 
1 in pic, in white :  Row 1 - slip stitch in back loop  
                           Row 2 - single crochet in back loop, & spike/dropped                                                stitch at the notches   
2 in pic, in yellow : Row 3 - sc in back loop, & spike stitch at notches
3 in pic, in black :   Row 4 - slip stitch in back loop, and spike stitch at                                                  notches.

 Trial 2 : The single yellow row got lost between the white & black. Hence I added one more yellow row, worked same as Row 3 above. Thus 2 white, then 2 yellow rows. The spike stitches are more clearly visible here, although the lack of contrast between white & yellow masks everything.

The last row in black, with slip stitch in back loop & the spike stitch at notches, adding a picot at the tip. 

I liked the well-defined arched look, & tried it around some more motifs for colour-play. After the final black row, the edging seemed to flatten out too, & I hoped that with usage, it will flatten out further. 

So, got right down to work around the entire afghan.

 Two rows of border completed, using off-white/cream wool.

Started the 3rd row, but the ruffling only increased ! I did not do the math properly & this cream yarn was thicker & looser than the baby wool in the trials :-(
Note to self : always do your homework first , use Same yarn for trials as for final version, & don't bite more than you can chew !

This is where I left off last season.

So what did I do next ? 

Continued / Corrected / Changed / Chucked ??? 

For the grand reveal to this great suspense, wait a while coz I still have to take photographs, teehee .

A couple more pics .... 

 from front, and

from the wrong/back side. Yes, lots of ends to hide ! 

But don't leave just yet. Please take a few minutes to 

check out the immense talent of these Pin Chicks 

Carollyn , Margaret , & Suzanne 

(in alphabetical order ; click on name for respective blog)!

We will gather again on the last day of Feb. Hope you join us as 
a pin chick &/or reader :-)

Pinterest Challenge 2016 #1

Related Posts : Just Starting

On My Way

Along My Way

Happy Crocheting & Pin Chicking  :-)))

Knit Afghan 1

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The  Ugly  Duckling

This has quite a story behind it … a case of the unloved,  unwanted  Ugly   Duckling.......

Before the turn of the millennium,

At store … bought blue wool coz I wanted to use my #0 needles.

At home, … didn’t like it – too thick ! Unloved.

Left it with MIL to give it away (for free) to anybody who wanted it – nobody wanted the unknit yarn even for free ! On returning after 2 years, it came back to me. Unwanted.

========================

Square to Diamond  Sampler  Afghan 

.... and it's evolution &  transformation into a graceful swan !

I decided to knit a rug or mat to give away. Because of the thickness of the wool (& no circular needles at the time), I went for small squares with just enough stitches to fit on the needle, to be joined later.
All motifs begin with a normal knit row.

BLUE Square : 7¼” sides ; total 20 ; approx 550 gms wool ;

Pattern #24 from “The New Knitting Stitch Library” by Lesley Stanfield 

UK#6 needles ; Cast on 35+2 stitches

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Enjoyed the process & idea, so made squares in red & white leftover yarn, each with a different pattern.

WHITE Square : 7” sides ; total 10 ; ~200 gms

Pattern #291 from “The New Knitting Stitch Library” by Lesley Stanfield

UK#6 needles ; Cast on 33+2 stitches

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RED Square : 7” sides ; total 9 ; ~200 gms

Pattern #200 from “The New Knitting Stitch Library” by Lesley Stanfield

UK#6 needles ; Cast on 30+2+2 stitches

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As the numbers increased, I sketched out a possible arrangement to form a design, but preferred a diamond arrangement.

 

Boring Squares !!!! This is how it would've looked if I'd arranged as squares ...

TIP : Easy way to change squares into diamonds! It is easier to knit squares rather than start & end at a point in case of diamonds. But simply lay the square as a diamond &  join/sew as diamonds !

========================

Another dilemma emerged : what to do about the huge triangular spaces along the sides?!

Chose yet another pattern & adapted it for triangles. Not quite happy with the result. If I were to do it today, I would be better able to handle it with this or some other pattern. 

  

BROWN & BEIGE Triangles : 10” base, 7” sides ; 8 each (total 16) ; ~100 gms

Pattern #137 from “The New Knitting Stitch Library” by Lesley Stanfield

UK#6 needles ; Cast on 51 stitches

Since the background in all purl, the central pattern gets raised - nice texture. But it was not visible in black wool; hence chose these leftover colours.

========================

All squares & triangles ready. But how to join ?!

I was looking for a lacy, open effect, and crochet interlinked chains seemed to be the way to go.
Notice how insipid it looks without the black outline in the white & red Boring Squares pic above !

Done in black wool, all around the squares. I crocheted around one entire square. Then started on the adjoining square, joining to previous motif chain as I went. 

BLACK Crochet Chains : I think it is a ch6 (3, slip st, 3).

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There were still gaps at the meeting points of 4 squares. Took me a while for the idea to emerge … created the blue & red baby wool stars joining as I crocheted. These stars really brightened up & ‘completed’ the project.

 

RED & BLUE Crochet Stars : Wendy’s Baby wool 
20 red, 18 blue stars.

Each arm is (ch3,  sl st to black chain, ch3, sl st to center) x8, around a central ring of ch6-8. 

One can use the magic ring/circle, too.

========================

Finished off with a crocheted black chain scallop edging along the borders. I had an idea to sew some satin fabric as a border around the afghan – like a quilt. But that wasn’t necessary – the all-wool piece looked fine.

This is not a regular rectangle. I did knit 4 corner triangles, but preferred the diagonal corners. Hence, this is strictly an octagonal afghan.

FINAL measurement : 49”x71” ; weighs over 1 kg

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Okay, all this may seem very simple … but it was a watershed project for me. I had never ever seen anything like this before – no knit/crochet woolen blankets/afghans/quilts. To me, each step required a lot of thinking, evolving, & figuring out. The triangles were done the next year. And the little stars were added the year after that!

What may be a natural in some cultures, was a brainwave for me. It was my very own idea from scratch. Hence, I may be excused for ultimately not giving away the finished piece ;-P 

Yup, I kept My ugly duckling !!! Evolution &  transformation was complete ! And it is so soft & warm (especially the blue wool !!!) & works well as a lap-rug too, while I work at the desktop in winters.

All pics were taken after more than 10 years of use & wash . It is finally on it’s way to being discarded :-(

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happy  knitting :-)