Lavender Bolero with Flower Motifs

Posted on January 22, 2012 by fats

With Dora Ohrenstein’s “Glitter Girl Bolero” (in “100 Crochet Projects”) as basic shell, I completed this flower trimmed bolero in cotton thread size 8. This is in size Medium for my mom.

The finished bolero as to be worn with a dress underneath.

Project Notes:
See New Paths with new crochet materials
Jan 5: I am working on a size M now using cotton 8 thread. I increased by adding the next multiple. For example, the pattern starts with ch 92 (110, 128) which are sizes S, M, L in increments of 18. So for cotton 8 thread that’s 128 for small, 146 for medium and 164 for large.

At row 3 the patterns says V-st in next V-st 14 (17, 20) times. Those are repetitions in multiples of 3, so for cotton 8 thread that should be 23, 26, 29.

In the original pattern, there are two additional rows for sizes M and L (starting at Row 10). I am tempted to add rows in multiples of 2 for cotton 8 thread but I’m not sure if that’s correct. That would probably need working out by actual measuring rather than adding rows. But I’ll need to double-check when I get there!

Finished the motifs and trimmings around the sleeves then ran out of thread to finish off the bottom hem.

Jan 7: Continuing my work on the bolero in size Medium and lavender colour.

So far I am at the back section of the bolero and I have been taking measurements as I work. I base my measurements on schematics in some knitting magazines that I got a few years ago. I don’t knit and these back-issue magazines were cheap, and they have proven their usefulness in terms of a chance to study garment sizing through the schematics.

I also found out that “The Glitter Girl Bolero” pattern has a rather tight armhole. When I worked in size Small I added two extra rows at the shoulders. This time, working in size Medium, I added one extra row at the lower section of the garment and then two extra rows at the shoulder to increase the armhole size. At the moment, I am confident that this will be the right fit for my mom.

The shops didn't carry any of the lavander thread anymore so I used variegated ochre-white thread for the bottom edging which matches the color of the ribbon and some of the flowers.

The shops didn't carry any of the lavender thread any more so I used variegated ochre-white thread for the bottom edging which matches the colour of the ribbon and some of the flowers.

I have done this bolero earlier in size Small, as shown in Crocheting in 2012 and http://crochetology.net/2012/01/first-fo-in-2012/

Detail of the ribbon and motifs.

New things learned while working on the lavender bolero:

Some of the flowers at the back of the neck tended to fold over. One way to stiffen them was to sew nylon thread through the edges of the motifs. I learned this method while washing a chiffon dress (beach dress) which used nylon thread along the hem to give it weight and keep the dress from being blown up by the wind.

Perhaps next time, I can make a bolero made entirely of flower motifs.

The use of tailor’s patterns for crochet is not such a bad idea. It provides a basis for shaping into what they call “tailored” or “tailor fit” which can be rather nice with certain garments. I would like to try this some time with skirts since crocheted skirts tend to hug the body in unflattering ways.

Running out of thread meant implementing a new design feature. This happened to the bolero in a small and simple way. The shops didn’t carry any of the lavender thread any more so I used variegated ochre-white thread for the bottom edging which matches the colour of the ribbon and some of the flowers.

St. Valentine’s Heart free pattern

Posted on January 21, 2012 by fats

Valentine’s Day is still a long way away but I thought I’d better start early. We’re expecting visitors in February so it’ll probably be too busy and hectic to think about Valentine’s Day greetings.

And although Valentine’s Day is often associated with the celebration of intimate love, I have been thinking of it more in terms of love for family. With this in mind, I made these crochet hearts to decorate the house and to give away with gifts for family on Valentine’s Day. This afternoon I wrote the pattern and here it is.

Saint Valentine’s Heart Crochet Pattern

This is a quick project for Valentine’s Day – a crochet heart with lacy edging. Use it as décor, tied together like buntings or hanging from lamps and lighting fixtures, fix it on the wall or doors of your home. You can also paste these hearts onto Valentine’s Day greetings for your sweetheart, and also as appliqué for garments and curtains.

Quick Valentine's Day project.

Yarn: Acrylic yarn, medium worsted
Colors: Red and Cream
Hook:Size 5/0 (3mm) aluminium crochet hook
Measurements: Heart measures approximately 3.5inches tall x 4.5 inches wide
Terminology: The pattern uses crochet terms in US English.
Special Stitch:
Picot: Ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch fr hook (picot made).

Closer view of the crochet heart.

Using red yarn, ch 17.

Rnd 1: Ch 4, dc in 5th ch fr hok, dc in each of next 5 ch, yo, insert hk in next ch and pull up a lp, yo and draw thru 2 lps on hk, yo, sk 3 ch, insert hk in next ch and pull up a lp, yo and draw through 2 lps on hk, yo and draw through all 3 lps on hk, dc in each of next 6 ch, ch 4. Now working along other side of foundation ch, sl st in 1st ch, ch 4, *sk next ch, dc in next ch, ch 1, rep fr * two times more. In ch-3 sp make (dc, ch 1, tr, ch 1, dc), ch 1, dc in next ch, ch 1, sk next ch, dc in next ch, ch 1, sk next ch, dc in next ch, ch 4, sk next ch, sl st in next ch.

Rnd 2: (Ch 3, sc in ch-4 sp) 3 times. Ch 4, sk 1st dc, dc in next dc, ch 1, sk next dc, dc in next dc, ch 1, yo, sk next dc, insert hk in next dc and pull up a lp, yo and draw through 2 lps on hk, sk next dc, yo, insert hk in next dc and pull up a lp, yo and draw through 2 lps on hk, yo and draw through all 3 lps on hk, ch 1, sk next dc, dc in next dc, ch 1, sk next dc, dc in next dc, ch 4, sk last dc, sc in ch-4 sp, (ch 3, sc in same ch-4 sp) 3 times, 2 sc in next ch-4 sp, picot, 2 sc in same sp, picot, (2 sc in next ch sp, picot) 8 times, in next ch-4 sp make (2 sc, picot, 2 sc). Finish off.

Rnd 3: Join cream color yarn with sc to the 1st of the 3 picots at the right upper side of the heart shape. Ch 1, (dc, picot, dc, picot, dc) in next picot, ch 1, sc in next picot, ch 1, (dc, picot, dc, picot, dc) in ch-4 sp, ch 1, sc in each of next 2 ch sps, sk center sp, sc in each of next 2 ch sps, ch 1, (dc, picot, dc, picot, dc) in next picot, ch 1, sc in next picot, (ch 1, picot, ch 1, sc in next picot) 11 times, ch 1, picot, ch 1, sl st in 1st sc to join. Fasten off.

Hearts and Coffee

Yak lace top

Posted on January 21, 2012 by fats

Finished this one today – a project that I started as soon as the yarns from Lotus arrived.

My second crochet project using yak yarn from Lotus.

As I noted in an earlier blogpost, I built up this lace top using openwork leaf motifs.

The yak yarn is in natural brown color. Here I hang the crocheted top with a dress underneath.

The leaf starts with a ch-25 midrib, then hdc in 5th ch fr hk. Ch 2, sk 2 ch, dc in next ch, ch 2, sk 2 ch, tr in next ch, and so on. The next round is a 3 sc in each of the sps with ch-3 in between each sp. I used ch-3 rather than a picot because I noticed that picots are weak sts in lace yarn. The round of sc makes the leaf stronger too.

The ch-3 loops are used to join the motif together along the sides. I start with sc in a ch-3 loop, ch 3, dc in next ch-3 loop, ch 5 (or longer or shorter depending on distance bet leaves that is desired), dc in ch-3 loop of corresponding leaf, ch 3, sc in next ch-3 loop of same leaf, ch 3, dc in ch-3 loop of same leaf, ch 5, dc in ch-3 loop of first working leaf where first dc was made. Then ch 3 and sc in next ch-3 loop of same working leaf. And so on and so forth. The joining stitches take on a Y shape which I like very much. With the joined leaves I decided to make a lace top.

I have added straps in after making a tube of my size. I don’t sew in the back of the straps but rather tie them with acrylic yarn so that later I can make adjustments to fit.

Ribbon and beads decorate the front of the crocheted top.

The straps are widened and strengthened, as well as around the armholes. The hem is finished with a simple “dc-ch-tr-picot-dc-ch” type of edging. The large holes that result from joining the leaves together were closed with a mesh consisting of treble stitches all along the edges of the holes.

The hem of the top is worked in simple edging.

Extra work went into making several more leaf motifs which I sewed directly over the joined areas of the upper section of the top (the bodice part). This made the upper section stronger and covers up more of the holes. Thus, only the lower part of the top has more holes and is more delicate.

Another view of the ribbon. This helps me tell which is the front and right side of the top!

As finishing touch to the top, I sewed onto the front a ribbon and some beads. This little decoration helps me tell which is the front and right side of the top.

The top is truly soft to the touch and lovely to wear. Material of this sort made into a garment definitely needs considerable reinforcement in the neck and armhole areas.

The leaf motif is also very easy to use to construct a garment such as this. More motifs can be used to make larger garment sizes, as well as increasing the distance between motifs. A shape is also made by adjusting the distances between the motifs. For example in my project, I used a 7-ch distance for the bust, while for the waist, I used a 6-ch distance.

The Swift and the Beautiful

Posted on January 21, 2012 by fats

Finally, here is my new home-made swift! It is made from Gmelina (known in English as beechwood or white teak) scraps from the construction of our house some two years back. Lucky that we kept all those scraps.

The new swift working hard with a hank of yak lace yarn.

The swift consists of two arms – two gemelina “sticks” about 2 inches wide and 0.5 inch thick. We used “sticks” like these to hold together the amakan (woven bamboo) walls of our house.

The base of the swift needs to be heavy so we used larger blocks of gemelina wood. The dowels holding up the yarn are from the bamboo growing in the garden.There are extra holes in the arms of the swift so that the dowels can be adjusted to other hank sizes.

I asked Bebe, the fellow who built our house, to put this swift together. It is roughly built, just like our house, but it works. The arms turn over two plywood pieces with an umbrella nail right through.The movement isn’t smooth and I still need to turn it about and it would swing with its own weight. That means I can’t use the fine lace yarn to pull the swift to turn it since that might damage the yarn. I tried but it’s too taut and that might break or weaken the yarn.

Roughly built with gmelina, umbrella nail and bronze nails.

Then just last night I noticed that bronze nails were used on the swift. Turns out that Bebe has been fixing his old little fishing boat and has only bronze nails available. Wow, what a luxurious swift!

Well, here’s the swift now hard at work with a hank of fine camel and silk yarn. It is with this type of fine yarn that I definitely need a swift. I haven’t got a ball winder but that’s aright since I can work fairly quickly with just a dowel or a cone or with just the yarn. Nevertheless, I quite enjoy winding the yarns into balls.

The swift with a hank of fine camel and silk yarn.

The swift with a hank of fine camel yarn.

If you’re looking for fast and easy ways to build a swift, I found some resources on the web.

Homemade Portable Yarn swift by Anne Luo Lukito

A Yarn Swift Made with Wire by Aemmeliea

Video of a Homemade Yarn Swift by vovo6

On the subject matter of inspiration

Posted on January 18, 2012 by fats

Best buddies: croc and frog. Croc loves butterflies.

There are now eight finger puppets sitting on my table. I started working on an entirely new set of puppets yesterday, after feeling thoroughly disheartened with the first set that I made. The first set looked sad and limp, and took a lot of time and effort to make. They were made with two strands of cotton thread size 8.

Pig and Teddy. I love Piggy's tiny eyes!

The new set of finger puppets are made with DK weight acrylic yarn. This time, I looked carefully in my stash and tried to choose the colour combinations conscientiously. I also decided to crochet the puppets the “hard way” – that is, of two major parts rather than one: the head and the body. Previously, I crocheted only the main body of the finger puppets and sewed on the face features. This time, I made the head and body separately, stuffed the head and sewed it onto the body.

Hare and Tortoise. Whiskers are nylon threads.

I avoided using this process because I imagined it was more difficult. But as it turns out, this process was in fact easier and the resulting puppets looked enormously better. The faces were bigger and it was therefore more fun to make the facial features and other accessories.

Was I “inspired” to take on the “hard way” of making the finger puppets?

Although laziness has kept me away from all sorts of potential troubles, I think it isn’t laziness that screws up my work. Rather, I think it’s seeking the easy way out. Instant pot noodles.

The calico cat finger puppet I made last night was an “easy way out.” I crocheted in the three colours – black, white and brown. The result was passable. This morning I made a new calico cat. This time, I made the head entirely in white, and then took the “trouble” of embroidering in the brown and black patches. I took the same degree of “trouble” to make the nose and ears of the cat. And even more trouble to sew in some nylon whiskers.

The Owl and the Pussycat on a boat.

The result is worth all that (fun) work.

I am “inspired” only when I am not in a hurry and when I take my time. And the more I take my time, the less time it actually takes to complete a work that makes me happy. I am hoping that when my nephew gets these puppets, he’ll be spendings lots of happy time with them.