Crochet to Go

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Here's a great gender-neutral project (that also uses up your yarn stash). These are worked in sc, with a sc border stitching each square together.

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

I drove to Oregon with my parents this past weekend. Portland is really, really far - far enough to get through two sweaters. Both are long sleeve, button variants of Rima Aranha's "Bombay Love" pattern (free download on ravelry). I ran out of yarn at the end and improvised the sleeve shape on the blue version. I think it works, though. Both are newborn size.

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Here's another project gone amiss that I'm very pleased with. I started with the shoulder shaping and stripe pattern from “Bringing Up Baby”, in the Make It Yourself Library, Volume 5. The pattern had a picture of the yarn weight - apparently my choice wasn't close to their yarn at all. Rather than making a very large cardigan, I improvised a button-front cape with buttoned arm holes. Perfect for cold days and layering!

It's a quick pattern and would work with a variety of fibers (I used cotton: Bernat Princess and Lily Sugar and Cream, 75 grams each).

Baby Cape Pattern:

Materials needed
• 75 gm / 3 oz. cotton worsted weight each for Color A and B (150 gm / 6 oz total)
• Crochet hook: 3.75 mm
• Yarn needle
• 2 buttons

Gauge
In pattern, 16 sc and 13 rows = 4 inches
Size
6-12 months

Directions
Note: color pattern is as follows: R1-2 A, 3-6 B, 7-8 A, then alternating B and A.

Using Color A, ch 45, turn.

R1: Sc in second ch from hook and each ch across (44 sc). Ch 1, turn.

R2: *Sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * across (52 sc), switching to Color B at end of row. Ch 1, turn.

R3: *Sc in next 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * across (60 sc). Ch 1, turn.

R4: *Sc in next 6 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * across (68 sc). Ch 1, turn.

R5: *Sc in next 7 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * across (76 sc). Ch 1, turn.

R6: *Sc in next 8 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * across (84 sc), switching to Color A at end of row. Ch 1, turn.

R7: *Sc in next 9 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * across (92 sc). Ch 1, turn.

R8: *Sc in next 10 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat from * across (100 sc), switching to Color A at end of row. Ch 2, turn.

Rows 9-21 are worked in hdc, alternating colors for each row. To avoid cutting the string at the end of each row, always work 2 rows from the right side, and then two rows from the wrong side.

R9-21: Hdc in each stitch across, switching to opposite color at end of row. Ch 2, turn.

R22: Hdc in first 16 sts. Skipping next 15 sts, ch 11, sc in 6th ch from hook (forming button loop), ch 6. Hdc in next 22 sts. Skipping next 17 sts, ch 11, sc in 6th ch from hook (forming button loop), ch 6. Hdc in each st to end, switching to opposite color at end of row. Ch 2, turn.

R23: Hdc in each stitch and ch across , switching to opposite color at end of row. Ch 2, turn.

R24-31: Hdc in each stitch across, switching to opposite color at end of row. Ch 2, turn.

Edging
Working along nearest front edge (not the bottom), evenly space sc. Ch 1, turn, sc along front edge, bottom edge, and opposite front edge (working 2 sc in each corner). Ch 1, turn, sc along front edge, evenly spacing 4 buttonholes (to make a button hole, ch 2, skip 2sc). Ch 1, turn, sc along same edge. Ch 1, turn, work 1 more row of sc on same edge, bottom edge, and opposite front edge.

Fasten off, weave in loose ends. Sew 4 buttons to front edge, 2 buttons to arm openings.

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Digital photography is so pivotal to my crafting experience (documenting, cataloging, organizing) that I often forget that my earliest crafting predates owning a digital camera. It's hard for me to pinpoint when exactly I started, but I think it was roughly Fall 2000, potentially 2001. It was definitely Fall, and I bought my first ball of yarn at Skein Lane in Berkeley (now defunct).

I keep very few things I make. At this point, my boyfriend has more hats than I do. I have 3 scarfs, 3 or 4 pieces from the Crochet to Go Deck I can't bear to part with, and a handful of odds and ends. Everything else (probably 25 projects a year) is immediately gifted or goes into the gift bin.

I ran across a photo album with actual film photographs of my first projects the other day. They're terrible - out of focus, dark, badly framed. I'm going to try to reshoot them, where possible, and remake the projects if needed. Here's the first - a star coaster, my first ever project crocheted in the round.

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

I'm starting to stockpile baby gifts. I have 5 pregnant friends right now - 2 baby girls, and 3 unknowns. This pattern was too cute to pass up. It's very quick (less than 3 hours for a pair) and works well with different yarn weights and textures.

The pattern is a $2 download; you can find it on ravelry.com: #86 Fancy Crocheted Baby Booties by SweaterBabe.

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

I made this on the way to and from Tahoe - a bit of wishful thinking. Although given the weather - 77 degrees in San Francisco yesterday - I may wear it sometime soon. The pattern is from my favorite craft collection, the Make It Your Self library (12 volumes, 1976). The patterns include a picture of a suggested yarn type but no recommendations. I used Patons Grace (less than one skein per color) and a 3.75 mm hook. The sizing is accurate and it's very cute on.

This project was almost a failure - but I absolutely love it.

I have one New Year's Resolution - I absolutely cannot buy new yarn for every project. Every other project at best, and ideally less than that. My stash has reached unmanageable proportions. This project was one of my "treats" - I ordered the 4 skeins of the recommended yarn (the pattern, "Seduction", is available on ravelry.com).

It unfortunately was not nearly enough to complete the scarf - only 9 inches per skein. At $10/skein, well - you can do the math. Really hard to justify. It's also a fairly stiff yarn to use for a scarf. Which led to the gater! Stiffness is a wonderful quality in a gater. I used nearly 2 skeins to finish it. I incorporated one button hole at the top (for cold ski days), and am using a clip-on earring to secure it in the center. Adding a button in the center would work well too, but I liked the look of the earring.

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

This is a much delayed post - it was a gift for my boyfriend, and I suspect he checks this blog once in a while. "Pass the Piggies" is one of his favorite games. It's essentially a dice game - you toss the piggies and score based on the way they fall.

Pattern courtesy of Bridget Reed of Roman Sock. I found the writing a little confusing, but once you understand the style the pigs work up quite quickly.

I haven't posted any crochet finds in a while. Here's a neat one (knitted):


See more here.

This bracelet is the easiest project I've stumbled across in awhile. You can get through 2 or 3 bracelets over the course of a single movie. I'm fond of this hemp version, and the cotton crochet thread bracelet I started last night is looking pretty good. I plan to move on to necklaces next. The pattern is available here.

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

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Originally uploaded by elesemichelle.

Graham has grown into his romper! The pattern is from Simple Crochet for Cherished Babies.

I'm wrapping up an excruciating crochet project - crafting the Obama logo into a Christmas ornament. As you can see, it has required a number of attempts, some much more successful than the others. My favorite - and final - draft is in the upper left.

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

This pattern is one of the more popular scarves on ravelry right now. I used a two-strand pink-and-white yarn I picked up at an estate sale a view years ago. It's very pink and girly! I like it as an accent piece.

Thanks Alicia!
Originally uploaded by dubteka.

Fabian, the aspiring musician.

Thanks Alicia!
Originally uploaded by dubteka.

I just finished three hats for little friends. I'm really hoping the sizing is right - I'm great at baby sizing and have adult hats down, but everything in between is a bit of a guess. It's the curse of living in the Bay Area - you just don't see kids very often. The pink hat is my favorite (it's worked in sc with a winding seam; the others are basic dc hats worked in a continuous loop).

The Guardian announced today that Google and the US book industry have finally reached an agreement about publishing and archiving books online (article here).

The agreement between Google and the US book industry means that internet users will soon be able to choose from and buy millions of titles, many out of print, or read them on a page-by-page basis.

…"What is so positive is that it recognises that authors and publishers must be involved when works in copyright are digitised and made available to the public, and usage must be paid for, while at the same time it promises to make the practicalities easily manageable for users."…

This is a big deal for all of us crafters - a world where all patterns are available, at any time.

My Christmas project list is starting to come together. It's daunting - I actually had to make a spreadsheet to keep track of everything - but it's starting to come together. The first two hats are done (grey and green, using Berocco's Pure Merino and the pattern mentioned previously). The pink hat I'm keeping for myself. I wasn't loving it during the creation process (too pink!), but I really like it on. It's somehow rosy enough to not be obnoxious, and I love the feel of the yarn. It's from a pattern I bookedmarked back in January: I Like Lemon's Button-Tab Hat. The original is a knitting pattern; I made a crocheted version using one of my basic hat patterns and a single crochet border (worked perpendicularly to the hat and in the back loops only). Very cute on - it's subtle, but nicely decorative. I'll take some more photos of the yarn this weekend in better light. (I've hit that unfortunate part of the year where I'm at work during the daylight hours, and leave and come home in the dark.)

Hat completed successfully! It's very, very cute. I used a 4.00mm hook and sport weight yarn (Patons Grace) and worked the 3-6 month size, and blocked and stretched it as recommended. It's quite small, but I'm hoping it will work with a newborn.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry, Vintage Bonnet by Sidsel Sangild.

I organized my yarns this morning and ran across this hat - an early attempt to make a brimmed adult-sized hat. As you can see, it's not quite the size I intended. But I like the brim and the fairly stiff structure.

Graham modeling his sweater (the original from the Crochet to Go Deck).

The best way to describe this project is as a successful failure. It was supposed to be a hat (you can find the pattern on Ravelry, Vintage Bonnet by Sidsel Sangild) and I somehow managed to get it horribly wrong. A combination of too small hook and thin yarn, is my guess. It's not a bad vase, though. I have it around a ceramic cup for now, and plan to starch it to stand alone as a bowl.