Friday, June 28, 2013

Granny Edge Slouch Hat




Basic Instructions For Granny Edge Slouch
(this is not a written pattern)
Medium Adult Size


Materials needed:
AU 8 ply or US sports weight yarn
Approx 80 gm's main color small amount of contrast color
4 mm, 4.5mm, (or substitute 4.5mm for 5mm)
Sewing needle, scissors and measuring tape.

St's used:
US terms
Ch = chain
Dc = double crochet

Skill level = experienced
Time approx 3 hours minimum

Hat is made by making the granny squares first, sewing them together, adding yarn to the granny's for the top section and leaving an opening for a draw string, then adding yarn for the hat edge/brim.

Instructions:
You will need to make at least 6 granny squares first, here is a pictured tutorial with the color change, but I did 2 chain in between each 3 dc's, your granny square needs to be approx 3 inches in size, no need for exact measurements as long as all of your squares are the same size
 After sewing in all ends of the granny squares you will need to sew them together in a horizontal line, do not close the circle yet! Wrap the piece around your head to see if it will fit, if it is too tight add another granny square.
Below is my formula for calculating my stitch count, you will need more st's for the top of the hat and less for the brim of the hat, look at the picture above and you will see that I have started to dc into the spaces that I have counted in the picture below.
Using the larger hook, sl st into the corner and ch 3, 1 dc in each of the 3dc group, 1 dc into the ch 2 space, 1 dc into each of the corner spaces, all the way across to the end of your granny squares ending with a 1 dc in the corner space.
Your stitch count does not have to be the same as mine, it just has to be evenly spaced

Once you get to the end and you are pleased with your evenness, fold the piece in half and sl st into the beginning ch 3
Now sew that last space up of the granny squares to join into a ring shape
From here on you will just do rows of dc for about 12 inches in length (includes granny squares)


With the last few rounds of mine I decreased for about 3 rows.
NOT STITCH COUNT PERFECT 
row 1 dec in every 5th st
row 2 dec in every 4th st
row 3 dec in every 3rd st
Finish off
This is totally optional as you are going to finish with a hole in the end of your slouch and you will be threading a draw string in to the end of the hat and just pulling it together.

 Beginning the edge/brim.
Use your smaller size hook (if needed, see below).
Sl st to join yarn in any corner space of the granny and ch 3, you will be working 2 dc's in the group of 3 dc's, 1 dc in the ch 2 space and 1 dc into the corner spaces, sl st to top of ch 3 to join
 You will have approx 60 dc's
This is the time to measure and make adjustments for the size of the hat you want, less st's will make a smaller hat and extra st's will make a larger hat, you can also use a smaller or larger hook to get your sizing

Make as many rows of dc as you like and finish off.
Sew in all loose ends
Make a draw string and thread it through the top of your hat

MY NOTES
 On the hat edge/brim I chose to use the bpdc and fpdc to give it a ribbed look.
On the top part of the hat I chose to use a crossed dc to give the hat a nice stitch.
On the bottoms of my draw string, I added small flowers and a crochet cork screw.
Here is one with a small granny and cork screws that I will add to the draw string once strung.
There are plenty more effects you can add to the hat and I'd love to see what you do if you would like to share your pictures, you can send them to my email address or find me on face book.
I hope you found these instructions helpful.


I used the same method with this one below


Credit where credit is due thank you
cathy.e.wood@gmail.com

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Some Of My Latest Crochet Projects

It's Winter Here In Australia

I have so many requests for hats and I want to share their images here so I won't forget what I have made.
I am making most of them for my local chemist and if they ask for a replica I can come here and look at what I made to reproduce it.

So the slouch is very popular, I was shocked that any body would want to wear such a thing, after making lots of them, I don't mind them so much now and understand their purpose.












I also have some other items I need to keep track of.

Stylish Hat.



Character hat

Footy Hat/Neck Warmer

Adult
Junior

Plan lay out

Mitts

Baby/Toddler Hat


So as you can see I have been busy, other crochet pictures have been used for patterns I have written and posted on my blog, so you can flick through and see them in my recent posts.
Cheers Cat.

Some Berets/Slouch








Saturday, June 15, 2013

My Tip On Crochet Gift Wearable's

When giving a wearable yarn made item cut out the washing instructions from the yarn label and pin it to the item made.
This will take the guess work out of how to wash it for the receiver.
You can always fancy the instructions up, tape it to a gift card etc.
  
I have the free cable stitch neck warmer here on my blog.

Golfers Elbow Cure?

There is pain toward the top of the elbow which is called tennis elbow and then there is pain from the bottom of the elbow which is called golfers elbow, almost in the same place as your funny bone.
My golfers elbow pain was brought on by making fine jewelry, so I gave that a rest, but the pain did not go away, it hurts when I do any sort of cleaning, wiping or scrubbing things and when I chop up vegies and in other ways too.

For the past week or so I have been crocheting like mad to get some orders out and when I went to scrub up a couple of spills that my grand daughter Cindy had made, the pain had lessened!
For the first time in months  it was not as painful to scrub and the only thing different I had been doing was more crochet than usual.
The crocheting movements must be working the affected are in my elbow.
Hubby has been nagging me to go to physio, but I was just putting up with it as physio costs money and time and I hate anti inflammatory medication.

Lesson learned?
 Crocheting is great physiotherapy for golfers elbow.
Benefits?
Save money, time and not having to take any nasty medication.
=
Crochet Rocks!

Which Stitch Hat



Which Stitch Hat Pattern


What's with the name?
Which Stitch.

Well this stitch has more than one name.

The UP and DOWN st.

The GRIDDLE st.

The LEMON PEEL st.

 And maybe even more.


I prefer the Up and Down stitch as it makes sense to me.

Once the first pattern row is established which is

1 sc, 1 dc, repeat the last 2 stitches to the end.

The up and down bit becomes clear on the next and every alternative row.

1 sc worked into a dc stitch, 1 dc worked into a sc stitch, worded this way it's really the down and up stitch.



 The benefits of this st is that it works up very quickly and gives a closed piece of work (no holes) which is perfectly suited for a neck warmer or a hat.

Materials needed: Hook 4 to 5 mm, yarn DK 8ply, sewing needle
tape measure and some scissors, stitch marker

US terms used:

ch = chain

sc = single crochet

dc = double crochet
fpdc = front post dc
bpdc = back post dc

Level = beginner to expert.
Size = small to medium
Time approx 2 to 3 hours
 Pattern
 You will need the basic dc crown to begin, (click for link) once that is made, follow the instructions below.
Either size will work with the pattern instructions.
We will be joining rounds until the end of round 3.
Row 1, of the stitch pattern. You will be in the position of having made a slip st into the top of the ch 3, now ch 1 and make 1 sc into the same place as the sl st, 1 dc into next st, *1 sc into next st, 1 dc into next st,* repeat from *to * to end of the round, you should finish with 1 dc into the last st, sl st into the first sc of round 1
Row 2, ch 3 (first dc), work 1 sc into the next st, *work 1 dc into the next st, work 1 sc into the next st*, repeat from *to* to the last st, the last st will be a sc into a dc, make that, you will now increase into that same st with a dc, sl st into the top of the ch 3 to join

Row 3, ch 1, work 1 sc into the same place as the join (top of ch 3 space), *work 1 dc into next st, work 1 sc into next st*, repeat from *to* to end of the round, do not join round.

Row 4, this row will make up the rest of the pattern.
Work 1 dc into the next st, (use your st marker on this st if you want to keep track of your row count), *work 1 sc into next st, work 1 dc into next st,* repeat from *to* to 1 st before st marker, do not join round, now repeat pattern in rounds. A sc into a dc, a dc into a sc.

 You may not want to use that annoying st marker, you can just go around and around until you to get approx, 7 inches total hat length and then make a ribbed look edging, finish with a dc st, no need to join round.

Ribbed Look Hat Edge.

Row 1, work 1 dc in each st around, sl st into the first dc of this round
Row 2, ch 3, *work 1 bpdc around the next st, work 1 fpdc around the next st, repeat from *to* to end, come in from behind the back of the chain 3 and sl st to join round

Row 3, ch 3, *work 1 bpdc around the next bpdc, work 1 fpdc around the next fpdc,* repeat from *to* to end,
come in from behind the back of the chain 3 and sl st to join round
You may want to finish your hat edge here, or repeat row 3 for more length. If the hat edge needs to be a little tighter, do a round of 1 sc into each st.


Finish off and tie in ends.


I use a flower very similar to this one, free pattern here on my blog.

 BONUS FLOWER PATTERN

Flower Pattern
Chain 4, sl st to beginning ch to form a ring
Row 1, ch 2, work 10 dc into ring, to join, sl st into the 1st dc of the round (10 dc), this will give us 5 pairs of 2 dc for each petal
Row 2, *ch 3, work (2 dc, 1 trbl) in same space as ch 3, work (1 trbl, 2 dc) in next dc, ch 3, sl st into the same dc, sl st into the next dc* repeat 4 more times (5 petals), end with a sl st into the beginning ch 3
Row 3, *ch 6, bring the ch 6 around the back of the petal and sl st into the next ch 3*, repeat 4 more times, to join, sl st into the 1st ch 6 space
Row 4, *ch 3, work (3 dc, 3 trbl, 3 dc) in the ch 6 space, ch 3, sl st into the same ch 6 space, sl st into the next ch 6 space* repeat 4 more times, end with a sl st into the beginning ch 3
Row 5, repeat row 3
Row 6, *ch 3, work (3 dc, 5 trbl, 3 dc) in the ch 6 space, ch 3, sl st into the same ch 6 space, sl st into the next ch 6 space* repeat 4 more times, end with a sl st into the beginning ch 3, finish off, leave a long tail for sewing your flower onto your project
I wanted a slightly raised center for my flower, after completing the flower I attached my yarn to a center dc and made a front post dc in each of the 10 dc’s to give me this effect


Free Pattern Courtesy Of Cat Wood
Aka, Cats-Rockin-Crochet.

You can sell your items made from this pattern
I’d love to see this pattern used for charity use
Please link back to this pattern if you use it



TO PRINT OUT THE PATTERN, COPY AND PASTE TO A WORD DOCUMENT ON YOUR COMPUTER.