Fit for a Prince or Princess

At long last, I have the directions and picture for a crown.  The crown can be embellished as you see fit.

A Wendyteaches Original

By Wendy Stumpf

Materials Needed:

Any yarn you choose

Hook 2 sizes smaller than you normally use for your yarn choice

Gauge: dependent on your choices

Finished Size: Newborn 15”, Infant 17”, 1 ½ years – 4 years 19”, 4 years – Adult small 20”, Adult M – L 22”

Notes:  Measure the head you want to fit.  Make the crown 1 – 1 ½ “ smaller than that size.  This is a multiple of 8 sts.

Stitches Used: Chain - ch, Single Crochet - sc, Half Double Crochet - hdc, Double Crochet - dc, Slip Stitch – sl st, Foundation Single Crochet - fsc, picot - p

R1:  FSC to the desired size, making sure to have a multiple of 8.  Join with a sl st to first fsc being careful to not twist.

R2: Ch 3, dc in next 2 fsc, *sk 2 fsc [(dc, ch 5, dc) shell] in next fsc, sk 2 fsc, 3 dc in next 3 fsc.  Rep from * around.  Join in top of ch 3.

R3: Ch 3, dc in next 2 dc, * ch 2, sc in 3^rd ch of shell, ch 2, dc in next 3 dc.  Rep from * around.  Join in top of ch 3.

R4: Ch 2, hdc in next 2 dc, hdc in ch 2 sp, ch 4, join in first ch (p made), hdc in same ch 2 sp, hdc in sc, 2 hdc in ch 2 sp,  ch 10, turn, sl st in top of ch 2, turn (ch 2, 6 hdc, 3 p, 7 hdc) in ch 10 loop, * hdc in 3 dc and once in ch 2 sp, p, hdc in same ch 2 sp, hdc in sc, 2 hdc in ch 2 sp, turn, ch 10, sl st in first dc of rep, turn, (ch 2, 6 hdc 3 p, 7 hdc) in ch 10 loop.  Rep from * around.  Sl st in top of ch 2 of first rep.

My Local Yarn Shop (lys)

My Local Yarn Shop.  Those words should invoke a warm wooly feeling with sure knowledge that help can be a few short miles away. Sadly not everyone can have such a rich resource near them.  Even more sad, shops are closing due to online sales and poor economy.  Online sales can give us access to a plethora of choices in fiber and color.

I am lucky enough to have wonderful shops to the North, South,  East and West  of my home within two hours or less.  These, coupled with the big box stores, give me access to many fibers and colors, as well as a wide variety of price points. 

Allow me to give a glimpse into the shops.  Most have a selection of acrylic yarns in weights,  colors and prices.  There are wools again in a selection of weight,  colors and prices.   There are blends, wool/acrylic,  cotton/acrylic, wool/cotton,  cotton/linen,  wool/alpaca,  you name it,  I can point you to a shop where it can be found.

Classes, books, magazines are available in a variety of levels of experience.  The teachers are knowledgeable and sometimes nationally recognized.   Class needs are just an arm's length away if something was forgotten.   Help can always be found for small questions or problems, although the shop owners usually prefer that the project components were purchased at the shop.

Some of the big box craft stores also have teachers from the local area.  Many of these people are wonderful help with problems,  questions and choices about projects.   Check your big box craft store and lys.  You will be amazed at the variety found.

National Crochet Month

Stash Appreciation, Part 2

How is a large stash affordable, you might ask.   Some of the ways were answered  in the last stash appreciation post. 

More ways to afford yarn include using coupons at the stores, yard sales,  estate sales, getting a job at a craft store.

The coupons can be mailed to you,  found on an app on your cell phone,  they can be found in newspapers and emails.  Coupons can be sometimes used in conjunction with sales, but most often not.  Check your stores for their policies.

Yard sales,  garage sales,  boot sales, flea markets and estate sales are pretty much the same thing.  Someone with too much stuff or in need of money hauls all their unwanted stuff out to the yard or garage or packs up a car or truck and goes to a location where other like minded individuals have assembled.  Set up tables or blankets and lay out the stuff that needs to go.  Some will have a small amount of yarn, needles/hooks or pattern books.  Sometimes a whole neighborhood will get together on specific day to hold yard sales.  If this is an opportunity you want to pursue, go early and with cash.  You might also want to go towards the end of the day and make an offer on remaining items you want.

Getting a job at a craft store might seem strange but hear me out.  The pay can go to support your habit.  You are surrounded by the stuff you love.  You can talk knitting and crocheting with people,  usually customers. You get the early scoop on sales.  

Once upon a time i worked at a craft store.   One of the managers made me an offer i did refuse due to space limitations.    The skeins of yarn that were without labels were unable to be sold.  There was an enormous bin of them.  I  was offered this yarn to take home.  I don't know if this is a practice still going on. 

One of the other questions I get frequently,  does your husband know how much you have?   To an extent, yes.  An actual count,  no.  Not even i have that at this point.  Do i want him to know? For me it doesn't matter.   He has his hobbies and the associated tools,  hardware,  raw materials. I have mine.  If a purchase is going to be beyond a certain limit, we discuss it.

For those who feel a need to be covert about purchases, I'm sorry to hear that.   You can sneak a few skeins in with other "more legitimate" purchases.  Wait until your other half is at work,  away from home or asleep before bringing in the large purchase.

Where can it all be kept to keep someone from knowing the truth about stash?  Again,  if this is your reality, I'm sorry.  Some places to keep yarn,  besides out in the open such as bookcases and armoires or plastic storage bins stacked up, might include behind the furniture in the living room,  under the bed, in the closet in old purses, in drawers that are less than full.  You might try down coat sleeves in the off season,  the drawer under the oven for pan storage  (wrap in zip top bags).  A more controversial idea that i have employed is above a dropped ceiling.  Put skeins in zip top bags with or without the air removal port.  Use small bags.  Tuck them up on top of a ceiling tile away from electric lines, light fixtures and the wires that hold up the groundwork. You don't want the section to fall because of yarn.  Floppy tiles can safely hold 5 pounds spread out on each tile.  Hard tiles can safely hold between 10 and 20 pounds spread out. Make a map so you can find quickly what you want. This is not an attempt to be covert on my part.  It's more a way to keep yarn I don't want to get rid of yet safe for future use and out of site.  Yes I have a map to keep it mostly organized. 

A year of stitches

Sadly I will have to revise my year of stitches for knitting and crocheting.  I severely over estimated the time available to me.  I will do a stitch a week from here on out.   The reasons are short but enormous.  Weddings are in my near future.  Babies are in my present.  Classes are on-going.

I had asked my sister who is one of a few brides for this year if she wanted a shawl for her wedding.  I may have dodged a bullet when she said no.  I thought it would be nice to do, but it's doubtful I could have done it for her and her matron of honor (me) without serious crazy making.  Had she said yes, I would have done my very best for her.  She declared the weather to be too hot for the need at the time of the wedding.  She might be right. 

I had a couple of patterns to steer her to, if she had said yes.  These were my choices.  Colors would have been ivory and a light blue.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wedding-shawl

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wedding-shawl-4

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ellas-wedding-shawl

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wedding-shawl-2

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/small-talk-shawl

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/silver-4

Circular shawls

This is the last installment on my shawl shape series.  They all stemmed from a conversation with my daughter in law last year when she asked me about how to create a triangle shawl.  It sparked my thoughts as I washed dishes.  It commanded time in my dreams during the time of not quite asleep yet not quite awake.  It's amazing what you can come up with during that time.

Circles are the last shape I will be tackling.  5+ sides are better suited to motifs rather than whole shawls.  My mind has come up with 3 ways to create a circle.  One is possible on paper but not in practical knitting or crocheting and so won't be mentioned except here.  Start with 3 - 5 sts and in rows keep increasing out so you create rounded edges on the "sides".  Work 3 - 5 rows straight then follow the amount of increases back down to the same beginning 3 - 5 sts.  In practice this doesn't work.  It cups horrendously because of the rapid rate of increases/decreases.  Cupping will be worse depending on the stitch used. 

Method 1  Start with either a magic circle and 8 or 12 sts worked into the circle in crochet or 2 dpns and 12 sts evenly distributed.  When knitting, follow Pythagorus' rule and every time you double the number of rounds, double the number of sts on the needles.  An example of this is rd 1, k, rd 2 kfb around, rd 3 k, rd 4, kfb around, rd 5-7 k, rd 8, kfb, rd 16 kfb, rd 32 kfb.  Keep this increasing pattern until you have the diameter you wish.  Any increase can be used.  YO, k1 can be used instead to add to the lace effect or to give a very definite line of demarcation.  Any stitch can be worked in the solid bands between the increase rds with the exception of things that cause waves such as feather and fan pattern stitch.  These don't fare well without extensive planning due to the changing stitch count every increase round.

When working with crochet, double the number of sts on rd 2, work 1 single stitch and a pair of sts all the way around on rd 3, work 2 singles and a pair all the way around on rd 4, 3 singles and a pair on rd 5 and continue in this fashion until you are large enough.  Pythagorus doesn't work as well for crochet due to the less flexible nature of the fabric created.  This is in my experience. 

This is fabulous for adding a border and edging due to all live stitches on the edge.  You will also have a really ;nice "bag" to hold your ball of yarn and needles once you get onto a large circular needle.

Method 2 Starts at the outside edge and works into the center.  Follow the same pattern for increasing here except decreases will be substituted.  Again be mindful of the stitch patterns you choose.  The first rds will be extremely long but once you start the decreasing, they happen quicker and quicker as you go.  This can work great as long as your edge is not too tight.  You also don't have to worry about having an ever increasing number of live stitches to drop.

Method 3 uses motifs.  Pick one major motif and a secondary smaller motif for filling in during the joining up phase.  These can be very elegant but not necessarily easy to wear. 

There are no pictures this time.  We all know what a circle looks like and with this few  methods, I didn't deem it necessary.

Go forth and knit or crochet.  Have you chosen your shape?  How about a stitch pattern?  Many of the stitches I'm sharing here during the #yearofcrochetstitches and #yearofknitstitches can be used successfully for almost any shawl shape.

Day 32 A Year of Stitches

Today's stitches will be

Cat's Paw Lace and Crowns Lace

Cat's Paw Lace

Multiple of 7 sts

Row 1: Purl to the end of row.
Row 2: K1, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, S1, K1, PSSO, K1, repeat across to end of row.
Row 3: Purl to end of row.
Row 4: K2tog, YO, K3, YO, S1, K1, PSSO, repeat across to the end of row
Row 5: Purl to the end of row.
Row 6: K2, YO, S1, K2tog, PSSO, YO, K2 repeat across to the end of row.

Rep R1 - 6 until you have a square, ending R5.

Crown Lace

With this stitch pattern we can feel like a princess.