DIY Crochet: Triple Crochet Vest

I made this vest months ago, when I had very little experience; I started out thinking I wanted to make a shawl, but after draping it around my neck, I instantly saw the potential for a vest.

This is a great project for someone that is still in the scarf stage of crochet, the only stitches used are chain and triple crochet.

Materials:
2 skeins of lion brand homespun in purple
Size J Crochet hook
darning needle
scissors

Begin with a slipknot
chain 54
1st row: in the fifth chain from the end triple crochet, continue to triple crochet in each of the remaining chains (27 triple crochets total); chain 5, turn

2nd Row: triple crochet in the first triple crochet, continue to triple crochet in each triple crochet (27 total triple crochets in this row), chain 5, turn

Row 3 to end: continue row 2 until you've reached your desired length, (when draping around your neck the ends should reach your hips)fasten off

Finishing:
Fold your piece in half, and match up the insides, from the bottom use your darning needle to sew up 4 inches from the bottom

Wear!

DIY Crochet: Lace Skirt

After making this crazy doilie looking scarf out of some white yarn and no pattern, I got to thinking...

What if I played around and tried to make a crochet skirt? It can't be too hard, it's basically just going around and around in circles, and honestly I don't have the patience to try to figure out all the confusing skirt patterns online, not to mention they're not too chic. So, here's my thought, use stretchy yarn, chain the base chain by measuring my waist and then shaving some chains off. Do a few rows of slip stitch or single crochet and then start the lacy shell pattern. To finish off I'll thread my darning needle with some white ribbon for the waist (to ensure the skirt stays up!) Here goes... of course this is a beach cover up, I know I know it's winter what am I thinking, but maybe this can be used for a nice winter beach vacation in the near future??

First chain to fit your waist line, For this I chained 120 for around a size 2

Single crochet in the second chain from the hook and each of the following chains

attach to form a circle

make 5 rows of single crochet

Begin to shell stitch, using the following pattern: Skip 3 single crochets, in the 4th single crochet create a shell (Shell=3 double crochets, chain two, 3 double crochets; note: this shell sequence is all in the same single crochet); next skip 5 single crochets, crochet a shell in the 6th single crochet, continue until you reach the end of the row, double crochet in the last single crochet of the row, chain 3, and begin working a shell into the first "hole" in the first shell from the first row. Continue working shells into each succeeding hole, when you reach the end of your row chain 3, continue this pattern until you reach your desired length.
Below you'll see the pattern in a few steps:

Sew in ends with a darning needle

Wear

Note: The Ribbon wasn't necessary for this skirt, but if you attempt to make this and the waistline isn't tight enough, thread your darning needle with ribbon and sew into the waistband.

Crochet Lacy Scarf

This week I decided to attempt a new crochet scarf pattern; The Lacey Shell!

There are a ton of free crochet patterns available on the internet, a few sites I use are caron.com, and lionbrand.com. Most sites provide free written patterns, but I suggest as a beginner you use the ever faithful tutorials on youtube. Once you've mastered all stitches you can go back to the written patterns and work from there.

As I am still learning myself, I decided to browse a few videos, and stumbled upon this awesome tutorial.(one day mine will look this professional!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=iUOjaeBnZls&NR=1

I altered the pattern Slightly:

Here's the Pattern I used:

Chain 27

ROW 1: turn, single crochet in the 2nd chain from the hook and each remaining chain (you will have 26 single crochets); chain three, turn

ROW 2: Skip 3 single crochets; in the 4th single crochet create a shell (shell= 3 double crochets, chain 2, three double crochets; all in the same single crochet); next skip 5 single crochets, and crochet a shell in the 6th single crochet; continue until you reach the end of the row; double crochet in the last single crochet of the row; chain 3; turn

ROW 3 and on: repeat ROW 2 until you've reached your desired length

 

Below pictures show the scarf in stages

If desired add fringe(see earlier post How to: Add Fringe to a Scarf for tutorial)

Complete! This would make a great gift for a friend or female family member!

How to: Add Fringe to a Scarf

As cold weather is right around the corner, I've been quite busy crafting many many scarves for friends and family. I have not yet added that extra special punch to my creations though, this being: FRINGE! So, I think it is high time that I figure out exactly how this is done.

Of course the first step is to crochet a scarf

Here's the pattern I came up with (I think this is great for a Man's scarf)

Create a slipknot, chain 200

Row 1: single crochet in the 3 chain from the hook, continue to single crochet in each remaining chain, when you reach the end chain 2, turn your work

Row 2: single crochet in each single crochet, when you reach the end chain 2, turn your work

Row 3->11: repeat row 2

Fasten off

Now for the fringe..

Cut strands of yarn 12 inches long, for this I actually took a small notebook and just began wrapping the yarn around multiple times

Then I cut the yarn at the top of the notebook

I then inserted the crochet hook into the first stitch (this pic is of the second stitch, but the process is the same)

Next I took 6 strands of yarn and folded them over the crochet hook

Then I pulled the yarn through

Lastly, wrap fringe over the hook and pull through, tug to tighten

Continue this process for all bottom and top stitches of your scarf

When you're finished you should have something like this!

Custom Cozy Drink Holder

Happy Halloween!!

For this week's project: Custom Drink cozy (it's a hit at any tailgate!)

For those of you that keep stopping by every week that aren't interested in learning crochet, I promise, I WILL start posting other projects that don't include crocheting. For those of you that like crochet, this is an extremely simple project. I had some extra time on Friday but I didn't want to get caught up in a long project; I was prepping for a Saturday college football tailgate, and with the weather forecast so grim, I figured I'd try my luck at making a drink cozy. As the project seemed so simple, I didn't bother looking up a pattern. I figured I'd wing it, and hope for the best.

I can say now, after a few people have tried out my cozies; and we unfortunately lost some beer, in an effort to maintain snuggness, I am altering my original pattern. (I didn't take into consideration how much the yarn would stretch)

Here's the revised pattern..

Materials:
SIze H crochet hook
acrylic yarn (2 colors)
darning needle
scissors


Create a slipknot
chain 12
1st Row: double crochet in the 3 chain from the hook, continue to double crochet in each of the following chains until you reach the end of the row; chain 3, turn your work
2nd Row: double crochet in the first double crochet, continue to double crochet in each of the following double crochets until you reach the end of the row, chain 3, turn your work
3rd through 13th Row: continue to repeat directions in the 2nd row.

Now, cut 1 foot of yarn
crochet 1, but instead of leaving the yarn on the hook, pull the 1 extra foot of yarn through, pull to tighten, and you should create a knot
You should have something that looks like the below...

Next, thread the darning needle

Match up the beginning and the end of your work, and begin to sew together

Weave yarn through end to end, you should be left with something like the below:

tie the two excess pieces of yarn together, knotting twice, and then cut of the extra yarn. Now, flip your work inside out, you've completed your cozy.

Lastly, if you want to customize your cozy for a specific team, your own initials etc, thread the darning needle with a different color than what you used on the base, in my case I used white.

After threading the needle, I tied a knot at the end of my yarn

Next, I began to sew in my letters, by starting the first letter threading the yarn through from the inside of the cozy

I then continued to sew in and out until I was pleased with the thickness of my letters

When my letters were complete, I poked the darning needle into the inside of the cozy, threaded my remaining yarn through, tied a knot, and cut off the excess yarn

Below is one of the finished cozies

Be sure to check back next Monday for a new non-crochet project; have a great week!

Simple Crochet Ear Warmer

Above is my first attempt at a winter ear warmer. I think it turned out pretty well considering I made my own pattern.

Below is a much prettier version, created by threemagicsheep on etsy.com, this served as my inspiration. I'm not really a flower on the hat type of girl, plus I don't know how to make flowers just yet, so I kept my version simple. I do however love this version and will attempt the flower in the future & perhaps give as a gift.

Here's how I created mine:

Materials:
Caron Simply Soft Yarn in Grey Heather
H Crochet Hook
Darning Needle
Scissors

To Start: Create a slipknot

Chain 18

Row 1: In the 5th chain from the hook triple crochet. Continue to triple crochet in the rest of the row until you've reached the end

Row 2: chain 5, turn, triple crochet in the first triple crochet, continue throughout the row.

Row 3 through 22: Continue repeating Row 2

Note: Depending on the size of your head you may want to create more or less rows. Also, most yarn can be very stretchy, so keep this in mind.

Now that you've reached your desired length, cut 2 feet extra of your yarn, and tie off

Now line both ends of the headband up

Thread the darning needle, and begin to weave both ends of the headband together

snip off the excess yarn

Flip the headband inside out

Finished!