Friday, July 9, 2010

Yet more squares


The above squares are all the same square I did yesterday - Kim Jiries' Amber Autumn, available at Crochet Cabana. The front loop / back loop stitches give the square a nice textured look but is very easy to accomplish. I used an H hook.

The squares below are actually red. Red doesn't seem to show up well with my camera, as you can see from the previous photos, but it makes a nice square. So rather than not use red, I changed the photo color to one that would show the stitches up better. The square on the left here is Kim Guzman's Angel square from her Angel Afghan.

The square on the right is the Spoked Eyelet Square from an old book I have called New Crochet Dictionary by Rhoda Goldberg from the 80's. I completed the square through Round 5 as that gave me 6". My notes on the pattern say to use a G hook and go through Round 6 for 6", but I picked up the wrong hook so I adjusted. :-)


Now I am about squared out, but I will do one more to give it an even 30.

I did start a number of patterns, decided I didn't like them and threw them out, so my papers are getting fewer anyway. This is a good thing.

If you are working on squares for Share a Square, remember not to mail them until mid August and don't forget to leave that 12" tail for assembly.

Next up is a scarf for Crafting for a Cause, which is celebrating an anniversary. It is 5 years old this month. Happy Anniversary CFAC!The yahoogroup is at CFAC.

Happy crocheting!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

more sharin' my squarin'


Square #16 and #18 are the basic granny square.

#17 Country Button Square by Debbie, minus the button.


#19 is Aunt B's Lakota Flag 6" square without the "tepee" portion. As far as I know it's only available on her yahoogroup.


#20 is Amber Autumn by Kim Jiries. I really like this one. for me, it comes out exactly 6" using an H hook.

#21 The Art of Crochet by Teresa. The written instructions can be found here. There is a link to her video.

Happy crocheting!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

more squares


For these squares I generally used a G or H hook and worsted weight yarn. Always leave a 12" or greater tail on the final finish off.

#9 is the Irish Rose Companion Square by Priscilla Hewitt.

#10 is the Filet Granny Square by Susan Smith. I worked 5 rounds and then finished with the sc edging and left a 12+ inch tail for assembly.


#11 is from Jean Leinhauser's 101 Crochet Squares.It is #70.

#12 and #13 are Solid Stripe at Dayna's Crochet. It's a 12" square, but I cut it down to 6". I did it two different ways.



#14 is Wheel in a Square Granny. That is what it says on my paper. I don't have any other information on it, but I have seen many of this type square online. Theresa has a video on going from circle to square at YouTube. This is one method. She also has another circle which goes to square here. And there are others out there if you want to search for them. I may even do more myself which I'll post about later.

#15 is Arcade Diamond from the Pattern Library: Crochet, editor Amy Carroll, c1981 with corrections and revisions to original pattern by me.

This is rather fun. I will probably do a few more squares as time allows. I have dozens of patterns, probably hundreds! LOL

These are for the Share a Square 2010 project. Mailing begins mid August.

Happy crocheting!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Share a Square-s

I've been busily working on squares for Share a Square. Here is what I've done so far. I should have photographed the lone green square separately as it looks rather lonely among the red. LOL



Square #1 is a 6" version of Chris Simon's Butterfly Garden square. What I did was work her square Rounds 1 to 5, then skip over to Rnd 10 and work the sc round. The only change I made was on the final round instead of (sc, ch 2, sc) I worked 3 sc because I knew these were going to be assembled by folks who aren't necessarily crocheters and it is easier to assemble if there is a true center in the corners.

Square #2 and #3 were worked using Deb's Never Ending square pattern. Five rounds gave me 6" with an I hook.

Square #4 was worked using Kim Jiries' Double Cross square on this page.

Square #5 uses Kim Jiries' V stitch square. It is on the same page as the Double Cross square.

#6 if the waffle stitch square. Also on that same page.



#7 is Wheel Square. This was an AOL site and AOL has discontinued their hosting services. If the owner has moved I don't know where so this is the archived page.

#8 is Peek-A-Boo Shells by James G. Davis.

Besides the squares, I finished a chunky scarf made with Deborah Norville Serenity yarn, color Stormy. I got a giggle that a yarn named Serenity would have a color named stormy. :-) It's quite soft and I'm glad I got to try it. I used a K hook and my quick scarf pattern which is a row of dc, a row of v stitch, a row of dc decreases over two dcs (also called an inverted v stitch) and another row of dc. Then I repeated that pattern once. It came out about 5" x 56", a little smaller than I'd anticipated, but usable. I'm going to have to start buying three skeins of yarn for scarves!

This one is worked horizontally, so the length is what it is. The only way to increase the length would be to add to the sides or add an edging around which would increase the entire thing - which wouldn't be a bad thing since it is only 5" wide. But I'm not sure I have enough yarn to do that though. I'll think about it today as it is storming outside and I won't be going to the post office. We had a tropical system pass through last night and it is lingering.

Of course I will continue to work on both squares and scarves. Remember that if you make squares for Share a Square you need to leave a 12" tail in a corner where it will be easy to assemble. I personally leave more than 12" because I am that way. LOL If they say 12 I leave 16 or so. Better more than not enough I think. That worked out well for me in the case where my square ended in the center of a side. I wove my tail through to get to the corner and all is good with those now. In future I will make sure to end on a corner.

That's all for now. I have some links to share over at Crafty Corral. Is it too much for you all to go to both sites or would you rather I just use the one for everything?

Happy crocheting!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Share a Square

As I noted previously, I recently went through my file folders and found all the patterns I've printed out. I've made many of these already, but some I printed and never got around to. However, today I discovered a new charity effort that is asking for 6" squares (with a 12" tail left hanging for assembly) and I think I will be pulling that folder out now to see what I can do. I will share the squares I make with you.

It's not always easy to get squares to an exact size, which is why I more enjoy making scarves. I obsess over whether the square or rectangle is the right size. I can measure the same square three times and get different measurements. heh Generally speaking, they suggest you measure a piece of cardboard 6" x 6" and use that as a template. That's a good idea, but I like to also measure the piece itself, with a hard ruler, not a flex tape, to be sure.

You can read about Share a Square here. And there is a Facebook page here.

I will quote the mission statement from the web site:
We are inviting people from around the world to help crochet afghans to give to children who will attend Camp Discovery (a summer camp for children with cancer sponsored by The American Cancer Society) in the summer of 2011. Our plan is to blanket them with our love! Each afghan will be made up of 80 different squares … each crafted by a different person.
The goal is to make 150 afghans with no more than one square per volunteer included. Each afghan uses 80 squares so that is 12,000 squares that are needed.

The coordinator asks that you mail squares August 18th through December 31. That will give them time to get through a wedding and give the assemblers time to assemble.

Have fun today and be safe!

Happy crocheting!