Saturday, March 24, 2012

Jimbo egg hook

Much excitement in Cabana-land today! My new Jimbo egg hook was in the mailbox. I almost couldn't open the package I was so excited. Okay, that might just be because I always have a hard time opening packages, but I WAS excited. :-) Partly this was because I never expected it to be here so quickly!

Here is a picture cuddled up against the soft wrapping which protected it through its journey. 


I could barely wait to work with my new I hook. Coincidentally, I am working on an afghan for which I am using .... tada! .... an I hook. So I decided to work the next piece for this ghan with my new hook. The wood is so smooth it is incredible.  The yarn just glides over it.


I have to admit that I am a little slower when using the overhand (knife) hold, but that is not the fault of the hook. No matter what hook I am using, I am slower with that hold. That does not deter me from using it when needed and I still make nice progress. Sometimes I think it is good to slow down and take time to enjoy the work.

If you love to collect hooks as I do - hooks that can be used and enjoyed - I might suggest you have a look at all the pretties at Jimbo's. He's a joy to work with. This is the second hook I have that was made by his hands and I love them both.

More info on the ghan later...

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Friday, March 23, 2012

Camghan / Doctor Who scarf site move

Still feels weird to create a post in the new format, but I'll get used to it I'm sure.

The afghan is finished and I'm really pleased with it.


I made bunches of Bobby squares so I have oh maybe five or six additional ones that I didn't use. I will probably make a few more and make another afghan with those. I liked the way these colors worked together.

Squares were assembled with a single crochet, an assembly method I don't use often but have used twice recently. heh You just never know what I'm going to do, eh?


I also created a different sort of edging just for this ghan.


I worked a round in the green of (sc, ch 3, sk 2) fudging in corners where needed so I could work (sc, ch 3, sc) in the corner triple crochet.

Then I worked a round in claret of 3dc in each ch-3 space, skipping the single crochets. I worked 5 dc in the corners.

Then another round of the green skippas and then a final round in the navy.

Colors used in this ghan were hunter green, navy, claret and paddy green. I used an I hook for most of it but an H hook for the last four rounds.


I assembled three squares across at a time. Then went back and did the column joining.

Remember that I did rewrite the last rounds of the Bobby's Square to fix one instruction that was left out (see previous post). This might be fixed in future on the HMB site. I think my rewrite is at least close to what the designer intended but in any case it worked for me.

In other important news, the Doctor Who scarf web site has just recently been taken over by Gene Fender of The Scarf Factory. From what I understand the two sites will be merged into one super duper Who scarf site using the doctorwhoscarf.com URL. Information will be available in pdf format. Some of it is already there and Gene is working to get all the information put together. This is a very recent move so it will probably take some time to get settled.

If you are interested in having the info as it was written on Chris Brimelow's original site, you can currently check out the wayback site.  I thank Chris for his 12 years of service to the Doctor Who fans! Good job! Well done!


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Monday, March 19, 2012

The Bobby

I'm still getting used to the new blogger setup. The posting area is different and when you sign in it takes you to a different spot.

Even though I really dislike changing the way I do things, I do find that the new setup allows me to immediately see the places to which I've subscribed and that may cause me to follow more blogs now as it will be easier to see the updates.

Since finishing the Gemstone Spider afghan, I've been working on Bobby Squares.


The Bobby Square is a pattern I've used many times. I really like it. If you're trying to get a 12" square you'll have to use a small hook - my notes say for an H hook work to round 10. Since size is not important for my purposes I am using an I hook. They just have to all be the SAME size as I'll be the one putting them together. If I have some leftover there are places I can donate where the size isn't critical.

As I said I've worked this pattern many times, but generally for a 12" square so only up to Round 10. On Round 10 there is one oopsie. A small section has been left out. In my copy I also added parenthesis for the corner, a dash for chains, and changed to ch-1 instead of ch-2 in one section, which changed Round 12 slightly.

My Round 10 is:
Rnd 10 - Ch 3, 1 dc in space, *dc in next 14 dc, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp, ch 2, sk 3 dc, 2 DC in next ch-2 sp, dc in next 14 dc, (2 dc, ch 4, 2 dc)  in ch-4 loop. Repeat from * two more times. dc in next 14 dc, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp, ch 2, sk 3 dc,  dc in next 14 dc, 2 dc in ch-2 sp, ch 4, sl st to 3rd ch of beg ch 3.
This time I wanted to make the complete square and ran into a few problems. I think that is a Sandie-mind thing. I need things spelled out considerably. LOL An experienced crocheter would just pass right on by them as once you get going you don't really look at the pattern much, but I like to have it written out for when I go back to the pattern. The first time I work it I do actually read the instructions.

I hit a snag on Round 11, partially because I'd changed Round 10. Here is my version (which I think is correct - it worked for me anyway). If you work it and see an error, do holler out. I no longer look at the pattern. LOL

Rnd 11 - Ch 4 (counts as dc + ch-1), sk one dc, dc in next,  (ch 1, sk 1, dc in next st) 7 times, ch 1, 1 dc in ch-2 space in center of row, (ch 1, sk 1, dc in next st) 9 times [note: this means you will have a dc directly before and after corner with a ch-1 between the dc and the corner]. Ch 1, (dc, ch 4, dc) in ch-4  loop (first side complete), *(ch 1, sk 1, dc in next st) 9 times, ch 1, 1 dc in ch-2 space in center of row, (ch 1, sk 1, dc in next st) 9 times. Ch 1, (dc, ch 4, dc) in ch-4  loop, repeat from * twice, ch 1, join in 3rd ch of beg ch 4.
I have made more than I photographed, but I can't decide which colors or the size I want for my finished project. You know you'll know soon as I decide.

In other news, have you seen this neat chart Maggie has for working in the round (scroll down)? I saw it on Pinterest a while back and wanted to share. It's nice to see it all laid out.

I also ran across this tutorial on working with the new pom pom yarn. I thought it was interesting. Have a look see at fantasticmio.

That's it for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie