scarf

This is a scarf I started a while back, had put aside while I finished something or other, and then came back to. It's made from a yarn cake I got at Hobby Lobby. It's called Yarn Bee Sugarwheel and the color is Go Go Cocoa. It's a 7 oz skein of 355 yards. I used the entire thing. It's 100% acrylic worsted weight yarn, though it's on the thicker side of worsted. The price on the label is $6.99 which is a bit higher than I usually pay but I couldn't resist trying this interesting yarn. I'm sure I used a 40% off coupon though. I almost always do. :-)

I used an I hook. I think I chained 26. The finished size is about 7 3/4" x 60". I managed the color changes so that I didn't have a change in the middle of a row, just because that's how I am. :-)

What I liked about it - each color section was about a foot long, more or less, so I could estimate clearly how long it was as I worked.

All in all I'd give this yarn a thumbs up. I had no problems with it, no sections I had to cut out. I lost a tiny bit at the color changes but that was my choice. 


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Scarf

Here's another scarf from the Christmas at Sea site. I used the pattern SCrochet Scrappy Scarf.

I used an H hook with Knit Picks Swish Worsted superwash merino wool. Colors are Marine Heather, Hollyberry, and Squirrel Heather. I continue to be impressed with this yarn. I haven't worked with wool much with the exception of wool hats for the military but certainly would consider this yarn again.

Finished size is about 6" x  60". I used a skein (50 gr) of each color with a little more of a second skein of the Marine Heather. 

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

scarf and placemat

Fresh off my hook is a scarf made with Knit Picks Swish Worsted 100% superwash merino wool in color Bark. I used an H hook. Very pleased with this yarn. It is so soft. I think I may have had one place where I had to cut out a piece. 

The skeins are 50 grams, 110 yards. I bought 3 skeins as the pattern said 300 yards. I had a bit of the third skein left. My finished size is just over 7" x about 42". 

This for Christmas at Sea and I used their approved pattern for a crocheted Mariner's scarf.

I am currently working on another scarf from those patterns. The best time to send them items is in the fall according to the page.

As I had a break in the items that had deadlines and while waiting for the wool to come in, I finished the last placemat.

Details...

Yarn used is Knit Picks CotLin Pomegranate, Ivy, Linen, and Eggplant.

Size is about 12" x 18". They are meant to be used with the stripes positioned vertically.

The foundation chain is 60. I used my seed stitch pattern and worked 93 rows. If you want the stripes to go horizontally just use a longer chain and work fewer rows. I would guess about 100 but you'll have to try it to see.

I used a G hook.

Each row takes about 3 yards of yarn. I estimate that 300 yards of each color is needed for the set. Of this particular yarn, that would be 3 skeins each. I used 2 skeins to make the three placemats but remember that they're not bordered. I do have a little left of each color.

I used the Fibonacci and Lucas number sequences to determine what color to use when. 
Fibonacci sequence is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5. Lucas sequence is 2, 1, 3, 4, 7.
Fibonacci #1 uses the color order red, green, tan, purple.
Fibonacci #2 uses the sequence green, red, purple, tan.
Lucas #1 uses the sequence red, green, tan, purple.
Lucas #2 uses the sequence green, red, purple, tan.

I do have the pattern sheets written out but I don't have means to add them to the web site at this time as the program I used is no longer supported. That's a long, complicated story. :-) After it's tweaked I may add it to Ravelry.


Happy crocheting!
Sandie

temperature scarf

Bev over at Bev's Country Cottage is doing a temperature scarf-along to help "Manna of Life Soup kitchen" in the Bronx, NY. She has posted suggested color guide and instructions for a temperature  scarf. http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/temp-scarf.html  Note that some numbers appear twice on the chart. You need to decide which group you'll put them in and make a note to yourself so you use the same color each time that number comes up. For example 90 is under 90-100 and also under 80-90. So 90 can be either orange or yellow. Your choice. My personal choice is to do all the 90s in one color, all the 80s in one color etc.

Bev's project is running from May 19, 2017 to October 31, 2017.

[UPDATE: Since I wrote this post (and made my own tempghans) I found this site which will create the list of temperatures for each day automatically. What a time saver! The website is http://weatherghansite.azurewebsites.net/ by Krista Scholdberg]

You might recall that when I did my own temperature afghans I used Wunderground's historical weather search. If you want to make a scarf using the same process, head on over there and get your info. https://www.wunderground.com/history/ 

Here's how I got mine in the form I wanted to use. It's long and some might say complicated. I think I have all the steps here. I've done it so many times, it seems easy to me but writing it, I see it is maybe not intuitive. LOL

I use Microsoft Word. If you don't use Word then the details may not be the same for you.

Go to the Wunderground link above.
Put in your city, state or zip code. A box may come up with suggestions. Choose what you want.
It will give you the temperature for the day's date. Where it says Daily Weekly Monthly Custom, choose custom.
Put in the dates you want to include in your scarf or afghan.
Click on Get History.
Scroll down to Weather History and Observations
Set your cursor to the beginning (the year probably), press the shift key, and scroll down to the end of the history you're viewing. Click on the last day you want to include. That will highlight those days. (Be sure you have the shift key pressed or you'll have to start over.)
Control C to copy what you've highlighted.
Open Microsoft Word and click on new document. Choose blank document.
In Page Layout, choose page orientation and set to landscape. Paste your temperatures in there (Control V).
I used the high temperature for my afghans but you can choose whichever you want. High will be easiest to copy because it is the first column.
Set your cursor to right before the year or the first day you're saving.
While holding down the shift key, scroll to the last day you want, only the column you want, and click at the end. That will highlight that area.
Control C to copy.
Now you can either open a new document or control A to highlight the entire document you just created and then click delete to get rid of that because you don't need it anymore.
Open Notepad. Then Control V to paste the columns you copied into the notepad file.
Each day and temperature will be on a separate line. Get them on the same line. I do this by using tab, delete, then down arrow to go to the next line. I have gotten pretty quick at this.
When that is done, go back to your Word document and set the orientation to portrait. Then copy and paste your Notepad info into your emptied Word document. It will be double spaced.
To make it single spaced, go to Page Layout, Spacing and set to 0.
I put mine in 3 columns which you can do by going to Page Layout, Columns and set to 3.
I also like to number my pages which you do by going to Insert, page numbers.

Now you have the numbers that you need to work with. You're not done yet. LOL You need to determine how much yarn to buy so you need to know how many of each temperature you will have and in what colors you want to work those. This will entail a lot of searches.

I use "find" to search for each number from the 30s to 100 (because that is the range of temps in my area) and it will tell me how many of those it finds. I make note of that. When I know how many of each number I have, I determine how I want to space out the colors.

Tip: If you're making an afghan and doing the entire year, your total rows should be equal to 365 or 366 if a leap year. This tip has helped me to find numbers I missed.

Here's an example of the last sheet of a document when I'm done (not for this scarf but an earlier afghan). I added little pictures of the colors from Knit Picks as that was the yarn I was using.

I guess it's a lot of work and maybe there is some shortcut that I haven't discovered to get it in this workable format, but those are the steps I have taken for each year I've done.

For my afghan, I used sport yarn and a chain of 226. For THAT I could get 25 rows to a skein. For any other combination - worsted yarn, different chain, you'll have to figure out how many rows you can get so you can figure out what to buy.

For this scarf, the chain is 25. You can adjust that to the width you want, of course as it's just straight stitches. You will need much less yarn for a scarf than what was needed for an afghan obviously. But you'll still need 8-11 colors, depending on where you live, what your temps are like, and how much / what part of the year you're documenting.

Remember to account for any edging you want to use.

For my afghan, if a color was used for only one row, I didn't want to have to splice yarn in the middle of the row so if I hit a knot, I had to cut that out and start the row over. That was a personal choice. Since that happened WAY too often, I started winding the balls by hand so I could hopefully feel knots before I got to them and cut them out. This worked well for the most part. Only once did I get a knot I had missed.

I do hope to do a scarf. Not sure if I'll follow the 2017 idea and finish in October or do an earlier year so i can start and finish it more quickly. You can donate as many scarves as you want even if you do the one for this year. Just start several and have them in progress. Then in October you'll have many scarves finished.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

scarf

Remember all that yarn I bought in preparation for the Osgood, trying to find the right colors? Well, it has to be used for something. :-)  I decided to use the Red Heart Super Saver Beige in a scarf.

The scarf is all double crochet. The chain was 32 for 30 double crochets. I used an I hook for the body and an H hook for the edging, which is single crochet. In the corners I used (sc, hdc, sc). I finished off with the invisible finish off, then sewed in all the dangling tails and called it done.

Finished size is about 9 1/2" wide (wider than most that I make) by 68" long. It could be used as is or double to make a thick but narrower bit around the neck.

That's pretty much all there is to say about this scarf. 

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Osgood scarf

The Osgood scarf is done. Much too late I noticed that when I began I was working more loosely and the first stripe is a little wider than the rest. I will have to live with it. heh 

The scarf is about 8" wide x  14' 4" long. (I am still recuperating from surgery and can't get down on the floor to measure so this is approximate.) There are 47 stripes. It's longer than the original Season 13, or stunt duplicate. However, we don't actually know how long the Osgood scarf itself is because, to my knowledge, nobody in the scarf-making universe has seen it or measured it. Knitting rows were counted out as much as possible from screen shots but of course crochet rows are a guess.

I'm told the scarf is K1P1 ribbing while the original scarf is all knit stitch. I'm also told that the K1P1 creates a larger stitch than straight knit stitch. This means the usual half number of knit stitch rows for crochet rows doesn't really apply. That caused me a bit of a problem. Originally I was going to go with 3/4 of the row number, but as I looked at screen shots I saw that some sections just didn't look long enough worked that way. I ended up doing a mishmash of the two Osgood patterns (Sonya and Chris at Ravelry) and the Season 13/stunt dupe. The basic difference in the Osgood is the 3 yellow stripes, which was a pattern error on the old Witty Little Knitter site. In a way it's good because it makes the Osgood recognizable.

While I think the Osgood is probably made with worsted, or whatever comparable yarn is available in the UK, my personal tendency for such a long scarf is to go lighter weight. In sport or DK weight a one-to-one on the rows would, I think, work perfectly and give a less unwieldy scarf. I did use worsted, though it is the light worsted Knit Picks Brava. I don't plan to make a second scarf right now, but should I do one I would use Knit Picks Brava sport I think.

As with my previously made season scarves, the first one is always the experiment. LOL  

I had hoped to finish this scarf before my surgery but that didn't happen. I did finally finish the crocheting of it Sunday (10-9-2016) but still have tails to weave in. 

update: Here is a picture of the completed scarf with tails woven in.

Here are the yarns I used in this scarf. Most are Knit Picks Brava Worsted (which is a light worsted IMHO) - Red, Cream, Cobblestone Heather, Almond, Canary and Fig. The purple is I Love This Yarn Mixed Berry. The Bernat Satin Sable would also work in place of the Knit Picks Brava Almond. It was my second choice.

I chained 31 and used a single crochet stitch. I used an I hook for most of the KPBW colors and an H for the ILTY because it appeared a little thicker than the rest but it's a perfect color, in my view. The Cobblestone Heather is also a tiny bit thicker and you could use the H for it as well or adjust tension.

I think that is it for this scarf. I originally thought I'd work a second scarf with the other yarns purchased to find the right colors but instead I think I will just do plain scarves or something for charity.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Osgood scarf wip

I have long wanted to work a scarf based on the Doctor Who scarf worn by the character of Osgood during the episode The Day of the Doctor. As anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows, I'm a Who fan and particularly a fan of the 4th Doctor's well known scarf. That scarf was brought back, so to speak, by Osgood in that episode. The character has worn other Doctor costume replicas - such as the 11th Doctor's bow tie - in other episodes.

Well, I'm finally doing it. With the help of a wonderful Who friend, I've got my colors down. It's very hard to come up with colors for this scarf since the only option is to look at multiple screen shots in different lighting to come up with the best yarns. I'm not sure I've got the best, but we made our best effort anyway. In fact, I've accumulated enough yarn to possibly make two scarves. :-)

Here is a picture of the scarf in progress.

Here are the yarn choices I made for this scarf. Most are Knit Picks Brava Worsted (which is a light worsted IMHO) - Red, Cream, Cobblestone Heather, Almond, Canary and Fig. The purple is I Love This Yarn Mixed Berry. The Bernat Satin Sable would also work in place of the Knit Picks Brava Almond. It was my second choice.

At this point, the scarf is about 38" long and 8" wide. I'm guessing I'm about a quarter of the way through. I began it last night (Aug 30). It is not known how long the scarf worn in the episode is. 

I chained 31 and am using a single crochet stitch. I'm using an I hook for the KPBW colors and an H for the ILTY because that yarn is a little thicker than the rest but it's a perfect color, in my view. I did buy KPBW Mulberry but it was a little too blue. I could have used it but figured I had the Mixed Berry and it was such a nice color. :-) If you prefer to work in sport yarns, you can probably get all the Knit Picks colors in that yarn and you could use the Mulberry then. I believe the Mixed Berry would be too thick to go with sport.

There is also no pattern so I've sort of devised my own pattern by looking at the two knitted patterns done by Sonya and Chris at Ravelry. I know that Chris counted out all the rows that were visible. I don't know how Sonya devised her pattern. Many color sections were not fully visible and guesses had to be made. Since this pattern was not made using the same technique I have found the usual two-knit-rows-for-one-crochet row did not work. That being the case, I chose to go between the two or choosing one or the other based on the pictures I could find.

Anyway, that's what I'm up to crochetwise. I also have a plain scarf in progress with yarn that didn't make the cut for the Osgood. I haveyarn for a second scarf in regular worsted / aran yarns. Those colors would be
Purple -  I Love This Yarn Mixed Berry (so perfect that I'm using it for both scarves)
Tan - Loops and Thread Impeccable Soft Taupe
Yellow - Vanna's Choice Mustard 
Red - I Love This Yarn Fire Red
Grey - Red Heart with Love Pewter
Cream  - I Love This Yarn Ivory
Green - Vanna's Choice Dusty Green or Loops and Thread Impeccable Fern 

When Osgood is done, I'll have made the Seasons 12, 12.5, 13, 14, 16/17 and 18 scarves. I haven't made a Season 15 yet. I also haven't done a Romana or stunt dupe scarf and am not planning to in the near future anyway. Some folks have made Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor scarf and of course there are many other thins out there that I have no interest in attempting - vests and such. 

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Mandalas for Marinke and Osgood scarf

Just over a year ago, Kathryn Vercillo began the project #mandalasformarinke in honor of sweet Marinke (also called Wink) who lost her battle with depression the end of June 2015. Kathryn has been sharing the mandalas collected throughout the past year. I missed the post that featured my own mandalas and happened across it today so I thought I'd share the link. You can find it on the June 12th posting. She did a lovely job combining the pictures of the mandalas along with important facts to help those suffering from depression.

I've really fallen down on my crocheting lately. I started a hat weeks ago and this is as far as I've gotten. LOL  The yarn is made in Italy and is fingering weight Knit Picks Felici in the colorway Time Traveler. I wonder why I chose it? :-)  This yarn is a limited time offering. The wrapper says "special reserve". It's a very nice yarn and I do recommend it if you have fingering weight yarn needs.

The hat pattern I'm using is Big Button Beret. It's not a difficult pattern. I've just been spending too much time away from my hooks and at my coloring desk.

I do have big plans to make another Doctor Who scarf. This time it will be the Osgood which I've not done before. I've been collecting yarn trying to match the pictures I've been able to find online. There is no "official" pattern that I'm aware of but there are a couple out there that have been posted on Ravelry. They are not crocheted, of course.

You can find Chris Starfire's pattern here. (You have to sign in to see it.)

You can find Sonya Shelton's pattern here. It's set to public so you can see it without signing in.

From all accounts, the Osgood is based on the second half of the former Witty Little Knitter's Season 16 scarf. (Witty Little Knitter domain was let go by Tara Carstensen and has been taken over by Gene Fender of doctorwhoscarf.com . There's nothing there right now but there will be at some point.) The reason we think this is the pattern is because that particular scarf pattern had a one stripe color error in it which is shown in the Osgood - yellow, red, yellow, green, yellow instead of yellow, red, purple, green, yellow. Many, many hours of looking went into figuring that out. LOL

I've accumulated a number of skeins to try and find good colors for the Osgood. At this time, Vanna's Choice Mustard is the lead contender for the yellow. Red Heart with Love Pewter is the lead contender for the grey and the I Love This Yarn Mixed Berry for the purple and Fire Red for the red. I have Vanna's Choice Dusty Green currently for the green but will have a look at the Loops and Thread Fern to see if it fits better as I've not seen it in person yet. The tan is giving me fits. I've found a few light tans but none have that pink tinge it looks like in the photo. I may have to settle for one that comes close. We'll see which yarns win. Since there are two online patterns, maybe I'll do two of them. :-) I've still never worked a Season 15 though, nor a Romana S16 scarf.

All that said, it will not be perfect because lighting and other factors affect how the colors look on TV and online. Not having seen the scarf in person, it's all guesswork. And of course the original is not crocheted.

If you're interested in more details about Doctor Who scarves, you know where to go ... my own Gallifreyan Crochetin'.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

scarves

I have long had in the back of my mind that I wanted to make a couple of scarves for the Bridge Project. I've donated to this worthy charity in the past and have known the coordinator for many years.

I purchased 5 skeins of Knit Picks Brava bulky in the color Dublin. Most of the recipients are male and this is a good manly color though a woman could certainly wear it also. The yarn is soft and I had no trouble with unexpected knots, thin spots or thick spots. Knit Picks yarn is pretty good generally and I was quite happy with these skeins.

I used a K hook, as recommended on the wrapper, for the body of the scarf and a J for the edging. I generally use a hook one size smaller for my edgings.

After making one scarf, I realized I wouldn't have enough for a second scarf of the same size so I cut the width down slightly. I used every single bit of yarn and on the second scarf I edged both sides but not the beginning and ending row. I would have done without an edging if I'd had to but I much prefer an edging, especially on a scarf, so I'm glad it worked out. Next time I know to order six skeins if I plan to make two scarves.

Both scarves are about 6' in length. They measured 3' each when folded over. One is 6" width and the other is 7" width. I have 15 dc on one and 18 on the other. 

The minimum scarf width for men for the Bridge is 5". If you want to make scarves for this project, you can see the requirements on this page. 

I included a card with my email as requested. I did not wash them but I found the yarn quite soft and I do not let my dog lay on my projects or mess with my yarn. He learned that early on. LOL

So to summarize...

Size: 6"(ch 17) and 7" (ch 20) wide, 6' long

Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Bulky Dublin (5 skeins for the two)

Hook: K for the body, J for the edging
Pattern: double crochet rows for the body and single crochet edging with (sc, hdc, sc) in corners

Misc: Include a card with email addy and wash if needed

That's about it. 

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Who scarves

I was asked how many Doctor Who scarves I have made. Well, I didn't have an answer  unless you count "a lot". LOL So I decided to try and get a count. 

I have a Weebly site called Gallifreyan Crochetin' which concentrates on Doctor Who stuff, particularly the scarves. I counted off what I had on there and this is what I came up with. I know that there are some I've made for family and some sold, but I think there should be pics of them there too.

5 Season 12 scarves, 2 Season 13 scarves, 6 Season 14 scarves (though one was super reduced), 1 Season 16/17, 2 Season 18 (though one was reduced), and 1 SHADA for a total of 17 scarves.

S12 DK (fringed) approx 11' 6 1/2" 138 1/2" (11.5')
S12 DK (fringed) approx 11' 6 1/2" 138 1/2" (11.5')
S12 DC DK (fringed) 10" x 146" (12' 2")
S12 DK (fringed) 8" x 156" (13')
S12 (without fringe) worsted 7" x 134" (11' 2")
S13 (fringed) worsted 6" x 98" (8' 2")
S13 (without fringe) worsted 7 1/2" x 95" (7' 11")
S14 DC DK (fringed) 8 1/2" x 114" (9.5')
S14 (without fringe) worsted 10 1/2" x 106" (8' 10")
S14 (without fringe) worsted 10 1/2" x 83" (6' 11")
S14 (without fringe) worsted 6" x 111" (9' 3")
S14 (without fringe) worsted 6" x 109" (9' 1")
super reduced DK S14 (without fringe) 3" x 52" (4' 4")
S16-17 DK (without fringe) 8" x 216" (18')
S18 (without fringe) worsted (Red Heart Soft) 7" x 169" (14' 1")
S18 shortened Lion Brand Suede 10" x 72" (6')
SHADA (without fringe) worsted 9" x  228" (19') 

You will notice that scarves from the same season are not the same size except for the 2 I made at the same time. Part of this is because of my own tension when I work. Part is the yarn and hook used. Part is the pattern I used at the time. Part might even be the length of the fringe on the scarf.

Why make more scarves once I've got one? Well, mostly because I am a crazy person, and in good company with bunches of other crazy people doing the same thing! LOL Also, as time goes, more screen accurate colors are found and, of course, I have to make another one. sometimes yarn manufacturers discontinue yarns. On occasion someone is able to view the actual scarf and comes back with additional info.

Of course, MY scarves can never be screen accurate because they are crocheted and the original was knitted. But they are as close in color as I can get. I also make mine thinner than the originals because this is Louisiana and I wear them sometimes.

I used to never put fringe on my scarves because I don't personally like fringe and if you wash it, they get all funny looking. But you know, everyone else adds it so I jumped on the bandwagon and joined the crowd and have started adding it. I have not gone back and added any to the first ones I made because the yarn wouldn't match.

With all the experience of making multiple scarves, I now have my favorite colors (which will probably change over time as some are discontinued by manufacturers or new colors come to light). I also have my own crochet patterns, based on patterns at doctorwhoscarf.com and adapted for crochet with permission.

I know you are itching to know what those are. I have to first say that the yarns I most like is purchased overseas from a UK company called Deramores. There are some pretty good alternate matches slowly coming to light, most notably Knit Picks Brava Sport yarns. I find the Knit Picks just slightly thicker than the Stylecraft so I try to use mostly one or the other if I have those yarns in a good color.

Here are the yarns listed at doctorwhoscarf.com that I like with an alternate listed for if the first isn't available.

Purple - Knit Picks Brava Sport Currant, alternate Stylecraft Special DK BurgundyCamel -  Knit Picks Brava Sport Almond, alternate Stylecraft Special DK CamelMustard - Stylecraft Special DK Gold, Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK PumpkinRust - Knit Picks Brava Sport Paprika, alternate Stylecraft Special DK CopperGrey - Stylecraft Special DK Graphite,
        (I have used Knit Picks Brave Sport Cobblestone Heather when I didn't have the graphite but it's a little thicker and just slightly lighter because of the heathering)Greenish Brown - Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Moss Green, alternate Stylecraft Special DK KhakiBronze -  Knit Picks Brava Sport Brindle, alternate King Cole Big Value DK Taupe.

The color I struggle with most is purple. Some use the burgundy reddish purple and others use the blue or violet purple. I find the reddish purple goes best with the other colors. If you look at pictures from the show the color changes depending on lighting, something looking more blue and sometimes more red. Hardest to find has been a good mustard.

I have still not made a Season 15 of the original scarves. I also haven't made an Osgood scarf nor any of the other character scarves, like the Rose Tyler one, the Romana scarf (when both the Doctor and Romana wore scarves), and the Hartnell scarf and whatever other ones have come up in the Stitches group at Facebook. :-)

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

scarves

The past week I've been working on scarves from the yarn I got last weekend.

The first was made with Bernat Blanket Taupe super bulky yarn - 10.5 oz skein. Because it looked like such a huge ball I thought I'd be safe to make it wide. I was incorrect. LOL It is 10 1/2" wide but I ran out of yarn at 54". Because of the type of yarn it is, a chenille like yarn, it is not advisable to rip it back. 

If I did another with this yarn, I would make it less wide, maybe 6" and get the intended length. I could get another ball to increase the length, of course, but there is the dye lot factor. I could buy another skein and find it doesn't match what I've already done. Then I would also have part of a skein which would not be enough for another scarf. *sigh* Newbie mistake. This yarn was not cheap as well. I just can't justify it in my mind. Perhaps it will do for a young boy.

It is quite warm, like a blanket as the yarn says. I can double it over and wrap it around my neck and be quite cozy. It is also soft, rated a 10 out of 12 on the Knitting Warehouse softness scale.

Being a super bulky (#6) yarn, it requires a large hook. The label says L. I used one of my Henry hooks and they are not labeled, but I believe it was an M. Although it wasn't difficult to make, I couldn't work on this scarf for too long in one sitting as the motion hurts my hands after a while. I ordinarily use a pencil hold but when working with large or long hooks and thick yarn I use the knife hold. The pattern is straight dc. I usually border my scarves but because of lack of yarn, did not do so on either of these.

The next scarf was made with Loops & Threads Charisma Charcoal yarn. In the first picture it looks blueish but it is not. The second picture is more true to color. Different lighting. 

It's a bulky (#5) acrylic yarn. Suggested hook for this yarn was also an L.I used an L. The finished size is 7 1/2" x 70". I bought 3 3.5 oz skeins. According to my postal scale, I had 1.4 ozs left. 

I just made up the pattern. I started with 10 rows of dc, then went to 20 rows of sc and alternated that, ending with the dc rows. There are 5 sections of dc and 4 of sc. 

Next up on my hooks, soldier hats.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Scarves and cowls

I decided I wanted to make a scarf. And I did. But it took me far longer than it would have a few years ago! Part of that is my attention span. heh But regardless, I did finish a scarf and here is the proof.

The yarn used is I Love This Yarn worsted weight in the color Terra Cotta. The pattern is simply dc across. I think I worked 30 chains. I used an H hook.

I made it long - a full 6' and 9" wide. Hopefully it will keep someone warm during the cold days. Not here in Louisiana, of course. We do have some cold days but this week we are back to highs in the 70s.

I probably own too many scarves for the few days of weather cold enough to don one. LOL In any case, my favorite neckwear these days are the two cowls my daughter made me. They keep me toasty warm and I don't have to worry about where they will hang. These are some my daughter has made - aren't they gorgeous? I have a black one and a dark blue one. They are knitted and the free pattern can be found at Ravelry.Gap-tastic-cowl by Jen Geigley

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

hat and links

I got sidetracked yet again. I'm still making adult hats and prayer cloths, but there was a call put out for some baby hats. Since I had two skeins of Red Heart Kids periwinkle, I thought I'd make some of those. Now I wasn't sure just how big a newborn's head is - it's been a whole year since my grandson was that tiny! I guestimated and hope these will do.

They are different sizes. I worked at least one 12, 24, 36, 48 then even. Then I worked a couple to 36 and then even. I worked a couple 12, 24, 36, 42 and even. And I think I have a couple worked 12, 24, 36, 45. They are simple dc hats with a sc rim. I wasn't very creative but they should keep a little one's head warm and the color is really pretty. If I felt confident in the size I could put a pretty rim at the end but these may need to be curled up to fit. I'm just not sure. I used an H hook for these.

I did look at a couple of sizing charts so I think they will be good. Do I sound positive? LOL

In other news, are you following the Red Heart 12 weeks of Christmas? I always enjoy seeing what they will come up with.

Also, I received an email from a young lady associated with Sheru Knitting and Crochet. I checked out the web site and they have some very good video tutorials. One in particular that I looked at was on making the popcorn. She demonstrated two different methods in one video, one of which I had never seen. Since the popcorn stitch is not my favorite stitch to work, perhaps this new method will bring me into the fold. There are 5 videos concerning the popcorn.

Another site that caught my interst this week was Naztazia.com . I just love the cancer ribbon scarf and shawl patterns that she has up right now. It is on my list to try. You can make these in different colors to represent the different types of cancer.

That's all for now.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Doctor Who S12 scarf

Here is the finished Doctor Who season 12 DK weight scarf. As noted in the previous entry, I think these colors will be the closest yet. They were suggested by doctorwhoscarf.com's Gene Fender at the Stitches Facebook group and I'm sure will be on the web site soon. 

Here are the DK/sport weight colors suggested by Gene (graphic used with permission) in different yarns. I added the text at the bottom of the graphic which was given in the original FB post.

In text:
BBC = new colors
Purple = Knit Picks Brava Sport Currant (F), alternate Stylecraft Special DK Burgundy (L)
Camel = Knit Picks Brava Sport Almond (D), alternate Stylecraft Special DK Camel (J)
Mustard = Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Pumpkin (A)
Rust = Knit Picks Brava Sport Paprika (C), alternate Stylecraft Special DK Copper (I)
Grey = Stylecraft Special DK Graphite (G), my alternate would be Knit Picks Brave Sport Cobblestone Heather (not in pic)
Greenish Brown = Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Moss Green (B), alternate Stylecraft Special DK Khaki (H)
Bronze = Knit Picks Brava Sport Brindle (E), alternate King Cole Big Value DK Taupe (K)

A Pumpkin
B Moss Green
C Paprika
D Almond
E Brindle
F Currant
G Graphite
H Khaki
I Copper
J Camel
K Taupe
L Burgundy

I have used all but the King Cole and agree with Gene that they are right on. The Cobblestone Heather was not in Gene's picks, but it is pretty close to the Graphite in my opinion, but heathered. The heathered doesn't bother me. I hardly see it, but then my eyes are not that great. LOL If you're unable to get the Stylecraft, it will work okay I think.

For this scarf, I used
Purple = Knit Picks Brava Sport Currant
Camel = Knit Picks Brava Sport Almond
Mustard = Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Pumpkin
Rust = Knit Picks Brava Sport Paprika
Grey = Stylecraft Special DK Graphite
Greenish Brown = Sirdar Hayfield Bonus DK Moss Green
Bronze = Knit Picks Brava Sport Brindle

In my opinion, the hardest color to get right is the mustard which is a goldish color. Most of the yellows are too yellow or too light or too orange. I have used those in the past, but am happy to have found a DK acrylic that is close to the correct gold color thanks to Gene. Because the scarves are so long, the DK weight helps with the heaviness of the scarf. 

I might note that if working with worsted yarn, the Bernat Waverly Gypsy Gold is to me a perfect color for the mustard.

In previous DK scarves and baby afghans I've used the Stylecraft Special DK Sunshine which is way bright and has a bit of an orange tint to it. I used it because it was all that I knew at the time but this Pumpkin beats it hands down for a more accurate Who scarf. For the baby afghans I think the Sunshine brightens it up a bit and for a baby, I think that is okay.

Stylecraft has a new color called gold but I haven't actually seen that one. I am in the U.S. and the Stylecraft yarn is ordered from the UK so I wait until I need a nice amount of yarn before placing an order. I'm pretty well stocked up right now. Deramores, where I order it from, is very quick and has free shipping with a certain amount purchase. I recommend them.

I like all the colors in this scarf. If I were to do another, I would use the same yarns with the possible exception of using the copper instead of the paprika because it is slightly more orange which says rust to me. The difference is miniscule, however. Both work quite fine and I am mightily pleased with this one.

For this scarf, I used the DK/sport weight yarn, a foundation chain of 36, and a G hook, making my scarf about 8" wide. 

For the detailed oriented, there are 53 stripes of colors and 658 rows. The number of rows of each color as follows: almond 145 , moss green 105 , paprika 94 , graphite 99 , brindle 81, pumpkin 57 , currant 77  = 658

Remember that although the number of stripes is the same regardless of what yarn you're using, the number of rows will change depending on what yarn (and what stitch) you are using. 

35 stitches x 658 rows = 23030 plus the foundation chain of 36 so 23066 single crochet and chain stitches in this scarf. That is not an insignificant number! LOL

I began working on May 15 and finished on the 22nd with the fringe.

My Who patterns are up at the Crochet Cabana web site and also over at Ravelry (free). 

Doctor Who scarf

I apologize for not being around more lately. Since my mom passed away there have been things to do and I've just not felt in the mood to start a large project. I've kept my hooks busy making small things. 

Last week, however, I began another Who scarf. I think these colors will be the closest yet. The yarn I'm using is acrylic DK weight. I'm working in single crochet with a G hook. I will give full details of the scarf when I'm done.

Work began 5-15-2014. I finished the body of the scarf today, but still have tails to sew in and I think I am going to do fringe as well on this one.

Here's a pic to wet your appetite.

Season 12

For those interested in making things with t-shirt yarn, a crocheter sent me the link to this pattern for a doggie rug. I have not made the pattern nor purchased anything from this business myself. It doesn't show how to make the yarn but you can find that online easily enough. It's a fairly simple, straight forward hdc circle.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

scarves and cloths

I've continued to make prayer cloths for the church in New Jersey. It really doesn't take much yarn nor time to make one and is a good use for those leftover balls. In a half hour comedy you can have a completed cloth just like the ones below. The pattern is the last one on this page at Crochet Cabana. 

Since I do a lot of my crocheting while watching TV, I choose to say a prayer for the unknown recipients before mailing off the cloths.

I'm including pictures so you can see the variety of colors that can be used to make these simple cloths. I even edged one in white as I ran out of the pink. It looks just fine. While I personally prefer them to be one color, it's hard to judge how far a ball will go.

I am also planning to make a morse code scarf. I first considered this when I read about the knitting in code article I posted the other day. 

I have been looking at morse code and trying to figure out how I want to go about it. I have looked at a few scarves and I will be doing mine differently. I just haven't decided exactly how yet. Stay tuned for more information. 

If you're looking for something to do right now, there is a need for scarves for this effort. However, the window of time is small. They want scarves in hand by April 5 and in certain colors. The effort is to provide scarves for about 35,000 runners in the 2014 Boston marathon. Update: The scarves have to be blue and yellow but a variety of colors are accepted. If you are on Ravelry there is a group (Boston Marathon scarf) with more info. 

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

Baby Doctor Who Scarf

The Doctor Who S14 Baby scarf is finished. I was aiming for 48" but it turned out slightly longer at about 52". It is about 3 1/4" wide. The baby is not walking so there is no issue with tripping. :-)

I chained 16 with a G hook. I used leftover Deramores Stylecraft Special DK  from the S16-17 scarf for my yarn colors

BBC - my color
Purple - Stylecraft Special DK Burgundy
Camel -  Stylecraft Special DK Camel
Mustard - Stylecraft Special DK Sunshine
Rust - Stylecraft Special DK Copper
Grey - Stylecraft Special DK Graphite
Greenish Brown - Stylecraft Special DK Khaki
Bronze - Stylecraft Special DK Walnut

I will put the pattern up at Crochet Cabana and probably at Ravelry as well.

Now I need to sew the tails in on the S16-17 as well!

Have you ever found a pattern you liked but it was written using a different terminology than you are used to - in my case a British pattern perhaps? I have a conversion chart at Crochet Cabana but I ran across this video by Mikey at the Crochet Crowd and I liked his presentation and thought I would share it here.

I also ran across this video demonstrating how to make yarn out of paper! Who doesn't have paper? 

I also mustn't forget to mention Red Heart's yearly 12 weeks of Christmas. A new pattern appears each week in both crochet and knit.

Another great idea is shown in this video demonstrating how to make a double crochet as the first stitch of your row without using the chain-3 method. She calls it the chainless starting double crochet.

I have seen this numerous times and have yet to actually wind my yarn this way. I really need to do it. It's a center pull method.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie

baby sweater and Who scarves

I know I have been very lax in keeping up with the blog lately. The last project was such a long one that there wasn't much new to report. I've also been occupied with my new grandson and my mom under hospice care.

Here is what I've been up to.

I began a little baby sweater. The pattern is at Bev's Country Cottage.  It is the hexagon sweater. As you can see, it is not finished. I used a G hook and Hayfield Bonus DK Extra Value yarn from the UK, shade 0891. It's a sort of deep red, light burgundy perhaps.

The pattern is fairly straightforward. You make 2 hexagons and put them together in an L shape. Then you add the extra bits at the collar and sleeves and the spot for the buttons. I will probably not add buttons. Buttons, babies. I'm overly cautious.

I worked 8 rounds with a G hook which I think would fit a large preemie or small newborn. It fit the grandbaby who is just over 9# and 20.5". He is in newborn clothing, but most of it is still large on him. He'll probably have outgrown the sweater before I finish it. LOL

I also finished the main part of the Season 16-17 Doctor Who scarf. I still have all those tails to sew in. I haven't measured it but the sofa seating area is 6' so I'm guessing between 18' long when stretched out.

For the scarf I used my own pattern based on 5 rows to the inch (using the inches pattern at doctorwhoscarf.com which is for the knitted S 12-14 scarves). I used Stylecraft Special DK yarn (from the UK) and a G hook.

The colors used were:
Purple - Stylecraft Special DK Burgundy
Camel -  Stylecraft Special DK Camel
Mustard - Stylecraft Special DK Sunshine
Rust - Stylecraft Special DK Copper
Grey - Stylecraft Special DK Graphite
Greenish Brown - Stylecraft Special DK Khaki
Bronze - Stylecraft Special DK Walnut

I am fairly pleased with the colors except for the yellow which is really too bright and too orangy but the best available in that yarn I think. The brown (walnut) could have a bit more red to it, but I think it works fine with the other colors.

I chained 36. If making this scarf - just as I have it in the pattern with 8" wide - I would suggest buying 2 skeins of all colors but the sunshine and burgundy. You may not need it all but better safe than sorry.

The scarf has all 88 stripes of color and 1054 rows of single crochet. So if you don't like single crochet this is not the project for you! LOL

Row numbers will vary with hook and yarn but that's how many I did. The breakdown is camel 241, khaki 198, copper 159, graphite 142, walnut 123, sunshine 96, burgundy 95 = 1054

Pattern I used will eventually be available at Ravelry and the web site. I'll post when it's there.

I also began a baby size scarf. I took the full size Season 14 and reduced it proportionately. I chained 16 with a G hook and the DK yarn in colors as above. More on this one as it gets further along.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie