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A while back I tried to start a hat, but my hand wasn't completely healed then and I had to put it aside. I finished it recently. Yes, that is me taking a selfie in my red Star Trek robe. No fancy photos for me. LOL I can't remember what the yarn is, but it is chunky. I used my Sonic Screwdriver L hook to make it.
I have begun my next project. Here's a little sneak peek. Can you guess what it is?
I am waiting for yarn to do the main portions. As you can see I have the Sunshine, red and dark grey done. The dark grey is Knit Picks sport Cobblestone Heather. Although it is sport yarn like the rest, I find it a little thicker and stiffer than the others. Possibly because of the "heathering"? Hopefully it will not cause a problem as I assemble the rest.
Happy crocheting!
Sandie
I actually worked on this blog a few days ago but was waiting to get the pattern up at the web site and then forgot to come back and post the blog. LOL
So... The robotghan is done!
Daughter and I collaborated on this project. Of course, she designed the pattern so that was the first and most important part. Then she sewed on the "extras" - the eyes, mouth etc.
I made and assembled the squares and did the edging.
The details posted earlier are slightly altered as I actually did measurement and countings and such.
Of course, I didn't follow the original chart (do I EVER work a pattern as it's designed? LOL), so daughter revised the chart for me and it looks really cool. The pattern is available at Crochet Cabana (under Kate Smith) and will be at Ravelry later on. The details here are included in the pattern.
I used a G hook throughout.
The squares are 3 rounds and came out about 3" (7.62 cm according to Google). They will appear slightly smaller after assembly. Leave a very long tail, about 15", for assembly. You will still have to sew in the remainder but you won't have to join additional yarn for assembly. Believe me, you will have plenty enough tails to sew in!
I suggest sewing the center tails in as you go as you will appreciate it at the end. It's hard to go round and round with a full afghan in your lap. With regard to using the adjustable ring, make sure you go around that area a few times when sewing in tails and perhaps even up a round, to make sure it doesn't come undone in the wash. It ends up a very small area after you close up the hole and you want enough tail woven there to keep it from unraveling.
You can, of course, use larger squares if you want a larger afghan. Grandson is going to be 2 so I didn't want it TOO large. Remember it will be rectangular and the wider you make it, the longer it will also be unless you decide you want a short, stocky robot.
Materials:
G hook
Knit Picks Brava Sport Silver (light grey)
Knit Picks Brava Sport Celestial (blue)
Stylecraft Special DK Graphite (dark grey)
Stylecraft Special DK Sunshine (yellow, almost orange)
The robot uses
38 light grey squares
23 dark grey squares
60 yellow squares
110 blue squares
18 yo-yos
I began each yo-yo with an adjustable ring and there are 16 dc in center. You can find info on yo-yos at Crochet Cabana with a video.
Because the squares are whipstitched together, it adds virtually no width or length to the squares. In fact, I found it made the squares slightly smaller so that even after assembly and the edging was added, the size was about 39" x 69". (13 squares x 23 squares)
The robot itself was 50" tall and about 20 1/2" across at the feet.
There were, as I have said before, a lot of tails to weave in. This was not too difficult, just time consuming. It took me three days to get them all done. Bits of caution on that point ... Not to make too much bulk under any one spot, you may want to weave some tails vertically and some horizontally and some even diagonally or in multiple directions. Try not to go back over the same area such that you pull out what you've already done.
Here is a picture of the back of the ghan. If you look closely you can see tiny bits where the yo yos were sewn on and the tails woven in. This is unavoidable unless you use blues and greys for the yo-yos. I liked the bits of color. If you work carefully you can reduce the show-through. We used some worsted yo-yos that were already made which were a little thicker than the DK of the main afghan, for convenience.
I'm thinking if you make the yo-yos in thin yarn there will be smaller threads to sew in and you could maybe hide them better. Just a thought. Overall, however, there is very little showing.
The finishing touch was the edging. I worked all rounds in single crochet, using (sc, hdc, sc) in corners. The first round is blue and the second yellow, with the final round also in blue. I have more details in the actual pattern.
I think it looks great! Grandson saw it briefly and loved it! I had to sneak it out again to finish the edging and hold for his birthday in a couple of weeks.
Happy crocheting!
Sandie
I am repeating this info to have everything all together. Last I blogged, I had planned not to put additional squares but rather work around with dc. I changed my mind after I looked at it. I had almost enough yellow squares to go all the way around which would mean I didn't have to make as many blue ones so I decided to go that way. (I had started making yellow squares while waiting for the blue and grey yarn to come in and had made way more than I needed for the original pattern.)
The squares are 3 rounds of daughter's cross-stitch square and come out about 3" square. The pattern can be found at Crochet Cabana under Kate Smith. I left a very long tail, about 15", for assembly. You still have to sew in the remainder but you won't have to join additional yarn for assembly.
You can, of course, you use larger squares if you want a larger afghan. Grandson is going to be 2 so I didn't want it TOO large. Remember to consider that it will be rectangular and the wider you make it, the longer it will also be.
The yarn is Knit Picks Brava Sport Silver (light grey) and Celestial (blue) and Stylecraft Special DK graphite (dark grey) and Sunshine (yellow, almost orange).
The robot uses 38 light grey squares, 23 dark grey squares, 60 yellow squares and 110 blue squares.
After I sew the tails in, if I have time, I plan to do a round of single crochet to even out all the edges. I hope to have enough blue yarn to do this.
Because the squares are whipstitched together, it adds virtually no width or length to the squares. The size before any additional edging is approximately 39" x 69". (13 squares x 23 squares)
Daughter and I are considering whether to add eyes and mouth to the face.
Next time you should see a finished robot! I have about 3 more weeks to work on it.
Happy crocheting!
Sandie
Thought I'd post an update on the robot afghan. After some trial and error I decided I wanted to continue with the squares even though it means making several dozen more squares and sewing in all those tails. It will be worth it.
Here's how it looks at present. All the squares currently made have been assembled. You can get a better idea of the robot now that there are squares on either side of it. I'm pretty pleased with the way he's looking. As I said before, my daughter came up with the design chart for me.
When I was able to crochet on a limited basis I already had the yellow yarn and the dark grey so I just made squares until the blue and light grey yarn came in. Since I had so many yellow squares I decided to use them in a continual line rather than alternating them with the blue. I only had to make a few more.
The goal is to put another bit of blue all around, then maybe one round of sc to straighten the edges. Fingers crosses that I estimated the amount of yarn needed well.
I'll give a rundown on yarns and number of squares etc when it's done.
Happy crocheting!
Sandie
As you may recall, I was unable to crochet at all for about a month and then limited use of hand for a couple weeks after that. I am now almost fully able to crochet without pain so I've been slowly working on an afghan for my grandson. His birthday is coming up and he loves robots. His mom made up a chart for me.
I was able to make a few squares a day for a while. I started putting them together and I've now got the robot portion of it done. It will pop out better once the edging is completed I think.
Because there are literally hundreds of tails to sew in for these small squares, I have decided to try a "regular" edging around the robot itself even though I have all the yellow squares already done and a few more of the blue completed. LOL You know how I hate sewing in those tails! I may add the other squares later if I have time. Not being able to crochet for a while messed up my timing.
Because of the nature of the robot it would naturally turn out longer than wide. I'm thinking I may add more rows to the sides first and then go around the entire thing. Still in the thinking stage at this point.
The squares are 3 rounds of daughter's cross-stitch square. At first I left a long tail 3x the width of the square but found that was not enough as it left only a short strand after assembling the squares. (If Lily Chin can leave small tails I can make do with these, eh?), so for the rest I left a very long tail, about 4x the size of the square. That is what I recommend using for assembly. You still have to sew in the remainder but it stops you from having to join additional yarn for assembly.
The squares are approximately 3". (If you want a larger afghan you can use larger squares but measure carefully. Remember I still have sides to do on this one.) Grandson is going to be 2 so I didn't want it TOO large.
The yarn is Knit Picks Brava Sport Silver (light grey) and Celestial (blue) and Stylecraft Special DK graphite (dark grey). The yellow, if I end up using it, is Stylecraft Special DK Sunshine, very bright, almost orange.
The robot itself is now about 21" x 51". I didn't actually measure but given each square is 3" that should be about right. The robot uses 38 light grey squares, 23 dark grey squares and 57 blue squares if I counted correctly.
If you are brave enough to work all the squares on the chart as it is, you will need 32 yellow squares and a bunch more blue. I'll count it out for you on the post showing the completed afghan - don't expect that any time soon but I am hoping by mid October.
Happy crocheting!
Sandie
