Thursday, July 4, 2013

Crochet Hook Holder

Crochet Hook Holder
see bottom of page for update to this post

for my new crochet hooks




The addi swing crochet hook is exactly what it says it is.
Ergonomically friendly.
I posted a little while back about my golfers elbow pain being eased by crocheting, so I thought I would go one step further and buy a better hook, I did purchase a top brand name and was not happy with that, so I went onto do more research and found the addi swing.
This hook has given me more progress of easing the golfers elbow to almost no pain when I cut, wipe or rub.

 It's so comfortable to use, I have a knife grip on my hook, but if you had a pencil hold on your hook it would still be worth the buy with the pen hold as it has a very comfortable hold equal to a pen grip and a groove for your thumb to sit into.
With the knife grip there is a generous amount of length to hold onto your hook and a hook shaft that just glides through your crochet work.
They remind me of holding a tooth brush or nice shaver, the more expensive type's that give you a comfortable hold and grip.

So I had  to make a new holder for my hooks.

1 solid disposable cup
Some yarn and my hook


Start with making a sc circle to fit the bottom of the cup, once it fits the bottom of the cup, stop increases, continue to crochet and your work will grow tall up the sides of your cup
 I increased for the top of the lip for both out side and in side of the cup.
Then I decreased back to the st count the same as the sides of the cup and crocheted it just a little longer so the whole piece will fit snug outside and inside with out any need for glue
The next part I made.
 I made 8 sc in a ring and crocheted in the round for the length desired, this will hold my needles and scissors and I am going to place it around the cup like a 
donut
This is what I had been using for a long time
I sewed the donut around the cup and secured it in only 3 places, this leaves me gaps to slide my scissors and whatnot into

 I had no need to stuff the needle holder as I made it thick by using 2 strands of yarn.
So here she is all finished, simple yet effective
I really missed my old crochet hook organizer, so I gave it a face lift and another dimension, an inner upright hook holder for the addi swing hooks.
I'm so pleased to have her back I missed her convenience, here is a picture of her with her new face lift.
 The tiny buttons are to hold small sewing needles.
 this is the guts of her, so you can see it's easy to stick in pins and hooks!

Friday, June 28, 2013

Granny Edge Slouch Hat




Basic Instructions For Granny Edge Slouch
(this is not a written pattern)
Medium Adult Size


Materials needed:
AU 8 ply or US sports weight yarn
Approx 80 gm's main color small amount of contrast color
4 mm, 4.5mm, (or substitute 4.5mm for 5mm)
Sewing needle, scissors and measuring tape.

St's used:
US terms
Ch = chain
Dc = double crochet

Skill level = experienced
Time approx 3 hours minimum

Hat is made by making the granny squares first, sewing them together, adding yarn to the granny's for the top section and leaving an opening for a draw string, then adding yarn for the hat edge/brim.

Instructions:
You will need to make at least 6 granny squares first, here is a pictured tutorial with the color change, but I did 2 chain in between each 3 dc's, your granny square needs to be approx 3 inches in size, no need for exact measurements as long as all of your squares are the same size
 After sewing in all ends of the granny squares you will need to sew them together in a horizontal line, do not close the circle yet! Wrap the piece around your head to see if it will fit, if it is too tight add another granny square.
Below is my formula for calculating my stitch count, you will need more st's for the top of the hat and less for the brim of the hat, look at the picture above and you will see that I have started to dc into the spaces that I have counted in the picture below.
Using the larger hook, sl st into the corner and ch 3, 1 dc in each of the 3dc group, 1 dc into the ch 2 space, 1 dc into each of the corner spaces, all the way across to the end of your granny squares ending with a 1 dc in the corner space.
Your stitch count does not have to be the same as mine, it just has to be evenly spaced

Once you get to the end and you are pleased with your evenness, fold the piece in half and sl st into the beginning ch 3
Now sew that last space up of the granny squares to join into a ring shape
From here on you will just do rows of dc for about 12 inches in length (includes granny squares)


With the last few rounds of mine I decreased for about 3 rows.
NOT STITCH COUNT PERFECT 
row 1 dec in every 5th st
row 2 dec in every 4th st
row 3 dec in every 3rd st
Finish off
This is totally optional as you are going to finish with a hole in the end of your slouch and you will be threading a draw string in to the end of the hat and just pulling it together.

 Beginning the edge/brim.
Use your smaller size hook (if needed, see below).
Sl st to join yarn in any corner space of the granny and ch 3, you will be working 2 dc's in the group of 3 dc's, 1 dc in the ch 2 space and 1 dc into the corner spaces, sl st to top of ch 3 to join
 You will have approx 60 dc's
This is the time to measure and make adjustments for the size of the hat you want, less st's will make a smaller hat and extra st's will make a larger hat, you can also use a smaller or larger hook to get your sizing

Make as many rows of dc as you like and finish off.
Sew in all loose ends
Make a draw string and thread it through the top of your hat

MY NOTES
 On the hat edge/brim I chose to use the bpdc and fpdc to give it a ribbed look.
On the top part of the hat I chose to use a crossed dc to give the hat a nice stitch.
On the bottoms of my draw string, I added small flowers and a crochet cork screw.
Here is one with a small granny and cork screws that I will add to the draw string once strung.
There are plenty more effects you can add to the hat and I'd love to see what you do if you would like to share your pictures, you can send them to my email address or find me on face book.
I hope you found these instructions helpful.


I used the same method with this one below


Credit where credit is due thank you
cathy.e.wood@gmail.com

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Some Of My Latest Crochet Projects

It's Winter Here In Australia

I have so many requests for hats and I want to share their images here so I won't forget what I have made.
I am making most of them for my local chemist and if they ask for a replica I can come here and look at what I made to reproduce it.

So the slouch is very popular, I was shocked that any body would want to wear such a thing, after making lots of them, I don't mind them so much now and understand their purpose.












I also have some other items I need to keep track of.

Stylish Hat.



Character hat

Footy Hat/Neck Warmer

Adult
Junior

Plan lay out

Mitts

Baby/Toddler Hat


So as you can see I have been busy, other crochet pictures have been used for patterns I have written and posted on my blog, so you can flick through and see them in my recent posts.
Cheers Cat.

Some Berets/Slouch