Spiderchick Hat Pattern

Ok, I actually had requests for the pattern, believe it or not, so I'm going to write it out for you. lol If anyone would like to test the pattern for me, I'd really appreciate it, and I'd love to see pics of the finished products too!

Materials:
Red Heart Worsted Weight Yarn- small amounts of red, black and blue
Hook - Size F or size needed for correct guage
Gauge: 10 dc = 3 inches, 5 dc rows = 3 inches

Hat Instructions:

With red, ch 6, join with sl st to form ring.

1) Ch 3, 2 dc in ring, (ch 2, 3 dc in ring) 5 times, ch 2, join with sl st to top of beg ch 3. [6 ch-2 spaces formed]

2) Ch 3, turn, 2 dc in ch 2 sp, ch 2, 3 dc in same ch 2 sp. (Ch 2, 3 dc in next space, ch 2, 3 dc in same sp, ch 2) 5 times, join with sl st to top of beg ch 3. [12 ch-2 spaces formed]

3) Ch 3, turn, 2 dc in ch 2 sp, ch 2, (3 dc in next ch 2 sp, ch 2) 11 times, join with sl st to top of beg ch 3. [12 ch-2 spaces formed]

4) Repeat row 3. Fasten Off.


With Black, ch 4, join with sl st to form ring.

1) Ch 5, (tr in ring, ch 1) 11 times, join in 4th chain of beg ch 5. [12 tr]

2) Ch 7, (tr in tr, ch 3) 11 times, join in 4th chain of beg ch 7. [12 tr]

3) Ch 9, (tr in tr, ch 5) 11 times, join in 4th chain of beg ch 9. Fasten off. [12 tr]


With Blue, and holding red piece and black piece together, join with a sl st in ch-2 sp of red piece and ch-5 sp of black piece together.

1) Ch 3, 2 dc in same sp, ch 2, (3 dc in next space, ch 2) 11 times, join with sl st to top of beg ch 3. [12 ch-2 spaces]

2-4) Repeat row 1. Fasten off after row 4.

5) Join black with sl st in any ch-2 space of previous row, ch 3, dc in same sp, (dc in each of next 3 dc, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp) 11 times, dc in each of next 3 dc, join with sl st to top of beg ch 3. Fasten off. [60 dc]

6) Join blue with sl st in any dc of previous row, dc in ea dc around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 3. Fasten off. [60 dc]

Spiderman Poncho

Am I the only mom out there with a daughter who loves Spiderman? Probably. But now my daughter has the most awesome Spiderman poncho for school.

I even designed a matching hat!

I used the Halloween Ponchos pattern from Mrs. D Crochets: http://www.geocities.com/mrsd2688/index.html Believe it or not, I've never made granny squares before, so there was a bit of a learning curve when I started joining them, but I'm very pleased with the result. I'll write up the pattern for the hat soon; just in case I'm not the only one out there with a girly spiderman fan! lol

Solomon's Knot Shawl Crochet Along

For all my speedy CAL friends, here is the pic of the previous (LOL) CAL on the yahoo group BumblesGroovyCrochet. Better late than never!

I made it with a free pattern from Hook Me Up Crochet. Unfortunately the owner has taken the site down, but I was able to find it, sans pics, on the wayback machine. http://web.archive.org/web/20051124071511/http://www.hookmeupcrochet.com/Create/Patterns/Solomons_Knot_Shawl.htm

It was actually very simple, once I learned the stitch. It is the Solomon's Knot, also known as the Lover's Knot. I used the tutorial on about.com to learn how to do it. http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa122698.htm

This shawl is made using some ribbon yarn from Walmart that I was able to get for $2 / skein. Oddly, I think everyone else made theirs with two skeins. I had to run back for a third skein to finish mine. I thought I was measuring my stitches, but for some reason mine came out bigger. Here's a hint for making uniform knot stitches. Put a mark on your crochet hook to mark the length you want your stitch to be. Then you can use your hook to measure each stitch and you don't have to pick up your ruler all the time.

Now all I have to do is get my shawl away from my 5-year old! (And for those of you who have already finished the next CAL, I'll be joining you if I can ever decide what color I want to use. lol) No wonder I'm always behind!

Reclaiming Yarn

I thought I'd share some pics of some of the yarn I've recently reclaimed and the sweaters I have to frog. I've been stocking up on sweaters. With the onset of warm weather they are on sale at my local Goodwill for $1. Most of the yarn I've gotten is either 100% wool or 100% cotton. Several are 100% cashmere. Let's face it, I could never even buy one skein of cashmere for a buck, let alone enough to make a whole sweater!



A few are acrylic or partially acrylic, which I wouldn't normally bother with, but I just liked the color or there was something special about the yarn. I fell in love with the autumn colors in this boucle yarn. Any ideas what it wants to be?

This green sweater has a silver strand running through it, and ok, I admit it, I just like purple. *Grin*




If you're interested in trying your hand at yarn recycling, here's a great tutorial: http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/thrifty.html

Happy Frogging!

Flueri - Finally!

Well, I finally finished the Fleuri Bag I was making from a pattern at CrochetMe magazine. http://www.crochetme.com/Feb_Mar_2005/patt_fleuri.html I used wool recycled from a raspberry colored sweater I bought at Goodwill for $1. I debated about felting it, but I decided I liked it just the way it was. It was a pretty yarn, with three lighter strands and one darker strand running throughout. I wish I had taken a picture of the sweater before I frogged it (Rippit, rippit.....lol.) I've gotten tons of compliments on the purse. Even my boyfriend likes it! You can't beat that!

Spinning Ingeo

Here are some pics of some cool fiber I got at my favorite fiber geek store. It's called Ingeo. It's made from the sugars in plant fiber, so it's a polymer but it's natural? Go figure. It's over my head. Anyway, the colors available were the most vibrant I have ever seen and it has a wonderful sheen. And, as you'd expect from anything shiny, it's pretty darn slippery. It took some perseverance, but I think it came out nicely. Now if I could only figure out what it wants to be......I don't have a whole lot, and I think I want to be able to enjoy it all the time, so......something decorative maybe?