crochet

Free Pattern: Happy Triangles

~ solrencoret ~ Leave a comment

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Hello everyone! First, I apologise for all the days of silence, there is a lot going on at the moment and the blog has been on my to-do list every single day but hadn’t had the chance to write anything. To make it up to you I will share a new pattern with you guys, remember my geometric little purses? Well I have been sewing and sewing for days! I finished the fabric lining for one but still working on the second one so I will share the pattern of the finished purse and the other will come soon. Both patterns are quite similar but as I mentioned before the end result is quite different.

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I am still working on the fair isle fingerless mitts, they seem to be the right size now but the dreaded thumb is coming soon so fingers crossed I will get it right this time.

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As usual, a few comments about the pattern:

  • The colour changes are done leaving the unused colour as strands in the back. I have used this technique in my Night to Day pattern so check that post for links to videos explaining how to change colours and get nice strands. I also mention there a technique to keep the seam straight from Crochet Ever After, follow the links for instructions.
  • When doing chart patterns I usually work in the back loop only because otherwise the shapes of your chart will lean to the right when you crochet them. For this purse I didn’t work in the back loop only (BLO) and you can see that the triangles lean a bit. I still like the result but if you prefer a more neat-looking pattern then wait for the next one which does use the BLO. You can work in the BLO for this one but I would advise not to use very contrasting colours. The dark green against the white didn’t look right when working in the BLO, the edges weren’t clear so I used light colours for the next pattern and it looks a lot better. Check this post where I talk about the differences with each technique.
  • I wanted to get a very tight fabric for this purse so I chose the smallest hook size recommended for this yarn (3.00mm). This did slow down the process considerably because it was a struggle to get the hook through for each stitch, but you do get a nicer fabric and the triangles will look neater as well. If you are a very loose crocheter and can’t help it, then I advise you to use colours that are not very contrasting to make sure that the shapes are still clear. You can also wait for the next pattern which was crocheted looser.
  • The light green colour is very bright but it looks quite dull in the pictures, sorry!

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Happy Triangles Pattern

Size: 20cm x 14.5cm

Materials

Rico Design Essentials Cotton DK: 1x50g ball White, 1x50g ball Blue Green, 1x50g ball Pistachio

3.00mm hook

Fabric for lining ( I bought 20cm of a fabric and it was enough)

Needle

Pins

22cm zip

Abbreviations

dc – UK double crochet

sl st – slip stitch

ch – chain

htr – UK half treble

BLO – back loop only

Instructions

Base: With white yarn Ch 50, htr in 3rd ch from hook, htr in each st across until last ch, 6 tr in last ch. Turn to work on other side of ch, htr in next ch and each ch across until last ch, 5htr in last ch, sl st to first htr (104 st). Don’t turn.

*Remember to pull tight on the sl st and the ch 1 when starting a new round to keep the seam straight.

Round 1: Ch 1, dc in BLO in each st across until the end, sl st to first dc (104 st). Don’t turn.

Round 2: Ch 1, dc in next st and each st across until the end, sl st to first dc. Don’t turn.

Round 3-34: Follow chart below, from bottom-up and from right to left. Each round has 104 st so you need to repeat the 8 stitches in the chart 13 times for each round (13×8=104). Repeat the chart until you have 34 rounds in total so that you have 8 rows of triangles, 4 of each colour. You don’t have to cut the colours if you don’t want to, all the ends will be hidden once you do the lining.

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Round 35-36: With white yarn, ch 1, dc in next st and each st across until the end. (104 st)

 

For the lining I used this great post by Futuregirl, she uses a sewing machine but I had to do it by hand since I don’t have one. Took ages to finish but love the result. Just tuck in all the ends between the lining and the purse, no need to weave them in!

As usual, please let me know if you have any questions and here is the Ravelry link 🙂

Have a great day!

x

Sol

 

 

 

A thumb-size problem

~ solrencoret ~ 6 Comments

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I am not sure why, but in the last few years I have felt a pressing need to be efficient and productive with my time. When I was at university I wouldn’t mind spending a whole weekend in bed watching TV, it was actually one of my favourite ways to spend the weekend. Now, every spare moment of time I have I feel the need to squeeze as much out of it as possible. It is not healthy but I can’t seem to shake it off.

If you follow my blog you will see I have started to create my own patterns, which has brought much joy to my life. A lot of people (maybe most of them) create patterns because they can’t help it, they are creative beings and ideas and colours are floating in their minds all the time: it is just natural. For me, I am designing patterns for the exact opposite reason: it is really hard for me. I see everything in black and white and 2D, I am horrible with colours (though Pinterest is helping) and I am the less creative person I know. I have been dancing for years and I can learn a choreography very fast, but if I just put the music on and try something on my own nothing comes to me. The patterns on this blog are the result of long research (what stitches to use? how do you mix colours?) and a lot of time and effort. So I am doing this as a challenge to my natural way of being, and oh boy, it is a challenge.

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I have been working with colours lately and have fallen in love with fair isle patterns. Have borrowed all the books I could find in the library and I think I have finally found a stitch that allows you to see the patterns clearly on the fabric like when knitting. Since I can’t knit this is the only way I am ever going to do fair isle. So I looked for some patterns I liked and assembled them into what it would be a pattern for fingerless mittens. It started off great, I actually love how the colours look together and have been trying for ways to use them for months so it is a YAY! for me. But then… there was the thumb. What you see in the picture is what is left after I pulled my thumb attempt apart (yes, I was mad). I also realised the mitten was going to be too small and need to do it bigger, but since the pattern is a repeat of 12 st it will have to be a lot bigger and all this discouraged me so much.

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Spending so much time trying to come up with a pattern when I could just follow another person’s pattern is very contra-intuitive for me and harder than I thought it would be. I was ready to throw it all in the bin last night, but today I have decided to persevere. Yes, there are some lovely patterns out there but not this exact one, and if I actually crochet something nice like this I will be so happy with the end result that all this will be worth it. And I will try to convince myself that I can take as much time as I need, there is no deadline, no rush: this is not a job. Finally, I will remind myself that I am doing this not only for the result, but for the journey. A journey to a more creative and colourful life 🙂

x

Sol

Geometric Pattern Update

~ solrencoret ~ 2 Comments

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Hi there! Hope you are having a nice weekend wherever you are. Since it’s Sunday morning I am still in bed while writing this post, love lazy mornings like this and the older you get it seems harder and harder to get them.

I wanted to give you an update on that geometric pattern I have been playing with, the one with the triangles? Well I have done two samples with different techniques and wanted to share my thoughts with you.

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The pattern is a simple triangle pattern with three colours, first I tried it with white, lime green and petrol green (I can’t get the pictures to show the real colours, it is a very bright green but it shows a lot darker). With this sample I used UK double crochet as normal changing colours with strands on the back. I wanted a sharp image so used a 3mm hook to make tight stitches. The result is quite nice in terms of the fabric, it is tight and stiff which suits the purpose of being a purse. The triangles are sharp enough but they do lean towards the right (you can see in the picture that the triangles move with every row, at the bottom row I ended with a dark one and at the top row with a lighter one). To be honest for this pattern this doesn’t matter as much as I would’ve thought, the visual effect is still nice, the triangles just lean a bit but I can live with that.

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Now, the downside of this pattern was to crochet with a small hook. The yarn calls for a hook between 3 and 4mm but using a 3mm was indeed a pain, you do struggle a bit with every stitch and it felt like it took forever to finish.

After this first sample I wanted to try something different. I know that working in the back loop only will stop the stitches leaning to the right, but when I tried this with the petrol green colour the triangles didn’t look very defined because the colours were very contrasting. So I decided to get a couple of pastel colours to work with the white and try working in the back loop only. I also changed my hook to a 3.5mm to make it faster and easier.

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As you can see the result is indeed a nicer pattern, no leaning of the stitches and the triangles look sharp enough with these colours. The only downside of this sample is that it is not a stiff fabric, the 3.5mm did make quite a difference. So I guess that if I were to make this properly I would use the pastel colours with a 3mm, but I am pleased with my sample so will line it with a cotton fabric and see if that makes it a bit stiffer.

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I will write a pattern for the pastel colour purse once I have a finished product with fabric and zip, not very good at sewing so I will probably ruin it but have to try 😛

I am still playing with colours and chart patterns and have already started something else, will share it on the week once it is a bit bigger.

Hope you have a great day!

x

Sol

Trial and error

~ solrencoret ~ 2 Comments

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Hello everyone! Sorry I haven’t been posting much this week but I have been very busy, it was my boyfriend’s birthday a few days ago and there has been little time to crochet or update the blog. We had a lovely time and the weather couldn’t have been nicer, I even made a cake and it turned out so good I will have to have an excuse to make it again before next year!

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Lately I have been working on this geometric pattern I showed you last week, but had to start over after some problems with the tension. It will be a little purse with a fabric lining and a zip to store some pens, I am really liking it so far but I realised that the technique to keep your seams straight when working on the round works much better when you do stitches on the back loop only.

I have been doing the same technique as the wrist warmers on this project but the seam keeps moving, not as much as it would without it and it is less noticeable, but it is definitely a diagonal. I would work on the back loop if it weren’t for the dark green colour, it is too contrasting and the shapes of the triangles are not as clear when you work on the back loop but have bought lighter yarn to give it a try with a different sized purse.I think the shapes would be clearer if they were bigger but I wanted small triangles.

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Working on the back loop only will also fix the slight tendency of the shapes to lean to the right side. I know I should’ve just started with the new purse with lighter colours and back loop only but it will be a good exercise to see the final result with both techniques. So, lord give me patience to finish them both!

I get so impatient when I spend too much time on a project, specially when it is small. This pattern is deceiving because all the colour changes make it more time-consuming than it seems, but I still love the final effect. I will keep you updated on my progress, the seam is just turning enough to start showing at the front so will see how much that bothers me soon 😛

Hope you have a great weekend!

Sol

x

Lazy Sunday

~ solrencoret ~ 2 Comments

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Hope you are having a Sunday as lazy as mine, just nice food, time with my boyfriend, crochet and TV 😀 Above is a sneak peak to what I have been up to lately, if it turns out nice there will be another pattern on your way! I am writing the pattern for the Yeoman lace project, so I hope to post that soon.

Have a great week!

x

Sol

Free Pattern: Night to Day Wrist Warmers

~ solrencoret ~ 7 Comments

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*Ravelry link*

My first pattern! I am so happy to share this pattern with you and hope your wrists will be happy with them, mine surely are!

Some comments first:

  • This pattern uses techniques for fair isle crochet. You can check the following videos by Crochet Ever After for the basics:

Fair Isle Crochet Tutorial #1: How to Change Color

Fair Isle Crochet Tutorial #2: How to Catch Your Float

  • I carried the yarn in strands at the back instead of inside the stitches as when doing tapestry crochet because the colours are very contrasting. I made sure to catch the unused yarn every 3 stitches regardless of the chart, e.g. if the chart says 7 stitches in the dark colour before changing to the lighter one I would do: two stitches in the dark colour, catch the strand in the third, two more dark, catch the strand on the 6th and then change to the light colour before ending stitch number 7. Shorter strands reduce the chance of catching them when you put them on.
  • To get a straight seam when joining each round I used this technique by Crochet Ever After which also makes the joining less visible. Basically, when you are working in rounds you usually do the last stitch, join with a slip stitch to the first stitch, chain one and then continue the pattern in the NEXT stitch to the one you slipped the hook through when joining. This makes the joining move one stitch with every round and then you get a diagonal seam. By doing your first stitch in the SAME stitch as where you did your slip stitch you always join in the same place. So if Round 1 and 2 of the pattern sound confusing check the video for further guidance.
  • You don’t really need a gauge for this pattern, you just have to check the size first. I added 4 stitches to the original pattern shown in the picture since my wrists are very small. Before starting the pattern, chain the number of stitches required, join to first chain and check if the circumference is large enough that it fits the part of your hand where your thumb starts, otherwise you won’t be able to put them on. If it is too small for you I have added some empty columns to the chart in this file: print it and fill in the squares randomly and adapt the rest of the pattern to your new number of stitches. Just remember the chart is for half the number of stitches since you repeat it once. You can also do more rounds of the solid colours depending on how long you want them.
  • This pattern is available for free to my dear readers, and you are welcome to sell finished products (but of course not the pattern), I only ask that you credit the pattern to me.
  • Finally, this is the first pattern I have ever written so I apologise for any mistakes and please ask any questions you may have, I will be happy to answer them.

 

Night to Day Wrist Warmers

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This pattern is crocheted in the round, without turning your work and on the back loop only. The middle section of the pattern uses a fair isle technique to change colours and carry the unused colour as strands in the back, as explained in the comments above. The pattern is written for one standard size, but click here to download a printable chart that allows you to add stitches if the pattern is too small.

US terms

sc blo – single crochet in back loop only

ch – chain

st – stitches

 

Materials 

Hook: 3.5mm

Yarn: 1 x 50g ball Excelana 4 ply in Cornflower Blue, 1 x 50g ball Excelana 4 ply in Nile Green (I only used approx. 15g of each colour)

Needle to weave in ends

 

Instructions

With darker colour chain 40, join to first chain (make sure not to twist them) with slip stitch and pull hard so that the chain just made is less visible.

Round 1: Ch 1, sc blo in first ch (where you just did the slip stitch) and in every ch across. Join with slip stitch to first sc. Don’t turn (40 st).

Round 2: Ch 1, sc blo in st where you joined with slip stitch in previous round, sc blo in next st until the end. Don’t turn (40 st).

Round 3 -10: Repeat Round 2.

Round 11-24 : Follow chart below from right to left and repeat once for each row (chart is for 20 stitches, in each round once you get to stitch number 20 go back to the first stitch of the row and repeat for the next 20).

Cut darker yarn and continue with lighter yarn only, leave a tail long enough to make it easy to weave in.

Round 25-31 : Ch 1, sc blo in st where you joined with slip stitch in previous round, sc blo in next st until the end. Don’t turn (40 st).

Fasten off, weave in ends.

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I have added this pattern to Ravelry as well if you want to add it to your queue 😉

Please post a comment if you have any questions and enjoy!

x

Sol

 

Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl

~ solrencoret ~ Leave a comment

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Hello there, thank you for visiting my blog on this lovely day! It has been so sunny and warm in Edinburgh today that no one can talk about much else. I never thought that blue skies would be such a topic of conversation but if you live in Scotland you understand that once the sun is out everyone will comment about it wherever you go. I am even wearing shorts! (it took a while to find them). Ok will stop about the weather now, told you it’s all you can talk about…

In this post I wanted to share with you some of the lovely yarn I bought while participating in the first ever yarn crawl in Edinburgh. If you don’t know what a yarn crawl is, it is basically a pub crawl but instead of shots you buy yarn and instead of a headache the next morning you get that amazing feeling of new yarn under your hands.

The yarn crawl included three shops in town: Ginger Twist Studio, Be Inspired Fibres and Kathy’s Knits. They are all lovely shops, each with its own unique identity and beautiful yarn. I joined a lucky dip group so we went to each shop together which I thought was loads of fun.

If you read my blog you know that I have set up a challenge for myself to use up my yarn stash and buy less yarn, BUT I thought that such occasion as a yarn crawl was clearly an exception since there was no way I was going to go to three yarn shops and not buy anything. So I set a budget, then increased it of course once I was there and ended up buying some beautiful yarn so I thought I could share it with you guys. I bought all of them for Be Inspired Fibres.

First, I wanted some lace since I have an idea in my head for a shawl ever since I started downloading japanese crochet books and fell in love with a stitch pattern in one of them. The yarn is called Holst Garn and it is SO soft, 100% pure thin alpaca. It smells amazing as well, reminds me of the south of my country.

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Next, I wanted some cotton yarn for another project I have in mind for a pencil case (details to come!). I wanted bright, fun colours and these ones are perfect.

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Finally I ended up picking up this superwash yarn called Jawoll by Lang Yarns, I just fell in love with the colours and thought they would make some lovely fair isle wrist warmers.

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I am in a chart mood lately, I have been playing with my colours trying to put into paper some of the ideas I have and can’t wait to start swatching!

x

Sol

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Little squares of joy

~ solrencoret ~ Leave a comment

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I have never been good with colour. From my clothes to my crochet projects it has always been hard to put them together, and I usually end up mixing two tones of the same colour. I think that is one of the reasons why I always used to crochet projects in one colour, well that and having to hide all those ends of course.

A few months ago I saw this blanket while browsing patterns in Ravelry and I fell in love. After avoiding colour for a long time I decided to take on the challenge of a granny square blanket! Crazy, I know. I was determined to get through it because of the beautiful end result but I didn’t think I would enjoy the process as much. I decided to go with the same colours as the pattern since picking so many colours on my own would take me years, bought a big storage bag to put it all in and set off.

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It took only a few squares to realise how wrong I was and to name this project as my happy blanket: there is no other way of describing it as colour happiness. Every time I make a square there is this happy, cozy feeling inside and a smile on my face. 5 rows of squares later and the feeling hasn’t gone away, and I think I will actually finish this blanket one day!

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And that’s not all. I am already looking for more blankets to do!

x

Sol

Reading and crocheting… at the same time!

~ solrencoret ~ 2 Comments

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I want to share my new found love for audiobooks. This, my dear reader, was not an easy transition. As many of you out there I started my love affair with books at a time when they were thick, heavy and had that wonderful smell (new or old, books have an amazing smell). I was the kind of person that could be seen walking the streets of my home city while reading without ever running into any trees, lamp posts or people (just had a couple of close calls).

When the e-readers came out I was as offended as everyone else and declared my loyalty to “real books”. Then the fact that you could carry a huge title in a thin device and that you could download books in seconds instead of ordering them online and getting them a month later (the curse of international shipping to third world countries) won me over. I bought my Kindle and thought the days of change were over.

Then this crochet obsession began and when I started missing my books I decided to try audiobooks. I have never liked when people read to me but I thought it was worth the try. And it definitely was: audiobooks are the best thing ever. I use Audible so I can listen to the books on my phone, not only while I crochet but when I am walking or commuting to work. Reading on a vehicle is an old dream of mine that had never come true because I get motion sickness in any kind of moving vehicle that can be classified as being more sophisticated than a scooter. Who said dreams can’t come true?

If you want to try them the Audible membership is very reasonable, though always listen to the samples before buying, you don’t want to get stuck with a really annoying voice for more than 8 hours of your life. Some libraries offer free audiobooks, I have tried the ones offered at the Edinburgh Library, not many titles but they are free.

Off to my yarn and book!

x

Sol

The “latina” in me…

~ solrencoret ~ 2 Comments

Is the title “killing my yarn stash” a bit too much? English is not my first language and where I come from we are a lot more exaggerated with our phrasing and we throw words like “kill”, “love” and “hate” to a conversation without adding more meaning to it.

The same applies to when we do something “a million times” when here it might be “a few times” (by the way anything more than a couple qualifies into the million category). So I apologise if the title startled you, no intentions of killing my yarn (no idea what that would imply… dividing the strands? setting it on fire?), just trying to get rid of some. Of course I am just kidding myself because as soon as I get rid of some I feel the right to buy more, but still.

Maybe I will change the title to something more polite… reducing my yarn stash? minimising my yarn stash? Ok, might need a bit of time to think about it 😛