The End of an Era

Dear Crochet Along-ers,

 

You may have noticed that, although we are up to almost 100 members, the number of active members has dwindled over the past few months until there are now only a few of us still posting. Administering the site and the theme changes takes us a lot of time, and as enthusiasm seems to be waning we just can’t justify spending all that time any more.

 

It is with great regret that we have decided that we have to close down this group.

 

It’s not as dire as it sounds: almost all of us have our own blogs, so we can still follow each others’ crocheting adventures. And if you don’t have a blog, maybe this is an opportunity for you to start one! Wordpress provides a 100% free service (it’s what we used for this blog!) and you already have a wordpress username if you are a Crochet Along member, so why not go to http://www.wordpress.com and sign up for your own blog? 

 

Whether or not you choose to blog, there are other forums and online communities available for you to show off your completed crochet projects and post questions. We like the following sites:

Crochetville

Craftster

Ravelry

Crochet Me

 

New and old bloggers alike, feel free to leave a comment on this post with the link to your blog, so we can all add each other to our feed readers.  We will leave comments open for a while so everyone has a chance to say au revoir and pass on our website links. We’ll also leave the site up for the forseeable future, as a reference.

 

Thank you so much for being a part of this site! We have really enjoyed developing this community with you all, and we hope you understand our reasons for having to close it down. It has been a very difficult decision for us to make.

 

Keep on crocheting! 

 

Love,

June & Eve

scarflet finished!

I finally finished my tunisian crochet scarflet so it’s all ready for when the cold weather hits. I made it from Bernat Bamboo yarn (sooo soft!) with cute wooden buttons. 

I highly recommend posting a pic of your works in progress as a motivator – it really spurred me on to get mine finished!

Arrrrh :( I was doing so well…..

I was doing so well…. The horns were looking good & the design for his feet was sorted. I realised that I’ve positioned the slip stitch leg gaps in the tendrils too far apart & Haggis would look very strange indeed with legs on either side of his body! Arrrrrrrrh!! So now I’m going to have to rip back over 100 tendrils to the start of the slip stitch leg gaps to re-position them closer together. For a nano second I considered just ignoring it but I know it would just bug me every time I look at him. So it breaks my heart but here I go……

1 scarf done, one to go

I finally finished my aunt’s Asheville scarf. It is the widest scarf I have crocheted, I used an L hook and denim Jiffy yarn, but I really like the width and the way it turned out. 

I am now working on my uncle’s scarf. It is going to be the exact same scarf, I think, but I am using an N hook and a navy Vanna’s Choice yarn. Here is the WIP:

We’ll see how it turns out!

Another bag WIP

Here’s another one of my WIPs.  I had started it earlier this year but then set it aside to work on Inga Bags for Summer. I got the pattern because I especially liked the look of the hexagons.  I guess I’d better get working on it now.  It will make a nice fall/winter bag.

Mini Crochet Olympics

Okay guys, to keep us motivated with our Work In Progress theme, here’s an idea (thanks to kafferepet for this suggestion!) – we’ll have a mini Olympics of our own, where the only event is Crochet! The idea:

• Use an existing WIP (work in progress) or start a new one
• Post pics of your progress throughout the Olympics
• Your challenge is to complete your work by the closing ceremony of the games (August 24th)!
• You’re only competing against yourself and what you choose to make is up to you. Your items should be some kind of challenge though – it’s not impressive to complete a 1hr amigurumi in the next 17 days!

Amigurumi Olympic mascots courtesy of flickr user berrysprite

If you want to participate, post a pic of your WIP and then get crocheting! You can post more pics throughout the challenge to show us how you are progressing. And we can all cheer each other on as we get closer to the finish 🙂

Who’s up for the challenge?

My unfinished ripple

 

 

Here’s a picture of the ripple I started in January, along with a few other projects.  I really like it and am looking forward to working on it again, probably this fall.  I can cover my lap and work on it at the same time when the cool crisp weather begins.  Hope I can get it finished this year.

This one is a little bit harder than my first.  For that one I used the Susan B pattern which gave me a lot of confidence-maybe too much.  I don’t know how to describe the pattern in crochet terms but I have to alternate colors at times crocheting over the strand of color not being used.  I did really get the hang of it but I probably should have never set it aside.  Will have to teach myself all over again.

no theme change: keep on workin’

Wow, it’s August already – how did that happen?! The group has been pretty quiet lately – I’m sure we have a lot of other things vying for our attention in these summer months! So, let’s keep going with the Work In Progress theme for August and see what we can get completed…

In other news: we’re currently cleaning up the Crochet Along Flickr group – we just noticed that it has got swamped with pics that aren’t relevant to our group! This will take some time to complete, as we have to be careful not to remove pics that should be kept in the group. To keep it clean in future, only Crochet Along members may join the group in future, and we’ve added a daily posting limit of 2 pics per day. Please remember to only post pics that support your Crochet Along posts, to keep our eye candy pool nice and clear 🙂

Now, back to the theme: I have some amigurumi on the go (of course) and a tunisian crochet scarflet (above) that I started last winter but never completed. Maybe that should be my WIP goal for this month! What are you working on right now? Leave a comment on this post and fill us in on your current crochet work in progress…

Scarves

 

 

Here are a couple of photos of some scarves I’ve been working on.  The black and white one is almost done-it needs some fringe.  I made it using Icelandic Jewels yarn from Hobby Lobby.  If you haven’t seen it before It’s a really soft yarn with flecs of  color woven in that really don’t affect the main yarn colors, just adds a little pizazz.  If you look closely you might see them in this picture.  The great thing is that it normally sells for over 5.00 a ball and Hobby Lobby periodically has it on sale for .99.  Needless to say I’ve accumulated quite a bit, buying 5-10 balls whenever its on sale, and different colors.  I know I have enough to make a few afghans and lots more scarves.  This scarf took  1 1/2 balls  each of black and white.  I did make it pretty long wanting it to be a nice warm wrap around scarf.  It’s done in triple and some double crochet going the length of the scarf. I found some patterns at christinascrochethaven.com.   She’s another one of those great people posting free patterns for us to use. I had made a couple of scarves last year from her patterns exactly, learning something new and then was able to improvise, mainly using more triple crochets and a bigger hook making it go faster.  The other is just worked in shells of double crochets  out of a fine boucle yarn.  I’ll probably make a couple more and then donate them all to my quilt guild for our Christmas party/ auction.  Last year the two I made went for 18.00 and 20.00 which I thought was pretty good.  We had such a variety of items-quilted, knitted ,crocheted, hand crafts, baked goods canned items-and when it was all done we had made about 1400. for our treasury.  Not too bad for a afternoon of fun.

Crocheted Cables Bag

Well other than my Inga bag that I started – which is ridiculously cuggly (cute + ugly) due to the harvest-medley variegated crappy yarn I’m using (seriously this may become my favorite bag) – I only have this one other WIP! And I wonder why I can’t finish anything. 😉

This is from Lion Brand (the “All Occasion Tote Bag”). They recommended their cotton yarn (natch) but I ended up using Sugar n’ Cream in BFP (Bright F’in Purple) and it’s been pretty fun to do. I have, as I’ve mentioned, a ridiculously tight gauge (I think there might be some therapy needed for this) so it’s going to be the sturdiest bag on the planet – possibly bullet proof – but it’s definitely interesting to work on. I like how the cables look.

PS… Bamboo-handled hooks are the BEST EVER.

My hands hurt.

First Tries at the Inga Bag

 

Here are a couple of photos of a finished Inga Bag and one in progress.  The finished one, I made for my daughter and the multi color and yellow is mine.  They’re made from “Peaches and Cream” cotton yarns.  This is my first time making these so it’s probably been more of an experiment than anything.  There are some really gorgeous bags being made from some beautiful yarns and I hope to go shopping for some very nice yarn and make another for myself.  If some of you haven’t seen the Inga bags at various blogs there is a specific block pattern.  But you could choose another average  size Granny Square Pattern for a different look.  I did with with the second bag I’m working on.

This WIP theme is great.  WIP’s are one thing I have plenty of, so I’ll have some things to show this month.  I love crocheting.  My problem is I keep seeing more things I want to make.  I guess with me it’s start five, finish one ad so on and so on for myself.  I am also a quilt maker so I have Quilt Wip’s too.  A lot of my own crochet and quilting gets put aside this time of year when I start thinking about Christmas gifts.  While I work on things for gifts some of my own WIP’s will have to stay that way for a while longer.

Karma’s Dress

Another WIP… this will get done eventually, but the skirt is just taking forever!  Round after round after round of the same thing = my ADD kicks in and I magically find something else to do after only 3 rows!  🙂

I’m saving the fun part for last, namely finishing the top of the back bodice (never thought I’d be so excited about increasing and decreasing), and the eventual finish to the argyle design with some back-stitching.  The pattern asks for an embroidered chain, but I’m WAY too lazy ;)… seriously, when I tried it, due to the square nature of the holes, getting the perfect diagonal was IMPOSSIBLE… a back-stitch is much easier to beat into submission.

This is for my niece Karma, who is 5 months old now – “know thyself” is awfully good advice, and in this case quite sage – I chose to make the 18 month size.  heehee

The $200 Afghan

So I bought this yarn. It was such lovely yarn, what with it’s greens and purples, and ribbons wrapped through, and sure maybe I didn’t necessarily NEED 24 skeins of it, but when the original price was 7.94 and they were selling it for 99 CENTS, seriously how could I resist? Nearly $200 in yarn for about $25. Such a deal.

But then I had all this yarn. What to do with it?

Naturally. It’s a work in progress, and it’s HEAVY…I’m using a P hook (I think, it’s big and plastic) with 2 strands. It will make a fine back-of-the-couch cuddler for those long mountain winters! (I’m in Colorado.)

PS… Thanks to my lovely daughter for being so accommodating.

PPS… I just have to say I’m still practically weeping with joy that my Rose Garden afghan is NO LONGER a w.i.p.

theme change: WIP

Happy July, everyone! Today is the first day of our new theme: Work In Progress (or WIP for short). The idea of this theme is to finish up some of those crocheted projects you have lying around that you just never seem to find the time to complete.

Of course, this also means that if you’re still working on some summer crochet or amigurumi from the old theme, this would be a great time to finish them up and post them here! WIP will run for the whole of July.

You may have noticed our wonderful new banner, created by our own jbirren, and featuring a lovely watercolour by the talented Susan Beauchemin – click through to her blog to see some more of her artwork. Thanks to Jaime for creating the banner and to Susan for graciously allowing us to use her crochet hook painting.

Welcome to the new theme! Post as much as you like – we want to see all your crocheted projects 🙂

TMNT

Just before the deadline….!

I just made these for my friend’s son’s 5th birthday (it was the 21st of June).  I am totally pleased with the way they came out.  I had grand expectations to finish Splinter the Rat before the birthday but i’m not so good at forcing myself to finish projects by a certain date – it seems to take the fun out of making it!

Teenage Mutuant Ninja Turtles – complete with eye masks and belt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes – they are napping on my bed before they had to be locked in a box for the party!

cool down with a polar bear!

I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but it’s been really hot here this week! Unfortunately my polar bear can’t really keep me cool, but he’s keeping me happy, anyway:

Remember, theme change approaching on July 1st: the new month-long theme will be WIP (Work In Progress) – a perfect opportunity to finish up some of those crochet projects you started and didn’t get around to finishing! We don’t have a banner image for the theme yet… Eve was going to make one, but she’s indisposed. Would anyone like to volunteer to make one? Let me know if you do!

The parameters:

• Text has to say ‘Crochet Along’, and WIP or Work in Progress – you can choose!
• Size of image is 760 pixels wide by 190 pixels high.
• Any images you use must be copyright free, or you must get the permission of the copyright holder(s) before we can use the banner.

If there are no takers, I’ll whip up a banner for us on June 30th 🙂

Final Summer theme entry

This almost became part of the WIP theme, but I finally finished it last night. It is a summer placemat.

I used white Red Heart yarn, pink Caron’s Simply Soft yarn, and a K hook. I made a little boo boo in the bottom left corner. I made it too long, so I tucked it under the side and single crocheted around the edges to keep it tucked behind the back. Oops!

It is actually for my cat, Drusilla, and she doesn’t mind. 

Summery Fun!

These are a couple of summer wallets I just finished.  They work really well to hold your cash, cards, lip balm, etc. if you’re going to the beach and don’t want to grab your regular big wallet.  Plus, they are so cute you could totally forego a purse altogether and sport one of these instead!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used Peaches & Cream 100% cotton worsted weight yarn so they are pretty study and can be machine washed.  Again, as you can see from my last post as well, i’m really into buttons right now.  I just can’t seem to use enough of them!

 

Nothing crochet but still very crafty

It’s finally time to unveil our secret project! Folding Trees is a new international collaboration that June and I have set up together.

There is a huge variety of crafts that can be made from a humble piece of paper: origami, paper art, quilling, papercutting, recycled paper crafts – to name just a few. Our aim with Folding Trees is to collect the best tutorials we have found on the net, inspire people by highlighting amazing paper creations from talented artists and crafters, and share our own paper crafts and tutorials.

On the site today, June is sharing a tutorial to make these puffy origami lucky stars from strips cut from magazine pages:

We invite people to share links to their own tutorials or point us to inspirational paper crafts they have seen. Everyone is also welcome to join the Folding Trees Flickr group and share photos of all their crafty paper projects with us! We will feature some of the submissions on the site.

June and I hope you’ll like our new project, and we’re looking forward to seeing you at FoldingTrees.com!

Instant gratification: Simple beach sling bag

So I’ve disappeared for a bit but here i am again.. Got something hot off the hook and I thought I’d post it.. Hope its not too late though.. I’ve been toying with an idea about making a nice little sling bag since my last one went horribly wrong (its still stuffed somewhere behind the drawers). I found some nice white twine and used it instead of yarn. Cheap and strong, I used about one roll and a little bit more which cost me about 1.5euros. I’m rather pleased with how it turned out and its not that difficult or time consuming to make it either. I cheated and used a big hook so it took me less than a day to make. I thought I’d direct you guys to my blog for the pattern.. But what the heck.. I’ll just post it here.

I used the fanfare pattern from lionbrand. Basically I made two “squares” of it and whip-stitched them together and added a strap.

MATERIALS:
-Thin white cotton twine
-5mm hook
-Lining cloth

PATTERN:
BAG
(ch a multiple of 6 sts + 4) Depends on how big you want your bag to be.

Row 1
Work 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook, 1 sc in next 2 ch, *ch 3, skip 3 ch, 1 sc in next 3 ch; rep from * across. Turn.

Row 2
Ch 1, 1 sc in first 2 sc, *skip 1 sc, 5 dc in ch-3 sp, skip 1 sc, 1 sc in next sc; rep from * end 1 sc in last sc. Turn.

Row 3
Ch 4 (counts as 1 sc and ch 3), skip (2 sc, 1 dc), 1 sc in next 3 dc, *ch 3, skip (1 dc, 1 sc, 1 dc), 1 sc in next 3 dc; rep from * to last 4 sts, end ch 3, skip (1 dc, 1 sc), 1 sc in last sc. Turn.

Row 4
Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 3 dc in first ch-3 sp, *skip 1 sc, 1 sc in next sc, skip 1 sc, 5 dc in ch-3 sp; rep from *, end last rep 4 dc in last ch-3 sp. Turn.

Row 5
Ch 1, 1 sc in first 3 dc, *ch 3, skip (1 dc, 1 sc, 1 dc), 1 sc in next 3 dc; rep from * across. Turn.

Rep rows 2–5 till the length you want. ( I repeated it only 6 times I think )

End on Row 5, then:
Ch 1, 1 sc in first 2 sc, *skip 1 sc, 5 sc in ch-3 sp, skip 1 sc, 1 sc in next sc; rep from * end 1 sc in last sc. Bind off.

STRAP
Ch 4, sc in the second ch from hook and in each ch. Turn.
*Ch 1, sc in each sc.* Repeat till desired length.
(Note: If you are making a bigger bag, make a wider strap.)

When you’re done, sew in the lining and we’re good to go. 😀 ( I haven’t done that yet though.. But i’m thinking of using some kinda waterproof material for the lining.. Any ideas? )

New theme for July

 

*Just bumped this posts so everybody can see it at the top*

WIP – Freeform crochet necklace

Originally uploaded by quartodeideias

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Everybody,

June is still not over but it is almost time to say goodbye to Summer Crochet (including Amis) and start thinking of a new theme.

To make things a little less complicated with votes etc. June and I were thinking to have a theme where everybody could show their W.I.P.s. Anything crocheted you are working on right now; show us some action photos and of course as always the finished work.

So what do you think? It would only be for 1 month and I am sure everybody has some of those half-finished projects stuffed in bags in cupboards… 🙂

Don’t forget to leave your comment….! and for people who have been lurking on this blog now is an awesome time to come and join us.

Summer Sun Dress for Blythe

I guess I better get my summer crochetalong post up!!!

It is another item for Blythe – a sun dress!

more can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/morganannie

😀

planetjune contest!

Hey All,

I’ve been running PlanetJune for 2 years now, and to celebrate I’d like to invite all you Crochet Alongers over to enter my 2nd blogiversary contest!

You can win a pattern of your choice from my pattern store, or this adorable PocketAmi mouse:

 

Contest closes Friday 20th at 5pm EST. Hope to see you there!

My summer hat…

100_4027

Originally uploaded by mlochk22@

This is a really horrible picture of the hat I made. It’s not even finished in this picture, but I haven’t had time to take a picture of it now that it is finished though! This hat is now sporting an orange band around it to give it a more finished look. I PROMISE, someday, I WILL get a finished picture up on here!!

I only have a little bit more to do on my crocheted jacket, so I’m hoping to finish it soon! Pictures of that to follow ASAP!

Wire Crochet

Another summery bracelet…! Hope you like it.