That’s everything

Ashley got my purse-themed Swap Swap Gals package, so I can share what I made her! 

The biggest item was a book bag size Waves of Color Tote Bag.  I added one-half more chains to the foundation and cut the gusset width by three rows.  And, obviously, there are added rows to the body.  I love this pattern and I would like to make the original size also.

I actually ran out of the cream and you can see the upper portion is whiter with ’emergency’ filler yarn.  For the handle I used an alernating spike stitch, which I hope will help keep the strap from stretching. 

The flower pin is the SkaMama Mum.  The pattern is pretty easy, consisting of chain-loops and sc rounds.  I sewed the flower to a saftey pin so Ashley could remove it if she wanted or use elsewhere. 

The In Bloom pattern from Stitch ‘n Bitch: the Happy Hooker is a perfect beginner purse.  You only need to know chains and half double crochet.  To get the gauge, I had to use a size E hook with worsted weight yarn.  I think I need to invest in some handled hooks for my size C through E crochet hooks.  The slim handle with heavier yarn hurts my hands. 

Anyway, I had the pink and brown yarn left over from my last swap package to Katrina.  In order to get the stripes to mirror each other the dark brown bottom is three rows instead of two. 

 The bow is a random little novelty I had in my craft supplies.  Like the SkaMama Mum, I used a safety pin to attach it to the purse. 

This purse got a zipper and a lining.  I don’t mind linings anymore, but zippers still drive me crazy.  They are not very forgiving! 

I saw this Shell Coin Purse first on This Blonde Knits (& Crochets!).  (Check out Mary’s project page if you’re on Ravelry.)  While the brown yarn doesn’t exactly do the pattern justice, it’s what I had on hand. 

 

I added an embroidered daisy flower on the back corner.  It was a little interesting to trying to find the right distance for each petal on a crocheted background.   

 

Also, I lined the coin purse with some light-weight polka dot fabric.  I ended up really liking this pattern because it’s easy to memorize and the shells make it hard to miss a stitch.  Plus, the coin purse is perfectly funtional without the zipper and lining. 

 

The pattern for the Rectangle Bobble purse can be found in the book One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit or Crochet.  I actually made the purse part a long time ago, but never got around to lining it.  Nothing like a swap deadline to get things done!

 

The lining fabric is a heavy satin with a dusting of glitter.  Hopefully the glitter doesn’t wipe of onto every little thing, but I can’t promise anything. 

 

This little purse is called the Travel Jewelery Pouch.  It’s basically made of two overlapping double crochet octagons and a few chain rounds for the border.

To sew the octagons together I used a size H hook to slip stitch along the chain spaces. 

The seaming creates little pockets.  The whole pattern is built around a clever, but simple, design.  I would make this again, but in the recommended sport-weight.  The Lion Brand Babysoft I had on hand was a bit bulky for the pattern. 

The leaf motif tie ends were made of a round of single crochets, followed by slip stitches, single crochet and a picot.  (I love picots!)

Finally, I sent Ashley some yarn, a knitting book and a size 6 circular knitting needle (not pictured).  The yarn looks a little rough around the edges because I crammed them all into a tiny package, then took the skeins out for the picture. 

I found the book Kids Knitting, at a local donation-run store.  There’s a page that is loose and the sleeve is missing, but the it’s in good condition overall.  The book is geared towards teaching kids to knit, but the ‘learning to knit’ section is pretty thorough.  I figure it will come in handy when her little kids (fingers crossed) want to learn to knit, too. 

I also sent Ashley a set of plastic size 6 circular needles.  My grandma started me on plastic needles because the knitting is easier to keep on the needles.  I personally still like plastic needles for that reason and because they are light.  I suppose that’s why some knitters like wood or bamboo needles, but I’ve never tried them before. 

So that’s everything.  I had so much fun making all these purses, but I think I’ll steer clear of anything that needs a lining for a while!

 

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Lesalicious

 

I got my Swap Swap Gals package from Lesa!  She made these amazing sewn bags with dragonfly and butterfly fabric.  The dragonfly bag is really roomy with an oval shape bottom. 

Book bag-size is actually my favorite size bag for everyday use.  I like the circle handles, too.  They’re big enough I can fit my arm through and carry the bag on my shoulder (a definite plus!)  On a side note, I wonder how she managed to cover the handles with matching fabric without it being loose.

The smaller butterfly bag has this great diamond shape sewn on with gold glitter added as an accent.  The style is great!  This is a really nice evening bag that can double for daytime.  The handles are black on the outside and butterfly-print on the inside. 

Both the butterfly and dragonfly print bags are lined with matching fabric and magnetic closures.  I’m so impressed with all the professional sewing!  Plus, I have not tried magnetic closures yet, so I really appreciate them!

Lesa also included this ruffle top crochet clutch with a gusset bottom.  The jewel-tone yarn feels like suede or chenille to me.  Whatever it is, the yarn is really soft and sturdy.

The clutch has a magnetic closure also.  With Lesa’s magnetic closure tutorial for crochet purses and a real life example, I think I might be brave enough to try it out on my next purse. 

 

Along with the purses, Lesa also sent me this light pink candle.  The scent is really mellow, but sweet.  The candle says strawberries, but I think it smells like strawberries and cream. 

Anyway, it smells wonderful and candles are always useful in this area since we get lots of blackouts with the summer storms.    

Along with the purses and candle, I got a nice card, a set of pens, and matching memo pads.  I love the colored patterns on each of the pens and the flower-shaped memo pads are so cute! 

Finally, Lesa sent me a skein of baby blue, light weight yarn.  I’ve never seen this brand before, but the yarn is really soft and the color is really pretty. 

Thanks again, Lesa for the fantastic purse swap package!  I’m so happy to be your recipient this time around; I hope to get you as my recipient in the future.  Swap Swap Gals is so much fun and I’m so glad that you started the group!

 

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Bobble bobble

 

I’ve actually had this Bobble Clutch crocheted for about six months now, waiting to be lined.  Shocking, I know, but my fear of fabric and thread is hard to overcome.  With the “All About Hearts” swap for Swap Swap Gals I decided to make a few purse items in order to force myself to sew.  It worked out and I got everything finished in time, but I’m still not a sewing convert. 

 

Anyway, I finally got this darn purse lined and zippered.   The zipper is sewn in a little wobbly, but it zips like a champ.  I learned a very important lesson – do not sew the lining too close to the zipper!  I had to sew the fabric twice since the first time the zipper kept catching the hem.

 

I’m not 100% positive, but I’ll guess this purse is made of Red Heart Super Saver in Gemstone.  I like to roll my skeins of yarn into balls and rarely keep the wrapper.  I figure the internet can always help me with future identification.  This is easy when I remember what brand, but I’ve had the yarn picked out for my grandma for a long time.  She loves these jewel tones, especially the turquoise, and I was just waiting for a one-skein pattern to catch my eye. 

The Bobble Clutch was the perfect project I was hoping for.  The pattern is from One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit or Crochet.  (I’m sure you’ve all heard of it.)  Easy pattern to memorize, and the bobbles make any yarn look wonderfully textured. 

Hayley, over at Adventures with Little Miss is working on the Bobble Clutch in a gorgeous olive green color from Vanna White’s yarn line.  It’s looking great so far!

Happy St. Patty’s Day everybody!

*That’s cool* a random fact

New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is the longest running civilian parade in the world.

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All about hearts

Katrina got her Swap Swap Gals package the other day so now I get to blog about all the super-secret projects I have been working on.  It was actually pretty tough to stay mum on so many projects. 

 And I know there are at least a few of you are thinking, “Finally, she made something besides dishcloths!”   

 

The Brea Bag is the item I’m most proud of for the “All About Hearts” themed swap.  I had been weary of intermediate knitting projects until Kara and Katie gave me some knitting encouragement via my Ravelry message box and I decided to just go with it. 

This was my first major knitting project with cables, but the pattern was actually easy to understand, especially with the videos on Knittinghelp.com.  Also, I relied on the Terms and Techniques list from Knitting-crochet.com.  Their abbreviation list is really comprehensive and I learned a bunch of knitting terms like ssk, psso and St st.

This was also my first project with a lining.  I had to hand sew everything and it took me a while to finish.  The lining turned out a little baggy but I was afraid it would end up on the small side. 

The handle was thrifted from an old handbag.  Instead of  sewing the flaps in place I sewed buttons to the inside so the handle can be removed and Katrina can wash the bag easily.  She could even replace the handle if she wanted.

The picture of the Brea Bag along with the free pattern had a heart-like shape.  Mine doesn’t look quite like that so just for good measure I used a button with a heart motif.   

My crochet skills really helped for the last steps of the pattern.  I slip stitched the bag together for strength.  Also, the pattern called for a crab stitch edging and chain button loop. 

Since the purse didn’t have a zipper closure, I made her a matching Half-Hearted Purse with Red Heart in Cafe and Cashmere.  I used a crab stitch for the edging to match the purse and kept the same color scheme on the front and back.  In the original pattern, the designer used hemp and reversed the colors for the opposite side of the coin purse. 

I lined the coin purse, too.  I think the zipper was sewn a tad uneven so it’s a little tough to open and close.  Also, next time I sew a zipper I’ll make it a little longer.  The opening is smaller than it should be.

This drawstring bag is titled That Pouch Thing.  The pattern makes a nice little drawstring bag designed for holding dice.  I would make this again in a DK or light weight yarn.  The crochet fabric is a little stiff to gather with Red Heart (in Cafe and Country Rose).

The bottom view shows the individual pieces of the bag.  I whip-stitched the pieces together instead of single crocheting like the pattern called for. 

Changing colors every row for each of the four pieces would make a nice v-shaped stripe design. 

Katrina is due this summer so I made her baby-to-be a Pixie Hat.  The size is meant for a 3-6 month old, but could stretch to fit an older baby.  Katrina wrote in her Wish List that she liked earth tones and orange.  I originally wanted to make this in Bernat Pink Camouflage, but I didn’t know the sex of the baby until after I sent the package (it’s a girl!).  To be safe I used this gender-neutral TLC yarn in Jungle.   

There was so much sewing for this swap!  When I was done with the purses, I still had to this button to attach.

Instead of a tassel, I added a little orange heart motif.  Looks a little like a carrot now that I see it up close!

For her other three kids (4, 2 and 1) I sent Alice in Wonderland.  Remember the Queen of Hearts? 

There are four items that don’t fit the ‘All About Hearts’ swap theme.  Katrina mentioned in her wish list that she liked to read about organizing and collects recipes, so I had to include the Woman’s Day Magazine.  

As for the pink bag, I was originally going to find a heart bead to thread on the drawstring, but I couldn’t find anything non-plastic.  The little heart beads were perfect for a bracelet kit for her four year old daughter though. 

I also threw in a toy elephant and a spool of ribbon.  These were last minute additions to put in the purses.  I don’t know where I got the idea, but I don’t like giving a bag/purse/wallet as a gift with nothing inside.  It’s probably one of those superstitions you hold over from childhood.  Remember avoiding cracks on the sidewalk?

For the Lewis Carroll book I made a little granny square heart bookmark.  The pattern, Heart Coaster or Embilshment, is from Crochetville.  I just added a slip stitch tail.  The little sun motif at the end is just a ring of single crochet and a row of single crochet and picots. 

Lastly, I made this dishcloth with Lily’s Sugar and Cream in Hot Orange and Over the Rainbow.  The My Heart Dishcloth pattern is pretty and quick, just like a dishcloth should be.

At least this post wasn’t all dishcloths, right?

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Dishcloth-o-rama

Maybe it’s because I spent so much time restitching the border, but I really do like this Lacy Round Dishcloth.  I frogged the last two rounds a few times trying to match the pattern to the picture beofre I gave up and wrote my own border pattern.

The directions are clear until round 9 when the pattern directs you to put 9 dc in every ch-5 sp.  This will give you twice as many shell lobes as the actual dishcloth has.  Plus, round 10 is missing brackets around “ch 1, sc in next st”.  I’ve written the last two rounds according to how I crocheted them:

Round 9: sl st in ch-5 sp, ch 3, 8 dc in same sp, *ch 1, sl st in next sc below in round 7 and around ch 5 of round 8, ch 1, 9 dc in next ch-5 sp, rep from * 6 times more, end ch 1, sl st in next sc below in round 7 and around ch 5 of round 8, ch 1, join rnd with a sl st to top of ch 3.

Round 10: ch 1, sc in same st, *[ch 3, sc in next st] eight times, sl st in ch-1 sp, sl st in next ch-1 sp, sc in next dc, rep from * 7 times more, end [ch 3, sc in next st] eight times, sl st in ch-1 sp, sl st in next ch-1 sp, join with a sl st to sc. 

These pattern revisions are probably a little more complicated than they could be, but I liked the slip stitches in round 9 to accentuate the shell curve.  (Beware: these directions are not tested!) 

Also, if you’re past the ‘beginner’ stage of crocheting, it’s not impossible to come up with your own guess-timation for the border rounds.    The extra work was well worth the final product though and the border reminds me of Lion Brand’s Sweet Scallops Shawl.

This Textured Stripes Dishcloth is one of the most durable, functional dishcloth patterns I’ve crocheted.  The crunch stitch rows make this dishcloth very sturdy and the size is big enough to get a grip without being overly large.   

The only downside to the crunch stitch is the difference in gauge compared to single crochet.  The crunch stitches are very compact and single crochet is comparably loose, making the two of the edges curve.  I used a crochet hook two sizes smaller for the single crochet rows, but I could have gone down another hook size. 

You can see in the picture below that I accidentally crocheted the border facing the wrong side. Oops!  Next time I’ll pay closer attention to which side I’m on. 

Overall, this pattern makes a great little dishcloth.  I’d love to see a matching Swiffer cover.  The crunch stitches would be perfect for catching dust bunnies. 

If you don’t like, use or enjoy crocheting dishcloths, but still want to try the crunch stitch, check out the Pirate Clutch on Craftster.  It’s an easy crochet purse with a shell detail. 

Finally, the Simple Dishcloth uses v-stitches and shells in the round.  This pattern really is easy and the resulting lacy dishcloth is very pretty.  I would use a smaller crochet hook next time because the stitches are not as solid as I expected. 

Also, I’d like to try using stripes of different colors.  The first three rounds would be perfect for a flower and leaf color.   

Watch out for my next post!  Katrina got my swap package, so I’ve got the go ahead to blog about all the crochet goodies I sent her.  Check out her blog, Sewalicious Designs for a sneak peak of her Swap Swap Gals package.

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