Projects, WIPs and UFOs

Hello everyone! 

I can't believe how fast this year has flown by - how can it possibly be June already!? Hopefully after next weekend life can slow down a little bit, and we can get into a bit more of a routine... The fatigue doesn't like an exciting life at all! 

This week I'm going to tell you about some of my projects, WIPs and UFOs, to try and inspire me to get some of them done soon and out of the "to do" pile (and also to try and stop me picking up more new projects for a bit)!

Market Day

It has finally arrived! This Saturday is the Eastwood Uniting Church Annual Market Day, raising money for the Exodus Foundation. I am having a stall at the market, selling scarves and beanies (and hopefully taking some orders for more animals!). 20% of my sales and orders is going to support Exodus, so if you're in Sydney and want to check out my stuff, and get some super cheap toys, jam, cakes, books, clothes and white elephants, come on down!

My cousin Tracey, also a crochet artist, has sent me some very cute wool beanies and headbands to sell as well! You should definitely go check out her work at Cooper's Craft Corner :) 

My amazing Mum has been making me some organza bags for my customers - what do you think? A nice touch?

And, because everything we do is a family effort, my talented sister has made me a new set of tags for my wares. Don't they look good!

So, hopefully that goes well. I've decided if I sell 5 things, it'll be considered a success :) Any more is just a bonus!

Coming Full Circle Cardi

You know how you have those moments sometimes, when you see something and your brain just stops and shouts "WOW! MUST HAVE/DO THAT RIGHT NOW!!" Wandering through Ravelry about a week ago, I stumbled across the Coming Full Circle Vest by Lily Chin, and wow! I had to make it for me, right then. It's published in a book rather than online, but thankfully (?) there were so many errors in the published pattern that the whole thing is in the errata notes on Interweave's website! It feels a bit naughty, but the book is very expensive to buy when I just want the one pattern. 

Using Moda Vera Fayette in Pastel Mix (my favourite self-striping yarn is back in Spotlight! Yay!), I've been happily v-stitching round and round in circles for the last week or so :) It's not quite finished yet in this photo, but I wanted to try it on!

I'm up to the border now. The pattern asks for a shell/picot border, and.. well, after my Sunday Poncho I just don't think I can face more picots just at the moment. After a little Google image search (such a great way to look at lots of pictures!), I think I've decided on this two strand braid. What do you think?

Lily Pond CAL

After a slow start, I'm starting to enjoy the Stylecraft/Jane Crowfoot Lily Pond Blanket CAL. I'm not quite up to date at the moment though! The colours are just beautiful - very reminiscent of a pond. I'm glad I chose to do mostly Stylecraft Special DK with a few Life DK colours thrown in when there wasn't a Special DK to match, as it seems to be lighter and brighter than the original while retaining some deep colours for the deep waters of the pond.

The Order Mountain

I'm slowly working my way through my crochet orders. Fortunately my clients give me lots of notice so I don't have to be stressed about getting things done. Next off the rank is a cute pink and tan hippo, and then some Crocodile Stitch Booties in lovely Moda Vera Fayette Jewel Mix! Just like these ones, but adult sized ;)

Tumbling Blocks Baby Blanket - New Pattern

In between everything else, I've been steadily working on my Tumbling Blocks Baby Blanket Pattern - both writing up the (sometimes very odd) instructions for the squares, and crocheting away on the prototype. It's looking really good so far, if I do say so myself! I'm hoping to get it done and published by the end of July, but that really depends on the order list, work, the fatigue monster and whatever else falls in my lap in the next few months!

Overlay Crochet Purse - "Turkish Doorways" - New Pattern

Somewhere at the bottom of my cotton yarn bag is a half-done, half-written, half considered new pattern for a little coin purse (or pencil case or phone case or clutch - so many options!). I really need to pull it out, get it finished and written up, and then published, to get it out of my hair! 

And... don't even ask me about my cross-stitch. It hasn't been out of the bag in at least a month!

Do you have any projects that just feel like they will never end? 

How do you inspire yourself to finish them off? 

Ta-dah! Sophie's Universe!

It's been nearly 18 weeks now since I started on the Sophie's Universe CAL, and I cannot believe how much I've learned in that time. Sophie has made me a much better and more confident crocheter - what a girl! 

Before we get to the photos, a HUGE thank you to the incredible Dedri Uys from www.lookatwhatimade.net, the designer of this stunning project. 

Now, isn't she beautiful? 

Ta-dah! Overlay Crochet Mandala No.1!

Hello everyone! I hope you've all had a good week :) 

Anne and I have not had such a good week - we have both been hit really hard by the fatigue monster. Stupid monster. When Anne comes to visit me in December we are going to crochet ourselves a Fatigue Monster so we can stick pins in it and hit it with a hammer!!! 

To cheer ourselves up we are having a little giveaway on Instagram, to celebrate reaching 500 followers! If you are on Instagram and haven't found us yet, we are @crochetbetweenworlds :) Go find us and enter the giveaway!! 

You might remember that last week, on a rainy and cold day here in Sydney, I posted about my crochet wishlist. This week I really needed some bright colour and quick satisfaction, so I decided to have a go at CAROcreated's Crochet Overlay Mandala No.1. Here are lots of photos of it, because I love it so much :D

Even the back is pretty!

Have you made mandalas before? 

What are your favourite mandala patterns? 

Sophie's Universe Part 8... plus a sneak peek!

Hello everyone! 

Thank you for all your lovely comments and ideas for hippo names on my last post - once we know that she's coming home from the Easter Show, the little candy Happypotamus will be christened General Millie, and we will see if she'll accept the Captain as her boyfriend/husband and become a Poprocks. Stay tuned! 

We love reading each and every one of your comments, on here and on Facebook and Instagram :) 

It was Part 8 of the Sophie's Universe CAL this week - only 7 rows, but they are getting pretty big!! We seem to be making a big flower along the "short" sides (which are now longer than the "long sides"!), and a crazy busy garden along the "long" sides. I got to learn two new stitches as well - puff stitch and cable stitch! I liked the puff stitch, less excited about the cable stitch.

Nicole has really sped up on her Sophie, now that she's comfortable reading the pattern. It's a pretty big ask when you've only been crocheting for two months! 

Mum and I joined Lunchtime Crochet Club at Crows Nest with Nicole and Kathryn last Friday :) We had a lovely time eating possibly the best fish and chips I've ever had, and working on our Sophies. 

Now for the sneak peek :P As you know I've been working on another pixel blanket pattern following the Rainbow Twist and Turn Bargello Afghan. Hopefully I will have it all finished by Easter so you can put the Rainbow Hearts Afghan into your Ravelry queue for a Mothers Day project!! 

The chart is done! 

The yarns are ready and waiting! My favourite Stylecraft Special DK of course!

I wanted to do something new for you though, so this afternoon I had a fiddle around with making a tiny heart granny square! What do you think?

Cross-Craftiness!

I blame the Fox Collection - if it wasn't for the most gorgeous cross-stitch in their last catalogue I would probably have done much more crochet this week! 

Instead, I have devised a system for myself. I need to get one road trip scarf made during the days at home, then in the evening I'm allowed to do something else - be that cross-stitch, working on Sophie, or another project.

It seems to be working for me! I have 12 scarves all ready to be tagged and bagged for my market stall in June! And one more half-way done :) I am really enjoying the Yarn Bee Aurora Borealis Yarn all the way from the USA - not only is it chunkier than my usual 8 ply and so works up faster, it's so soft and squishy. Why can't it be winter already so I can wear one! 

So now that I've done the "work" part of things, here is my new cross stitch :) It's called Winter Sparkle, and is based on a painting by Megan Duncanson. 

Terrifyingly, it has 92 different colours, and 24 A4 pages of pattern. It should keep me entertained for a good long time! 

Today I've also been playing with puffy paint to make the soles of my Crocodile Stitch Booties non-slip. As you can see, I probably should stick to crochet or cross-stitch - my drawing skills leave a lot to be desired! The way this paint works is that you draw on the fabric/material, leave it to dry for 5 hours and then use the hairdryer to make it puff up. I've already puffed the paint on the little yellow ones - the others will get the hairdryer after dinner tonight :) 

No progress to report on my Sophie's Universe this week - I promised my sister that we could do Week 5 together at our Crafternoons@Meadowbank gathering on Sunday! However, she has been catching up to the end of week 4...

And has even started teaching one of her workmates! I am wildly jealous of their Lunchtime Crochet Club!

I am very much looking forward to seeing how our three (very) different Sophie colour schemes work up as the CAL goes on :) 

PATTERN: Twist and Turn Bargello Afghan

Ta dah! My Rainbow Twist and Turn Bargello Afghan is finished! 

I loved making it so much - the small squares and join-as-you-go technique meant that I felt like I was working very fast! Plus, only two ends to weave in for each square, and no growing pile of little squares to join at the end. Overall it took me 16 days of holidays when I was doing very little else (other than watching Downton Abbey). This project would be very easy to do a little and then pack away with the chart and pick up again later.

I am full of dreams about my next bargello-style afghan now... watch this space!

You can bookmark or favourite this pattern on Ravelry for later here:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rainbow-twist-and-turn-bargello-afghan

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PATTERN: RAINBOW TWIST AND TURN BARGELLO AFGHAN 
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Finished Size: 125cm x 125 cm / 49" x 49"

This pattern uses simple 2 row granny squares, joined with slip stitches during the second row in place of chains. It is very simple to make - the beauty is in the arrangement of colours to imitate the well-known patchwork bargello pattern, Twist and Turn. 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Materials:

2 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK in each of:

Matador (red)
Jaffa (orange)
Saffron (light orange)
Citron (yellow)
Spring Green (pale green)
Green (dark green)
Petrol (dark blue)
Cloud Blue (light blue)
Lavender (blue-purple)
Violet (red-purple)

(total: 20 balls)

3.5mm/E hook

Yarn needle

Scissors

Terminology:

This pattern uses US terminology. 

sl st = slip stitch
ch = chain stitch
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet

Special stitches:

Stacked Standing Double Crochet - sc into target stitch. Insert hook under two leftmost strands of sc, yarn over hook to do a second sc.



I prefer this stitch to other forms of standing dc, and it looks much better than chains. Replace with 3ch if you prefer not to use this stitch.

No Slip Magic Circle - I prefer this double loop to a single loop magic circle as I found I was weaving ends in with an extra circle before doubling back with the single loop - this cuts out one extra weaving step! Nerdifacts has an excellent picture tutorial on the No Slip Magic Circle :)

CHART

Work from the top left corner in rows from left to right. I recommend stopping to weave in the ends every 10 squares or so. 

INSTRUCTIONS - 2 ROW GRANNY SQUARES - JOIN AS YOU GO:

First square:

1. Start with a No-Slip Magic Circle. 

2. Do a stacked standing double crochet into the magic circle, then (2dc, 2ch), (3dc, 2ch)x3 all into the magic circle, and join into standing dc with a slip stitch. Tighten up the circle so there is no visible hole in the centre.

3. In the 2ch space you just made, do another stacked standing double crochet followed by 1ch, then (3dc, 2ch, 3dc, 1ch) into each of next three 2ch spaces. In the final 2ch space, do (3dc, 2ch, 2dc) and then join with a slip stitch to the standing dc. Finish off.  

Joining squares on one side only:

1. Complete steps 1 and 2 as for the first square. 

2. Do another stacked standing double crochet followed by 1ch, then (3dc, 2ch, 3dc, 1ch) into the next two corner 2ch spaces. In the next 2ch space, do 3dc, 1ch. In place of the second corner chain, slip stitch into a 2ch space of the square you want to join to (the red square in the picture). 

Continue with 3 dc. In place of the next chain, slip stitch into the corresponding 1ch space of the red square. 

Do another 3dc. Slip stitch into the corner 2ch space of the red square. 

Ch1, then 2dc and slip stitch into the top of the standing dc. Finish off.

Joining squares on two sides.

1. Complete steps 1 and 2 as for the first square. 

2. Do another stacked standing double crochet followed by 1ch, then (3dc, 2ch, 3dc, 1ch) into the next corner 2ch space. In the next 2ch space, do 3dc, 1ch. In place of the second corner chain, slip stitch into the adjacent 2ch corner space of the first square you want to join to (orange square A in the picture). 

Continue with 3 dc. In place of the next chain, slip stitch into the 1ch space of the orange square. 

Do another 3dc. Slip stitch into the corner 2ch space of the orange square A, and then slip stitch into the corner 2ch space of the green square B. Ignore the red square B altogether! 

Continue with 3 dc. In place of the next chain, slip stitch into the 1ch space of the green square. 

Do another 3dc. Slip stitch into the corner 2ch space of the green square. Ch1, then 2dc and slip stitch into the top of the standing dc. Finish off.

INSTRUCTIONS - BORDER

The border is a simple tweed stitch (1sc, 1ch). I did a row of each of the rainbow colours, starting with Matador and ending with Violet (10 rows).

Row 1: The first row is all worked into the tops of the stitches and chains of the squares below. Start by joining the yarn with an sc on any corner into the second corner chain.

*Ch1, skip one stitch and sc into the next stitch*. Repeat until you get to the next corner. You should end up with 5sc in one square and 4sc in the next, repeating along the row. 

After you sc into the second corner chain, 2ch and sc into the same stitch. Then continue along as before. Repeat until you get back to the stitch where you first joined the yarn. 2ch, sl st into top of the first sc. Finish off and weave in ends.

Subsequent rows:

Join yarn with an sc into any ch1 space. *ch1, skip sc and sc into the next ch1 space*. Repeat until you get to a corner. In the corner ch2 space, do 1sc, 2ch, 1sc. Continue to repeat * * until you get back to your starting stitch. Ch1, sl st into the first sc. Finish off and weave in ends.

We'd love to see your finished blankets, and answer questions you have on our Facebook page!