WIP Wednesday: Two Purses

I've mentioned before that I'm still new to crocheting and occasionally have a hard time reading and understanding patterns.  I found the pattern to the Over the Shoulder Mini Purse and decided to give it a try since I've never done anything using the basketweave technique.  I should probably stop trying out new patterns late at night because I got myself so confused.  Eventually, I just decided to have each row be the opposite of the row before it.  So if I did a Front Post Double Crochet in the previous row, the next row I would use a Back Post Double Crochet.  Once the body of the purse was done I just quickly crocheted a strap that I will eventually sew into the purse. Later on I will also be putting a lining inside the purse but that will have to wait.  Too many other things to do. So I guess if I had to name this purse I would call it "The Happy Accident Purse".  Not exactly what I set out to make but it still came out decent looking.

So the day after I made "The Happy Accident Purse" I decided to go back and read the original pattern.  Suddenly my brain started to work and it made much more sense to me.  Since I still had quite a bit of Bernat cotton yarn left I decided to give that purse another try.  Now I will say I still was not able to follow the pattern perfectly.  I somehow got off on how many stitches there should be in Row 2 so I did just kind of fudge a bit to get where I was supposed to be.  However, this attempt is definitely closer to the original pattern.  I still need to make a strap for it though.

So I guess the moral of the story is if you already have a tough time reading patterns you might not want to start a new project late at night when your brain is ready for bed.  On the other hand, if you do this you might come up with something cool on your own.

Hello Kitty Purse

About a month ago I blogged about my progress on the Kit Kat Purse.  This turned into one of those projects where I was nervous about doing something new (lining the purse) that I kept putting it off and instead worked on other projects.  I finally worked up enough nerve and was able to finish the purse last night.

The lining of the purse took longer to complete than the actual crocheting and it was definitely my least favorite part of the project.  The end result is far from perfect but the purse is going to a 3 year old girl who loves Hello Kitty so I don't think she will care or even notice the imperfections.  And to be perfectly honest I don't care either, I am actually really thrilled with how it turned out.

Linking up with Frontier Dreams.  Also don't forget to check out the other link parties at the bottom of the page.

3 Washcloths

I have a few finished washcloths to show off today.  The first one was made using the
Nubbie Scrubies  pattern.  This was new pattern to me and was very simple and easy to make.  If you know the treble and single crochet stitches you are good to go.

For the second washcloth I used the Trinity Stitch Washcloth  pattern.  I watched a youtube video showing how to do the trinity stitch and in less than a minute I was ready to get started on the washcloth.  I am so appreciative of the people that take the time to either make video or pictorial tutorials. It is a huge help for me to visually see what is going on in a pattern or stitch rather than having to figure it out myself with a written pattern. So thank you to all the wonderful people that take the time to help others learn crochet techniques and patterns.

And finally, I finished the Diamonds Washcloth. This is probably my favorite out of the recent washcloths I have made.  A little frustrating at first since I'm not the best pattern reader, but once I got through a couple of the repeats it was smooth sailing.

FO Friday: Mermaid Tears Purse

I am beyond happy to blog about my latest completed project, the Mermaid Tears Purse.  The pattern is free on the Bernat website and they also offer a video tutorial.  Since I was making the purse in one color instead of three like it suggests I decided to skip adding the flower piece.  Overall, I am happy with the finished product although I do notice a few imperfections.

When I saw a friend the other day the very first thing she said to me was "" I love your purse! Did you make that?".  Always nice to get a compliment and now she wants me to make her one.  Very excited that there are still people out there that appreciate handmade goods.


Besides joining in on the link parties listed below I'm also linking up with Tamis Amis

WIP Wednesday: Diamond Washcloth

 

I started working on the Diamonds Washcloth the other day and I now just need to finish the border and weave in the ends.  I've been trying lately to find new patterns and test my skills.  I will admit I'm not the best at reading patterns so getting started probably took longer than it would the average crocheter.  Luckily, the pattern basically just repeats so if you are able to get through the first 10 rows or so, the rest of the pattern should be smooth sailing. 

Corner to Corner Washcloth

This weekend involved some craziness with my husband's work schedule so last night I wanted to relax and just crochet something easy like a washcloth.  I decided to follow the same technique as my Corner to Corner Afghan .  Now, you would think a pattern that I completed not so long ago would still be fresh in my mind but it still took me a good 20 minutes to get started.  I'm going to blame the lack of sleep on that.  But once I got going it was easy as pie. I don't remember the exact name of the color since I threw away the label but it's obviously yellow and is from one of Bernat's 14 ounce cotton skeins.  Thank you Joann's for having a good sale on those awhile back because I sure stocked up.

FO Friday: Patriotic Baby Afghan

Way back in June, I started crocheting a Patriotic Baby Afghan.  I didn't have anybody in mind when making this so it got set aside when my family visited this summer.  I was looking through one of my storage containers when I came across the blanket and realized that all that was left to finish was a border.  So today I went ahead and crocheted a shell border and I can now put this in the finished pile. 


Be sure to check out FO Friday link parties at SusanD1408 Crochet Addict and Tamis Amis. 

WIP Wednesday

I've been working on a few projects lately.  First up is the Mermaid Tears Purse.  It's a free pattern offered on the Bernat website.  An extra bonus is besides the written pattern, they also offer a video tutorial.  I think I will continue using the Aran color in Red Heart Super Saver for the entire purse rather than using 3 colors as the pattern suggests. 

The other project I have been working on is the Herringbone Afghan.  I think just a few more rows are needed and then I can work on the border and weaving in all the ends.


Please check out SusanD1408 Crochet Addict 's blog and Tami's Amis and Other Creations  For some reason I could not figure out how to display their blogs like I did with the others.

Front Burner

First of all, welcome to all of the new followers of my blog!  I have a fun time reading everyone's blogs and am thrilled that you like to read mine as well.  

For some reason I have been on a roll lately with getting my behind in gear and finishing things I have started.  In my Back Burner post I mentioned how I had crocheted all of these squares and rectangles for a charity but the charity would no longer be accepting these items.  And since things have been kinda hectic lately I didn't know when I would have the time to make use of these items.  Luckily, over the course of two days I found the time to whip stitch the pieces together and make a small afghan. I then single crocheted around the outside and then did a reverse single crochet after that. I don't know why I had avoided learning how to do the reverse single crochet stitch, it is much easier than I thought.

Now the only things that can be considered on the back burner about this project are it needs to be blocked and eventually mailed to a charity.  But on the bright side, at least it is all in one piece now, and not arranged piece by piece on my spare bed.

Beginning of the Herringbone Afghan

I decided to start another afghan yesterday because our spare bedroom is overflowing with my recent yarn purchases from Joanns.  This is starting to tick off my husband because he likes to store most of his military items in that room as well.  He has more of a tolerance for completed crochet items rather than boxes of unused yarn.  So I went searching for a new afghan pattern.

I've mentioned before that I like to try something new when I make an item.  The pattern for the Herringbone Afghan uses the double treble stitch which I had never used before.  I also have to make double crochet stitches either behind or in front of the double treble.  It's slightly awkward but I'm getting the hang of it.  I don't have to do this for the whole afghan, just the sections where I'm using Red Heart Super Saver in Aran.  The sections using RHSS Soft Navy are half double crochet in the back loop. 

I'm not sure when this will be finished since I'm already freaking out that I won't have enough of the Soft Navy color.  I have the suggested amount but I have a feeling it's going to be close. If I do run out of yarn, I will just have to put off ordering until after we move.  Hopefully we will find out some more info soon.

Corner to Corner Afghan- Finished

I finished the Corner-to-Corner afghan last night! I'm pretty pleased because if you read my previous post you will notice I just started the afghan this week.

 I didn't follow the pattern exactly more like just used the method of crocheting diagonally.  Had I followed the pattern normally, I would not have run into the problem of having an uneven numbered row.  Once I got to the afghan size I wanted and was ready to start decreasing, I did the math in my head and realized that my afghan would end up with an uneven row at the end.  I had been up until that point crocheting two rows of each color at a time.  So I decided I would rather have the odd row come in the middle rather than the end of the blanket.  So I did 2 rows of black, increasing each row.  Then I did one row of black, but this time decreasing.  I then continued on with my usual pattern of crocheting 2 rows at a time with each color.  When I was about 3/4 of the way done with afghan I decided that the odd numbered black stripe looked more like a mistake than something that was intentionally done.  If I was striving for perfection I would have gone back and made the black stripe in the middle, 5 rows instead of 3 so it would stand out more and not look like a mistake.  But I was too lazy to go back and fix it so there you have it.  I'll probably end up donating this to Bridge and Beyond eventually.  Either the new owner won't even notice or I guess they will be left wondering if the crocheter messed up.  Oh well.  Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out and even happier that it didn't take me very long to complete it.

Christmas Tree and Candy Cane Afghan

Last year was the first year my husband and I got to spend Christmas together since we've been married. Well technically, it was our first Christmas spent together in our apartment.  The year we moved to Germany 3 days before Christmas* we were stuck in a hotel on base.  It's hard to get into the Christmas spirit when you are heating up Easy Mac in the microwave and knowing that your husband will be deploying in a few months.  And did I mention the wonderful jet lag we were experiencing?  On the bright side at least we were together.  The following year we were thousands of miles apart due to his deployment.

Anyway, as last Christmas approached I realized I was in serious need of some Christmas decorations.  Luckily, Germany is amazing with all of their Christmas Markets.  I've bought a ton of ornaments, nutcrackers, and holiday decorations since I've been here.  Since I obviously love to crochet I decided that I needed a holiday afghan or two.

I decided to make an afghan using the Christmas Cheer Tree and Christmas Cheer Candy Cane patterns.  I'm pretty pleased with the final product.  The patterns were easy to follow which is always a plus.  Off the top of my head I don't remember the exact names of the yarn colors but I know I used Caron One Pounders.

*Military, stop moving people during the holidays!  Just wait until the new year. You can't transition into your new life in a different country when nothing is open on base like housing, etc.  due to the holidays.

Don't forget to check out these link parties and also the ones at the bottom of the page!

Corner to Corner Afghan

I didn't have a chance to run downtown and pick up fabric and thread for my Kit Kat purse until today so this weekend I started working on a Corner to Corner afghan.  I'm using Red Heart Super Saver and the colors are Black, Cherry Red, Paddy Green, and Amethyst.

I chose this pattern because I like challenging myself with new patterns and techniques.  I figure that's the only way to become a better crocheter.  This is an easy and mindless pattern once you get the hang of it.  Red Heart provides a short tutorial video to help get you started.  If you know how to chain, double crochet and slip stitch you are good to go.  While I've known how to do these things since I first started crocheting it's interesting how if you just alter it slightly you can create a whole different kind of finished piece.

Thank you to everyone that follows my blog or leaves comments!  At the moment Blogger is acting up and I'm not able to load the pages to respond to comments.  Hopefully, this will get fixed soon.