Πλέξιμο:My Shortcut to Blocking Doilies ~ ΠΡΩΤΗ ΕΙΔΗΣΗ

Παρασκευή 2 Αυγούστου 2013

Πλέξιμο:My Shortcut to Blocking Doilies

Παρασκευή, Αυγούστου 02, 2013 Πλέξιμο No comments

I always block my doilies though I don’t use the fancy technique with round charts, pins, and padded surfaces. I do it in a much simpler way!

I lay a big towel on the table (in summer I do it on my patio table; in winter I do it indoors). Next I wet my doily and gently squeeze out the excess water. Then I put the doily on the towel and straighten it. I gently stretch it, pat it, and shape it until it looks round and even to me. I leave it to dry. That’s it!

Here is a photo of my doily right after I finished crocheting it.

And here is the same doily after I blocked it using my simple and quick technique.

If you ever wash your doilies, you can then use this same method to dry them.

And if you want to stiffen your doily a bit, just spray on it some spray-on starch after you straightened your doily on the towel.

By the way, the free pattern for the doily pictured above is available here.

Handkerchiefs with Crochet Lace Trim

In my previous post, I shared my step-by-step tutorial how I add simple crocheted trim to a handkerchief.

Today I want to show you some more pictures of hankies with lace trims, which I made some time ago. I did share my symbol charts for these edgings back in 2011. But I thought I’ll post the pictures (and the links to the charts) again as they might make more sense now.

On all of these handkerchiefs I made a round of single crochets directly into the handkerchiefs first. Then I worked the lace rows.

If you end up with extra stitches that are not enough for a pattern repeat, remember my tip from the tutorial: unravel a bit of your work and make one (or a few, depending on how many extra stitches you have) pattern repeat(s) bigger by one space. Those slightly bigger pattern repeats will not be noticeable at all.

For the handkerchiefs shown above, I used a very thin hook (about size 12) and DMC #8 pearl cotton thread. The symbol charts are here.

For the handkerchiefs with blue lace, I used the same thin hook and vintage Lily Daisy mercerized cotton thread number 20. The symbol chart pattern is here.

Adding Crochet Trim to a Handkerchief Tutorial

I think adding a crochet trim makes a big difference on a hankie. It turns something plain into fancy.

To add a scalloped crochet trim to my handkerchief, I used size 12 Boye steel hook and vintage thread Lily Daisy mercerized crochet cotton number 20. The thread is very fine and it’s similar to tatting thread.

The first round involves making single crochets into the four sides of the handkerchief. The hook size is very small and the thread is thin, so it’s not an easy task. The stitches come out uneven, but as I continue and my hands get used to this task, they get better.

When I get to the first corner, I make 3 sc in same space.

Then I finish the round making the remaining three corners in the same way. I use a sl st to join the round.

Here is my handkerchief with the round of sc completed.

Next Round: *ch 9, skip 5 sc, sc in next sc* across.

When I get to the first corner, I end up in sc prior to the corner sc. That was pure luck as I didn’t count the amount of stitches along the first side, and I didn’t know if it was divisible by 6 without a remainder.

I make the corner loop in the following way: ch 7, skip 1 sc (that’s the corner sc), sc in next sc.

And again I continue making *ch 9, skip 5 sc, sc in next sc* along the second side of the handkerchief.

When I get to the second corner, I am not as lucky as I was with the previous one. I see that I have two extra sc-spaces.

To fix that problem, I unravel two last loops and make them slightly bigger: *ch 10, skip 6 ch, sc in next sc* twice. It won’t be noticeable at all that those two loops are slightly bigger than the rest.

Then again I make the corner loop: ch 7, skip 1 sc (that’s the corner sc), sc in next sc.

And I finish the remaining two sides of the handkerchief in the same manner. I have one extra sc on the third side, so I make one loop slightly bigger. And I have two extra sc on the fourth side, so I make two loops slightly bigger.

I use a sl st to join the round.

Finally, the third round is: *7 sc in next chain loop, sc in space where sc of previous row was made* around.

Slip stitch to join the round and fasten off.

My hankie turned out too lovely to be used for its intended purpose. Instead I placed it on my dresser as a doily. Looks cute.

Stash-Buster: Scarf in Progress

Today I’m joining Linda from Linda’s Crafty Corner for Summer 2013 Stash-buster Challenge Link Party!

I have had this beautiful wool olive green yarn for a couple of years now. My sister-in-law bought it for me. I attempted a few projects with this yarn, but somehow none of them were ever finished.

At some point I wanted to make a crocodile stitch shawl. But this stitch requires lot of yarn, so I abandoned that project because I probably wouldn’t have enough yarn to finish it. Besides, my shawl was coming out heavy and bulky.

I also started an open-stitch project, which would require less yarn, but I didn’t finish it either. I think it was supposed to be a wrap, I’m not sure now.

I even tried to knit something with this yarn, but again that project never materialized. I can’t even remember what it was supposed to be.

I think I finally found a perfect project for this yarn. I’m making a lacy scarf. The stitch is open and airy, and the scarf is coming out soft and pleasant to touch. I think I might turn it into an infinity scarf; I’ll decide later.

P.S. I’m going to take a short break from blogging and crocheting, but I have a few posts ready. They will be posted automatically. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.

Lacy Stitch for a Scarf

Here is another quick and easy lace stitch.

Even though autumn is still some time away, I plan to make myself a lacy scarf using this pattern. I have a very beautiful olive green wool yarn that my sister-in-law bought me some time ago. I think that yarn and this pattern will make a lovely scarf.