Hello! I hope you’re well!? I really enjoyed putting this episode together, I hope you enjoy watching 😀
As usual, click on the image above to go to Episode 59 of the latest crochet chat, or if you fancy going back to previous episodes or checking out some crochet tutorials, go HERE to my YouTube channel. Ta very much!
In this episode I reveal the name of last episode’s Giveaway and there’s a new Giveaway too!!
Links and pictures for all things Episode 59 are below…
I have rewritten my old owl pattern because it’s terribly done. I’ll write a blog post for the new version soon but I’ll be keeping the old one available HERE. Go forth and be embarrassed on my behalf!
Anything I’ve missed? Give me a shout. Cheers. x
Claudia CowlOwls. Video tutorial coming soon.The Star Cluster TeeKinesis Sweater from We Are KnittersForest Valley Shawl
This is a quick crochet flower tutorial that has kind of sprung from nowhere. I created it because I needed something quick and small to disguise some ugly bits on a blanket! It was quick enough to film a speedy tutorial too. I hope you like it!
To get to the tutorial please click on the picture above or go to my YouTube channel HERE. The written pattern is below.
The pattern couldn’t be easier! It is so fast! Use any yarn you like along with the recommended hook size for that yarn. I use cotton dk with a 3.5mm hook.
Pattern:
Chain 5 and join with a slip stitch. (You can also chain 4 for a slightly smaller centre, or do as I do and use a magic circle!
UK version:
Into the ring *(2ch, 3tr, 2ch, 1dc); rep from * four more times. Fasten off and sew in ends. Boom, done!
US version:
Into the ring *(2ch, 3dc, 2ch, 1sc); rep from * four more times. Fasten off and sew in ends. Boom, done!
If you fancy it, you can support me on Patreon HERE. Ta very much.
HERE is my review of the Dear Ewe products. I forgot to mention in the episode that until next Sunday the 8th September you can get a discount. The code is in the blog post.
The blanket join is from the Redagape casual granny blanket. It’s HERE.
This is the Lorax Scarf, a large crochet chevron scarf that is one of the cosiest makes ever! I made it as an experiment for some super soft merino yarn that the yarn company, Rico, sent me a few months ago. There wasn’t going to be enough yarn to make the kind of scarf I like (proper warm and snuggly) so I prepared for a major stash dive. There is a mix of all sorts of yarn in this colourful crochet chevron scarf but still only eight colours. Scrutinise it and you’ll see that there are all kinds of slightly different shades and different yarn weights. But, do you know what? No one ever looks that closely!
Therefore, this scarf pattern is a great stashbuster!
Crochet Chevron Scarf Pattern
There were so many lovely comments about this eyelet crochet scarf over on Instagram and YouTube, so I thought it would be nice to make it into a proper pattern to release. There is a download available to buy on Ravelry in both UK and US terms.
Lorax, this crochet chevron scarf, has all the info you need: written pattern, chart (hand drawn this time – speedier than software), pics, and a table to show colour rows etc. I also included a couple of other suggestions as to how you could use this pretty eyelet chevron stitch.
I also recorded a video tutorial for the Eyelet Chevron stitch. It shows a swatch being worked up in the stitch, which should be good for the more visual learners out there. You can find the video tutorial HERE.
The stitch pattern for this crochet chevron scarf uses multiples of 16. Therefore, if you want to make a narrower scarf, feel free to reduce it by 16, or even 32 chains. I enjoy a wide scarf so the original width (42cm / 17.5 inches) might be too wide for you.
However, with the scarf being almost Lenny Kravitz style scarf proportions, you would only need to add a couple more stitch multiples to create a beautiful crochet ripple blanket!
I can’t claim to have come up with the name myself. One rather splendid podcast viewer said it reminded them of Dr Seuss’s The Lorax and I have to say, I agree!! So it couldn’t really be called anything else, the colours were just too similar and before I knew it, it was The Lorax!
Note that on Etsy, I had to change the name as whoever owns the story nowadays, they don’t like people using the name.
I do hope you like it. And don’t forget to let me know if you make it. Cheers. x
I have a new mug and it’s crochet related!! Huzzah! I also have some other new goodies too. I do hope you want to hear about them because I’m going to tell you how I got them! (yep, I have been gifted them for freeeeee in exchange for this totally open, sincere review… And good vibes).
In June I met Heather from Keep Calm and Carry On UK, a UK based crochet blogger. We were both attending The Crochet Sanctuary and it was fabulous to get to chat to another crochet designer for a whole weekend! (that’s another story, involving ghosts and balloons, if I ever get to writing it down). Not too long ago Heather set up Dear Ewe, an online shop dedicated to the sort of bits and bobs that are perfect gifts for craft enthusiasts. I’d been lusting after a crochet chart mug since Christmas but Father Christmas didn’t bring me one, booo. However, it seems Christmas has come early this year because just before Granny Square Day, I got a message from Heather to say a parcel was in the post with lots of goodies in it! Whaaat?!! I saw the email in the evening and the following morning the postman knocked at my door.
The first thing I did was tear open the box to get to my new granny mug but that wasn’t all that was in the box! I had no idea I was going to get such a treat! I also got lots of quality postcards with beautifully designed quotes written upon them (I got two packs of those so I’m putting one aside as part of a giveaway that I’ll probably do on my next Crochet Podcast.) I also got the best bag! It’s a huuuuge canvas tote with crochet charts printed on it. It’s proper sturdy too and I’ve already been lugging my wips about in it over the last few days. How lucky am I?!?
Let me say more about the mug. Oh, how wonderful it is! Perfectly timed too as within a day or so of it arriving I broke my favourite Pendle witch mug (this might be karma at work, I’m not sure)… I don’t think this one will break quite so easily, Heather sources her mugs from the World Capital of Ceramics!! (that’s Stoke on Trent). And the print is not going to go anywhere either, that chart is not going to come off in the wash. I’m sat here at my desk with my lush new mug, filled to the brim with hot tea. I am a happy woman.
Bezza would call this cake “healthy”. It’s courgette and walnut. :p
Of course, I popped over to the shop to see what was new and there’s loads of stuff there. There are a couple of smaller project bags that I have my eye on, lovely greetings cards and lots of other mug designs too, all of which go beyond crochet. If you’re a different sort of crafter there is something for you too, so whether you’re a knitter or an embroiderer you are catered for. And the crochet patterns are pretty cute as well.
Buying from a small business means the world to the person that created it. Until Sunday the 8th of September I have a super secret code offering you a 10% discount over on Dear Ewe. The code: ZEENS10. You’ve got just over a week, so you’d better get moving!
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I am stuffed to the brim with cake, this bag is stuffed with all the yarn.
I was at a NYE party, playing ping pong in the garden of some friends (we also played table football and darts but it wasn’t a weird, sport based party and it’s not that relevant to the crochet hook story at all). When it wasn’t my turn to badly flail a bat about, I wandered into the workshop/garage that’s in the garden. Spying tools, bits of wood and things made out of the wood, I dared to ask if I might have help to create a handmade crochet hook.
Don’t you just love the idea of making a tool by hand, that is in turn, used to create handmade things?! I’d seen lots of beautiful wooden hooks on Instagram so I knew it could be done. You can look for hashtags like #woodencrochethooks or #crochethooks and they pop up.
It was just a fleeting request rather than a full on conversation, nevertheless, a couple of weeks after New Year, the first hook turned up. Several weeks later, after lots of going back and forth with design ideas we felt confident that we had cracked it. Honestly, you wouldn’t believe how many different shapes, lengths, angles, types of wood we went through to learn what came out best! During this process, I got to learn about woodwork, and Paul (whose hobby is woodwork) learned a bit about crochet. I think we’ve both learned where our strengths are. This is what we’ve worked out: I’ll stick to crochet and he’ll stick to woodwork.
However, it’s quite addictive and I do like to try new things. I break a lot of sticks trying to make the perfect hook, I’ve broken myself too (blisters! ouch! knife cuts! ouch!). I really should leave the hook making to Paul though. I’ll play with wool.
handmade crochet hooks waiting to be finished off
And so, that is how we became Kirk & Roger, a little side line for us both. It’s really good fun!
It has been a while since I’ve worked with someone else. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it. It’s good to discuss ideas and see how new ventures come out of those discussions. It hadn’t occurred to me that we could sell the hooks we made, that was Paul’s idea. I was just thinking of myself and my own hook collection, which to be honest, isn’t much of a surprise!!
Turned crochet hooks
We both have different favourites when it comes to the hook designs. I like whittled ones and Paul likes them turned. This is good because it means there are lots to choose from. I don’t see why we need to restrict it to one or the other. They’re completely handmade so it is impossible to make the same hook twice. Whether it’s whittled, turned or a bit of both, each and every one is unique.
We’re learning that smaller sizes are the most popular but they’re trickier and more time consuming to make.
This is apple wood being turned on a lathe.
The wood we use is locally sourced. Sometimes directly from our own gardens here in Devon. The very first whittled hook was made from the quince bush that grows in my garden. Apparently quince is a good choice as it’s very hard. An Insta friend called Sarah saw this and we arranged a meet up for tea and cake (we might not have had cake actually, but perhaps we ought to have done). She very generously brought along a car boot full of quince for us [your hook is being made, Sarah!]. I believe it’s the same for most fruit trees, so it’s a good job we also had a bag of apple tree branches donated.
These things take time, you can’t use green wood so we’ve been waiting for everything to dry out a bit. Now that this is happening we’re working on a new batch of hooks that we hope to have in the Etsy shop in a couple of weeks or so.
The turned ones can be made from reclaimed bits of furniture and such. Where possible we will recycle materials to give them a new life.
Each hook is made by Paul into a mostly finished hook, it is then passed to me to crochet with. I’ll decide what needs to be done to make it the best it can be, I then pass it back for tweaking, sanding etc. This process happens at least twice because we want each hook to be perfect. Once that’s done, there are a minimum of three coats of stuff called tung oil that get applied. The oil makes the hook smooth and it also adds strength. Phew! It’s quite a process!
What do you think? Like them? I love em!
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More pics below…
A secret advance peek at a photo shoot the hooks were sent on… more on that another day.They didn’t make the cut.Some early versions
Only two weeks after the last crochet tutorial (an asymmetric granny stitch cowl) and here are two more that show you how to make a granny square bag! Sorry, I’m flooding you with granny stitch designs at the moment. I swear I do have other crochet ideas that involve different stitches!
By the way, my YouTube channel is HERE. Please feel free to visit for podcast watching, as well as finding helpful crochet video tutorials.
Crochet a Granny Square Bag
Here are all the things you need to get crocheting…
To make your own crochet granny square bag you will need lots of lovely yarn in all your favorite colours. Mine is very much a stashbuster using double knit acrylic yarn. No need to buy yarn for this sort of project when you probably have plenty in your collection.
You will also need a hook that matches the yarn weight. I used my trusty 4mm crochet hook. You may even try going down a hook size to ensure that your bag has decent structural integrity. You don’t want a floppy bag, do you?!
You will also need some matching fabric (a polycotton will do nicely) and something to sew it (a machine is preferable but there’s nothing stopping you from sewing by hand). Along with, have some pins at the ready too. It’s also a good idea (but not essential) to get some interfacing to add to the sturdiness of the bag.
Bag handles, don’t forget bag handles! You can cut them from old knackered bags, or, I have found them by googling “long bag handles” before and up they popped. You can get all kind of bags handles for around a fiver.
Video Tutorials
Join As You Go Granny Squares
This tutorial is based on a granny square bag I made a couple of years ago. The original blog post can be found HERE. There are lots of details in that post that will be super useful here. However, this is a slightly different version. I’ve made this new crochet bag a bit less fussy, which is always a winner for makers.
There are two video tutorials for this project. Firstly, there’s How to Crochet Join As You Go Granny Squares. I start by making one granny square and then at the time stamp of 5.25 I begin to join them together. At first this can seem a little daunting but once you get your head around the construction, joining as you go is really good fun. Not to mention a huge time saver!
When I crochet my grannies, I don’t add chains between the clusters. This comes in handy a bit later, which I explain in the second video tutorial….
Turn Granny Squares into a Bag
The second video tutorial talks you through how to crochet the bag together so that it goes from basic rectangle to a functioning, useful project.
My rectangle piece of crochet is 4×6 Join As you Go Granny Squares. Once the ends have been dutifully sewn in, it’s time to turn it into a fab bag. At the two short ends I added some crochet rows that will become the handles. Then work UK dc stitches / US sc stitches down both long sides, popping stitches into the trebles of each cluster.
Fold the whole thing in half and slip stitch the sides together. This is the basic pocket created and a few extra steps are needed to finish off. Next is to attach the handles. You’ll see from the tutorial that I am not precious about my stitches but I would gently suggest you take more care than me.
Once you have the handles in place you could absolutely stop there. I make no judgement about this as sometimes it’ll be perfect right here. However, let’s say you want to keep a crochet WIP in your fancy new granny square bag, what’s going to fall through those lil holes?
There is no way that I am prepared to lose my crochet hooks so I am fully prepared to sew a pretty lining to make it super sturdy and structurally sound.
When I suspect that you might be able to see through crochet stitches of a bag, I like to add a double lining. This is so that you can only see prettiness between any gaps. I am quite laid back in my approach to measuring for lining and don’t often get the tape measure out. The lining technique is demonstrated in the second video from about 17 minutes.
Please see below for some accompanying pictures. Not quite step by step photos but they will help you put your own crochet bag together, especially for when you get to add the bag lining. Like I said, I would always advise lining a granny square bag. How else do you stop things falling through the holes!?
Welcome to Episode 55! I’m pleased to say that I’ve been enjoying my crochet over the last couple of weeks. I do hope you like the episode. As well as WIPs and FOs, I talk about Ravelry and their new policy. Cripes, it was tricky to talk about without getting passionate! I hope I was careful with my words; it really isn’t my area of expertise. I believe it’s important that it’s discussed though, so there was no way I was going to ignore the current issues.
Please go HERE to YouTubefor all my videos or click on the pic above to go directly to the episode.
It has taken an age but I finally found time to record a new crochet tutorial! Hurray! Thank you for being so patient with me. Video tutorials take a lot of time to put together so it’s very easy to drop it lower on the list when something else pops up. Please click on the picture above to go to the tutorial or HERE to my YouTube channel. Don’t forget my Free Patterns page too, that’s HERE
Materials & Notes to make your Crochet Cowl
One colour: 2x 100g (135m) balls of chunky yarn. I used Stylecraft Alpaca Tweed.
Stripey version: 3x 100g (135m) balls of chunky yarn.
8mm hook.
Written in UK terms (converting is dead easy, a UK tr is a US dc, that’s it!).
3ch counts as a stitch (st/s).
I have a loose tension, go up a hook size if you don’t!
Scroll down for a “chart” showing colour changes and a it more info.
Crochet Cowl Pattern
Chain 28 Row 1: 1tr in 4th ch from hook, miss 2 sts, *3tr, miss 2 sts; rep from * to the last st, 2tr in last st, turn.
Row 2: 3ch, 3tr in each sp along to end, 1tr in last st, turn.
Row 3: 3ch, 1tr in same st, 3tr in each space along to end, finishing with 2tr in last st, turn.
Row 4 – 24: Rep Rows 2&3 ten times and Row 2 once more.
Row 25 (increase row): 3ch, 2tr in same sp, cont as Row 2 to end.
Row 26: Rep Row 3.
Row 27: Rep Row 2.
Row 28 (increase row): Begin as Row 3, end with 3tr in last st, turn.
Row 46 (edging): 3ch, 3tr in each sp along, (3tr, 2ch, 3tr) in corner sp, 3tr in each sp to end. Fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing.
Sew the short piece to the other end of the straight side (see chart below). Add tassels if desired! Voila, one seriously speedy granny cowl. Because you’re using chunky yarn with as big hook, you can crochet this in next to no time at all.
Hey! I hope all is well? Please click on the pic above to go to Episode 54 of my crochet podcast. This one is mostly me chatting about The Crochet Sanctuary because I went there last weekend! You can also go HERE to YouTube! That’s where you’ll find my channel. Ta very much. x
Hello! I hope you’re well!? I really enjoyed putting this episode together, I hope you enjoy watching 😀
x
