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Episode 20. A Crochet Vlogcast

December 8, 2017December 8, 2017vloggingLeave a Comment

Wow, that two weeks went by really quickly! It’s already Episode 20 of my fabulously unprofessional crochet podcast (it’s a crochet vlog, I’m writing “podcast” cos of how I understand SEO. I bet it doesn’t work anyway. Meh! whatever…). As ever, please click on the above picture to be transported to the episode over on YouTube.

Although I’m wearing a crochet Christmas hat, it isn’t a particularly festive themed episode. You can’t escape the fact that the season is almost upon us but I’m not in full yule tide merriment just yet.

I talk about adjusting my knitted cowl, a new crochet design, vintage pattern books and generally waffle about stuff.

Here are some links:

Autumn mitts (again!)

Granny Stripe scarf. The written pattern is Here and the tutorial is Here.

Higher Gills Farm Teeswater yarn

And that’s all really. I’ve not been going full steam for a while but that’s ok…

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hohoho. x

Holey Smokes!! A Crochet Fade

November 17, 2017July 12, 2018crochet29 Comments

Holy Smokes!! Holey Smokes is here!!

I have wanted to design a crochet fade shawl for aaaages. It has been in my head for a while. I knew I wanted to make a Fade, I knew it had to have lacy bits and I knew I wanted crazy colours. For a long time I didn’t feel brave enough to sit down and do all the maths but a few weeks ago I made myself do it. There’s no point putting something off just because you’re a little bit worried. The only way to find out how it would go was to dive right in. Back in the spring I made Deanne’s Addydae Designs crochet Blurre Shawl (have a read) and this was another spur onwards (it’s so pretty, it’s so fadey!).

I love that knitting is embracing The Fade but, ehh, come on crochet! We need more! Sooo, Holey Smokes is my contribution. And I’m kind of working on another one too. Keep your eyes peeled. EDIT: (several months later…) The sequel: Smoke on the Water is HERE!!

ig1 — Smoke on the Water. Holey Smokes’ sequel

The pattern is now for sale on Ravelry. You can find it HERE. I’ve put many more details over on Ravelry; you can find out more technical gubbins by jumping across. I also have a tutorial on YouTube for the Crossed Treble stitch. In the meantime, here are some sporadic thoughts about my fancy new crochet shawl…

I love the yarn! It’s Bluefaced Leicester (so hot right now!) and the colours are just amazing! I happened to stumble upon Somerset Yarns (I wish I could remember how). I absolutely knew that I had to get my hands on all those glorious colours. The fact that Tracey is relatively local to me (just over an hour away, in Bristol) is a coincidence. In fact, I’ve had a spate of buying local hand dyed yarn recently and all of it is coincidental.

Working up the pattern is pretty easy once you get to grips with the main stitches. In the pattern I have included written instructions, photographs and a chart. Between all of that you should be able to decipher the “Crossed Treble” stitch without too much trouble. I’ll be honest, It isn’t the easiest of stitches. I saw about 4 different ways of it being written before I decided to offer a fifth. It has been the biggest challenge in writing the pattern (I didn’t attempt it for three weeks after I made the shawl because I knew it’d be a monster). The pattern has been tested by five wonderful, beautiful, helpful (not to mention patient) people and I’ve had really positive feedback. Big, enormous thanks go to them, they spotted my silly mistakes, such as rows numbered the same as each other. Honestly, I don’t know how that happened!

I’m still having trouble photographing bright colours. The camera says “no”. You can get the gist, though. And we are talking bright colours. Really bright! In fact, I couldn’t help vocalising some choice words when I was hooking it up. That is why it’s called Holey Smokes. It’s a slightly tamer version of my initial exclamation. The “e” is there because the shawl has holes…

What do you reckon? I think it’s ace! I’ve got another one planned but I’m not sure when I’ll get cracking on it. Do you want to make one? Let me know. Cheers! X

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xxx

Crochet Bauble Pattern & Tutorial!

November 16, 2017November 8, 2022crochet, free pattern16 Comments

Christmas is pretty much just around the corner, honestly, it’ll be here before you know it. I’ve noticed this year that crochet baubles are all the rage, so I’ve had a go at my own simple pattern. I’ve put together a tutorial for YouTube too, so if that’s more your thing then do jump across to my YouTube channel… Here is where you’ll find the crochet bauble video!

It’s always surprising just how quickly these work up and you will find yourself making loads and loads! The more the merrier with a crochet bauble. They look so good on a tree when there’s a gaggle of them (I’m not sure what the collective noun of a bauble should be so if you have any suggestions, let me know!).

Anyway, rather any further preamble, go get your decs out and get crocheting!

If you would like to support my crochet adventures, feel free to check out my other Free Patterns. Cheers! x

Things you need to Crochet Baubles

-6cm (diameter) baubles. Mine are from Sainsbury’s but I bought similar from Wilko’s last year. I think they’re a fairly standard bauble size.

-3mm hook.

-DK cotton in different colours. I’ve tried many brands and they’re all good: Paintbox, Drops, Dmc Natura, Stylecraft Classique etc…

Notes:

Fasten off (FO) after each round and join the new colour with a ss (slip stitch) just to the right of where you fastened off.
If you want to avoid sewing in most ends, crochet over them as you go but it is worth sewing them in if you have the time and patience.
UK terms are used in the written pattern, I try to use both UK & US in the video. Things to remember are: a UK tr is a US dc. A UK dc is a US sc.
Make 2 of the pattern for each bauble.
Please read the whole pattern through before starting.

Crochet Bauble Pattern

Begin with a Magic Circle (or ch4 and join with a slip stitch).

Ch1, 1tr, ch1, *tr2tog, ch1; rep from * 5 times, join with a ss to the top of the first petal. [6 “petals”]
(Ch2, 1tr, ch1, tr2tog, ch1) in same space, (tr2tog, ch1, tr2tog, ch1) in each 1ch sp, join with a ss to the top of the first petal. [12 “petals”]
Ch3, 2tr in first ch sp, 3tr in each ch sp around, join to top of the ch3. [12 clusters]
Ch2, 1htr in each st around. [36 st]
Ch1, 1dc in each st around, join with ss.

Make two halves. Sew in the first and last ends. Do not FO after round 5 on the second half. Place both halves together, right sides out and ss together, facing loops only. Just over half way, wriggle the bauble into its jacket and continue to ss together. This can be fiddly but it’s worth it! Sew in last end, using it to tidy around the hanging bit of the bauble if you need to.

And the next instruction is to make several!! As I said earlier, with crochet baubles, in my opinion it’s a case of the more the merrier. And Christmas is always a time to be merry (and bright!).

Fancy giving it a go?! Please do give me a shout if you have found the pattern/tutorial useful. A thumbs up on YouTube helps too, I understand it gets more reach or some such thing. Thank you very much!

Also, please feel free to go ahead and share a link to this pattern. Sharing is truly marvellous! But I ask (really rather nicely, please, thank you, please) that you credit Zeens and Roger if you do. Thanks again.

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Episode 18 of the Zeens & Roger Crochet Vlogcast

November 10, 2017crochet, vloggingLeave a Comment

Hallooo! Episode 18 felt very chatty to me, it’s probably just the same as usual, you know, me chatting about crochet stuff. But that is what a crochet podcast / vlogcast is all about. There’s yarn, projects, patterns, all the things I love to witter on about. Click on the pic above. Thanks ever so much.

Episode 18 covers the following things:

StitchFest SouthWest: a lovely yarn festival in Totnes, Devon.

My yarn purchases at the fest were from Bellica yarns, Devon Sun Yarns, Unbelievawool, Handdyed by Kate. Plus, Made by Jude had lovely stuff too.

The Tar Barrels: Ottery St Mary’s crazy, age old tradition flaming tradition!

Crochet Luna’s crochet pins on Etsy

Christmas present Giveaway!! You can comment on either YouTube or Ravelry or both. What do you reeaallly want for Christmas? Can you think of the best present ever?! I’ll pick winners on Thursday 23rd November.

Pattern Testers thread on Ravelry. If you’re interested please contact me over there. I would be super grateful.

Etsy discount on my store. The code is ZEENS and the last day is Thursday 16th November.

I think that’s it! Thank you so much. Happy viewing and all that. I’d love to hear from you, let me know if you like watching podcasts, vlogs, general chats etc. X

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For the Love of Crochet

November 3, 2017crochet15 Comments

Hey there! To be honest I’m just popping by to say hello. I haven’t written a blog post this week and can’t think of anything specific to write about. So this just because I love crochet and want to share it today. Hope that’s OK.

I finished a blanket, which is pretty much the same as the first Rainbow Edged Granny I made. Unlike the other one, this one is in my Etsy shop. At the moment there is a 20% discount on all the items. That runs until the 16th of this month. The code is ZEENS. You’ll need that to get the discount, should you wish to spend some spondoolies.

I don’t think I mentioned here that I made my friend an Urban Stripe shawl. I used Drops Merino and in case you wanted to use that too, I will tell you that it took 7 balls of yarn and the notes are all there on my Ravelry project page.

I haven’t had as many views on the latest crochet podcast. I think it might be the big spider that’s done it. The episode actually has very little to do with the spider although of course I have mentioned him. It’s a standard episode with a little bit of dressing up thrown in. Please do check it out, it’s half and hour of crochet chat. Pop over to YouTube and have a look.

I’m picking up and putting down the Weekend Blankie. Have you made one? It’s a lovely, easy project. Completely stress free actually. Mindless crochet is my favourite crochet. I’m using StyleCraft Life dk.

And I’m still working on sitting down to write up the pattern for my Holey Smokes! shawl. It’s coming with me to StitchFest Southwest this weekend. It’s very Totnes is this shawl! If only I could muster the will power to type up the pattern. I know I’ll feel much better once it’s just blimmin well written. A kick up the bum is what’s needed.

That’s pretty much been my love of crochet this week. Although I did have to put it down to watch Stranger Things 2 this week. Oh my, that was good telly!! What have you been up to?

xxx

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Crochet Vlogcast Episode 17

October 27, 2017October 28, 2017vlogging2 Comments

Happy Hallowe’en folks! I have made minimal effort to jazz up this week’s crochet vlogcast with a spooky theme. Whilst there is a spider and some fancy-dress, er, there is little else to do with this fun filled holiday. But I still love Halloween! Please click on the pic above to fly (broom stick style) to YouTube.

In this episode I talk about the following delights:

My Rainbow Edged Granny. The blog post is Here, the video tutorial is Here.

Spider Blog Post is Here. The YouTube Tutorial Here.

Giant crochet hook case. This is the tute I used.

The Weekender Blankie by Sandra of Cherry Heart.

Check out Shirley Rainbow’s Folksy shop. And why not see her work on Instagram (this is where I saw the discount code).

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Thanks as always. x

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The Back to School Sweater Crochet-A-Long

October 17, 2017October 17, 2017crochet40 Comments

Hopefully you’ve heard of the Back To School Sweater CAL by now. If you haven’t then you’ve still got a month before the Crochet-A-Long ends. It is the perfect excuse to try something you’ve never done before. I had never made myself a crochet jumper before. Now I have made two! And it’s partly due to this fabulous sweater party that has been devised by Tamara from Crafty Escapism and Helen from Making at Number 14, not to mention shouted from the roof tops by awesome Fay of the Crochet Circle podcast. Go on, click on their names. They will take you to a hive of information and lead you down a rabbit hole of jumpery goodness. There are loads of specially written blog posts by some truly knowledgeable people.

I’ve stopped caring about showing my mad face to the world. It doesn’t really matter does it? I expect you’re looking the the jumper/sweater anyway. And you have probably noticed that both my jumpers are the same pattern. It’s the Cleckheaton Colour Block Jumper and I have mentioned it several time now, mostly over on my YouTube channel (episodes 13-16), where I’ve shared the details of yarn (it’s Drops Lima, which I’ve learned is deffo handwash only) and other super informative stuff .

You can find the pattern for free on Ravelry along with many others that, are in a useful bundle put together by the CAL team. Look here, aren’t there so many you could make?!

Yes, my seaming is a bit dodgy but I’m saying it’s part of the look. And you can always turn it inside out, where it blends in more. And if I’m not mistaken, I appear to have walked past many (far more than usual) doors/walls/strange places that all have nails (or other protruding things) poking out, waiting to grab hold and snag at my granny clusters. It’s a handmade jumper’s worst nightmare (that, and the shrinking/felting thing that I achieved on the first wash).

As it’s a CAL, there are prizes to be won if you enter your project into the Ravelry threads. I have offered one of my patterns as a prize. I don’t know if it’ll be a bundle of prizes for just a couple of winners or if they’ll be many prizes for different categories. Here is the Chatter thread so you can see what everyone is getting up to. And here is the Finished Object thread. I admit that I’m not very good at chatter threads. I easily forget to check in but I do enjoy seeing other crafter’s takes on projects. Simply by joining in on the threads (and by using the Instagram hashtag #BackToSchoolSweaterCAL) means you’re eligible to be entered into the prize giveaways.

Again, sorry about the face. This photo really shows the jumper off though so I’m over looking the crazy stare (it’s not as if people cross the street when I walk by or anything).

Have you already made crochet garments before? Is it something you enjoy? I loved making mine and will definitely make more crochet clothes for myself in the future. And please shout out if you are already taking part. Or maybe you’ve had a spark of inspiration and now feel the pull of the CAL?! Let me know! Cheers.

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It’s about time, it’s sweater weatha… x

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Crochet Vlogcast Episode 16

October 13, 2017October 13, 2017vlogging7 Comments

Howdy! So you watched the episode did you? Or you’re planning on it soon? Welcome to the crochet zone! Here’s the latest crochet podcast/crochet vlog = crochet vlogcast. Picture click above, folks. Thank you kindly.

Links below as usual, I hope you find what you’re looking for…

Most importantly, the one I find funny: Sweater Weatha, sweater weatha…

Devonshire yarn shenanigans are afoot in Totnes for Stitch Fest

Mini Beach bag info

You must be Off Your Rocker! A crochet shawl pattern.

The Back to School Sweater CAL

Colour Block Jumper by Cleckheaton

Some beautiful skeins to be found at Somerset Yarns on Etsy

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Crochet Vlogcast (!!) Episode 14

September 15, 2017September 15, 2017vlogging11 Comments

Crochet vlog? Crochet podcast? Nooo, it’s a Crochet Vlogcast, of course!!

Please click on the pic above to go to YouTube for the latest in my frantic crafty to-ings and fro-ings.

In this episode I discuss the following things:

Colour Block Jumper . Yep, I couldn’t find the human designer, sorry. I’m sure I saw an interview in Simply Crochet mag a few months ago. I’ll be darned if I can remember who and I don’t have the issue any more!

Ravelry – Fancy being a pattern tester for my my new shawl?

My Urban Stripe Shawl

Like the wrist warmers? The pattern is part of a set called Autumn Vintage, here.

Outlander knitwear inspiration. Because I’m a few years behind everyone else…

And to cheer us all up a bit, check this out. Because I need a laugh right now.

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Crochet Your Fade. The Blurre Shawl

June 27, 2017June 27, 2017crochet25 Comments

Do you know the Find your Fade? A knitted shawl with glorious colour play, a spectrum of tones and speckled variegated yarns. I absolutely love the Fade but I’m just not a knitter. I was so excited when I discovered that a very clever crochet designer had come up with a crochet version. The best thing of all is that the Blurre is a completely original design. It isn’t a rip off of the Fade, it is its very own thing and it’s totally fab!

I stumbled upon the Blurre whilst watching a fellow crochet podcaster. Claudia of Crochet Luna was talking about it and I told her how beautiful I thought it was. A few days later I found a copy of the pattern in my Ravelry inbox! Claudia had bought it for me, for my birthday!! How lovely is that?!

I got stuck in straight away! I knew that I wanted to use the yarns I’d found at Stephen & Penelope’s in Amsterdam. That was my starting point. At the time, I was making a different shawl with some neon yellow I’d bought in Edinburgh. That was also going in too. I needed two more colours so looked for stuff that would blend the neon with the dusky blues from Amsterdam. The Wool Kitchen’s Nebula sprang to mind pretty quickly. Then a spot of time, trawling Etsy gave me Made By Jude’s When Dye Pots Attack. See here for the links to yarn. That’s also the link to the vlog/podcast episode where I talk about the shawl too!

The pattern is awesome. It’s super easy but creates something really sophisticated and modern. I didn’t know Deanne of Addydae Designs before. Well, I’d seen her work before but not properly registered in my head that one person was linked to all the pretties. Check out the Three Springs shawl. I lurrrvve it!! Deanne also has a podcast, check that out too.

I’m in love with my Blurre!! It’s awesome! However, it has been a bugger to photograph. The neon blows out no matter what I try. It makes the other colours look lacklustre. In real life it is all superb, I promise. If I were to be picky, I’d say that I’d like a few more rows of the first colour (the turquoisy one) and more rows of the Nebula (the dark one with rainbow flecks). I think that would have helped to balance out that crazy neon. For the most part, I’m well chuffed. If I didn’t have so many other things to make, I’d definitely make another one straight away. I know others have said the same too.

I got the camera out the other day and took some snaps that didn’t work too well. I asked my four year old to take some pictures of me too. Initially I just handed him the camera and asked him to click away. It didn’t go down well. I ended up with about twenty blurry Blurres. I got the tripod out but still couldn’t see exactly what was going on (not until I remembered to flip the viewing screen). Anyway, here are a few reasonably acceptable photos so you get more of an idea about how the Blurre looks.

It was fun to play around and the boy enjoyed some “responsibility” as my photographer. His favourites were when the cat got in on the action. She didn’t like being a model much.

What do you reckon? Fancy having a go at your own Blurre? I’d love to see other versions!

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