Archive for June, 2008
June 16th, 2008 at 11:08am
Under Knitting and Crochet News+ Updates+ New Knitting Patterns
Here is the latest project off of SweaterBabe’s needles - a romantic and pretty shaped cardigan. It’s knit from the top-down, has 3/4 length sleeves that are slightly flared, and features a beautifully flared shape. The waist is cinched with a wide ribbon and mock-cable belt loops that match the mock-cables in the flared bottom.
Knit in Blue Sky Alpaca’s dyed cotton. It’s a wonderfully soft and very vibrantly colored yarn.
Look for this pattern coming very soon! I’ll be busy writing it up right away.
Here’s the gorgeous detailing of the back:
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe
June 16th, 2008 at 12:14pm
Under Crochet Questions and How to+ Ask SweaterBabe
Dear Sweaterbabe,
I would like to crochet a shawl, but do not want to use the recommended yarn. The yarn I would prefer to use is one of the boucle yarns. Do I have to make any adjustments to account for the knobbiness of this yarn? Please advise. Thank you.
Dear Crocheter,
Hmm… good question. I generally don’t recommend crocheting with a yarn that is too knobby, but if it is just a little and you don’t run into problems working with it, then give it a try.
It’s best if you can test it out first. Just do a little swatch in the stitch pattern that will be called for in the pattern. The issues I have with boucle are:
– you may not be able to see where to place each stitch because the boucle makes it hard to see distinct stitches
– the boucle may have big loopy parts in the yarn that cause your crochet hook to get caught and slow you down or create other problems
– the boucle yarn will product a different gauge because the boucle part will create more fabric where a “normal” yarn would not
This swatch really is your gauge swatch, which you should do just to be sure the yarn will work to your satisfaction.
One note is that if this pattern is one where you will mostly be working stitches into arches or spaces, then the boucle effect might be just fine. Here is an example of a shawl pattern that works just fine with any kind of yarn because the crocheting is all done in the big spaces.
Best,
SweaterBabe
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe
June 16th, 2008 at 12:04pm
Under Crochet Questions and How to+ Ask SweaterBabe
Dear SweaterBabe,
I have a lot of patterns for dishcloths that I would like to make into afghan sizes and baby blanket sizes. Is there a formula for increasing a crochet pattern or decreasing a pattern.
– Dawn
Dear Dawn,
Without seeing what your dishcloth pattern looks like, I can try to give some general advice.
Most crochet patterns have a section that repeats, then some number of chains that is needed to get started. That’s why many crochet stitch patterns says to begin by chaining a multiple of X plus Y sts.
If you can figure out what that X and Y are for your dishcloth pattern, then you can extrapolate and make an afghan or baby blanket out of the same pattern.
For example, if it seems like the dishcloth pattern is over a multiple of 3 sts plus 4, then you just need to determine how many multiples of 3 will get you the width that you want for your afghan or blanket and add the chain 4.
Assuming the dishcloth is 14″ wide or so, multiplying it by 5 will give you approximately a 70″ wide afghan…
Many well-written patterns will provde the stitch pattern in a generic form (thereby providing the “mult of X plus Y” instruction needed) separately from the specific instructions for the project.
Hope that helps!
– SweaterBabe
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe