Cap'n Mermaiden's

Hemstitching

Need a great quick and personalized gift for an expectant mom or a new baby? Edge a blanket. You can buy pre-pierced flannel squares for you to stitch into.

You can edge more than just baby items this way too, such as pillow cases, handkerchiefs, placemats, etc.

Here's a really great how-to:
http://www.mormonchic.com/crafty/crochet-edges.asp

This one shows you how to make a great foundation edge, the blanket stitch, to add your edgings to, if you want to edge a piece that's crocheted instead.
http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa120702.htm

If you want to add your own holes, here are some handy tips from Crochetville members!
Just put your fabric on top of top of some cardboard, get out your ruler and a pen to mark the dots with, then puncture the fabric with a steel hook or a knitting needle. :D

Edgery-Doo kits include a tool to pierce your own holes. It is unlike purchased pre-pierced (truly hemstitched) items in that there is no thread to hold the holes open, but it has become rather popular lately, so perhaps it is still easy to use. Maybe I'll have to give it a try sometime.

Then for more ideas on edging styles you can put around that, here are some handy links.
http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/edgings.php
http://home.inreach.com/marthac/edging.html

Now, here are some sources on where to order pre-pierced products (Ready-to-Crochet Hemstitching):
http://www.hemstitcher.com - best variety, and you can get single-ply blankets here, unlike at most places.
http://www.edgerydoo.com
http://www.fabric-mill.com/view_category.asp?cat=50
http://www.hemstitchingetc.com/hemstitching-kits/foundit.asp
http://www.blanketsandmoreonline.com

If you're really serious about it, you can even buy the machine yourself! Hemstitching machines create a line of stitched perforations.
http://www.hemstitchers.com
http://www.heirloomhemstitching.com/machine.htm
You may find used listings online for considerably cheaper, especially vintage machines.

Here's even a different kind of machine that does the crocheted edge for you.
http://www.cthompson.org.uk/blanketstitchers/

Thanks to Katandia for the link to this awesome technique!

Take a piece of fleece, some crochet thread, and a steel hook.

Using your hook, pierce a hole through the fleece. Make the hole about a half a centimeter down, and about the same from your right edge of the fabric.
Pull the thread through

To use worsted weight yarn, you might wish to pre-pierce your holes around the fleece edge with an ice pick, scissors, etc. Then you can use regular yarn and an appropriately sized hook.

You can buy some plain fleece at these places:
http://www.fleecelady.com
http://www.twinfabrics.com
http://www.picotextiles.com
http://www.syfabrics.com
http://www.totallyfleeceinc.com

I didn't write the original pattern for this blanket. However, when using the pattern, I inadvertently adapted it into my own pattern, lol. The original came from right here. I will re-post so that my changes are easier to follow.

The difference is that it consumes a little bit more yarn than the original, and it gives a cool texture to each row. The pictures don't show it very well.

There are wind socks… why not sun? This is a little invention I made up for my car, because my sun visor is too short, and doesn’t block all the sun, which I hate when I’m driving. This takes care of it!


I am writing this pattern to fit what seems to me to be a typical size for a car. My cars, anyway. It has fit my last 2 cars (a '95 Ford Contour, and an '08 Mazda3), but you could possibly have to do some work for this pattern if your visors are different. It's easy to adjust.

Materials:
The size of hook and yarn won't really matter: I used worsted (Red Heart), with an H hook.
But here, size DOES matter. ;) Measure yours. Just make sure it fits as you go.

Pattern Instructions:

1) Make a starting chain 15" long.
For me this was a chain-45, but you should measure how big around your sun visor is, and make your starting chain that long. Your vehicle could vary, plus, I don't exactly crochet tightly.

Being careful not to twist the chain, sl-st back to first ch to join it into a circle.

Shoulder Wrap

This is so friggin' funny!

http://stitchymcyarnpants.com/moks06/?p=244

Just had to share.

I, along with several other posters at Crochetville, was so disappointed when this awesome~super-cute item didn't make it to the Crochet Pattern-a-Day Calendar 2007 as the designer had said! I tried to write to her but never got through. I tried to write to one of the companies listed at one of her blogs but never got an answer. So, I wrote to the submissions person who's working on the next pattern-a-day calendar to see if there was any chance of it making it into the NEXT one.... that'd be 2009. This person wasn't on board at that time but said she will check into it! :D

You can see it here: http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=13440

Sushi Roll Scarf

Have you seen Twinkie Chan's delicious scarves yet? If not, you should stop by her website! http://www.twinkiechan.com

I found her Myspace profile link on there http://www.myspace.com/twinkiechan
and decided to write and ask her a question I've had for a while now: is she planning on selling any of her patterns!

Well, she said she had actually been working on a book a while back, but had to put the project aside for a while. So hopefully she'll work on that again soon! Wouldn't that be cool?

3/9/2010: This post was just made obsolete by the new Page.  See this link instead:
http://scarfmaker.blogspot.com/p/my-completed-stuff.html

So... my mom came home with a box full o' goodies for me from some yard sale again recently. Amongst a bunch of old Crochet Magic mags and other minor treasures, there was a broomstick lace tool. :D I know I could just go buy one, but with all my WIPs in queue and etc., I would never just go buy one... though I knew I'd eventually have to get one, since of course it's crochet-related stuff I didn't have yet. LOL Now I can put this on my slate to figure out one day! :D I worked on the hairpin lace a little bit but not too much yet.

Here are some links I'll collect together here for broomstick lace, for easy future reference, and for your viewing pleasure, lol.

HOW TO:
http://www.crochetkim.com/broomstickclass.html
http://www.crochetcabana.com/specialty/broomstick_lace_jiffy_lace_.htm
http://members.aol.com/sbaycgoa/techbrom.htm

PATTERNS:
Sideways Lace Scarf
wrist warmers
hat


Pattern link directories:
http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/broomstick_lace.php
http://www.needlepointers.com/ShowArticles.aspx?NavID=246

--------------------

ABOUT:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broomstick_lace

Broomstick lace (also known as 'peacock's eye' crochet) is a historic crochet technique from the 1800s that combines the use of a crochet hook and another long, slender item such as a knitting needle. Traditionally, a broomstick was used, but the modern variant is a lightweight plastic knitting needle or smooth wooden craft dowel. A larger knitting needle or dowel will result in a lacier effect, while a smaller will provide a more closely woven effect. It is recommended to try using different sizes of knitting needle from 17 through 50 with the desired yarn to determine the desired result. Because the fabric created is soft yet stable, it is well suited for clothing and blankets.

As with most crochet-type techniques, the base of the pattern is a crocheted chain. The number of stitches in this beginning chain should be counted in multiples of 3 through 6, depending on the desired effect. The first row can either be immediately done in Broomstick lace, or instead incorporate a single or half-double crochet stitches. The "broomstick" or knitting needle is then used in the next row, as you pick up a loop through each of the stitches in row one and transfer it from the crochet hook onto the needle or dowel. This part of the process is similar to knitting as all stitches in the row are being picked up and held at one time on the knitting needle being used. Once a loop has been pulled up through every stitch, the loops are then worked back off the dowel by sliding them off in groupings of 3, 4, 5, or 6 loops (depending on the desired effect) at a time and working the same amount of single or half-double crochet stitches through the top of each group of loops at the same time.

The overall appearance of the work will vary based upon the number of loops in a group, the size of the knitting needle being used, as well as the type of yarn being used. Experimenting with variations is encouraged so that the most desirable effect for the item being made will result. Typical items made using this technique include afghans, baby blankets, scarves, shawls, and other items where an unusual lacy effect may be desired.

If you are a crocheter who's in or near the Birmingham, AL area, or just want to talk to some who are, join this list :)




Click to join BhamLocals

I have gotten my login to Ravelry.com and have been logging all my stuff into it! It's very cool. It integrates patterns, your Flickr photos, yarns & stash, people, hooks/needles, and more. It almost negates the purpose I had started the blog here for, but I don't intend to stop using this, since I can write here. ;) Also, I can store all my favorite links.

As the top says, I even now started a knitting blog! I finally got my library of knitting links rolling and they needed a home, so now I'll blog about knit once in a while over there too. http://scarfknitter.blogspot.com

And, I upgraded the template so adding and organizing links, and page content overall, is SO much easier and more fun on blogger.com now! Wow. I thought it was going to be a huge ordeal to convert but it moved most of the stuff for me. All I had to copy and paste back in was the stuff at the top, into a new page element, so it's tons better. Plus I was able to keep my WIP/Current Stuff and my Finished Stuff posts floating like I've wanted to for so long! I used to just bump them over to the side so they wouldn't get lost. No more hassle there either; they're in an easy-to-edit element/module thing. Now there's no more having to edit the raw code to do stuff to the page. Yay!

Well, check this out -- now I'm knitting, too! I started this in May 2007 - 1 year after I started crocheting, incidentally. ;) Below is a pic of my first item: I'm just doing a simple knit stitch on every row (so it's a garter stitch).

Since these inspired me to want to knit, it's a Harry Potter scarf. And since I hadn't felt that the Prisoner of Azkaban style scarf could be made right in any way but circular, I am first doing the Sorcerer's Stone Chamber of Secrets style scarf. I still think the PoA one probably looks cooler in the round, yet I'm not ready for circular.

:( I am so sad. The AC Moore near me closed. Permanently! :( I guess I shouldn't be so sad; I DO have a huge stash I need to get busy with. But....! I can't help it. I loved their mill's end bins. They're the only place around who had them. Oh well, I still have Hobby Lobby and their never-ending source of half-off sales, lol. Gotta love the HL! Really. I'd be too embarassed to show off my current stash. I filled up my oversized Zip-lock bags. Two boxes of them. ANd that's not all.

Well, this blog is way past time for an update, so here's a quick one for the moment. Current projects:

Maggie's Crochet Morning Glories afghan, kit I got on sale from Annie's Attic
I've made about 1/2 of the main body of it so far :D

I went hog wild with yarn again, after I cut myself off about twice already, lol. There was a Yarn Bee 1/2 price sale though....!!! And some stellar deals at Hancock's. I'm actually making myself a scarf now from some yarn I've had my eye on for months. Soft Illusion, super bulky, color - sapphire (dark and light blues with light green, and a touch of white). Sorta like the colors you see on a nice clear summer day when you look up at the trees against the sky. ;)

After that I'm going to get to work on:

a sunvisor extender for my car. This will make more sense when I finish & post it.

Other skeins I bought for no apparent reason that I MUST find a use for!

Potholders to go in the kitchen I am going to repaint hopefully soon.

A cream-colored cotton sholder wrap / capelet / shawl type of a thing.

Guess what I just got!

Yes, that is a hairpin lace tool, with my first few stitches on it. :D

Yippie!!! I visited the mil's end bin at AC Moore this weekend, and here's what I came away with. Yarn for my afghan! Now I have everything I need to get started!

$2.46, $3.59, and $3.59. This is actually more than is needed, though none of it is varigated. Heck, for this price, I could still buy the varigated and use the extra blue/green on other stuff and consider it a good deal. ;)

Plus, my mom is just too cool. I tell her I'm looking for something, and she goes to the weekend yard sales and finds it. She came home with a big bundle of sheets she got for super cheap that I can cut up to make rugs with. :D


And, she has procured a collection of blue Wal-Mart bags from my aunt that I am going to use to make a tote bag. I have tons of white ones, and just enough blue for the stripe, so I'll just vice versa the pattern.

I love my Crochet-A-Day calendar. :)