Week of 3/25/15: Let's Have a Ball!

This week is all about yarn and different yarn weights. Our weekly challenge is to crochet a project using different yarn weights within the same project.

I made a skinny scarf for my project:

It can also be worn as a cowl:

It was pretty simple to make. I used 8 strands of different yarns held together as one, and I finger crocheted a simple chain out of them. The chain twisted in several spots, but I didn't care, I actually like how twisty it looks.

It was fun to make, and I have a lovely skinny scarf for next fall and winter. (I am so done thinking about winter! Let's get spring springing!) This idea would be a great project for a last minute gift, and is also a great de-stash project.

What project will you crochet with different yarn weights?

Join us and Let's Have a Ball!

Your Weekly Crochet Challenge  

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Week of 3/18/15: Egg-cellent!

Spring arrives this week on Friday, March 20th, so our challenge this week is to crochet and decorate an egg. While most of us associate decorated eggs with Easter, the early symbolism of the egg relates to fertility, life, and the renewal of life.

Click here to read a great article about the history of eggs from foodtimeline.org. Scroll down to the symbolism section.

I crocheted my egg using yarn that I had dyed with Kool-aid, but there are many ways to decorate your egg. You could add beads, “paint your yarn”, add tiny flowers, make it into an amigurumi chick, whatever you wish.

Below is my egg pattern to get you started. Have fun with it and be creative!


Egg – cellent egg crochet pattern

Materials:
Small amounts of medium weight yarn, size H (5 mm) crochet hook, polyester fiberfill for stuffing, stitch marker.

Special stitch: single crochet decrease (sc dec)
I like to use an invisible sc dec when I am crocheting amigurumi, or anything where you won’t see the wrong side. It is worked over two stitches to form a decrease.
Insert hook in front loop of the first st. Keeping this loop on your hook, insert the hook in the next st through the front loop. You will have 3 loops on your hook. Draw your yarn through 2 of the loops on your hook. Yarn over, and draw through the 2 remaining loops on your hook to complete the stitch.

Notes: this egg is worked from the top down in a continuous spiral. The pattern does not include striping instructions, and I chose to make my sample sample using the continuous spiral because I didn’t want a seam. If you want to crochet stripes and keep them even, you can end each round with a slip stitch in the beginning stitch. To begin the next round, ch 1 and sc in the same stitch.

Instructions:
Rnd 1 (RS): ch 2, work 6 sc into 2nd ch from hook. (6 sc)

Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc. (12 sc)

Rnd 3: *sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc. Rep from * around. (18 sc)

Rnd 4: sc in each sc.

Rnd 5: *sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Rep from * around. (24 sc)

Rnd 6: sc in each sc.

Rnd 7: *sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next. (30 sc)

Rnd 8 thru 11: sc in each sc.

Rnd 12: *sc in next 3 sc, sc dec. Rep from * around. (24 sc)

Rnd 13: *sc in next 2 sc, sc dec. Rep from * around. Stuff with fiberfill. (18 sc)

Rnd 14: *sc in next sc, sc dec. Rep from * around. (12 sc)

Rnd 15: *sc dec. Rep from * around. (6 sc)

Fasten off leaving a length for sewing, and sew remaining rnd closed.

Abbreviations:
Ch(s) – chain(s)
Rnd(s) – round(s)
RS – right side
Sc – single crochet
Sc dec – single crochet decrease
St - stitch

How will you decorate your egg? Celebrate spring and enjoy!

Join us and have some fun
as we share a new crochet challenge each week

Your Weekly Crochet Challenge  

Ravelry Group - 170 members and growing!

Week of 3/11/2015 - Happy Birthday!

This week it's all about birthdays for our weekly challenge:

It’s probably been ten years at least since I received this gift from my friend Christine. It is not a crochet item, but it helps me to crochet every day. She gave me the gift of an Ott-Lite. I didn’t realize how useful and helpful it was until I started using it. I have it next to my chair in my craft room, and I literally do use it every day. I see truer colors in my yarns and of course it helps to see clearly and I'm not straining my eyes to read. It is a floor stand model, and I like it so much that I bought a few table top versions to place elsewhere in the house.

What was your favorite crochet related gift you received and/or gave to someone else?

Fun and Cupcakes! Enjoy!

Join us and have some fun 

as we share a new crochet challenge each week

Your Weekly Crochet Challenge  Ravelry Group - 170 members and growing!

Week of 3/4/2015 - Whoo hoo! It's a Celebration!

It's a brand new Ravelry group: Your Weekly Crochet Challenge

Kicking off just in time to celebrate National Crochet Month. So jump on in and join us for new challenges, new friends, and all things crochet!

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/your-weekly-crochet-challenge

Whoo hoo! It's a Celebration!

Week 52: Hurray! What a Fun and Challenging Year it's Been. What Was Your Favorite?

Wow! It is so hard to believe that a year has gone by already. This is the final week of the 52 Week Crochet Challenge, and the last challenge is to discuss your favorite challenge and why. (But, they are all my favorites!)

The most challenging and time consuming, for me, was Week 38: Create an analogous color scarf. I had the squares completed around the date of the challenge, but it took me much, much, longer to actually complete the scarf and take pictures. I am so happy that I completed it, and I have a colorful and bright companion for the last few weeks of winter.

On the flip side (pun intended!), we had a challenge to make a beach or summer fun project for Week 17. I designed a pair of flip flop socks (which I am so looking forward to wearing again!), and I included a tutorial on how to make them on my blog. This challenge progressed very smoothly and seemed to come together in no time at all.

This year long project has been a challenge in many respects. When I created it, I told myself that I would not beat myself up if I did not complete every challenge. This attitude made it much more enjoyable, and I did have a lot of fun with it.

In the beginning, my intentions were to keep my blog updated and to keep a blog roll of participants. I really wanted to discover new things about crochet and to inspire myself to design some new patterns. Over time, my focus moved towards my Ravelry group. This group has been the most rewarding part of the project. I learned some new things, met some terrific friends, read their heartfelt, funny, wonderful (and sometimes sad) stories, laughed a lot, and found myself loving crochet even more.

Thanks so much for a great year!
Julie

Beginning March 4th, 2015:

Inspire… Motivate… Create… Share… 

YOUR Weekly Crochet Challenge

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