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!

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Week 17: Celebrate the First Day Of Summer

Week 17: Celebrate the first day of summer (June 21, 2014) by crocheting a beach or summer fun project.

When I think of summer, I think of flip flops. There's nothing like the "twack, twack", sound and the effortlessness of getting them on and off. Tuck a pair into a beach bag with a swimsuit and towel and you're good to go. I've seen flip flop sock patterns but I decided to make my own. They are a fun and colorful companion for my favorite flip flops and feel great on my feet.

Instead of creating a pattern, I will share a basic tutorial so you can make a pair for yourself. See the end of the tutorial for special stitch instructions and a list of abbreviations. I used EZC Nautika yarn (85% microfiber acrylic/15% nylon) in turquoise for the main color. The orange and yellow are Frog Tree Pediboo Sock Yarn. I used a size D (3.25 mm) crochet hook, but use whichever size is necessary for your sock yarn.

Measure the circumference of the width of your foot, then subtract 1 inch to allow for stretching. This is length you will make your foundation double crochet (dc) row. Begin the sock at the toe edge.

Foundation dc row: With main color yarn, ch 3, and yarn over (yo). Insert your hook into the 3rd ch from your hook and pull up a loop. [Pay attention to this 1st loop, you may wish to mark it because you will be working the next stitch into it.] Yo, and draw through 2 loops, twice, to complete the dc stitch. Dc into the 1st loop of the previous stitch to create the next dc stitch. Work in this manner, making as many stitches as necessary until the unstretched row measures the length you need. Join with a sl st into the beg dc, taking care to not twist the row.

Esc rounds: Ch 1 and work extended single crochet (esc) sts in each st around. Do not join at the end of each round,. Work continuously in a spiral until the sock measures 2 1/2 inches, then join with a sl st. Fasten off main color yarn.

Attach color B (orange in my case) with a sl st in any esc and ch 3. Dc in the next esc and in each esc around. Join in beg dc and fasten off color B.

Attach color C (I used yellow) with a sl around the post of any dc of the previous round. Ch 3, work a front post dc around each dc of the previous round. Fasten off color C.

Finishing: Using the beg length of yarn, sew the bottom of the foundation row closed . Place the socks on your feet, with the foundation row closest to your toes, to determine where you would like the toe strap to be. To make the toe strap: use main color yarn and attach with a sl st to the foundation row. Ch 20, skip 6 chs (for buttonhole) and sl st in the remaining 14 chs. [My buttons are 3/4 inch, but you may need to adjust the number of chains depending on your yarn and button size.] Sl st in the beg esc st and fasten off.

Sew buttons to the tops of your socks that align with the toe loops. Fasten off and weave in all ends.

Enjoy your flip flop socks!

Additional information:

Special stitch:
Extended single crochet (esc): insert hook into the st and pull up a loop. Yo, and draw through 1 loop on hook. You will have 2 loops on your hook. Yo, draw through 2 loops to complete the esc stitch.

Abbreviations:
beg - beginning, ch(s) - chains, dc - double crochet, esc - extended single crochet, sl st - slip stitch, st(s) - stitch(es)

Thanks for joining me for week 17 of the 52 Week Crochet Challenge!
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52 Week Crochet Challenge - Are You Ready?

March is National Crochet Month, so now is the perfect time to launch my 52 Week Crochet Challenge!

I devised this Challenge as a way for me to explore crochet in ways I haven’t done before. I’m going to share my weekly discoveries and progress here on my blog and I hope to connect with other crocheters.

Click the link below to download a pdf file that includes all the Challenge information. Each page is loosely sectioned to a season, and I’ve included week numbers as well as dates, but this guide is meant to be inspirational, so feel free to add your own creative twists.

Please link to this blog and the 52 Week Crochet Challenge pdf, and email me if you
are taking up the Challenge. I would love to see your responses and to post a blog roll of participants.

Let’s celebrate and have some crochet fun!

Julie Oparka
Red Berry Crochet
redberrycrochet@gmail.com 

Join the Ravelry Group, 52 Week Crochet Challenge. Not on Ravelry? It's free to join, what are you waiting for?

Download 52 Week Crochet Challenge

1. Click the above link.
2. When the page opens, click on File in the top left tool bar.
3. Then click download in the drop down menu.
4. Open or save the file to your computer.

Etsyversary! RedBerryCrochet

Today is my Etsyversary! Two years ago I signed up on Etsy to become a seller. With my crochet hook in one hand and high hopes in the other I set about adding some items to my shop. If you list it they will come - right? So wrong! I was busy with another selling site at the time and didn’t devote much to my new shop. And it showed. From July through December of 2006 I had 3 sales.

Fortunately, I decided to get serious about Etsy around March of 2007 (I’m a slow learner) and sales picked up. My highest month so far has been December of 2007 with 24 sales. While I certainly don’t break any Etsy records, I am happy with my sales record and I can only hope that my monthly sales averages increase.

There are always tons of thread posts on Etsy for newbie shop owners and they offer sound selling advice, so I won’t repeat those words of wisdom here (except to list/relist regularly). But what I can tell you is to think positive, relax, create what you love, and to love what you make. There’s someone out there in cyberland who will love it too!

‘Nough said, time to celebrate with some cake :)

Miniature Six Layered Chocolate Cake from PetitPlat