Half Granny Shawl

 

Easy and fast. Two words that avid crocheters love to hear. Choose the right colors and it can be beautiful too. 

This is a half granny square shawl. It's about 6 feet across the upper edge. 

If you've never made a half-granny square, here's how to start. 

Crochet 5 chains and fasten the ends together as a loop. Chain three to begin the first cluster. The chain counts as the first double crochet. Make 2 more double crochets in the loop, chain 3, make three more double crochets in the same loop. This is the first row.

Star with 5 chains made into a loop.

Two clusters in the loop with chain three between them.

Chain three off the last stitch.

Chain three and put two more double crochet in the very corner of the second cluster. Putting a cluster in the last stitch of the previous row and at the end of this new row is how the length of the upper edge increases.

Add two double crochet to the chain to increase the pattern. 

After the first round, put a chain between each double crochet clusters. 

Add three double crochet in each chain one space and two clusters in the point with three chains between them.

Keep working this pattern until the top edge is about 6 feet across. 

One tip: You can do this pattern in any number of colors. You can make each color the same number of rows or make the whole thing random. What I have learned is that choosing three colors is pleasant to the eye. But play with your choices, and see how it turns out. 

Here's another version of the same pattern.

Fast Prayer Shawl

 

Two skeins of Bernat Blanket Yarn did the job of making a fine warm prayer shawl for the local hospital hospice group.

With an S hook, I used a single crochet, chain stitch. End the row with a single crochet, chain 2 and turn. Make the next single crochet in the chain one space to the end of the row.

Here is a close-up of the stitch I used. 

The yarn is fuzzy, so it takes a bit more muscle to pull out of the skein, but not enough to cause difficulties. Simply an observation.

If you want to make a toasty, warm project of whatever size, this is a good yarn to use. I used a stitch with a chain one space between the single crochets because making it with a straight single crochet pattern would be too tight. This yarn fills in the gaps. 

Thanks for visiting with me, and happy crocheting.

Kathi

Cheap Yarn - Uh, Plarn

 Plastic yarn, or plarn, can be used for a number of projects that need to be water resistant, bug-free, light-weight, or cost-effective. I don't recommend using it for afghans as it is not breathable and doesn't feel as nice as regular yarn.

You can make the strands thicker or thinner according to your preference or pattern need. It's very simple.

Let's say you have a number (or a lot) of clean plastic grocery bags lying around. And let's say you would like a nice sturdy strand of plarn.

Lay them flat, like this:

Next fold them in half lengthwise and in half again. This quarterfolds the bag.

Now cut off the handles and the seam at the bottom of the bag. Throw the ends away.

Cut across the folded bag in the widths of your choice. I like using 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide for crocheting. One lady who weaves sleeping mats for homeless people, cuts the bag in half and uses the 6" wide pieces for weaving. It makes a thicker, more comfortable mat.

Now open the slices to make long loops.

Now we attach the loops to make a long piece of plarn. Remember linking rubber bands together when you were young? Same thing with the plastic loops.

Bring the ends of two loops close to each other.

Run the end of one loop through the end of the other one.

Take the tail of the loop that just passed through the other. Open the end of the loop you just put on the inside and pass its own tail through the top part. (I hope that is clearer than mud.)

When you tug on the two ends, you should get the two ends wrapped around each other in this kind of knot. You can pull it as tight as you like, but you might want to keep it loose enough to adjust later. Sometimes, as you add more loops, they don't come out exactly even, and you might need to adjust the length of the two sides of the loop.

When you add them all together, you might be surprised at how much length you can get out of one plastic grocery bag. Wind them in a ball, and you are ready to go.

I like turning what could be garbage into something useful.

Check around and see if you can find stores that offer different colors of plastic bags. Don't forget to use newspaper covers. The loops are a lot shorter, but they still work for your project and may come in some interesting colors.

In another blog post, I'll show you how to cut single-strand plarn for items that need a more delicate yarn.

Thanks for visiting with me, and happy crocheting.

Kathi

Crocheting for Hospice

 

In order not to be overrun with my own crochet, I give my work away almost as fast as I make it. Hospice is my favorite place to turn in prayer shawls and lap robes. 

The piece on top of the photo is a traditional granny square lap robe - no two squares are the same.blue/cranberry piece is made out of Bernat blanket yarn and an S hook. I used a simple single crochet, chain stitch. 

The fun thing about granny square projects is that you can make them any size you want. Just decide how many squares you need for the width and the length. My squares tend to be about 6 inches square. A lap robe is 4 feet wide and 3 feet long. This means I need 8 squares across and 6 rows top to bottom, or 48 squares total. Afghans are often 9 squares across and 11 squares deep, or 99 squares.

The two in the forefront are made holding two strands of worsted-weight yarn together and the same S hook. The stitch is just a single crochet throughout. I try to make my prayer shawls 5 1/2 feet long and about 20" or 21" wide.

Not that long ago, I was one of several people making shawls for the hospice program at our local hospital. Now it seems I am the only one still working on them.

 More to come. Happy crocheting.

Kathi

My Craft Table

 

These are the tools I most use when I crochet my "masterpieces". 

I have a wonderful ceramic bowl for rolled-up balls of yarn. It has a slot on one side for the yarn to slide through. I use it so often, it is seldom off my table. 

When I use heavy yarn like the Bernat blanket yarn, I need an ice cream bucket. A skein that size simply won't fit in anything smaller.

I have older joints, so I like to use bigger hook. I seldom use anything smaller than a K hook. 

N/P hooks are the size I use to do Tunisian entrelac crochet. It looks like this when I get done.

My Q hook is great for doing a fast hospice shawl holding two strands of worsted weight yarn together.

The S hook is for extra bulky yarn like the Bernat blanket yarn. I actually wondered if there was a hook larger than an S and found a T. It is so big, ...well, I tried it on the blanket yarn and it looked like a heavy-duty spider web. I didn't like it. I think you'd need to use it with the roving used for arm knitting,

What do you think a person could do with a T hook? Wow!

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Crochet Is My Passion

 

I was only 14 when my grandmother taught me to crochet. My first granny square was a triangle. She didn't laugh at me, so I kept on trying.

I was still pretty new at the whole thing when I found a book called Mon Tricot Knitting Dictionary Stitch Patterns. My copy is pretty used and abused, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Nowdays, many crochet patterns that you find online or in pattern books have a rating on them to say whether the stitches involved are for beginners, experts, or people in between. Mon Tricot doesn't have that rating system. It just has the patterns - in British terms, if you don't mind.

I simply did what the pattern said to do and had no idea I was doing an intermediate or expert pattern. Plus, I had to transpose the British stitches to American in my head.

 I think I have covered everyone I care about at least once, many of them multiple times, with various crochet projects. In between, I crochet prayer shawls and lap robes for hospice at our local hospital. 

My preference is big flat projects, but I've done amigurumi animals, finger puppets, Christmas ornaments and who knows what else. Oh, yes, food. I've crocheted food.

After sixty years and well over a thousand projects, I'm taking time to write about my favorite pastime.

Thanks for visiting with me. We're going to have fun.

Kathi

Link to Mon Tricot Pattern Book: https://amzn.to/46QDOku  This is an affiliate link. I get a few pennies if you purchase this book from Amazon.