Tunisian Crochet - A Tale of the Hat

I've made the All American hat from the 1960s Hats Bucket, Flower and Brimmed Hat plus 2 Purses - 5 Crochet patterns before - several of them in fact. But, the first time I made it, I didn't realize that the afghan stitch was Tunisian or Tapestry crochet. With the second one I made, I figured out that there was a difference between crochet and Tunisian crochet but the adjustments I made to the pattern were to make it a little more fitted and the fabric more dense.

This time around, I got a wild hair and decided to try my hand at Tunisian crochet/afghan stitch. I had to buy a hook in order to start the project. You know how it is when you get a wild hair! You have to start now, and there's no time to wait for an online order to be delivered. The big box stores do not carry double ended crochet hooks or Tunisian crochet hooks - sets or singles. On a whim I ended up at a little local fabric store that has one spinner that holds all of their knitting and crochet supplies. They had a double ended hook. I was in business!

Close-up of the stitch patterns.

I went with the blue yarns because they were in my stash. I used two colors to make it easy to tell which direction I was supposed to be working. The lighter (more royal) blue is the main color that I worked the forward stitches with. The darker blue was used for the return pass.

I watched a lot of videos on Tunisian crochet in the round. The one I found most helpful were from the Stitch Diva tutorials. She has a wealth of information on her website. Also helpful and informative were the following: Tunisian Crochet sampler & stitch dictionary at AmbassadorCrochet.com and the stitch guide at tuncro.blogspot.com.

Happy crocheting!

Rayon Straw Hat - 1960s Hats & Purses Pattern Strikes Again

This is another hat from the 1960's Hats and Purses pattern. This is view C (the easy version).

What's terrific about this hat is that it was made using yarn from my stash. No yarns were purchased to make this hat. I was poking around in my boxes of yarn, trying to find yarn that I was willing to part with for my son's Project Linus contribution, and I found the spools of Rayon Straw Yarn. We had purchased the spools a couple of years ago, then I decided to abandon the project I was working on for some reason.

This is the Rayon Straw Yarn I used to make the hat.

Bernat 100% Rayon Straw Yarn from BagsandBows.com

Close-up of center crown.

The hat worked up really quickly into a form fitting hat.

I will be heading home to see my family, and will give the hat to Alison who will test the hat for comfort, durability and color-fastness. She can provide a full report on her findings once she completes her job as my crash-test dummy. I know she will be so excited to contribute a blog post. Yay sis!

Happy crocheting!

A Hat from My Stash Yarn - That's How Started, Anyway

When Alison showed me the picture of these three hats, from this pattern, I knew I had to make one or two of them. The one in the center was just so dang cute - it had to be my first project from the pattern. The only caveat for making these hats was that the yarn has to come from my stash. I am not buying any new yarn. I have full and partial skeins galore. More yarn than I will ever make into hats to wear or to sell, even if I live to be 150 years old. That's how it started, anyway.

The pattern calls for a straw-like yarn,
which is difficult to find and expensive.

We had to go to a craft store to get supplies for a middle school project. I happened to notice that they had yarn on sale. We decided to get a skein of yarn to donate to his leadership class - they are learning to crochet in order to make squares for an afghan or two to donate to a local organization. Since we were buying a skein for school, I decided I would get one for myself as well. So I have a pretty summer green hat. So much for using up my yarn stash.

This is the easy version of the All-American hat. I decided not to do the loops on this hat since I'm not much of a loop-wearing gal. The color of the hat in the top is closest to the actual color.

So these cute little hats are crocheted. Great, that means fast and easy. The picture shows a fun brimmed hat. That's the beginner level of the hat. The advanced level features a crown made of looped crochets. I wanted to make the looped crochet crown, but I didn't have enough of the grey yarn. Those little loops eat up a lot of yarn.

I started the looped crown, just to see what it would look like. I didn't have enough yarn to finish, so I took these pics then ripped it out and going work to the beginning level hat. The crown is made of non-looped crochet fabric. Then we went to the craft store, and I found my green yarn. And the dark grey yarn was no longer a great fit for the pattern.

There are a bunch of different methods to make the crocheted loops. I used this video to see how to make the loop stitch.

Close-up of the pattern stitches.

I had hoped to use my stash. But I love this kicky spring color. You can find the pattern in our store.

Happy crocheting!

Crocheted Party Dress: The Finale

It's done! I can't believe I completed the Crocheted Party Dress so quickly. I don't think I have ever (and I mean ever) finished a project in a month and a half.

And the best part is - the dress looks really cute. My behind is too big to fit in the dress, so we used a dress form to showcase our little gem.

I have to say, this was a great pattern:

• It was easy to follow.
• Easy to memorize the lace shell patterns.
• The shell patterns changed often enough to keep me from getting bored.
• There were no side seams. I can't stress how awesome this was for me.
• The finishing around the neckline and the sleeves was super easy. 

Finished measurements (all taken laying flat):

• Width at waist: 15.5 inches
• Width at bottom of armhole/bust:  18.5 inches
• Width at hem:  23 inches
• Sleeve length:  25 inches
• Length from neckline to hem:  33 inches

Hop on over to our Etsy store to find the pattern. It contains three different sizes allowing for customization of the pattern.