Free Monthly Pattern Download for October (crochet)

We have been on a crochet roll lately....

We are offering a circle hat and bag pattern this month. Based on the granny square design, these should be fun projects to make your own.

Information on the yarn is a little scarce. It looks like this may have been a rug yarn. According to a conversion chart I was looking at here, the sizes 5 and 6 crochet hooks would be equivalent to a modern H and I (US). Other patterns found online required a size J hook when working with this yarn. It would make sense to have the stitches a little smaller and tighter for a purse, as compared to a rug. It's hard to look cool and put together if there are items spilling out of your purse as you walk down the street.

Click on the pattern link or check out the "Free Monthly Pattern Downloads" page to be taken to the free pattern compliments of eStitched.

Happy crocheting!

New Project in the Works - Pinwheel Afghan

There was a bunch of yarn left over when the two ponchos were finished, and I have to use it up so I can buy new yarn. Alison sent me the Pinwheel Afghan pattern,  and I knew as soon as I saw it that it was the project for all of the different colors of yarn we had left.

This is such a cool pattern. The pattern is easy to memorize and because it's a pieced afghan, it is a portable project. I am taking the finished blocks to my sons' baseball practices and games and weaving in the ends - while practices are taking place, or when the games get a little slow.

I am using worsted weight yarns and a size H crochet hook, both of which are significantly bigger than what the pattern calls for - but that means I need to make fewer blocks to complete the afghan. Yay!

{The finished blocks are about 9 1/2 inches. I will need about 42 blocks to make the afghan the same size as noted in the pattern. About 1/3 of the blocks are complete.}

Same Poncho - Different Result

We made the 1970's Granny Square Poncho pattern again. But this time, we made the pattern by crocheting two rows of a color instead of changing colors every row. The difference is amazing. The poncho looks like it was made using a different pattern - but it's the same one as before.

We picked out some new colors. We purchased 11 colors of 100% acrylic yarn, because I didn't have a bunch of colors that would go together. I'm not sure how that's possible, I have yarn everywhere!

To compare the two different methods of patterning the yarn, take a look at the poncho pics side-by-side.

There was quite a bit of yarn left over, so I am embarking on another project with the remaining yarn.

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Special thanks to Jake, my 8-year old son, my photographer.

70's Granny Poncho - It's a Wrap!

I am so excited for this post.

The 1970's Granny Square Poncho is finished. I had finished it a short time ago, but I needed to wait until we had a free Saturday so my 8 year old son could take pics of the finished product. He is turning into quite the little photographer.

This version is different than the photo on the pattern. On the pattern, the color changes take place every two rows. On my version, I had a color change every row. I am now really good at weaving in ends. I also learned how to crochet over the ends at the beginning of each row to almost "lock" the yarn in place. Weaving in ends is a great skill to have. I'm not afraid of having to do it any more. I weaved in (wove in?) the ends as I went so it wasn't completely overwhelming when I finished the poncho.

I consider myself an advanced beginner crocheter, and this was an easy pattern. Start to finish it only took a few weeks - working on it intermittently during that time (while watching TV or sitting with the kids as they did homework). I used 100% acrylic yarn from a big craft store.

I am working on another Granny Square poncho - this time with color changes happening every other row. The ponchos look completely different. We will be posting a side-by-side comparison once the 2nd one is completed.

Happy Crocheting!

Interested in making this yourself? Head over to our Etsy store for the pattern.