Scarfing it down

I’m actually pretty proud of my work this week, both as an active crocheter and a procrastinator.  I’m proud to announce I haven’t touched my damn jacket since last I posted about it.  I was getting too frustrated with trying to make it look nice and was pretty close to doing some actual harm to the garment.  So for the moment it’s in one of my baskets until I’m on speaking terms with it again.  But honestly setting aside a project when it’s too challenging is probably a good thing.  I haven’t given up on it, but I don’t feel good about continuing at the moment which seems like a sign.

In other news I’ve made some real headway on the scarf I started.  If you’re really observant you’ll notice it looks a little different and that’s because I ripped out and recast it several times, fiddling with the stitches until I was satisfied.

(Mmmmm, scintillating work literature….)

The above was a few days ago and at this point it looks like this.

It’s hard to see all the color changes at a distance.

The Tandem yarns really are super nice to work with and I highly recommend them, they are heavy-ish but have a great drape.

In news that will excite ridiculous cat owners like me, there is an adorable book of knit and crochet patterns I recommend called Cats in Hats!  The patterns are easy and straightforward, she includes diagrams as well as a written pattern, and they work up really fast.  And I’m absolutely making a hat for my cat as we speak.  I’m not following a set pattern right now, I’m pretty much mashing a knit and crochet project together.

The white part is the actual hat, I’ll be adding ties to it.  I’ll be making either a unicorn horn or a multicolored mohawk out of the neon, I haven’t decided which yet.

 

I’ve also finally made it out to Michaels to pick up the missing ingredients for the Mew I was working on as well as finding some yarn in the right color for my Tetris blanket!

 

<———– *\(^o^)/*

So I’ll finally be able to get back to work on both projects.  I’m actually getting scary close to finishing the Tetris blanket, which will be weird considering I’ve been working on it off and on for a few years now. XD

I have another weekend full of house/apartment hunting so I don’t know exactly how much I’ll get done, but I’ll definitely be finishing up the cat hat and I’ll make sure when I post the finished product it will be on a model… He’s so looking forward to it. Ψ(｀▽´)Ψ I’ll also try and figure out a program I can use to type up the pattern I’m making up for my scarf.

Until Monday!

Usually I’m Trash (bag), but today I’m Produc(tiv)e bag

So I thought I had Sunday off turns out, as with many things in life, I was very wrong.  Luckily this was pointed out to me by a coworker on Saturday (Yes, I worked all weekend.  I’m actually staring down 9 straight days in a row.) instead of me getting a really panic inducing phone-call on Sunday morning that would have left me irritable and possibly put my job in jeopardy (I’m still in the probation period where they decide if they want to keep me… PLEASE KEEP ME!) So I didn’t have as much time to dedicate to the noble art of hooking what with also needing to look for housing and stuff, but I did get a little done.

Here is the promised pattern for my mesh market bags.  They’re basically the same pattern, they have different starts.

Round Bottom Bag:

Materials:

Worsted yarn in cotton (I used Lily Sugar ‘n Cream)

H (5 mm) hook

Scissors

Abbreviations & Special Stitches in order of appearance:

MR= Magic Ring

ch= chain stitch

dc= double crochet

ss =slip stitch

st= stitch

For this pattern inc= dc, ch 2 twice in same stitch

Pattern notes: For the purposes of this pattern chains are not counted as stitches unless otherwise noted.  Do not turn your work, this pattern is worked in joined rounds.

Rnd 1: MR ch 3 (counts as first dc) 7 dc, ss into third ch of first st (8 dc)

Rnd 2: Ch 5 (counts as first dc+ch 2) dc+ch2 in each st around (8dc) 
Rnd 3; Ch 5 (counts as first dc+ch 2) inc every other st, ss in 3rd ch of first dc (12dc)

Rnd 4: Ch 5 (counts as first dc+ch2) inc every other st, ss in 3rd ch of first dc (18 dc)

Rnd 5: Ch 5 (counts as first dc+ch2) inc every other st, ss in 3rd ch of first dc (27dc)

(Ignore that last increase row in the picture, I realized later it made the bag WAY huge)

Rnd 6-19: Work even (27 dc)

(At last we pay attention to those poor neglected chain stitches!)

Rnd 20: Ch 4 (counts as first dc+ch1), dc+ch1 in every other stitch, including chain stitches.  It doesn’t work out completely even as you’ll have to skip two chains to ss into the 3rd ch of the first dc. (41dc)

Fasten off

Tie:

Row 1: ch a 20 inch length

Row 2: Turn and sc back

In first end ch 3, dc, ss, repeat 3 times around the edge of the end. fasten off

Thread tie through the last round of dc by the unadorned end, once threaded through repeat embellishment at other end.

Square(ish) bottom bag

Row 1: Ch 21, turn and sc back (20 sc)

Rnd 2: (Do not turn) Ch 5 (counts as first dc+ch2), work two more dc+ch2 in first stitch working around, dc+ch2 every other sc, working 3 dc+ch2 in opposite end, ss into 3rd ch in first dc (22 dc)

Rnd 3: Ch 5 (You know the drill) inc in first st (that ss) 10 dc+ch2, inc, 10 dc+ch2 in each dc around (24dc)

Rnd 4-21: work even (24dc)

(Again, finally giving those neglected chains some love!)

Rnd 22: Ch 4 (counts as first dc+ch1), dc+ch1 in every other stitch, including chain stitches.  It doesn’t work out completely even as you’ll have to skip two chains to ss into the 3rd ch of the first dc. (36dc)

Fasten off

Tie (this one’s a little different):

Row 1: ch an 18 inch length

Row 2: Turn and ss back

In first end ch 3, dc, ss, repeat 3 times around the edge of the end. fasten off

Thread tie through the last round of dc by the unadorned end, once threaded through repeat embellishment at other end.

I’m sorry if those patterns are hard to understand, any questions I’ll be happy to answer.  Both the bags are really customizable and I recommend playing around with the number of increases or starting stitches to get a bag the size you want.

I haven’t gotten any work done on the Prepster jacket (read all my attempts have ended in failure), but I did get started working with some lovely yarn I’ve had around, Tahki Stacy Charles Tandem yarn in Northern Lights (it’s beautiful, sorry my lighting is terrible).  I picked a shell pattern and I’m going to make an infinity scarf out of it.  I’ll be interested to see out it turns out after a few more rows.