Aloha April Finished -Pattern-

Aloha April Contest Entry

This is the project I have been working on to enter in a contest being held over at r/crochet.

I wanted to be able to take the sham off with out having to destry it so it can be washed, and when fall comes I can pack it away and maybe make a more fall themed sham.  I just tie off the top of the motif to the top of the motif on the other side with  a yard of yarn folded over  to make those little bows.

This also goes to show how lighting can realy change a picture.  It is over cast outside and raining off an on but I was able to get that bottom shot off.  Inside I took the top picture with 2 lights on (one behind and one in front) with what little natural light I could get from the window.  Funny thing is the indoor photo has the closest to true yarn color to the actual color then the outdoor photo and normally its the opposite, how ever the pillow's orange color is truer to the outdoor shot.

This is the pattern I originally posted for the flower motif--

1-ROW Ch 8, slst 1 in first ch.
2-ROW Ch 1, sc 16 into the loop.
3-ROW Ch 1, sc 2 over second and first rows (into the loop), ch 9 picot (ch 9, ss in first ch), sc 4 over second and first rows (into the loop), ch 9 picot (ch 9, ss in first ch), repeat from to 4 more times, sc 2 into the loop, ss 1 in first sc in this row.
4-ROW  *ln next ch 9 picot: sc 2, hdc 2, dc 2, tr 3, ch 3 picot, tr 2, dc 2, hdc 2, sc 2: skip 1 sc in 3rd row (loop), ss 1 in next sc', repeat from * to * 5 more times (except make last ss in the first sc of this row).

I wound up only needing 18 motifs (3 rows of 6 motifs) to fit my pillow. 

To connect as you work (recomended) for the first row, work one motif, then work the 2nd motife  but on peddle 2, when you make your picot instead of ch 3 work -ch 1, slst into picot on 6th peddle of previous motif, ch 1- peddle 3 will connect to the previous motifs peddle 5.   The 3rd-5th will all be worked the same. 6th motif you will be using to close the ring, work 1st peddle, connect the next two as previous with 2-5, work 4th peddle (no connecting), now in the 5th peddle work its picot into the 3rd picot from the 1st motif, 6th peddle into the picot of the 2nd peddle of the 1st motif.

For the second row, you will be working 2 peddles, then join the next into the 4th peddle from previous row (just pick a spot to start), then working counter clockwise connect your next peddle into the joint where peddles 5 and 3 joined. work next peddle into 4th peddle of that 2nd motif (going clock wise), work last peddle.   Repeat this for the next motif (add the next motif to the right of previous), but the last peddle will be worked into the 5th peddle of previous motif (the one to the left).   For the last motife of the row work one peddle, then connect to the FIRST motif of the row first -- 2nd peddle into FM's 3rd, 3rd, into FM  2nd/4th join (going counter clock wise) and so on.

I repeated the second rows join method for my third row then just tied off the tops of each motif to the ones on the other side.

I found it helped for me to think of one point as the top (1st peddle) and bottom (4th peddle) when connecting,

Winter head wrap or Neck warmer.

 I decided to make a project for me since I have been working on stuff for others for some time.

I was out at a festavil with my sister and bro-in-law and the squirt and I keep seeing these chunky head bands.  They where all imported from china made from flimsy yarn and probably would fall apart in its first washing but I still wanted one.  At last I spend my money on other things like hydration and did not buy one but I figured I could just make one.So here it is my first go at this pattern I wrote as I worked.  It is super simple if you can double crochet, increase, and decrease you can do this.

You just need to know a few things

• How big the persons head is that wants the item
• Your crochet guage - which means how many stitches and rows it takes to make an inch (or your perfured method of measurement)

Start off by chaining 4

DC in the 2nd chain from hook, Dc in next chain (also last chain)

Ch 2 DC INC in both st's

Ch 2 Dc, inc, inc, dc

ch 2 DC 3, inc, inc, dc3

What I am doing here is Increasing in the middle two stitches you can increase till the band is wide enough for your liking, for a child I would stop increasing right here.  For my head band (fits my head at 22 inches) I did 2 more rows of increase.  

Once you have your increase as wide as you want the band to be measure it from the start point to the mid section of your last completed row.  Take that number and times it by 2 so if you have 4 inches, you would times it by 2 to be 8inches.  This number is important for me that would mean I would need to crochet an other 14 inches of just even back and forth rows.

Now depeding on your yarn, hook, and guage these numbers WILL differ for most people, I used a I or J hook with a #5 Bulky yarn but I crochet it tightly as I tend to do so my guage was about 3 stitches and 1 1/4 rows to an inch.

So what you need to do is just DC back and forth stoping to measure every know and then till you get the lenth you need  (( Head size {22} - Increase section{4*2})) Once you hit that lenght you will start your decrease rows which will be the same lenght as your increase rows (its why you muliplied by 2) As with the increases, I did all the decreasing in the middle section.

Picking up from where I left off in the patter--

Ch 2 dc 3, dec, dec, dc 3

ch 2 dc,dec, dec, dc

Ch 2 Dec, Dec

Ch 2 dc 2

Leave a long tail.  

Using the long tail sew in a button that is roughly 1 inch wide, it should slip snuggly between the DC's from the starting row to secure the head band, and if your band is a little loose just go up a row or two.

I plan on make a flower for my head band from my previous post, like the ones I made for my sisters birthday gift.  I will use an alligator clip to attach it so that I can have multiple flowers to dress it up or down depending on my mood.

I wore it out today because it is getting cold here and the wind was picking up, it was nice and warm, and when I got to the store I just pulled it down so it sat around my neck keeping the warmth from my jack in.  It is not only cute but it function as a multipurpose warmer.  My jacked is a tight jean jacked and doesnt have the space for a bulky scarf to be tucked into but this winter head band/neck warmer worked great for me and did what I needed it to do.

As always if you make one I would love to see it.

As always I used the American terms for stitches.

Flowers! Irish Motif

I still need to get myself over to a crafting store and pick out a away to attach these flowers so she can pick and choose which one she wants to wear when ever she feels like a change of flower.


I am thinking alligator clips if I can find them in the right size.

Its been overcast for the past week so I just took shots of the flowers inside with the best lighting I can manage, I need to build me a light box I just dont have the space upstairs for it. I took some close up shots of some of the ones that just didn't come out in the group shot.  I hope Christine really likes these.  Most of theses where made with a bulky weight yarn with exception of the top middle (pink and grey) and the bottom middle two (yellow/blue and white) they where made with worst weight.

I didnt write down the pattern as I was working these they should be a basic Irish motif flower, but here is basicly what I did-

Chain 4 slst into first chain to form a ring
Chain 5 and dc into the ring, *chain 2 dc into the ring* do this 5 times then slst to the 3rd chain in the starting chain. You should have 6 chain spaces now.

Chain one, in the first chain space -sc, chain 1, dc2, chain 1, sc- repeat across all chain spaces you should end up with 6 peddles slsp into the first sc and cut off end.

Switch color and put a slip knot on your hook to start, slip stitch around the starting chain three from the BACK side of the flower  then chain up 6,  DC around the next dc post  (working from the back side of the flower this whole time) chain 3 and repeat all the way around, slst into the 3 chain in the begining chain up.  Again you shoould have 6 chain spaces.

Chain one - sc, ch 1, dc3, ch 1, sc- repeat across all chain spaces (I did a few peddles sc, ch1, dc, tr,dc,ch,sc to get a more pointy peddle) slst FO

For the one with a 3rd round -
Put a slip stitch on the hook and from the back side of the flower slip around the starting post of the last round, chain 7, dc around the next post, chain 3 repeat till you have 6 chain spaces.

Chain 1 --sc, hdc, dc2, hdc, sc -- repeat around finish off.



These work up quick and you only need a few yards (I believe I used less then 4 feet for the smallest flower)

UPDATE here are some shots of the flowers all finished and clipped onto the hat, yes I clipped them all on at once that way none of them will get lost.  I dont think she will ever wear more then one at a time, this is just so I know where they are.

Mizzou themed Girl hat

Finally finished working on this one.  I wasn't sure how I was going to do the girls hat and still keep it girly and not looking like a bumble bee in the gold and black.  I thought I might do kitties ears and strips but as i was getting into the 3rd round of strip's I realized it looked to much like a bee theme and unraveled it all.

So its a  pretty basic hat with a black stripe at the bottom with a twisted edge stitch.  I made three different sized little daisy chain flowers with a pearl embellishment.

I am not sure if the edging I did has a real name I just came up with it when I set my work down and come back and realized about 3 stitches in one of them  looked wrong.  Apparently my hook got twisted around and I had not noticed it but it made for a cute edging.