Crochet V Stitch Red Scarf

 For some reason, I suddenly started seeing videos and patterns for items made with the crochet V stitch. There's a few variations on the V stitch (adding two chains between the double crochets, adding a chain between Vs, skipping more stitches), but this scarf is the most basic form. 

However, I think that makes it harder to see that it's actually V stitches. 

It's even hard to see which way is up. Are they Vs, or ^ ?

Doesn't matter. It's a red scarf, used 85gr of yarn. I'm not doing very well on making more red scarves than last year!

Yarn In:  3470gr

Yarn Out:  7074gr + 85gr = 7159gr

Balance:  3689gr more OUT than in

Costs: $243.78

A Top So Nice, I Made it Twice!

 I love the first version of the "All About That Drape" top I made, so I got started on a second one. Well, I got swatching right away.

First, I tried Snuggly DK, because I liked the colour. It didn't want to drape.

Then I tried a cone of cream wool, thinking the natural fiber would help. Still no drape.

Then I thought I had found it. An abandoned short row shawl in bamboo, which I didn't have enough yarn for. It would be gorgeous for a tank top, but I need about twice what I have. 

To see these attempts, check out my videos and shorts on YouTube!

I finally reached for these two cones on my shelf. I wanted a brighter white, but that's fine.

I got a good gauge and drape, and dove in. Just like before, I started with the numbers for the medium, but when it was time to split for the front and back, I used the large numbers for the front, which left the exact needed in size small for the back.

I'm making a funny face because it's a screenshot from the video below. I forgot to take actual photos.

Sorry for the unedited video, I can't seem to edit in Google on my laptop.

I'm making a video with more details on how to make a garment fit YOU. It's not (usually) hard. If you haven't checked out my revamped YouTube channel, the link is above. 

Something I did differently this time, was switch to a larger crochet hook for the back, starting with the first V stitch row after the split (or the row before). Just made it a bit more open.

I'm finally liking crochet garments!!

Yarn In:  3470gr

Yarn Out:   6782gr +200gr = 6982gr

Balance:  3512gr more OUT than in

Costs: $243.78

When Everything Works Perfectly!

 No True Tracy Way involved with this make! 

I got into a rabbit hole of crocheted summer tops. I searched for a free pattern for days. I'd find a pattern, but the free video wasn't my size and the pattern wasn't free. Or, the pattern didn't match my yarns. Etc.

Then one night, June 16, I was at a meeting for the community band I'm in, and scrolling Facebook Marketplace at the same time. I found an ad for 8 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby. I contacted the seller, and he also had 8 balls of Patons' Silk Bamboo in 3 colours. I bought it all for $75 and picked up after the meeting. 

Almost immediately, I started swatching for "All About That Drape" by I Need It Crochet. Using a 5.5mm hook, I thought I matched gauge. I started the piece, and learned about a foundation double crochet. I didn't do the greatest job with that, but in the end, you go back around with single crochets, so don't worry too much. I worked up to the point with the measurement check. 

My piece was way too big. Ripped it out, and went down a size (made the Medium). 

I struggled a bit with some of the rows where you turn. I'm not always very precise.

When I got to the split for the front and back, I went with the large size for the front, which left exactly the same size number of stitches for the back. I wasn't very accurate with my increases as I went up the upper front, but it really doesn't matter too much. 

Tried it on, pinned the shoulders based on what she suggests in the pattern, but that was not right for me. No problem. Sewed it together, sewed under the arm a bit, did the edgings and wham! In under a month, I had a new, fabulous, tank top that fits me so incredibly well, I can't believe I made it.

Here, it's over a silk bias cut dress I wore for a date night. I didn't wear it on the date though, I just wanted to see how it looked over the dress. Love it.

The sizing came out incredibly perfect! Never feel you have to follow a pattern exactly. I KNOW I'm not a 42" bust split perfectly in two, why would I make something that has 21" for both the front and back? I need about 19" for my back, and 23" for my front. Usually, I'd try to have short rows for the bust, but in a patterned crochet, I'm just not sure if it would work.

My husband insisted I "push my boobs out" LOL. This was while we were camping. It wasn't totally finished, and I had it on over a shirt, but I wanted to get a general idea of the fit.  I used almost 6 balls, so I'm counting it as 6 (I had 2 full ones, and a small bit leftover)--300gr, or 750m/820 yds. The pattern says 850yd for the medium.

This pattern really needs a drapey yarn. Don't rely on "going up a hook size" to get the drape. On my YouTube channel, I have a couple short videos about this top, and trying to find a yarn to make a second one: https://youtu.be/vMBUc9aaCmY?si=ERxYGrquqeFrYFQG   https://youtu.be/XZDt6rB0n6M?si=HHo0w5AKoeg60_9v   

My second one is getting close to done, and I've changed it up a little of course!

I wasn't keen on the colour at first, but I do love it. While we were on our road trip, I even bought a fantastic fleece jacket (the weather ranged from 12C to 44C on the trip!).

Now, what do I make with the Bamboo Silk? The hard part is I don't like the three colours together and it's not enough of the cream and pink to make anything that I've found so far.

Yarn In:  3470gr

Yarn Out:   6482gr + 300gr = 6782gr

Balance:  3312gr more OUT than in

Costs: $243.78

World AIDS Day Scarves #3 and #4

 It's been a month (in more ways that one), so time to update on the red scarves.

Crocheted from the yarn of the sweater I unraveled:

I'm not sure what happened, but I discovered one end was wider than the other! That's not like me, though sometimes I do struggle with losing a stitch on the edges when doing double crochet. I'm just going to say this is a design feature.

This one weighs 70gr.

To try to not have whatever happened before, happen again, I ribbed this one, on 8mm needles. It's the same yarn and weighs 74gr. 

I'm not doing too well with making more than last year. At this rate, I'll have 10-11 scarves. I need to get cracking!

Have you checked out my YouTube channel yet? I'm working on the next video!

Yarn In: 800gr

Yarn Out: 3453gr + 142gr = 3595gr

Balance:  2795gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $29.37

I Crocheted A Sweater!

 Back in the fall/early winter, I started watching some new (to me) crochet and knitting YouTube channels. One was TL Yarn Crafts. One of her videos was an attempt to crochet a sweater in 24 hours. Really? Of course it was chunkier yarn. I'm not fond of crochet in chunky yarns. Crochet stitches are thicker than knit stitches.  I liked patterns from I Love Tinderbox  but frankly, I didn't want to pay for a pattern. After all, it's just math, right? I also looked at a lot from MJ's Off The Hook. The interesting thing is she lives about an hour from me, and we were both small creators at the same time, in same FB groups. She really ran with it and is now a huge crochet designer! Most of her patterns were yarns that were thicker. As well, although most patterns are free on her blog, they are incredibly annoying to read there. You can, of course, pay for a proper pattern. I also wanted to do top down, raglan style, but how to account for larger bust? 

I searched and searched. Finally, I settled on Silver Moon, by Drops. It's made top down, in pieces, and not a raglan. Exactly what I was looking for LOL. I had swatched a couple other patterns in a couple different yarns, but nothing was working. This one looked pretty easy and straight forward. 

I decided I was going to re-use yarn from an old favourite sweater. I posted in 2012 that I was going to re-work it then. I seemed to have actually started that re-knit. I don't know what happened. It was in my stash, complete with the needles. I really did like that sweater, but it was pretty shapeless. 

I had a lot of smaller balls due to the adjustments I had previously made with the sweater. I didn't pay attention at first to the colour sequencing when starting a new ball, but then I did part way through. 

I was crocheting so much, I actually decided to get a new crochet hook (after watching a bunch of videos). Not much available at Wal-Mart, but this one felt good. You can't try them out so you never know. I also watched a video on gadgets for crochet, and one tested a tension ring. She didn't like it, but but I had noticed the yarn was leaving essentially, a burn mark, across my finger. The ring really helped. 

I knit the back in the size Medium. I started with a larger size, but I'm glad I downsized. The nice thing about this pattern is that you can switch between UK and US terminology and have it circle all the instructions for your size choice. 

I pretty much followed the back exactly. For the front, I started with the same size Medium, but then increased in the front on either side of centre (by a bit, not exactly at the centre, but about halfway between centre and edge). I really wanted short rows, but had no idea how to do that in double crochet. 

I noticed that the right side (as worn) was smoother along the bottom than the left side.

When I got closer to the front bottom, I looked up how to do short rows, and I added some to round out the front piece's bottom, to allow for the extra length I need on my front. 

The sleeves were to be picked up and crocheted down. I could not make sense of the instructions. Upon looking really close at the picture, there seemed to be a decorative join. I ditched that and just attached like usual. 

Then I sewed it up. Then I went to weave in ends. 

What is this?! I found out I had done something with weaving in the end...I did it over a seam, and it was so tight it was puckering the right side. I tried really hard to unweave that end, but I could NOT find the end!! Eventually I cut it, and tied in another strand to loosen it off. That's the True Tracy Way, LOL.

I really like the sweater. However, I think the yarn has been overworked. It feels a bit crispy. And it pills very easily. And the lower front edge is actually a bit too wide. The yarn has a decent drape, but it is tenting out over my front hips.

When I tried it on, I decided the V neck was a bit low for work. I decided to crochet a mesh insert. It was hard to wrap my head around how to do this. I felt like I was crocheting backwards on every other row. This picture doesn't show it well. I put a light colour napkin behind the insert, but you can see the back of the sweater too. 

Some of the seaming went well. However, the sleeves gave me some issues. I finally marked every 5 rows on each edge to match them up. And the seam shows more on this one sleeve than the other seams. 

I ended up with two different weights. First was just the sweater on the scale, and the second was with it in a bowl (tared out).  So, I'm using a mid-way weight. Mexican Wave DK, 5mm hook. I'm going to round it up a smidge to 400gr even.

Just before I finished, I found a bag with about 4-5 unused balls of this yarn!!! What?! I'll have to see if that's enough for another sweater--maybe knit, since it uses less yarn (smaller, because I'm shrinking a bit). 

Yarn In: 500gr

Yarn Out: 400gr + 2143gr = 2543gr

Balance:  2043gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $15.81

Red Scarf #1 2026 World AIDS Day Charity

 I was procrastinating a bit on a couple projects, and also, my wrist has been a bit sore, so I decided it was time to work with a bit thicker yarn and make the first red scarf for the year. I was hoping to donate even more this year, but 1) my red yarn stash is low, and 2) I got obsessed with hats on the LK150 and the ribbed beanies. 

This is my "Mix it Up" version. I had a LOT of small balls of red yarn from previous scarves, and I think some were Patons "Astra" from a series of Christmas stockings that I made years ago when I did custom stockings. It's a simple double crochet, I believe it's 20DC, on a 5mm hook. 

Red is so hard to photograph! There's a lot of textures in this scarf, from very thin sections, to chunky, to the red eyelash stripes. 

One tip I have is to crochet over the old yarn tail when starting the new yarn. Not all the way to the end of it though. Then on the return yarn, crochet over it again. Then you meet the tails of the new yarn, and again, continue it along for an inch or so, then on the return, crochet over the rest. I try not to change yarns at the edges as I found last year that was making the edges a bit more bulky and untidy.

This scarf weighs in at 122gr.

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 122gr + 1697gr = 1819gr

Balance:  1819gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Crochet Mesh Beachside Cardigan

 I like cardigans. You might have noticed if you've read this blog before. Long, short, knit, sewn, crocheted...doesn't matter. My big trouble is that I tend to go with patterned fabric, or multi coloured yarns and then struggle with creating outfits because I also have a lot of patterned tops. And even some bottoms.

I need a white cardigan. Years ago I made a "white" Bill King cardigan on the standard gauge knitting machine. It's nice--boxy, unusual, very light. However, I'm not fond of the back, and, it's not white. It's a lovely soft white. I need crisp, cold white.

I looked in my stash and debated between an unknown high twist smooth white yarn and a slubby coned yarn. I went with the slubby yarn. I've used it for a few small things, but there is a LOT of this yarn.

I was debating between two different mesh crochet patterns from Inspirations. I went with the Crochet Mesh Beachside Cardigan. Yarnspirations Link  and Ravelry Link. I liked how it looks like the cane mesh material used in the backs of old chairs. 

I swatched quite a bit, using two strands and different hook sizes to get gauge. I used 4.00mm and 4.5mm. The first swatch was too small so I tried again and could not get the second row to line up right. Kept at it and it finally clicked. Use the video linked in the pattern.

I made size Large. It took so long to do one row of the X stitch. It did get a bit faster but each stitch just requires several steps. The height builds faster. It's hard to decide if a simple double crochet mesh wouldn't have been easier, but I do like how this pattern is just a bit more unique than a simple double crochet! 

When it came time to separate for the arms, I did not do as the pattern said. Instead of 11 X stitches for each front, I used 14 X stitches. This made the back smaller.  It wouldn't have worked easily to do a full bust adjustment with short rows, like you might with single crochet or a simple knit pattern, but at least my front pieces would fit better and the back wouldn't be too baggy. 

One thing to note--the diagram showing the front armhole and neck shpaing do NOT show the straight rows after finishing the neck shaping. I had to go back and add two rows to each front. I ended with 7 X stitches on each front.

I made the size L sleeves, with no adjustments. 

I think this is the most shaped crochet piece I've done! I'm really pleased with how it all went together!!

Hubby was starting to annoy me with the photos LOL.

I'm wearing it today, and Lucy (now 22), said it's a very trendy design! 

I really like this cardi, though the sleeves could be one or two rows longer. 

There's only one issue.

It's not WHITE-white. 

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out: 230gr + 1110gr = 1340gr

Balance:  1340 gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Back to Red

 I still have the red yarn I bought in the early fall, so I'm still pumping out red scarves for World AIDS Day later this year!

A pretty simple crochet stitch from a stitch dictionary.  I did have to start it several times though. Too wide, take off what the math says should come off. Try again.  Too narrow.  Add back half of what you took off. Why does yarn math do this?!

I realized after I started that if I just crocheted the length, the two ends would match. So I crocheted 3 feet, and stopped. Then I went back to the original chain, and worked the other direction for 3 feet. Just a simple thing but it makes it look so much nicer in the end.  This one took 115 grams.

I also knit up a ribbed hat to use up the rest of the navy yarn from the booties. This one I re-did several times for a variety of reasons. I'm not fond of worsted weight for newborn hats, but it's done. 

I swear, it's navy blue, not slate blue. I guess using my black chest freezer for the backdrop wasn't a good choice.

It took a whopping 26 grams of mystery navy yarn.  

Remember how I had found 3 unstuffed mice, a few blog posts ago?  Well, even though this storage ottoman is quite small, I found a bunch more when I decided I was going to take everything out and see what needed finishing.

Some came out a little wild looking--those two green ones!  One has a squished in nose, the other one has a nose like an alligator gar (a fish), or an anteater!

These took a total of  218 grams.  To stuff them, I used yarn ends, a baby photo prop hat that was in the bin that got wrecked when I washed it, scraps of yarn I had in this bin that I didn't like, etc. And catnip!

Not in the ottoman but in the drawer where I keep some other knitting related stuff were some bear parts. I had previously bagged them, there were two bears plus a body and a leg.  I had some trouble keeping track of parts, and I forgot I had used different sized needles...I had to reknit one leg...I used the first one to stuff the second one! 

I love these guys. I tried to stuff on the looser side so they'd be squishy. They took 70 grams.

I also threw out a hat I had made but had issues with and took partially apart and never got back to it. Just threw that sucker in the trash. No trying to save the yarn (I did like the yarn!). And you know what? It felt good! 

The ottoman is still full though. A bag of mice, a baby set, three bears, an old Christmas tree skirt section, and a bag from Lewiscraft...which closed in 2007 (I actually thought it was much sooner than that). I think this came from a friend of my mom, or my mother-in-law. There's a pair of very tall light blue socks, one finished, one almost finished, and a pair of burgundy gloves, also almost finished. I guess I might as well finish them. It might show a difference, but to someone that needs these items, I'm sure they won't mind. Both are too big for me.  

So in the need-to-finish list, I have:

• these socks and gloves
• Christmas tree skirt (started in 2000 I think)
• 3 Sophie purses that need handles attached (the pattern came out in 2004, and I worked on one while in the hospital having a baby so that would have been Megan in 2005). 
• several baby sweaters that need buttons

I've also started on another red scarf! 

I also got rid of a giant skein of yarn I bought from the last time I went to the Spinrite sale in 2009.  I had quite a few people interested and some even wanted me to ship it. Perhaps I should have asked more than $5.  It was huge, but needed winding and had some over dye on some of it.  I figured no one would want it!  I'm not including it in my yarn totals because it was from before I started keeping track and really, it would have made my numbers so skewed.

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out: 115+ 26 + 218 + 70 + 681gr = 1110gr

Balance:  1110 gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Seeing Red

 How many red scarves can I make? I can't even keep track. I have two pictures in my Google Photos that were since the last time I posted red scarves, but no actual "staged" photos.

This one was just double crochet, 20 per row. Super easy, super fast. The first one I did in DC was 18 stitches and I wanted just a bit bigger. A couple times I found out I had gone down to 19 DC, so I had to rip back. One time, it was quite a bit to rip out but it is super fast to crochet. 132 gr. 

This is another ribbed one. It was a bit narrow but I was hoping I could heavily steam it and stretch it looser. That didn't really happen but I'll throw it in anyway. It's more like 4-5" wide instead of 6". 

The school I have a small part time job at has started a "share closet" for extra supplies, donations, spare clothes etc. I'm going to donate the bag of mittens that I had from lunch supervision. Plus, I've made some in the mean time but never found anywhere to donate. I also decided to just grab some yarn and knit some tiny mittens. More on those in the next post. While looking in one of my storage ottomans for something, I found 3 felted but unstuffed mice. So I sewed them up with some catnip.

I also made two more fingerless gloves using the orange/yellow/pink yarn. I needed one to replace the too-yellow one from the last pair. Then I thought I might as well knit another to make that one into a pair, and donate those to the school. 

The too-yellow one on top, the new one at the bottom.

This is the pair I've ended up with for myself.

While I was in the ottoman, I found a fair isle ear flap hat I had made on the Singer 155 many years ago, that I wasn't totally happy with. There was a yarn tail hanging out, so I wove that in and threw it in the donation bag. Apparently I made it in 2011 and there were some issues. I don't know if I ever fixed all the issues....I sort of remember wearing it, but I've had so many hats. I'm not counting this yarn total since I really didn't even do much. I wasn't keep track of yarn back then.

Many knitters do a "Finish it February" theme, and perhaps that's what I'm doing too. I have a Christmas tree skirt pattern I think I bought in 2001 at Spinrite, in Listowel, back when it was still just Patons I think. And a mohair sweater from pre-blog....who knows what else....I have a bag of wool socks that need mending, but I rarely wear wool socks now. I have three Sofie purses from 2002/2003 that need handles (I think I have two of them, maybe even three). 

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out:  334gr + 206gr = 540gr

Balance:  540gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Red, Red, Red

I finished up some red scarves since I last posted! 

Taking a look back, I was sure I had blogged about some of these, but it seems not! Here's the latest five scarves for World AIDS Day.

90gr

60gr

70gr

100gr

114gr

These five scarves were either out of the Bernat Super Value I picked up in the summer, or some old, shiny, slippery red yarn from the stash. The Bernat is actually quite nice when worked loosely and washed/dried.  All together, they weigh 434gr.

While on our cruise, there was a knitting/crocheting group that met up every other day or so. It was a ship run event, so a member of the Happenings Cast would be the host. I only got to go 3 times, I think. It conflicted with lectures I wanted to go to. One of the ladies learned how to make these little octopus, which is Virgin Voyages mascot (though for our ship, technically it's a robin egg's blue, but red is more synonymous with VV. She loaned me a hook and yarn, showed me how, and off I went. I made 3 in the last couple days of the cruise. They take about an hour each. I did the eyes once I got home. I did three different eyes because I couldn't decide. A vote in a FB crochet group said the ones on the right were best.  Megan took that one. They weigh about 10gr each, in a worsted weight (30gr total). 

On Boxing Day we went up to my Mom's in Bancroft. The girls wanted to go to Stedman's the next day, for old times' sake. It was fun. I bought 2 balls of Kroy sock yarn to make gloves, and I actually just did make them! That was 100gr, for $8.99 each, I don't think the tax break applies to yarn, so $20.32.

Yarn In:  2090gr + 100gr = 2190gr
Yarn Out: 464gr + 2055gr = 2519gr
Balance: 329gr more OUT than in
Costs: $20.32 + $44.55 = $64.87