Tag Archives: chain

Crochet & Bead, Light Enhancement

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ScannedImageA few years back my husband put together some bent iron and a couple of chains creating a “chandelier” of sorts. I was grateful for his effort, but needed to add some extra embellishments. I thought as the season changes to one in which we begin enjoying the great outdoors later in the hours of the day, that I would share how I took a couple of ideas and now enjoy the outdoors after the sunset.

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A crochet chain of bead adorns my extra porch light.

Crochet helped me once again in repurposing my new make shift light source. After painting the metal white, I felt that it needed something more. I had been playing with beads and jewelry wire, creating choker necklaces, and as it happened it became an inspiration. I strung several colors of beads on a long spool of wire and then simply began to create a crochet chain. I stretched the stitch after it was made, causing the wire to collapse more around the bead, this chain now adorns the metal by draping between the cross sections, and I created an additional chain of beads to weave through the chain that it is suspended from. It added just enough color and whimsy. So complete the project I added a few votive candles and holders, and now I have a beautiful art piece that graces the seating area of my back porch. It is nice to spend a quite spring evening outside by this soft light that has just a little something extra, brought together with crochet.

I have often considered creating more of these beaded chains, for adornment in other places, maybe I will have to create one to drape from my daughter bedroom window. Various beads can offer different effects and looks, but I think I like the color of these glass beads that allow the light through they almost have a glow about them.

Sometimes It Is the Basics That Make All the Difference

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ScannedImageIt is interesting how sometimes you overlook the simple. I always think of it as a challenge to see if there is a new way I can use a crochet hook; create a new approach to an old technique or combine pieces of several different techniques to create something different. However, sometimes it is just a simple chain stitch that can make the difference.

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Crossroad Leaves Shawl

Everyone that has used a hook has created a chain. It is the foundation to the beginning of almost every piece of fabric that a crocheter creates, but can it create a fabric its self? Of course it can.

In my latest design, I basically stumbled upon using the chain in this manner. I was using a lovely yarn, which had a very pretty, yet short color repeat. I wanted to get an effect of color pooling, or at least spans of the same color. Most crochet stitches were unable to aid me in creating this effect, as each stitch would use enough yarn to have more than one color in a stitch. Tunisian crochet allows for the color to work this way more, but I wanted a fabric that was a little more fluid. So I began to play.

Sometimes when I am attending an event of one of my children, I bring along a yarn that has no particular project and play with various stitches as a visit with other parents or cheer my child on. This was the case with this design. My fingers almost mindlessly began creating chains stacked upon chains, and I was really drawn to the result, from it Crossroad Leaves Shawl was born.

IMG_7280.1This shawl is worked from the center outward with a simple stitch repeat for the main fabric, and has two bands of my rendition of leaves, and edged with smaller “leaves”. Overall it has a beautiful drape, and feels great in the hand. It is actually a one skein project, using Lisa Souza Dyeworks Baby Alpaca Silk Petite, the color way is a limited edition (Rhinebeck 2015), but the color way of Deep Fall, Fall Leaves, or Leaf Pile easily can fit the bill for an almost exact replica. However there are so many beautiful colors available and this pattern would easily highlight any colors that may have a short repeat.

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Crossroad Leaves Shawl

The creation of this design does have me reviewing some stitches I may have overlooked (this particular stitch is already destined for another design), and opening my thoughts to some of the simple structure that is the back bone of crochet.

If you would like to add this pattern to your collection, you can find it on Ravelry & Craftsy.

New Again, at Least to Me- Clone Knots

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ScannedImageSometimes we find inspiration for crochet in unusual places, sometimes it is just looking at a traditional method in a different light.

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Clone Knots

For me the Clone Knot is one of those stitches that I never really knew existed until I took a thread crochet class from Kathy Earle at a CGOA conference/Knit & Crochet Show a couple of years ago. The class on Irish Crochet really expanded my knowledge, I usually do not work with thread and tiny hooks, however I really have a new level of respect for those that do. I took some of my new found skills and applied them to my yarn crochet, and the clone knot fit into this very well.

The clone knot is essentially a multiple of loops placed on the hook and worked together creating a bump of material in the middle of a set of chains. It creates a unique textural and visual impact to open fabric work, and in Irish crochet is often worked in between motifs during the joining process.

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Bring the hook under the working yarn.

To create this stitch, begin by chaining a couple of chains, then place the hook under the working yarn, rotate the hook 360° and place in under the working yarn again. Placing the hook under the working yarn and rotating the hook causes a loop of yarn to be placed on the hook and twisted to stay in place.

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Twist hook counter-clockwise 360 degrees

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Bring hook under yarn again, and re twist clockwise 360 degrees.

After working this motion a few times or the number indicated in the pattern, yarn over and pull through all the loops. Then chain a couple of more times, now comes the part of securing the stitch. Pull the chain taught and push the loops toward the working end of the chains. You should feel or hear a small pop; this is essentially that you are sliding the loops over the adjacent chain causing it to become secure.

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Yarn over and pull through all the loops on the hook.

This unique stitch does have a slight disadvantage to what you usually expect from crochet, it is difficult to rip back, as securing it makes the stitch more difficult, as it creates what its name implies, a knot.

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Pull chain taught and push Clone Knot toward working end of the chain to secure it in place, you will feel or hear a “pop”.

I hope you give this embellishment a try, add it to an edging, an place of open work, any where you want something a little different.

Small Shifts, Big Differences…Where is Your Yarn?

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ScannedImageSimple things can make a huge difference….I was reminded of this just the other day, as I was putting together some “join-as-you-go” motifs.

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Working yarn behind the hook

They would join at through chain loops, and I found that I was working along splendidly, then put things down and come back and have the joins twisting. I could not for the life of me figure out what was causing this difference. I was entering the chain in the same direction, I was making the same number of stitches, and so what was my hold up? Was I distracted? Were my fingers and hook no longer obeying?

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Working yarn in front of hook, being pulled into chain stitch

Then, I noticed a very subtle difference….where was the working yarn drawing from? In every instant that I had a problem with the join twisting the working yarn was in front of my work, in front of my hook. This was the cause of the difference. Usually my working yarn is always behind my hook, this makes for a smooth fabric and joins that behave, but the simple acts of letting the working yarn get in front of the hook and everything goes backward.

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Top join is worked with working yarn behind hook, and bottom join is worked with working yarn in front of hook. Notice the twist of the loops in the bottom join.

This is similar to the effects of how you “yarn over”, the placement has very subtle and telling results (for a description of that post check out “How do you YO?”). The working yarn in front of the hook creates an extra twist to my join and, though creates a more textured fabric, is not necessarily the effect I am looking for.
So I put a little extra knowledge of how crochet stitches work in my basket, and will have to play with it in the future and see what effects it can create, that I actually intend for.

Adding Stitch Extentions

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ScannedImageThe world of crochet seems to be ever evolving, and one technique that I have seen recent renewed interest in is the “extended stitches”. Extended stitches are essentially the same stitches as are regularly used, single, half double, double, treble, etc. however they have an extra pull through making them slightly taller.

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Begin an extended double crochet just as you would a typical double crochet; yarn over, insert hook in indicated space, yarn over, pull up a loop

This stitch type is really nice is you are created a fabric that has gradual height changes as an extended single crochet is slightly taller than a single crochet, yet slightly shorter than a half double crochet, creating a very nice gradient of height by using the three stitches together.
To create an extended stitch, you begin as you do for the standard stitch, for example for a double crochet and an extended double crochet you; yarn over, insert hook in indicated stitch, yarn over, pull through up loop. Now, this is where the only difference now takes place, for an extended stitch, you chain 1, then continue as you would with the remainder of the stitch, yarn over pull through 2, twice.

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Next, Chain 1, then complete the stitch as normal, Yarn over, pull through 2, twice

By simply creating a chain stitch at the very base of the typical stitch you create this extra height. Another interesting creation with this stitch is that it creates a fabric that is a little more “stretchy” than the traditional stitch, while giving a very similar appearance. I often mix this stitches in items that I create in a free form style to allow for smoother transition of styles, and I also use then mixed with more traditional stitches to create fabrics with subtle texture changes.

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See the subtle difference between the stitch on the left and the one adjacent, the bottom of the stitch as a little more height before the first bar in the post

I hope this clears up any mysteries about this simple adjustments to everyday stitches, that can easily be added to you foundation of stitch knowledge.