First
of all, I would like to thank you for supporting my efforts in keeping
Crochetology. going and relevant. I started Crochetology around 2006
during one of the most difficult times in my life. I was still living in
the city then and have just moved out of my mom's home to a temporary
flat with my husband. This was when I started to experience health -
physical and emotional - problems. In retrospect, this was the beginning
of the severe depression that - after nearly 10 years - I have only
started to manage with some success. While I am aware that the root of
my problems need to be confronted and addressed, I have found crochet to
be a much needed refuge during the darkest times. Now that I live in
rural Bohol where we have a small backyard farm of ducks, pigs and
chickens, farm life and the many duties and responsibilities it entails
has given me the strength and resolve to keep getting better.
Secondly,
I'd like to take this moment to give you a summary of what I have been
doing over the past month and a half as far as crocheting and crafting
are concerned. Yes, over a rather short period of time, I have completed
a good number of projects, all of them are what I call Crochetology
Exercises because they are the result of untangling problems that I
consider important.
One
of the first Crochetology Exercises I tackled is the seamless
construction of a bolero from the top down. The problems starts with a
photograph of a beautiful crocheted lace bolero which I decided to
decipher. Whenever I try to do something like this, I always use yarn
that I can work quickly and easily with, often it is sport or dk weight
yarn that works up quickly. This way, I deal with the construction
problems first and when that goes well, I can re-create the piece using
the appropriate yarn and colour.
The
second Crochetology Exercise deals with similar construction problems.
This time, I used the pattern for a skirt to make a cardigan. The skirt
pattern featured gradual increase all around and I considered this to be
a perfect pattern that is also easy to modify to construct the yoke of
the garment and continue working downwards.
For the cardigan, I used Baby Model from Ice Yarns and a 4mm crochet hook. This works up very quickly and could be finished in a weekend. The skirt pattern is a free pattern from Drops Yarns. I will provide the links to the pattern and yarns in the next newsletter.
The
third Crochetology Exercise is a pair of crocheted socks. Majority of
socks are knitted and I have to admit that knitted fabric stretches
superbly compared to crocheted fabric. However, I wanted to figure out
how a sock can be made by crocheting so I went ahead. I used
Anti-Pilling Yarn from Ice Yarns and a 4mm crochet hook. To make the
sock, I started working in rounds at the toes towards the heel. When I
get to the heel I shape it by working in rows, leaving an opening for
the leg of the sock which is then worked in rounds. It looks complicated
but crocheting a sock is actually quite easy.
While making the socks I decided to start another project, something fairly easy. So I made this two-tone scarf using two types of fancy yarn: Mini Butterfly and Arado from Ice Yarns. This fourth Crochetology Exercise was the opportunity to learn how to crochet with fancy yarns. It can be quite tricky but I soon got the hang of it. I'll share with you my process in the next newsletter.
The
fifth Crochetology Exercise is a modification of a triangular shawl
pattern. The problem was how to modify a fairly complex pattern for a
triangular shawl so as to make it a rectangular shawl and then a poncho.
I
decided to make this project because my sister wants me to make her a
poncho and I didn't like the ponchos available. So I made my own, using
Metallic Viscose yarn from Ice Yarns and 4mm crochet hook. Later I'll
share with you the process of modifying the pattern, including
correcting mistakes along the way.
I
love how this shawl/poncho turned out! It can be worn in three ways,
and can also be worn as a head cover. Later, I decided to make another
version, using the same modified shawl pattern, but this time, I made it
into a turquoise top - starting sleeveless - then added sleeves in with
a delicate lace edging. I am sending these to my mom and my sis so they
could decide if they or others in the family would like to have these
in other colours. The yarn is a bit heavy but I love it, I love the
glitter and the colours.
The
next 2 Crochetology Exercises have to do with the problem of shaping. I
wanted to explore the possibility of making shaped garments without
using any shaping techniques - such as increase and decrease - in the
design.
I considered that the type of yarn used is important in this exercise,
so I decided to use two types of yarn: one is a stiff non-elastic type
of yarn called Mohair Shrimp from Ice Yarns and the other is the same
type of yarn I used for the socks, Anti-Pilling Yarn.
I was able to make these garments (my husband calls them waistcoats)
using only chain and treble stitches and simple shapes (rectangles).
They are not "shaped" but they still look as if they were constructed
with shaping and they certainly don't look "boxed up." I have written
down notes in making these and will share them in succeeding
Crochetology Newsletters. Both these garments were made using 4mm
crochet hook, so these work up quite fast!
While
working on these projects, I decided to make something fairly simple
(it something I often do to distract from more complex work!) This is a
skirt that is worked in the round with treble stitches, which is easy
enough to increase evenly all around as work is started from the waist
and downwards. Then for the bottom of the skirt, I used one of my
favourite edgings, the same one I used for the sleeve of the turquoise
blouse described earlier. The waistband of this skirt is elastic. This
is made by crocheting (with single crochet) an elastic band all around
the waist. The yarn I used for this project is Stella from Ice Yarns and
the hook is 4mm.
After
this skirt my next Crochetology Exercise were a mini dress and a fitted
top. These begin my explorations in making those fashionable "strappy"
garments.
The
dress is worked in fancy yarn (yes, unbelievable making a dress with
just fancy yarn!) called Mini Butterfly from Ice Yarns. I made it as as
simple dress and then later decided to add the "cold shoulder" sleeves. I
have to admit that this isn't the best-looking garment but when worn it
actually looks quite flattering! Perhaps it is the delicate colour or
those "cold shoulder" styles actually look good.
The
second "strappy" garment I made is not exactly that strappy, I like to
take these things slow! This is a fitted top with a strap going across
the neckline. This is constructed in a manner similar to the
Crochetology Exercises on Shaping (the two waistcoats). For this top I
used an amazingly lovely yarn called Rigel from Ice Yarns. The colour is
maroon, burgundy and gold metallic and I love it!
Next
time I will deal with these projects (and about yarns) in greater
detail. At the moment work is going slow with the computer since my
laptop broke down and I have to borrow my husband's computer. Hopefully,
next week, I will have addressed this situation and should be able to
work faster and write the patterns and notes for these projects.
I
hope you enjoy reading about and seeing these Crochetology Exercises
and I hope that you'll join me in unravelling all these next time. :)
And last but not least, if you think someone else would enjoy reading this newsletter, please feel free to pass this onto them and tell them about the Crochetology website and the Subscription benefits. Admittedly I am not any good at promoting my work and so after nearly a month I have only so far gotten one - yes one - subscriber. I hope there will be another one or more in the next couple of weeks, with your help. :)
Happy crocheting!
Fatima of Crochetology.net :)
January 20, 2017
San Roque, Baclayon
6301 Bohol, Philippines
January 20, 2017
San Roque, Baclayon
6301 Bohol, Philippines
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