Craft Cove Blog

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Hexes Against Bullies

A couple of weeks ago I heard a terrible thing in the news.

An Australian girl committed suicide due to relentless online bullying.

I was shocked and horrified. So sad.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/police-investigation-under-way-ahead-of-dollys-funeral/news-story/ebcbee59a67306acf292ed05a150577e

Sticks and stones can break my bones

But names can never hurt me

This is so not true. I've always known this personally. Words CAN hurt! And VERY much

Then I was asked to join a facebook group of crocheters to create a hexagon, and have it joined to many other people's hexagons to create a lovely blanket to give to their family.

I thought it was such a lovely gesture. I was honoured to help

Then there was another story that shocked me to the core.

A teenage girl was assaulted viciously, she was tortured for 2 and a half hours while it was filmed.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/disabled-teenager-bashed-and-tortured-by-three-girls-after-being-lured-into-a-park-20180117-p4yyl0.html

This affected me so much because, while I know what it's like to be bullied, it was never physical.

This beaten girl was disabled. I know many disabled people, and used to work with them

This happened at Moe, a town in Victoria, Australia. The same town where I grew up

The girls doing the attack were 12 and 15!

I know these things have been happening since time began. But usually they happen when no-one else is around, and we don't get to see it. We see the poor kid who was beaten up at school, he is black and blue with bruises. And we think, "poor boy, that is terrible" Or they get told "Just ignore them"

This time it was there for us to see. And it was awful!

I decided I wanted to do something.

I decided I would also create a facebook group, where many people would come together and make hexagons. The hexagons would then be sent to me, where I would join them together into the blanket. Hexagons are a great shape to join together. And so much nicer than squares

The group started as Crochet for Kim. Then we made another blanket, with squares, for her sister. After that we decided to keep the group open to all crafters. It's now called Crochet and Crafts

Then I decided I may as well create the pattern for it too.

Of course I get carried away with patterns, and made it pretty fancy. So I decided I need to make an easier version too.

This worked perfectly. It would balance the fancy version, and the beginners can make it easily

And then I think I better create a chart too, for the visual learners. I find these tricky, but I did it. Then for lots of photos.

I have never created a pattern so quickly before. And I have never organised anything like this before.

A little overwhelming, but I have got a few helpers now. So far, so good

I can't wait to see it finished and Kim snuggled up in it. I hope it gives her comfort

Finally she received the blanket, and loved it

You can find the patterns here

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

When a circle is not a circle

One of the main ways of creating a corner is by working 2 sts (or more) in the same stitch, with 1 or 2 chains between.

This is why a circle can start to look like a 8 pointed shape or octagon. Each of the increase stitches can become like a corner. This seems to be especially true for sc.

To avoid this you can stagger the increases.

Eg: Do the first 3 rows as a normal circle. In the next row, work half the single sts first, work as normal, then work the other half

Row 1: Magic circle, 8 sc in circle. (8 stitches)

Row 2: 2 sc in each stitch around (16 stitches)

Row 3: *1 sc in next st, 2 sc in next st. Repeat from * to end (24 stitches)

Row 4: 1 sc in 1^st st, 2 sc in next st, *1 sc in each of next 2 sts, 2 sc in next stitch. Repeat from * to last st , 1 sc in last st (32 stitches)

Row 5: *1 sc in each of next 3 sts, 2 sc in next stitch. Repeat from * to end (40 stitches)

Row 6: 1 sc in each of next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, *1 sc in each of next 4 sts, 2 sc in next stitch. Repeat from * to second last st, 1 sc in each of last 2 sts (48 stitches)

Row 7: *1 sc in each of next 5 sts, 2 sc in next stitch. Repeat from * to end (56 stitches)

Row 8: 1 sc in each of next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st, *1 sc in each of next 6 sts, 2 sc in next stitch. Repeat from * to second last st, 1 sc in each of last 3 sts (64 stitches)

The next image shows the improvement when working the stitches staggered

More on posts making circles

Making a Flat Circle
http://craftcove.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/making-flat-circle.html

When The Flat Circle Goes Wrong

https://craftcove.blogspot.com.au/2018/01/when-flat-circle-goes-wrong.html

Which Hook For the Perfect Circle
https://craftcove.blogspot.com/2018/01/which-hook-for-perfect-circle.html

When a Circle is Not a Circle
https://craftcove.blogspot.com/2018/01/when-circle-is-not-circle.html

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

When The Flat Circle Goes Wrong

When crocheting in a circle, if there were never any increases, the crochet would form a tube.

To make a flat circle, you need to increase stitches. See my other post for the formula: http://craftcove.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/making-flat-circle.html

There is a formula to create a flat circle, but not all patterns use the formula, or use the formula the same way. Or your tension may be different. This may cause the circle to go wrong.

Sometimes it's actually part of the pattern design, and nothing to worry about.

The main problems that can happen are waving or curling

WAVING

If your circle is all wavy like the images above. The problem is that the outer edges are increasing in size more than needed.

This can happen if there are too many increases in the rows.

The answer is to reduce the increase stitches in each row. You could also try a smaller hook in the outer rows to try to "tighten" it

The above image shows the waving from earlier on. Try to fix it before it goes too far

CURLING

Curling is when the edges curl up into a bowl. The problem here is that the outer edges are not being increased enough.

To fix this problem, you need to increase some stitches evenly along the rows.

Sometimes a larger hook can help if used along the outer edges

Next week I'll talk about others things that can go wrong with the circle

More posts on making circles

Making a Flat Circle
http://craftcove.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/making-flat-circle.html

When The Flat Circle Goes Wrong

https://craftcove.blogspot.com.au/2018/01/when-flat-circle-goes-wrong.html

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Making a Flat Circle

Often when crocheting you will want to create a lovely circle that will sit nice and flat

Some people say there is a secret formula to creating the perfect flat circle. But it's not really a secret, it's just a clever way to evenly increase around to keep it flat

When crocheting in a circle, if there were never any increases, the crochet would form a tube.

To make it a flat circle, you need to increase stitches in each row

Here is the formula to use.

Formula

Increase by the starting number of stitches in every row.

Here's an example or the number increase:

Row 1: 12 stitches.

Row 2: 12 + 12 total 24 stitches,

Row 3: 24 + 12 total 36 stitches

Row 4: 36 + 12 total 48 stitches

Row 5: 48 + 12 total 60 stitches

Row 6: 60 + 12 total 72 stitches

The usual way to create this into a circle is by crocheting like this:

Row 1: Magic circle, 12 dc in circle. (12 stitches)

Row 2: 2 dc in each stitch around (24 stitches)

Row 3: 1 dc in next st, 2 dc in next st (36 stitches)

Row 4: 1 dc in each of next 2 sts, 2 dc in next stitch (48 stitches)

Row 5: 1 dc in each of next 3 sts, 2 dc in next stitch (60 stitches)

Row 6: 1 dc in each of next 4 sts, 2 dc in next stitch (72 stitches)

When making a circle in dc (tr UK/Aus) the most common number of starting stitches is 12, but it can be anything between 10 to 14 stitches for best results.

But use less for sc (dc in UK/Aus), 6 to 10 stitches works best

Next week I will explain what to do when things go wrong with the flat circle.