Kaartehan ni Manding

Friday, June 05, 2009

WIP - Cloche

I've been working on a cloche for the past few weeks. I say the past few weeks because I have had to rip off the project several times as the cloche was too big for my head. I am following a pattern, but then I don't have the correct yarn and needle size so it's been more of a trial-and-error thing. (I had a stash of yarn that I wanted to use before I buy a new stash.) I think I finally got it right. I should be done soon. I hope!

Growing Herbs

I've always wanted to grow herbs, but I don't have a green thumb so I shied away from it. Recently, I took a leap of faith and bought three herbs - rosemary, mint and basil - from the garden store nearby. It's been two weeks and they seem to be thriving despite the lack of direct sunlight. I used some of the basil when I made tuna spread the other day and a few mint leaves for iced tea. I'm excited to use more of these fresh herbs in the coming weeks, especially the basil, which seems to be growing more than the mint. (We were told at the garden store that the mint tends to take over the other plants beside it.)

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Magic Ring

This is a wonderful way of crocheting in the round. I've always struggled whenever I needed to make the starting round. Not anymore!

Here are two useful links:

1) Planet June

Magic Ring (right-handed)

Looking for the left-handed instructions? If not, read on…

What is this ‘Magic Ring’, anyway?

A magic ring is a way to begin crocheting in the round by crocheting over an adjustable loop and then pulling the loop tight. The advantage of the magic ring method (below, right) is that, unlike the regular “chain 2, x single crochet in 2nd chain from hook” method (below, left), there is no hole left in the middle of your starting round.

magic ring vs traditional method
L: ch2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, 2 sc in each st around.
R: magic ring, 6 sc in magic ring, 2 sc in each st around.

How do I make a Magic Ring?

Make a loop a few inches from the end of your yarn. Grasp the join of the loop (where the 2 strands of yarn overlap) between your left thumb and forefinger:
Insert hook into the loop from front to back. Draw up a loop:
Ch 1. Note: this does NOT count as a stitch:
Insert hook into the loop, so you are crocheting over the loop and the yarn tail. Draw up a loop to begin your first sc:
Complete the sc. Continue to crochet over the loop and the yarn tail until you have the required number of sc for your first rnd (6 sc shown here):
Grab the yarn tail and pull to draw the centre of the ring tightly closed:
Begin your second round by crocheting into the first stitch of the first round (below, left). At the end of round 2 your work will look like this (below, right):

You’ll never go back to your old method again, I promise!

2) Crochet Me

Adjustable Ring

Make a large loop by putting the yarn tail behind the working yarn (the yarn coming from the skein) (Figures 1-2), leaving at least a six-inch tail until you become familiar with this method (Figure 3). Later, you may leave a shorter tail if desired.

With your hook, draw the working yarn through the loop, so you have one loop on the hook (Figures 4-6).

Ch 3 (counts as first dc) (Figure 7).

How you hold the loop while you work the stitches into it is personal preference, but I find it convenient to put both my pinky and ring finger inside the loop to hold it tight (Figure 8.)

Dc into the loop, crocheting over the tail (Figure 9). Continue to work as many dcs as needed for you pattern into the loop. (Don’t forget to keep crocheting over the tail.) When you are finished working stitches into the loop, you will likely find that the tail has curled around the loop a few times (Figure 10). To make it easier to draw the loop closed, first untwist the tail (Figure 11); then pull the tail to draw the loop closed. You can leave an open hole in the center (Figure 12) or draw it closed very tightly (Figure 13).