*~*~* HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016 *~*~*

Wishing each and every one of You a Wonderful and Happy New Year 2016.

May your new year be blessed and bring you good health, prosperity, 

loads of happiness, and tons of creativity.

 

Crochet Honeycomb Washcloth

Last project of 2015

Namaste friends. The year 2015 is coming to an end. And like any other year it came with its ups and downs. The downs this year were pretty drastic, like losing a favourite aunt to cancer, and being hospitalised, alongwith hubby, due to a horrible bout of dengue fever. On the other hand the ups were quite good with the year beginning with moving in and decorating our new home, my very first trip overseas (phoren tour!), and sonny boy passing his IELTS test with a great score. Overall, a year I am not sad to see it go. And I am hoping 2016 is going to be a fantastic year where I am more successful working on my goals for my blog, my Etsy shop and my weight loss! :)

Now for the last project of 2015 - a crochet honeycomb washcloth. With winter setting in and the dry climate of Ahmedabad, it was time to get the shower cremes out. But shower cremes work best with washcloths or poufs. Did not want to use a plastic pouf therefore the cotton wash cloth :)

I wanted to try out this honeycomb pattern and the 3D texture seemed ideal for a wash cloth. I assumed it would provide the light exfoliation needed without being too rough or plasticky. I used thick knitting cotton yarn and a 4mm crochet hook.

Here's a look at the texture:

After working the square in the honeycomb pattern I worked a row of DCs around it. Adding 3 DCs in each corner gave it a nice, neat rounded finish.

A loop to hang it up to dry after use.

Sometimes textured stitches produce a really uneven surface on the wrong side but this stitch gives a neat, smooth look on the back.

Let me know in the comments, if you would like a pattern for this wash cloth. I am working my rough notes into a written pattern. This stitch would also work wonderfully for a clutch or cowl. I wouldn't recommend this stitch for a hotpad or coaster as the texture might cause the mug/bowl to tumble.

Well, that's it for the last project for 2015.  

Wishing you a very Happy New Year. I hope 2016 is a fantastic year for all of us and that success crowns all our endeavours and that we are able to achieve our goals - personal, professional or crafty. :) See you next year. 

~~ HAPPY HOLIDAYS ~~

Free Crochet Pattern - Slant n Stripe Scarf

This post contains affiliate links

Namaste, girls. I am sure all of you are busy getting ready for the holidays ahead. Some of you may be scrambling around for last minute gifts. Today I have something that is just right for you. An easy scarf pattern and it is Free too!!

Slant n' Stripe Scarf Pattern 

The pattern is very easy and requires knowledge of single crochet and double crochet only. The pattern is a one row repeat, yup that's right it is a one row pattern which can be easily memorized and worked up in a jiffy. Just right for those last minute gifts. :)

 The fabric produced is soft and flexible and has a lovely drape. 

Here is a close up of the pattern:

And another pic in a different colour:

The borders on the two sides are made by the pattern itself so there is no need of an edging.

I used a DK weight yarn (yarn brand: Shining Star) and a  4mm crochet hook.

The scarf measures 6.5 inches wide and is 60 inches in length.

The pattern is in PDF form consisting of 3 pages. The actual pattern is on one page with no pictures or colours so you can just print that one page and take it with you, if like me you crochet wherever you go. :D

You can download the pattern HERE

The geometric design should work out well even for a men's scarf in the right colours, don't you think so?

You can also get your free pattern in my CRAFTSY store. If you are not already a member of Craftsy, you will have to register yourself, which is very simple and Free. Once registered you will have access not only to my pattern but also tons of other free patterns and dozens of free videos for all kinds of crafts like knitting, crochet, painting, sewing, baking...you name it.

Please let me know if you face problems or are unable to download the pattern.

I hope you enjoy making this scarf. If you have any questions or find any mistake let me know at crochetkari@gmail.com.

Happy Holidays!

Crochet V-Stitch Cowl

Namaste friends. It feels so good to be back on my blog after such a long time. Actually I am almost tongue-tied and had no idea how to begin. But then it is just like getting back with old friends isn't it, after the first few awkward moments you are chatting nineteen to the dozen! :)  :)

Every few weeks/months a new stitch or technique or pattern catches the fancy of everyone in crochet blogland and you see the FOs flying all over the place. For example some time back it was the corner to corner stitch, or the crocodile stitch, or broomstick lace, or the Virus shawl. One such stitch was the V-stitch and there were scarves, blankets and cowls galore on display. So I decided to have a go at it. 

The V-stitch looks best when used with multiple colours. The fabric produced is lacy yet quite snug.

The yarn I used is called Shining Star which is DK weight with a 4mm crochet hook.

The colours used are Aqua blue. Grey, Orange and White.

The cowl turned out really soft and luscious. Very very cosy.

The cowl has a circumference of 50 inches and a width of 19 inches. So it can be lowered across the shoulders like a shrug or pulled over the head to cuddle your face. Really sumptuous.

The V-stitch is very easy and the cowl grew fast. But I had a really tough time with the cowl. Why? Well, for a change I decided to go with a random colour pattern. But the fastidious Virgo in me was just not prepared for it :)) You see everything around me has to be symmetrical or balanced or proportionate, or else I get very uncomfortable. After each round I had to rack my brains regarding the next colour and I was very tempted to repeat a particular colour sequence. I think I finally did manage a "random" sequence! What do you think?

Phew! Random does not come easy to me.

I wish we had winters where such cowls could be used. But then on the other hand I am glad we don't, as I cannot tolerate really cold weather. As you can see in THIS post...LOL.

HERE is a lovely Video tutorial for the V stitch. I hope you try this stitch and have fun while at it.

This cowl is available in my ETSY shop. 

What crafty adventure are you up to? 

See you soon with some new crochet projects. Take care and keep crafting.

Crochet C2C scarf

Namaste friends. Thank you so much for you best wishes, lovely comments, emails and phone calls. It feels so good to know that I have friends who care so much, whether they are in the next city, neighbouring state or even across the seven seas. 

I did say in my last post that 2015 was just not my year. Well, a couple of days later my computer just wouldn't start and then followed a few frantic days of SOS calls to my brother and our local computer guy to get it up and running. Phew!! So used to my computer and the internet, my husband teases me that I just might go berserk without them. Thank God for crochet which keeps me sane and calm. Do you know I had actually packed a project in the bag I took to the hospital! But the dengue fever (see last post) really sapped our energy and the weakness/body pain was too much to even think about crocheting or even staying alive for that matter.  :)

Variegated hues

Have you ever fallen in love with a ball of variegated yarn at the store, only to come home and realise that it just does not suit any project? Or that the colour effect is not playing up the way you had imagined? It has happened to me a lot of times. I am sure you are wondering why I still keep buying. Well, variegated yarn has a charm, a romantic appeal all its own, which makes it hard to resist. And I have the balls to prove it....haha.

The pastel hues, the jewel tones or ombre shades are irresistible. Never mind that you end up crocheting and frogging till you get the exact effect you want :) After trying out a few patterns I decided to follow my friend Ashlesha and crochet a corner to corner scarf with this ball of variegated yarn that had gorgeous shades of denim, aubergine and forest green. A wonderful colour combination for a man's scarf....methinks.

The yarn brand is "Peacock" and is from Ludhiana. I have used a 4.50mm crochet hook. 

Corner to corner or C2C as it is popularly known is a really simple stitch. I would even call it a beginner level stitch. The fact that it works diagonally might seem confusing but you get the hang of it pretty soon. In the case of this particular yarn it produces these lovely diagonal bands of colour almost automatically. 

 I have now learned that for variegated yarns to give good results the colour changes have to be atleast a few feet apart. Any closer and the result is just a hotch potch of changing colours. So while this yarn produced these beautiful bands of denim, aubergine and forest green, an earlier project with variegated yarn - the C2C baby blanket shows how short colour changes just produce a mish-mash.

 But for the blanket I got the exact effect I wanted i.e. stripes of blue, white and mixed colours.

The scarf measures 65" by 7" and used up about 160 grams of yarn. I am quite happy with the way the colours have played out. I am thinking of trying some other pattern using this same yarn. What do you think? Do you like my C2C scarf?

If you want to try your hand at C2C HERE is a wonderful video by Mikey at The Crochet Crowd.

Have you made any projects using variegated yarn? 

Happy Navaratri to all my dear readers.  

Navaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated for nine nights (nava means nine and ratri means night), dedicated to the nine forms of Shakti the Mother Goddess. As with all other festivals in India, this festival too is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India, but always with great pomp and splendor involving a lot of color, lighting, music and dance. The tenth day is known as Vijayadashami or Dussehra which marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura as well the victory of Lord Ram over the Demon king Ravana.
Click the links in the above passage to know more about the festivals and the deities.

  

 See you soon.

PS: I was having some trouble with the fonts in this post so please bear with me. :) 

Crochet Waffle Stitch Hat Pattern

Namaste Beautiful! I hope you are feeling wonderful. Sadly I cannot say the same. I have just returned home from a seven day stay at the hospital. Yes...hospital, because I was down with dengue fever. By some weird coincidence my husband got the same fever and we were occupying two adjacent beds in the hospital room. Luckily for us, our son who had come from Mumbai to spend a couple of days with us, as it was my birthday on the 10th of September, stayed back for two weeks and took real good care of us. I guess everything happens for a reason, we were very fortunate that sonny boy decided to stick to his guns and insisted on coming to Ahmedabad. We would have been helpless without him.

As far as blogging is concerned, I cannot find any good reason for the delays/gaps in my posting. 2015 was supposed to be my year, with my blogging and my Etsy store going full steam. Well you know what they say, "Woman proposes, God disposes"!! I have just not been able to get into the swing of things and now the year is coming to an end!  :(

But I have tons of projects to share so hopefully the rest of the year should proceed smoothly. 

Today I want to share the latest pattern in my Etsy shop...the Waffle stitch hat pattern. 

This pattern is for a matching hat to the Waffle stitch cowl. 

The hat has a top down construction and is worked seamlessly in the round. The edge has a lovely ribbing pattern.

The pattern is in US terms and the special stitches required are Fpdc, Bpdc, Fphdc and Bphdc.

The adult sized hat is made using DK yarn and a 4.00 mm crochet hook.

The hat pattern is available on Etsy and Craftsy

Hopefully I should be back soon with a Free crochet scarf pattern.

Until then, buh-bye.

Crochet Chevron Infinity Scarf

Namaste Gorgeous! Thank you for joining me here today. You may be wondering at my cheek, just appearing out of nowhere, after being away for so long. Hmmm...guilty as charged! Well, you know... life happens...with its bits and bobs...some good, some bad. 

One good bit that I just cannot resist sharing is that we went on our very first overseas vacation!!! Yippee :)  :)  In the month of May, we went on a 10 day trip to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Yes, I have lots of photos and tons of things to share...you know me - blah, blah, blah. But I will control myself for now. The main reason is that for a blog named "Crochetkari" I have been sharing lots of stories about moving, travelling and vacations and very little crochet! So my next few posts are going to be about crochet, hopefully :) 

The ripple pattern is one of my favourites, so when I came across this pattern for an infinity scarf I just had to try it. 

The pattern is called Rolling in the Deep infinity scarf by Cre8tion Crochet.

I love the three different sections in the scarf and you can decide which colour you want to play up depending on you mood for the day.

While I made this scarf with orange and white, I like the designer's suggestion that you should use two colours which are opposites on the colour wheel. Maybe I will make one more scarf using that idea. 

I am still working on finding the "best" spot for photography in my new home. I am missing my swing so much ...boohoo.

Nevertheless, here are some more photos:

The pattern was free for some time on the Cre8tion Crochet site, but you can still get it HERE.

Do you like my infinity scarf, do let me know.

As my crochet hook is attached to my arm, :)  there are tons of finished projects waiting for their Ta-Dah moment, so do come back.

I have not been commenting much, but believe me I have been keeping up with all your blogs and thoroughly enjoying your posts. But please don't be like me and do comment below. A strange thing I noticed while blog hopping was that many of my blogger friends have been away from their blog and most of them are resurfacing now, just like me.Weird coincidence!

While the internet connection in my new home is very fast, it keeps getting disconnected. So frustrating! 

Here are two more ripple patterns I tried earlier:

The Ocean Waves Ripple Afghan

The Serenity Ripple Scarf

What is on your hook, right now? I would love to know.
See you soon.

Memories of those swinging times

Namaste Gorgeous. How are you? Thank you for joining me today.

Life has settled into a routine at our new home and sometimes I cannot believe that it is only three months since we shifted here. Feels like we were always living here! Yes, the human mind can be fickle at times.

The main reason that I do not miss the previous house could be that it was  a rented place and we always knew we would be shifting out one day. While we always assumed that we would shift back to Mumbai, this new home in Ahmedabad was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. 

But if there is one thing that I am sorely  missing it is my photo studio...er...I mean my photo prop... okay actually I mean the wonderful swing in the balcony in the old house.The swing was the place where all my WIPs were finally christened as FOs. (Am I the only one who finds "FO" to be mildly rude?)

The swing got the best light throughout the day and it was like being outdoors while still being inside the house.

So here are a few photos, in memory of the swing :)  :)

My ripple blanket. Get the pattern HERE 

My first knitting pattern. Click HERE for the the free scarf pattern.

 

An apple cozy for the hubby. Go HERE to see his reaction to my "gift" ;) and a link to the pattern

One more gift for hubby. Click HERE for the instructions for this Steering Wheel Cover.

The swing was a place to play with colors. Get the free pattern for the Rainbow Mandala HERE

 ...and a place to display and gloat over my crochet babies

 

Click HERE for pattern details of this lovely yellow purse

 

 Crochet nesting bowls

Crochet Basket weave basket

Crochet Rose basket. Click HERE for instructions

A custom order for Poonam who was so happy with the Cup cozies that she became my student!

Corner to corner baby blanket. Get the pattern details for the blanket and the border HERE.

Crochet triangle granny shawl. Click HERE for pattern details.

Hope you enjoyed these pics of my Swinging times. Ahem... I hope you did not land here looking for some other kind of Swinging tales. Sorry to disappoint you...hehe!!

I have not yet found an ideal place in my new house to click my pics. No swing, no balcony and no open spaces. So I guess my crochet Ta-dahs will just have to wait a little longer! :(

I am writing a pattern for a crochet scarf and I can't wait to share it with you. Would you like to test my pattern? Write to me at crochetkari@gmail.com. 

Life is short, so make time for your hobby or go ahead and learn the new skill you have been wanting to.