International Crochet Day

Hello dear friends,
I hope you are having a relaxed Wednesday.

A big thank you to all of you who liked my tutorial and sent me your encouraging comments. And thanks for the birthday wishes too. 

Let us meet our new friends;

         Jee Q from Learning to Write (some lovely crochet projects here)

         Chiflu at  La mi cocinuca ( yummy baked goodies and crochet too)

         Girlie de los reyes  from Girlie's Crochet (lots of crochet patterns, tutorials and stitches)

  and Moush ( please send me link if you have a blog,dear).

Welcome aboard.

Today I don't have any finished projects to show. But the actual reason I am here is to tell you that today September 12th is International Crochet Day ! I just learned about this at Petals to Picots. So do pop over there to know more. 

Go ahead and celebrate - start a new project, buy a new book/yarn or teach someone to crochet.

I am working on my very first baby cardigan and bonnet with a lovely Watermelon color yarn. 

I have never crocheted anything that can be worn and I am praying it turns out okay.

This is a free pattern from Free Patterns.com. You can find it in the widget in my right sidebar if you scroll through it.

Wish me luck for my first baby project.

See you later, crocheters. Ta-ta

Love xxx

Potholder pattern and Tutorial

Hello beautiful people, I hope you had a good week so far. Here in Ahmedabad, the rains are just not relenting with heavy downpour, thunder and lightning in the evenings. And in the daytime it is dark, cloudy, hot and sticky. But on the crochet front all is bright and cheerful as I have managed to complete my first ever crochet tutorial! 

Let me begin by welcoming 

          M. J. Joachim from Lots of Crochet Stitches by M. J. Joachim

(she does have lots of crochet stitches with patterns and tutorials, a must visit site for any crochet enthusiast)

and    Linda from Linda's Crafty Corner.

Now on to the potholder pattern. For those of you who only need the pattern, here it is:

Materials:

Your favorite cotton yarn

Crochet hook which is appropriate for your yarn.

Chain 18, join with slip stitch to form ring. 

Rnd 1: Works 24 sc into the ring.

This forms the loop used for hanging your potholder so you can make it as small or large as you like. (For example you can do Ch 12, join with sl st to form ring and work 18 sc into ring for a smaller loop. This will not affect the pattern.)

Rnd 2: Ch 1, Turn, 1 sc in each of next 5 stitches, 3 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in each of next 5 stitches (13 sc)

From round 3 onwards work in the Back loop only. The Ch 1 at the beginning of each round does not count as a sc.

Rnd 3: Ch 1, Turn, working in Back Loop only, 1 sc in each of next 6 stitches, 3 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in each of next 6 stitches. (15 sc)

Repeat round 3, making 3 sc in the center stitch each time so that each round has 2 more stitches than the previous round.

Continue till you reach your desired size. Fasten off. Weave in the end and your potholder is ready.

Ridged potholder

 And here is the tutorial:

I have used White Rose knitting cotton and a 3 mm crochet hook.

Chain 18, insert hook in first chain,

Join with slip stitch to form ring

 TIP: Hold the "tail" end of the yarn alongwith the ring so that it is woven into the project as you     work. This applies to all crochet projects.

Rnd 1: Work 24 sc into ring.Join with slip stitch.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, Turn the ring

      1 sc in each of next 5 stitches, 3 sc in next stitch and 1 sc in each of next 5 stitches (13 sc)

From round 3 onwards work in the Back loop only. The Ch 1 at the beginning of each round does not count as a sc. 

Usually stitches are worked by inserting the hook under both loops of the previous stitch as seen in this photo

Here is a better picture of working under both loops

 

To work in the Back loop only, insert hook in the loop which is away from you as shown in this pic

And also in this picture

Working only in the back loops gives you the lovely ridged texture seen in the potholder.

Rnd 3: Ch 1, Turn, working in Back Loop only, 1 sc in each of next 6 stitches, 3 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in each of next 6 stitches. (15 sc)

See the ridge formed due to working in the back loop, in the pic below

Repeat round 3, making 3 sc in the center stitch each time so that each round has 2 more stitches than the previous round.

TIP: To make things a little easier, when you make 3 sc in the center stitch, insert a marker into the second sc, so that in the next round you know where to make the 3 sc.

Continue till you reach your desired size. Fasten off. Weave in the end and your potholder is ready.

That's it, you lovely square potholder is ready. Enjoy.

Phew, my gosh that was a bit of hard work. It is a long tutorial for a small project, I know. But I am secretly hoping that my friends who don't crochet, will read this and be tempted to take up the hook.

I would like to take a moment here and sincerely thank all those who have put up any kind of tutorial (crochet, cookery, sewing or anything else)  because it does take a lot of time and effort. (Especially since my assistant cameraman ran off to college and refused to click photos for me .... he he.)

As this is my first virtual tutorial I will be anxiously waiting for your comments. Feel free to send in your suggestions, opinions, criticisms.... because I know there is room for improvement.

To learn the basic stitches you can visit Lots of crochet stitches by M.J.Joachim and also look up videos by Crochet Geek and bobwilson on Youtube.

So, cheerio until next time. I am waiting to hear from you.
Love xxx