Frida's Flowers CAL - Block 6 - Ring of Roses

The Sixth Instalment of the Frida's Flowers Blanket Crochet-Along, designed by Jane Crowfoot and hosted by Stylecraft Yarns has just been posted, and is available to download NOW from the Stylecraft website, in English (US and UK), German and Dutch.

If you haven't set up a Ravelry project yet, the pattern page can be found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fridas-flowers-blanket 

We are working the CAL along with you all (in the Classique Cotton, provided by the wonderful Stylecraft team), and will post our tips and tricks for each part at the same time as the pattern is published over at the Stylecraft website. If you have any questions or need help, there are Facebook groups (English: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1555519964767343/ , German: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1039765272753087/ and Dutch:https://www.facebook.com/groups/145851979128898/ ),
and you are always welcome to leave a comment here or ask us on Facebook. 

As you know, Anne is doing the German translations for the CAL, so ask away in German too!

So, Block 6 - Ring of Roses:

Front

Back

You'll need to make 6 hexagons.

Yarn usage:
17g Sunflower (32m)
15g Plum (28m)
24g Poppy (44m)
22g Shrimp (41m)
19g Teal (35m)
24g Leaf (44m)
22g Ivory (41m)
58g Black (107m)

Remember: We are using the Classique Cotton, so use the meterage above if you are making Frida in another DK yarn.

Here's a little spreadsheet tool that Michelle is using to track yarn usage - just enter your start and finish weights for your yarns, and then the weight and meterage used will be automatically calculated! 



Our Top Tips for the Ring of Roses block:

We are starting to get some repetition in stitch sequences and techniques, so make sure you check out our tips for previous blocks too! (links are below this week's tips)

1. I felt like I was going super slow this week - remember you need to make 6 hexagons so it'll take 50% longer!! 

Be kind to yourself! You're making more pieces, and the patterns are getting increasingly complicated too!

2. Use standing stitches to start rows instead of joining your yarn and chaining.

I know I know, I'm a broken record on this - but standing stitches instead of chains has made my crochet work much neater! 

Tutorial for Standing Double Crochet:
http://www.mooglyblog.com/standing-double-crochet-joining/

Tutorial for Standing Single Crochet: http://mrsmicawber.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/knotless-standing-single-crochet.html 

3. In Row 5, we need to fpdc into some of the sc of Row 2, to outline the petals. The easiest way to figure out which stitch to work around is to find the single sc that lies below the edge of the petal, and then fpdc around every second one. 

In the picture below, I have marked the alternating 1sc and 2sc pattern of Row 2 - you can see how the fpdc is worked around every second 1sc :) You can totally use the stitch markers like it says in the pattern, but this was just as simple for me!

4. The Bullion Stitches (*dramatic music*)

I am not an embroiderer. It took me so long (and much unpicking and curse words) to figure this one out, including reading the pattern a million times and googling for bullion stitch tutorials on youtube. So, here is a step by step photo and word tutorial of how I did it! I hope it helps you if you are not an experienced embroiderer either :)

Step 1: Stick your needle in from the back to the front of your work, leaving a good sized tail to weave in later. Then, wrap the yarn around your hook 5 times close to where it pops out of your work. 

Step 2: Insert the pointy end of your needle under the next stitch and back out to the front again.

Step 3: Veeeeerrry gently, pull your needle through. You might need to ease the wrapped loops off with your fingers to keep them neat while allowing the eye of the needle to pass through. Ta dah! Bullion stitch done :D

Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you get to the end of the round - you'll have a bullion stitch sitting on top of every second dc of Row 1! It looks best if you do it exactly the same way each time. 

Weave your ends in very carefully and securely - I found I could hide the yellow fairly easily in the sc of Row 2. 

5.  In Round 11, the 3sc corner goes into first dc of the second 5dc group (i.e. immediately after central white petal of round 9). The stitch you skip after the sc into the tip of your leaf is the first dc of the second 4dc group.

For our tips from previous weeks, visit:

Block 1: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-1-white-cosmos.html

Block 2: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/fridas-flowers-cal-block-2-dahlia-bud.html

Block 3: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-3-bird-of.html

Block 4: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-4-rosa.html

Block 5: http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/fridas-flowers-cal-block-5-heart-rose.html 

Happy hooking! Don't hesitate to comment, visit a Facebook group or ask Anne or Michelle on Facebook if you need any help :D

Gauge: Tips from a Reluctant Convert

Hi everyone! 

This week I've been madly trying to get a new pattern worked up and written down, so I am not up to date on my CALs to share with you *blushes* 

However, over my designing work the last few months I have dealt with gauge for the first time. This is my story about how I discovered that not only is gauge important, but you need to trust what it tells you! 

What is Gauge? Why is it useful?

Testing your gauge is finding out how many stitches and rows you make to fit specific dimensions. It's used a lot in clothing (to make sure that you end up with the correct size) and in projects where you have a limited yarn supply (to make sure that your yarn usage will match the usage in the pattern).

There are often little gauge pictures on yarn bands as well, to show how the manufacturer thinks the yarn will work up using the recommended hook/needle size. 

Your own personal tension and style will also affect gauge.

I have never, ever before in my life bothered with gauge. I'm rarely using the recommended yarn or hook, and as long as I am consistent in my style and tension across the piece, it'll work out fine, right? Plus I don't make a lot of clothing where size is important, which helps me get away without it!

How do you work out the Gauge for a project?

There are a million and one tutorials online for how to check your gauge and fix any problems. I thoroughly recommend Googling "Crochet Gauge" if you need more detailed assistance.

Normally, to check gauge you make a swatch using the same yarn and hook as for your project, at least 6 inches wide and 6 inches tall. Then, you measure the middle 4 inches (i.e. 1 inch in from each side), and count how many stitches across make up 4 inches, and how many rows up make 4 inches. 

If this doesn't match the gauge given in the pattern, then you might need to change your hook size up or down, or pull your stitches taller or shorter. 

TRUST YOUR GAUGE!!

Here's my big lesson in gauge/swatch making - trust the answers it gives you!! 

In the last two projects I have been designing (both will be released in the next few weeks!), I decided to start with a gauge swatch to calculate how many pattern repeats/squares I would need to make the size I was aiming for. Careful measuring, enough mathematics to give me a headache, and I had an outline of the pattern to start with.

After 1 row of the first design, my piece was way too big. I frogged back and made it shorter, so the row was the same size as the finished size.

After 3 rows, the piece was way too small!! By not trusting my gauge on the first go round, I had made a lot of extra work for myself! 

In the second design, which is made up of squares, I decided after the first 2 rows of squares that it was two squares too wide, so I undid the extra squares and went on my merry way to make a square afghan. Got to the end and... you guessed it... it's too short and too narrow! By EXACTLY TWO SQUARES. After thinking I was finished, I had to go back and add in an extra 60 squares.

So! Long story short - if you are going to bother making gauge swatches, trust them!!

Have you bothered making gauge swatches? Have you ever used them in designing?

Top 5 Crochet Techniques and Tricks

Although I've had a very long crochet career, learning how to do chains almost as soon as I could hold a hook, for most of that time my repertoire has been limited to granny squares. These poor old afghans are now coming apart due to bad knots, wonky joins and of course heavy use.

In the last year or so, my crochet capacity has exploded! I can do all sorts of crazy things, and with the help of the internet, I can make my crocheted items look neater and last longer :) For today's blog post, here is a roundup of my 5 top Crochet Techniques and Tricks (in no particular order) that have made all the difference to my work over the last year!

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TOP 5 CROCHET TECHNIQUES AND TRICKS

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#1

Standing Stitches for Starting New Colours

Hate that "Join new colour, 3ch (counts as first dc)" instruction? Me too. Discovering the Standing Stitch technique has made my work so much neater and with fewer knots, and it can be adapted to ANY stitch! Need to start with a triple treble crochet? No problem! 

Here's an excellent tutorial from Moogly on how to do a standing dc stitch: 

http://www.mooglyblog.com/standing-double-crochet-joining/

#2

Invisible Join for Crochet in the Round

To me, the obvious "slip stitch into first dc, cut yarn and pull through" joining in work just looks so ugly now that I've learned how to do an invisible join. I still do that where a piece might come under strain (and when I'm too lazy to finish off ends properly and securely), but for anything on display? This is the way to go!

Dedri at Look What I Made has an excellent tutorial:

http://www.lookatwhatimade.net/crafts/yarn/crochet/crochet-tutorials/crochet-invisible-join-vs-slip-stitch-join/

#3

Invisible Decrease

I'm sensing a theme here... but the invisible decrease is just so wonderful for anything amigurumi (including the little giraffe ears and horns for my Heidi Bears animals)! No more weird stretchy holes for me!

For a fantastic tutorial (pictures, words, videos, right handed and left handed), head over to Planet June:

http://www.planetjune.com/blog/amigurumi-help/invisible-decrease/

#4

Zipped Ladder Stitch Join

If you're looking for a way to join squares for an afghan (or anything else really) where you want to almost pretend that they are joined by magic, this is the join to use! I use this for my Chunky Fitted Wristwarmers pattern, as it makes the join look so neat, and it's reversible! 

Linda Davie has an excellent free tutorial available on Ravelry, and it even covers how to cope with corners!

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/zipped-ladder-stitch-tutorial---invisible-join-technique

#5

Chainless Foundation Stitches

I know this is my tutorial, but this way of starting a project was just such a revelation and improvement on trying to work in tiny chains, and managing tension, and blah blah blah. You can do any stitch using the same method, and even irregular starting rows such as for a ripple afghan!

I have a tutorial for half double crochet, but as I said above, the same technique can be used for any starting row stitch!

http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/tutorial-foundation-half-double-crochet.html

Do you have any crochet techniques that you just couldn't live without? Let us know in the comments!