Freebie Friday – Finger Crochet

I’ve been experimenting with finger crochet lately. Mainly, I like a new challenge. I wanted to see how many stitches I could make just by using my fingers. Turns out, it’s a lot! I started with the basics like single, half double, and double crochet. I then moved on the Tunisian crochet trying out the simple stitch and the knit stitch. Those are the Tunisian stitches I use anyway. Then I tired the star stitch and it came out pretty. I only made one round of it but since I’m using my fingers, that round was pretty big. I turned it into a phone case.

Which brings me to my next point. What the heck am I going to do with this technique? I’ve seen people make all sorts of things with finger crochet, but nothing that I would want to make with this method. I feel like I’m in a maze, wondering in which direction to go (I knew I could sneak the word for the daily prompt in there!). Which path will lead me to make the best use of this style of crochet? The phone case is cute and it was fun but what else?

I don’t have much chunky yarn, so I decided to use three strands of regular acrylic yarn (medium weight).  I have plenty of that to work with. Well, after doing a few rows of single crochet with it, my finger started to hurt. What’s going on here? It didn’t hurt when I was using the chunky yarn. It was hurting now, though. It felt like I was irritating my skin. Was all that finger crocheting finally starting to irritate my skin or was it the rougher yarn that was the real culprit. I’m still not sure, but I think it was the rougher yarn coupled with trying to manage three strands of yarn on the finger. I was pulling the strands on the top of my finger versus the side of my finger when I use the chunky yarn. Looks like the top of my finger is more sensitive and more prone to irritation. Either way, it slowed me down a bit. Today I tried it again with the chunky yarn and that’s when I noticed I was pulling the yarn over from the side and there is no pain. I’ll have to consider that before I use the acrylic yarn again.

Single crochet in the back loop done with three strands of yarn

I think I want to make a doll or toy next with finger crochet. That’s my thing so I’m going to brain storm. Until I come up with something, here are my quick videos on how I finger crochet.

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Freebie Friday – Crochet Graduation Cap

At the end of every school year, it’s become a tradition that I make our 5th graders little crocheted graduation caps in our schools colors. It’s their last year at our school as they are ready to move on to middle school. The year has flown by and we are at the end once again. I made five little caps this year and I thought it would make a nice Freebie Friday post.

How I make them

The caps are super simple to make and the kids love receiving them.  The hat is just a square and a rectangle sewn together.

I use a large hook size like an I or a J. I grab whatever hook size feels good with 2 or 3 strands of yarn.

The top portion of the hat is just a small square. I eye-ball it every time but usually end up with about 5 or 6 single crochets per row.

I make the same amount of rows as I have in single crochets per row. For example, if I have 5 single crochets in each row, I make 5 rows as well. I fold it corner to corner to check that it’s a square.

On my last row, I leave a really long tail so I can sew around the edge of the square. It gives it a little finishing touch. Sometimes I single crochet around the edge.

Then I make the lower portion. Again, I eye-ball it but usually end up with about 13 or 14 single crochets per row and I make 3 rows. I sew the ends together and then sew the tube to the top part of the hat. I add a button and a tassel and I have a hat.

Here’s a video showing the process.

Freebie Friday- Pattern – Mom’s Crochet

It’s always such a nice surprise to discover something my mother made that I had never seen before. Inevitably, I want to figure out how to make it, even if I never plan to, you know, actually make it. I go about this by looking at the piece to see if I can figure it out myself, and when I fail at that, I look it up online. That has various success rates. Sometimes, I’m lucky and I find a pattern, but most of the time I don’t. This is because I’m looking up the pattern based on how the item looks to me. The pattern might be out there in cyberspace but I don’t have the right search words to find it.

True story (mostly, it depends on who you ask)

Sibling rivalry is real. It is alive and thriving with my siblings. Whilst visiting my sister, she regaled me with a story about how she discovered a bag underneath her bed. A bag that had been there for so long, she didn’t even know how long. For one reason or another, she pulled it out wondering what was in there. That’s when she found a blanket that my mother gave her that she hadn’t looked at in years. Turns out, it was double-sided and very thick and pretty. She had made it for one of this sister’s kids.

The picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s heavy and  stretchy and prettier than it looks.

Freebie Friday – Bavarian Crochet Square

So I gave my star stitch sweater away to one of my sisters. The other sister is still waiting for her granny square sweater so I am diligently back to plugging up holes. That leaves me with no sweater…again. I’m back to making a new sweater for myself. I’ve been visiting (more like moving in) Pinterest looking for inspiration, ideas, stitches, granny squares, anything I might like to make a new sweater. I saw a Bavarian granny square I found interesting. I tried following the pattern and in my hubris, I thought I had it down and kept going on my own. What I ended up with was huge and definitely not a square. I used a bigger hook size than the one called for in the pattern and a thicker yarn so it naturally came out big (but still bigger than I expected).

It was a little under a foot long from one end to the other! I thought it was pretty but not exactly right. More importantly, it wasn’t square.

Freebie Friday – Crochet Poop Emoji

 

Poop emoji, I can’t get away from it. The kids love it. Lately, it’s the biggest request I get from the students. They think it’s hilarious. I refused to  make it for the prize box. I could just hear all the silly poop jokes an inappropriate sounds. Let’s not even mention all the hijinks I’d be subjected to in the name of comedy. I did relent for the craft fair though. Hey, if they wanted to buy it who was I to argue? The parents would have to deal with the shenanigans at home. I just needed to figure out how to make one.

I went online to find other crochet poop emojis and what I found wasn’t exactly what I was

Crochet Star Stitch Pot Holder

At a family gathering during the holidays, my baby girl made an awesome turkey with delicious fixings. In the midst of all the cooking, I had forgotten that I threw away all my pot holders a few days prior. I had every intention of buying new ones but on three subsequent trips to the store, I forgot.

So there we were, up to our elbows with cooking and no pot holders to be seen. I was lamenting that I would probably need to run out and  buy some new ones. My sage sis looked at me and asked why I hadn’t whipped some up already. She correctly pointed out that I could probably crochet some really quick. Huh? What? She was absolutely right! I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it. I try to make just about everything out of crochet (even things I really shouldn’t) and I hadn’t even considered making a pot holder. I didn’t try making one in that instant but I did make one the next day.