Thursday, January 23, 2014

The Star Stitch

I was looking at some different crochet stitches and came across the 
star stitch. I love it! There are some different ways of doing it but I found
this lady's version the best, How To Crochet: The Star Stitch.

She has photos to illustrate how to do it, and for left handed people if you 
roll your mouse over the images they will change for you. I am right handed
so I didn't have to do that, but of course I had to check it out! 

I decided to do a small sample using this stitch just to try it. Her 
instructions are very good but there is one thing I found that she 
should of added. 

On Row 3 when you work in the hdc's you need to go through 
the loop under the top loops plus the front loop only and not the
back loop, otherwise you will get a line or ridge between your star 
stitch rows. If you look at her photo, you see no ridges. 

Here is a photo of my sample piece:


                       

Look at the rows on the bottom. You will see a line or ridge across
the tops of the first and second pink star stitch rows and the green
row of star stitches. That is because I went through both top
loops as you normally would when crocheting through hdc's. 

Now look at the top rows of star stitches. There are no lines
or ridges. This is because I went through the loop under the 
top loops plus the front top loop. 

Here is a photo where I show where the loop under the top loops
are. 























The hook on the left is going through both top loops. The hook
on the right is going through the loop under the top loops and the
front top loop. 

As you can see at the link I posted above, her photo of the 
star stitch piece she crocheted is done without any lines or
ridges between the star stitch rows. 

I like it best without the lines or ridges but for certain projects it
might add an interesting effect. 

I really like this stitch. I'm going to use it for a dishcloth and I'm thinking
of also doing a star stitch afghan. Now to decide what colors I should
use. So many choices! 


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Update: Jan. 25, 2014

I made a dishcloth using the star stitch. This time I only went through
the one loop, the loop under the top loops as shown in the photo 
above. The front still looked the same but it made the back of the
dishcloth look better than if I had of went through 2 loops. 

The front of the dishcloth.





















The next photo is of the back of the dishcloth. It formed a neat 
line or ridge across the rows of star stitches. It actually looks like 
a row of knitting. 






















Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Basketweave Slippers

I just completed a new pattern, crocheted basketweave slippers. 













Here is the link to the free pattern Basketweave Slippers.

I have some more pictures there. I made the second pair in grey and black to test the 
pattern so hopefully there aren't any mistakes or typos. 

This pattern was fun to make and I really like the look of the basketweave. 

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Lightweight Cotton Yarn

When I crochet dishcloths I use a lighter weight cotton yarn. I find the standard 4 ply cotton yarn makes the dishcloths too thick and harder to wring out, especially if your hands are small. 

You can buy the perfect cotton yarn for crocheted dishcloths online at Yarnsbay! It is 100% cotton, lightweight (2 - fine), about half the thickness of standard cotton yarns. They are located in Ontario, Canada. They also ship to the U.S. 





Saturday, January 4, 2014

Some New Dishcloth Patterns.

It's been a busy time for me, as it has probably been for everyone else too. Christmas was a 
lot different for me this year with my daughter, son-in-law and 2 yr old granddaughter living
with me for awhile. 

I hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year. 

I designed two more dishcloth patterns. I call them Right Angle Rows Dishcloths and the newest
one that I completed today is version 2. This pattern is so much fun. I have more ideas for other
versions already. 

I like to make a lot of crocheted dishcloths to give to my family and friends. They all like them
much better than the type you buy at the stores. I do too! 

This is my first version. 
















You can get the free pattern here - Right Angle Rows Dishcloth

This is the second version. It has ridged rows which I think adds a nice effect. 












 
You can get the free pattern here - Right Angle Rows Dishcloth Version 2