Crochet/Knitting/Needlework

[trystan]

oooh that's nice, @water_angel!

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by trystan

[water_angel]

Thank you Trystan! I love this pattern.

[trystan]

you're quite welcome!

[MessengerDragon]

On 7/9/2020 at 12:22 PM, dragon_mando said:

Uhhhhh I can try? I doubt I'll make sense tbh. I've never tried to teach anyone else anything crochet related.

 

I did this with worsted weight yarn and a 3.25mm hook. A slightly bigger hook should work too but I'd avoid going smaller.

 

For the cap/main body you'll start by making a ball.

• Chain 4 and join into a loop, then going through the center of the loop make 5 single stitches. Chain 1, make another single stitch in the same loop as your chain, then do two single stitches in each of the remaining stitches. You'll end this row with 10 stitches.
• Chain one to start the next row, and make two single crochets in the following loop, one single in the next, two in the next, one in the next, and following that pattern until you finish the row with 15.
• Chain one again for a 4th row. This time it'll be your chain, one single, two single, single, single, two single, etc, and you'll finish this row with 20.
• Chain one and do one single crochet in each for the whole row. Do this step a second time for two total rows of single crochet in all 20 stitches.
• Contratulations, you've halfway through the cap. Now to start decreasing. Chain 1, then put your hook through two loops per single crochet, pull through, go through the next two loops, etc. Once you finish the row, stuff with polyfill or scrap fabric. Continue decreasing until it's getting too fiddly, tie it off, and sew in your ends.

Now for the "skirt."

• Pick a spot about 2/3s of the way down your ball. Put your slipknot on your hook and stitch through your spot as if doing a single crochet so it's attached.
• Do a single crochet in the next stitch. In the third, you're going to to into the same loop 4 times. The pattern will be a double crochet, a triple, and another double.
• Single crochet the next two stitches. Go into the next loop 4x with the same pattern as before.
• Continue this all the way around, join, and sew in your ends.

And the tentacles.

• Roughly 9 tentacles seems to look best. Actual number and Length is up to you. Generally I like it better if the thicker tentacles are longer than the shorter ones.
• For skinny tentacles: chain as tight as you can so it curls up.
• For medium tentacles: chain about 1/3rd longer than looks right, hook through the bottom middle of your cap, and single crochet about 3/4s of the way down your chain. For a straight portion hook through every loop. For a curly portion, go through every-other loop. Slip stitch your last stitch, again, about 3/4s of the way down.
• For an extra thicc boi tentacle: chain about 1/3 longer than looks right, hook through the bottom middle of your cap, and double crochet about 1/2 way down, skipping every other loop so it's curly. Go about 3/4s of the remaining way down with single crochet. Slip stitch one and tie off.
• Sew in all your ends.

TBH Reading this I hardly know what's going on even though I've done it five times now in the last couple days. Good luck making sense of my brain, this is not sarcasm. EDIT: I don't know how to read or write patterns. I just winged it.

 

I started it a while ago, then stopped for a bit, now there's only some tentacles left to be added!

 

I don't know how to read or write patterns either - I'm to such an extent self-taught that I didn't even know what a slipknot was, although I guessed correctly from the context and also looked it up to make sure. (I should have looked up how to do single crochets too, I've usually used double crochets up until now, and what I assumed was a single one is about half of a single, which made the cap very tight and difficult to do.) I also chose a very fluffy yarn, which at one point made me mess up the number of stitches in the cap. And makes the skirt barely visible. None of these are the fault of your instructions though, just my own mistakes - I'm sure my second jellyfish will work out much easier.

 

There was just one line in your instructions that I couldn't really quite figure out.

Quote

[...] you're going to to into the same loop 4 times. The pattern will be a double crochet, a triple, and another double.

A double, a triple, and a double add up to only 3 times, and I'm not sure what I'm missing, there.

 

But that was the only bit of your instructions that isn't clear, so I'd say it is pretty well-written!

[trystan]

*pokes thread with my crochet hook*

 

i decided to make my nephew a waffle stitch rainbow blanket for Chanukah.  i just finished tonight! *woot*

 

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[GhostMouse]

@trystan That's gorgeous! I love the look of waffle stitch, it seems so cozy.

I, embarrassingly, hurt my wrist/thumb knitting Christmas presents and have been reluctantly taking a break from crafty things, but I do have projects to share. I need to remember to post in this thread more often!

Here are the hats I made as Christmas presents:

 

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And the costumes I made for Halloween:

The costumes are not all knit/crochet, but are almost entirely made by me. Velma's sweater is crochet; Shaggy's t-shirt, Daphne's scarf, and Fred's ascot are knit; Scooby's tag/collar are made from crafting foam; Fred's shirt collar is cut from a thrift store shirt and re-sized to fit; and Velma's glasses are dollar store sunglasses with the lenses popped out. The only unmodified piece is Daphne's dress. I have more pictures of them searching for clues and catching Scooby Snacks if anyone is interested!

 

 

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Edit: And a quick collage of a few other things I knit last year. I'm happy to share links to patterns anyone is interested in. I think all but one were free!
 

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Edited February 16, 2021 by GhostMouse

[trystan]

thanks @GhostMouse!  the waffle stitch is cozy and squishable... i have one planned out for me too!

 

i love all of yours, and i love your models as well!!

 

for the hollydays, i only made a few things, they're back here~

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for younger daughter's boyfriend, a pillow with his college logo (which he actually got on xmas)

more pics: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/trystan830/temple-pillow

 

for hubby, a racing car based on another model of his own car:

more pics: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/trystan830/sports-racing-car

 

for my other nephew (also for chanukah, which he got sometime in december), who's a big Max Scherzer fan~

more pics: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/trystan830/ghost-girl-33

 

and..... for my younger daughter, who got this almost a month after xmas~

more pics: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/trystan830/appa

 

 

[GhostMouse]

@trystan Thank you!

Those are wonderful, I especially love that Appa! He looks so soft and cuddly.

[trystan]

you're welcome, @GhostMouse, and thanks!

 

Appa is soft, but he's kinda heavy will all the stuffing and a few pieces of scrunched up fabric in there too.

[Melusina]

@trystan I'm afraid you've brought a ravelry friend thingy on yourself.  Hi from the state just south!  I especially love your Appa.  I think whimsical little projects might be where my future knitting interest lies.

 

@GhostMouse I love your colorwork!  I'm starting to try getting into such things.  there's this blanket pattern I've been ogling for ages... but I can't deal with the scratchiness of most yarn suitable for steeking and am kinda scared of using some nice soft malabrigo something that will need a ton of help not to unravel if I dare to use it.

 

Glad I found this thread as I just seem to have re-gotten-into knitting.  Well, crocheting the occasional chain for a drawstring, too, but mostly I knit.  I made my spouse an eldrich/octopus dice bag for Christmas, which is probably the thing I've done lately that I'm proudest of.  My kid's also obsessed with ghosts so I hacked together a plushy for him of one.  Now I'm working in this endless cowl thingy for my sister.  

I'll stick some recent work in one of those hidden bits: 

 

Spoiler

Here's the octopus dice bag for my spouse: 

more pictures and info here, on ravelry

 

Here's the tiny human's ghostie: 

and here's that on ravelry - https://www.ravelry.com/projects/espacesinfinis/a-ghostly-gift

 

And here's a tea cozy I made my MIL - 

link: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/espacesinfinis/ribbed--ruffled-tea-cozies (and yes, there are little dragon paintings on the wall in here)

 

 

 

[trystan]

5 minutes ago, Melusina said:

I'm afraid you've brought a ravelry friend thingy on yourself.  Hi from the state just south!  I especially love your Appa.  I think whimsical little projects might be where my future knitting interest lies.

hehe, friends on rav are fun too!  

 

very cute projects, too!

 

i'm allllmost done a rainbow blanket that i can post a pic when i'm done.  

[NightEagle]

There is a thread for this?! I should have found it earlier!

I am a big fan of crochet, although absolutely uncreative. I am patient though, so I self-taught myself how to read patterns and now get the occasional one to make presents to my surrounding - mostly fans of Pokemon and How to train your dragon.

I'll see whether I find some pictures of stuff I did recently to post later!

I tried knitting but seem to lack the skill for it (I always, always lose my yarn), and on occasion I do scandinavian weaving or needle-knotting (I really don't know the correct translation for this).

[GhostMouse]

Yes, please share pictures!

 

1 hour ago, NightEagle said:

scandinavian weaving or needle-knotting

 

Is this Nalbinding? I've been curious about trying it but would have no idea where to start!

[trystan]

so about that rainbow blanket i posted about up there ^ i'm pretty sure this was it:

Spoiler

 

the weird red and green ball of yarn/stylized r thing in my sig is my link to my Ravelry notebook (5th little icon in the bottom line of icons), where i have a ton of stuff.  also here: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/trystan830

[NightEagle]

2 hours ago, trystan said:

so about that rainbow blanket i posted about up there ^ i'm pretty sure this was it:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

the weird red and green ball of yarn/stylized r thing in my sig is my link to my Ravelry notebook (5th little icon in the bottom line of icons), where i have a ton of stuff.  also here: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/trystan830

This looks so pretty! I am impressed. I did some bigger shawls, but shied away from everything needing more than one ball of yarn so far.

 

2 hours ago, GhostMouse said:

Yes, please share pictures!

 

 

Is this Nalbinding? I've been curious about trying it but would have no idea where to start!

It is indeed Nalbinding! (And I also did some brickvävning, although that's been... long ago. Nalbinding has been some time, too, but I plan to get back into it!)

I have some booklets from Swedish medieval / viking markets that got me into it, but if you are looking for stuff to start, etsy has some great books with explanations, youtube has one or two really good videos, and I found some really old-looking pages on the web when looking for "nalbinding socks" that look like they were made twenty years ago (which they were) but still give the best explanations! It's a really old technique and not a lot has changed, soo...

I recommend it for doing simple hats, socks and stuff like gloves. So far I haven't really gotten into more "artsy" stuff with it and tbh, I think it's best used for making functional wear. My dad (who's much, much better at this then I am) did socks out of self-spun sheep wool and they're the warmest ones I've ever had, 10/10 can recommend.

 

As for my own stuff: As said, I mainly do stuff from patterns I find online and for a good one I also don't mind paying money, so I've amassed quite the pattern collection.

 

My biggest projects so far have been some Pokemon, a small Totoro backpack and a Toothless! The latter probably the most complicated thing I've done so far; he had a wingspan of about 60 cm. Here you go!

 

Pokemon:

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Totoro:

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Pattern by HelloHappy

 

 

Toothless:

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Created with a pattern written by Cortney Nicole of How to Loom Your Dragon

 

[trystan]

2 minutes ago, NightEagle said:

This looks so pretty! I am impressed. I did some bigger shawls, but shied away from everything needing more than one ball of yarn so far.

thanks!

i've done....a LOT of things. mostly also from patterns as well.  i've also figured out how to tweak some of the patterns to get it to do or look the way i want it to as well.

 

i love your Toothless!

[NightEagle]

2 minutes ago, trystan said:

thanks!

i've done....a LOT of things. mostly also from patterns as well.  i've also figured out how to tweak some of the patterns to get it to do or look the way i want it to as well.

That's cool! I am not there (yet), but I hope when I'm starting to commute again I will get back into having more time for this stuff again! I used to do a lot during lectures because it's so much easier to listen for me then.

How did you start to tweak patterns? Just notice some stuff didn't exactly fit and try until it did, or is there a more schematic approach to it?

[trystan]

1 hour ago, NightEagle said:

How did you start to tweak patterns?

i don't really know how i started.  but there's that doll on my Rav page, that i've made many times with many iterations.  most of it, to be honest, is guesswork.  for the doll, i guessed how many rows for shoes or hands, or pants or where to start the shirt. but i've also combined patterns.  one of the items i'd made was a mermaid, so i found an amigurumi mermaid pattern and used how to make the feet-flippers, and adjusted the stitch count to fit my pattern.  there's an alien that i just winged.

with my socks, i made a few pairs, testing a few types of heels, and put together a 'recipe' for my socks, using different components - one for the toe, the foot, heel, leg, and ribbing, and these were all techniques i'd already learned - stitch patterns for the foot and leg of the socks mainly, and adjusted stitch counts to be what i needed them.

i taught myself how to read and create grids and charts early on, so i can make quite a lot of colorwork and filet crochet items that way.

quite a lot of what i made is by actually following a pattern.  at least in the beginning.

Edited June 13, 2023 by trystan

[NightEagle]

1 hour ago, trystan said:

i taught myself how to read and create grids and charts early on, so i can make quite a lot of colorwork and filet crochet items that way

That is actually such a good point to look into!

Thank you for your very detailed answer; that's great.

 

I hope I'll have some new stuff to show off soon.

Edited June 13, 2023 by NightEagle

[trystan]

1 hour ago, NightEagle said:

Thank you for your very detailed answer; that's great.

you're quite welcome.

a few iterations at Michaels ago, i taught the crochet classes.  things are different now though.  but i learned that just because something is simple or second nature to me, doesn't mean that it's that way for everyone.  so i try to explain things so other people can (hopefully) understand what I'm saying, and i offer reasons for doing what i do (even if i can do whatever on auto-pilot because I've been doing it forever.  not everyone has.)

[GhostMouse]

@trystan That blanket is so cool! It took me a moment to see the skulls.

 

@NightEagle Thanks for the tips! I'm definitely going to look into it. I had to search brickvävning but after convincing Google I didn't mean "brick awning" it looks like it's tablet weaving in English. I've looked into that too but I'm not sure I have the space for all the set up. It seems so cool though.

 

Your Totoro bag and Pokemon are so cute, but Toothless is amazing!

[trystan]

36 minutes ago, GhostMouse said:

That blanket is so cool! It took me a moment to see the skulls.

thanks!

it does take a moment.

[Edenello]

Oh gosh, found this thread and now it's reminding me that I have several projects to catch up on. *stares at the mental health blanket bag in the corner that I am two months behind on* maybe once I catch up on July I can post that square here.

 

I also need to get a head start on Christmas presents to send down to my family down south for their white elephant, especially since I can't be there in person this year. Unsure if I should learn anigarumi and do tiny little creatures or go the generic route and make a bunch of little things like face scrubbies, coasters, and hats. Last I checked false eyes (? if they're called that) are expensive though.  

[trystan]

22 minutes ago, Edenello said:

Last I checked false eyes (? if they're called that) are expensive though.

safety eyes is usually what they're called  

 

and yes, learn amigurumi and make cute toys.... along with ALL the other things!  

[Edenello]

I made a couple of things the past few days. First is a pillow cover made with Lion Brand's Mandala ombre, it turned out looking a lot more trans than I thought it would but it still came out nice and will match our pride flags. Second thing is the first of many drawer covers to protect my beat up thrift store dresser and hide all the chips and stains on it. I'm debating what types of stitch I should do the other covers out of, because I think the change in texture would be very fun. Thinking of doing a bobble stitch drawer cover at least once.  

 

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