New Video: Intro To Duplet Magazine

Do you like Irish Crochet but find a lot of what is available for patterns to be a little outdated? I learned about Duplet Magazine last summer when I was taking a class on Irish Crochet and these pages are packed with modern designs that look like works of art. Irish Crochet is very popular in Eastern Europe, so I went online and found a seller from Ukraine. Now that I have my hands on some of these, I thought I would show what they contain and give a little introduction. Head over here or click through the video below to watch!

And if you are interested in grabbing Duplet for yourself, the packs of magazine I bought are here and here.

FO: Crochet Flip Shirt (and New Video!)

 

I finished my project for the Crochet Flip Challenge last week and I'm so pleased with how it turned out! This challenge was dreamed up by Shannon Talks Yarn and Coco's Crochet on You Tube, and I thought it was a great idea so I wanted to join in. The challenge was to take a thrifted item and improve it in some way with crochet. I used this as an opportunity to use a technique I've been wanting to do more of: Irish Crochet. 

I'm trying something a little different with this blog post in that I don't have all the before and after shots like I typically would since I made a full you tube video to talk about all the details. So if you want to see what this shirt started out as and what it looks like now along with an explanation of the process, please head over here to watch my video and tell me what you think! 

Would you try Irish crochet? I'm addicted now and have plans on making a full shirt out of it eventually. I'd like to really do it the right way, but in the meantime I'm really enjoying this finished shirt and I know I will wear it a lot.

Summary:

Yarn: Knit Picks Curio 3 in Jalapeno, Serrano, Canary, Clarity, Clementine, and Lichen with Royal Maid size 5 thread in Cappuccino - $5.00

Pattern: Modern Irish Crochet Craftsy Class

Notions: thrifted shirt - $1.00, thread - $0.25

Time: 5 hours

Total Cost: $6.25

WIP Wednesday: They Can't All Be Winners

 

Well I've been sewing up a storm lately, and with that comes a fair share of disappointments as well as successes. I picked up this blue shirting fabric at a thrift store a few weeks ago and decided it would make a great base shirt for my Irish crochet yoke I made back in June. I've had all these motifs pinned to my dress form ever since and I would really love for that project to be done, so I was excited about making this shirt. I decided to use New Look 6834 because I had just made a very cute version and knew how to make it fit well (or so I thought).

But this shirt just seemed cursed. I cut it out over a week ago but then sewed something else, so Sunday night I decided to finally sew this up. I had made changes to my pattern before I cut it out to reflect the changes I made to my first version, so I thought I could just slap this out in an evening. Haha famous last words, amiright? Everything went fine that night until the neckline binding. I'm not really sure what happened, but it was tight and wavy and just looked terrible. I picked it all out on Monday night and redid it with different bias tape with no issues whatsoever. Then I moved onto the sleeves, and herein lies the problem that makes this a fail: there was something majorly wrong with the armhole. I had moved the pattern in the 3/4 inch at each side of the shoulder itself, but I cut the regular sleeves size I made before. I knew something was wrong when I was "easing" the sleeve in, but had to actually stretch the sleeve out instead because the armhole was too big. I plowed forward anyway and tried it on - holy cow lol. The shoulder area was still too wide by about 5/8 inch and the sleeve cap itself could not accommodate my shoulders. It was the weirdest fit issue and so confusing because I had already taken the shoulders in before cutting. I tried unpicking it and making the armhole slope in more, but the sleeve cap was still too small for the hole, and I had nothing but scraps left of this fabric, so I just accepted defeat at that point. I feel like it was the right call even more now looking at these pictures because it straight up looks like a hospital scrub top. 

So now this project is back to the drawing board. I did pick up this purple rayon Monday that seems like it would work - it's just not the most thrilling color combination for me. I really see this navy with a blue or a white background. Ah well. We can't win them all, right? One of these days, I'll get that shirt made up. I just can't finish crocheting until I know the exact final shape of the yoke, so these pieces will just have to hand around a bit longer.

Another fail I had lately was the previous weekend when I tried dying this natural colored heavy weight linen. I had a specific vision in my head of a skirt in chocolate brown, and I had a bunch of Procion MX dyes, which I had never used before. Interestingly there is plenty of info on how to use this dye for tie dye or ice dying or batik-look dying, but very little that I could find about immersion dying and getting even color. This was quite the process, which took hours and made a bit of a mess, only to have my linen come out absolutely purple. This was done using a whole bottle of chocolate brown dye, ya'll. I'm mystified. I thought I followed the directions very well. Was it took much soda ash? Can that shift the dye? I'm not sure, but I was pretty disappointed by this one and I just wound up making my skirt in the plain, undyed fabric.

I've also jumped into making Regency era stays and this one is mostly a success, but there are some issues as well. I'm actually super proud of the result, but this was always supposed to be a mock up. As such, I used a random decor fabric I had a bunch of thinking it would never be used, but then it was turning out so well that I decided to make the pattern all the way so I could learn what I was doing for the real version and still maybe have a fun pair of stays as well. The problem is that my toile fabric was very loosely woven, so the gussets started to unravel at my stitching line. 

I had to hand stitch them back down and cover the areas in fray check just to keep the gussets attached to the project - and this is before they have ever been worn. I embroidered some "flossing" (not actually flossing though) at the V point of the gussets to try and cover up the reinforcing I had to do at the gussets, but it doesn't exactly look great. The blue side looks fairly nice over all until you look closely, but as this was intended to be the lining I traced my cording lines with yellow waxed paper since no one was supposed to see it anyway. Now I like the blue side the best, and technically these could be reversible, but the back has faint yellow lines through all the cording. I did learn a lot for my "real" stays, but it's still a bummer that these aren't more useable since it really was so close.

Now I have to get more eyelets for the back lacing because the ones I have are so bad they are unusable. I went to 2 fabric stores on Saturday, but I knew I had eyelets at home so I didn't even think about getting any. Turns out the ones I have are useless - I had to rip out the 3 I tried and then just stopped. These eyelets are all the same size - not one that slips into the other - so they just buckle and look mangled. Now I have to try and find some decent eyelets that will actually work to get these finished.

On a happier note, I have been teaching my youngest sister to crochet, and I've been making a minion rattle for my nephew so that I can show her the stitches. It's all done except it needs arms, but I'm waiting until we have another session to finish him up. He's turned out great though.

And I have a challenge with embroidering my niece's name a certain way on a little jean jacket for her birthday pictures, but what I need to do requires using software to custom make the design and I've never used it before, so I'm not super confident I can get it done. I made Barbie font patches for my niece and my girls while I was practicing though, and at least they look cute.

So, it's been a mixture of fun and frustration with my crafting here lately. I'm hoping I've hit my quota and will have a successful experience this week like I was having the past few months. These things do happen and I keep trying to tell myself that so I don't get too upset. Easier said that done though.

What do you have going this week? I hope you have had more success than me :)

WIP Wednesday: Linen Obsession and Waiting For Yarn

 I've been on a bit of a yarn buying kick lately - it was my birthday last week, and what better justification for buying some yarn you've wanted to try for a while? Did I need yarn? The answer to that is basically always no given my ridiculous stash, but did I have the yarn for this top I wanted to make? Also no. Conundrum. Anyway, this time a good sale on Lion Brand caught me on the right day and I made a purchase: linen! I've been kind of loving linen in all forms lately. I love wearing it, but it's so dang pricey that I don't exactly have much of it. Enter the idea of knitting my own linen top, and here we are. 

One of the books I borrowed from the library a few weeks ago was Lovely Lace Knits by Gabrielle Vézina, and I immediately fell in love with this t-shirt design. I never thought I'd be knitting a t-shirt just because a wool t-shirt sounds pretty counter productive for Florida, but then the idea of making it up in linen jumped in my head and I couldn't let it go. So when I saw that Lion Brand sold cones of Silk City Fibers 100% Linen yarn, I pounced. Even the color was close to the example photo, which I loved.

So Monday night I knitted a swatch. I used a size 2 needle and got 8 stitches and 10 rows per inch, which is a bit too small for the pattern, which calls for 7.5 stitches and 8.5 rows. I will confess that the color is slightly less saturated than I was expecting from the photos, but I still like it. I like the fabric I got with my swatch, and linen doesn't fluff up at all with blocking, so I'm just going to do a bit of math and maybe go up one size for mine. The swatch is just so bouncy and drapey - I wish I could convey that in a photo. So, did I need a new project? Absolutely not. I have so many going right now, and I've been on a planning spree with the purchases I've made the last little while, so it was kind of bound to happen. In all likelihood, I won't even finish this top in the summer, lol. BUT it's hot here all the time, so I'm not worried about the season in which I finish it. So that seems to now be in the works.

And my Irish crochet collar is on pause while I wait for another order of yarn to arrive with the connecting thread. I didn't watch the Craftsy class ahead enough to know that you make the connecting mesh out of thinner thread than your main motifs, so my idea of just using all the same yarn for my first project didn't exactly work out. These motifs are all in size 3 crochet thread, so I ordered some navy blue size 10 thread to connect them all. They will be different brands, so I'm not positive I will like the two different navy blues together. I'm thinking I should have the new thread by next week, so we will see. So whether I use the navy or a different color, I'm at the point that I need to join these together. I also kind of need to pick a shirt or make one to put this on, lol. Today I had planned to go to my favorite thrift store, so we will see what I find there.

So things are looking light weight and summery around here with my knitting. I'm still plugging away on my Susan Shaw cardigan since it's my most portable project, and I'm gearing up for Sock Week in July. All kinds of things going on. Love it.

What do you have going right now? Anyone else have plan-itis and cast-on-itis this summer? Let me know!

WIP Wednesday (on Thursday): Playing with Irish Crochet and A Little Mending

I've had a little rabbit hole obsession lately that I just can't get my head away from: Irish Crochet details on clothing. I love them all - the Victorian and Edwardian examples of embellished Gibson girl style shirts with insertion lace and added motifs, the crazy colorful Russian crochet clothing, and everything in between. It started from watching this YouTube video (and it's predecessor) by Jenna Phipps. Now, I'm certainly not one to make a backless top that is entirely crocheted. Not a chance. But I loved the idea of putting various flowers together to make a top or sweater from, and let's be real - her color scheme is fabulous. I love the way all the colors she chose went together - it felt very high end and interesting without being crazy loud. Like a sophisticated crazy crocheted flower top. This started me thinking about what I could do to incorporate these ideas into my own making. I do also love the top in this video by Engineering Knits, which I watched ages ago. I am leaning more toward this idea with making a collar for a fabric top, but I wouldn't have the neckline so open. I'm thinking of making a t-shirt and having some of the sections open underneath but some of them backed with the knit fabric. That's what's rolling around in my head anyway.

So I decided to look up Irish crochet where I always learn how to do new fiber crafts: Craftsy. I have a membership from their Black Friday deal (it was like $1.50 for the whole year), so I started watching Modern Irish Crochet. The class goes into how to read Russian charts (very useful because they look a little different) and gives some common flower and leaf motifs. I started crocheting all of the examples she gives in the class just as practice, but I figure I will be able to put them together afterward to accomplish my t-shirt collar dreams. I grabbed a random crochet cotton from my stash - J&P Coats Royal Size 3 in the Navy colorway, which I got for free at a thrift store several months ago. It's a lovely color that I knew I could incorporate into something I would enjoy wearing (I love navy blue). I had a rather enjoyable evening just making up the flowers while watching the class. Once I get enough flowers made, I will progress to the class of connecting them together.

Then yesterday (actual Wednesday) was my birthday and I decided to take myself out for the day and go to Orlando. I had this Talbot brand dress I thrifted months ago - I bought a bag full of clothes in a bag sale back in January or so and this was too small but I thought I would turn it into a skirt, so I grabbed it when I had room in the bag for more clothes. Well, now it fits perfect! This was an exciting realization a week or so ago, but I discovered that the dress was missing buttons at the sleeves, it gaped a bit at the bust and waist, and the pockets were sewn shut. So before I went out for the day, I spent a little time sewing on some new buttons from my stash and then adding snaps in the gaping spots and seam ripping the pockets open. It was very cute and comfy all day. I did discover the waist buttonhole is ripped a bit, which makes the button prone to pop open (lovely), but this is an easy fix before I wear it again. I'm glad to have this cute dress in my wardrobe with just a few minor fixes, and it felt cute on my birthday with some of my favorite shoes.

I've also been working on my Susan Shaw cardigan - I finished the back piece and started the left front - as well as my raffia beach hat. The hat is very slow going, I must say, but we are getting there.

Anyone else pick up any new crafts lately? lol