Stickytapeandstring

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commuter crochet

Birthday bunting – free pattern

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I would like to share with you a free pattern for my birthday bunting.   We have a happy day coming up in our household.    Every year I buy trashy plastic decorations and would like to stop! I have seen lots of news articles about the impact of plastic on the environment. This made me wonder whether I could make some bunting that we could re-use and this is the result.    I am quite pleased with it 🙂

Firstly I made the basic flags.   Working in double knitting weight yarn. I used yarn from my stash. If you are buying new, I do recommend the Special DK by Stylecraft. This yarn is great value and comes in a wide range of colours. I will leave a search link below.   If you click on the link it will take you to the current offers Amazon have for this yarn. Please note any links in my posts may give me a small income at no additional cost to readers. You could make these even more sustainably by using recycled yarn. Yarn recycling is a fun hobby of mine and you can read about it, including methods and tips here.

Birthday bunting – free pattern starts here!

UK/(US) instructions – Basic flag pattern work as follows – using a 4mm hook and DK yarn

Chain 39 (note this is a chain of 37 with two for the turn)

Work one row in DC (US terms SC) starting with the third chain from the hook

Turn, chain two. Work one row in DC (US terms SC) starting in the top of the second DC on the row below.

Turn, chain three. Work one row in TR (US terms DC) starting in the top of the second DC on the row below.

Repeat – so that you are doing two rows of DC (US terms SC), followed by a row of TR (US terms DC). At the start of each row, reduce one stitch by missing the first stitch of the row and working into the second.

As you repeat this pattern you will find each time you work a row of TR (US terms SC) you will have 3 stitches fewer than you had on the last row of that type.   Eventually you will get to a row of trebles where you only have 2 stitches to work and at that point you can finish off the work.

Making up the Bunting

To make the top of the bunting I started with a chain of six and formed a loop.   I then worked 30 chain before working 37 DC (US terms SC) across the top of the first flag using DC (US terms SC).   Put in 10 chain between each flag taking care not to allow the chain to twist.   Carry on until you have included all the flags you need. At the end work 30 chain then six more chain. Slip stitch into the first of these last six to make a loop.

Finally, work 12 DC (US terms SC) into the loop formed by the six chain and then work DC (US terms SC) all along the bunting to the end where you need to work 12 DC (US terms SC) into the final loop and slip stitch to finish off.

If you wanted to make smaller bunting then simply start with a smaller number of stitches.

Decoration is optional depending on the occasion.   As this is for a birthday I wanted to include the lettering.    Initially I worked up the letters in free form crochet but I wasn’t very happy with the result so I used felt instead.   This also made it a bit quicker to make.   I edged the felt letters with blanket stitch in the same colour way as a contrast.    Here is a close up of the ‘Happy’ 🙂

And on that note I will bring the post to a close – please let me know how you like the bunting.   I will be putting it up on my Etsy page which you can see here. Happy crocheting!

April 2020 update – I am reusing this pattern to make rainbow bunting to show support for the medical profession and all carers as the world fights Covid-19. Pattern to follow.

Annie 🙂

20 May 2018

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Hello 🙂

I have decided to keep a log of my progress as I build my blog and Esty shop.  I will  share my experience here, in case anything I learn can help anyone else. This is my first weekly update post.   I might need to split the content between the nuts and bolts of blogging and the crochet/knitting design work as I am not sure anyone would want to read all of it!   I am not sure anyone will want to read any of it if I am honest but I am putting it out there in hope 🙂

So far I have only written a post when I had a project ready to share.  That makes weekly posts tricky as there are some weeks when I do not feel I have anything at the right stage.   You will see from these updates that I have a bit of a problem with focus 🙂 I tend to work on several projects at once and I am not much of a completer finisher.    Does anyone else have a problem with that?

I work full time and jam my crafting into the corners and spare moments of my life. I generally get a good amount of time to spend on my crafting and blogging at the weekend.  During the week I spend two hours a day on the train travelling to work.   I am normally surrounded by sleeping commuters!  I took the decision when I first started in this job, that I would not waste those two hours a day.

One of my tasks each weekend is to get myself set up with projects for the train.   I need the projects to be small and easy to carry.    I generally get a seat on the train but I don’t get much elbow room so the work needs to be compact and not need laying out.   This week I have been working on little crochet bags.    I started with a basic pattern which I will share in a separate post.    I worked up a number of variations.    I thought that these could be used for wedding favours.   We just had a bit of royal wedding fever here in the UK so that was what set me off!

I am still working on designs for my sample squares blanket.   I haven’t managed to get to a design I really love yet so I put the project on hold.    I started with the layout below then edged a number of squares in black and wasn’t sure I liked that look.

I think I am going to ditch the black edges and join with white instead.   Maybe it is because we are coming into summer and the black just looks too heavy.

I am progressing my Spring Flowers Blanket I completed all the flowers for one row last week.    I have joined them now and I am working on the next part of the design.   These colours really make me happy.    I was going to pick up a row of chain after the flowers but I think it will be neater if I start in the other direction and mirror the panel I just made.    My project for the train this week will be another set of flowers to make a new row across the work.    I am going to put in some zig zag rows this weekend.   It has to be a weekend job as the work is too big now to take on the train!

Every week I like to do a bit of research on blog or Etsy tips.  I read an article this week on Etsy success which said that you need c200 items listed to start to get a higher chance of sales.    I was shocked.   That is a huge number of listings.   I am currently at 10!   I think it will take about two years of work to get me to the 200 listings point

I do have a lot of patterns in draft that I plan to list and a number of those could be projects that people could give as Christmas presents.   It sounds dreadful to be thinking of Christmas in May but given the time it takes to produce items I think it is a good time to be planning and starting to make gifts.    This is a link to my shop in case you want a look.   Stickytapeandstring

One of the problems I used to have with my blog and Pinterest posts is with photography.    I have now invested in a light system and have a small ‘studio’ set up in a corner of my bedroom that allows me to take great photos of small and medium sized work.   I bought the kit on Amazon – it was a lot cheaper than I expected.   Problem solved!!

I have included an affiliate link here to the type of kit I bought, which if you find the link helpful, allows me to get a bit of income whilst not costing you a penny more than you would pay anyway.

The problem I haven’t been able to crack so far is how to photograph really  big items.   My sunshine flower blanket looks lovely in real life but I cannot get a decent picture of it to list on Etsy.   I might take it into the garden on a sunny day and see whether sunlight does the trick!

When I am travelling to work I listen to audio books.   After a phase of murder mystery type books I have moved on to self improvement.   Everything I have read/heard tells me that I have more chance of success if I write my goals down so I am working on a bullet journal page to do just that.     I will post an update on this next week.   I love my bullet journal and have a board on Pinterest to keep all the inspiring ideas that I see.   Many of them seem to need more artistic ability than I possess but a lot of the pages can be copied.   Working on the bullet journal is an exercise in mindfulness all on its own and I find it very relaxing but it is a bit of a drain on time if I allow it to be!  Pinterest board link here – Bullet Journal.

I will share my progress against my goals each week once I have set those goals.   For now I can give a status report.    I have 522 Pinterest followers and 10 Esty listings with no sales.    I do not have any blog subscribers yet but plan to start a mailing list next week.   I rarely get comments on my blog and haven’t really looked into how to improve that yet.    I signed up with AdSense a couple of months ago and so far my cumulative earnings are 16p 🙂   The only way is up!!

I think I had better stop writing now and go and make something.

More next week,

Annie 🙂

 

Spring blanket

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The sun has come out in the UK.  It is April and we have had a lovely few days of really warm weather.  I have been working on a blanket in spring colours and was looking for opportunities to work on this on my commute so I have incorporated some pretty flowers and blocks into the design that can be worked up separately and added to the larger work at home 🙂

Here are the colours I am using and you can see I have made a start with the first few rows in basic stitches.   I am trying Stylecraft DK for the first time as I have seen so many crochet bloggers recommending it.   It is certainly good value and has been very nice to work with so far.   There is a fantastic range of colours to inspire and I am already thinking about the next project and the next…. although that does not help me reduce my yarn stash!! (shhhh!!).

The flowers in the picture below will form a row across the blanket and I plan rows of pale pink and white to follow.   These flowers are perfect for working on my commute!!   I have been working up the centres one day and then adding petals the next so that I only ever have to carry one ball of yarn.

The main blanket is already quite large as I am aiming at double bed size.   It can only really be worked on at home now but it is growing quickly.  I love these colours they are making me really happy as I work 🙂

I am documenting the pattern as I go as I plan to list the blanket and pattern in my Etsy shop.  I will post an update when I get to the next stage and I am working up blocks on the commute.   One day I will get organised and issue these patterns as a CAL but I think I need a few more blog readers before I try that.   I wish I could spend more time on my crafting and blogging but I don’t suppose I am alone in that.  Too many ideas and too little time.   Ah well….

Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂

 

Sample Square – pattern

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Hello – just a short post to give you the pattern for the sample squares I worked on last week.    This is what they look like – with an edge and without.

The instructions are written using UK notation.   For US conversion please use the terms in brackets.  CH = chain, DC = double crochet (US – single crochet) , Tr = treble (US – double crochet), Htr = half treble (US – half double crochet).

Round 1 – CH 5 and form into a ring with a slip stitch into the first loop of the chain

Round 2 – chain three then work 15 Tr into the centre ring.   Finish the circle by slip stitch into the third of the chain stitches you started the round with.    Check – this should give you a wheel with 16 spokes!

Round 3 – CH 2, DC, (CH1, Htr, CH2, Htr, CH1, 2DC) x 3, CH1, Htr, CH2, Htr, CH1, DC.    Finish the round with a slip stitch into the second of the chain stitches you started the round with.

Note you should have the beginnings of a square now.   The spaces created by each of the 2chain elements is the start of the corners.

 

Round 4 – a round of DC with four along each side and 5 into the corner space.   CH2, work 2 DC which should bring you to the corner space.   (Work 5 DC into the corner space.  Work 4 DC along the next side.) x 3, work 5 DC into the final corner space, work 1 DC and join with a slip stitch to the second of the chain stitches you started the round with.

Round 5 – a round of trebles with six along each side and four with a two chain spacer at each corner.   CH3, 3Tr into the top of the dc’s on the row below.  Miss one of the dcs then (into the top of the middle dc of the corner work (2 Tr, CH2, 2Tr) all into the same stitch, miss one dc on the row below then work 6Tr along the next side) x 3, into the top of the middle dc of the final corner work (2Tr, CH2, 2Tr) all into the same stitch, miss one dc on the row below then work 2Tr and finish with a slip stitch into the third of the chain stitches you started the round with.

Edging – I edged my squares in black by working a round of dc’s into every stitch on the final round – 10 down each side and five into the corner space.

And there it is!   I hope you find it easy to understand, I have taken a lot of photos which should help.

Any questions please leave me a comment and I will try to help.

Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂