Category: Craft

Puff stitch cat mat

On By CarynIn Cats, Craft

Crocheting cat mats is a great stash busting activity. Pairing worsted weight acrylic yarn with a puff stitch results in a cushy mat that seriously dips into the bag of leftovers.

Photo description: Multicolored mat made with crocheted puff stitches in rows of alternating color.

To make the mat use a size G hook with worsted or medium weight yarn in three or more colors.

Chain 43, or multiples of 2 +1 to get the desired size.

Row 1: Starting in the second chain from the hook, single crochet (sc) across.

Row 2: turn, chain (ch) 2, *yarn over, skip first sc and insert hook in the second sc, yarn over, pull up loop to match the height of 2 ch. 3 loops on the hook. In the same sc, yarn over, insert hook, yarn needle over, pull up loop. 5 loops on the hook. Repeat to get 7 loops on the hook. Yarn over and pull through all seven loops. Ch 1. Repeat from * across.

Row 3: Change color. Leave the other color attached if doing a three row repeat. Ch 2, *yarn over, insert hook in the first ch space, yarn over, pull up loop to match the height of 2 ch. 3 loops on the hook. In the same space, yarn over, insert hook, yarn needle over, pull up loop. 5 loops on the hook. Repeat to get 7 loops on the hook. Yarn over and pull through all seven loops. Ch 1. Repeat from * across.

Row 4: Repeat Row 3.

Row 5: Pick up the first color, which should be at the starting side. Continue with puff stitch pattern picking up the yarn color that was left off two rows down. If you want to change color every row and not have a three row repeat, or you run out of yarn, weave in the ends, or crochet over the ends as you go.

Continue making rows of puff stitches until you reach the desired length.

To finish the edge, single crochet along the top and sides for two rows. Pull yarn through last loop. Weave in ends.

Put mat where the cat can find it.

Photo description: Calico cat with a pleased expression sitting on a crocheted mat.

Distaff experiments part 2

On By CarynIn Craft

I have spun all my fiber blended by Anniewhere. I searched my fiber stash and didn’t find any more, so it is time to ply. I have six balls of singles, all slightly different colors. To even out the tone I decided to ply two balls together, so sorted the balls by weight.

Photo description: six nostepinne style wound balls of blended fiber, paired by size.

To control the balls while I plied, I decided to stretch the use of my rosewood distaff. The shaft of the distaff fits through the center of the yarn balls, so I put two on, and to keep the yarn from flying off, placed a spherical pencil eraser on top.

Photo description: On the left a rosewood ring distaff with two balls of yarn and a bright yellow heart-eyed emoji eraser on top. On the right my hand made drop spindle with wooden top whorl and metal hook.

This setup works great. I was able to complete my walk and complete the plying without tangling issues, which is huge for a spinner.

Photo description: Same distaff, same spindle, but now there is only one small ball on the distaff and a large cop of two ply yarn on the spindle.

Now to the other four!

Distaff experiments part 1

On By CarynIn Craft

I’ve been trying different ways to dress my distaff. A distaff is a way to hold fiber in preparation for spinning, and placing the fiber on the shaft is called “dressing” because it is very much like placing clothes on a doll.

My first method involved laying out parallel tufts of fiber on a handkerchief, making sure the ends went the same direction and stuck out the bottom. I would then roll up the fiber and fabric on the distaff and tie it loosely with a cord. This worked OK until the fiber was mostly gone, then it preferred to stick to the cloth instead of itself, which made drafting difficult.

The second method I tried didn’t use the handkerchief, rather just the fiber parallel to the distaff shaft, tied round with cord. As I drafted the fibers off, the cord slipped down and became a restricting collar at the base of the shaft, also making it hard to draft.

My third method involved rolling the fiber parallel to the shaft, then adding the handkerchief around the fibers in a layer, and tying the cord so that it was tightest at the top. This top secured trick is the key. It was much easier to draft the fibers off the distaff, the dressing behaved itself to the near end when I had enough fiber to hold in my hand without tangling.

Photo description: Rosewood ring distaff dressed with a blended carded fiber, handkerchief, and cord in a inverted cone shape (left). 3D printed Tough resin spindle with single spun yarn wound nostepinne style (right).

Rolled brim hat

On By CarynIn Craft

So I thought a rolled brim knit cap was some kind of knitting voodoo. I was looking up patterns to see how to do it. Y’all, it is just knit. Stockinette stitch, which makes the familiar v shaped stitches that we associate with knitting, is unbalanced and curls without a stabilizing edge (like ribbing). So the rolled brim is the natural state of a knit tube. Hm. So I tried one, and sure enough the edge curls. I even managed to do the crown of the hat in knit using seven decreases, then ran the end of the yarn through the last seven stitches and pulled tight to form a nice little rosette in the center. I threw some embroidery on to see how that went.

Photo description: Green and white knit hat with vine embroidery.
Photo description: Crown of the hat showing seven slightly spiraled sections neatly closed at the top.

I used superwash merino sock weight yarn. I would do things differently next time, so I’m not going to write up a pattern. For posterity sake I’ll write down details, though. I used two size 2 circular needles; a slip, slip, knit decrease on each of the seven sections, sometimes separated by a row of knit; and attempted a stem stitch for the embroidery. The stem stitch stretches with the fabric, but I don’t like how it doesn’t make a continuous line. That might just need practice, though. I was hoping for more of a spiral on the top of the hat too.

Crochet embellishments

On By CarynIn Craft

I modified another t-shirt. I don’t care for crew neck t-shirts (sensory thing with fabric touching my neck), so I cut off the binding, and used black crochet thread to make a blanket stitch all around the neckline, then added a simple chain 3, double crochet repeat pattern row. I like 3/4 sleeves, so I used the same 3 chain, double crochet pattern to lengthen the short sleeves, and added a scalloped edging by making five chain 1, 1 double crochet in every other junction.

Photo description: Black Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt with black crocheted lace at the neck and sleeve.

I am not historically a lace person, but the practicality of it in our Texas heat is appealing. The idea of practical lace also amuses me.