Changing Someone's Life Through Crochet

Okay, it may not be that dramatic, but today I was out in my driveway with my camera taking pollinator photos on my bee balm plants.

All of a sudden, someone walks up and says, "excuse me, but are you the woman who taught crochet at the library?"

I was taken aback and confused at first - crochet, library, was she talking about Elisabeth? But no, then I remembered the Beginning Crochet class I taught at the library eons ago.

"Yes, I taught beginning crochet."

First she thanked me. Then she proceeded to tell me how much it changed her. She kept crocheting after the one class and has made lots of afghans. Teenager's afghans, babies' afghans. She was embarrassed to tell me that she only learned one pattern and uses it all the time. I assured her that finding one pattern that makes her feel good is just fine. I guess a friend of hers has been more adventurous and crochets clothes, home décor, etc.

She thanked me again and then quietly walked away.

I have never had any positive feedback when I've tried to teach someone to crochet. I always put it down to the fact that I was taught to crochet by my mother, who was a knitter. I guess the way I hold my yarn and hook are more knitting techniques than crochet, but no matter. It gets the job done.

And someone thinks my teaching was perfectly fine. She is enjoying her newfound hobby and her loved ones are benefiting from her talents.

Well done, I say!

As for the photographs?

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Part Deux

Okay, so I'm being a little facetious here.

My recovery from the accident has been slow but sure. The worst residual affect is the frequent numbness that happens to my right (dominant) hand. That was the hand that had the fractured bone, actually.

So, I'm back to work and hating every minute of it. But I am not going to go into anything about my employment / employer. This is not the time nor is it the venue. All I can say is that, for me, it is time to move on.

In some ways, I have begun to move on. I finally opened my Etsy store with a new name (you can change that only once, then you need to submit a request) and a new focus - thus Elegant Knots was born. After struggling trying to crochet pop can tab wrist cuffs, I gave up in frustration and let my first store die in obscurity. But part of my rehabilitation (self prescribed, I admit) was crocheting cowls and infinity scarves. There are only so many (and I have TOO many) infinity scarves / cowls a person can have, so what to do with the growing number of intricate and lacy pieces I was producing? Okay, I admit that I planned to sell many of these before I began the special designs I created. And here is my unique take on selling crochet: my pieces are one-of-a-kind piece of art! Yes, I said ART!

Right now I could go over to my inventory and my mouth will drop open at some of the intricate designs I have been creating. I try to marry a design with the yarn, be it the fiber content, the weight or the color, everything is taken into consideration before I pick up my hook. Oftentimes, I've already named the creation, such as Rose Garden Promise which, I admit, is one that always leaves me amazed.

So I have opened my store, though I haven't done very much promoting (just an announcement to my friends via FB). Of course, you don't make sales if no one visits. But I'm ready to update my current listings (which are more cooler weather offerings) with some fun summer scarfs (lighter weight). Then I feel I can start self-promoting more.

Plus, I will begin to showcase each offering on my store, here on my blog, by giving a more in-depth study of each piece as it relates from inception to completed piece of clothing. I hope you find the upcoming posts interesting.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

I know, everyone uses this cliché, but for me it describes the last three years (or 2 years and 3 months so far).

In 2015, my longtime supervisor and sometime friend moved to another department in my company and I was in charge of my destiny for pretty much the rest of the year. I developed working plans, tweaked normal tasks to peak efficiency and was humming along absolutely loving my job and my department. At the end of 2015, however, I was informed that the director wanted to add another person to our team who would also be our supervisor (my team consisted of myself and my co-worker, both in the digital side of marketing). We were assured that we would be in on the hiring process from day one. Of course I should have known. My company always talks a good talk to the employees, but when it comes down to it, everything is decided in the managers' favor. Due to everyone's schedule, the new guy was never introduced, much less interviewed by either my teammate or myself.

So in May of 2016, a new employee started who was to be my supervisor. Needless to say, we don't get along! My peak efficiency went out the window with his micromanaging my job. To say, 2016 was stressful and left me hating my job with a passion is a massive understatement.

I had had enough and told the director of my department as well as the director of HR. Another department in my company had been courting me for a new position and I was anxious to make the lateral move. But I discovered that my director didn't want to give me up just yet. She felt that there was no way that they would ever be able to replace me and she needed time to think about it.  EVEN AFTER I TOLD HER THAT I WANTED OUT!!!

Unfortunately, this has happened in previous positions and I have ended up walking out. My parting line is usually, "I'm too valuable to allow a transfer, huh? Now you and the company have lost my expertise entirely!"

But this time I couldn't. I am the sole bread winner and we are keeping our 125 year house by the skin of our teeth. I can't afford to walk out. The stress has been nearly over the top, bringing on panic attacks and health issues.

So there's the Good: 2015; the Bad 2016; and the Ugly???

Date: January 27th, 2017
Time: 7:20 am
Place: Intersection of Galena Road and Rock Creek Road

I T-boned a car going 55-60 mph who turned at the last minute in front of me. I was driving a 25 year old Honda Civic with one airbag (drivers) which I was unsure would inflate or if it did, that it would explode. I knew I was going to die in that split second moment when I saw him turn in front of me.

When I opened my eyes, I couldn't breathe. I was conscious but I couldn't breathe. Oh great, my next thought was that now I'm going to die, but I'm going to be awake through the whole agonizing process of suffocation!

Then I realized that the car was filled with residual gas from the deployed airbag (which miraculously worked and saved my life). I forced myself to hiccup as I gingerly opened my driver's window. The cold clear air helped me to pull oxygen into my lungs and the gases dissipated. I was alive, but in terrible pain.

I won't go into any further details of my injuries / recovery, but I have been out of work since then with the doctor's saying mid-May. I'm hoping for the end of April (because of our finances).

So, my department has had to learn to get along without me. Have they learned that I'm certainly dispensable and allow me to apply for other job? Or will I have to start my new life with a new career.

Facing death, I have decided that I am too old and have been in the workforce too long to stay in a position that is slowly killing me. One way or the other, I'm beginning a new life now and it is up to me whether I spend it happily or a slave to the regularity of my old life.

Stay tuned . . .

Anatomy of a Crochet Pattern

Have you ever had a pattern for a crochet project that just seemed to be written in an alien language? Oh, it's in English and it uses perfectly acceptable crochet terms, but try as you might, it makes absolutely no sense? Sometimes I give up in frustration and decide to find something else to make. Sometimes the pattern is so intriguing that I REFUSE to give in to confusing instructions. I will follow the pattern exactly one, two, three (and this particular pattern) up to six times! If I can't dissect the stitch instructions into a visual representation of yarn and hook, then I will try to recreate the pattern with my own ideas.

In this case, neither 4 attempts of the original instructions, 2 of my own attempts and a final 2 attempts at the original instructions happened before the light came on and I realized what the crochet stitches were recreating! I should say that when I was fighting to figure out the instructions, I used similar weight / texture yarn, but none of the 'purchased yarn' for the project I committed myself to.

The pattern is called the Victorian Step which creates a bargello pattern like the walls of a castle battlement and was designed by Laura Pavy  exclusively for bobwilson123's blog viewers. This pattern is available as written instructions in a PDF file and as a tutorial on YouTube.

Believe me, I read the instructions -- many times.
I watched the video -- twice
-- and then again with yarn following along.

When the light finally came on, I was nearly ready to apologize profusely to my co-worker, who is the soon-to-be, first-time mother I confidently promised to make a baby blanket from this intriguing crochet pattern before her baby was born. Luckily, the decision to give up removed the blinders I was experiencing from the stress of fighting with the instructions. I suddenly could see how the chains (ch) and double crochets (dc) created the 'merlons' and 'crenels' of the bargello pattern.

Merlons and crenels?

A merlon forms the vertical solid parts of a battlement or crenelated parapet—in Medieval architecture of fortifications for millennia. Merlons are sometimes narrowly pierced by vertical embrasure "slits" to view and fire weapons through. When a wider space is between two merlons it is called a crenel, and a series of many merlon—crenels creates crenelation.
- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So if this pattern intrigues you as it did me, here are my hints to help you figure out the instructions.

You must start with a chain. This pattern jumps right in to the highs and lows of crenellation. A foundation  row won't work.

Now here's why: you will use 3 chs for the initial rise up the merlon, you will dc in the 2 following chains for the solid portion, and then you will use 3 ch to drop down the merlon and create the open space of the crenel.
Note: here is one of the areas that created confusion for me.
*Ch3, slst in next ch,skip 2 ch’s, dc in next 2ch’s, Skip 2ch’s, slst in next ch, ch3, dc in next 2ch’s Repeat from* to last ch, dc in last ch (last block is 3dc).

Once I realized what these combinations of chains, slipstitches and double crochets formed, it was easier to see how the following row which is repeated throughout the entire baby blanket, created the crenelations.

What is important now in the instructions, is to embrace the anatomy of the crenelation and how it is created using 2 ch, 2 dc, 2 ch for the merlon, and 2 dc for the crenel. The pattern states to use 3 ch, 2 dc, 3 ch, but I found that the merlon was too loose that way. The 2 ch, 2 dc technique creates a nice tight merlon. You will notice that the second 2 ch will slip stitch into the top of previous row's 2 ch, which is exactly the right height to start the 2 dc that will create the 'space' formed for the crenel. At the 2nd dc, you chain 2 which raises the row to the height of the merlon double crochets. (See image below.) The second ch 2 will drop down (slip stitch in top of previous row's 2 ch) to the height of the 2 dc crenels.

I use this visualization of the pattern and the anatomy of the stitches creating the pattern, to get comfortable with the project and then I can crochet away in confidence that the outcome will be exactly as it should.

So my advice is:

Hang in there when you are trying a new look or texture in crochet. 

If you practice a little first following the instructions and see what the stitches are creating, then you will feel confident enough to take on the challenge of interesting patterns and textures, such as cables, popcorn stitch pictures, etc.

Entrelac using Tunisian Simple Stitches

Fisherman's Sweater Pattern

PI -- A Hat-Maker's Friend!

Π or Pi is a mathematical number that corresponds between diameter and circumference. This is important when creating a hat. If you know a few crochet basics to make a circle, then you really don't need a pattern for your very own hat.

The first important thing to know is the 'Magic Ring' or Adjustable Ring. This creates a wonderful closed circle of stitches and is the perfect base to build your crown. Crochet Me has a great photo tutorial of this stitch and it doesn't take much practice to get it down. Once you have this technique down, creating a perfect circle is just a matter of a simple mathematical formula.

I usually create my hats with a base of single crochet stitches. So I create a 'Magic Ring' and make 6 sc in the ring and then pull it almost tight. I mark the first sc in each round and then work in a spiral. After a few rounds, I will then pull the ring tight.

The second round starts the increases that make your circle larger. In Round 2 you place 2 sc in each sc for a total of 12. Now the math comes in.

For the succeeding rounds, you increase the stitches in the following way:
Round 3: 1 sc in next stitch, 2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next stitch, 2 sc in next stitch . . . well, you should get the idea. This row will give you 18 stitches.
Round 4: 1 sc in next 2 stitches, 2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next 2 stitches, 2 sc in next stitch, and so on to get 24 stitches.
Round 5: 1 sc in next 3 stitches, 2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next 3 stitches, 2 sc in next stitch . . .
As you can see, you are adding a stitch between each increase in each succeeding row. If you look carefully at the completed rows, you can also see that you are adding the additional sc in the first stitch of the increase of your previous row and adding your increase (2 sc) in the second stitch of the increase of the previous row. Being able to recognize the patterns created by your stitches will help you keep the increases in a consistent manner and reduces the anxiety if you lose count.

The next important technique is measuring. If you have a tape measure, you are not tied down to gauge. And this is also where Π comes in.

First, measure around your head -- this is the circumference. Unless you can manipulate your measuring tape around the crocheted circle, finding out if you've made the crown large enough requires some math. Here's how you do it:

First lay your circle on a flat surface and measure across it at the widest point. For those of you who remember your Geometry, this is the diameter. Now, multiply that number, say it's 6.5 , by 3.1415 ( Π ). This will give you a circumference of a little under 20½". By the same token, if you measure your head and come up with 21" and divide by Π, you will see you need closer to 7" across your circle. Amazing!

Once you have the correct size of the crown (or circumference of your head), then you can stop increasing and just continue your rows until you are comfortable with the height or length of your hat. At this point, I often start a pattern, such as crocodile stitches or perhaps a post basket weave.

In this hat, which looks like a type of weave, the pattern is created with a sc / ch combination. Since this doesn't affect the tension (say like a post created basketweave or cables), you can begin using this stitch after creating your base row of stitches in the magic ring. Yes, you do your increases exactly the same. In each successive row, you place your sc in the chain space of the previous row and then chain 1, sc in the next chain space, well, you get the idea. When it comes to the increase, you just sc, chain 1 twice in the appropriate chain space.

I hope I've taken away the fear of making hats, and have encouraged your to dust off your math skills.

With this simple formula for increases and measuring, you should be able to whip out hats in no time. You may even create your own looks by adding different stitch combinations as you create the sides of your hat. In fact, if you get confident enough, you may even become a bonafide crochet hat designer!!!

Lacy Hooded Cowl Pattern

I've had numerous requests for the pattern for my Lacy Hooded Cowl that I created for my co-worker, Alice's wedding gift. So here you are!

Lacy Hooded Cowl
By Celeste Dunn
Celestial Designs
Crochet Designs by Celeste

I created the cowl in a half double crochet openwork (one row of half double crochets, one row of half double, chain one, skip next stitch, half double across, then a row of half double crochets again). I created a rectangle 46" long by 20" wide, starting with a foundation half double crochet row (160 stitches), using a size "J" hook. Joining the 2 narrow sides, I created the cowl which hangs nicely down the front. The 20" width allows the lacy cowl to be drawn up as a delicate head covering, yet leave a nice collar on the back of the neck.

2 skeins #2 Fine Lace Yarn - I used Patons Lace (3 oz. / 498 yds) in the colorway of Midas.
Hook size: J
1 tapestry hook (for weaving in ends)

Special Note:
This pattern calls for a foundation chain of hdc. To FHDC, begin by chaining 3, yarn over and insert hook in first chain. Yarn over and draw through. Yarn over and draw through 1 loop (this is the next chain). Yarn over and draw through all 3 loops on hook. Yarn over, insert hook through chain just created. Yarn over and draw through, yarn over and draw through one loop (next chain). Yarn over and draw through 3 remaining loops. (This will now count as the second stitch). Continue across until you reach the correct number of foundation stitches.

Pattern
Row 1: FHDC 160 stitches. Turn. (Approximately 46" long)

Row 2: Chain 3 (counts as first HDC and one chain). HDC in 3rd stitch from end. *Chain 1, skip next stitch, HDC in next stitch. Repeat from * to end of row. Turn.

Row 3: Chain 2 (counts as first HDC). *HDC in chain 1 space. HDC in next stitch. HDC in next ch 1 space. Continue to end of row ending with HDC in last HDC stitch, HDC in ch 3 space, HDC in 2nd ch from end. Turn.

Repeat Rows 2 and 3 until piece measures 20". Fasten off, but do not cut yarn. Fold cowl in half crosswise, hold open ends togeter. With yarn and working through both sides to join, hdc in stitch row ends. Chain 1 over the chain space ends. HDC in stitch row end. Chain 1 over chain space ends. HDC in stitch row end. Continue to complete the join and fasten off. Weave ends in.

I plan on another one in Porcelain (which is a self-striping blue lace yarn).

Lacy Hooded Cowl

Weddings! I seem to have jumped into the wedding vortex sometime between July and August.

One of my co-workers, Alice announced earlier this year that she will be marrying her American boyfriend in her native Germany (rumor has it a castle will be figuring into the wedding somehow) in early September.

Alice just loves my crochet and was one of the first people I actually made something for (a cancer hat for her mother). So, of course, I wanted to make an extra special gift for her wedding. She has a wonderful sense of fashion and accessorizes often with cowls and scarves. So the logical step was to make a lacy cowl.  While the idea was percolating in my mind, I came across an Annie's crochet catalog and there, in the pattern section was a pretty hooded cowl. Now I honestly didn't want to purchase and have shipped a pattern -- especially since I didn't particularly like the stitch pattern used. But I really liked the look and drape of the cowl, so I made up my mind to create my own.

If you look in one of my previous posts, you will see a crocodile stitched shawl that I made my older sister. I used Patons Lace yarn which is acrylic/wool/mohair and has a nice halo effect. It is a mid-range priced yarn and I actually bought more than I needed, so I had 2 skeins left. The color is called Midas but is actually a self-striping yarn in white, beige, walnut, sage, deep purple colors. Perfect colors for Alice!

Lacy Cowl

I created the cowl in a half double crochet openwork (one row of half double crochets, one row of half double, chain one, skip next stitch, half double across, then a row of half double crochets again). I created a rectangle 46" long by 20" wide, starting with a foundation half double crochet row (160 stitches), using a size "J" hook. Joining the 2 narrow sides, I created the cowl which hangs nicely down the front. The 20" width allows the lacy cowl to be drawn up as a delicate head covering, yet leave a nice collar on the back of the neck. I love the way it turned out. I think Alice will love it, too!

Delicate Lacy Hood

Lacy Hood with Collar

Then a couple of weeks ago, my youngest son and his fiancée announced that they're going to get married this fall -- at our house! OMG! Another wedding gift to prepare (and house to clean and yard to fix . . .)

I loved the look of this stitch pattern and the way it turned out with the Patons Lace, so I decided to make my daughter-in-law a shawl (she doesn't wear hats or cowls). As they are planning an Autumn wedding, complete with pumpkins, cornstalks and hay bales, I chose the Patons Lace Bonfire. But when I went to Joanns to purchase it, alas, they didn't carry this particular color. But what they did have was Patons Lace Sequins in black. PERFECT! My daughter-in-law just loves black! So I purchased 4 skeins and have started the shawl with a half double crochet grid pattern. So far it looks wonderful -- the sequins are very small, so the sparkle is subtle and quite charming. I think she will love this! More later . . .