I looked online, because, obviously, I'm not the first person to come up with this idea. And so I chanced upon this site - http://pic2pat.com/
I found some longstitch tapestry yarn in my craft supplies earlier today and they got me to thinking...what could I make with them? I had a little look at what I'd made and thought it kinda looked like a beach scene, with water, rocks, sand...I thought I'd take it a step further. What if you could take a photo and turn it into a crochet pattern? I looked online, because, obviously, I'm not the first person to come up with this idea. And so I chanced upon this site - http://pic2pat.com/ Upload your image (for example, this gorgeous photo of blossom I took down at the park today), and it will give you a grid to crochet, plus all the coloured yarns you need to buy: I haven't started yet, I'm just messing around at the moment, but it looks like a lot of fun. What do you think? Worth a go? Let me know!
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Helen in my crochet class put me onto this very handy guide to crochet hooks. Definitely worth having a look at if you have a spare moment.
Also check out the crochet hook size conversions chart, plus loads of other useful things on the site. YES. With Graph Paper. And yarn and a crochet hook of course. It started with a photo of a blanket I saw on Instagram, that someone had made of Mario...you know, the dude who used to fight Donkey Kong by jumping over barrels, and then made it bigger than the Kong himself. Anyway...my kids are into Minecraft.... ...which led my daughter and me trawling Google Images looking for suitable pics to make a blanket from. We decided on this: For the uninitiated, this is a creeper. Don't ask. Anyway, it lent itself very well to being drawn up on Graph Paper, so off I went.
As you can see, it's no biggie graphing this - all it takes is working out what colours you are going to use, what size you want, and off you go. I should point out that I'm making the blanket in granny squares. There are a hundred altogether for the main pattern, plus as many as you want in a border colour (I'm thinking a really dark green). Wish me luck! Hopefully I'll remember to take some pics of my work in progress! Tonight we're going to be making snowflakes :) These are useful for making Christmas garlands, scarves, or just scattering about...looking festive. Using silk or sparkly thread, the snowflakes are a very simple design, and are based on a pattern found in the following book, "Beyond the Square: Crochet Motifs". The pattern we will use is Number 55. Crochet at Esquire's meets most Thursdays, 6.30-8.30pm, at Esquire's Coffee House, Upper Level, IntuBromley. If you live in the Bromley area, feel free to come along. All skill levels are catered for. First visit £10, subsequent visits £5.
Check out these fab snowflakes we made at Crochet at Esquires on Thursday night!
We made them from string, using Motif Number 55 from the book, "Beyond the Square - Crochet Motifs" by Edie Eckman. Very simple, they could be strung together to make a Christmas garland. Late last week I received an order for 21 mug hugs from a lady opening an online gift shop supplying ethically made British handmade products. More details about the shop later. Apart from my red and cream ones, my hugs are made using a blend of lambswool and silk. The lambswool is sourced from farms in the Scottish highlands by a buyer who then blends them with silk thread and dyes in vibrant colours. The red and cream ones are made using British pure new wool. Each hug has a button and a removable flower (with a brooch back affixed). So - consequently, my house is currently covered in wool and crochet hooks... And voila! The past couple of days I've been working on my version of the "Sweet Pea Shawl" from Debbie Stoller's "The Happy Hooker". It's been designed by Amie Hirties, and, if I end up finishing it, should be absolutely gorgeous. I've used a twist of three different colours of mercerised cotton, but it's up to you what you use really - it's quite an easy pattern to follow, perfect for those who've recently learned and want to get their teeth into something that's a challenge, but not a chore. "The Happy Hooker" is available from Amazon. It's a brilliant book for all crochet skill levels, and isn't fusty or old-fashioned in any way, just good, no nonsense how to, and loads of lovely patterns. Come learn to Crochet at Esquire's Coffee House, upper level IntuBromley, opposite Toys'R'Us. We're on most Thursday nights 6.30-8.30. First class is £10, subsequent classes are £5. All materials provided.
Are you familiar with Tumblr? If not, you should be! Loads of brilliant stuff can be found on there, not least of which, useful information about learning to crochet! A simple search on "Crochet" came up with all sorts of loveliness, and this site was the best! Watch how to make a "Magic Loop":
Check out the other stuff the site has to offer!
Last week we had a go at reading crochet symbols in Japanese Crochet books. Reading crochet symbols is a very useful skill, because it means you're no longer limited to those patterns written in English, and also overcomes the confusion often found when reading a US pattern when you're used to non-US terminology. It's a bit tricky to start off with, but once you get the hang of it, you'll soon find you're flying. This week we're going to continue with our Japanese patterns. If you are new to crochet, and want to come along, don't worry, I'll cater to your needs as well :)
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