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For this week's blog, I've attempted to make this square.  They want you to make this with Strutt's red and white knitting cotton No. 8 and a steel hook No. 17. Strutt's Knitting Cotton No. 8 is a Perle/Pearl Cotton is about the same size as crochet thread size 20 and is actually smaller and more slippery than regular size 10 crochet cotton. Their size 17 hook is 1.5mm or a what I have as a size 8 hook. I typically use a 1.65mm for size 10 crochet cotton so this confirmed the estimate I made on the thread size. I had a stash of varied colors of pearl cotton in that size that I haven't used much of so I pulled it out tried it with the 1.65mm hook. And before I even made it past the first two rows I realized I hated working with it. It was slippery and hard to see. The stitches looked uneven and it just wasn't working for me. Rather than not do the square I decided to use a different weight of thread. I had some size 3 crochet thread which is much bigger in both red and white so I grabbed a 3.25mm hook and tried that. That worked a lot better. This square is worked in rows for the center pattern and then a nine round border is added to finish it. The end of the directions says that with the exception of the 8th round (which is slip stitches) this should be worked tightly to give it a firm appearance. The center is worked in triple crochet back and forth with the color you aren't using dropped to the back or the front depending on the row you're working on. All of the dropped thread should be on the same side. It doesn't say to crochet over those threads but leaving them loose seemed like a bad idea for something that was originally intended to be for a blanket so I tried hiding them two different ways. The first way was going over them on the same row that they're dropped in but because these are triple crochets that meant there was a floating thread going up to the bottom of the row every time I changed colors and it was very noticeable. I tried going over the dropped thread in the next row of triples. Because the dropped thread sat at the top of the stitches, going over it on the next row made fewer floating threads. This wasn't perfect, especially when the thread moved up to the next row. I could have cut it and restarted it but I wanted to try to follow the pattern. Here is the back and the front where you can see some of the floating threads.
The border was pretty simple. It's done in back loops and uses triple crochet, double crochet, single crochet and slip stitches. The pattern warns, "It will be found rather a troublesome matter to pick up the stitches along the edges of the treble rows and the worker must be particular in counting them or the sides will be irregular." It wasn't that troublesome because I used math to figure it out how many stitches to put in the ends of each row before I started the side. I ran out of white thread and had to switch to gray and black but I like how this turned out. While soaking it for blocking, I forgot to use vinegar and the red made the white thread turn pink it some areas. I think this could be a pillow cover; I'm still not sold on the blanket plan for this. What else do you think it could it be used for?  Now for the scoring:
Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes. 1.0 Does it look like the illustration? Mostly yes. 1.0 Would someone use this? I think so. 1.0 Did I enjoy making it? Yes. 1.0
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 The Fifteenth Series has 19 patterns and 23 photos. There are baby and children's clothes, toys and other household items. Let's take a look. Baby items include some little boots, high bootikins, a rattle, a little muff and a combined hood and shawl and a rattle.
  Children and adult clothing items include this dress, some boots that were on the fold and some trim for a chemise that I didn't take photos of.  What is an issue without an antimacassar? We have two option in this series and a headrest. The lattice pattern on the headrest looks fun. There's also a square that could be turned into a coverlet and one you can use for a blanket or an antimacassar that has an interesting twisted ring in the center.
 And last we have a couple of toys.
Most people would assume that I'd try the toys out but I read the directions and they involved more than just crocheting. While I'm willing to do some fabric work on these this went a little further than I expected. For the elephant, they have you start by making the shape of the limbs in brown paper and stuffing it with something. Then they want you to sew those pieces together, cover it all with a gray fabric and then make the crochet pieces that will cover that. So, I'm going to make the red and white square for a coverlet instead. Check in next week to find out how that went.
The patterns for these entries are from 2012 to 2023. Seven are from the 2010s and have the two third place winners; the scarf category and an afghan category. The scarf category had six entries and had some really beautiful scarves.
This rug is from Crochet World 2017 but didn't quite make it into the right category. There was one entry I didn't finish; a thread tablecloth. The person doing the tagging put the tablecloth tag on this instead of the rug one and I didn't catch it. The judges looked at it and rightfully decided that it was in the wrong category so they made their best judgment on what category it should be in. Since the rugs are judged by someone else they chose to put it in Afghan, Assembled. This shows how lenient some of the counties are for entries. This would be a very small and thick afghan and it got third place...out of three entries.  The 2020's have the remaining nine and the two that got Awards of Excellence. This table runner below was named by my husband. He thought it looked like chocolate mint. The judge loved the name too.  My two favorites and the two that got Awards of Excellence are the Cat Pillow pattern by Pony McTate (The back has cat butts) and the Spring Fairy House (pattern by Denise Lawrence).
 Spring Fairy House pattern by Denise Lawrence 2021 This little purse is adorable and lined with fabric that has mice on it. The Pirate also got first place.
And that's all 29 items! Next year I plan to do half that many.
Many of these are available. I've given away a few of the small baby items and some are things I'm keeping. If you're interested in one of the items let me know! These are the ones that are available from this post: Chessboard Vest Raffia Sunhat Owl Purse Pirate Purple Poncho Ruffles Scarf This year I made it a goal to enter as many crochet projects in our local county fair as I could. There are 33 lots in the crochet category plus one in the rug category. I entered 29 items. Since this "Craft Across Time", I'm going to share them in order of the year the pattern was published starting with 1890s. There was just one from the Weldon book. Remember the doily/medallion from May that had the illustration and directions that didn't quite match? This one got second place out of two entries.  Red Medallion from Weldon's - Doily under 14" - Second Place We're jumping straight to the 70s for the next five. The Cuddle up blanket was in a blog post from a year ago and also got second. The others have the dates and pattern under them.
There were just two from the 1980s but they both got blue ribbons  Reflection from Magic Crochet December 1989 - Filet  Baby Booties Roller Skates from Baby Bootie Boutique II 1980 I hit the 90s up for another four patterns. Several of these were in a blog post last year. I added a hat and a purse to get the Rose Trimmed Ensemble into the "Doll Clothes, With Accessories - Mounted" category. A first place winner but it was also the only entry in that category. The judge noted that she couldn't check the insides because I mounted them too well but the category was "Doll Clothes with Accessories, mounted" and I was guessing on what that meant.  Jacket and dress from Crochet World 1991 I made the tie for the February 2023 blog post. I blocked with pins that rusted and it left marks so I dyed it to cover them up but I guess it didn't cover them up enough because the judge found them.
The project below is from Annie's Bed Doll Society 1995 Calendar. There were a lot of errors in the pattern. Fortunately, whoever had the pattern before me taped over the incorrect parts with the corrections for most of the errors. The judge's notes on this one said that she though it had been soiled. I used Ecru and White thread held together to do the underdress pillow part and I think she thought that was stained somehow. Still, I got a first place but there were no other competitors for this category.  One last one from 2008. The remaining ones from 2012-2023 will be up tomorrow. The 2008 pattern is from Interweave Summer 2008. Super cute and easy dress. There were extra notes from the judge on how much they liked the white edging (if you know the State Fair judge, you'll know what that means!)  Summer Sun Dress from Interweave Summer 2008 Many of these are available. I've given away a few of the small baby items and some are things I'm keeping. If you're interested in one of the items let me know!
These are the ones that are available from this post: Theatre Dress Pillow Doll Valentine Tie Reflection runner Shamrock Doily Halter Dress Popcorn Potholders Red Crochet Medallion For this week's post I've attempted the Harlequin Ball. I thought this would be an easy and quick item to make.  The pattern says you can make it with odds and ends of wool. They suggest Andalusian wool which is close to a sport weight yarn in a variety of colors for the tuft (aka popcorn) stitches and cardinal for the main color. I didn't have odds and ends of that weight so I decided to use worsted weight acrylic scraps. I managed to find a nice assortment of colors and some Red Heart Super Saver in red. As I read through the pattern I realized the construction was very different than a typical ball but after taking a second look at the illustration it makes sense. The pattern has you make a circle for the top with increases keeping the circle flat until you get 24 stitches in a round. Then cut the yarn and make a second circle the same way. Once the second circle gets to 24 stitches you chain 29 and join to the other circle and start working in rows.  To get the ball shape you slip stitch in the first and last six stitches of each row with the middle stitches being either single crochet or a section of popcorn stitches. For some rows you crochet into the same stitch you previously worked in and in some you use the next stitch. This went pretty well for the first half where I was careful to read the directions for every repeat. Counting the slip stitches was a little harder than I thought. Sometimes I had an extra stitch after a popcorn row and I just skipped a stitch to make up for it. Somewhere in the second half I ended up with more stitches on one of the circles than the other. I was not going to restart this because the slip stitches were hard to work into and I did not want to redo those. I improvised and ended up with a bit of a swirl in the stitches. This is what the finished "ball" looks like. It's about six inches tall in this form.
I could force it into a ball shape by running a thread from one end to the other and squishing it down but I kind of like the football shape. I squished it down in this photo.  Squished version Now for the score:
Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes. Even the tuft/popcorn stitches were explained pretty well. 1.0 Does it look like the illustration? If I force it to. It could be my error in counting the slip stitches too. I'm giving it a 0.5 Would someone use this? Yes. It's not as delicate as the one they would have made but it's a fun toy. 1.0 Did I enjoy making it? Eh. Not so much. Acrylic yarn in slip stitches is hard on my hands. I didn't hate it but I wouldn't make it again. 0.25 Total is 2.75  This series has 22 patterns and 24 illustrations; three of the patterns don't have illustrations and one of those is a *gasp* knitting pattern. Let's start with the wearables. There are two boas, one has a muff attached.
There is also a mantellette or short cloak and some very long boots for babies.
For headwear we have a nightcap and a fascinator.   The last clothing items are a shoulder shawl that she is wearing on her head, a baby jacket with the sleeves illustrated a little strangely and some trimming for a chemise. The shawl and the chemise had extra photos of the details and stitch patterns. I included the one for the shawl.
There are two antimacassars worked in twine. That should make them very durable.   If you're looking for a few things to make your home more comfortable they have a tea cozy, a pretty pincushion, a nightdress sachet, a slumber roll and a patchwork blanket.
   There was also a doll dressed in crochet but it was on the fold so I didn't take a picture. For next week, I decided on making the Harlequin Ball (not pictured here) that is "made from odds and ends of wool". Find out next week if it turned out to be a ball or something else. |
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