SandDune’s craft projects in 2021

In 2021 I’m intending to do more crafting. Crochet to begin with, but I also want to include other crafts such as embroidery. Some of the projects I post may well be quite small or basic, but I want to record my progress.

My first project for 2021 was a crochet granny squares blanket:



It’s a very basic pattern but I am pleased with it as the last time I crocheted anything I was probably 10 or 11 so it was a very long time ago! And even then I can’t actually remember making anything concrete ...

This was a kit which my husband bought me for Christmas.

Second project has been some crochet dishcloths, which I thought would be a useful thing to do to practice more stitches.

Two were successful:



One was a complete disaster. Try as I might I can’t get this one lying flat or get the colour changes right. I’ve unpicked and redone this several times and it still won’t work, so I’m going on to something more interesting.

I love that blanket so much! And dishcloths look like a great way to practice techniques.

About getting color changes "right": is your concern about having each stripe line up i.e., eliminating that "jog" where the beginning and end of the stripe meet? This is a common problem in knitting as well, and a "jogless join" is used to eliminate the jog.

Thinking this might be a similar problem, I Googled "jogless join crochet" and here's one of the articles that came up: https://www.crochet365knittoo.com/crochet-a-jogless-join/

If that doesn't quite do it for you, here's a link to the results of my search:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jogless+join+crochet&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS743US74...

Hopefully someone will have suggestions for getting the piece to lie flat. I'm guessing something in the way the piece is made (going around and around in stripes instead of back & forth in rows) is causing the piece to pull in on itself.

I’m now working on a crocheted afghan for Jacob to take back to Uni, using this pattern, so it’s a step-up from my first blanket.

https://thecrochetcrowd.com/crochet-7-day-sampler-afghan/

One square down, 29 to go. It’s definitely not going to take 7 days.



It’s going to be a mixture of the orange, green and taupe colours with cream as well on some squares. Other squares are going to be a bit more subdued - Jacob likes bright.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a granny square done mostly solid like yours. I like it a lot. I've never done much crocheting, so I've got no ideas about the problems you're having, but hopefully there's some help on the internet. What about YouTube? Maybe you could find some help there. Or Pintrest.

Hi, Rhian! It's good to see you here - welcome to the group!

Welcome, Rhian!

>1 SandDune: For someone who hasn't crocheted since childhood, that a terrific little blanket.

>2 SandDune: I like the dishcloths. My daughter's ex-mother-in-law made me some granny square potholders ages ago. They were not good potholders due to the holes in the design; however I use them and a couple of thin knitted potholders to put between my nested pots and pans.

Looks like you are progressing well.

Hi!

I love crocheted dishcloths (both making them and using them.) I worked through all of Easy Crochet Dishcloths for holiday gifts last year. But I also hating changing colors in the round, so I can only sympathize there!

I like the granny square too - are the yarns different textures as well? It almost looks lacy!

>3 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura. I had found some of those resources already in my attempt to fix the problem of the colour but I couldn’t get anything to work any better. After restarting it several times I’ve decided to leave it for the moment, as I was starting to get bored with it. I think the reason it won’t lie flat is the slip stitch which you use to join the rounds is causing it to be that little bit longer, but I can’t see how to deal with that either.

>5 dudes22: Hi Betty, I've sort of come to the conclusion that the reason there aren’t many solid granny square type patterns about, is that it is difficult to do well, and perhaps not worth the hassle! I’ve tried to find alternative (but similar) patterns and looked at YouTube as well but there’s very little about. I’m not going to pursue it at the moment as it was really There seem to be hardly any patterns of this type out there.

>6 scaifea: Thanks Amber!

>7 avaland: Thanks Lois! I might not be very experienced as yet but I have always been able to do neat! It can be a problem to be honest as I can get overly perfectionist and give up when thinks don’t turn out quite the way I want. But I’m generally finding crocheting much easier than knitting so far, to be honest, as there is only ever one stitch to deal with.

>8 melannen: Hi Mel. The yarn for the orange and green granny square is all the same, but there are quite a lot of different textures with the stitches used. This pattern has the advantage that there is a video going through each square in detail, which makes things a lot easier, as my reading of crochet patterns leaves a little to be desired at the momen!

I’ve finished one square of each type for my new blanket. A lot of the stitches were completely new to me and so it was reasonably slow going at times, although I’m speeding up now. There needs to be 5 squares of each pattern in total. Here they all are:







I’m thinking of putting them together something like this:

Those are really nice. I have a friend who used up a lot of her left-over yarn and made a bunch of granny squares that she made into a coat for her daughter for Christmas. It was awesome. I've never really gotten into crochet over my life. The closest was some Christmas ornaments and that was enough to convince me it wasn't for me. Can't wait to see it finished.

>11 dudes22: Thanks. Left to my own devices I might keep it as green, ecru and cream squares alternating with orange, ecru and cream squares. The orange and green ones are a bit over the top for me. But it’s a blanket for my son, and those are the ones he likes best, so I’ll stick with them.

I’ve never done any crocheting before this year really, and I’m finding it much easier than knitting, so far.

Those squares look terrific, Rhian. I prefer the squares with a bit of ecru as well, but then those orange and green ones really do "pop" and I think will add something to the overall look.

Those look great, Rhian!

>10 SandDune: Those squares are adorable!

>13 lauralkeet: Well as I said I would have gone for something a little more subdued, but Jacob liked these colours.

>14 scaifea: >15 avaland: Thank you!

Another project that I am doing is an embroidery of an allotment, the pattern for which I got from Etsy.





It is quite fiddly as the individual blocks are so small but I’m loving the overall effect.

Wow! That's really interesting. I can't wait to show it to a friend of mine who is doing one with lots of different stitches but hers is a scene. Is it all greens? or are some of the blocks other colors?

>17 SandDune: Oh, what a fun idea! If I was one for embroidering I'd do one of those.

Here is the picture of the one done by the designer. It is mainly greens and browns, because it’s pretty much all vegetables. But there are lots of different shades of green: 31 different colours in total.



The pattern and instructions download are available here:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/829585412/allotment-a-birds-eye-view-pdf?ga_orde...

The pattern that I am making is 17cm diameter but she also does smaller ones for different seasons.

>17 SandDune: >20 SandDune: That is a magnificent embroidery project! It really makes me wish that I knew enough embroidery to give it a go.

I missed the word allotment in your original post. That's going to be really pretty.

>17 SandDune: >20 SandDune: That is an amazing project. How imaginative!

Wow, that's incredible Rhian. I just shared it with a friend who is a keen gardener and is quite involved in her community garden (aka allotment) scheme. I'd love to see more photos like those in >17 SandDune: as you progress.

>20 SandDune: That's gorgeous!

>17 SandDune: Ooh, I love that embroidery! The small blocks and different textures make something gorgeous.

My library is currently offering a video course on "landscape embroidery" that I am very tempted by, I see so many beautiful ones online.

>21 rosalita: >22 dudes22: >23 SassyLassy: >24 lauralkeet: >25 avaland: >26 melannen: Thanks so much. I haven’t done too much on the allotment embroidery over the last couple of weeks as Mr SandDune has been at home for the Easter holidays and the embroidery requires a fair amount of concentration, so best left to when I’ve got the house to myself. There’s quite a bit of Turkey stitch, which I am finding fiddly.

>27 SandDune: ...best left to when I’ve got the house to myself. Very wise.

We were at my Mum’s this weekend and I found this in a cupboard:





My Mum was never much of a sewer but she used it occasionally. Apparently it originally belonged to my grandmother who bought it second hand, some time in the 1920’s, from what I can make out. I have looked up the serial number and it is a Singer 27k and dates from 1910. All the parts that are supposed to move, do move, albeit a little stiffly, so I’m hoping it’s restorable. Otherwise, I will just get it cleaned up as a decorative item, as I think it would look nice if properly cleaned and with the wood revarnished.

Wow! That's a great find. There's a guy that is at some of the quilt shows here in Rhode Island that always has a display of old Singers. I'm not sure if he's a collector or if he sells them.

>29 SandDune: Oooh! It looks nice even now, so I'm sure it'll look spectacular when you get it all polished up and hopefully running.

That's lovely, Rhian. I agree with Paws it looks nice even now, but I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

>30 dudes22: >31 PawsforThought: >32 lauralkeet: I knew that my Mum had the sewing machine previously - I’d used this myself as a child. But she can’t have used it in 30-40 years and she’s moved twice in that time and she did have to get rid of things when she moved to her current flat. It’s funny, but my Mum is always trying to give me her things, but they are very rarely the things I want. This weekend she had a determined effort to give me some 40 year old worn-out towels, but the things that I actually would like (like the sewing machine) she tends to think of as worthless junk she just hasn’t got rid of yet.

It was thick with dust, so all I’ve done so far is get the worst of the dust off to enable transport. The black and gold is in quite good condition, and most of the metal plates look as if they will be OK with polishing, apart from the plate above where the shuttle (bobbin?) goes. I did a bit of research last night and there were thousands and thousands of these made, so you actually can get spare parts. And I’ve found a couple of people who can hopefully restore it although nowhere very nearby unfortunately.

I wonder how much it’s been used. My mother certainly only used it occasionally, and I think my grandmother would probably only have used it when her children were small.

>33 SandDune: - My advice for things she wants to give you that you don't want is to take them and then, if it's not something she'll notice as not being displayed, you can dispose of it. I'm sure an animal shelter would take those towels.

>34 dudes22: I have always found that the easiest way too, and it makes the person giving them to you feel as if they have accomplished something toward their clearing out goal. Good suggestion about the animal shelter. The towels also make great surfaces for blocking knitting when layered on top of each other.

>29 SandDune: Beautiful machine.
____________________

Edited to clarify that it is the towels that make good surfaces, not the animal shelters!

>34 dudes22: >35 SassyLassy: That’s probably the best solution - I think my problem is that I have an inbuilt dislike of clutter and really don’t like taking things into the house that I don’t want or won’t use.

I’ve had a rough quote for refurbishment of the machine of £100, which sounds reasonable. Only trouble is is it’s a bit of a trek to take it there.

>33 SandDune: What a lovely find!

>37 avaland: Thanks, I’m hopefully going to take the sewing machine for repair at the beginning of June.

I’ve finally finished the blanket I was making for Jacob:

I love the blanket, Rhian. The individual squares are larger than I realized. I like them a lot!

I too like the size of the squares. Looks great the way you've arranged the colors.

>40 lauralkeet: >41 dudes22: It’s a fair size blanket (Jacob is about 6ft 1 for comparison). It was a crochet along pattern that supposedly would take 7 days. Well even if I crocheted all day long and didn’t stop to eat there is absolutely no way that I could make it in 7 days, but I got it finished eventually.

Well done, Rhian! That blanket looks very cosy. And I can’t believe anyone would be able to crochet it in just seven days.

I have my sewing machine back from the restorer. Much shinier and all in working order.



Apparently it will take standard size needles despite being 110 years old!

>43 PawsforThought: I was so doubtful as well. But I looked up the photo gallery where people had posted picture of their blankets, and based on when the pattern was released and the dates the picture were posted some people clearly did. There are some super fast crocheters out there obviously!

>39 SandDune: That blanket makes me want to try crochet again; but I'm terrible at counting stitches.

Oh, your sewing machine is gorgeous! (So is the blanket.)

>39 SandDune: Lovely blanket; you did a great job. Hope he appreciates it!

>46 lesmel: So far I’ve only done granny square type items, and the counting is less of a problem in those.

>47 melannen: I was amazed to find that even though it was so old, it will take a modern needle! I’m not actually very good at sewing, it I might have a go at patchwork …

>48 avaland: Thank you. He seems to like it. It has moved to his bed anyway!

>17 SandDune: Do you have an update for this project? It's looking great !

Oh and I'm loving the blanket Rhian !

>50 CglenLibrary: I haven’t made much progress on the embroidery as I needed to finish the blanket which was taking so much longer than I thought. And over the summer months I have mot had so much time for crafts as the family is all at home and we have been out and about so much more. But Mr SandDune has just gone back to school and Jacob will be back at University soon so I will have more time to myself again.

>51 CglenLibrary: Thank You!

>44 SandDune: I kind of wish I'd taken the one at my mom's house. I think it had been my grandmother's. I think one of the nieces or niece-in-laws ended up with it.

Latest project has been this hippo:



It is much larger than expected (about 15" tall) and in retrospect it might have been better to choose something smaller (and simpler) for my first amigurumi. This came from the book Zoomigurumi 3, and the pattern worked pretty well, but the instructions on how much yarn to buy or how to construct the amigurumi were pretty non-existent.

I still haven't finished allotment embroidery, as still a bit obsessed with crocheting things.

>53 thornton37814: Sorry I managed to miss your post somehow. If I'd been offered the sewing machine 20 years ago, I doubt I'd have wanted it. But what we value changes over time I think.

>53 thornton37814: That is adorable. And an excellent job being your first amigurumi.

>55 PawsforThought: Thank you! I'm going to give it to my youngest great-nephew for Christmas. My eldest great-nephew is at least 30 so well past these things!

>54 SandDune: That's really nice!

That is really cute!

>57 al.vick: >58 dudes22: Thank you! The next thing I intend to make is an amigurumi highland cow for Jacob's girlfriend (she's got a bit of a thing about highland cows). It was supposed to be for Christmas but it's going to have to be for her birthday now as the Hippo took so long. The highland cow is a bit smaller though!

I saw this yesterday and thought of you, Rhian.

>54 SandDune: Aw, that's so cute! And it turned out really well! Nice job!

>60 PawsforThought: That's lovely I want to make one of those!

>61 scaifea: Thank you!

>54 SandDune: and >60 PawsforThought: Those are really adorable! I just pulled my son's crocheted teddy bear out of storage to show someone (my son is 37). One of my long-dead aunts made it for him, and he really loved it when he was small.

I proudly present - one highland cow!



It's a birthday present for Jacob's girlfriend, and I am very proud of it as it caused me a lot of angst. The loop stitch took me numerous tries before I could get it to stop falling apart. Strictly speaking the loops should be cut, but the yarn has a tendency to fray, so I've decided to leave it as is.

>60 PawsforThought: I've brought this pattern for one of my next projects.

>63 avaland: Despite being the grand old age of (nearly) 22 my son still has quite a lot of old teddies in his bedroom.

That's really cute and I like the loops.

>65 dudes22: Thank you! The loops were a pain in the neck to be honest - I’m not sure I’ll be doing any similar in a hurry!

>64 SandDune: That is seriously adorable.

I commented on your 75 thread, but it bears repeating. That cow is so cute.

>64 SandDune: That's a cute cow!

>64 SandDune: That's so cute!

>67 PawsforThought: >68 lauralkeet: >69 thornton37814: >70 lesmel: Thank you! I’m enjoying making the Amigurumi but I’m definitely going to do a non loopy one next time.

I think she’ll like it - she’s very fond of highland cows. It was originally supposed to be a Christmas present, but the hippo that I made previously took a lot longer than expected and there just wasn’t time to finish this as well. So it’ll do nicely for her birthday which is next month.

seriously cute highland coo!

Oh, that's adorable! A coo! And now I want to learn the loop stitch despite you doing your best to warn me off. :D

>72 al.vick: Thankyou!

>73 melannen: i think the video that worked for me in the end was one from the Crochet Crowd which explained that when the loop was properly 'locked' both sides of the loop looked as if they came out of the same stitch, whereas my loops originally looked as if they came out of two different stitches. It was all to do with how I was pushing my loop out of the way when I was finishing the stitch.

>54 SandDune: So cute!

>64 SandDune: Adorable!

>44 SandDune: Beautiful. What a treasure.

>60 PawsforThought:, >64 SandDune: So cute.

>75 avaland: >76 mnleona: >77 mnleona: Thank you! I gave it to the intended recipient yesterday (Jacob's girlfriend) and she liked it a lot. I thought she was going to cry at one point!

>64 SandDune: How wonderful!

I am never giving up my stuffed friends (and I am much older than 22). :-)