phoenixrosedesign

Road Trip Scarf

Doing a bit of retro blogging today, as I am trying to catch up on several Crochet projects that I did and then gifted for Christmas. Since I didn’t want to reveal the “gift” until after the person received them, it only makes sense.

I crocheted a road trip scarf for my grandmother, back in September, as a Christmas gift. It’s made out of 2 Skeins of King Cole shine yarn, in the shade “blossom”. I think this is my new favorite yarn. Here’s how it turned out:

Completed Road Trip Scarf in King Cole Shine - Color- blossom. Loving how the colors self striped and the little bits of metallic spun in the yarn to give it sparkle. #phoenixrosedesign #crochet #creative #craft #creative #kingcole #shine #blossom #pink #

The pattern is free, from http://zootyowlcards.blogspot.ie/2014/06/road-trip-scarves-pattern.html and works up fast and quite easily. Note that because it was for my grandmother, I opted out of making the flowers and/or adding all the bits and bobs.

When I chatted with her after Christmas, she was surprised I had made it myself – and said it looked like something you’d buy out of an expensive boutique. 🙂 I suppose that’s the point!

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Pink & Grey Slouchy Hat

A bit of retro blogging today, since I wanted to get some posts up of completed projects from around Christmas time (now that everyone’s received their gifts).

Slouch Beanie

Sometimes you find great yarn on sale, and buy it with no plans on what to make. Just before Thanksgiving, I found some fabulous loose spun chunky charcoal grey wool which had little bright pink flecks in the local yarn shop which was on sale for 2 euros a skein. I liked the texture of it, and thought hey, 2 euros a skein, let’s pick up as many of those as they have. 6 skeins later and it was added into my stash. There it sat.

And then, it got cold, as usually happens in December. And I got ill. And when I’m ill, I just want a hat for my head to help keep me warm. Out of that – came my inspiration to make a hat… and that brings us forward to today’s post – a gorgeous slouchy hat.

Slouch Beanie

Pink and Grey slouch beanie in chunky yarn. #PhotoGrid #phoenixrosedesign #crochet #winter #warm #2015 #fashion #rocknroll #handmade #handicraft #skills

Now what to do with the rest of the skeins? well, I think I’m going to try to make a matching poncho out of Simply Crochet issue #26. Wish me luck.

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Weaving Sticks

About 3 weeks ago, I bought some weaving sticks after seeing a little video on how they worked on one of the crochet websites. I love yarn, and have been feeling that my crochet “mo jo” as it’s nicknamed has been kind of going to the wayside. No patterns inspired me, no stitches were kicking up my interest. And oh so many Works in Progress (WIPs) that just weren’t taking my fancy.

My first attempt at using weaving sticks. It is an ear warmer that ties at the back of the head in chunky actylic yarn. I like how fast it went - about an hour - and am liking the difference in texture and feel. It looks a bit rustic I think. #PhotoGrid #

I thought a change of technique might be just the thing, and it turns out, it was. What are weaving sticks? Well, they’re basically a series of dowels which have a hole in one end. You put a weft string through the hole, and then you weave in and out and out and in around the dowels. You push down the weaving as you go, and eventually, it ends up on the weft string you had put through the hole. Maybe this will help tutorial wise?

Anyhow, after getting the sticks, I decided to try my hand at it and experiment. My first attempt was with some chunky yarn in red and grey. I wasn’t sure how long the actual “weft” needed to be, so I started out with 5 strands at arm length. From there, the chunky yarn was added. I learned that the weft strands could have been a bit longer, but this made an ear warmer that ties at the back of the head in chunky acrylic yarn.

Stick woven ear warmer 2015

I like how fast it went – about an hour – and am liking the difference in texture and feel. It looks a bit rustic I think.

Stick woven ear warmer 2015
Close up on the texture and the end. I’m not exactly happy with the “end” on this first attempt, but I’ll keep trying – because I think this is more down to me and how I did it, rather than the sticks themselves. I think it will be neater on a second attempt.

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