Crabs and Seashells

Crabs and Seashells
Crabs and Seashells,
Dolphins too,
Dolphins too.
Octopus and Penguins,
Octopus and Penguins.

Big sharks too, big sharks too.

My son really loves this song, he can sing it all day long. I’ve noticed I was humming this song to myself while crocheting this shell pattern. Shell pattern is one of my favourites, I like the old fashioned romantic appearance of this stitch.

A while ago I made a scarf using this simple shells and rows pattern. It’s very simple stitch where you pretty much do the same stitch for every row. I turned out nicely, but it’s not one of my favourite scarfs. I keep it in my (ever growing) scarfs stash, ready to be given as a gift, or to be posted in the Etsy shop I plan to open sometime never.

I haven’t given this pattern much thought over the last few months until I came across a gorgeous cowl when browsing in SportsGirl shop. It was made out of chunky white\rainbow yarn, all in the shells and rows pattern. Now that was quite an inspiration!

I had this red and pink blend yarn lying around for ages, so I decided to use it for the pattern. The cowl is crocheted ‘horizontally’ across the length of the cowl. The starting chain is created as a multiple of 8. From there just follow the pattern in the tutorial link above. As I’m hopeless with a measuring tape, I usually measure the length of the cowl by trying the starting chain first, loop it twice around the neck and see if I like the length.

Pattern:

1. Chain 106 chains

2. Start the shells in rows pattern from here, as in the tutorial, turn and ch4.

3. In the last stitch for the row, link together with the beginning of the previous row (the ch4) using a slip stitch.

4. Bind off when the cowl gets to desired width. I made mine pretty wide, since I wanted to use up all my yarn. I wear it as a cowl or a wrap. Handy.

And last shells project, fresh from my hook as I have just finished it last night. For this shawl I used only shells pattern, without the rows. Note that this pattern uses more yarn, something I have learned the hard way…

Granny squares scarf

I’ve been making granny squares for some time now. I like their colorfulness and how quickly they are made, allowing for an easy going incremental project. I like less the amount of tiding in and ends weaving required for them though.

I started a granny square throw a while ago, and progressing with it slowly. It’s coming along nicely but it is sort of a long term project, as I’m doing it in bits and pieces whenever I feel like adding a square or two.

Last week I made a granny square scarf. I was inspired by this amazing scarf, but decided to take a slightly old fashioned approach with the colors.

I followed this tutorial for the granny squares, and this handy post for joining the squares together with a crochet hook. I made it in a week, crocheting every night while watching a double episode of House of Cards. It was a fun project to make, and I’m very happy with the end result.

Pavement infinity scarf

On one of my latest shopping trips to the yarn shop, I picked up this irresistible yarn. It is bulky, warm, soft and has sparkles. I just can’t resist sparkles. I think that’s my daughter influence on me. I got back home with three balls of this lovely yarn and hit the internet for some inspiration.

Simply irresistible, alpaca wool and sparkles

I found this pattern by Fiber Flux – adventures in stitching, and it ticked all the boxes for me. It was a lovely unique pattern which was crocheted very quickly. Clear instructions and I was done in a weekend ( well, I do have to take care of my kids from time to time 🙂 ).

This was my first attempt in using alpaca wool, and it was very nice, soft and definitely not itching as sheep’s wool which I often find irritating on my skin. And the sparkles of course, adding a nice touch.