Ok!! I hope it was not a long waiting! I left you (here) with the placemat done, but with something missing....So today, I'll show you what I've added in the meantime to my work!!
I took some white yarn
and I crocheted a border in single crochet (sc)
Then I took some light blue to make 1/2 border (the second row)
and for the other half I used some orange
When completed the border, I was not still satisfied with the result, so.....
Why not add some yarn pom poms ??
I did four of them, using a fork! I just wrapped the yarn around the fork ( for each pom pom ) 50 times...
With the help of a tapestry needle I put a couple of pom poms on the top left of the placemat...
...and the other couple at the bottom of the same side...
Is it ok now???? NOT YET!!!
Infact, there is still one thing missing : a cutlery pocket!!! Oh yes!!!
I did follow the video instructions that you can find here and I started to crochet with 5 clusters, to obtain this ( after 3 rounds )..
With the leftover of the dark grey I crocheted a cord (95 chains), just a little thing to add and complete my work....finally!!!
What to do with the cord? Just tie a knot!!! I decided to position it on the same side of the pom poms as a napkin holder (!!!!)...
Note that the cord is passed trough 2 stitches of the place mat, to keep it in place ....
And what about my fork/spoon/knife set?
The cutlery pocket was added on the placemat with a simple stitching (whip stitch???), using the light grey yarn (the same used for the background) and adding a short border in sc (same yarn)...
...so slide the set in !!!!
Now the placemat is ready to be used :
I really hope that the waiting was worth it!! If you prefer a neat look, remember to block your work (ops, I didn't!!!).... ;oD
Any problems/questions, please contact me here, thank you!
If you like, you can add your photos of the project completed on my Flickr page group : homemade@myplace ; Make It !!! : you are all really welcome!
xxxx, Alessandra
P.S. : I'm really sorry for the quality of the pictures from #8 to #15....we were in Singapore for the last weekend and that afternoon was raining cats and dogs, while we were safely dry in our hotel room...crocheting!!! xxx
You know, good inspiration comes always in a dash....you can't even stop to think about it : too late, you are framed in just few seconds....no time even to realize what's going on!!!! ;oD
Anyway, the day before yesterday, during my daily routine in catching up with most of the posts written by lovely people I follow with the help of my blogroll list, I was caught by the colourful images shown at Le monde du Sucrette here..... well, I fell in love with both the stripy cowl and the moss stitch for crochet !!!
I had to try this stitch!!!! It's a stitch that I really love in knitting, so why not crochet it?
So I went on YouTube to check a couple of videos (thank you Angie for sharing all this!!!! ), like this one :
....so I started to crochet (the same night, before going to bed!!!) the moss stitch!!!
Yesterday morning, after few rows, I had the idea to what to do with my work : a placemat!!!
Are you interested, too, in this project? yes? So follow me, please!!! We'll have some fun together!
What you will need :
a 5,5mm hook
some colourful yarn. I chose 5 colours : light grey (LG), light blue (LB), dark grey (DG), white (W) and orange (O)
a pair of scissors
a tapestry needle
a tape measure marked in cm (optional)
and the pattern to follow is :
Chain 45 stitches
rows 1&2 : moss stitch in LG (even rows 11&12)
rows 3&4 : moss stitch in LB (even rows 13&14)
rows 5&6 : moss stitch in DG (even rows 15&16)
rows 7&8 : moss stitch in W (even rows 17&18)
rows 9&10 : moss stitch in O (even rows 19&20)
Repeat this scheme one more time, so to complete row 20 in O.
rows from 21 to 40 : moss stitch in DG
rows 41&42 : moss stitch in LG
rows 43&44 : moss stitch in LB
rows 45&46 : moss stitch in W
rows from 46 to 74 : moss stitch in LG
rows 75&76 : moss stitch in DG
rows 77&78 : moss stitch in O
rows 79&80 : moss stitch in LG
Bind off and trim in the ends!!!
Crochet know-how (US terms):
chain
single crochet (sc)
chain space (cs)
turn
change colour
trim in ends
Ready to start?? Yes?? So, don't wait longer!!!
To have an idea about how to crochet the moss stitch, I suggest you the vision of the above video. The quality of the images is not the best, but is good enough to follow and understand this stitch.
You have to crochet a starting chain with an odd number of stitches. In this project I chain 45 stitches (see pattern).
Then, you start the foundation row (row 1 in the pattern), where you insert your hook in the 3rd chain from the hook and you do a single crochet (sc) and chain 1. Skip one chain, insert the hook, sc and chain 1. Repeat this scheme till the end the row. You will end with a sc.
Now chain 2, turn your work and skip the first chain/stitch, inserting the hook in the first chain space (the space between 2 sc, that is the space between the 2 "v"s !!!), sc and chain 1. Repeat as the first row, on and on!!! Easy !!!
After the first 12 rows (I don't have pics of the beginning, sorry!!!), you'll have something like this :
...and after row 20 we will have this:
at row 30, instead, ...
Further, at row 56....
In the next pictures we are really close (row 77 !!!) to the end of the work....
At this point, we have to take a break, because I would love to review just 2 tricky points with you (I'm worried mostly for the beginners!). The pattern and the moss stitch are really easy to follow, but we have to pay attention to :
the last single crochet at the end of each row : you need to insert the hook just after the "v" (or sc !!) of the previous row, because there is a chain space (obtained by chaining 2, just before turning your work!)..In the back of your work, wrap the yarn around the hook and pull to the front...
Again, wrap the yarn around the hook...
Pull the wrapped yarn trough the 2 loops, so that you'll have one stitch on the hook...
Chain 2...
Turn your work...
Insert your hook in the chain space between the first 2 single crochet stitches (or simply, the 2 first "v"s... ;oD)..
So, 1 single crochet, 1 chain, 1 sc, ch 1, and on.....
how to change the yarn colour : at the end of a row (in this specific case, we stop using the orange and we'll start with the light grey, ;oD), cut the yarn (leave a tail of 3cm, more or less) and collect the new yarn (no knots needed!)...
Wrap the yarn around the hook...
Pull the new yarn through the loop on the hook, so you'll have a light grey yarn loop now..
Chain 2 and pull the threads a little bit to adjust the tension..(sorry for the pic quality...)
Turn your work and start to crochet as usual...
Hope I've been useful !!!!
Now, I'll show you the work "completed"...
...and after the trimming....
Well, well, well.....
if you have troubles, questions or something more to ask, please contact me here !!!
The second part of the tutorial will be out really soon......don't hate me for that, but I have to add a little thing .... or maybe two !!! ;oD You can find it HERE !!!!
