crochet « GOODKNITS // a knitting & crochet blog

A Month of Craft Photos: Day 3 [An old FO]

By Lisa Gutierrez on 02/03/2012

According to Ravelry, I finished this blanket in 15 days of April 2008. That’s right before this guy was born. It was the only blanket I crocheted for him and of course it still makes its rotation around the house–in my bed, in his, in the living room, dining room, etc. It even went with us when we evacuated during Hurricane Ike. One of my favorite Andrew-baby photos is of him on top of it in a wagon while we were staying at Grandma’s during the evacuation. He was so deliciously chubby. See?

So, yes. This is a nearly 4 year-old FO. Both the blanket and the baby.

[See my other craft photos from this month.]

Pin It

Crochet a heart with me (my first video!)

By Lisa Gutierrez on 01/18/2012

Valentine’s Day is a few weeks away, so why not start adorning your house (self, bags, books, etc) with hearts? This is a super quick 3 row pattern that you can probably complete in under 5 minutes. String them up garland-style, or add a safety pin to the back and have yourself a brooch. I chain stitched some together to make a vertical garland. Love!

Materials
worsted weight yarn
5mm (H) hook

Abbreviations (U.S. terms)
Ch- chain
SC- single crochet
DC – double crochet
slst- slip stitch
sk- skip
st- stitch

Pattern
Ch 4
Row 1: 1 SC in second ch from hook, 3 SC in next ch, 1 SC in last ch. Ch 3, turn.
Row 2: 3 DC in first st, 1 SC in next st, 3 SC in next st, 1 SC in next st, 4 DC in last st. Ch 1, DO NOT TURN.

Edge: 2 SC in first half of the side of last DC, 1 SC in next half, SC the first and last ch of the beginning chain together, 1 SC in the first ch of beg ch-3 of Row 2, 2 SC in next ch, 2 SC in last ch, 2 SC in first DC, 1 SC in each of the next 4 stitches, 3 SC in the “corner stitch”, 1 SC in each of the next 4 stitches, 2 SC in last DC. Slst to top of first SC. Fasten off.

The edge can seem a little confusing, so I made this video–

Crochet Heart Edge from Lisa Gutierrez on Vimeo.

This is the very first time I’ve made a crochet video. To be completely honest…I LOVED IT. It was awkward at first and pretty difficult to get focus, but I think I might make more for future projects. I found the music on Vimeo and it’s called “Instrumental salad” by Marlo Eggplant (www.myspace.com/marloeggplantmusic).

I used Windows Movie Maker to create this video. Any tips for newbies? I didn’t realize there were black edges on the sides until after. I expected the bars on top, but not the sides. I’ll have to figure out what those are next time.

Let me know what you think about goodknits videos!

Pin It

Past Valentine’s Day Projects

By Lisa Gutierrez on 01/17/2012

[Knit heart, thrifted garland]

[Cupcake containers]

[Heart crayons]

[Amigurumi heart friend]

[Heart pins]

My husband has been in Las Vegas 4 out of the past 5 Valentine’s Days. He works for an apparel company and so he’s there for the men’s fashion convention, MAGIC (ha). The first few years it really bummed me out, but now I’m used to it. These days, I consider it more of a kid’s holiday. We get to play with pinks! Reds! Whites! Hearts! Cupcakes! It’s a crafty holiday and so I really dig it. How about you?

Do you like Valentine’s Day or do you ditch it? Is it more of a romantic or fun holiday for you?

I’ll be back soon with a super simple under-five-minutes crochet heart pattern.

Pin It

Goodknits in CraftSanity Issue 5!

By Lisa Gutierrez on 12/04/2011

Hello, friends! I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend. I wanted to let you all know I have a blanket pattern in the upcoming issue of CraftSanity!

Hexagon lace. This one is a bit different from the doily inspired patterns I’ve been releasing lately, but it’s still absolutely darling. I had the vision of a coverlet for my bed, but with my kiddos liking to mess my bed up all the time, I decided to make something a little smaller.

In Issue 5 of CraftSanity, you will find the Hexagon Lace pattern along with directions for adding a lace border. You can make the blanket as big as you’d like by adding more hexagons. I believe the edge pattern is intuitive enough for you to be able to apply it to a larger blanket with few, if any, adjustments. As always, I will be here if you have any problems!

The issue is available, right now! Issue 5 is “packed with projects ranging from holiday ornaments to sewn project bags, Tunisian crochet, baking, weaving, embroidery and more.” It sounds pretty amazing!

Christmas: layered doily tree skirt

By Lisa Gutierrez on 11/30/2011

I was sitting in my knitting chair (tell me you have a designated knitting spot!) thinking about how I should make a tiny tree skirt for my tiny tabletop tree. I sighed when I realized that December was pretty much already here and I’d have to settle with a quick felt skirt. Nothing against felt, I just don’t have any of the GOOD stuff around and would have to use craft store felt, which is just plastic-y and gross.

I decided to forget about it and arrange one of my new shelves full of yarn. Upon combing through a few bags (tell me you sometimes store your yarn in plastic bags), I found a little stash of doilies. LIGHT!BULB!ON!

I took the base off my tree and threaded the metal tube through a few of the doilies and voila! A pretty lace tree skirt. No sewing, no gluing, no cutting, no nothing. It took me less than a minute to put together.

I like the messy mound of doily snow. I think it’s perfect for this tree full of little doily ornaments…

Now I need a bunch of tiny presents to put under it. I already ordered my husband’s gift off Etsy. It will be the first. I’m finally finishing up my toddler’s socks and I’ll wrap those up for the tree, too. I need the perfect little gift for my 6 year old, though. Hmmmm. He’s already getting a ton of random crap (I know, I know), so I need something meaningful.