#cal1

Quietly walking through the village, her eyes scanned the crowd until she saw the familiar red hair of someone she had watched growing up. The problem was that he looked so much younger? Yes, she was aware that strange things were happening but she had never witnessed it with her own eyes. Following him to a more private area she brandished her saber, knowing he would know he was who she was looking for “Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?”

Part 6 – WONDER Crochet Blanket CAL

Welcome to Part 6 of the Wonder Crochet Blanket CAL!

This CAL began on January 7, 2016 and is scheduled to run, twice a month on Thursdays, until November 3, 2016. For specific details about the CAL, including links to each Part of the blanket please visit our Introductory Post which is available on Mistie’s blog: Wonder Crochet Blanket CAL – American Crochet. You can also create your own…

with Amy and Rhondda (me!)

I asked on my Facebook page at the end of December 2015, what type of patterns YOU the Crocheter wanted designed for this year and one of the popular replies was Crochet Scarves (…and cowls) to use for gifts this year.

We aim to please!

Amy and I decided we would start The Scarf a Month Club and each month of 2016 Amy and I will each share 1 free crochet pattern for a crochet scarf, or cowl. This means by the end of December you will have 24 free crochet patterns for scarves to choose from!

The best part of this is – you will get to help us decide some of the details about the scarves we make – so if you have a special stitch you would like to see showcased or specific style, or even size (length/width) you would like us to include – let us know by leaving a message on one of The Scarf a Month Club posts.

The Scarf a Month Club posts will be available on the second Sunday of every month – meaning the final scarf patterns will be available on December 11th giving you plenty of time if you needed to make them for last minute Christmas Gifts.

If you would like to share your progress please feel free to add Ravelry Project Pages for the scarves you make! Each pattern post will include a specific pattern link to Ravelry so you can add your own project pages!

You can also join our Facebook Group, Crochet With Us.  You can share your progress, ask questions and get help!

We have also set up this #hashtag to use on Instagram – so if you love to share on Instagram share your projects by tagging us @amyramnarine and/or @oombawkadesign and use the hashtag #ScarfoftheMonthClub!

Check out Amy’s Scarf for January Here: Simple Woven Cowl

January Infinity Scarf

Supplies

Yarn: 2 balls of Red Heart Soft – 2 colors (Sample Uses: Grape and Black)

Hook 5.5 mm (I)

Scissors, Yarn Needle, Stitch Marker (optional)

Difficulty Level

EASY

Finished Size

60 inches long (30 inches doubled) and 9 inches wide

Gauge

18 sts (6 sets of sc, dc, sc) in 5 inches and 10 rows in 4 inches 

Abbreviations

US Terminology used

beg – beginning BLdc – back loop double crochet Blsc – back loop single crochet BLsl st – back loop slip stitch ch – chain dc – double crochet R – row/round rem – remaining rep – repeat sc – single crochet sk – skip sl st – slip stitch st/sts – stitch/stitches * – Repeat the instructions between the asterisks the number of times indicated. This repeat will contain of multiple instructions. () – Repeat the instructions between the parentheses the number of times indicated. [] – at the end of the row – the total number of stitches

Helpful Tutorials

Back Bump

Invisible Join

Stitch Anatomy

Invisible Join / Invisible Finish

Joining with a Single Crochet Stitch

Here is a little close up of this lovely, squishy, soft and pretty scarf (can you tell I really like this one?)

Pattern Instructions

Beginning with Color A – Sample used Grape

R1: Ch 219 line up the beginning and end of R1 and make sure it does not twist. [219]

You will be working in continuous rounds. This means you do not slip stitch to join, or chain any additional stitches unless specifically indicated.

R2: You will be working into the back bump of the chain for this entire round. *1 sc in the first st, 1 dc in the next st, 1 sc in the next st**. Rep from * to ** 72 more times. [219]

R3: Work (1 Blsc, 1 BLdc, 1 BLsc) in each Bldc around. Skip all other stitches. [219]

R4-R13: Rep R3. Making the last BLsc of R13 a BLsl st. Finish off with an invisible join and weave in ends.

Take your infinity scarf and rotate it so the initial starting chain is now your working row. Weave in the initial starting chain end neatly without disturbing the starting chain loops which still remain. Basically weave the end through the work, not the starting chain.

You will now begin your contrast color rounds using Color B. The sample uses Black.

NOTE: Locate a dc stitch in your finished work and run your finger straight down from the dc to the starting chain row. The reason we are taking the time to line up the stitches as close to the dc as possible is to mimic the fabric you have already created above using Color A. 

R1: Attach Color B using a single crochet join, in the bl of the ch immediately before the ch which lined up with the dc st (see the note above).  1 BLdc in the next st, 1 BL sc in the next st. *1 BLsc in the next st, 1 BLdc in the next st, 1 BLdc in the next st**. Rep from * to ** 71 more times. [219]

R2: Work (1 Blsc, 1 BLdc, 1 BLsc) in each Bldc around. Skip all other stitches. [219]

R3-R9: Rep R2. Making the last BLsc of R19 a BLsl st. Finish off with an invisible join and weave in ends.

Here are some more photos – different sides – different angles – different wraps…

My Dearest Callum,

I’m sorry I didn’t owl you sooner, only I’ve been in a state of shock that you are marrying someone other than me. I thought what we had was SPECIAL. No no, I’ll forgive you, even though you didn’t tell me before any of this, and I had to hear from the likes of Lizzie. You can’t imagine how I’ve been suffering.

Festive Cup Cozy | Free Pattern

Supplies:

Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton (Worsted Weight Cotton Yarn) in 2 colours (green and cream used in sample) Hook: 5.0 mm (H)

Gauge is not imperative for this project just try to make your cozy reach the approximate finished size below (or to fit the circumference of your preferred cup!)

Finished Size:

11 inches long 2.5 inches wide

Abbreviations

US Terminology used

beg – begin ch – chain

Mini Meow CAL

make your own little toy amigurumi cat

Introductory Post

Resources and Things You Can Do To Get Ready

Add this CAL to your Ravelry Queue and join the Crochet with Us Ravelry Group

Pick your yarn color(s) and safety eyes and get ready for our first post

Creat a Project Page on Ravelry

Share your progress on Instagram using #MiniMeowCAL2015

Join the Crochet With Us Group on Facebook for assistance with the CAL – it is a lovely group filled with helpful and caring Crocheters who are happy to help each other.

Supplies

Hook: 5.5 mm (I)

Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky (Super Bulky 6) 108 yards for 1 cat (you can use multiple colors if you wish!)

Eyes: 12 mm safety eyes

Stuffing (Polyfil/Fiberfil)

Dog, or Cat, Wire Brush

stitch marker – I use locking stitch markers (safety pin will work) – you do not want the stitch marker to fall out when you are brushing the cat!

scissors, yarn needle and embroidery thread for the nose (or lighter weight yarn)

Gather your supplies and meet me back here for the Mini Meow CAL!

Part 1 – September 14, 2015

Part 2 – September 21, 2015

Part 3 – September 28, 2015

Share your Photos and Projects Here

Special Stitches

sc2tog – *Insert hook into the next st, yarn over and pull up 1 loop**. Repeat from * to ** 2 times. You now have 2 loops on your hook. Yarn over the hook and pull through all 3 loops to complete the sc2tog stitch.

To read more about this design see below!

Little Oombawkas…

This is how it all began for me…

and now I am ready to share this story and the pattern I designed specifically to make Mini Me-ow‘s for my sister Caitie’s Business – Heart’nsoul Persians.com.

A few years ago my sister saw the little bear I designed (Bearison) and asked me if I could try to crochet yarn replicas of the different cats she breeds. I was hesitant at first because not only did she want them to be crocheted – she wanted them to be ‘hairy’ because all her cats are long-haired cats.

It took quite a bit of trial and error to find the yarn and brushing tool which worked the best for this project. I must mention here – because I like to go for inexpensive options first and did with some painful consequences – do not use the cheap wire brushes for the barbeque when brushing out the yarn – I purchased one for a few dollars with a square wood handle and ended up with blisters and bruises on my hands. Sometimes it is worth paying a few dollars more and after my hands took more than a week to heal – I was ready to purchase the $7.00 dog hair brush with the wiry bristles. It works perfectly and is not too rough on the yarn, or more importantly on my hands.

I’ve decided to share this pattern as a Mini Meow CAL. I hope you join me and you never know – you may decide you want to make these as presents. Everyone I have given one to has loved it and my children have quite a few they play with together at home.

Please note: I receive many requests to make these cuties for people from around the world.  Although I no longer crochet custom orders – perhaps this pattern will come in handy for those of you who want a Little Oombawka of your own – or even for someone who wants to make these and supply them to people who want handmade kitties of their own.

As with all my designs – you are always welcome to follow my pattern and sell your finished product – I only ask you do not sell or share my original pattern – what you make is yours to do with as you wish :) If you sell your finished products online, I would love to receive a link to my website (or free pattern) and in return I will link to you in my pattern for those individuals who are searching for the product rather than the pattern! Please use your own photos to represent the items which you sell. When I sold these kitties – depending on the color details requested I charged between $20 and $30 Canadian per cat. I did custom orders based on photographs for people – for their pets.

Here are some of the kitties I made with the original pattern and yarn (Bernat Softee Chunky Bulky [5]):

If you do find a different yarn works well for this please leave me a comment with the brand and type!

I am always looking for other options – just in case the yarn I am using is discontinued again; my original design used Bulky Weight Yarn (Yarn Class 5) and last year I had to rewrite it for Super Bulky (Yarn Class 6) when the original yarn was discontinued.

Yarns I have tried which I did not produce a good result when brushed are:

Bernat Handicrafter Cotton (Lily Sugar’n Cream) (rips and falls apart – becomes very dusty and messy)

Patons Shetland Chunky

Patons Astra

Red Heart SuperSaver

Bernat Super Value

Loops & Threads Impeccable

Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice

Baby Yarns (DK weight – or Light Weight [3])

If you are going to try something different it needs to be at least a Bulky Weight Yarn – unless you are not going to brush it out!

P.S. In case you are wondering…

my daughter, Darla, called these little kitties “oombawkas” when she was a toddler…and this is why I chose to name my business and online website Oombawka Design.