I Finally Figured What to Make the Red Yarn Into!

I think I've mentioned it before, but I really don't like the color red. I'm a very blue person, and just the perfectly cherry red color of the yarn makes me scowl.

But I need to use it, and I feel it's the tyoe of yarn that would do well being crocheted, so I've decided to make something of a cozy to put my cups of hot and iced coffee, so it doesn't do damage to my desk. Granted, I'll still have some left over, but not much, because I plan on making this ridiculosuly large. I think I will put pictures up when I'm done, even if it is rather plain. I might try some sort of lacy boarder to give it a feel that I appreciate the yarn.

Apparently I've Forgotten How to Yarn Over

I haven't written anything here because I really haven't made anything. I've started some shit, frogged some shit, but haven't made any headway, until today.

I was watching IKnitWithCatFur,and I'd copied down some of her more advanced patterns using YOs, something I knew how to do. Apparently, not doing in in ten thousand years has made the skill a distant memory.

I feel like a n00b all over again; this was something I was so sure was already in my repertoire, until I tried to do it and failed.

On top of regular failing, I tried to follow her video tutorial as to how to do them, but she knits continental, and I knit some corruption of English knitting (pinching with my thumb and index finger, and throwing that way). When watching how she does it, it looks so simple, and when I clumsily attempt to do it Continental, it comes out like hers, but I'm not sure how to replicate said YO with my right hand.

I won't lie, I've been dicking around about relearning how to do it, but now I've set myself to actually want to do it today, or at least study in earnest. I'm going to look for a PDF to download to my kindle. For some reason, when it comes to knitting, I can read learn with no sweat. Crocheting makes me need a video.

Wish me luck, y'all

Kindle Cover

I made a cover for my kindle. It's not really something with a pattern when it comes to crocheting, but it's a Crochet Geek inspired case with a BobWilson123 flower to keep it closed. I just realized that mine and Crochet Geek's are almost the same color, but hers is much sturdier than my mostly decorative one.

Lovely, and the yarn is so silky smooth

And that's the yarn I had left over. I might make some more flowers for the back from it

Oversized Marvin Gaye

This hat is exactly as it sounds. It looks like an oversized version of the hat that Marvin Gaye wore later in his career. I like oversized hats, and basic hats. The only thing that makes this hat really notable is that it is made with the same cotton that I made the slouch hat of, but this hat only took half the amount of yarn as the first one. No real pattern, a basic beanie crown and then half double or double crochet through the bottom. It's basically like this... but with a bigger crown.

Hope you like my model:

His head is considerably smaller than mine.

Such a Busy Hooker I've Been: Cherry Hook Jelly Roll

Alright, since the last post, I have made a crochet hook roll, an oversized Marvin Gaye hat, a cover for my Kindle, and a pouch-purse/phone cover. I'm going to break it down into separate entries for each piece.

My birthday was yesterday, so I'm officially 22, so I should probably update that there profile. But I know you're not here for the personal info, you're here for the handmade stuff:

I'll start with the hook roll. I made this from a BobWilson123 pattern on YouTube. The outside, rather than crocheted, is knitted using the Raspberry Stitch (aka Trinity Stitch), learned from IKnitWithCatFur/ Stitches Weekly Mine isn't perfect, as pictures will show you, but it does its purpose:

Cherry Hook Jelly Roll

This is it as a work in progress, I still haven't sewn the two pieces together.

I know it's not mattress seam or anything, but it looks nice.

I don't know the actual dimensions, but it holds 13 hooks with ease.

My Puff Stitch Slouch Hat

Right before this entry, I wrote a post about the difficulty I was having with my puff stitch hat.

I finished it, it took longer than I expected (which isn't a bad thing), but it came out just as light and breezy as I had hoped.

I'm not even going to try and pretend as if I made the tutorial for this one, because I followed the tutorial that BobWilson123 put up on YouTube.  The only thing I did differently from her hat was put a row of double crochet between every row of puff/double crochet.

I have a few flubs, and there are some places where I was dissatisfied with the yarn (they just tied pieces together, which looks kinda weird), but overall it was a good experience. I used my entire skein of Lion Brand Cotton, and I had to take a few yards from the second one to finish up the decreasing.

It ended up being a really, really big hat. I added an extra round of increases and continued working until it almost looked like a bag (which, technically is only an upside down hat LOL). It's not made for the days where my hair is tamed down in braids or two strand twists, although I will wear it most days. It's made for the times where my hair is big, and bold, or that I have extensions like yarn braids or two strand twists. It can fit a lot of hair underneath it. It would be perfect for someone with loc'd hair. I'm going to post some pictures of the finished product:

This is how the hat looks from the side

The Puff Stitch. Not too shabby at all

I don't really care that this pic is blurry since it's just to show the way the hat falls. And yes, it is over my ears

Annnnnnnd because I recently bought more yarn, and I'm starting a new project, another BobWilson123 inspired piece, although I'm doing mine a little differently. I can't wait to post pictures!

Getting Hot Headed Over a Hat

The yarn that I was waiting for came in early.

Usually a sentence like that would have an exclamation point after it, but it doesn't, because I'm getting aggravated with the hat that I'm making.

I decided months ago that I would make the BobWilson123 Puff Stitch Slouch hat. It looked fun and cute, without being too difficult for a n00b such as myself. It's not as easy as it looks, either that or I'm screwing up.

The latter is probably what's actually going on.

I've made my base, right, and instead of being 60 or 72 (as it should be if I didn't screw up), it's 66. I don't mind 66, it's still an even number. But then, when I start working the puff stitch, it's a very frustrating stitch, and it's supposed to be loose. I'm a very tight crocheter. I'm getting so frustrated with how the pattern is turning out. I don't have my camera right now, so there's no pictures, but I'm only two rows into the body, and a part of me wants to stab use the hook to stab the yarn, rather than work it.

I've never had a pattern that made my blood vessels throb the way this one is. I'm starting to get a headache, and I think the way I was sitting wasn't helping anything, because my lower back is hurting too.

I don't know if I'm going to do the puff stitch row ever other row, or every two rows. I don't even know. It's gotten a bit wavy now; I don't mind that look in my hat, because it seems to just be because of the way I'm holding it/ the progress that I've made.

I want to take a break from it, and look at it in an hour or so, but I can't keep my hands off a work-in-progress. Maybe after coffee, or sleep, I'll feel better.

Do other people get this feeling as well? Am I the only one this ridiculously upset over something I'm making??

I have no idea

My FIrst Real Crochet Project! The Yarn Bag

Three days ago I went with my best friend to her local craft store, Save-a-Thon, which has now become my go to craft store. Like seriously, they're perfect, and the prices are AMAZING.

The first yarn store that I went to was Knit New York, way back when it was still open over on Avenue A. It was a fancy yarn store, with beautiful hand-dyed skeins, and not a sliver of acrylic in sight. It was beautiful, and it had amazing yarn, but it also was a bit snobby. Anyhoo, they're gone now.

Save-a-Thon is a crafter's wet dream. I got my skein for $3.49, NO TAX, and it was beautiful and soft. They have huge pound balls for less than $9.00, and some other awesome deals. I needed something that I could practice stitches on, and it felt right.

When I got home, and saw that it crocheted up nicely with the only hook I have, I knew it was either going to be a slouchy (kinky hair friendly) beanie, or a bag.

It became this bag:

Doesn't it look just nice?? Yeah, it has faults, and technically it's something I made up as I went along, but it came out really beautiful. It's a mish-mosh of patterns from BobWilson123, with a hat base bottom, treble crochet all the way through the body of the bag (save a row of double or half-double crochets my first non-increasing round). I did some shaping around the top. I'll write a pattern at the bottom of this post. I call it a yarn bag, because it looks best with yarn inside it, although I'd bring it to the store in a pinch, despite the color scheme.

I know I could have done a regular chain for the pull cord, or some soft of crochet foundation row thing, but I instead pulled out my trust Double-Point (DPNs) knitting needles and made it. I ended up making the cord waaaaaay too long (I can put the bag around me and it hits my hip). I kind of like the quasi-unfinished cord (although the strings are both tied together, and the cords are tied, so there's no coming loose)

I feel like having the bag hanging up doesn't do justice to the its capacity. I have four t shirts (XL or bigger) in here, and there's still room. The base of the bag is 8in (20cm) across, and it's 15in (38cm) long. I could probably put two of those 16oz balls, and have room for my roll of needles no sweat. A quick note: I got the blue back around the edge by finishing with the white, and then coming back through with the yarn that was left (a few yards), and bringing it back to blue. It didn't look right with a pure white top when the I-cord was white to blue.

I thought some people might want to see how it looks kind of stretched (those are pairs of socks, not balls of yarn in it ^^;). Those are treble stitches, which I thought looked nicer with the yarn and hook that doubles.

A Very Basic Pattern for The Yarn Bag:

Using a basic beanie starter pattern, make the base as wide as you would like it to be. You don't have to use triple crochet's; use whatever looks nice with your yarn and hook choices. I would suggest going through both the loops, and the string underneath. It looks stronger. I realized in the middle of that pink, and I thought fuck it, I'm not going back or changing, but I did do it for the shaping around the top.

What You Need:

• Yarn of your choice
• A hook size befitting your yarn
• Large-eyed needle (optional)
• Two Double Pointed (DPN) knitting needles (optional if you want an I-cord like mine)

Once you get the base the circumference you're happy with, your first round not increasing should be a shorter stitch (if you're using trebles, do a round of doubles, if doubles, do half-doubles etc.). THen go back to whatever stitch you want for your mesh and have a gay old time making it as long as you'd like.

Once you get to the length you're happy with, it's time to shape the top. Do a round of the stitch size under (or a few, your choice), and at equal intervals of shortening the stitch, decrease. I didn't decrease all that equally -_-.

After you've shaped it up, make a row of your original long body stitch so you can weave your I-cord through. I weaved mine around twice because I liked the look and how it closed.

Now go down to a single crochet, and do a few more rounds to finish it up. You can see that I did a row.

Darn in the ends, and now you're done! Aren't you excited to put stuff in your new bag, and it probably looks just as awesome.

If you make it, let me know!

The Creation of KreativeKoils

I could say that this blog has been a long time coming, but it really hasn't. But, I'm finally taking the advice of my family and homies and putting my creative endeavors on the internet for folks to see.

Although the name KreativeKoils originally was a reference to my kinky hair, but this blog will be mostly dedicated to fiber arts that I enjoy and make, specifically knitting and crocheting.

Since this is the first, article, I should probably give a brief history of my relationship with yarn. There's not much:

I touched raw wool in Colonel Times learning in elementary school. It felt awesome, and the chick carded a lock for us. The cards didn't look fun but the yarn she had sure did.

My mom tried to teach me a bit of crochet when I was a youngin', and it never really stuck in my noggin.

I really watched people who were making these beautiful articles of clothing and such. There's nothing I love more than DIY.

I learned how to knit when there was a knitting fair at The Farmer's Market. I fell in love. They tried to teach me crocheting, and I got the basic stitch, but it really wasn't my favorite thing. I was a needler, not a hooker.

I love knitting, but I fell off from it for a while.

I started knitting and crocheting again my final year in high school during lunch with a small fiber circle of schoolmates ^_^. I was entangled again.

I need slouch hats, and found some tutorials by BobWilson123. She rocks my socks, and taught me from videos all of those tricky cruddy loops that hadn't stuck in my brain. With her videos, I learned how simple and forgiving crocheting is; I also learned that for the most part, I need to see how stitches are worked with a crochet project.

I'm investing in more crochet hooks (I only had one), more yarn (I had none), and more learning of different types of patterns that I can do with the circular needles and straight ones I already have.

I will take pictures of my few past projects, and the stories around them.

Now I can't wait for my yarn to actually come! *squee*