Holiday Wreath: Achievement Unlocked

November 30, 2021November 30, 2021Leave a comment

You guys! Remember this post I wrote, a mere four years ago, about how all I wanted to do was make a wreath for the holidays?

Well, after buying a kit, a styrofoam ring, reading the pattern, and letting it all sit in my craft room for over three years, I finally pulled it all back out again over the summer and was determined to have a wreath before Christmas came and went.

Unbelievably*, I made it happen. (Thanks, past Zoe, for starting in July; she knew Present Zoe would struggle to get this done.) I did have to force myself to stick with it, especially since I was knitting socks and finishing up other projects in between. (Let’s face it, some of those projects were direct procrastination to avoid the wreath.) I think it felt so tedious because the pattern is making a gigantically long parallelogram and doing single crochet only in the back loop, sometimes increasing, sometimes decreasing, the entire time. When you have to single out the back loop, that’s where it prevents the pattern from being totally mindless.

That said, when I finally got to the phase where I was wrapping the wreath, it was relatively easy.**

After sewing the wreath around the styrofoam form, I had to crochet all the components of the bow. There were three pieces to the bow and an additional attachment piece, making for four pieces in total. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but the design is quite good, and despite all the sewing at the end, it was worth it. It also added some necessary oomph and wow factor to an otherwise attractive wreath.

I haven’t decided where to hang the wreath yet (or perhaps save it in my gift pile?) but I am really happy I tried my hand at this. I would make another one, actually, but instead of more muted colors, I would go for a white and red peppermint/candy cane look to the wreath. I think that would look really good, maybe even with some subtle sparkle in it. If you’re interested in this pattern, you can find it on Ravelry and buy it directly from the designer. It used to only be a kit on Craftsy, which is how I ended up with mine, but now you can get it for the very reasonable price of $4.00. I did not opt to make the poinsettias, but if you’re a fan of them and want to make some by hand, you’ll have the option!

For the yarn, I used the stuff that came in the kit, and it was very decent acrylic yarn. The bow used up a leftover scrap cake of Caron Simply Soft (color: gold). It has a nice sheen to it and a bit more stiffness, so it’s not curling and it’s holding its shape, which is ideal.

Ho ho ho and all that fun stuff–if you decide to try this wreath, or perhaps you have already, please leave a comment!

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*The pandemic certainly didn’t help my motivation level.

**Easy is relative here because most people want to Crochet or Knit a Thing and be done with it, but you will always have to weave in ends and many more times, you have to seam/sew something. Little pro tip, kids: don’t get into crocheting or knitting if you abhor the thought of sewing by hand. You’ll have to do it at some point! But you do also learn new skills, so there’s that.

Tunisian Crochet “Hard Candy” Throw

November 7, 2021Leave a comment

Hello, friends!

Well, the pandemic arrived and took with it a lot of personal creative resources. I have still been making things but haven’t had the wherewithal to post about them since last April.

That said, one of the projects I endeavored to make was something that was going to take down some of my yarn stash, specifically my acrylic (I have amassed a ton from Knit Picks Brava Worsted since I was making so much amigurumi). Since I closed my Etsy shop, I haven’t been making as many toys, though I still love it and intend to make more here and there.

I have been wanting to try my hand at the Tunisian entrelac technique for quite some time. I’m going to link to the YouTube tutorial I found most helpful specifically for doing a corner-to-corner style blanket.

Best explanation of “the formula” I’ve seen

I personally like the checkerboard look, so I opted to go with a row of white in between every color row. I did only one color repeat and have a singular row of baby pink in there, which helped me define where my “halfway” point was so I could make the blanket into a rectangle before decreasing.

I am super thrilled with the outcome, even with all the weaving in of the ends (each row has two ends to weave in). For the border, I did two rounds of single crochet in white, which nicely used up my fourth skein of white, and then I did three rounds of half double crochet, with the final two rounds being done in the “half loop” behind the top of the stitch, so it leaves that pretty rope looking border. This was effective in both aesthetics and also helping with the inevitable curling that happens with Tunisian crochet. A popular thing to do is to add in Tunisian purl stitches as a border but I wanted to do something with standard crochet and not Tunisian for this one.

I think it looks awesome and it’s a great size: 46.5″ wide by 36.5″ long. This will fit nicely over a crib or just using it as a lap blanket. What’s great about Tunisian crochet is that it provides a dense, woven fabric, at least in the Tunisian simple stitch, and while I was finishing it, it was definitely keeping my legs warm!

Below are some more photos. I have also decided to list it in my Ko-fi shop, so hit up the link if you or someone you know would like this as a gift! As I state in my shop, purchases don’t just line my pocket, but help with my caregiving duties to my sibling with disabilities.

Feel free to comment if you have questions, or hit me up on Instagram! Handle: zavvycreations

Branching Out to Baskets with Bernat Maker Home Dec

April 28, 2019April 28, 20192 Comments

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A few months ago, I purchased a couple of skeins of Bernat Maker Home Dec yarn because I thought I would make another pillow with it. I had fallen in love with this smock stitch (Tunisian) from TL Yarn Crafts and couldn’t wait to get started.

I sat down to practice with my yarn and hook and didn’t fall in love with making the stitch the way I thought I would. (I may try again, but I impatiently moved on.) I really wanted to make something else as a home decor project that wouldn’t take all day and was as attractive as it was useful.

Enter baskets from Yarn and Chai! I loved the look of the mini bean stitch and once I read through the pattern for her nesting baskets, knew I wanted to get started right away. I flew through making a large basket with the pretty aqua skein. For my basket, I used I and H hooks (5.5mm and 5.0mm) instead of H and G hooks, as I wanted it to be slightly larger than what the basket size would yield. Because the design gives a double lined basket, you don’t have to worry about the spaces between the stitches as much. It’s sturdy and will hold up well. I did not insert the plastic ring in my basket but I will experiment with that down the road. I think it’s a terrific technique that she offers up for making the baskets extra sturdy, in addition to keeping their shape.

I loved working with this yarn, by the way. It’s soft and doesn’t split, due to the cotton/nylon blend. I have another skein in the colorway clay with some aqua leftover. I haven’t decided if I’ll do another basket or if I’ll try my hand at a pillow but I will figure something out soon, considering how much I like it. The yarn also shows off terrific stitch definition, and the mini bean stitch is perfect for it.

Knowing me, I’ll probably put odds and ends in my basket, or I could even put it out in the family room to hold some items. It’s quite eye-catching. I also want to experiment with doubling or tripling the pattern to yield a much larger basket when I get my hands on more of this yarn.

What have you made with it? Do you love it, too?

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