One of the fun
things about learning to crochet is that your family and friends can ask you to
make things for them. Sometimes it’s
something you wouldn’t have thought of making on your own. That’s how I ended up making the cat couch
for my sister.
Last year, Nick’s mom, Susan sent me this link and asked if it was something I could make. This one is knitted, but fortunately, there are lots of crochet sunflower patterns out there. Unfortunately, most of them start with a magic ring, which I cannot seem to master. I think it must actually involve magic, and I’m not magical. On a side note, if you’re a crocheter, and you have any tips for mastering the magic ring, please share them.
I finally found
this one, that had a left-handed tutorial and didn’t start with a magic
ring. I modified it a little bit by
shortening the stem and doing a chain to hang it from the rearview mirror. I don’t remember how many I chained for the
hanger. I just took it out to the car to
finish it and quit when it would go over the rearview mirror, but not hang down
too far. Yes, I did sit out in the car
in the rain and crochet.
The flower was curling a little bit when I finished it, so I decided it needed some flattening. I read a little bit about blocking for granny squares and decided to improvise a flower flattening method. I lightly sprayed it with water and then set some heavy cans on top of it to flatten it. It seems to have worked.
It’s not
perfect, but overall, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, and Susan was
very happy with it.
That’s very cool! When I was a kid, my best friend’s grandma crocheted book ‘worms’ as bookmarks. I kept mine all these years and finally gave it back to my friend for her grandkids. It had two tiny metal beads for the eyes.
ReplyDeleteThat's so awesome that you kept the bookmark for so long!
DeleteSunflowers are so cheery and what fun that you crocheted one. When I was young, my sister tried to teach me to crochet, but it didn't work so well because she was right handed and I am left handed. After a while, I became frustrated and never picked it up again.
ReplyDeleteMy mom, who is right handed, tried to teach me when I was ten or eleven. It was horrible and I didn't try again for over 25 years. Now, there are lots of left-handed tutorials on YouTube. That makes all the difference for me. I just can't seem to learn something like that from a right handed person.
DeleteCute! And your canned bean solution worked well.
ReplyDeleteI haven't crocheted since 7th grade home ec, but I remember it as being fun to learn. I have a friend who is a crocheting queen, etsy orders galore.
That's great that your friend is so good at it. I'm not very advanced yet, but my sister keeps adding to the list of things I need to make.
DeleteGreat job on the sunflower!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteValid method for blocking. And it looked like it came out nice. Good job.
ReplyDeleteAs for the magic ring, I fake it. You're basically crocheting over a loose ring that you tighten after you've worked the first round. I loop yarn round my finger, and do a chain over it (making sure that's around two strands of the yarn).
Unfortunately, I don't have any tricks for you. I know what it's like to have a technique that just doesn't work for you (*side eyes Kitchener stitch*).
I may have to see if I can fake the magic ring like that. There are so many things I want to make that start with a magic ring.
DeleteWhat a great sunflower, Danielle! And how clever to flatten it like you did!
ReplyDeleteThanks! They say necessity is the mother of invention; I had to flatten it so I had to get creative.
ReplyDelete