Sunday, January 21, 2018

It's elemental, my dear...

I finished my Elements Pillow!   I used the first two video tutorials of the Elements CAL to make the front:
I'm thinking of incorporating the pattern that makes up the center square into my BAMCAL blanket.

The yarns used are:  Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in the colors sea blue, antique teal, and graphite.  This graphite color is my new favorite dark neutral.  It's between a brown and gray and it seems to work with pretty much anything I put up next to it. And the light beige color is Deborah Norville's Everyday yarn in the color, chinchilla.


For the back of my pillow, I used the stitch pattern found in the Twisted Textured Pillow:
The button hole band and button band were made of simple single crochets.

I love this stitch pattern.  A solid, or even striped pillow made using this stitch pattern would be awesome, I'd think.  Made the way this designer did (with all double crochets), the fabric created is very dense - which is great for a pillow, but the fabric curls.  Significantly.  Stretched over a puffy pillow, though, it works beautifully.  

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And, I think it was actually a week or so earlier that I finished this simple cowl:

Call me goofy, but I liked the look of the partially closed door 
I accidentally got in this picture, so I left it in.   

Just to give you an "insider's" glimpse...   the door in the picture opens into a little half-bath (powder room) that sits right by the south-facing back door which has 9 small window panes in it.   That's where the light is coming from that's shining on the door above.  This is my back hallway.  It's so small, it hardly seems like a hallway, but technically that's what it is.  My pantry is on the other side of the scarf.  This is a great spot in the the winter to snap a picture of anything on a hanger because so much light comes into this space.

Above is a picture of that hallway taken a little over a year ago from the vantage point of my front door.  The pantry and powder room are on the left as you're looking at the picture.  Can't you just picture the contortions I get into in that narrow space trying to get pictures of hanging scarves?

~~~


Normally,  I try to keep the doors out of the frame, or I crop them out later, but the shot just  above shows how my pictures taken in this spot normally turn out.  Without my explanation above, you'd never guess I was in a skinny little hallway with a scarf hanging between the doors of a powder room and a pantry.  😉

~~~

Back to the scarf...  It seems like I started with a pattern, but then went my own merry way with it.  Basically, it's just all half-double crochets done in the back loop - which creates some texture.  And it's crocheted in the round (as in a spiral) so there's no seam.  I finished it off by winding down to a few single crochets and then a few slip stitches to end it all.  Such a simple crocheted scarf, but done in a multi-striped yarn looks much richer than the stitch pattern would indicate.  The yarn used in this scarf is Lion Brand Unique in the colorway, Harvest.

Super soft, and colorful, I expect it will be super warm for someone next winter.


And that's a wrap for another YOP week.  To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.



2018 Yarn Stash-Down:  4.39/100 Skeins



24 comments:

  1. I second what Karen said. It really is amazing. I love the little glimpse inside your home and where you took pictures of that beautiful cowl. :)

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  2. The elements pattern is very striking and dramatic, but I also love the reverse side with the textured pattern. It's so comfortingly simple.

    Gorgeous cowl. There's lots going on with that yarn and it really shines with a simple pattern.

    Love all that natural light flooding in this windows... I'd be bringing books and magazines into that powder room and spending a good amount of time there!

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    1. Thank you, Lynn. The powder room doesn't get so much light, and I'm not sure the hallway could manage a bigger chair, but that image sure makes me smile.

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  3. Amazing work on that pillow, and I especially love the twisted stitch pattern you choose for the back.

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  4. That elements pillow is so intricate. I never knew that crochet could produce such interesting effects. I learn so much from reading your posts.

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  5. Both of your projects are great! I especially love the pillow - lovely pattern and my favourite colours too.

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  6. I agree about the pillow backing. It would make a great total pillow with the right patterned yarn. Although, I think it has such a great texture it would be perfectly fine with a solid color too.

    I love seeing parts of your home. Never woukd Ihave guessed all your photos were taken in a little hallway. You have perfect lighting there.

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    1. I thought it would be fun to show where I take some of my photos. It's amazing what one can do with less than a yard of white wall.

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  7. I love the pillow - the front is intricate but the back is just as stunning. Scarf is brilliant too and I love a little nose around other people's houses!

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    1. ;^) I like to peek in other's houses, too. Thank you for the kind comments, Lucy.

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  8. Hi Becki :) I LOVE your pillow! The back is gorgeous!!!

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  9. I love your house! I can just feel the coziness from here! Your pillow (front and back) turned out beautiful and the cowl I am crazy over! Of course, I love the colors you choose each and every time. I probably sound like a broken record but what can I say? I love your projects, your colors and your workmanship. Keep crocheting....it's beautiful!

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    1. Thank you, Sandra. For all your sweet words. Every time. It never sounds like a broken record, but rather is music to my ears. :)

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  10. did you post that picture last year? I remember it and still love it!!! you make lovely things! That pillow is so pretty!!!

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    1. Yes, Elizabeth. I did post this picture a little over a year ago. How fun that you remember. :)

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  11. Wherever you have the best light, yeah? I usually hang whatever on the back of my youngest daughter's bedroom door because she has the best light in the house. I don't mind the door partly showing. I like your new infinity scarf. When you crochet in the round, do you start with a chain in each round and when you end the round, do you slip stitch into the beginning chain before starting the next round?

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    1. Hi Stefanie! If I understand your question correctly, I think the answer is no. I do not slip stitch into each new round (in fact, as you read my answer you'll see that I don't even keep track of the beginning/endings of rounds once I get going). Now, If I'm changing stitches between rounds (like say I started with a round of single crochets and then want to do a bunch of rounds of half double crochets), I may need to do something as I'm approaching the end of the sc round, or starting the half double crochet rounds - just to make the join not look like a big jump (or I may need to accommodate a "jump" when I come back around). But, in this scarf, once I started crocheting half double crochets (and I may have done hdc's from the beginning, I don't remember), I just spiral around and around, not even worrying about where one round begins and ends, and when the scarf is wide enough, I wind down my stitches as I described above.

      Anytime I crochet in the round, this is my preferred method. First because it's super easy. But also because it eliminates a seam (that tends to lean) where each round is begun. I hope I've understood your question and answered it in a way that make sense.

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  12. I love your pillow Becki, my elements square for it still languishes without a back, do you mind if I copy your back, it looks so wonderful!
    That scarf is lovely too.

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