free patterns – yarnchick

crochet:: the chunk

I promised you the pattern for The Chunk a few weeks ago, and I am here to deliver.

I have finally finished it, and we love, LOVE, LURVE this blanket.

I’ve been working on this idea for a couple of years, just letting it percolate because I wasn’t really sure of the details. I knew I wanted a bed-sized blanket in white or cream. I knew I wanted it to be thick & squishy. I knew NOT what pattern to use. I knew NOT what super bulky yarn to use. Did I try several? Oh heck yeah, I tried and frogged lots. And then lots more. And then ignored the urge for some months. But it kept nagging at me. I wanted a fisherman’s sweater for my bed. The inspiration pieces from designers on Pinterest I could find were great, but they were all knitted.

When I gave up on the fisherman’s sweater look with complicated cables in a super bulky yarn, it finally clicked for me. If I wanted a simple and classic monochromatic afghan, I needed a simple stitch pattern. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I looked back at my favorite patterns from the past. Lo and behold, I realized the Dreamy Layers Afghan from back in 2011 could rock a single color with a nice pebbley, nubby texture. At that time, I had only bought 8 of the massive Bernat Blanket Yarn skeins I thought I needed. Little did I know it would take double that! In the end, you can make it whatever size that works for you, but I’m not gonna lie ~ it’s really awesome to have it basically end up king-sized on a queen-sized bed.

Expensive? Yes.

Also. Totally. Worth. It.

the chunk afghan pattern::

C2C:: this is a corner to corner blanket worked in 1 piece and makes the piece a square

16 skeins of Bernat Big Ball Blanket (10.5 oz/220 yd, so 3520 total yardage) ~ it’s super bulky chenille and cloud-soft. ****note:: Yes, I said 16 for king-sized, so this is a very expensive blanket to make. I used JoAnn’s coupons to purchase my yarn over a period of several weeks and brown-bagged my lunch to justify it. I wanted this blanket whatever it took. Any even number of skeins will do if you wish to make it smaller****

“N” hook

****note:: no I cannot afford Furls hooks, but if you like my lime green hook, Hobby Lobby has these acrylic & ergonomic large hooks that look & perform much like those from the luxury brand****

row 1:: ch2, in 2nd ch from hook make hdc, sc, hdc; ch 1 and turn

row 2:: inc in 1st stitch (hdc, sc), hdc in next stitch, inc in last stitch (sc, hdc), ch 1 and turn

row 3:: inc in 1st stitch (hdc, sc), hdc, sc, hdc, inc in last stitch (sc, hdc), ch 1 and turn

row 4 – center of blanket:: inc in 1st stitch (hdc, sc), repeat *hdc, sc, hdc, sc, hdc* across to last stitch inc of (sc, hdc), ch 1 turn

****note:: I used 8 skeins to get to the center (and widest point) of my blanket, then I began the decreases with skein #9****

At your desired widest point *this is where you can make the over-all size larger if desired by continuing the increases or begin the decreasing in a similar manner to the increase rows – decrease the 1st 2 stitches and the last 2 stitches tog*

center row – opposite corner:: dec 1st 2 stitches (sc 2 tog), repeat *sc, hdc, sc* across to last 2 stiches (sc 2 tog) ch 1 and turn (make sure to stitch all 3 stitches tog on final row)

I’m completely smitten with The Chunk paired with my Amazing Technicolor Dreamghan. And now, with these 2 in the done column, my bed is complete and we can handle whatever cold this winter has to offer. I say, bring it on old man winter!

Thanks so much for stopping by & if you should decide to make The Chunk, please do come back to share your FO!

crochet:: did you forget something?

Yes, you.

Y’all were supposed to remind me about the whole complicated amigurumi thing that drives me insane. After the AT-AT debacle, you promised to stop me before I accepted any special orders for complicated toys that pay me about 30 cents per hour. Ok fine, you didn’t promise…but dammit I wish you would have reminded me. We’ll just leave it at that.

Frigging adorable hedgehog with a very well written pattern, that you can find here.

While working on said adorable hedgehog, I became quite stabby…

If this were a gift for someone I love, well that would be a different story….

I am only charging a reasonable fee for the order and yet it took over 10 HOURS TO MAKE.

Not my idea of a winning business model…so once again I implore you to remind me that toys are not my thing. Thank you, that is all.

crochet:: the girlfriend afghan

It started in October-ish…maybe. I’m not sure when really, but Alex’s girlfriend Hannah asked me this past fall to make her an afghan. She wanted sharp chevrons, all greys & blues & white, in totally random order, and about ‘this big’ gestures completed the order. I showed her a varied lot with every color of blue & grey that I had in the magical craft closet. Then I sent her off packing to the yarn store with her chosen scrap samples to pick up the loot necessary to approximately get her ‘this big’ blankie done. Of course my ball-park guess was wrong and we made 2 more trips for yarn…that’s my S.O.P. ~ guessing is not my forte.

I finally finished 3+ months later…fast afghans are not my forte either apparently.

The basics on the “Girlfriend Afghan”

“H” hook

Red Hart SS in white, grey heather, charcoal, and light blue

Vanna’s Choice in aqua

Chain 229

Dc 3 tog, dc 10, 5 dc, dc 10, dc 5 tog across to end, dc 3 tog, ch 2 turn

17 color stripes of 4 rows, with 2 rows of white in between each

Also, don’t mess with Hannah. Alex was given the evil eye for the minor infraction of not wanting his picture taken.

crochet:: i’ll never make it as a hand model

Man do I love these mitts!

Last year at the Kansas Barn Sale, I got the pleasure of purchasing a pair from Tamara over at Crochet With Tamara. I was immediately smitten and wore them all winter long. So when she shared where she got the pattern, they ended up on my queued for me list. And then I promptly let them jump to the front of the line.

And while it is difficult to photograph your own chubby little hand, I had to share.

If you want to make a pair, head over to Moogly Blog 🙂

Happy day friend ~ thanks for stopping by!

crochet:: updating my old sky scarf

Back 2012, I made a sky scarf.

I never wore it because I made it too large and used yarn that was too heavy.

This year I fixed it.

I added a hood.

And I actually wore it.

crochet:: headwraps are all the rage

In my part of the world it’s pretty cold right now and we are headed for the longest short month of the year. You know, when all you want is for the weather to break and February is super stubborn.

I’ve been using headwraps this winter, and even though I am a little slow to adopt the craze, I still think they have been the accessory to have this year. I have a spare shoved into my bag at all times and they take up way less space than hats. Which we all know, I do not wear.

The free pattern for this headwrap can be found here.

I made mine with her Resilient Superwash wool. PS ~ this is where I got all the sari silk recycled yarn a few months ago.

It’s a tad on the expensive side, but wowsers I love that wool. I’ve been making socks with it, and 1 skein will make a pair of socks and a matching headwrap.

The other day, Miss Cortini came into work with this one and I thought it was pretty cute.

It looked like knitting, but it’s actually crochet. It’s hdc behind the back loop (not a bphdc), so it pulls the top loops forward. Kind of interesting.

Naturally, I decided to make my own take on it.

Would you like another free pattern? A two-fer today, woot.

winter headwrap::

K hook

Lion Brand Homespun yarn

rnd 1 – ch 45, hdc in 3rd ch from hook, then hdc 41 to end, 4 hdc in beg ch, then hdc back down the opposite side of the ch and make 3 hdc in end (makes 4 on that end too) join, ch 2, do not turn (or work in continuous rounds ~ your choice)

rnd 2 thru 4 – tilt your work towards you so you can hdc in the loop behind the back loop (that’s what makes it look like a knit stitch) and continue on with behind the back loop hdc on the long sides; on the ends where you have 4 stitches on the previous row make dc, dc & tr, tr & dc, dc still working the loop behind the back loop

rnd 5 – continue on with the hdc st, but on the ends switch to dc& tr, tr & tr, tr & tr, tr & dc in those 4 end stitches

rnd 6 – switch to sl st in the loop behind the back loop, join and voila ~ done.

Add your favorite flower, or not. Add a cluster of buttons instead, or any other embellishment, or not.

Then sew on a big button near one end to be your clasp.

Finally…snap a late night selfie when you get it done…

Happy hooking 🙂

crochet:: my masterpiece is complete

And the funniest part?

I have stats.

21 months

145 colors

254+ hours

16,747 (approx) yards of yarn

And the most impressive stat of all…

244,896 stitches

Boom.

~before washing~

~after 1st shrinking wash~

We’re going to give it the 2nd shrinking wash today. I fully expect that it will have decreased by 1/3 in size…but we absolutely love it.

This has been my ALL-TIME FAV afghan ever.

And I don’t usually say things like that, because let’s face it afghans take forever to make and if the stitch, yarn, or pattern is a bore/hassle/frustration, I’m just satisified the experience is over. This one was pure bliss all the way around.

I loved the yarn:: Knit Picks Palette (they don’t pay me btw, but they have been PIVOTAL in changing my mind regarding fibre choice & I will most definitely purchasing from them again. Just sharing my personal thought as a customer.)

I loved the stitch:: ch, sl st, dc (can you say mindless so I can watch seasons of Sons of Anarchy, Game of Thrones, and tons of football??)

I loved the pattern:: 14 round grannies/join as you go (I could always keep a square or 2 in my purse with me)

The finished product is exactly what I was looking for. Warm and squishy, soft and cozy, and my very first large-scale 100% wool blanket.

I love it when a project is successful. I’ve decided this is a family heirloom.

My son asked me how much time & money I spent on it. So I told him & showed him my stats.

Then he asked:: Why didn’t you just buy a new comforter?

He is no longer in the will.

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