Cottony Soft Scrub-Me-Up

i made this out of peaches n creme cotton, i'm not sure how much since im using Mill Ends, probly a ball and a half, maybe two. and i used an aluminum size F hook (US)

now the thing about this pattern is that it's worked to fit an individual hand (mine) lol. so i'll just approximate the idea to you here :)

it starts with chaining a length thats equal to the space from your finger tips to the meat of your palm, then working rows of sc's to slightly wider than your hand is, make sure to work in back loops only. you want your scrubby thingie to be actually capable of scrubbing :) so that's why there's ridges.

i changed it up after this but only slightly. instead of sc's i started doing dc's, still in back loops. and i did this for the width of the back of my hand.

once the whole piece was capable of surrounding my hand comfortably, i sewed it up in a tube, then sewed up one of the short ends. then i took my cotton and attached it to one side of the remaining short end that wasnt closed up (making sure to attach to the edge of one side. Make sure for yourself that you put your stitches in the right place, this is the only "tricky" part but if you don't watch out you wont have a proper thumb hole). i worked along the edge of that created opening evenly in sc's. you should be able to work rows evenly in back loops (not rounds) and there should be an open space where your thumb can peek through after about 12 rows or more.

work your sc's as much as you need to cover your hand up, so that it feels comfortable on your hand like a mitten. then once you have the right length, work a few rounds in either dc or sc (whichever you are more comfortable doing, i did dc's cuz i was running out of my first ball by this point and i wanted to make sure it was long enough.)

yes i did say rounds that last time lol. to make rounds directly after your rows, work in the same way that you have, except when you get the the end of your row do not turn.
just "jump" to the other edge and start your stitches again there, going across the other "side". you'll need to join your last stitch to the first "jump" one if you're like me and can never remember your place. if you have no problem working in rounds without joining, hoorah for you lol, carry on.

now at this point you have a mitt with a thumb hole.. so of course you need to make the thumby part :P

soooo. make a chain slightly longer than the circumference of your thumb and make a small rectangle of rows of sc's. work in back loops only. mark the place (or remember how many rows) where you will sew the swuare into a tube for your thumb. now crochet more rows of sc's, it should be a lil bit longer than your thumb actually is, from the base to the tip or vice versa actually. so you will have some extra stitches that wont be sewn together, cuz those will be the stitches that you sew to the hole on the mitten, so that it can actually become a mitten.

now here's a tip: work the "body" of the thumb straight. and then when you are working the "base" which you will not stitch together, make decreases in the beginning stitches of each new row.
to make decreases this way : ch1, put hook thru first stitch and draw up a loop. put hook thru next stitch and draw up another loop. now draw up one more loop and pull that loop through the other three on the hook.

don't be scared! it's not gonna be straight, but it will be fine. start by aligning the thumb's bottom stitches to the "bottom" of the hole. use pins if you have to. this is not an exact thing, you just have to sew as neatly as possible using the stitches that you have. sew sew sew, the ends together as evenly as possible, and when you get done you will have a mitten :) yay!

<3 Mari

Mari's Shrug

So named cuz i'm keepin' it! :) i think it's the first thing i ever really made for myself. yay me! now i have been just a little bit busy with life and whatever, so i havent really gotten as much crochet time in.. i also started slacking on taking notes because taking notes takes the fun out of stress relief crochet! so when i get a break i will closely study this number and give y'all the skinny, deal?
Haha yeah, im crazy a lil bit...
This shrug is super easy, works up in a day or two, and it is super easy to adjust to fit.
i used cervinia genova (2 skeins of black, 50grams i think?) and half a leftover skein of paton's classic wool for the grey part.. i think those paton's skeins are 3 and a half ounces.
also an I hook, aluminum.

Shrug Guidelines:
since i ended up giving the darn thing away after all lol.. i wasnt able to ever properly analyze it.
but here it is roughly :D

make a chain that you can wrap loosely around the fattest part of your wrist, then sl st it into a ring and make a chain4 because you are gonna be working in meshes alllll the way :D
mesh is started with a dc in the 2nd chain, then do (ch1, sk 1 st, dc in next) all the way around. join with sl st to 3rd chain of beginning ch4.

sl st into next ch1 space, repeat row as before.

do this until you have a sleeve that fits your arm up to the elbow(or around there)
then you will have to start increasing, which you do by just making a V stitch in any dc space.. i figure you can increase one or two times on each round and get a nice fitting sleeve for your upper arm. and of course, stop increasing when you hit the right size lol.

then!!! once you have the full sleeve... work mesh for mesh evenly and instead of joining at the end of the round, leave it open and just turn your work. so the rounds become ROWS. these rows will make the back of the shrug

make as many rows as you will need to fit across your back. once you have all those, join the ends back together with a slip stitch and start working in rounds again. this time instead of increases you will be making decreases to the wrist.

it's a good idea to keep notes on how many rounds and where the increases were from the first sleeve, that way you can just reverse it.

after you finish the second sleeve, fasten off the yarn and weave in the ends.
then attach it again to the back part, making meshes all around that opening.

i switched colors after about 3 or 4 rounds of black, and i also quit going around, and instead (this is a kinda tricky part but not really if you have stitch markers)
i put the shrug on and marked where my neck went, then using those markers i went in U shape, down one side and up the other, then back again.
that will give you a cute little point on the "end" (you'll see) where you can put your button later.

after you have worked on it to the desired length, you may want to smooth out the edges by working sc's around evenly, and also on the sleeve cuffs.

make a button by crocheting a circle and sewing it on (like i did) OR sew a big already-made one on, and you dont even have to make a buttonhole cuz you can just use a mesh to pop it in

and voila! a shrug :)

please do not sell this pattern even though it is only a rough guideline. thanks :)

Mari <3

Fall Poncho

Yeahh lol. my face thinks its job is to make funny/creepy faces in pictures. i made this poncho from 2 skeins each of "leaf" and "twig" Red Heart Soft, which are 5 oz. skeins. And i used an aluminum size I hook

The squares (or rectangles, derr...) are worked in the basic granny style, and there are four squares of alternating color, joined short side to long side.

i chained 16
Round 1) 2dc in 4th ch from hook
(sk 2 chs, ch1, 3dc in next st) across to last st, ch1
in last st make: 3dc, ch2, then make 3dc in same st.
ch2 again and make 3dc again in same sp.
Now you will be working on the other side of the beginning chain.
Rep as before, to last st on that side. ch1
in last st (same st as first 2dc) make 3dc, ch2 (twice).
join with sl st to top of beginning ch3.

Round 2) ch3, turn.
2dc in ch1 sp just directly behind chains you just made.
(ch1, 3dc in next ch1 sp) across and around.
make sure you put corners (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in corner spaces.
join with sl st to top of beginning ch3.

Continue in this way until rectangle has 12 Rounds, or to desired size.
i changed colors ever 2 Rounds
Fasten off and weave in ends, OR! leave a tail if you prefer, for sewing.

Sew Sides: long sides to short sides, starting at the corners so you match up the right stitches and don't get a wonky lookin poncho.

while this pattern is surely not the first nor the last of its kind, it is my creation and i appreciate that it not be copied or sold. thanks :)

Mari<3

Cotton Summer Hat

i made this hat earlier this month but never got around to posting about it... since i gave it to my mom before it was even finished and she swept it away in a hurry :P

soo here are the pictures! i used the rest of that aunt lydia's cotton from the Simple Squares Bag, well actually theres still some cotton left on the roll haha
(oh yeah and i also made 2 cell phone holders from the same umm.. spool?) lol thats a lot of cotton :)

im pretty sure i used an aluminum size H hook (US)

Instructions:
ch 4. join with sl st to form ring.

1) ch3 to count as first dc. 2 dc in ring, *ch3, 3dc in ring. ch3*, 3dc in ring. repeat from *to* once, for 4 corner granny square. join with sl st to top of 1st dc.

2) ch3 to count as 1st dc, turn. (2dc, ch3, 3dc) in first ch2 space. ch1, *(3 dc, ch3, 3dc) in next ch2 space, ch1* repeat from *to* around. join with sl st to top of 1st dc.

3) ch3 to count as 1st dc, turn. 2dc in 1st ch space, ch1. *(3dc, ch3, 3dc) in next ch3 space. ch1, 3dc in next ch space, ch1. * repeat from *to* around. you should end with 4 corners and a 3dc group in between each corner. join with sl st to top of 1st dc.

4) ch3 to count as 1st dc, turn. (2dc, ch 1) in next ch space. make (3dc, ch1) in each space around. this is a rounding step, so you will have no corners. join with sl st to top of 1st dc.

5) ch3 to count as 1st dc, turn. (2dc, ch3, 3dc) in next ch space. (ch1, 3dc, ch1) in next ch space; twice. *(3dc, ch3, 3dc) in next ch space. ( ch1, 3dc, ch1) in next ch space; twice*. repeat from *to* around. you will have 4 corners with 2 groups of 3dc in between them. join with sl st to top of 1st dc.

6-12) repeat Round 4. you will have 16 groups of 3dc.

13) ch1, sc in same st as joining and in each dc around, putting 2sc in the ch1 spaces between 3dc groups. (so you get a nice flare) you should have 80 sc's around. join with sl st to top of 1st sc (in this case the first ch1 doesnt count as a stitch)

14) ch1, sc in same st as joining and in each around. join with sl st to 1st sc. (80 sc's around)

15) ch3 to count as 1st dc. dc in same st as joining. dc in each of next 4 sc. (2 dc in next sc, dc in each of next 4 sc) around. join with sl st to top of 1st dc. (96 dc around)

16) ch1, sc in same st as joining and in each around. join with sl st to top of 1st sc. (96 sc around)

Fasten off, weave in ends.

this is my original pattern. please do not sell it, or make copies to sell them, or copy this pattern to another website. feel free to link back to my blog. this pattern is for your own personal use. you may sell the finished product, not in mass quantity.

Mari