Crochet Granny Swap

A big warm HELLO to my dear friends of the crochet granny swap group..

By the time you read this message, it means that the square you are holding has travelled at least 9,533 miles and has safely reached your hands :) 

Firstly, I would like to give a shout out to Pat! THANK YOU PAT for allowing my squares to hitch a ride in your envelopes! And also for sharing the pattern of the square that I have made for everyone! XOXO 

Next, maybe just to share about myself.. 

I'm currently a stay-at-home-mum (SAHM) to 2 beautiful little girls Melody, who is turning 2 in March and Melissa who will be 5 months soon. I used to be an outdoor person before I became a mum, following my huband on fishing trips, locally as well as overseas. 

Some of my favourite fishy pictures :D

Well..those were the days... 

I was into bowling, photography, running, cycling etc haha you get the picture. 

So why crochet? 

I only picked up crocheting somewhere in November 2013, about 2 months after the birth of Melissa. The reason why I became curious about crocheting was due to oversized owl beanies that I bought for her. We intended to do our own baby photoshoot of Melissa instead of getting it professionally done. Hence I ordered some baby beanies as props for the shoot. Unfortunately, even though it was stated "NEWBORN", the hats were ridiculously oversized..it didn't even fit my elder daughter well. Hah! 

So in the midst of cursing and swearing at the seller, I went online to check out how to crochet my own beanie! And as I was surfing, I saw so many beautiful baby booties, beanies, sweaters...and amigurumi! I became hooked..and I started looking up on YouTube how it's done. I actually had a make-shift crochet hook using a chopstick and a tiny peg scotch taped to form the hook, and raffia string as yarn. And I practised how to do chains on it..just to have a feel of how to crochet and also to see if I am cut out to even try and learn it myself. I took a picture of it..see? Hahaha

After a few days of browsing crochet stuff, I decided it is time! So I headed down to the nearest place that sells yarn and hooks (Daiso the $2 store. Not sure if you've heard about such stores. Every item in the store costs $2) 

At that time, I didn't quite know what size hook I should buy and the size conversion is pretty complicated, even up till now haha. So I bought a range 3.5, 4, 4.5mm and after going home, I realize most of the videos I had watched were using 5 or 5.5mm hooks. Haha imagine my face -_______-" 

I must say...it was a pretty rough start for me. I didn't have the right hooks, nor the right yarn! There wasn't any "worsted" weight yarn. And the yarn I bought was way thinner than what I saw from the videos. Do you see that white coloured thread-like yarn that I've used to tie the orange note to the square? That's one of the first few yarns that I had! Haha I'm sure you can imagine how my baby booties turned out.. Like how I always say it with a jingle... Bigger than Barbie, smaller than preemie. Hahaha and beanies were worst! It either came out flat, or it looked like a small cup without handle. Hahaha but I found that this thin yarn makes a good stitch marker! So, that's my 2nd tinny winnie gift to you, apart from the granny square :D

To be frank, till today, I didn't manage to make any beanie successfully. Hahaha but booties, I managed to complete 2 pairs..and they miraculously fit my Melissa. Hahaha that's because I managed to get some slightly more proper yarn.. Sirdar DK yarn. 

Not too bad eh for a beginner? (Glares for a "YES!" Just kidding :D)

So since then, I got hooked...for good! And I've been crocheting in between feeding the baby and expressing breast milk (thank God for handsfree attachments) and whatever ME time I've got. 

And I've inadvertently become a yarn hoarder. I just love yarn..lots and lots of yarn. Haha 

Because of this granny swap, I was "forced" to buy worsted yarn. Haha actually I had been looking around for worsted yarn for the longest time but they didn't have that in the local stores. I knew then I had to look for international shippers :) 

I must thank Pat for purchasing yarn and shipping it to me all the way from Pittsburg!! 

If only you had the chance to see how big my grin was when the parcels arrived. Haha 

Technically, if you take into consideration the origin of the yarn that goes into making the squares, it means the squares had effectively travelled 2 x 9500 miles. Hahaha amazing isn't it? 

Well, ok I think my story is really long winded and I should wrap it up soon. 

Back to the swap...our dear Pat has kindly shared with me one of the patterns from her superb book. (which I should be getting too!) it is a very easy pattern and after doing a few squares, you won't even need to refer to it anymore. Trust me! 

So here it is... 

I made the squares using a 5.5mm hook and it was 6 inches by the time I reached the 5th round so I didn't include the 6th round as per the picture.

Also, in order to finish the squares as soon as I could, I didn't alternate the colours as well. 

If I may just write it in my language, every first double crochet is a Ch3. 

You start with a sliding circle (I used the magic circle..I'm not sure if it's the same. Haha) Ch 3, and make 15 DC (total 16 including the Ch3) finish with a slip stitch. 

Then you ch3 and 2 more DC (3 DC in a group), ch5, skip a stitch and do 3DC, and ch5, skip a stitch and 3DC again. So all the 3DC are separated by a ch5 space. 

Then you ch3 and 2DC (you always start a new row like that), ch2, DC, ch5,DC,Ch2, 3DC and repeat. So in every ch5 space, there will be a DC,Ch5,DC and this is connected to the 3DC by a Ch2. 

After this, ch3 n 2DC again for the new row, and ch2, DC, ch2, DC,ch3,DC , ch2, DC, ch2, 3DC. 

Just follow the row before and you will roughly know how it is done. The corners are DC, ch3, DC. And all the other DC is separated by ch2. 

If my layman crochet language is too confusing, do refer back to the picture of the pattern :) it's really an easy square so do give it a shot with your beautiful yarn. I'm really envious that there's so many nice yarn in your part of the world and it isn't as expensive as over here. Boo hoo

Anyway, it has been a great experience participating in this swap and thank you for sending your squares to me!! I love all of them and hope I didn't do too bad a job with mine :P it will get better I promise :)

With this, I bid u goodbye and have a yarntastic time crocheting!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. 

:) love all of u!

Work in progress done! My first rabbit amigurumi!

After days of full devotion to the granny squares, I finally picked up the rabbit amigurumi again..

I've sewn 2 limbs.. Left with the ears and 2 more limbs. 

The ears were challenging to me coz I had to learn a new way of doing half double crochet. ie.. to insert hook into the bump of the chain, instead of the usual front or back or both loops. It's very interesting to note that it makes the stitches closer together and somewhat firmer. I must try that out on the soles for baby booties! 

I also had to sew the felt onto the ears..another first for me. 

After an hour or so, I finally finished all the parts! 

It does look funny when placed like that. Haha 

Oh and another first, I used the pellets to add weight to the body so that the rabbit can sit upright. Initially I wanted to use panty hose as recommended by some websites..but I didn't manage to buy from Daiso the last time. Thankfully I just bought some burp cloths and it came in a meshy kind of wrap. I fold it over twice and sew the edges together. 

It's very challenging to sew the parts! Really! I think that's the most tedious part for me. Hahaha I don't quite know where to insert the needle and where to pull it out..especially the body and head..there wasn't much room for me to poke at all. 

After a tiring half hour or so, it's done!!! 

It does look quite different from the original pattern...hmm... 

Maybe it's the eyes and limbs..

More poses..

And one with my little girl..

Not too friendly to the rabbit as she is trying to force it through that small hole. Haha

Overall, quite a fun experience. 

Next work in progress to complete is the koala bear :) 

Grannies round up!

As I had mentioned previously, I joined a fb group that was doing this granny swap. It's really interesting.. Where ppl all over the world, although mostly in US, will be self-allocated into groups according to international traditional / creative or national traditional / creative (national being United States) 

I belong to international and I chose creative, which is anything other than the traditional granny. 

It's really a commitment as I didn't have the right yarn initially..(hence the big yarn spree) and I had to complete like 17 squares to be mailed out by 14 feb. Technically, I have a shorter timeline as it takes time for my mail to reach the other side of the globe. And thankfully, I had a very nice lady name Pat who volunteered to help me by waiting for my squares before she mail hers out! I'm really grateful for that as the cost is going to be really high on my end! 

Also..thanks to her, I was able to complete my squares pretty quickly because of the pattern she shared with me! Boy was I taking a long time trying to find as many patterns as possible to make all different 17 squares. Madness! 

Here are some of those I made earlier..

Not to mention, not the right size! Duh.... We had to make 6 inch squares... And I was always missing it by half or 3/4 inches! Grrrr 

One of my favourites..but wrong measurement..

A silly square that I tried to shortchange on the petals...end up it just refuse to stay flat...so.... I dismantled it. 

And used the green one for the other pattern. 

This is the pattern that pat shared! 

From this book..

I may get this book too! Haha

And finally... I was done!!

4 inches in height when stacked together!

Missed out the preenked one in this picture.

Anyway, hopefully im able mail them out to Pat in Pittsburgh next week! 

I received my first square from a lady in IRELAND!

It's really more exciting than I thought! Haha looking forward to receiving more squares... 

And I'll be dedicating one post to the receivers of my squares coz we were suppose to include the pattern in the mail. But I thought I shouldn't trouble Pat further... So, I'll direct them to this blog with the pattern n note to them :) 

Till then, happy CNY celebrations!! 

It's the final yarn countdown

Finally after waiting patiently for all the parcels to arrive.. Here's a round up of all the yarn received..

I love yarn ^________^ 

The Caron simply soft is REALLY soft :) 

Bernat's softee baby is also soft. Loving it! 

And the "still-wrong" order parcel 

I don't know why they can't send the vanna's choice BABY that I've ordered.. Keeps sending the same vanna's choice. Oh well... 

I think the ones that I didn't quite like was the kitchen cotton...coz the skein was really small for that few cents difference with the bigger skeins. The texture was also very KITCHEN-like. Hah!

Also, I noticed some red heart super savers had different textures..the mix colours vs the solid colours.. Different!

Even the vanna's choice had different lengths for mix colours vs solids.. 

All in all, quite pleased with the first purchase! I'm hoping to pick up some more colours..and better prices.. And hopefully more brands.. I'm eyeing some patons, lily sugar n cream, i love this yarn (yes there's such a brand haha) and maybe some more bernat Caron and red heart. And maybe..haha I think there's no end to my yarn hoarding..

Now...to find projects for these yarn! Hahahaha is the equation reversed? 

By right, New projects = buy new yarn 

Mine's buy new yarn = find new projects

Hahhhh

Yarn that I've received from the parcels so far

I'm really amazed how they can still make money by sending it one or two in a separate parcel. Haha

So exciting to wait for parcels! Am really looking forward to the bulk that is coming in next few weeks..including the clover soft touch 5.5mm hook :) and the chibi needle case. Now I'm just really lacking the crochet hook case. 

I saw the colourful clover getaway case and it looks really tough to touch and the holes for the hooks seems small and tight..so I didn't feel like getting one for the sake of getting.

Frankly..if I had a sewing machine..I might make one myself! Not that tough ba I think.

Anyway, there's lots of yarn on sale right now..online. The good and bad news is, they don't ship to Singapore..so it's good coz I think my house would be exploding yarn. The bad news is, I'm going to find one day to explore the 3rd party shipping services. Hahaha but before that happens, I got to make space for all the yarn that is coming in! About 40 skeins! Wahhahahahhhaah I hope they deliver it when my hub and mil are not around! Hahahaha I think they will faint! It doesn't cost a lot...just takes up a lot of space.. And... A poster comes to mind..

Hahaha

Work in progress part 2

After buying the eyes..I was really excited to see how it will look on the head. 

And sad to say...the workmanship of the eye washer was B A D.. horrible and terrible. It wasn't safe at all! Duhhhh in fact the washer was so loose it couldn't even hold the tail of the eye. Lousy!

So I had my quick witted thinking caps on...and decided to use felt to buffer the hole. ie..put a layer between the eye and the washer. I had a hard time poking it through but...IT WORKED! I heard a snap sound and the eyes are locked tightly in place. 

I stuffed and stuffed the head... Gosh I didn't know to make it firm, I needed THAT much filling. Haa

And so... There you have it.. 

With it's body..

And to show how small it is..

This bunny is from the amigurumi two! book by Ana Paula Rimoli. Love her work! The sunflower for my sis is also from that book. 

Hope to finish this bunny soon. In the mean time I got to rush out the granny squares for the swap! Way behind time man...I wonder if any square is on it's way to me already :) 

Journey to THE Golden Dragon storesc

Finally..the day has come that I make the "voyage to the holy land" hahaha. 

Once again, accompanied by my little companion. 

So adorable don't you think? :D

The journey was pretty quick and I had played back in my mind how the path to that shop should roughly be like.  Exit D Chinatown! And I recalled the shop is at the other end of the People's Park Centre. Time wasn't on my side...so I was literally brisk walking with extreme caution :)

Lo and behold 

The moment I stepped in, I got distracted by the shelves of yarn on my left..and the cabinets of crochet hooks and cases! 

I saw THAT crochet case that I love!! And they are selling it at $90+ O_O!!

Too bad, it doesn't come without the hooks... Baaaaaah. Maybe one day when I'm feeling rich I may buy that. Hah!

I went to search for safety eyes first. Darted around the rows of craft materials and I only saw a lone low turning cabinet and there weren't many to choose from :( how disappointing. 

There's a section of jewellry related beads that I didn't explore..no time! Hah

Look at all that yarn.... 

I couldn't wipe the grin off my face I guess. I was moving from colour to colour..touching and caressing skein after skein of yarn. 

There's a lot of brands that I've not seen before. I only had the Sirdar brand before. Even so, there is a whole range of sirdar there. There's a lot of expensive yarn as well..some cashmier silk content. Costs about $9-12. Sirdar DK costs roughly the same as the one at Tampines shop..$5.30 or $5.40

Finally I couldn't take it..I asked the shop assistant to take a picture of me with the yarn. Hahaha 

And after pacing back and forth, I finally approached one of the staff to ask about knitting. She says they give free lessons if the customer buys more than $40 of yarn. I almost let out a small laugh..That's like..easy peasy. Haha I had to pick out an item that I want to knit before they can suggest what yarn to purchase. 

I chose from a clear folder with lots of designs of scarves, baby cardigans and booties and hats. She said maybe a scarf or blanket would be better for beginners. 

I picked out one with heart shapes. Not that easy I believe. Haaa 

She suggested the cashmier yarn..which costs $9+ a skein for 50g. And I needed 10 of those?! Mad. Too expensive for me although the yarn is really soft to touch. 

Finally, it is the pink/white blended sirdar DK. I took about 6 of those. 

And an aero circular knitting needle size 4. And some other coloured sirdar yarn.. Total damage..$70! Told you it was easy peasy to hit $40 -_- 

After paying up, I went back to the lady and she said I could come another day since I had the baby with me. I said WHAT? No..I'm learning this now...in about 30-45mins I got to go! I asked if it's possible Hahaha she said it depends on individual's learning speed. I can do this! Haha 

So she started.. The slip knot is the same as crochet. Done. And what happens next was like OH MAN... To make things worst..she was conversing in mandarin coz she's a china national I believe. 

起针 上针 下针  oh gosh... First one, I has to poke thru the middle, yarn over hook, bring needle down, and pull through. Lol it's damn tough I feel. The needles just wouldn't listen to me. Argh... So I had to continue for at least 20 loops or so. I told her I didn't have that much time.. So we did about 10-15. 

Then the 上针 was to poke thru towards the left, yarn over.. Bring needle down and pull out. Haha 

There's a pearl and knit..which coincides with the up and down stitches. And the yarn over..it has to be anti clockwise. 

And the alternating stitches..If changing stitch to up, I got to bring the yarn on top of the yarn and if it's down stitch, the yarn got to be down. 

So there u have it...my first encounter with knitting! 

I just love the knitting stitches.. 

And times up..I ran off to spotlight which is 2 stations away to get eyes! I need eyes!! 

Reached there, I passed by the yarn section with much regret. Hahaha only managed to grab one patons Cotton blend, which was recommended by a crocheter. 

The safety eyes section was disappointing as well! Why oh why.. They don't even have full black eyes :( :( so I just grabbed a packet of mixed colour and amber colour. on the other hand, they had the pellet weights! There's no price tag there. So I just grabbed 2 packs. No time to see ribbons as well :( 

Time was running out. And my little companion was starting to get hungry..she's munching her fingers haha

So I scooted off in hope of coming back later in the week. 

My golden dragon loot. 

My spotlight loot. 

So I scooted off in hope of coming back later in the week. 

Oh I didn't mention..I saw one interesting coloured yarn and loved it. Had to add that to my stash

Will update again with what I've done with all that yarn. Lol