Crochet-Along Clue 3

[zephyr]

I am just not in love with Clue #3 as I was with #2. At first I was hoping that I was doing something wrong but I went to the spoiler page and looked at all the pictures and I made it correctly. I'm sad that I am not liking it I'm having a hard time wanting to make more. Has anyone else felt like this?

I agree. It wasn't that hard to make, but it seemed like a lot of tedious effort for a boring result. I do like it a little bit better with 2 colors, but not enough to make more of them.

[laceyj1204]

I am just not in love with Clue #3 as I was with #2. At first I was hoping that I was doing something wrong but I went to the spoiler page and looked at all the pictures and I made it correctly. I'm sad that I am not liking it I'm having a hard time wanting to make more. Has anyone else felt like this?

I agree. It wasn't that hard to make, but it seemed like a lot of tedious effort for a boring result. I do like it a little bit better with 2 colors, but not enough to make more of them.

I agree. I'm not fond of the looks of them either. However, I will wait to see what it looks like with all the other blocks before I decided to rip all of them out and make extras of Clue 2 since they're the same size and I like Clue 2 much much better.

[JazzHooked]

I'm giving in. I am going to start using stitch markers... ugh I hate stitch markers, but round 4 is just too darn hard without them.

I used the stitches markers on the 1st motif and found it was so time consuming putting them in and then removing them as you crocheted in the spaces, I decided not to bother on the remaining motifs. Doing it on the 1st one did help because on the remaining ones, I kinda knew where the ch 1 spaces would be. It's a great tip though.

Insead of those little plastic stitch markers they sell for use in knit and crochet, I use alligator clips from radio shack. The price on them has gone up since the last time I bought some, but a pack of 12 is less than 3 dollars ( a good thing since I'm forever losing them, and my husband keeps stealing them to use for electronics...how DARE he!). They're great cuz they're spring-loaded and dead easy to take off and put on, and I can clip it to my clothes while crocheting without having to set down my work.

here's the pic from the radio shack site so you can visualize what I mean. this one is 1 1/4" long, but you can get them in different sizes:

[JazzHooked]

that seriously bites, wanda! a couple of christmases ago I way overdid the crocheting in an attempt to get two whole blankets done in time to ship out of state for gifts, (yes, I made it) but i strained my crocheting hand so badly I had to take 2 weeks off from crochet. i about went NUTS!!!! I can't imagine having to give everything like that up for a long time. How long are you required to rest your hand? do you know?

here are pics of the 2 blankets I made that christmas. I got both of them done in 3 weeks.

Those are great blankets! Would love to know where you got the patterns!

Thanx. everyone for the compliments <warm glow!> The pattern for spiderman I got on ravelry - it's titled the "Superhero Dreamcatcher Afghan". The blue/grey round ripple is actually from Bernat, written for the Mosaic yarn: http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=4869

I've used that same pattern for several other projects, including an awesome dishcloth and several rugs. You just have to be careful the center doesn't start "cupping" depending on what gauge yarn you use. I would drop or add stitched on each repeat until I got it to lie flat, then it was easy going.

jaz

[laceyj1204]

I'm giving in. I am going to start using stitch markers... ugh I hate stitch markers, but round 4 is just too darn hard without them.

I used the stitches markers on the 1st motif and found it was so time consuming putting them in and then removing them as you crocheted in the spaces, I decided not to bother on the remaining motifs. Doing it on the 1st one did help because on the remaining ones, I kinda knew where the ch 1 spaces would be. It's a great tip though.

Insead of those little plastic stitch markers they sell for use in knit and crochet, I use alligator clips from radio shack. The price on them has gone up since the last time I bought some, but a pack of 12 is less than 3 dollars ( a good thing since I'm forever losing them, and my husband keeps stealing them to use for electronics...how DARE he!). They're great cuz they're spring-loaded and dead easy to take off and put on, and I can clip it to my clothes while crocheting without having to set down my work.

here's the pic from the radio shack site so you can visualize what I mean. this one is 1 1/4" long, but you can get them in different sizes:

The larger lobster claw necklace clasps work great too!!! You can even pretty them up a bit with some beads and such if you're so inclined!! You can find them at most craft and bead supply stores. I've used a little bit of everything and I've come to really prefer these.

[AlleyTalley]

The larger lobster claw necklace clasps work great too!!! You can even pretty them up a bit with some beads and such if you're so inclined!! You can find them at most craft and bead supply stores. I've used a little bit of everything and I've come to really prefer these.

That is what I use is the lobster ckaw clasp and it does work great! I have comverted some knit only stitch markers to be used for crochet.

[donnajea]

The larger lobster claw necklace clasps work great too!!! You can even pretty them up a bit with some beads and such if you're so inclined!! You can find them at most craft and bead supply stores. I've used a little bit of everything and I've come to really prefer these.

That is what I use is the lobster ckaw clasp and it does work great! I have comverted some knit only stitch markers to be used for crochet.

Great idea, I'll have to look in my beading stash and see if I have any!

[lambdamuepsilon]

Can anyone tell us which colours we will need for tomorrow's clue? I'm hoping to make a start at lunchtime and don't want to have to bring one of each colour! Thanks.

[EileenK]

The blue/grey round ripple is actually from Bernat, written for the Mosaic yarn: http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=4869

I've used that same pattern for several other projects, including an awesome dishcloth and several rugs. You just have to be careful the center doesn't start "cupping" depending on what gauge yarn you use. I would drop or add stitched on each repeat until I got it to lie flat, then it was easy going.

jaz

I'm glad you posted about how you fixed the problem. I had trouble with "cupping" when I tried to make the baby-blanket version http://bit.ly/y910pI . I posted about it on the Bernat Patterns and Yarns thread and dogfoster posted that she fixed it by lengthening the chain in the second round. I switched to a different pattern for the gift I need this week (!), but I'd like to go back to that one.

[JazzHooked]

The blue/grey round ripple is actually from Bernat, written for the Mosaic yarn: http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=4869

I've used that same pattern for several other projects, including an awesome dishcloth and several rugs. You just have to be careful the center doesn't start "cupping" depending on what gauge yarn you use. I would drop or add stitched on each repeat until I got it to lie flat, then it was easy going.

jaz

I'm glad you posted about how you fixed the problem. I had trouble with "cupping" when I tried to make the baby-blanket version http://bit.ly/y910pI . I posted about it on the Bernat Patterns and Yarns thread and dogfoster posted that she fixed it by lengthening the chain in the second round. I switched to a different pattern for the gift I need this week (!), but I'd like to go back to that one.

when you're working on each point of the star, drop the "increase" (i.e., do dc, ch2, dc instead of 2dc, ch2, 2dc in the ch space at the point.) in order to stop the outside from "ruffling". for cupping....you have to add an increase usually in the first 3 rounds, before you start the points. I had to rip out the first 10 or 12 rounds of the blue/grey blanket in order add increases to stop cupping..then i had to drop increases later in order to stop ruffling. talk about frustrating! of course, i COULD actually use the yarn they recommend but that would be too easy.