More necklaces

Blue Freeform necklace 

I made two more necklaces in the last few days.

The first was another freeform jobbie, graduating from pale blue, to aqua, to royal blue.  I wasn't sure if I liked how the freeform bit turned out though.  I think that maybe I need some more practice to be able to judge how better to make them.

For the blue necklace, I crocheted the base first: single crochets (sc) the whole way around the wire; then ch-3 and sl-st in every alternate sc back to the beginning.  Then I made the freeform bit using single (sc), double (dc), half trebles (htr), and treble crochet (tr) stitches as I felt the urge.  Plenty of chains and skipped stitches to create gaps and loops too.   I worked the freeform piece directly onto the ch-work of the base to secure it in place.

Purple spiral necklace

After that, I felt the need for something with a bit more structure for the second one and came across this deceptively simple spiral pattern.  (The only real complication arose from trying to keep myself untangled!)

This time I used pale blue, pale pink, purple, and cerise.  It also made sense to start with the spiral itself and then continue working in cerise to create the base of the necklace.  This secured the spiral in place without the need for sewing in.

Much as before, I worked a base of sc (from centre-point to end) and then 3-ch and sl-st in every alternate sc back to the centre.  There were a few extra sl-st on the last couple of 3-ch groups lining back up with the central spiral.  Then I continued on in sc to fill in the other side of the base (from centre-point to the other end).  3-ch and sl-st in every alternate sc back to the middle again and secure with some more well-placed sl-sts as I reached the centre.

I've been looking at some more freeform stuff online and there are some lovely how-to guides for shells that incorporate spirals and bullion stitches.  I might give some of those a go for the next batch!

Belated Mothers' Day

A while back, I acquired a set of fine steel crochet hooks.  So, naturally, I went looking for a suitable project to use them on and came across this doozy.  Then, off with me to buy the cotton thread for the job.  I tried a few of the craft and yarn shops but they'd never heard of the blending filament stuff on the materials list, so I just went ahead without it.

Calla Lilly brooch for Mothers' Day

My first foray into crocheting with steel hooks was surprisingly successful, in terms of the finished products.  I made two of these brooches: one for my mum and one for my mother-in-law, as presents for Mothers' Day.

They worked up pretty quickly: maybe a day or two each, although to be fair, I was going through an insomniac phase, so I was working on them until 4 or 5 in the morning.  They were incredibly fiddly though.  And for the first time in my life, I had to take my glasses off to be able to see up close... ah, the siren song of impending bifocals!!!

My poor fingers were the worse for wear for quite some time afterwards.  There must be a knack to dealing with those super fine hooks that doesn't involve stabbing yourself and splitting your fingers open repeatedly.  I've yet to figure it out.  In the meantime, lots of plasters and thimbles!