I was at a local craft store, checking out some beads, when I stumbled upon these cute charms. They were selling them together with a flower charm, and I just had to buy it. I finished the necklace in about 15 minutes, most of which were spent trying to figure out exactly where to cut the chain. I added some beads on the little chain in the middle, but overall I just tried to keep it simple. It closes in the front, with a lobster clasp. I have absolutely no outfit in my closet that I can combine it with. Time to go shopping! ;-)
Click on the pic if you want a better look. I'm still at it with crochet. Simple, easy, beginner crochet. I think I finally figured out the single crochet and double crochet stitches. The rest just confuses me. I used my scrap yarn to practice and ended up with a bunch of coasters. Well, three, if you want the exact number. The purple ones are just basic single crochet squares, about 10,5 cm wide. As for the blue one, it was supposed to be a flower. I started out with a pattern, but after a while it became obvious that I have no idea how to read a crochet pattern. So I improvised. A lot. I made some mistakes, so it's far from perfect, but still not too shabby for my first try.
Pretty fabric I bought this Tuesday with no idea what to make of it. I decided on a simple bias tape bag, perfect for summer. And, apparently they're a big hit this season. At least that's the impression I got, walking around the stores.
The bag is lined and has a zippered pocket on the inside, because I have this fear of my keys falling out of my bags. No closure on the bag itself. Guess I'm not all that worried about my wallet or my cellphone. ;-) But hey, the keys are safe.
I finished this top couple of days ago, but never got around to blogging it. I didn't use a pattern, I didn't use the needles recommended for this yarn and I didn't try it on while I was making it. With all these things I didn't do, it's no wonder the top doesn't look like much. In fact, it sucks. Let's go trough the reasons why:
The yarn used is a cotton/nylon blend. Very stretchy. Massive amount of stretch. The manufacturer recommends using needles size 4.5 mm up to 5.5 mm. I used 6.5, because I didn't have circs in the recommended sizes. Clearly I need to invest in some needles.
I cast on about 106 stitches, which kinda included ease and gauge and everything, but nothing too accurately calculated. What can I say, I was eager to start knitting. I started with 2x2 rib stitch. K2,P2. Very stupid move, considering my number of stitches. Word of caution: when knitting in 2x2 rib make sure the number of stitches cast on is dividable by 4. Did the rib, with the mistake in it for about 5,5 cm. then continued in stockinette until it looked long enough to start the cup shaping. Word of caution 2: "Looks long enough" and "is long enough" - not the same thing.
I did the back again in 2x2 rib, BO about 60 or so stitches and worked the cups flat by decreasing in every knit row. I-cord for the ties.
End result: Way too short. Way too stretchy in the bust area. Not tight enough in the back, it doesn't stay up. Way too short in the back.
I used a crochet border around the cups. My first crochet anything. I practiced first. Practice crochet is a great way to get rid of scrap yarn. Learning a new skill, or at least trying to, is probably the only good thing to come out of the whole "Improvisational Disaster Top" making thing.
