My, my - Mitred Square!

So, here's what happened...

                                  (made with Red Heart Strata "Cherry Berry")

...Someone in one of the (many) online crochet groups I belong to posted a link to a mitered/mitred square pattern worked in single crochet. I liked the look of it so I gave it a try. Very nice... but perhaps a bit too solid. I needed something a bit softer. I tried using a larger hook but it lost the nice stitch definition. Hmm, I wonder what half-double crochets would be like?

Those of you who have worked with HDC's know that they have a tendency to "lean" - that is, the top of the stitch appears to be slightly to the right of the stitch rather than sitting directly on top of it. I took advantage of this to allow for a 4 hdc corner. Normally an even number wouldn't work, because you wouldn't have a "corner" stitch to work your next corner into, if you get my drift. But because of the lean, the 2nd hdc of the previous row's corner angles into the middle, so that's the stitch you work your next 4 hdcs into.

One of the things you'll need to be aware of is that, as a result of this corner business, the even-numbered rows will have a different number of stitches either side of the corner, so you'll have to watch your stitch count. What's she on about?? Don't worry, I've given stitch counts for the first 7 rows. Hopefully all will become clear.

Half-Double Crochet (HDC) Mitred Square
(American Notation)

Use whatever yarn and hook combination works for you. I used WW and an H/5mm hook, and 14 rows was just under 7".

Don't forget to work a stitch into the turning chains. They're easy to miss as the hdc next to them leans into them.


Row 1 - ch3, in 3rd ch from hook work 3 hdc (remaining ch2 at beginning counts as a hdc).
    = 4 hdc

Row 2 - ch2, turn (counts as a hdc throughout), 4 hdc in nxt st (corner made), hdc in nxt 2 st.
    = 1 hdc, 4hdc corner, 2 hdc

Row 3 - ch2, turn, hdc in nxt 2 st, 4 hdc in nxt st, hdc in nxt 3 st.
    = 3 hdc, 4hdc corner, 3 hdc

Row 4 - ch2, turn, hdc in nxt 3 st, 4 hdc in nxt st, hdc in nxt 5 st.
    = 4 hdc, 4hdc corner, 5 hdc

Row 5 - ch2, turn, hdc in nxt 5 st, 4 hdc in nxt st, hdc in nxt 6 st.
    = 6 hdc, 4hdc corner, 6 hdc

Row 6 - ch2, turn, hdc in nxt 6 st, 4 hdc in nxt st, hdc in nxt 8 st.
    = 7 hdc, 4hdc corner, 8 hdc

Row 7 - ch2, turn, hdc in nxt 8 st, 4 hdc in nxt st, hdc in nxt 9 st.
    = 9 hdc, 4hdc corner, 9 hdc

Can you see the pattern forming? Even-numbered rows have one less stitch to the right of the corner than to the left of the corner; odd-numbered rows have the same number of stitches on both sides.

To continue:
- ch2, turn, hdc in ea st to corner, hdc in nxt st (i.e. 1st st of corner), 4 hdc in nxt st (i.e. 2nd st of corner), hdc in ea st to end.
Repeat the above until the square is the required size.

If your square is the size you want it at the end of an even-numbered row, skip the turning chain (i.e. don't work the last hdc into that st) and finish off - you'll then have an even number of stitches on both sides.

I worked a border of sc around my squares to finished them off. Not necessary, but I like the look. Work 1 sc in each hdc , 3 sc at the corners and work an equal number of stitches evenly along the other two sides of the square.

Copyright © 2008, Judy M Kerr.
All Rights Reserved.

Struggling? Feel free to email me.

Snowflake Monday+2

(i.e. Snowflake Wednesday - better late than never)


This little guy is called Crystal Snowflake and is from a book called I-know-not-what. I just have a copy of it that someone gave me (copyright? ¿que?).

This one, on the other hand, is online - it's #8 and it's here.

And here is one still at the Voodoo stage, as my friend Sus puts it. This is Snowflake No.12 from ASN Crocheted Snowflakes, book 1025(25).

Roi Ankhkara Kwabena, 1956 - 2008

Roi Ankhkara Kwabena - poet, story-teller, musician, educator, cultural anthropologist/activist and my dear, dear friend - crossed over 9 January 2008, after several months of illness.

He leaves behind a precious wife and a beautiful little girl about to turn two - as well as a wealth of poetry, music, inspiration, empowerment and loving memories.


Official Site

Commissioned Poetry

Cultural Literacy

Re-Evaluate

Literature of the Caribbean: Kwabena

Available publications and music

May the ancestors be pleased with his efforts.

Happy 2008!

Welcome to my first post of 2008. I hope there will be many more (and I'm sure you hope they'll be at least moderately interesting. No promises).

Here's a link to my inaugural 2008 post on the No-End-In-Sight Ripple-Along blog. I started this ripple afghan on New Year's Day, 2007.


True, not much progress, but you all know what a busy year I had (come on, I moaned about it enough!). Anyway, I'm going to switch this computer off now and go do some work on it.

Have a Great
Two-Double"O"-Eight!

Last Post in 2007

Hi! I hope you've all had enjoyable holidays.

Things are starting to return to some sort of normal now. I've actually managed to make a couple of snowflakes today (pictured pre-blocking) (both from books, sorry - click here for all my posts with links to online patterns).















Halfway through the first one I realised today was Monday (you lose track of these things when you've been off a while), so these are officially my first Snowflake Monday flakes towards my 2008 total. I'm not aiming for 51 this year but I already know I'm going to need at least 25.

Wishing you all a Very

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

You Are a Snowman

Friendly and fun, you enjoy bringing holiday cheer to everyone you know!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

This is brilliant, 'coz I just LOVE snowmen!

Anda con Dios

So long Preacher Boy, I'm gonna miss you!

Been back 7 weeks...

...and haven't posted since Week 1. Figured I'd better post something before the month was out!

I've been busy. In case you hadn't noticed, Christmas is only 27 days away.

If you're a "crafty" person you know how manic the last few weeks before the Big Day can be. No matter how many times I've said "I must start earlier next year", I always end up running out of hours in the day in which to crochet/stitch/bake all the little goodies I want make for everybody. I've had to whittle my list down - if you don't get a hand-made giftie from me this year it's because you've been bumped to next year. Sorry. I did think of you.

There's been a distinct lack of Snowflake Monday posts on my part, but rest assured I have been flaking. I've made 53 snowflakes so far this year. Beat my "51 Flakes by Christmas" deadline by 3 weeks! I've still got a few more to make. Most of them will be given away but I have put a few aside for ME. Come the 1st I'll be hanging them in the front room window. Can't wait!

Despite my mounting pre-Crimble panic I did set aside some time today to take part in Just This Day. Did anyone else here join in?

I really hope I can find some time to post again before Christmas but if I don't manage it... I wish the Handiwork Fairies visit you in the night and finish all your gift projects so you can relax and enjoy the rest of the Holiday Season!

Been back a week...

...and I'm only now getting around to blogging. Blame jet-lag, unpacking, laundry, faltering attempts to get back to the normal routine. We're both still really tired and the weather's been decidely autumnal (read grey and wet) since we've been back, which doesn't help.

But we had a great time. It was so nice to see my step-dad and the new lady in his life. Well, not so new - they've been seeing each other for over a year now and they're getting married on 4 December! In Hawaii. Nice one! And I've seen the dress - it's lovely! Can you tell I'm pleased and excited?

I wish I could show you the beautiful autumn colours we saw as we drove over Stevens Pass to eastern Washington. Yellows, golds, intense oranges, and the reds were simply amazing. Sadly, no pictures of that bit - they wouldn't have done it justice anyway.

And to top it off it snowed! Ok, only for about 5 minutes, but hey, snow in September. I was thrilled! I love snow. I grew up in Canada - sue me.

This is the only "mountain scenery" picture I've got, taken in Winthrop at about 7am. It was cold. But it was great to be there.


















For now, back to the ironing.

Ciao for now

Get a scroller sign at Freeglitters.com!

Can I make it up to you?

I know I've been neglecting you all recently, so I thought maybe now would be a good time to post the Chain Link Granny pattern I promised you mumble mumble weeks ago.

I saw an unusual afghan on the internet last year, did a bit of searching but couldn't come up with a pattern for it, free or otherwise. Luckily, there was a good, clear picture so I played about a bit and came up with my own pattern. A reasonable facsimile, I think.

Chain Link Granny Square
(American Notation)

Worked in 4 colours – A, B, C and D

WW / H-5mm hook = approx. 7”

With A: ch5, join w slst to form ring.

Rnd 1 – Ch3, 2dc in ring, *[ch10, slst in 1st ch (corner loop made)], 3dc in ring, repeat from * around, slst to 3rd ch of beg ch3. Finish off.

Rnd 2 – With B: join w slst in sp to right of any corner loop, ch3, 2dc in same sp, *holding corner loop of prev rnd to front, work corner loop, 3dc to left of corner loop of prev rnd, 3dc to right of corner loop of prev rnd, repeat from * around, slst to 3rd ch of beg ch3. Finish off.

Rnd 3 – With C: join w slst in space to right of any corner loop, ch3, 2dc in same sp, *holding corner loop of prev rnd to front, work corner loop, 3dc to left of corner loop of prev rnd, 3dc in sp btw 2 groups of 3dc of prev rnd, 3dc to right of corner loop of prev rnd, repeat from * around, slst to 3rd ch of beg ch3. Finish off.

Rnd 4 – With D: join w slst in space to right of any corner loop, ch3, 2dc in same sp, *holding corner loop of prev rnd to front, work corner loop, 3dc to left of corner loop of prev rnd, 3dc in sp btw 1st 2 groups of 3dc of prev rnd, 3dc in nxt sp, 3dc to right of corner loop of prev rnd, repeat from * around, slst to 3rd ch of beg ch3. Finish off.

Rnd 5 – With A: join w slst in 1st dc of any side, ch3, dc in nxt dc x11, *[dc, tr] in sp to right of corner loop of prev rnd, ch2, [tr, dc] to left of corner loop, dc in nxt dc x12, repeat from * around, slst to 3rd ch of beg ch3. Do not finish off.

Chain Links: pull corner loops of Rnd 2 from back to front thru loops of Rnd 1. Pull Rnd 3 loops thru Rnd 2 loops. Pull Rnd 4 loops thru Rnd 3 loops.

Rnd 6 – Ch2, hdc in nxt st x13, *in ch2 sp [hdc, dc thru corner loop of Rnd 4 and ch2 sp, hdc], hdc in nxt st x16, repeat from * around, hdc in nxt st x2, slst to 2nd ch of beg ch2. Finish off.

Copyright © 2007, Judy M Kerr. All Rights Reserved.

I can be harangued here if you have any problems with the pattern.

I need a holiday

Hi everyone. Sorry I've been "absent". It's been a bit crazy around here - family stuff. Not over yet but I thought I'd better check in before you all gave up on me.

I have made a snowflake.

It's a bit of a weird situation. Someone at simplysnowflakes wrote that they were having trouble with a pattern they'd gotten from a library book. No picture and they couldn't get the book again. They posted the first 2 rounds of the pattern (there are 3 in all) to see if anyone could make sense of it. This is what I came up with. Whether it's right or not I couldn't say but I thought it came out quite cute as is.

The question is, can I post the pattern? I'd say not, 'coz I haven't actually changed it, at least not intentionally, apart from making it 6 points instead of 8 and not working the last round.

I am set to go on holiday at the end of the month, thankfully, although the preparations for that will no doubt stress me out as well. I'm trying to take it easy until then.

Contingency Plan

We have the delightful L back with us again for a week, so regular blogging has gone out the window.

For this reason I am posting my Snowflake Monday contribution today. Don't know when I'll get another chance!


I managed to make a flake yesterday but I haven't blocked it yet. This is a picture of one I made in the same pattern (not online folks, sorry) last year.

Regular programming will resume next week (I hope).

It's that day again

And I do have a snowflake!

It's "Emily's Snowflake" and the pattern can be found here. Word of warning, though - the reason I made this one is because someone else posted that they'd tried it but there was no picture to go by and the pattern didn't make sense. I'm sorry to say I agree with them. I think it was meant to be an 8-point flake but after a great deal of trial and error I decided to just make my own 6-point version (repeat after me, snowflakes have six points - anything else is a motif).

Here are my adjustments:
Ch 5 and slst to form a loop
Rnd 1) 6 sc
Rnd 2) stet
Rnd 3) as written but work a dc into each ch1 sp and each sc
Rnd 4) first brackets should read (3 dc, 2 ch, 3 dc), repeat all 5 times.
Rnd 5) stet
Rnd 6) as written but repeat from * to * 4 times more

Late Flakes, Holiday Snaps and a Big Brag

Sorry I'm late. Our little guest has (finally) gone home and I'm frantically trying to catch up with everything.

This is simplysnowflakes' SF Sign-up #11. I added an extra "arm" 'coz y'all know I don't do 5-point flakes (or 8 or God forbid 12). I should have reduced the number of chains between each point, though - as it is it came out too "round".





I think last week I promised some pics of L's visit so here goes:


L with the bear she won in the arcade at Seawick Holiday Park (St Osyth, Essex) on one of those crane grabber machines. How did she do that? I have never managed to get one of those machines to grab anything! (She doesn't like having her picture taken - can you tell?)

So then she goes and wins another one. Which she gave to me! Dear, dear child :-) I've named him Reggie - thought you might want to know that.






After Seawick we went to Mistley Place Park where L was "adopted" by a goat - it followed her all along the fence wanting more scratches.






Sometimes the pigs are out wandering around the park but this day they were all asleep, like this snoring porker. Really, he was snoring - it was so cute.


Of course, no holiday would be complete without the classic "joke" shot (DH enjoying an ice cream whilst perusing an information board by the River Stour at Mistley - "bunny ears" provided by L).











And now for the Big Brag. While she was here I taught L how to crochet. The brag is not that I taught her but that she picked it up so quickly! She bought her own yarn and hook at our local needlecraft shop and this is what she made the first day:

She decided it was a coaster. After that she made a little blue scarf for her soon-to-be-born nephew, then a round coaster and then she made this heart for her mum (pattern here):

I know grown women who won't attempt picots but she wasn't fazed in the least. Gosh, I'm proud of her.

Day of the Flake II

In other words, I haven't had a chance to post anything since last Snowflake Monday. Largely to do with the house guest I mentioned last week. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics of her visit. I say "hopefully" 'coz she's still here but as they're about her I may be allowed some computer time to do it. :-)

So, without further ado, here is simplysnowflakes' Snowflake Sign-up #10.

I like this one, too. Simple - only 2 rounds - but nicely spiky. So I was well annoyed when I discovered that I'd made one of the central spokes too short (see bottom spoke). Must have made two treble crochets instead of double-trebles. Duh! Naturally you don't notice this sort of thing until the flake is glued and pinned.



Update: I just noticed that this is my 100th post! Woohoo!

Day of the Flake

(aka Snowflake Monday, but that gets boring every Monday)


Here is simplysnowflakes' Snowflake Sign-up #9.

I like this one, it's really sweet. But it's quite small - only 2 1/3" in #20 cotton. I think it would benefit from being made with a thicker thread or even yarn.




I may not get much blogging action this week as we have another teenage visitor and I don't really feel like arm-wrestling for the keyboard.

Saturday Sky with Port

Harwich International Port - Parkeston, Harwich, Essex.

for the Saturday Sky webring

Two for two!

I did it again. I won the simplysnowflakes Homepage Contest (aka Natural Snowflake Contest). Go me!! I'll have to sit the next one out to give the others a chance, LOL!

Here's the flake we had to recreate in cotton:










And here's my version:

Simple Snowflake
(American notation)

Ch4, slst in 1st ch to form ring.

Rnd 1) Ch6, (dc in ring, ch3) x 5, join w slst in 3rd ch at beg of rnd.

Rnd 2) Ch1, sc in same st, ch4, (sc in nxt dc, ch4) around, join w slst in beg sc.

Rnd 3) Ch11, (dc in nxt sc, ch8) around, join w slst in 3rd ch at beg of rnd.

Rnd 4) Ch1, sc in same st, **ch9, sc in nxt dc (= base sc), †(*ch5, hdc in 2nd ch from hk, hdc, sc, slst*, ch7, hdc in 2nd ch from hk, hdc x2, sc x2, slst, repeat btw *'s, slst in base sc)†, repeat from ** x4, ch9, slst in 1st sc of rnd, repeat btw †'s. Finish off.

Copyright © 2007, Judy M Kerr. All Rights Reserved.

As ever, please let me know if you find any mistakes or it just plain doesn't make sense, thanx.

Reach out and touch*

Click: {{{cyber hugz}}}

Addendum:

I composed this post Tuesday morning but I wasn't able to post it at the time because we received a call to say a friend was in hospital...
Curiouser and curiouser.

*"Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" - Diana Ross