About Me

Arizona, United States
I'm a work-at-home mom who enjoys the beautiful sunsets here in the high desert.





My Designs

For the free patterns for these afghan squares I designed for My Reading Afghan, click here.

My Recently Completed Projects

On The Hook

Ravelry CAL Afghan 1 in progress
Ravelry CAL Afghan 1

Ravelry CAL Afghan 2 in progress
Ravelry CAL Afghan 2

Ravelry CAL Afghan 3 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 3 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan 3

Ravelry CAL Afghan 4 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 4 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan 4

Ravelry CAL Afghan 5 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 5 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan 5

Ravelry CAL Afghan 6 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 6 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan 6

Ravelry CAL Afghan 7 in progress (squares 1-4)Ravelry CAL Afghan 7 in progress (squares 5-8)
Ravelry CAL Afghan--Flower Burst 7ARavelry CAL Afghan--Flower Burst 7B
Ravelry CAL Afghan 7

Ravelry CAL Afghan 8 in progress
Ravelry CAL Afghan 8

Ravelry CAL Afghan Blocks:
Dream Catcher
Cross My Heart
Cygnus
Chocolate Delight
Flower Burst

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Flag Kippah Design

Husband wants a kippah with a design around the border of the American flag alternating with the Israeli flag, so he gave me the job of designing it. The main color is black, so it's difficult to work with and difficult to photograph, but I think it will show off the colors of the flags very nicely when (if?) I finally get to that point.

The top picture above is of my first attempt, which was with a size B hook and size 10 cotton crochet thread. With the black thread and small hook, it was just too hard on my eyes and hands.
Age has finally caught up with me. One of my favorite things used to be crocheting with tatting thread (size 70) and a size 14 steel hook! At least it was usually white or ecru thread, though, but still, I can't even imagine being able to do that now with my eyes so bad.

If you are still young, be sure to do all the tiny thread crocheting you can while you still can!

I ended up frogging that first attempt. Not only was it painful to work on, but I didn't like the way the increases were turning out. I then tried using an E hook and then a D hook, but each time, after several rounds, it was too loose and not dense enough for my taste, so I went to a C hook, which was surprisingly much better to work with than the B, even though it's only one size up, and it gave a good density to the stitches. This density thing is easier to see in the overexposed picture below. The picture above shows the black color better, though.

The white thread is marking the first stitch of the round since I'm crocheting this in continuous rounds without any joins.


So far, the formula I've developed for the increases is working out well after some trial and error. I've learned my lesson about designing and pattern writing--designing being the fun part and pattern writing being the drudge work and really difficult to do after finishing the design--so I am making sure to write down each round as I do it this time so as to make writing the final draft of the pattern easier.

With my knitted afghan square designs, I was so excited to knit up what was in my head, I would just go at it, and then afterward try to write the pattern from memory and by examining the finished item and counting the stitches, etc. After having to reconstruct the last pattern that way, I knew that with my next design, I needed to take detailed notes all along the way so I could write up the pattern more easily once the design was finished.

I'm planning to make this kippah in a style that is a flat circle on top with the sides going straight down. I've seen this type called a servant's cap or a Buchari (Bukhari?) style. I found this pattern for a knitted one (the button below links to the pdf file) , which I will probably try knitting up one of these days as well since Husband wants to collect all kinds.


I measured him, and he needs a 7-inch diameter hat, and I managed to get the circle to 3-1/2 inches in diameter before my hands started hurting, so I'm pretty happy with that progress so far.

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! You have wonderful hands to creat great designs like those! Would love to see more of your creations!

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Jasper @ Best Kippah

 

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