The Birthday Gift

A work colleague is celebrating her 50th birthday and I wanted to make her a gift.  As we are heading towards summer it needed to be something lightweight but I'd left it too late for a shawl.  I had a look through some patterns online, but none were quite what I wanted.  So I started experimenting.  As I have yet to give her the present (and because it's not finished yet!) pics of the finished cowl will follow.  I've put the pattern up while I have a quiet 5 minutes - please feel free to grab up a hook and some yarn and try out the pattern :)  I will be adding a ravelry link next week!

Finished size is around 34" around and 7" deep (approx!  I'm not finished making mine yet!)

You will need:
Around 25g laceweight yarn (200m)
4mm hook
A little patience!

V st: dc, ch1, dc in same st

1. Ch146 (or starting chain can be a multiple of 4 + 2 for the turning chain).

You may want to FSC (foundation sc) 144 here if working into a long laceweight chain is likely to send you over the edge!  You may also prefer to join starting chain and work as a round straight off, in which case you will need to drop the ch2 and start with ch144 :)

2.  dc in 3rd ch from hook (ch 2 does not count as stitch), *sk ch sp, V st, sk ch sp, dc* along ch, ending on a V st.  Leave last ch unworked and end with a sl st in top of first dc of the row to join into a round (careful not to twist!).

3.  ch2 (doesn't count as a st), 3dc in first dc, *sc in ch sp of Vst, 5 dc in next dc* around, ending with a sc in ch sp of last 5 st.  To complete the round work 2 dc in the same st as the beginning 3 dc were made and join with a sl st.

4.  ch1, sc in first st, *ch2, sk 2, dc in sc of previous round, ch2, sk2, sc in middle dc of shell* around, ending with dc in last sc, ch2, join with a sl st to first sc made.

5.  Repeat row 2

6.  Repeat row 3

7.  Repeat row 4

Repeat rows 2-4 as required and end on a row 4.  Fasten off and block as needed.  When sewing in the ends, for the starting chain stray end, be sure to join the gap created if you have followed the pattern as written (starting with rows and joining to rounds).

If you started with an FSC row you may want to do a final row of sc around for balance.

I am still in the midst of my cowl but I think I will end up with 7 rows of shells.

Here is an in progress shot of what I have so far:

 

The Finished Article :)

 

I ended up with 7 rows of shells and ended on a round 4 pattern repeat.  The finished cowl was 24g.

Summer Daisy Beach Bag

In a few short weeks I will be doing my first Summer craft fair at Ickwell's May Day event.  I knew I would need to come up with something a little less woolly than what I would sell at a Winter fair, so I've been working on a few cotton bags.  This one uses 75g of dk weight cotton (King Cole cottonsoft Khaki) plus some dk scraps from other projects to make up the daisy.  The finished bag is approx 8" (20cm) deep, 10" (25cm) wide.

The project size can be easily adjusted by changing the length of the starting chain or working extra repeats of the pattern (remember to adjust yarn quantities though!)

You Will Need:
Approx 75g (150+ m) dk weight cotton or similar, plus scraps for the flower
4.5mm hook
3.5mm hook (optional, I used a smaller hook for the petals of the daisy)
2 stitch markers
Needle

1.  Ch 17, 3dc in 3rd ch from hook, dc in next 13, 6dc in last ch pivoting as you work as you will be working along other side of chain (mark first st in group), dc in next 13 along underside of chain, 3dc in last ch (mark first st of this group), join with sl.st in top of first dc made.  (38 sts).

2.  Ch2, work 2dc in first 3 sts, dc in next 13, 2dc in marked st (move marker up to first st in this pair), 2dc in next 5 sts, dc in next 13, 2dc in marked st (move marker up as before), 2dc in last 2 sts, sl st in top of first dc (50)

3.  Ch2, [2dc, dc] 3 times, dc in next 13, [2dc, dc] 6 times from marked st, move marker up, dc in next 13, [2dc, dc] 3 times from marked st, move marker up, sl st in top of first dc (62)

 4. Ch2, [2dc, dc, dc] 3 times, dc in next 13, [2dc, dc, dc] 6 times from marked st, move marker up, dc in next 13, [2dc, dc, dc] 3 times from marked st, move marker up, sl st in top of first dc (74)

The bottom of the bag is now done and there are no more increases.  Now work the sides of the bag:

5.  Ch2, dc in first st and each st around, sl st in top of first dc (74)

6 + 7: Repeat row 5 (74)

8.  Ch1, sc in first st and each st around, sl st in top of first st (74)

9, 10, 11:  Repeat row 5

12:  Repeat row 8

13, 14, 15:  Repeat row 5

16:  Repeat row 8

17, 18, 19:  Repeat row 5

20, 21, 22, 23, 24:  Repeat row 8.  Fasten off and weave in ends.

Handles (make 2)

1.  Ch6, sc in 2nd ch from hook and each st across, turn (5)

2.  Ch1, sc across, turn

3.  Repeat row 2

4.  Ch2, dc in each st across, turn

5, 6, 7:  Repeat row 2

8.  Repeat row 4

Repeat in this pattern of 3 rows of sc, 1 row of dc, until you have the size handles you need.  Be sure to end with 3 rows of sc.  My handles are 39 rows.  Fasten off and sew inside on the sc section at the top.

Flower:

With 4.5mm hook and yellow yarn, begin with a magic ring (or ch2 and work in 2nd ch from hook)

Work 14 sc and sl st in top of first st made.  Pull magic ring tight.

Fasten off yellow and move to smaller hook (optional) and white yarn.

Join with a sc into one of the stitches in the ring, ch10, sc in same stitch.

Work [sc, ch12, sc], then [sc, ch10, sc] alternately into each st around, sl st in first sc made and fasten off leaving a tail long enough to sew flower onto bag.  Ta-da!!

Don't forget to post your finished projects on Ravelry !