Obsessed with Irish Crochet!

Working on Fiddle Head Fern Leaf

I have always been in awe of the craftsmanship of Irish crochet lace when I saw them for the first time after being hooked on Pinterest.

After a long search (yeah, despite Google!) I finally found a video tutorial of a popular Irish crochet motif which is the Fiddle Head Fern Leaf! This piece I'm working on will be part of a reworked crochet headpiece for my good friend Ru. 

If you're obsessed like me ;) I'm sharing you below the resources I found where you can learn Irish crochet lace and also get free patterns of the different motifs:

1. Irish Crochet Lab

Their Youtube channel is where I learned the fiddle head fern leaf. Even though the video was quite long (5 clips for this pattern), it was easy to follow and I quickly learned the pattern. I made that in as little as an hour! #obsessed

2. SheRu

I've been learning 3D crochet flowers from SheRu and it's a great place to start learning complicated crochet patterns. SheRu has an extensive library of free patterns as it seems they upload new patterns everyday. They also have knitting patterns in case you're interested to learn.

3. Issuu-Crochet School

Issuu is a place where publications are shared online by users and I discovered a lot of expensive crochet books shared here for free! Although there are only a few Irish crochet patterns here, there are a lot more you can access and learn without having to buy the book.

Do you have other resources for Irish Crochet Lace? Share it in the comments below!

Update:
Sharing some of my finished works:

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Pin of the Day: Mini Crochet Ball with Tutorial

Source: kundhi.com via Millicent on Pinterest

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Pin of the Day: Crochet Jewelry Clasp

Source: free-macrame-patterns.com via Millicent on Pinterest

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Pin of the Day: Crochet Mask with Tutorial

Source: google.co.uk via Millicent on Pinterest

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Pin of the Day: All The Granny Square Tutorial You Could Find!

Source: otiskyprstu.ic.cz via Millicent on Pinterest

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Pin of the Day: Barefoot Sandies

Today, I'm starting off a new segment for my blog: Pin of the Day. This features the many crochet inspirations and tutorials I found and pinned from Pinterest.

The first one I'm posting here is this Barefoot Sandie with tutorial from Lion Brand.

Source: lionbrand.com via Millicent on Pinterest

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Project: Crochet Mask

                                                                        Source: google.co.uk via Millicent on Pinterest

I don't know what's come over me but lately I've been obsessing on how to make crochet masks!

Scoured my usual hang-out, Pinterest for free patterns and every single one I found involves the use of wires as foundation for the eye holes. I followed the pattern of Craft Disasters above but the wires kept on breaking off so I gave up on it! Twas so frustrating when you're almost done with the piece and the wire comes off and you see yards and yards of crocheted yarn just unravel!

Moving along, going back to my pinning addiction, I found a very nice crochet pattern called triton shell stitch which I thought was kind of easy to make. I'm always on the look out for fancy crochet stitches and when I find one, I go learn it right away.

Photo of triton shell stitch

                                                                         Source: crochet.about.com via Millicent on Pinterest

Learning this stitch, it suddenly dawned on me that I could use this as the foundation stitch for a crochet mask! Below are the photos of my freehand attempt on creating my own pattern of a crochet mask:

Wish I'd used a more vibrant color but not bad for a first try :)

It's still in the works. I'm planning to make it a bit more elaborate; maybe make it chin-length like a niqab or add height to become like a headdress.

Detailed view

Major mistake: I got so engrossed crocheting the mask, I forgot to take down notes for the pattern! Oh well, when I'm completely done then I'll work on transcribing the pattern to post here.

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Crochet Bullion Stitch

I have been trying so hard to learn this fancy crochet stitch for quite some time and now I'm hooked (pun intended)!

Not too bad for my first try... despite the blisters on my fingers :(

Close up view. See the messy middle?

Thank God for Pinterest, I found two of the easiest tutorials on bullion stitch among dozens of these on the net. Check them out below:

Source: healmyhands.com via Millicent on Pinterest

Source: crochetspot.com via Millicent on Pinterest

For the bullion circles I made above, I used a little of both the tutorials: getting the pattern from healmyhands.com and the extra needle trick from crochetspot.com

This probably the hardest crochet stitch I've learned, leaving most of my fingers blistered! But I guess it was all worth it!

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Crochet Baby Sandies

My ever loyal customer and soul sister Arlene saw this cute Pinterest pin on my board and wanted to order from me right away!

                                                         Source: misadventuresofhandmade.blogspot.com via Millicent on Pinterest

Actually was really contemplating on making these Barefoot Baby Sandals but not having a baby daughter or even a niece (my sister and I have boys) to give these to, I put off the idea for the time being. Thanks Arlene for the inspiration!

Ashley's tutorial was great but with the available yarn I had the sandals came out too small so I decided to make my own crochet pattern using a triangular granny pattern. 

So here's my finished product:

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Getting Ready for Christmas!

Been quite busy these past few weeks, crocheting as if in a race, readying my Christmas gifts for all the lovely girls in my life. Giving you a glimpse with the pictures below of the ongoing project.

Now, if I could only find a crochet project that could be a Christmas gift for the guys :)

A fine mess: some of the crochet projects am working on for Christmas gifts

More crochet flowers to become earrings

A crochet necklace in the works

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Crochet How-To: Crochet Mitered Squares

Scanning through my Crochet Adorned book for inspiration, came upon the crochet mitered square pattern and thought this would make a fabulous accessory like an over-sized cocktail ring!


This pattern is really easy as it only involves adding 2 chains (ch) in the middle of your work to make the miter. Here's the simple pattern I'd like to share with you:

Stitch Guide:  ch - Chain
                     sc - Single Crochet
                     st         - Stitch
Make magic ring (click here to find out how to make a magic ring)

Row 1

Make 3 sc inside magic ring. Turn.
Ch 1, 1 sc in first st; (1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc) in second st then 1 sc on third st. Turn.

Row 2
Ch 1, 1 sc on next 2 st; (1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc) on the ch 2 of previous row then 1 sc  on next 2 st. Turn.

Row 3
Ch 1, 1 sc on next 3 st; (1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc) on the ch 2 of previous row then 1 sc on next 3 st. Turn.

By now it would be evident that the miter is done by adding ch 2 at the upper right corner of the square. You may opt to change color on any of the rows, just remember to finish off by adding ch 1 at end of each row or before adding new color to maintain the sharp edge of the square.

Try mixing the color or texture of yarns for a fancier look.
So here's my work in progress so far...

Haven't quite finished it yet but my sister already claimed this one as her birthday gift! 

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Crochet How-To: How to Make Crochet Covered Buttons

Image by Grant Neufeld via Flickr

Sarah over at Creative Jewish Mom came up with a simple and free crochet pattern on making crochet covered buttons using t-shirt and sweater buttons.

Got this excerpt about the pattern from her blog:

Yes, you can transform buttons by making nice crocheted button covers for them, or make a set of buttons from those that don't match, or in my case, make some buttons that will match your project perfectly! (I'll share it with you soon, just need to sew on those green buttons and weave in a few ends, hopefully.)

And really, I've seen crocheted covers for apples, for ipods, for MP3/4s, for mugs and tea pots, so why not make a little something for that humble button that's hanging around in your junk drawer? It only takes a few minutes and the results are wonderful. It is hard to make them look perfect, but that's okay, a handmade feeling is good too! 

A little button like this would look so sweet at the end of a hair pin, or group a few together on a piece of felt, and make a nice lapel pin. And if you want to get really delicate and lovely with this, so do it with crocheting thread and you can do something more open, revealing the button underneath, or make a simple design using a few colors.

Click here to visit Sarah's website and see the full pattern.

Related articles

• Good-Bye Cardigan, Hello Crochet Sweater (beso.com)
• How-To: Easy Crochet Edging on a Tea Towel (craftzine.com)

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Crochet How-To: Single Crochet Stitch

Single Crochet Stitch

The Single Crochet Stitch is the most basic stitch and widely-used foundation stitch in crochet.

Here's an easy-to-follow video tutorial on how to make the single crochet stitch:

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• How do you do double crochet (wiki.answers.com)
• Awesome Crochet Bracelet Tutorials (beadinggem.com)

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Crochet How-To: Holding Crochet Yarn and Hook

One of the most basic knowledge when starting out with crochet is to how to hold your yarn and hook. Check out the video tutorial:

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Crochet How-To: Matching Crochet Yarn and Hook

http://www.flickr.com/photos/noricum/

Matching your yarn and hook is one of the most important beginner's lesson in crochet. There are two standards in hook sizes, Japanese and International although I am more familiar with the Japanese sizes and I find these hooks more cost-effective being double-ended (2 sizes in one hook!).

I found this very informative blog by snufykin where she lists down crochet hook sizes matching yarn weights. Check the chart here. Thanks to iheartcrochet blog for the link to snufykin.

Converted the chart in that site to text for your easy reference:

weight 3/0 4/0 5/0 6/0 7/0 8/0 10/0 7mm 8mm 10mm
2-ply lace •
3-ply • •
4-ply finger • •
sport • •
sport/dk • • •
dk • •
bulky • • •

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