Montie's True Blues XL blanket

This is just a simple XL corner-to-corner moss stitch crochet blanket worked with two complementary colorways of yarn. 

Recently I saw a reel where crocheters were basically losing their minds in the comments at how beautiful this simple, monochrome C2C moss stitch baby blanket was by Laura of Hook and Fiber Made. It reminded me of how versatile crochet moss stitch is, because it works really well in solid colorways but also just as well in variegated colorways and also in other configurations, such as stripes, and I was fairly certain that it would look nice being worked up in stripes of the two colorways of yarn that I had in mind for this project.

Close up

Hooked by Robin has a good video tutorial on YouTube for how to make a C2C moss stitch blanket. I basically used the same process for this blanket; the only difference was that I used two colorways of yarn, alternating colors every two rows so I could carry the unused color up without ever having to cut it.

The somewhat unorthodox method I used to change colors is very much like what Play Hooky with Me shows in this video tutorial. The differences for me are that I'm working in moss stitch (so, SC and chains) and I'm only changing color at the end of every-other row. After changing colors, chaining and turning the work, I pulled the dropped color strand so it was crossing over the edge where I was working from back to front, where I would crochet over it without catching it in a stitch. (The strand would then be caught by and lie between my turning chains and the first SC of the new row.) That kept the dropped color close enough to pick up again the next time I changed colors, where I would repeat the process, and with marled look of the multicolored yarns I was working with, the "floats" are barely noticeable at all along the edge. If you were concerned about the floats being visible, all you would have to do is to crochet a border on your blanket as a finishing step; the first round of the border would fully conceal the floats.

Edge with floats vs. edge w/o floats

Using that method meant that the only tails I had to weave in at the end were the ones at the start and at the end of the project.

The yarn I used is Red Heart Bitty Stripes in the Horizon (blue) and Seaweed (green) colorways. Those are the same colors that I used to make my new grandnephew Waylon's blanket.

When I first started working on Waylon's blanket, my husband looked at what I was doing and said that he would actually like to have a similar-looking blanket for himself. That was a jaw-dropping moment for me, because if you know my husband the way I do, he NEVER wants me to crochet or knit ANYTHING for him, and he directly said so to me many times over the years. 😂 (Not because he doesn't support me in what I want to do, but because he is very particular about what he will and will not wear, and he doesn't want to hurt my feelings by not wearing something I've made for him if he doesn't choose to wear it.) So for him to tell me that he would actually LIKE for me to make him a blanket constitutes a jaw-dropping moment in my book.

My only concern was that this is not a tunisian entrelac pattern, as Waylon's blanket was. I did admittedly find tunisian crochet a bit challenging, so it wasn't as enjoyable for me, and I didn't want to attempt another tunisian blanket again this soon if I could avoid it. So I worked up a good start on the C2C moss stitch design so that I could give my husband a realistic preview of what the finished blanket would look like. I figured the worst that could happen would be that he said he didn't care for it, and if that happened, I could just finish off the blanket anyway, figure out what to do with it later, and then start on another tunisian one for him.

Another feature of the C2C moss stitch that I like better than tunisian entrelac is that moss stitch produces a fabric that is entirely reversible and looks equally good on either side. And another nice thing about moss stitch is that it grows surprisingly quickly, even though it isn't a tall crochet stitch.

I reached 60 inches wide on the short side of the rectangle after working 41 stripes each of both color A and color B. (Each stripe is two rows.) So the width for the short side of the rectangle was achieved after working 82 stripes, which equals 164 rows. 

60 inches wide

With the target width achieved, now I could stop increasing at one end of the row while continuing to increase at the other end of the row to continue to increase the length of the blanket until the target length of 84 inches was reached. (Details for how to work the "straight" rows are in the video by Hooked by Robin linked above.)

Turning the corner

If I've counted correctly, the straight rows are 167 single crochet stitches wide. Plus the chains in between, for however many total stitches long that is on the diagonal. 😅

Gauge view

Slogging through the middle section took months, because those are the longest rows, and they just seemed to go on and on and on and onnnn...

Fair time is coming. CROCHET FASTER!

But, finally, the long side reached its target length, and then I was able to start decreasing at both ends of the rows, heading toward the final corner. Changing colors on the decrease edges works about the same as on the increase edges, in that I would still pull the dropped color across, from back to front, and then crochet over it as I worked the next row, to secure the float where it needed to be to be picked up again. The only difference was making a decrease there instead of an increase.

Turning toward home!

Thankfully, I finished the blanket in time to enter it into our local fair. There's nothing flashy or fancy about the blanket; it's just the biggest single thing that I've ever made, so I wanted to enter it in the fair because of that. 😀

Peek-a-boo! (He's standing on the hearth.)

 

Fair time is coming

Fair time is coming. ... CROCHET FASTER!!!! 😂🧶

This is a candid shot of me working on my C2C moss stitch Montie's giant blanket WIP. The blanket is approximately 80% complete here. The final dimensions will be 60 inches by 84 inches. Whew!!! Here's hoping that I finish it in time to enter it into the fair. 😁🤞

Boho Crochet Hexi Cardigan

This is a hexi cardigan designed using a modified version of the stitch pattern from the Lazy Diamond Boho Pocket Shawl by Crystal White-Van Cleemput.

Toggles and twisted fringe added

I started out using a six-sided hexagon instead of a four-sided square, but other than that, the stitch sequence is identical to the pattern in the original design. I think this design lends itself well to the hexi cardi style, and I'm looking forward to being able to wear this because it's cozy and looks super cute in this Red Heart Super Saver Ombre yarn in the Anthracite colorway. 

Hexagon

The magic of the hexi cardi is what happens to the shape when you fold the hexagon in half: You instantly have the shape of half of a cardigan with a sleeve and half of the body.

Folded in half, plus extension rows on body edges

It's easy to crochet a hexi cardi shaped in a way that best fits your unique body. Begin by crocheting the two hexagons until they have enough rounds for the sleeves to easily fit around the widest part of your arms. If you still need additional rows to make the body of the cardi fit around your torso, you can add those rows later on the just center-back and center-front edges.

I suggest that you fold each hexagon in half and mark the edges that you intend to join across the top of the sleeve, then join those edges together before moving on to add any extra rows to the center-back and center-front edges. Sewing the sleeves closed first helps to make it easier to see which edges you should be adding to for extra width around the body.

Each hexagon is one-half of the cardigan, and the hexagons are joined at the center-back to create the cardigan.

Assembled, with extra length rows before adding pockets

If you want your cardigan to be longer, I suggest adding more rows to the bottom edge after joining the two halves together for a more polished finish. If you want to add pockets to your cardigan (and who doesn't love having pockets?!?!), wait to add those until you have finished adding any length to the bottom edge, to help ensure that you are able to position the pockets where they are most comfortable for you.

With pockets added

After completing those steps, you can then choose whether to add cuffs to the ends of the sleeves and/or whether to add a placket to the front edges. These cardigans can be worn without any fasteners, so you might not need to add a placket at all if you choose not to use buttons or a zipper on the front of your cardi.

I also added twisted fringe along the bottom edge using my handy Maple Quad End Fringe Twister from Etsy seller theknitstore. 

I debated whether I wanted to leave the front of my cardi open, but after my husband found a set of nice toggle closures (similar to these), I decided they would be a nice finishing touch.

I will be entering this project in our local fair this year.

Facet Keychain wristlet

This is the Facet Keychain pattern by Amy Kate Sutherland of The Graceful Tangle. These keychain wristlets work up super fast and are easy to finish. The pattern is a great way to use up small remnants of cotton yarn. I had a random remnant of this yellow/green/turquoise colorway of Lily Sugar N Cream cotton yarn in my stash. There wasn't quite enough yardage of the colorful yarn to finish two wristlets, so I alternated every two rows with some white cotton for the second wristband.

These would work with a variety of different keychain hardware types. I had these D-ring swivel lobster clasps that I found on Amazon on hand, so that's what I used, but there are many different keychain clasp styles and even ones with prettier finishes available online.

Amy shared this full video tutorial on YouTube:

 

Ginkgo Night Moves scarf

This free pattern is Night Moves, a lovely shawl or scarf designed by PurpleIguana. For my project, I followed Fiber Spider's video tutorial and patern mods. His mods begin when we reach the first decreasing row. 

I also greatly appreciate PurpleIguana's notes about yarn usage that she included on her Ravelry project page. 

The shape of these crochet shells reminds me of ginkgo leaves. 

Fiber Spider project inspo photo

I had a partial cake of the Red Heart It's a Wrap Rainbow in the Foggy colorway that had 134 grams  out of the original 150 grams. (I also had two other full-size cakes on hand.) I wanted to try to use all of the partial cake for this scarf, so, based on the notes on PurpleIguana's project page (linked above), I calculated that I needed to crochet my scarf until it weighed about 89 grams before starting the decrease rows described in Fiber Spider's mods.

I was working from the white end of the cake to the gray end of the cake. On my first attempt, I started the decreases a bit early and ended up with still having quite a bit of the gray left, so I placed a marker to indicate where I started decreasing and then ripped back to that point. Then I crocheted another four-row repeat section using the original (increasing) stitch sequence before starting the decreasing rows again.

As you can see in my photo, the plies of this yarn are not spun at all, which can sometimes make it a bit fiddly to work with. But, overall, it is a lovely yarn that feels soft and light.

Plies not spun

On that second attempt, I ended up running out of the gray a few rows before the end of the scarf, so I stole a few grams of the gray end of one of my other cakes to complete this project. 😂 Hey, it's my yarn stash; I can do what I want with it. 😹

Before blocking

I soaked the scarf in a washtub with a splash of Woolite and a few drops of peppermint essential oil mixed in, with the hope that some of the fragrance will remain in the fiber after it's dried. I would have liked to have used lavender essential oil for the fragrance, but I only had peppermint on hand, so I used what I had. But now I'm thinking that I need to add a vial of the lavender to my collection soon (ha!!). This project turned out so well that I'm intending to enter it in the fair this fall, and I would like the fiber to have some lingering fragrance, if possible, to please the judges. 🤞

After rinsing and gently squeezing the scarf, I rolled it inside a fluffy bath towel and pressed out the remaining excess water. Then I pinned it to the blocking boards, gently pulling out the bottom sawtooth points and opening up the lace. As you can see in the photos, the blocking makes the scarf several inches taller than it was before blocking. But it would be lovely either way, with or without blocking.

Blocking

Dimensions after blocking: 80 inches by 14 inches. I will be entering this project in our local fair this year.