Creative 2017

C17: Day 39 – Cluster stitch

February 8, 2017

Today’s stitch is cluster stitch, another easy one! The only issue I had with this stitch was that you really need a slightly stretchier yarn than cotton, and you need to make the loop of the stitch quite large so it can fit over the top of the next cluster.

Read the full article →

C17: Day 37 – Crossed ripple stitch

February 6, 2017

OK, the crossed ripple stitch is the first that I actively dislike. Maybe it’s that I’m tired, but I just could not get this to work out. The instructions aren’t the most detailed, but although I thought I’d got it sorted, I ended up totally the wrong number of stitches on several of the rows and have no […]

Read the full article →

C17: Day 36 – Cable stitch

February 5, 2017

Another really simple one today: Cable stitch. It’s really just three trebles and a fourth treble being done over each group of three into a gap left earlier (doubles in US parlance). If you want the cables to zig-zag, then repeat the same stitch on each row, but if you want the cables to all point in the same […]

Read the full article →

C17: Day 35 – Lemon peel stitch

February 4, 2017

I wanted something simple today and, to be honest, nothing could be simpler than Lemon Peel Stitch. It’s really just alternating double and treble crochets (UK) aka single and double crochets (US). Easy to do, easy to remember, and a moderately attractive result. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Read the full article →

C17: Day 34 – Zig-zag puff

February 3, 2017

Continuing the puff theme, today’s stitch is a zig-zag variation. It’s easier than boxed puff and it looks nicer too. This one I’ll keep in my arsenal of stitches. A quick word about the yarn I’m using: I don’t think I’m making my life easier by using DMC Natura cotton. In fact, it’s awful yarn. […]

Read the full article →

C17: Day 33 – Boxed puff stitch

February 2, 2017

Today’s stitch was the boxed puff stitch, a slightly more complicated variant of yesterday’s puff stitch. If you’re going to do do a single crochet foundation row, which I like to do, you’ll need to do it in multiples of three, then do the five stitch chain to get started. As I say, this stitch […]

Read the full article →

C17: Day 32 – Crochet month begins

February 1, 2017

Today is the first day of Crochet Month, aka February, during which I’ll e attempting to learn new crochet stitches and trying not to get confused between UK and US terminology. This latter point is non-trivial, because the same terms mean different stitches depending on whether you’re talking in American or British English. Often, it doesn’t […]

Read the full article →

C17: Day 31 – Last day of Chinese calligraphy

January 31, 2017

Today is the last day of January, and thus the last day of my month of Chinese calligraphy. And, as it turns out, the last of my ink! Not terrible timing, I suppose, though I could have done with a few millilitres more, as you’ll see. I thought it was worth taking a look at where […]

Read the full article →

C17: Day 30 – qiu and dong

January 30, 2017

Today is the penultimate day of my Chinese calligraphy month, and I wanted to do both “qiu”, “autumn”, and “dong”, “winter”, before I do a round-up of everything I’ve learnt tomorrow. It was difficult to judge the width of qiu, so you’ll see some of them are a bit cramped. Dong was a lot easier, but […]

Read the full article →

C17: Day 29 – xia

January 29, 2017

Today’s character, “xia” or “summer” is possibly the longest and most complicated one I’ve done so far. I think I acquitted myself quite well though!

Read the full article →

C17: Day 28 – chun

January 28, 2017

“Chun” means “spring”, and is possibly the most satisfying character I’ve learnt so far. I think it’s the big leftward sweep that’s so lovely to do. It’s also the biggest character I’ve done so far, so I could only fit eight on the page.

Read the full article →

C17: Day 27 – fang

January 27, 2017

Today’s word is “fang” or “direction”. When used with, for example “dong”, “east”, it means “The Orient”. It can be used with the other compass point words too. Definitely another more fluid day, with a much more confident look to the characters. I have been debating about what to do next month. I’m tempted by the idea […]

Read the full article →

C17: Day 26 – bei

January 26, 2017

Today is “bei” or “north”. And today’s challenge is spacing. I wasted a lot of space with the second column, and so the final column was a bit cramped. However, I paid more attention to making sure that the L-shape in this figure wasn’t too angular. I realised today that I’m really going to miss […]

Read the full article →

C17: Day 25 – xi

January 25, 2017

Today is “xi” or “west”. More fluidity today, though I maybe got a bit too angular on the L-shaped bit.

Read the full article →

C17: Day 24 – nan

January 24, 2017

Another direction today, this one “nan” or “south”. Bit more complicated, so a bit harder, but recognisable I think.

Read the full article →