Turtleweenies

I was linked to the Tangled Happy blog again – yay! (LOVE that blog) If you like FREE like I do and you love to crochet; check it out, as there are tons of links to great crochet patterns and inspiration.

So, if you don’t want to have to weave in a bunch of ends after changing colors multiple times throughout a project, you can crochet over them as you go.

Here’s how:

First, the color change.

Once you’ve turned and are ready to begin the new row, line the tail of the old color and the tail of the new color up along the back of your work, parallel to the rows.

When you put your hook in next, make sure that you go under the two tails so that they will get trapped in the next stitch.

Continue with your row, trapping the tails inside your stitches until the ends of the tails or the end of your row.

After you trim all your sticky-outy ends that you’ve already stitched over;

all you need to do is weave in your very last end.

Here’s how I change yarn colors so as not to interrupt the clean line between two different colored rows or stitches. In this example, I’m making stripes so the last row is completely red and the new row will be completely white. (In my photos, I’m showing single crochet stitches.)

Begin making the last stitch before the color change, but don’t complete it. (In this case, the last stitch before the color change is the last stitch of the last red row.)

Just before you yarn over for the last time to pull through the last loops on your hook; drop the current yarn that you’re drawing from and pick up the new color yarn and yarn over with the new yarn.

Pull the new color through the old color loops.

Here is the next color change…before

…and after

easy!

I made this super awesome knitting needle organizer for a friend just now and I’m pretty proud of it.

This was after I’d borrowed a pattern/tutorial from a cute new book that my friend had and spent a bunch of time making the whole thing (not to mention the time I spent making a cutting diagram from the cutting list in the book so I would be able to get everything I needed out of fat quarters I already had); only to notice at the end that it only holds needles up to 7″ tall. Really?
Really; a knitting needle case for only short needles?
Really; I didn’t notice until it was completely finished?

I seriously almost lost my mind over that one. It should be called the ‘Sock Knitting Only Organizer’ …come on!

But, anyhow, here we are with this one now and look how cute it is!

It has a pocket for just about everything; even for the connected needles (whatever those are called). I need to remember to measure all the pockets so I can make another before I give it away because I made it up as I went along. On the next one, I’d like to incorporate a zipper pocket for little bits like needle point covers and stitch markers and a measuring tape, etc.

I’m in love with most of this fabric; especially the bird print. They all came in a fat quarter bundle except the tiny orange print and the large yellow and white leaf print which were random additions because I needed more fabric. The next one I want to make is for a birthday gift and will be out of batik fat quarters, I think. Maybe I’ll make a tutorial out of that one.

I basically just made up the inside and outside pieces to measure 18″ across by 16 1/2″ tall before finishing. Then, I added a single layer of flannel between the two (I hate batting). I really think batting and binding is just good for quilts. Whenever I’ve followed instructions for making an accessory of some sort with batting and binding (like a knitting needle holder), I’ve always been disappointed in the puffy outcome. I love it like this way more.

Anyway, after the outside and the inside were just the way I wanted them, I sandwiched it all together, put the flap inside the sandwich, placed the hair elastic where I wanted it, and sewed all the way around, leaving a good size gap for turning, and then once it was all turned out and pressed, I top stitched the whole thing, closing up the gap. I covered and sewed the button closure on last because I wasn’t quite sure where it needed to be.

The pockets are pretty much in four equal sections, so it ends up folding up in quarters all the way across, which I like better than a traditional “roll”. (I didn’t want it to be like a sleeping bag…)

So, here it is, just in time for a friend’s bridal/bachelorette dinner this Saturday. Can’t wait to make the next and the next (I have at least two more people in mind) and who knows, maybe I’ll get one too!