October 2023 – Mamas2Hands

Spiraling Blocks Blanket

October 31, 2023October 31, 2023Crochet, Crochet Design, Kit, OnlineLeave a Comment

This is the perfect way to wrap up my Spiraling October on the last day of the month! I’m so excited to be able to share with all my readers about this new project with Furls Crochet. This is my “Spiraling Blocks Blanket” that is available as a kit on the Furls Website. This lovely blanket is a fun way to work with spirals in blocks that are then sewn together for a cozy layer that is perfect for decoration and warmth.

The kit comes with an intermediate level pattern and has instructions for making the blanket in 2 sizes. The Small Throw Kit – 6 blocks x 8 blocks; 40” x 53” {100 cm x 132.5 cm} is $95. The Regular Throw Kit – 8 blocks x 10 blocks; 53” x 66” {132.5 cm x 165 cm} is $145. That price includes your pattern, all the yarn for the size selected and a beautiful size I/5.5 mm Furls Streamline Hook.

For just this week my readers can get this kit for 15% off by using the coupon code ANDEE15 before November 3rd at 11 p.m. EDT, so go grab yours quick!

The kit is available in 4 color palettes at the Furls website: CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS! My blanket used the Vortex color pallette. Colors A – H (the first 7) are the arms of the spirals. For my blanket I picked the “Tundra” color as my Color A. Color I (the 8^th Color) is your overall border color. It is used to border each spiral and for the finishing border of the blanket. You can see more details about the colors in each palette on the Furls website.

My Hawaiian inspired colors that I used.

The 8 Colors I selected for my blanket were colors that reminded me of my trip to Hawaii a couple years ago. A variety of blues and greens for the amazing changing shades of the ocean and some earthy tones for the gorgeous shoreline. If those colors aren’t appealing to you there are 3 other color combinations selected by the folks at Furls for you.

I designed this so my color A gives a pinwheel effect, yes it was the inspiration for my Block #21 for the Moogly blog that you saw earlier this month. You don’t have to fuss too much for this design as long as you have 1 arm of your spiral made with color A, it’s just all about how you orient the squares when you join them together.

The really great thing about this project is that it is very portable way of making a blanket. Each bordered spiral square is about 6.5 inches square, so they are super portable. I worked the individual spiral blocks carrying around the 4 colors I needed. Then had a bag of 10 spiral squares that I used while working on the outside border whenever I had a moment.

The photo above shows my pile of blocks as I was working on the block borders. I had a lot of fun taking this project along when I was running errands, especially when I was waiting in line.

Once I finished the blocks I laid them all out on my bed to decide on the order to join them. In the pattern I have provided a joining map and list of the number of blocks with the combinations of colors. I was going for a shore to sea feeling with my layout. You can mix and match colors and placement however you like it best though. That is part of the fun.

I hope you have as much fun making your Spiraling Blocks Blanket as I did. I was nice and cozy under it as I finished sewing together my blocks and then crocheting a final border around the outside. Be sure to grab your kit before November 3rd to get the 15% discount.

Thanks for going on this fun journey of spirals with me during the month of October. Next month is going to be all about Hats and the Holidays. If you are interested in taking my class on Zoom for the Linked Stitches Hat this coming Sunday, be sure to register online at the Longmont Yarn Shoppe.

Linked Stitches Hat

October 26, 2023Classes, Crochet Design, Free Pattern Links, M2H Designs Ravelry Shop, Paid Pattern LinksLeave a Comment

October is almost done and I’m winding down my spiral blog posts. I wanted to share a different sort of spiral with you all today. As you know I love crocheting in the round, it is a great way to create amazing borders on a project as well as a fun way to create shaping. Today I want to talk about continuous rounds in crochet.

Working a continuous round in crochet is often a spiral style. Especially when you are crocheting top down hats or amigurumi. When you work concentric rounds in crochet you join the first stitch to the last stitch of the round, but for continuous rounds you are working the rounds without joins and step-up to the first stitch of the next round after the last stitch of the previous round. Continuous rounds also eliminate those pesky seams. When working an increasing circle, like for the crown of a hat, your rounds look like a classic spiral.

My flat fuzzy friend is an example of a classic double crochet spiral worked as a continuous round, then surface crochet is worked to emphasize the spiral.

I used the classic double crochet spiral as a continuous round for my Simple Double Crochet Hat design as well. But I don’t really like how open the stitches are for a hat made with double crochet stitches. That open stitch work is great for a warm climate hat, but on my mountain I need something a little less breezy. This inspired me to start playing around with how to work a double crochet hat that didn’t have all the open spaces.

Last spring I bought a beautiful silk scarf with a rainbow of colors and decided I needed a hat to go with it. I had lots of fun selecting a yarn at the Longmont Yarn Shoppe that would match it. The selected yarn was Cosette by Dream in Color and is a glorious cashmere blend that was a delight to work with. My plan was to use the yarn to crochet a double crochet hat that used linked double crochet stitches.

I took that project with me on my trip to Philadelphia and Ireland. It was a great project to work on when traveling as it was small enough to fit in my carry-on for flights and my day-pack during our various bus trips. After a lot of experiments and little bit of frogging I finally settled on how I wanted the design to work.

The finished hat is my Snowy Rainbow Hat. The pattern is available for purchase in my Ravelry Shop. This pattern includes stitch charts and instructions on making the hat in various sizes.

I’m also teaching a class on working this hat at the Longmont Yarn Shoppe, Sunday, November 5th 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) {2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Eastern; 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Pacific}. This class will be a hybrid class, so you can join me via Zoom or In-person. You can register for the Zoom seats here on the Longmont Yarn Shoppe website, and for the In-person seats here. For the class I recommend working with a solid color worsted weight yarn, the image above shows the hat worked in Berroco’s Ultra Wool. In class we will make a baby size hat so you can practice all the elements of making the hat and learning linked double crochet stitches in the round.

With cold weather and holiday gift giving right around the corner, hats are a great project to have in your works-in-progress. If you want to personalize your hat gifts you can have fun adding little embellishments. I love to add flowers to my hats or little snowflakes. For the younger members on my gift list I will sometimes turn a basic hat into a monster face. I made one for my nephew years back and when he outgrew it he asked me to turn it into a ball.

Hats using Spirals

October 21, 2023Crochet, Free Pattern Links, M2H Designs Ravelry Shop, Paid Pattern LinksLeave a Comment

In keeping with my crochet spirals theme I wanted to share some dimensional spirals with you. So far everything I’ve shared has been flat spirals but they are also wonderful for making hats with. I like making my hats from the crown down to the brim to take full advantage of the stretchiness of the fabric. My favorite method is to work continuous rounds, which is basically a spiral. Creating hat patterns that use different color spiral arms is an easy adjustment. 2 of my favorite spiral hats are below.

Whirlwind Hat

This hat pattern is sized for a small adult head (circumference 21″) here on my blog. This pattern uses a four-arm spiral to create a colorfully striped top-down hat. It is a great pattern for using up leftover bits of yarn from your stash. Each spiral arm uses approximately 28 yards, 1 spiral uses 46 yards as it is a spiral arm and the brim. Click here to check out the pattern.

Spiraling Stripes Hat

This 2 arm spiral hat that was inspired by the folks at Round Mountain Fibers. They hand-dye some incredible colors. I wanted to create a hat that would blend a semi-solid and variegated color together. The sample I made had some interesting pooling of the colors so I got an almost plaid look in the finished hat.

This is another sample I made from the pattern using 2 solid color worsted weight yarns. This was made with Berroco Ultra Wool. The pattern is available for purchase in my Ravelry Shop. The pattern includes stitch charts and is written for a small adult size (21″ circumference).

If you are interested in making these hats in smaller or larger sizes you just need to stop increasing the crown of the hat when you reach the size you want, then work the sides of the hat in keeping with the size of the crown.

If you want a really detailed run-down on adjusting the size of top down hats you can purchase my “Perfect Fit Crocheted Hat” pattern in my Ravelry Shop. This pattern is basically my hat class in pattern form, it walks you thru the ins and outs of making a hat just the size you want.

I hope you are having a wonderful October, I’ll have a few more fun posts about crocheting spirals before the month is out.

Dizzy Dot Blanket Square Pattern

October 13, 2023October 13, 2023Crochet Design, Free Pattern Links, M2H Designs Ravelry Shop, Online, Paid Pattern Links, Pattern1 Comment

Hello my friends, today is my actual Birthday! I’m 60 years young today! So I have a 6 inch blanket square to celebrate my 60th. Doesn’t everyone love alliteration with their crochet patterns?

Like all small spiral projects this is a great pattern to use up those odds and ends of worsted weight yarn that you have remaining from other projects. Just pick 2 contrasting colors for your spirals, you’ll only need 7 yards for each spiral arm.

This square is part of the Melange Blanket Mystery Crochet-Along with Underground Crafter. This is a year long project that is coming to a conclusion soon. Be sure to check out this post at Underground Crafter that has all the links for the other squares, great information on joining your squares together and the information and links you need to get in on a chance to win some of the marvelous give-away prizes.

I also have an ad-free PDF version that includes a stitch chart available for purchase in my Ravelry shop.

Dizzy Dot Square

Skill level: Intermediate

Finished Size: 6” square

Materials:

Yarn

Worsted weight (WeCrochet “Brava” 100% Premium Acrylic (3.5 oz/100g, 218 yd/199 m)

Color A: Marina #28437 (approximately 7 yards/ 3.2 grams) Spiral Arm 1
Color B: Seashell #28447 (approximately 7 yards/ 3.2 grams) Spiral Arm 2
Color C: Tranquil #28453 (approximately 20 yards/9.5 grams) Square Border

Hook J / 6mm

Notions

Yarn/tapestry needle
8 Medium Locking Stitch markers (2 in one color, 6 in second color)

Gauge

First 5 rounds of pattern = 4” across circle

Abbreviations/Special Stitches

(Standing dc) Standing Double Crochet: make slip knot in yarn and place loop snugly on shaft of hook, yo and insert hook into indicated st, yo, pull up a loop, (yo, pull thru 2 loops on hook) twice.

(sl st loosely) Loose slip stitch: Insert hook in indicated place, YO, pull up a loop thru place and loop on hook keeping loose like making a chain st.

(sl st) Slip stitch: Insert hook in indicated place, YO, pull up a loop thru place and loop on hook, continue to pull up on working loop until original loop is tight.

(Edc) Extended Double Crochet: YO, insert hook in indicated st or sp, YO pull up a loop, YO pull thru first loop on hook, (YO, pull thru 2 loops on hook) 2 times.

Pattern Notes:

Start square with an adjustable slip knot. Beginning tail tightens the loop on the hook. If you prefer to start with a magic loop crochet 1 less chain stitch at start.

Stitch counts at the end of each round are shown in italicized brackets at end of each round.

Square starts with a 2 color hdc spiral circle as the center, then rounds are worked to square the circle.

When instructions specify “sl st loosely”, this means work those slip stitches similar to a chain stitch and do not pull the working loop to tighten them as in a joining slip stitch. You will be working into those loose slip stitches for the next round.

Instructions

Spiral Circle

Rnd 1 (RS): Begin with Color A, ch 2, (sc, 3 hdc) in second ch from hook, pull up long loop of color A and remove hook, insert hook in same ch as previous work, pull up a loop of Color B on shaft of hook, ch 1, (sc, 3 hdc) in same ch st, pull beginning tail of Color A to close center tightly. Place st markers in each st using a different color marker to indicate the last st of each color section. [1 sc, 3 hdc, in each color]

Rnd 2: Begin with Color A, *(2 hdc in marked st, move st marker up to second st worked) 4 times*, pull up loop of Color A, switch to Color B, Repeat from * to *. [8 hdc, in each color]

Rnd 3: Begin with Color A, *(hdc in next st, 2 hdc in marked st, move st marker up to second st worked) 4 times*, pull up loop of Color A, switch to color B, Repeat from * to *. [12 hdc, in each color]

Rnd 4: Begin with Color A, *(hdc in each of next 2 sts, 2 hdc in marked st, move st marker up to second st worked) 4 times*, pull up loop of Color A, switch to Color B, Repeat from * to *. [16 hdc, in each color]

Rnd 5: Begin with Color A, *(hdc in each of next 3 sts, 2 hdc in marked st, move st marker up to second st worked) 4 times*, pull up loop of Color A, switch to Color B, Repeat from * to * once,

**hdc next st, sc next st, sl st loosely in back loop and back bar of next st, sl st in back loop and back bar of next st**, fasten off Color B, switch to Color A, Repeat from ** to ** once, fasten off Color A. [21 hdc, 1 sc, 2 slip st, in each color]

Square Border

Remove every other st marker leaving 4 markers equally spaced around circle.

Rnd 6 (Round to Square 1): With RS facing attach Color C yarn with a standing dc in any marked st, 2 Edc in same st, *skip 2 sts, hdc next st, hdc & sc next st, sc next st, sc & hdc next st, hdc next st, skip 2 sts, (2 Edc, dc, ch 2, dc, 2 Edc) next marked st, move marker to ch-2 sp just made*; Repeat from * to * 2 times; skip 2 sts, hdc next st, hdc & sc next st, sc next st, sc & hdc next st, hdc next st, skip 2 sts, (2 Edc, dc) in same st as join, ch 2, sl st to first dc of Rnd. [16 Edc, 8 dc, 16 hdc, 12 sc, 4 ch-2 sp]

Rnd 7 (Round to Square 2): Turn (sc, ch 1 {counts as first hdc}, hdc, ch 2, hdc ) in first marked ch-2 sp, move marker to ch-2 sp just made, [*hdc in each of next 4 sts, sc in each of next 5 sts, hdc in each of next 4 sts,* (2 hdc, ch 2, hdc) in next marked ch-2 sp, move marker to ch-2 sp just made] 3 times, Rep from * to * once, sl st to top of first hdc. [48 hdc, 20 sc, 4 ch-2 sp {17 sts}]

Rnd 8: Turn, sc in first st, ch 1 {counts as first hdc}, [hdc in each st until reach marked ch-2 sp, (hdc, ch 2, hdc) in marked ch-2 sp, move marker to ch-2 sp just made] 4 times, hdc in each st until reach start of Rnd, sl st to top of first hdc. [76 hdc, 4 ch-2 sps {19 sts each side}]

Finishing Weave in tails and block.

Pinwheel Square Pattern

October 10, 2023October 12, 2023Crochet, Crochet Design, Online, Pattern3 Comments

In keeping with my love of crocheting spirals I have a fun afghan square pattern for you all. This idea has been kicking around in my brain for a couple of years. I finally sat down and worked out the design with yarn and wrote up the pattern. It has a few challenges to keep it interesting, but those of you that are feeling intrepid will have lots of fun with it.

This square is also Block#21 in the Moogly 2023 Afghan CAL. You can see Tamara’s notes on making this square and find out more about the Moogly 2023 Afghan CAL here.

You can purchase an Ad-free PDF version in my Ravelry Shop that includes stitch charts and additional photo tutorials.

Pinwheel Square

Skill level: Intermediate

Finished Size: 12” square

Materials:

Yarn

Worsted wt (Sample uses Red Heart “With Love” 100% Acrylic (7 oz/ 198 g, 370 yd/ 338 m)

Color A: Eggshell (sample used approximately 67.5 yards/ 36 grams)
Color B: Bluebell (sample used approximately 14 yards/ 7.5 grams)
Color C: Bubblegum Pink (sample used approximately 14 yards/ 7.5 grams)
Color D: Country Blue (sample used approximately 14 yards/ 7.5 grams)

Hook Size J (6 mm)

Notions

Medium Locking Stitch Markers: 8 in 1 color, 4 in 2nd color
Large Locking Stitch Markers 4 in any color
Tapestry Needle
Scissors

Gauge Small spiral square = 4” across

Abbreviations/Special Stitches

Standing Single Crochet (Standing sc): make slip knot in yarn and place loop snugly on shaft of hook, insert hook into indicated st, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull thru 2 loops on hook.

Loose slip stitch (loose slip st): Insert hook in indicated place, YO, pull up a loop thru place and loop on hook keeping loose like making a chain st.

Joining slip st (slip st): Insert hook in indicated place, YO, pull up a loop thru place and loop on hook, continue to pull up on working loop until original loop is tight.

Double Crochet Cross Stitch (X-st): Skip one st, dc in next st, working around previously made dc, dc in skipped st. Each X-st uses 2 sts and creates 2 sts.

Pattern Notes:

Start square with an adjustable slip knot. Beginning tail tightens the loop on the hook.

Stitch counts at the end of each round and row are shown in italicized brackets at end of each round or row.

Square starts with 4 small four color dc spiral squares that are joined together as the center, then a border of 5 rounds is worked as a frame.

Instructions

Spirals (make 4)

Rnd 1: Begin with an adjustable slip knot in Color A, ch 2, (sc, hdc, dc) in second ch from hook {center ch st}, pull up working loop of current color and remove hook, place a large locking stitch marker in working loop to secure,

*insert hook in center ch st, pull up a loop of new color on shaft of hook, ch 1, working over beginning tail (sc, hdc, dc) in same ch st, pull up working loop of current color and remove hook, place a large locking stitch marker in working loop to secure*,

Rep from * to * with 2 other colors, 4 different colors total for the arms of your spiral, gently pull beginning tail of Color A to close center tightly. Place medium st markers in each st using a different color marker to indicate the last st of each color section. [1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc in each color]

Rnd 2: Begin with Color A, *(2 dc in marked st, move st marker up to second st worked) 3 times, pull up working loop of current color and secure*, [switch to next color, Repeat from * to *] 3 times. [6 dc in each color]

Rnd 3: Begin with Color A, *(dc in next st, 2 dc in marked st, move st marker up to second st worked) 3 times, pull up working loop of current color*, [switch to next color, Repeat from * to *] 3 times. [9 dc in each color]

Rnd 4 (Round to Square): Begin with Color A,

*Tr in next st, (Tr, ch 1, Tr) in next st, 2 dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, sl st loosely in next st, sl st in back loop of next st*, cut Color A with 10” tail, [switch to next color, Repeat from * to *] 3 times, cut Color B & C with 6” tail, cut Color D with 10” tail. [3 Tr, 1 ch-1 sp, 2 dc, 1 hdc, 2 sc, 1 loose sl st, 1 sl st in each color, {44 sts and 4 ch-1 sp around. 2nd sl st is not counted}]

Weave in center tails of spiral. Weave in Color B & C ending tails. Sew 4 spiral squares together with a whip-stitch using Color A and D ending tails (refer to photo for placement).

PM in ch-1 sp corners of joined spirals block (Color C Corners).

Square Border

Rnd 1: With RS facing, attach Color A in 3^rd st to the right of corner ch-sp with a standing sc, *sc in each st and ch-sp until reach the marked corner ch-sp, (sc, ch-2, sc) in marked sp, move st marker up to ch-2 sp just made*, Repeat from * to * 3 times, sc in each st and ch-sp until reach beginning of Rnd, sl st to first sc of rnd to join. [104 sc, 4 ch-2 sp, {26 sc each side between ch-2 sps}]

Rnd 2: Ch 3, turn, dc in st before join {counts as first X-st of Rnd}, *X-st over next 2 sts*, Repeat from * to * 11 times, [(2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in marked ch-2 sp, Repeat from * to * 13 times] 3 times, (2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in next marked ch-2 sp, move st marker up to ch-1 sp just made, Repeat from * to * once, join to top of ch-3 with slip st. [52 X-sts, 16 dc, 4 ch-2 sp, {13 X-sts, 4 dc each side between ch-2 sps}]

Rnd 3: Turn, sc, ch 1 in first st {sc and ch 1 count as first hdc of Rnd}, [hdc in each st until reach marked ch-sp, (hdc, ch 2, hdc) in marked ch-sp, move st marker up to ch-2 sp just made] 4 times, hdc in each st until reach end of Rnd, join to first hdc with slip st. [128 hdc, 4 ch-2 sp {32 hdc each side between ch-2 sps}]

Rnds 4 & 5: Repeat Rnd 3.

Count end of Rnd 4 [136 hdc, 4 ch-2 sp {34 hdc each side between ch-2 sps}]

Count end of Rnd 5 [144 hdc, 4 ch-2 sp {36 hdc each side between ch-2 sps}]

Finishing

Weave in tails and block.

Spiraling into October!

October 4, 2023October 4, 2023Celebrating, Crochet Design, Free Pattern Links, M2H Designs Ravelry Shop, Online, Paid Pattern LinksLeave a Comment

It’s October and it’s definitely Autumn up here on my mountain. Most of our aspen trees have dropped their leaves, we have had a few traces of snow as well. I am loving the cooler temperatures. I’m really not cut out for super hot days and we had a lot of those this past couple of months. October has always been a favorite month for me because I love autumn, but it is also my Birthday this month.

Pile of crocheted spirals with a variety of colors, size of stitches, and number of arms.

It is a very special birthday this year as I am celebrating my 6th decade traveling around our sun. I wanted to do some extra fun things to celebrate with my marvelous readers and decided this month is going to be all about the Spirals! If you have been following my blog you already know that I have an abiding fondness for crocheting circles and spirals. Working in the round just makes me very happy.

I have been planning for this month all summer. Starting next week I’ll finally be able to share some fun new designs that have been in the top secret drawer all summer. But right now let’s take a quick look at some of my flat spiral designs of the past (just in case you missed them the first time).

My early design experiments with spirals involved working continuous rounds then working surface crochet to emphasize the spiral. The first 2 patterns listed below used this technique.

Round flat crocheted yellow circle toy with bright green spiral on yellow. Small bright green crocheted balls spaced along outside of yellow circle as hands and feet. Round green crocheted head with little round nose and yellow eyes. Orange embroidered mouth.

“Flat Fuzzy Friend” is available on the ‘Crochet Uncut’ website as a free pattern. This is a great lovey for a little one or even a fun whimsical gift for an older child. This pattern was published in 2010.

Burgundy color lop-sided heart with light pink spiral in center.

“Spiral in a Heart” is available here on my blog as a free pattern and makes a fun little embellishment. I like to make these to decorate hats and gloves for loved ones. They are also really cute on cuddle blankets. This pattern was published in 2011

I began to get more into the math of circles worked in the round and that that gave me the idea to play with spirals that had more than 1 arm. Once I started down this path I started having way too much fun. Since then I have continued to play with different height of stitches and number of arms to create designs that incorporate spirals.

4 armed spiral crocheted in 4 colors (gold, bright green, orange, dark green) framed with brown and original 4 colors to make a square.

“Whirlwind Afghan Square” this was my first afghan square for the Moogly CAL in 2015. You can find the free pattern for this square here on my blog. {Not the most exciting photo I’ve ever taken, but you get the idea.} I also have a video and additional blog posts on working this square.

Yellow and Hot Pink crocheted spiral bordered with bright green, white, yellow and hot pink mitered corners to create square.

“Dizzy Corner Afghan Square” this square was part of the 2017 Moogly CAL the pattern is available here on my blog for free. This post includes a detailed photo tutorial on crocheting the spiral circle.

Cream colored crochet scarf with 3 armed blue tones spirals on each end.

“Whirling Ends Scarf” this fun scarf pattern is available for purchase in my Ravelry shop. The pattern includes detailed photo tutorials and stitch charts for both the spirals and the body of the scarf. It was part of the Stitch Makers Virtual Crochet Conference in September 2019.

“Spirals and Lace Afghan Square” this was my square for the 2019 Moogly CAL. The free version of the pattern is available here on my blog with text and photos, or you can purchase the PDF version in my Ravelry shop with 7 full color pages that include detailed stitch charts for each element.

These are just a short review of some of the flat spiral designs I’ve created over the years. Next week we will have a couple of new designs to add to this list, so be sure to stop by again.