"Sail Away" Crochet Pattern

Hello Lovelies,
I've  managed to find some time  this week to put my crochet hat back on to finally get this pattern /tutorial published for you . Several of you  have asked me about it since my previous disaster, when I lost my original draft due to blogger problems.

I'm sure you can appreciate the amount of time and concentration that goes into this sort of post ...it's not a quick process.....this one was particularly time consuming , but you lovelies always make my day with your kind comments , you are worth all the effort.
Please do let me know  if you make this project. I would LOVE to see how it turned out...........here's the pattern.......ENJOY ♥♥♥♥

This pattern is written in U.S. terms and the abbreviations are as follows:-

hdc = Half Double Crochet  ............U.K. half treble crochet
sc = Single Crochet..........................U.K. double crochet
ch = Chain........................................U.K. chain
sl = Slip Stitch...................................U.K. slip stitch
tc = Treble Crochet...........................U.K. double treble
sc dec = Single Crochet Decrease.....U.K. double crochet decrease

It's a relatively simple pattern but you do need to be confident with the above stitches. I would not class this  as a beginners project  but I've included lots of description and photos to try and make it as simple as possible.

I've used various Double Knitting Acrylic yarns for this project .You could use whatever you prefer working with.Cotton would be good.
N.B. throughout this pattern turning chains always count as 1 stitch

Lets start with the boats' hull, it's worked from the bottom up........
To begin  ch 10,
Row 1....... hdc in third chain from hook.......

hdc in each ch across. In last ch make 2 hdc ( 10 stitches ).....

Row 2 .....ch 2 and turn , then make another hdc into the same stitch  (marked with needle ) it's important you get the correct space here...it's right at the base of the two chains...can you see it ?

Work 1 hdc in each stitch across and finish with 2 hdc in final stitch of row 1( you should now have 12 stitches)

Repeat subsequent rows in this way.... increasing an the beginning and end of each row to form the shape of the hull.
row 3 = 14 stitches

row 4 = 16 stitches

Once you have made  4  rows stop but do not fasten off.
To neaten the edges of your work make sc around the sloping side,bottom and second sloping side (not the top).There are no specific spaces for these stitchs along the sloping sides , just make them close to the edge......

along the bottom make one sc in each stitch across........

Then work up the second side. Once you reach the top edge , fasten off and leave a long tail to attach sail.

Right , next the sail. This is worked from the top down , also in hdc stitches, increasing at the start and end of each row in the same way as the hull.
Begin with ch4
row1 ....insert hook into third chain from hook ( shown with needle )

and make 2 hdc stitches

 chain 2 turn.
row2......make 1 hdc in same stitch as turning..again shown with needle

hdc across and finish with 2 hdc in final hdc of row  ( 6 stitches ), chain 2 turn.

row 3 ...repeat pattern , increasing at the beginning and end of the row ( 8 stitches )


   repeat pattern over subsequent rows, increasing on both ends of rows to make a triangle shape.
row 4.....10 stitches
row 5     12 stitches
row 6 ....14 stitches
row 7 ....16 stitches
row 8.....18 stitches
row 9.....20 stitches

( NB the yarn I used for my sail was a bit thinner than the hull yarn ...so If your sail is ending up too big you could stop after 8 rows )
 When you have made   9  rows do not finish off but make sc stitches up to top of sail .....

At the top work 3 sc in the point and then go down the other side .Again there are no exact spaces to place stitches , just judge for yourself where best to put them. It's not necessary  to put them along the bottom of the sail as this is already neat.


Finish off and sew in ends.


Next the mast . This uses sc made through the centre of the sail and is made like this ........
Attach your yarn using a slip stitch , to the centre of the base of the sail. Insert hook through work as shown... 

Yarn around hook and pull  through  sail...2 loops on hook.....yarn over and pull through both loops. Repeat up the whole height of the mast and when you get to the top don't fasten off .

 Chain 4 to make the start of the flag, turn.
3 sc along ( one in each chain ) starting where shown with the needle..........

then sl into top of of the surface chain for added stability......

Chain 1 and turn
1 sc,1 sc dec,chain 1 turn
1 sc dec
ch 1 and finish off leaving a long tail  like this at the point of the flag.........

then weave the tail to the top of the flag with a darning needle,securing it at the top so it doesn't pull you flag out of shape.... you can use it to join the boats together later.

Right , hopefully you have a cute little sail and mast with a flag on the top.Next simply sew the two parts of the boat together with the hull slightly over lapping the sail and your boat is finished.Make a couple more in the same way if you want your decoration to look like mine...or you could just go with how many you like.

Onto the sun now........
Using yellow yarn ( mine was stylecraft Saffron ) ch 4 and join to form ring.
Round 1 ...chain 2 , make 11 hdc into ring and join by slip stitch into 2nd chain of initial 2 chain.
Round 2...chain 2 (counts as first hdc) and 1 hdc into same stitch as joining ,2 hdc in each stitch of round 1 ( 24 hdc) slip stitch into initial 2nd chin of initial 2 chain to join...that's the circular centre of the sun ,next onto the rays.....

These are a  little bit tricky but hopefully the pictures will help a lot
 first ray...chain 2 then make 1 tc in the next stitch........

Make a  picot ( chain 2 then slip stitch into first chain) in the photo you can see where to insert your hook for the slip stitch ).......

once your picot is made it's another slip stitch...this time into the top of your treble crochet...this is where to insert your hook this time......

then chain 2 and sc in the next stitch of round 2.
In the next stitch begin the second ray in the same way you made the first.
Repeat around.
When you have made 11 rays your sun should look like this.....

Make the final ray in the next stitch then slip stitch into the stitch where the first ray began ( no sc ) ...

Yay...you now have a sun and some boats :0)...I'm feeling seasidy already !
As you can see they are a bit wonky and would benefit from stiffening up a bit........

I use spray starch for this ..........

Place a towel over some foam ( like a seat pad or flat cushion ) and pin your motifs (right side down ) into the shape you want them to end up. I stretched out the suns rays so they were nice and pointy. Spray liberally till they are quite wet and leave till completely dry , you could put them somewhere warm to speed this up.....

Then the fun part...embellishments......you can add as much or as little as you like here , it's purely personal taste....I went with shirt buttons for portholes and a little felt heart on the sail........

then sew the boats together using the tail you left for this purpose ...I added beads between mine and buttons to the sun, but again , it's up to you .........

So that my sun didn't get pulled out of shape by the weight of the boats I used the tail from the top boat to hang my decoration up, catching it onto the back of the sun first........

Ooooops , nearly forgot the little fishy....... he is made like this. chain 4 and then make 6 dc in first ch. Make 1 treble crochet in the same chain ( that's his nose ) as you can see from my pictures the chain you are working in opens up a lot but that's o.k.

   

next make 6 more dc into the same stitch...........

then slip stitch into the top of the beginning chain to close, at this stage you also need to pull on the beginning tail of yarn to close up the fishes middle....

To make his tail...chain 2 then into the same stitch work all the following stitches.... 1 dc,ch 1, 1 sc ,ch 1 , 1 dc , ch 2 and slip stitch to finish off

you could add a little eye to your fish if you like.I simply wove in the ends and kept one long enough to thread on some beads and used it to attach my fish the the bottom boat .

Phew , I hope this is all well explained a clear for you lovelies.

Please let me know if you have any problems and I will try and help....using the reply button ...so do check back here if you ask a question.

Jacquie x

Mini Quilt Ta-Dah

Hello Lovelies,
I wonder if anybody can remember some patchwork I started last year? I made a little rectangle of squares and blogged about it HERE .
I used vintage and retro fabric from my stash after being inspired by KATES and JANES patchwork bedding.I even added some wadding and made it into a quilt

 My idea was to make a little dolls quilt for a thrifted dolly bed I had found previously. Well, things went O.K. till it came to the binding. Then I put it to one side while I tried to figure out how to approach it. I've never done binding before and was rather stumped by the whole concept. I tried looking on line for information. There were tutorials with photos ,but  somehow it wasn't going into my brain. After several weeks of looking at my sweet little patchwork I finally gave up and stashed it in a bag.

 Until now :0)
Here's how it looked when I finally found it ,buried under a load of yarn.......



A little creased but none the worse for wear . Time to grasp the bull by the horns, so to speak, and finally brave the binding. One of the fabrics I used in the patchwork was this vintage sheet .I've still got plenty of this left and  figured that if I made a mess of it , this wouldn't stand out too much ......
 

I followed Rita ,of the amazing Red Pepper Quilts , tutorial HERE. Her words and photos made the whole process clear and soon I was bravely sewing my binding to the quilt..........



Here it is sewn onto the front......



Then I had to trim the excess backing and wadding, before pinning it to the back.......



And stitch "in the ditch" ...another first for me......boy this took a lot of concentration and exceedingly slow sewing........



The idea is, by stitching like this your stitches should be pretty much invisible from the front and you catch the back of the binding neatly......ummm........I missed in a couple of spots but it only took a few hand stitches to repair these little mistakes.........



On the whole though, I'm really pleased with how my first attempt worked out , it's not perfect but it's still neat .Next time I will try using a contrasting fabric.......



Here is my cute little patchwork quilt on the washing line ...finally finished

Ta-Dah ...........



Ooooh I love it so .It's my first ever completed patchwork quilt..... I love the vintagy fabrics and the chunky hand quilting which gives it a lovely puffiness. I'm hoping, next time ,to  feel brave enough to try a bigger size, but this little project was perfect to get to grips with the basics .


Feeling inspired ,I hauled the little dolly bed out of the shed ( thank you for reminding me about this Jones )
and made a simple mattress and pillow to go with it........



Here's the finished ensemble :0)



With a  teddy ( because there are no dolls in this boy household )......

I think he looks very comfy , don't you ?



Right oh, back to my hexagons :0)
Hope your week goes well.
Jacquie x

Hexagons and Flowers

Hello Lovelies,
well unfortunately the weather man was correct with his rainy forecast.We haven't seen any sun since Wednesday and today it's cold and windy too.
The only way to know it's summer is by having a wander in the garden.......I love to do this at the moment...there is always something new to delight me ( and more weeds to pull up !)
This afternoon I braved the rain and was rewarded with this beauty......


Oooooh , how wonderful. This poppy must have been from the seed swap I did with Cuckoo last summer. The seeds I sent her have grown too ........I'm so happy we both have a little bit of each others garden to enjoy :0)

Another part of my garden I'm enjoying despite the rain is our pond. I love the ripples the raindrops make on the surface. My poor solar fountain is struggling with the low light levels though......

The wind and rain had battered these carnations somewhat ,so I decided to pick them to enjoy indoors....

I love the ones with the dark pinkie purple edge........reminds me of raspberry ripple ice-cream.

Indoors I'm still finding a few moments to enjoy pins and paper and little bits of fabric.....

I've made more hexagon "flowers" and sewn some together. This means I can remove the papers from the central ones , to make more:0)

I think my stitches look pretty good even in extreme close up .......

I've changed to just tacking through the fabric only when I make these hexagons........seems to be working OK.......

This lovely fabric was given to me by  sweet Rachel at Ruby Red when I first joined blog land....I thought it had all been used up , so  was happy to find a bit at the bottom of my stash.

I haven't bought any NEW fabric for this project yet , though I did pick up this shirt from the £1 rail in the charity shop this morning.........

It's got pen on the white collar , but that's not a problem to me.

I'll finish today with another Rose photo, also rescued from the garden........

So perfectly pretty with a gorgeous scent.......It's one of my current favourites for sure .
Have a great weekend
Jacquie x