Picking Up Stitches — Page 2 of 13 — Knitting, crochet, cross stitch and more

Part 8 of CAL – strap squares

May 11, 2020 by Annie Leave a Comment

This is Part 8 of the CAL. Have you been following along? If so, you’re ready to go. If not head back and do, Parts 1 (main square rounds 1-6) , Part 2 (rows 7-9), Part 3 (finishing the main square) , Part 4 (small squares) , Part 5 (side strips) , Part 6 (finishing the sides) and Part 7 (gusset) first.. If you prefer to follow standard written instructions instead of the version with lots of pictures, head here.

PART 8 STRAP SQUARES

Make 12 or as many as you prefer for the length of the strap)

These are like mini granny squares, worked in groups of half trebles. There are only three rounds, the first two are regular rounds and then the third round is used to join a square to the next one – it’s a method called JAYG which stands for Join As You Go

Round 1: In a magic circle, work 2chain [counts as htr], then work 2htr, now a bit to repeat three times: (2ch, 3htr). Finally, work 2ch, and join with ss to top of the second chain. Fasten off. As usual you can start with a ring made up of 4chain stitches slip stitched together instead if you can’t do the magic circle.

How cute is that little square!

Round 2: Join yarn in a 2ch-space, and work (2ch [counts as htr], 2htr, 1ch 3htr), * in the next corner 2ch-sp work (3htr, 1ch, 3htr), rep from * twice, join with ss to 2nd ch. Fasten off.

The next round is only done on the very first square you make.

(For first square only) Round 3: Join yarn in a 1ch-sp in a corner, now work (3ch [counts as tr], 2tr, 2ch, 3tr) – this is the corner, * in the next space (ie between two groups of three trebles, on the side of the square), work 3tr, in the next corner space work (3tr, 2ch, 3tr), go back and repeat from * twice, then to finish, in the next side space work 3tr, join with ss to the 3rd ch. Fasten off.

The first square looks like this..

The first square of Part 8 of the Spring Bag CAL

Now comes the clever round that you work on each square you make from now on – it sounds a bit complicated, but as long as you remember that you’re aiming to join along one side of the square to the one you’ve already made, it should make sense. And I’ve included lots of pictures to help. But if you do find it too complicated (which I’m sure you won’t) then you could just make the squares all as the first one, then sew or crochet all the individual squares together. However, give the JAYG method first, you’ll be glad you did once you get the hang of it!

(All subsequent squares) Round 3: Join yarn in a corner space, and work (3ch [counts as a treble], 2 more trebles, 2chain stitches and 3 trebles),

* in next space between groups of stitches on the side, work 3trebles, in the next corner space, work (3tr, 2ch, 3tr),

in next sp work 3tr.

Now comes the joining bit – you’re going to need to place your completed square next to the one you’re working.

In the next corner space work 3tr, then 1chain.

*You need both squares together for this bit*

Now put your hook from front to back through the bottom right corner of the completed square making sure the right side of that square is facing you (see the picture below).

and work a slip stitch, which attaches the two squares together.

*Here I’ve worked a slip stitch and you can see that the two corners are joined*

Now work 3tr in the corner space on your current square,

inset the hook into the space between groups of trebles on the completed square

and slip stitch here to join at this point too,

*Here’s the beginning of the slip stitch – just need to pull it straight through the loop on the hook next*

then 3tr in the next space between groups of trebles on current square,

slip stitch through the next space on completed square again,

work 3 trebles in corner space on the current square,

then 1ch, now slip stitch through the corner space on completed square,

then 3 treble in corner space on current square.

– that’s the joining bit completed, so now just work 3 trebles in the final space on the current square,

Carry on making and joining squares in Part 8 until the strap is the desired length

and join with a ss to the 3rd ch.

Fasten off.

Now attach another square that you’ve worked two rounds on to the strip in the same way.

I’m sure you’ll soon get the hang of it once you’ve made a few.

You can make as many squares as you like depending on how long you want your finished strap to be.

Once that’s done, block your strap out, and you’re ready to complete the bag in the next part, which is here.

If you get stuck, just email or contact me on facebook, instagram or twitter and I’ll try to help. And don’t forget to share all your pictures on social media! #SpringBagCAL

Part 7 of CAL – making the gusset

May 10, 2020 by Annie Leave a Comment

Get ready for Part 7

Part 7 explains how to make the gusset and for this, you already need to have made the other pieces so that you can work out how long to make it. Have you been following along? If so, you’re ready to go. If not head back and do, Parts 1 (main square rounds 1-6) , Part 2 (rows 7-9), Part 3 (finishing the main square) , Part 4 (small squares) , Part 5 (side strips) and Part 6 (finishing the sides) first.. If you prefer to follow standard written instructions instead of the version with lots of pictures, head here.

Part7 doesn’t seem to have many instructions, but there’s quite a lot of crocheting involved!

Gusset

Work 10ch, turn.

Miss the chain nearest your hook and start in second ch, work 1dc in each chain stitch, turn. You’ll have 9 double crochet stitches.

Next row: 1ch, dc in each st along, turn. (Make sure you remember to do the double crochet in the first stitch after you’ve done the initial chain stitch – you should always have 9 dc in a row.)

Repeat last row until gusset is long enough to fit down one side, across the bottom and up the other side. Measure it against the bag side as you go, and don’t finish off at the end. You may need to adjust the length as you start pinning it.

Here’s mine when I’d worked 44 rows – this was long enough to fit down one side…

And here it is when I’d done 88 rows…

This is mine when I’d worked 126 rows.

I decided that was enough to start pinning in place. I’d then add more rows or take a few back when I’d pinned it all the way round, as then I could judge what fitted exactly.

Attaching the gusset

Pin one long side of the gusset around the main square with wrong sides together – going down one side strip, across the bottom and up the other side strip. Ease it round the corners when pinning.

Now you should be able to see whether the gusset is the correct length, so adjust slightly if you need to – either add a few more rows, or take a few rows back – and then finish off and cut the yarn. Here you can see I needed to add a few extra rows – you can see I’ve left the loop so I could just insert the hook again and do a few more rows.

*Here, I’ve worked the extra rows to fit exactly*

Now starting at a top corner, work 1dc in each st and edge of gusset along the side, again catching one loop from each piece as before.

*Here’s the starting point for your joining double crochet stitches*

*Here’s how the edge looks as you go along*

When you get to a corner, work 3dc in the same place, then continue along the bottom to the next corner, work 3dc in the same place again and up the other side.

*Here’s the first side attached to the gusset*

Now attach the other side of the bag to the gusset in the same way, being careful when you pin it that it doesn’t distort – make sure the place you pin the corners at the bottom correspond with the same points of the gusset as the corners you’ve already joined.

*Once you’ve completed that side it should look like this*

Now go on to Part 8 to find out how to make the strap…

Share your pictures with the hashtag #SpringBagCAL and get in touch if you need any help.

Part 6 of CAL – Completing side sections

May 8, 2020 by Annie Leave a Comment

This is Part 6. Have you been following along? If so, you’re ready to go. If not, head back and do Parts 1 (main square rounds 1-6) , Part 2 (rows 7-9), Part 3 (finishing the main square) , Part 4 (small squares) and Part 5 (side strips) first. If you prefer to follow standard written instructions instead of the version with lots of pictures, head here.

Once you’ve blocked your main squares, small squares and side strips, you’re ready to begin crocheting the bag’s side pieces together – each side is made up of one main square, three small squares and two side pieces.

Part 6 needs these pieces - a main square, three small squares and two side strips

First you need to crochet three small squares together.

Place two squares, wrong sides together,

and join by working a double crochet through each stitch, catching one loop on each square (the outer loop) for each stitch.

*Just catch the outer loop of each stitch on each square all the way along*

*Here I’m working the first dc after my starting chain stitch*

You can start with 1 chain stitch, but make sure you also work a double crochet in the first stitch before making your way along the side.

You end up with a ridge on the right side.

I chose to do all my joins in the same colour, but it’s entirely up to you what colours you choose.

Now join these two squares to the third square in the same way.

Now make another three-square strip for the other side of the bag.

Next it’s time to join the side strips to the main square.

Place wrong sides together, pinning the long side of a strip to one side of the main square. It’s best if you match each end of the strip to the corners of the square and pin those first, then ease the rest of the strip to fit and pin the middle.

*And this is what it looked like on the back when I’d pinned the strip. You can see the right side of the side strip here and the back of the square*

Now join with double crochets in each stitch all the way along, catching one loop on the main square and one loop on the side strip for each stitch. Now join the other side strip to the other side of the square in the same way.

*The strips are attached – don’t worry if it’s not exactly straight – as long as the edges match at the top and bottom of the square*

Finally join the top strip of three squares to the main square with the side strips attached – they should fit exactly. Place the wrong sides together and pin the corners first, then the mid point, then ease the pieces and pin before you join them – make sure the edges match up.

*Now add a few more pins to keep in place*

*This is what it looks like on the back (ie you can see the front of the small squares*

Now, catching one loop (or bit of edge) on each piece and working in double crochet as before, work all the way across. Bear in mind that for the short edge of the side strip, you won’t be working into the loop on the strip, but into the edge of one of the stitches – as in the following picture.

*Work along the side of the stitches for the short end of the side strip*

Take care when you get to the place where you joined the strip to the main square – be careful not to leave a gap here, even if it means making an extra stitch.

Side looks like this after Part 6 completed

Now complete the other side to match.

These again won’t necessarily look exactly square at this point, but don’t worry, once the finishing touches have been done, it should all look perfect!

In the next part. we’ll be making the gusset of the bag, so you to have the sides completed before you do that to that you make sure you make the gusset the correct length. Find Part 7 here.

Share your photos on social media with the hashtag #SpringBagCAL