African Flower Pentagon Tutorial

Hi everyone,
Well, I have been very pleased and thankful for all the wonderful kind comments I have received since I posted about Lollo Bear Pattern last night! Thank you to every person who commented and visited, and of course appreciation and thanks to all who bought a copy of the pattern!

One omission on my part, was to leave out a tutorial on how to crochet an African Flower Pentagon. I assumed (and we all know what that does...), that if you were familiar with the hexagon, you would be able to crochet the pentagon... I am really sorry folks! I should have done a tutorial, and so here it is.

Essentially the pentagon and hexagon are crocheted in the same way, except that you make 5 petals instead of 6. You just crochet one repeat per round less, and the stitches remain the same. That being said, I have put together a quick pictorial on crocheting the pentagon, in the hopes that it will help those crocheters who are making Lollo :) I have made one or two small modifications for ease of crocheting.

African Flower Pentagon Tutorial

Chain 5, and join to the first chain via a slip stitch (represented by the round dot). This forms your ring.

Chain 3. Dc into the center of the ring.
Chain 1.
* 2dc into the ring, chain 1, repeat from * 3 more times.

Slip stitch into the third chain to close your round. Round 1 completed.



Now Slip Stitch into the next along chain space as seen above. If you are making Lollo, now is the time to change yarn colour.

Chain 3. Dc into the same chain space. Chain 1. 2dc into same space. Moving along to the next chain space of Round 1, crochet 2dc, chain 1, 2dc. Move to the next along chain space of Round 1, and repeat the 2dc, chain1, 2dc as before. Continue crocheting around the motif, until you have reached the end of the round. Slip Stitch to the third chain to close the round. Round 2 completed.


Now slip stitch to the next along chain space. This sets your hook up for the 7dc repeats of Round 3.
Chain 3. 6dc into the same space. Move along to the next chain space along of Round 2, and crochet 7dc into that chain space. Move to the next along chain space of Round 2 and crochet 7dc as before. Continue in this way around your motif until you have reached the end of the round. Slip stitch to the third chain to close your round.
Round 3 completed.

Join a new colour yarn. Just as you would for the African Flower Hexagon, crochet 7sc (one into each consecutive stitch of Round 3), and 1LONG dc into Round 2 below. Repeat all along the motif, until you have reached the end of the round. Slip stitch into the first sc and change yarn colour. Round 4 completed.

You need to make one round more, Round 5 (which in Lollo Bear Pattern is the cream colored yarn round). Remember that when you are joining motifs for Lollo, you need to crochet Round 5 as-you-join! I have illustrated one 9dc repeat as seen above, to show you that you still end up with the correct amount of stitches for joining, even though the motif is a pentagon :)

I hope that this helps, and please send me an email if you are having difficulty with Lollo's pattern :)

Have a good evening folks!
♥Heidi

African Flower Hexagon Join-as-you-go Tutorial

Today was a quiet day...we spent it at home, just pottering about. Gerry had to go and do rounds, and the kids did homework while I photographed the tutorial. It was a warm, sunny summers day here in SA, and the kids spent the afternoon swimming....

A visitor asked for a tutorial on how to join-as-you-go when you are crocheting African Flower Hexagons... here you are ....





Start with one completed hexagon. Crochet a second hexagon, up until you are crocheting the last round. Proceed as follows...



At the apex of the flower petal, (where you will do 2 DC into the same space , with a chain stitch in between), work up until you have made ONE of the 2 DC at the apex of the petal.


Chain 1 st.


Insert your crochet hook as shown, through the little hole of the other hexagon, at the petal point.


Yarn around hook.


Pull yarn through both the hole and the stitch on the hook.

Yarn around hook...


Chain 1 st.


Yarn around hook again, and DC into the SC loops of the round before...just as above...

(NOTE: I have just noticed that I have made a mistake by DC into the next SC space, instead of doing the second DC into the SAME SC SPACE...sorry :( only noticed now...but the you can ignore my mistake and continue exactly in the same manner as described...)


Completing DC.


Second DC into same space completed. Your work should look like this picture above.


Continue to crochet DC as per the pattern, until you have THREE DCs as seen above.


Insert hook in the hexagon you are joining to, at the place where there are THREE DC from the
point where you joined the corners, as shown above...


Yarn around hook...


Pull through...and DC into the next SC loops of the previous round (just as you would crochet the round as per the pattern)...


Continue to DC until you again have THREE DC from the point at which you joined to the other hexagon...


Join at the place on the other hexagon, at the point where there are THREE DC's from the join...you are matching DC for DC, so that your hexagon doesn't get joined in a wonky way...


Here is a bigger picture for you to see...


Yarn pulled through...


Again, make THREE DCs ...you are now at the apex of the petal, where you will make two DCs into the same space with a chain stitch in between (just as per the pattern)...


Now insert your hook, into the little hole in the other hexagon, and yarn around hook (just as before)...


Pull yarn through...


Chain one stitch...


Make a DC into the same space on the green yarn round, as the previous DC...


Continue as per the pattern, and finish off the hexagon as you would normally...


When you want to join a second round of hexagons, you need to follow the previous steps in exactly the same way, until you get to the corner join area, as seen above...


When you get to the corner, insert hook into the little hole of the right side hexagon, just as you would in the previous steps, yarn around hook...


Pull yarn through...


Chain one stitch...


Insert hook into the second little hole (as seen above ) of the left side hexagon, and yarn around hook...


Pull through..


DC into the same space as the previous DC, and continue your joining as before, every THREE DCs...

There you go....how to Join as you go!

♥

Log Cabin Crochet Block Tutorial...and a Giveaway!

Hi dear friends,

Today's post is really short and perhaps not as well photographed as I would like...
we have all been struck down with the dreaded lergy...headaches, coughing, noses running...it's not a pretty sight! So, as much as I wanted to do a nice clean, (properly exposed) tutorial, I sat on my bed and crocheted a quick easy one...

In addition, I am doing a giveaway for all my followers! Thank you so much to everyone who visits me here...although I may not manage to respond to every comment, I really appreciate you dropping in :) As a token of my appreciation, I am giving away the following items:

A gorgeous Bear making kit, complete with mohair and all the bits and pieces you need to make this little person (you just need hands ,needle and sewing thread...or alternatively, a sewing machine and thread) :)
Two beautiful Susan Bates crochet hooks (sizes 2.75mm and 3.75mm), stunningly decorated by the talented Jenn Edwards, in floral polymer clay...
A big skein of hand-dyed pink and green 100% merino wool yarn

So if you are already a follower, you don't need to do anything...if you do follow by the time I do the random draw (Sunday 18hoo South African time), you will automatically be entered into the draw :)

Now for the brief tutorial. I am making a little block for a blanket for a small boy who recently lost his mommy, and wanted to do something traditional, but in boy colours, so I made a very simple log cabin block in blues and greens...



Firstly, choose the colours you like. Try to keep the yarn weights similar or your block will be wonky.
Chain as many stitches as you would like you central square to be.

Skip one stitch and start to do Sc stitches into each chain. When you get to the first chain you made, crochet the last Sc on this side of the work, and turn your work around.


End of first row reached. Once you have turned your work, ch 1, then start to Sc into each loop of the stitches made in row 1. Keep repeating the rows until you have a square shaped piece of crochet.


Tie on a new colour and insert your hook into the first stitch loop, yarn around hook, pull through, yarn around hook, pull through both loops on the hook. Continue to do Sc into each previously done stitch as before. Complete as many rows as you find pleasing.

Once you have completed enough rows, again change colour, but this time join in the new colour so that you are crocheting along the edge of BOTH previous colours (see above pic). Complete as many rows as you did with the first colour change (this keeps thing sort of balanced, and will tend to keep the overall shape square).
Keep going around as you can see above, changing colours and doing as many rows as you feel look right. Work in the loose ends...

Simple, but sweet.

Off to bed for me,
Have a good evening
Lots of Love,
Heidi :)