crochet couching
Needs must this week. I needed a new mobile phone case, but I couldn't find one that I liked enough to buy. Crunch time came when I went to the Apple Mac store with my phone wrapped in a sock, and I received some disbelieving looks when I rang my husband to tell him I would be late. A sock hanging down the side of your face is not a good look. The sock really was not practical–even if it was a lovely sock. The quick solution was to make a case, and because I had a lot of yarn ends from a particularly chunky yarn sitting on my desk, the quick solution was to crochet around a bundle of yarn strands.
I selected four yarns: one fine yarn and three denser yarns with contrasting textures. Using the fine yarn, I made a crochet chain to the circumference of the phone; joined the chain; worked a round of double crochet (US single crochet) stitches. Then, working in a spiral, I worked a chain stitch, skipped a stitch, worked a double crochet stitch into the next stitch around strands of the other three yarns, to the end of the round. On the following round, I worked a chain stitch, then a double crochet stitch into the next chain-space around the other three yarns (as above) to the end of the round. I repeated this last round until the case was the correct height; worked a round of double crochet; fastened off. To finish, I flattened the tube and whip stitched the foundation-chain edges together. And that was it. The strands of yarn provide just enough padding without too much bulk. I may add some felt shapes to the fabric–perhaps a white crofter's cottage or something inspired by the sea.
I made s second case for the shot above. This time I worked a chain the width of the case; worked a double crochet into the back loop of each chain; worked three double crochet stitches into the end chain; worked one double crochet stitch into the remaining stitch loop of each foundation chain; worked two double crochet stitches into the end chain. Then, working in a spiral, I worked one double crochet stitch into the back loop of each stitch to the end of the round. I then worked the couching as above. The base was neater, and the case was deeper from front to back.
Other news: the dark blue yarn was part of a scarf that I was commissioned to knit. It was knitted using 9mm needles and my shoulder aches. Yet again I wonder about the wisdom of teaching new knitters how to knit using large needles and chunky yarn. Of course, in my case, knitting all day to get the project done as quickly as possible didn't help.
It has been a week for finishing projects, and I have mixed feelings. I have worked with some very interesting people recently, and we are now all moving on to new projects, but that is life. Next week is full of promise and new people.
