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Archives for April 2016

How to Crochet a Handle into Your Crocheted Purse

April 26, 2016 By: Lisa Mills

I love crocheting purses, but in the beginning, figuring out how to handle the handle was my biggest obstacle. I tried a few methods before I landed on this one and liked the results. Adding a handle to your crocheted purse doesn’t have to be hard. You can crochet the handle yourself, or buy a store-bought version that you can easily incorporate into your project.

Showing you seemed easier than trying to explain the process in words, so I created a short YouTube video for you to watch. Hopefully once you see how easy it is to do this, you will want to try crocheting a purse of your own! I have plenty of patterns for you to try!

Crochet a Handle Into Your Crocheted Purse

And don’t forget to follow my YouTube channel so you will be updated when I add new tips and tricks to help make your crochet projects great.

Watch me crochet a handle into a crocheted purse.

Happy Crocheting,

~ Lisa

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Macrame a Wrist Strap for Your Coin Purse or Makeup Bag

April 12, 2016 By: Lisa Mills

I love crocheting purses, and I am especially fond of the smaller coin purses and makeup bags. They are such a convenient size and I have found any number of uses for them over the years. One thing I have learned is that they can be very useful when I want to travel light, like on a shopping spree. I just throw my phone, a credit card, and a lipstick inside, zip and go!

Originally, the bags were just little zippered pouches, however, over time I realized I could make them more convenient by crocheting a key ring into the design and making a strap I could attach to that key ring. This made them super easy to loop over my wrist and carry.

I realize that those of you who have purchased my patterns might enjoy having a strap to carry your coin purse or clutch, so I’ve created a short video showing you how I macrame the strap from the leftover cord and a few pieces of hardware you can buy for 50ยข or so. It is perfectly coordinated with your purse and adds a whole new level of usefulness to your bags.

Macrame a Wrist Strap

Interested? Here’s a link to the YouTube Video! Be sure to follow my channel for more useful tips and tricks to make your crochet projects great!

Watch me macrame a wrist strap for a coin purse or clutch.

Happy macrame!

~ Lisa

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Tuesday Crochet Tip: Crochet Terms by Country

April 5, 2016 By: Lisa Mills

Tuesday Crochet TIpsLast week we talked about the basics of reading a pattern. Just when you thought you were getting a grasp on the abbreviations and terms in patterns, the world goes and throws another layer of difficulty at you. Not all countries use the same terms to describe the same stitches.

The US and Canadian patterns are basically the same, however, UK terms are slightly different. The easiest way to explain the differences is to show you in a chart.

USUK
ch - chainch - chain
sl st - slip stitchsl st - slip stitch
sc - single crochetdc - double crochet
hdc - half double crochethtr - half treble crochet
dc - double crochettr - treble crochet
tr - treble crochetdtr - double treble crochet
dtr - double treble crochetttr - triple treble crochet

As you can see, the terms start out the same at the top of the list with chain and slip stitch called by the same term in both countries. But then the two lists diverge. The Brits decided not to include the term single crochet in their crochet dictionary, but rather skipped right on to double crochet. So, if you are from North American crocheting from a crochet pattern written in the UK, when you read double crochet, you actually want to make a single crochet. When you read treble, you are going to work a double. And so forth. Our friends across the pond must learn what a single crochet is and then do their conversions to US terms.

While the conversion looks all clear and simple on the chart above, the execution of this feat is actually a little harder. The mental gymnastics involved in converting the terms as you go can be daunting, and you may find that more than once you forget to convert and use the wrong stitch. These mistakes will create some odd patches in your work if you do this too many times.

If the pattern is not too complicated, like an easy one or two row repeat with just a few basic sts, you can probably get away with sitting a conversion chart nearby and referring to it often until you get the hang of the pattern and no longer need the pattern or conversion chart.

For difficult patterns, you probably don’t want to spend days and weeks doing the mental gyrations necessary to crochet the pattern correctly. To avoid time-wasting, aggravating mistakes, I recommend you do some prep work before you begin your pattern. I print off the pattern or make a copy if it’s in a book, then use a bright-colored pen to go through the pattern and write the conversions over the top of the stitches that are different. I do all the hard thinking before I begin so I can relax and enjoy myself when I get hook in hand. That way I minimize mistakes and maximize the fun of working from a new pattern.

Happy Crocheting!

~Lisa

 

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Tulips Doily Pattern - crochet

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Easy to make! Fun to use! Perfect to give away as gifts! Those are my criteria for a good crochet project. I crochet for myself, the things I want to wear and use and enjoy in my life. And I have crocheted a LOT of stuff in my lifetime.

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