My little boy...

Ok, so most of you know I have 3 kiddos. My middle son will soon be turning 5. He has been having trouble for some time now with his fine motor skills. He has trouble coloring and holding a pencil correctly. He does ok with scissors, but he is left handed.

Anyway, I was shopping with all of the kids (they are all out of school thanks to Hurricane Isaac) when my middle child tells me he wants me to buy him a crochet book, yarn and a hook so that I can teach him to crochet.

This took me by surprise I have to say! He is the last one I expected to hear this from. I was young when I began to learn, but I was my grandma’s littlest girl. I was always by her side.

He picked out a dishcloth book and some camo yarn. I am wondering if the small G hook will be too difficult for him. We will give it a try. If it doesn't work well, I will buy some more Super Bulky Yarn for him to use with the N hook.

He is pretty excited. I bought some rainbow yarn for me to try some of these patterns too. I have always wanted an excuse to use rainbow yarn!

I'll post pictures of the finished products after we are done.


~Ms Veee

T-Shirt Blanket Day 10: The end of another ball

Hey there! Seven more t-shirts down! WOW! I can't believe 53 t-shirts are in my blanket already! I am working on rounding up t-shirts for my next ball. I am going to ask my hubby for some of his old t-shirts. I never go through his clothes. If he wants to send something to the trash or thrift store, he has to make that decision. So, I am going to ask him to go through and see if there are any he can donate to my blanket project.

I am also going to check Freecycle and Craigslist for free t-shirts. I may also go back to the thrift stores and buy some more interesting t-shirts.

Currently I have  rows of HDC, 53 t-shirts in my blanket and 0 t-shirts left on my ball.

Till we meet again,
Ms Veee

T-Shirt Blanket Day 9: 46 t-shirts down!

Hi there! More of the blanket down! How many days will it take? How many t-shirts will it take to make a queen size blanket? I feel like i was slacking today. I only did 2 more rows. I think it has something to do with school starting.

If you have the PhotoStudio App, here is the preset code for the filter I used in these pictures: CD540030.

Currently I have 16 full rows of HDC, 46 t-shirts in my blanket and 7 t-shirts left on my ball. It's time to make a new ball.

See you later,
Ms Veee

T-Shirt Blanket Day 8: Getting the hang of this

It feels so good to be back working on this project! I have never even attempted a crochet project of this size before. I am really enjoying this project. It is very relaxing. I never realized how nice it was to just sit down while watching TV or watching my husband play Call of Duty and crochet. At this point, I am pretty much just running on autopilot.

Today I added 15 tshirts to my project all while watching The Lorax with the family. 




Currently I have 14 full rows of HDC, 39 t-shirts in my blanket and 14 t-shirts left on my ball.



Adios,
Ms Veee

T-Shirt Blanket Day 7: A trip to the thrift store

The good news is my kids just got a ton of new clothes, so that meant I could go trough their t-shirts again! I took all of the tight and/or stained t-shirts to add to my pile. I managed to get 19 t-shirts for my blanket! But I knew this was not enough.




So, I set out on a mission to find some more t-shirts. My kids had gone camping, so I was finally able to go to the thrift store alone! I looked through the entire store for every size. I bought 10 tshirts total. The sizes varied from baby to Men's XL. It was easy to find new colors and interesting patterns.







 

It took 3 hours to cut, sew and wind this ball. It was well worth it! Now I have 29 t-shirts on my ball!

All I have to do know it connect it to my working project!

Ta-Ta,
Ms Veee

Super Bulky Tam Tutorial

Today, instead of working on my t-shirt blanket, I am starting a new project. (In case you missed my last post, I ran out of t-shirts and am waiting for more.)


I have been looking for the perfect dread tam for a few months now. So I decided this was a great time to make my ideal tam. The cold weather is fast approaching, so I will be using super bulky Lion's brand yarn on this project.


In case you need a refresher on Double Crochet (DC) you can find it at About Crochet. Also a refresher for a decrease (Single Crochet 2 together or Sc2tog) can be found at About crochet.


I love the way it turned out! Here is the pattern...



Ch 4 (counts as first DC).  DC in 4th ch from hook.  DC 10 more times in same stitch (12 dc total.)

Ch 3 (counts as first DC).  DC in same st. *2 DC in next st.  Repeat from * around.

Ch 3 (counts as first DC).  DC in same st.  *1 DC in next st, 2 DC in next st.  Repeat from * around.

Ch 3 (counts as first DC).  DC in same st.  *1 DC in next 2 st, 2 DC in next st.  Repeat from * around.

Ch 3 (counts as first DC).  DC in same st.  *1 DC in next 3 st, 2 DC in next st.  Repeat from * around.

Ch 3 (counts as first DC.)  DC in every dc around.  Repeat this row 6 more times.

Ch 2 (counts as first sc).  Sc2tog around.

Ch 3 (counts as first HDC). HDC in every st. Repeat this row 2 more times.

This will give you a final tam exactly like the one I made. Here are some shots of my tam:

PS. If you have iPhone / iPad / iPod PhotoStudio app you can get the preset I used on these pictures by entering this code: D712539A.  ;) (Sorry for the bad pics today, it's raining again!)

Super Bulky Tam by Candice Veazey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

T-Shirt Blanket Day 6: The end of ball 2

 
Today I picked up my blanket project and I hooked away until I ran out of yarn on my ball. It is getting much bigger now, so I came up with a new way to work this giant blanket. I am now going to work this like a scroll. I roll the end as I go and unroll the other end at the same time. So far this method is working well. I may change this as it gets bigger. 

For now I am done. I have 8 3/4 HDC rows done using a total of 24 t-shirts! If you have any ideas of where I can find more t-shirts to cut up and use on this project, please comment below. Thanks you!



Till I get more t-shirts,
Ms Vee

T-Shirt Blanket Day 5: Just a little more

Today I was a little tired. I woke up with a migraine and it came back this afternoon. I love to crochet because it is something that I can do even without wearing my glasses (when I am working on a big stitch like this one), and it is very relaxing. I managed to get a few more rows done! Currently I have 7 full HDC rows done! I have used 18 t-shirts!

I am looking for more t-shirts. I only have 6 left on my ball.

Till next time,
Ms Vee

T-Shirt Blanket Day 4: First ball switch

Today I made it 2 3/4 rows more rows before I ran out of my yarn. So this is what my blanket looks like after 9 t-shirts.
 

Time to make a new yarn ball. I rounded up a few more outgrown or worn out t-shirts to cut up for my blanket project. The second ball has 15 t-shirts. This will bring the total to 24. Here are some step-by-step images showing how I cut my t-shirts.

Any ideas on how many t-shirts this blanket will take? It's bitter sweet to cut up my family's old t-shirts. However, it's comforting to know they will all be a part of something much greater. Here is one of my favorite old t-shirts being retired.

After cutting them up, I am sewing them up like the first one. After the ball is made, I sewed the ball to the yarn tail on the blanket.

I finished the row I was on before I picked it up for the day. So now I have 5 rows done using 9.5 shirts and 14.5 shirts left in my ball. I'm done for today.

Till we meet again,
Ms Vee

T-Shirt Blanket Day 3: The First Rows

Today I started on my blanket. I'm not sure exactly what size my hook is since its not stamped on the hook. I think I remember it to be a "Q,” but I'm not 100% sure. After much contemplation, I decided on a Half Double Crochet (HDC) stitch. This gives more space and less weight than a Single Crochet (SC), but not as much space and air circulation as a Double Crochet (DC). It was the perfect stitch for this project.

In case you need a refresher course on HDC I found a great one at About Crochet.

I started out with 130 chain.
HDC in 3rd chain.
HDC to end of row.
Chain 2.
HDC in 3rd chain.
HDC to end of row.

You now have 2 full HDC rows.  Now you are caught up with me! I've used 6 t-shirts total so far!

I rolled the whole thing up around the t-shirt yarn ball to keep it safe for later.

Till next time,
Ms Vee

T-Shirt Blanket Day 2: The Project

So, after having a few days to think about it I've decided on my t-shirt project. I love big thick heavy blankets, so I'm making a queen size blanket for my bed. I know it will be heavy since I have rag rugs.

After making my decision on this project, I looked around to see if I could find any specific tutorials, but there were none that matched this project! I know I can't be the first person to ever attempt this, so I decided to share my experience with the world. This is my journey in making a queen size crochet t-shirt blanket.

How many t-shirts do you think it will take? I am using all different sizes and types of t-shirts, from toddler to XXL adult.

I am using a fleece blanket as size guide because I love how it drapes on my bed. However, if you don't have a blanket to go by, here are some basic measurements:

In America, the "standard" sizes for blankets are as follows:

Crib: 45 by 60 inches
Twin: 66 by 90 inches
Double: 80 by 90 inches
Queen: 90 by 90 to 100 inches
King: 108 by 90 to 100 inches

The blanket sizes are from About Knitting.

See you soon!
Ms Vee

T-Shirt Blanket Day 1: Big Ballin'

I've been wanting to make something great with all of these old t-shirts the are hanging around my house. I ran across a perfect tutorial for cutting fabric into continuous strips at the Laughing Purple Goldfish.

This is the same method I have been using for cutting plarn (plastic bags into yarn.) it works very well, but I've made a few special notes since I'm dealing with t-shirts not pillowcases. Some say not to use screen printed shirts, however I am using these. I haven't had an issue yet and I rather like the look. There must not be any holes in the t-shirts. Make sure three is no embroidery, buttons or other embellishments on the body of the shirt. Other wise, I have been following their tutorial for cutting my shirts into 1" strips.

I began to roll them into a ball. As I got to the end of a t-shirt, I joined the next one to it using a tight zig zag stitch on my sewing machine. I then cut off the excess and continued winding my ball. After day 1 of cutting I had 9 t-shirts cut and rolled.

Also, a special thanks to Maryse at Just Maryse for the idea for the name of my blog. I know you are mainly a knitter, but I'd truly just rather be hookin'!

Ta Ta For Now,

Ms Vee