Showing posts with label jewelry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jewelry. Show all posts

Monday, August 31, 2009

Sun and Moon Earrings



Sun and Moon Earrings
These are the notes I took for a friend, not a true pattern, so please bear with me and PLEASE feel free to ask questions!

They are really pretty simple and once you get the thread onto the earring, it’s not much different than any other crochet. I used two hoops of different metal-tone, with the silver being slightly larger due to the optical illusion of size given to the Sun earring with the stitches being outside the circle. The Moon would seem puny in comparison.

You’ll work with the right side facing you, even when you turn the work, it just seems to work out like that. I used a size B hook and size 5 crochet thread. Make a slip stich just like you always would but with a tail at least two inches long, then slip the hook inside the circle and under to catch the thread around the earring. Pull up a loop, catch the thread and pull through to make the first single crochet stitch.(You’re sort of treating the earring like it’s your foundation chain, and you’re making a row of single crochet on it.) Continue in this way until you have the desired umber of stitches. (There may be another or better way to do this. This is what I stumbled on in my experimenting and it works, so I keep using it. :))

For the Sun, I used 40 stitches, but any number divisible by five works; I’ve used this pattern with as few as 15 stitches and as many as 180. It always looks great. :) You want to use enough stitches that they are close on the earring, but not so many that the stitches on top are curving around themselves. After you get your first row onto the earring, ch one and turn then begin this pattern going back the other way: sc, dc, tc, dc, sc. Don’t be afraid to pull your stitches tight. If you allow the second dc and sc to go loose, you don’t get that nice bump on the surface. Once you get to the end, break thread, pull through the last loop and tie this end to the beginning tail. Snip close and superglue the knot for security.

For the Moon, you are going to begin the same way, only you don’t want enough stitches to cover the earring. I made enough to cover half the hoop in the same manner as the Sun. When you get to the end, turn work (do not ch 1 before turning, this creates a little bump in the end where you want it to be smooth), sk next st and sl st for the next four stitches. From here you will sc decr across until the last four or three stitches, depending on how many you have at the end. When you get to the end of that row, repeat it one more time. Your stitches will be very tight and you’ll want to begin moving them to the side of the hoop and finally toward the inside. Once you complete the third row, finish off and weave in ends. Slide the stitches to the inside of the hoop (this is easiest if you bunch them up first), then slide one end all the way to the top of the hoop and spread the rest out along the hoop to create the crescent shape. The thread will be taut. Try to get the stitches spaced evenly and the shape of the Moon will follow. Be sure to superglue your knots for security once you’re happy with the shape.
Please don’t sell this pattern or products made from this pattern, or redistribute this pattern. Thanks!

BB and thank you!!
~Jeannie

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

My first blog... and my first crochet pattern. Whew! It's a big day! ;)

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I started a blog to keep a listing of my original fiber art patterns. Then I realized that I'd probably use it for a lot more than that, so really, expect anything here. If it's important to me, I'm going to write about it at some point. I hope you will find it fun and sometimes enlightening.



To start off, here is a little pattern I worked up today while trying to design some crocheted earrings for bellydance. Please feel free to make these for yourself, link interested folks back to here or share this pattern. However, I will be making these to sell in my local bellydance community, so please don't sell this pattern, reproduce it without permission, or make these earrings to sell without my express permission. If you make these and love them, please tell me! Share a photo, especially if you use a crazy thread or add embellishments like beads. If you find an error, for the love of all the is holy, PLEASE let me know! I'd hate for folks to be confused or unhappy with the results because of a silly mistake I made. Also, please bear with me as I just learned to crochet last month.



Ok, here we go!




Crocheted Kuchi Earrings



I designed these earrings to look like the beautiful, heavy earrings of the Kuchis people in Afghanistan. Those earrings are made of pot metal with bits of glass embedded in them like mosaic. I wanted something substantial, but light, that I could make in any color or metallic finish. After searching for motifs on the Internet that might work, I decided to try my hand at designing something myself. This is the result.



Materials:

Aunt Lydia's Fashion Crochet Thread, number 5, Natural/Pearl

Boye crochet hook: B/1-2.25MM

Scissors

Two French hooks or other earring findings of your choice



Abbreviations:

ch-chain

sl st-slip stitch

dc-double crochet

sc-single crochet



Picot: ch3, sl st through 3rd stitch from the needle.



Base row: Ch 5 and join with sl st to form a ring.



2nd row: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), *dc into the ring and ch 1, repeat from * 6 times, dc (8 in all). Turn



3rd row: Ch 3, dc 2 times into every space across (15 in all).



4th row: *Ch3 to form a picot, sc in next stitch. Repeat from * across (13 picots in all). Fasten off and weave in ends.



Repeat for second earring. Attach to hook by slipping the center loop into the open ring of the hook. Viola and congrats! I hope you love them!



BB!

~Jeannie