PlanetJune Blog: Latest News, Patterns and Tutorials

Keep reading for the details of the 2011 Christmas CAL and contest!

How can it be December already?! This is the start of my first southern-hemisphere summer, so it’s very hard to believe it’s December – it’s certainly a big change from Canada! This whole year has been a real struggle for me – moving abroad, months of illness, building a new life in a new country, and growing a business – I’ve had too much on my plate for a long time.

So I’ve decided to pause, and to spend this month catching up with work and life-related tasks that have been stacking up, and winding down so that I can have a proper break at Christmas and relax instead of worrying about all the hundreds of emails I have to answer and everything else that I’ve been setting aside for “when I have time” (i.e. never). Then I’ll be ready to start 2012 fresh, with new goals and a new plan.

Review and Win contest

November’s ‘Review and Win’ winner is Kim D, with her Reindeer Antlers review:

I searched for THE PERFECT antler and yours are by far, the best out there! The directions are very clear and easy to understand. Having the tutorial pictures is an ENORMOUS bonus and have helped when my brain just got stuck! I was initially intimidated to try making them, but because your directions are so easy to follow, I am currently working on my third set!! Thank you so much for creating the pattern and having it available for purchase in cyberspace!

Congrats Kim (and thanks for the great feedback!) – I’ll email you to find out which pattern you’d like as your prize 🙂

To be entered into this month’s draw for a free pattern of your choice, just write a review of any product in my shop – thank you!

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Christmas CAL and contest

December means it’s time for another Christmas Crochet-Along! This year I’m running everything through the PlanetJune Ravelry group – it’s much more fun as you can chat with other crocheters throughout the month, make friends, ask questions, and actually be part of a group. But I’ll still be doing Christmas CAL prizes like last year, so there’s a little extra incentive to join in 😉

This crochet-along runs December 1-24 and you can join in by making any of the PlanetJune Christmas-themed crochet patterns:

Gift Boxes, Reindeer Antlers,
Christmas Trees, Christmas Baubles,
Poinsettia, PocketAmi Christmas,
Christmas Pudding, Candy Cane

The winners will be drawn randomly from all entries (one entry per pattern you crochet), and there’ll be a runner-up prize for all participants – my Christmas present to you!

The prizes:
First prize: a $10 gift certificate to spend on anything in the PlanetJune store
Second prize: a free pattern of your choice from the PlanetJune store
Runner-up prizes: I’ll send a discount code to all participants, to use against their next order from the PlanetJune store.

Please join us! You’ll find the Christmas CAL 2011 thread in the PlanetJune Ravelry group – I hope to see you there!

It’s time for another crochet-along roundup from the PlanetJune ravelry group members. The Accessory-Along raised some interesting discussions this month (some of which I’ll blog about in future): the difference it makes when you ‘yarn under’ instead of ‘yarn over’ when you crochet, how to do the Tunisian knit stitch, and the difference between working into a ch and a ch-sp. See, Crochet-Alongs are fun and educational!

As many of the PlanetJune Accessories patterns take far longer to complete than an amigurumi, the group members have voted to extend the Accessories CAL for another month, to give people more time to complete their projects, or even start new projects to give as Christmas presents. You can join in too, if you’d like – we’d love to have you join us!

In addition, I’ll be launching the 2011 Christmas CAL tomorrow (with prizes!) so check back here or on Ravelry for details 🙂

And now let’s see the November results of the Accessories CAL! (As usual, I’m crediting the participants by their Ravelry usernames, so you can look them up on Ravelry if you want more details.)

Let’s start this roundup with the show-stopping larger projects:

Shunra’s stunning Diamond Flowers Scarf Wrap (using the increased size modifications) & Pysselkiisen’s Scarf Sweater (modelled by her sister)

jukatca’s Lacy Bobbles Cowl, worn two ways

PixyKayte’s Chunky Elegance Rug (small size) & my Aunt’s miniature Lacy Bobbles Cowl for my cousin’s new baby

And here’s a selection of some larger project WIPs that we can look forward to seeing again, hopefully completed, in the second roundup at the end of next month:

Shunra’s Diamond Flowers Scarf & klopferli’s Lacy Bobbles Cowl

Enphra’s Climbing Eyelets Triangular Shawl & CrochetColorJunkie’s Gossamer Lace Wrap

And now to the ‘quick and easy’ projects!

A selection of my other patterns cleverly turned into accessories by Fatals-attraction, most of which use crochet thread and tiny 1-2mm hooks to make tiny versions! (Gecko pin, Basic Rose ring and necklace, Tiny Whale necklace, Toadstool [from my book] necklace, Love Hearts photo frame, Amigurumi Balloons pin)

theMarkofSMB used my Plumeria pattern to make a lovely crocheted headband

theMarkofSMB also crocheted 2 Scalloped Scarves and an amazing 10 Lip Balm Holders! (I think I know what some people are getting for Christmas this year!)

Fatals-attraction’s Scalloped Scarves and klopferli’s Lip Balm Holders

Lip Balm Holders by klopferli and Lightblue

Lip Balm Holders by PixyKayte and Fatals-attraction

4 Lip Balm Holders by jukatca

Another great roundup! Well done to all the CAL participants; your projects all look wonderful 🙂

From large to small, there is, I hope, something for everyone to be found in my Accessories range. If you’d like to make any of the projects featured in this roundup, you’ll find all the patterns in the PlanetJune Accessories section of my shop. And, if you have time this coming month, please join the Accessories CAL and share your projects with us before the end of the year!

A couple of months ago, I put out a call in my Ravelry group for Christmas or Holiday design requests, and the most popular idea was for a square gift box, worked in the round. It’s easy enough to crochet a square base, but working the sides in one piece in the round means that the resulting box won’t look square – there are no corners, and, with every round, the square becomes more and more circular…

I decided to rise to the challenge and develop a circular box, worked in one piece in the round, that still looks square. I actually thought I’d already come up with the perfect technique, but, after testing it, I wasn’t happy with the result, so I went back to the drawing board. I created at least 10 cornering techniques and compared samples of each to find the ultimate corner, but I think it was worth the effort, because these boxes undeniably have real square corners:

I chose rich peacock hues for my boxes, with a lighter shade of each colour for the trim, but of course you can change the look by using traditional Christmas colours, or any other colours you like.

Each box has a removable lid, and they are sized so that, with the lids on, the three can nest neatly inside each other. The smallest is 2.5″ (6cm) wide and the largest is 4.5″ (11cm) wide.

You can also use them, with or without lids, as pretty little desk or bathroom organisers, or to display trinkets…

3 of the small boxes without lids

If you’d like to try out my special no-sew, worked-in-a-spiral, square corner technique, the Gift Boxes pattern includes full written instructions, and a bonus 3 page step-by-step photo tutorial at the end of the pattern. I laid it out like this so you’ll have plenty of photos to make sure you’ll definitely be able to understand how to make the corners, but you can save on ink by not printing the last 3 pages!

The Gift Boxes crochet pattern is now available in my shop, or you can bundle it with any other 2 PlanetJune Accessories patterns by picking up a custom set of any 3 Accessories patterns.

Note ready to make it yet? Add it to your Ravelry queue!

I hope you like them!

I’ve created so many Christmas-related patterns and tutorials over the past 5 years, I thought it might be helpful to see them all together in one place.

Before I get into the roundup though, I’d like to ask a quick favour: I’ve been shortlisted for Inside Crochet magazine’s 2011 Blog awards and, if you enjoy my blog, I’d really appreciate your vote. It just takes a click to vote; no signup necessary. Vote here – thank you!

PlanetJune Christmas Crochet Patterns

My 2011 holiday pattern isn’t quite finished yet (thanks to a gardening accident to my finger which forced me to reschedule my tutorial photography session for the pattern), but I hope to publish it before the end of November, so you’ll still have plenty of time to make it before Christmas!

In the meantime, here are my other Christmas patterns from my regular ranges:

Top row: Christmas Trees, Christmas Baubles
Middle row: Poinsettia (donationware), PocketAmi Christmas
Bottom row: Christmas Pudding (donationware), Candy Cane (donationware)

And from PlanetJune Accessories:

Reindeer Antlers, Lip Balm Holder (donationware – and a perfect stocking stuffer!)

By the way, there’ll be another Christmas CAL for all my holiday patterns in the PlanetJune Ravelry group from December 1st, and I think I’ll throw in some prizes like last year. You’ll find crochet-along details on Ravelry from Dec 1st, and I’ll post with a link here too once it’s all set up 🙂

PlanetJune Christmas Craft Tutorials

Top: Punchneedle Embroidered Poinsettia, Polymer Clay Poinsettia
Bottom: Felt Poinsettia, Pom-Pom Christmas Tree

I think that’s it! I hope you’ll find a project (or a few) that you’d like to try for your Christmas crafting this year. And please, don’t forget to vote for me 🙂

Never lose your lip balm again (or have it melt in your pocket) with this stylish holder! Clip it to your keyring, to your bag, or even to your belt loop and you’ll always have lip balm at hand when you need it. Quick and easy to crochet, just pop a lip balm inside and you have a perfect little gift!

You’ve probably seen simple lip balm holder patterns before, but not like this one! Why?

• It’s worked in a fine yarn/thread with a small hook, so it looks subtle and elegant, not bulky and only appropriate for kids (although it’s great for kids too!)
• Don’t be put off by the tiny size: this pattern is designed to be easy on the hands! Only the base is worked in single crochet; the sides are worked into chain-spaces, so it’s much easier to insert your hook to begin each stitch.
• The sturdy hanging loop will keep your holder safe*.

*In case you’re wondering about that ‘sturdy hanging loop’ part, I know what I’m talking about! I first made myself lip balm holders from crochet thread in 2006. They lasted well, but I’d attached each to a metal ring by crocheting the ring to the top of the holder:

After prolonged use, the strands of thread attached to the ring frayed through, as you can see, so I determined to give my new design a sturdy loop so the thread isn’t stressed at any one point.

I tested this pattern using 4 different thicknesses of thread and yarn, so you can see how versatile it is. L-R: size 5 crochet thread, size 8 pearl cotton, size 10 crochet thread, fingering weight yarn (Bernat Baby).

It works up very quickly, and if you add a yummy flavoured lip balm inside, it’ll make a perfect stocking stuffer gift!

This is a donationware pattern, and I’ve changed things slightly this time by adding some additional info that you’ll only find in the PDF version (which you’ll receive as a thank you for your donation):

• A modification to make the holder slightly wider (in case you crochet tightly or have a non-standard-width lip balm tube)
• A simpler edging (in case you don’t get along with reverse single crochet)
• Tips for attaching the various types of hardware that you see in my photos

But, as always, the pattern is free for your use and donations are entirely optional 🙂

Enjoy!

Go to Lip Balm Holder pattern >>

Today I’d like to show you my favourite technique for making a decorative crocheted edging. Reverse single crochet (also known as crab stitch) makes a twisted cord edging, and it’s very easy to achieve – it’s no more than a single crochet stitch, but you work in the opposite direction to usual (left to right for right-handers; right to left for left-handers). Provided you don’t work too fast and tangle up your stitches (which is easy to do when you’re working backwards) it’s an easy technique to master.

As it’s easier to show than to tell, I’ve put together a new video to demonstrate. I hope you’ll find it useful, if you haven’t already mastered this stitch.

(If you want to practice the technique, it’ll be featured in both of my next two patterns, and you’ll get a peek at one of them in the video – another new donationware pattern to be released later this week!)

Reverse Single Crochet (right-handed)

Click to watch this video on YouTube.

Reverse Single Crochet (left-handed)

Click to watch this video on YouTube.

Note: The videos may look a little small embedded in the blog: if so, you can fullscreen them or click through to YouTube to watch them in full HD resolution 🙂

I’ve been compiling a list of crochet technique videos that I plan to create over the coming months. If you have any suggestions you’d like me to add to my list, please let me know.

If you enjoy my crochet tutorial videos, please help to spread the word about them, and/or subscribe to the PlanetJune YouTube channel.

Loved this tutorial? I have so many more amigurumi tips and tricks to share with you!

Boost your amigurumi skills with my latest book, The Essential Guide to Amigurumi, your comprehensive guide to amigurumi techniques and tips.

Do you find my tutorials helpful? If so, please consider making a contribution towards my time so I can continue to create clear and concise tutorials for you:

Thank you so much for your support! Now click below for loads more crochet video and photo tutorials (and do let me know what else you’d like me to cover in future tutorials…)

This is the sixth post in my monthly series on the fascinating nature I encounter here in South Africa. I’ll be back with another crochet post tomorrow!

How could I possibly top last month’s wildlife post? Short of going on a safari, I don’t think it’s going to get much more impressive than penguins and whales and lizards and dassies, all in one day! So I’m narrowing my focus a bit and I’m going to show you something much closer to home (my own back garden, in fact) that’s an absolute miracle of nature.

As you may remember, a few months back, we noticed some weird blobs on the wall of our house, that turned out to be Garden Acraea butterfly cocoons. It turns out that we have a perfect butterfly ecosystem in our garden: we have a Wild Peach (kiggelaria africana) tree (unfortunately no relation to an edible peach) where the butterflies lay their eggs.

The wild peach is the larger, darker tree at the back. The butterfly wall (left of photo) faces the tree.

As winter ended and spring began (I’m in the southern hemisphere, remember), the cycle started up, and I’ve been able to observe the whole fascinating process just by stepping out into my garden!

Butterfly eggs

After hatching, the little caterpillars feast on the wild peach leaves (which grow back quickly – don’t worry about the tree). Apparently cuckoos eat the caterpillars, although I’ve yet to spot one on our tree. And when the wild peach fruits ripen (from February) they apparently attract a whole host of different birds, so I’ll report back if we see anything interesting 🙂

Baby caterpillars and munched leaf

When the caterpillars are fully grown, they find a convenient sunny wall to attach themselves to before pupating. They spin a silk mat and grip onto it with proleg hooks called crochets (of course, crochet means hook in French, so that’s not really a huge coincidence, but it still made me smile!)

You can see the silk mat clearly when the caterpillars form their chrysalises on a window instead of the wall. (This butterfly had just emerged from his chrysalis.)

So here’s the puzzle: how does that butterfly, with those big wings, come from that skinny little chrysalis?

Like this! As the butterflies emerge, the wings are curled and crumpled. They straighten and unfurl, in the slowest of slow motion. Here’s a sequence of photos to demonstrate:

This takes about an hour. At the end of this the wings are really frail and floppy – the slightest breeze makes them flap all over the place and almost pulls the butterfly from the wall! The butterfly rests with all her wings held together so the wind doesn’t catch them and waits for another hour or so while her wings strengthen. Then she abandons the cocoon and climbs slowly up the wall, flapping her wings to test them:

And then she’s off!

Flying back to the wild peach tree

Nature is pretty amazing, don’t you think?

Whatever else is going on, there’s magic everywhere in the world if you just slow down and look for it. Today I’m sharing mine with you – I hope you enjoyed it!

Update: The Scarf Sweater instructions, together with my Eyelet Ripple stitch pattern, are now available as a printable Donationware pattern. They are still available for free, but if you like them please consider sending me a donation to show your appreciation:

Send me a donation and receive the easy-to-print PDF version of the instructions and stitch pattern (with bonus assembly photos and instructions on how to wear it) as a thank you!

Donations of any size are much appreciated. Just add the amount you wish to donate, and, once you have checked out and paid, your pattern will instantly be available to download from your PlanetJune account.

The complete pattern and instructions are available below, regardless of whether or not you choose to pay for them 🙂

This is a PlanetJune original crochet pattern. Feel free to use items made from this pattern however you wish, but I’d appreciate credit as the pattern designer. Please do not reproduce the pattern anywhere else; instead post a link to www.planetjune.com/scarfsweater

Not ready to make it yet? Add it to your Ravelry queue:

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Wow, I really didn’t expect such a great response to my Scarf Sweater – I linked it up on Ravelry and over 60 people have queued it already! Of course, you can use any stitch pattern to make a scarf sweater, but I’ve been getting questions about the eyelet ripple stitch pattern I used, so I thought I’d share some info about ripples and the pattern for my eyelet ripple.

Ripple Crochet Basics

Ripple (aka chevron) patterns in crochet take 2 basic forms:

• Solid Ripple: the peaks and valleys are formed by increases and decreases, giving a solid fabric with no holes
• Eyelet Ripple: the peaks and valleys are formed by chains and skipped stitches, leaving a hole (an eyelet) at the point of each direction change

Note: these are my names for them; other people may call them by other names or not distinguish between the two types at all!

All ripples are formed by a section of straight stitches, a peak to change direction, another section of straight stitches, and then a valley to change direction again. This forms a zig-zag pattern. The number of stitches in the straight sections determines the width of the ripple, and the number of increases/decreases or chains/skipped stitches determines the angle of the ripple.

June’s Eyelet Ripple Pattern

You can use this pattern to make a scarf, a blanket, or a scarf sweater like mine! This is a generic pattern, so you can make it any width you like. N is the number of repeats, not including the half repeat at each edge. So in the stitch diagram below, N=1 and the ripple has 2 complete zig-zags. (For my Scarf Sweater, I used N=3, so I had 4 zig-zags.)

Terminology

Pattern

Ch 12xN + 15.

Row 1: dc in 4th ch from hook (unworked chains count as dc), dc in next 4 ch, skip next 2 ch, (dc in next 5 ch, ch 2, dc in next 5 ch, skip next 2 ch) N times, dc in next 4 ch, 2 dc in last ch.

Row 2: ch 3 (counts as dc), dc in same st, dc in next 4 st, skip next 2 st, (dc in next 4 st, [dc, ch 2, dc] in next ch2-sp, dc in next 4 st, skip next 2 st) N times, dc in next 4 st, 2 dc in last st.

Repeat Row 2 until your piece is as long as you want.

Stitch Diagram

Scarf Sweater Joining

If you’re making this into a scarf sweater, when you come to seam the two short ends together, you won’t be stitching two straight lines; you’ll be matching up the zig-zag shapes at the ends of the scarf, as shown below. If you stitch neatly, the zig-zag disguises the seam very nicely – I tried to find my seam so I could take a photo of it for you, and I can’t actually find it!

When you join the two layers across the back, do take a moment to make sure you continue the zig-zag pattern across both layers, to make the seam less visible. You won’t get the eyelets along the seam, but at least the zig-zags can flow down across both layers.

I hope you enjoy this pattern. Please leave me a comment below if you do, and consider leaving me a donation. Thanks!

More PlanetJune Accessories patterns

If you’ve enjoyed this post, you might also like my PlanetJune Accessories crochet patterns: they all include stitch diagrams and clear written explanations so you can easily crochet elegant wearable accessories for yourself and to give as beautiful gifts. Here’s a taster of the range:

We’re also having a PlanetJune Accessory CAL on Ravelry throughout November, and you’re very welcome to join in!