A respite from tangling: Crocheted "Messy Bun" Hat and Cowl

If you are use to seeing posts on the Zentangle® method or one of the tangling challenges that I have participated in, sorry to disappoint you. Over the last 4-5 years I have spent most of my time tangling, This has been either preparing for or offering classes as well as creating different things for the different market events that I participated in. Many of those were also a marketing tool for the classes. During that time I have done little with any of the needle craft that I have done before. The last couple of weeks I have cut back on the tangling and been working on a number of crocheting projects. I have enjoyed the break. Don't see that this will be a major thing but just taking a break and doing something else that I enjoy has been a nice respite.

I earlier posted pictures of a couple of pairs of fingerless mittens that I had done. Here are two other projects that I have been working on.

The hat is called a Messy bun or ponytail hat and the then there is the cowl.  The cowl uses the crocodile stitch that I used on the mittens. The hat is done with what I think is called a Jelly Bean stitch. The pattern that I used is one that I found  on Ravelry. It is called a Jellybun Beanie by Heidi Yates. I think her site is snappy-tot.com . Both of the items use basic stitches and are easy to do.  There were a few things in the hats directions that were a little unclear but I was able to figure them out. The cowl is a pattern from Leisure arts. 

Thanks for visiting.  Stay tuned as I will still be posting things on tangling. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

What's in a pattern? Can they be claimed?

Recently, as well a couple of times in the past, there have been discussions in some of the FB tangling groups about patterns. Some of this has focused on what is a new pattern and what is a variation of an existing pattern. There have also been discussions about naming and claiming a pattern. My own belief is that there are probably not any new patterns, or in Zentangle® vernacular tangles, just variations. Patterns get used in the textile industry, in architecture, knitting, crocheting, quilting, art and nature. I think what has happened with tangling is that it is the newest to use patterns and over the last 10+ years, the number of tangles being used has exploded.

Are any of these new or are they just new to tangling? My belief is that the later is probably true. Think about how most patterns/ tangles come into being, even the ones that Rick and Maria included in their original publication and sometime get referred to as "Official tangle". They come from observations of other things. What the Zentangle® method provides is a way to deconstruct them. Even this is not a clear though as I have seen things posted where the end result is similar but the steps to get there are different. Maybe that is why people will talk about a step out being copyrighted and not reproducing them.

Well, this post is getting off the track. What made me think of it is a very common pattern. Here are examples of this tangle in the tangling world.

The tangle I am referencing is the one in the corners. In the tangling world it is known as Keeko.

On the left is another example of this tangle as an edge.

   

Here is an example of the same tangle used as a background. 

This same pattern is used in other things as well. Some that are familiar with my blog know that I also knit and crochet. Here is an example of it being used in this craft. 

In this "world" it is called basket weave. 

I think that anyone that has ever used Keeko recognizes it as a weave pattern. They are made differently but the pattern is the same. Can anyone lay claim to it? To me, the purpose of having some common names in a particular craft is that it aids communication.  Someone can use it and people know what is being talked about. So I do feel there is a purpose in naming them.  However, I do not feel that there will ever be consistency, even in the tangling world as long as there is no single data base, or official data base if you prefer to list them. I do not think this will happen, So I guess we just have to get used to there being duplication and just try not to get so "bent" about it.

Thanks for visiting. If you got all the way through this, I applaud your perseverance. As always, comments are welcome, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

Something a little different: Crocheted afghan # 7

This is a different post than what you are use to seeing from me. It is not a Zentangle® post. Some of you who have followed my blog for a while may not be as surprised by it, but probably still unexpected. If you looked at my description of my blog and looked at some of the other pages, other than the Zentangle® related pages, will know that I also do knitting and crocheting. When our first grandchild was born I decided to make an afghan for her. Figured it was something that I could do that was unique. It turned out that way as 6 grandchildren and 6 afghans later, they still use them. Number 6 was a few years ago and I thought I was done, unless I lived long enough to have great grandchildren. Well we had a surprise and grandchild number 7 is due anytime now. This will also be our first grandson. With all the other things going on, was not sure that I would be able to get his done before he was born. Somehow I miraculously made it. Adding to the task is that I have done different patterns with each grandchild. Took me some time to decide on what I wanted to do. This one is a simple cluster pattern and like Zentangle® method. is a repeating pattern. Guess you could call it a mono-pattern afghan.Well enough rambling. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Used Caron simply soft yarn. Colors are Royal Blue and White.

Took the second picture so that you could see the repeating pattern better. 

Thanks for visiting.  As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Afghan # 6: It is finally done

This is not my usual blog post since so many of them have to do with my work with Zentangle®. For those that have explored a little further on my blog, you may remember that I had indicated that I had made afghans/blankets for each of my grandchildren. I had not yet been able to finish the one for granddaughter #6.  I figured that this would be as good a time as any as I am off work due to the holidays. All I had to do was the border and finish. This is a slight modification of a Leisure Arts pattern entitled Pastel Stripes. I do not have pictures of others but did a few others for some of the other granddaughters from the same publication, "Make One for Baby". I beat the deadline of getting it done before her 16th birthday. She will be     1 year old in a couple of months. Well here are a couple of pictures of the finished product.

Took this with a flash to hopefully help see the colors better.

This one was taken without a flash and a very slow shutter speed since there was not a lot of light except for the tree. Like the way this one looks better than the first one.

Colors of the stripes are pink, blue, yellow, green, peach, lavender and a variegated yarn. The pattern called for aqua but could not find any so had to substitute.

Not sure how many more of these I will need to make.