Flower and Bow Headbands

One of the things I couldn't show you until now are these...

I made these for my 11 year old cousins.  Each one took under 5 mins and I found myself wishing that I wouldn't look ridiculous wearing them.

I picked up a pack of headbands at Target and used a simple bow and flower pattern.  I happened to have the yarn that matched the colors really well.

In the bow, I wrapped it together and around the headband at the same time.

In the flower I added the button and used that to affix it to the headband.

I used 4ply yarn and my trusty G hook.

I'm happy to say the girls seemed to love them.

DforV: Cornmeal

Worst name for a color ever.  
But it's pretty with yellow.  Which really is the best name for a color ever.  'Cause you know its a color name.  
Not a food....

ANYWAYZ

33 done.  303 left. Progress.

If I do 5 a day I'll be done in 60 days  :D

DforV: Right Vs. Wrong

I've been doing this all day.  I've got 21 and a couple things I've figured out.  First, here they are....

Ok, lets talk a little bit about Right Vs. Wrong.  

There are two sides to a crochet project.  The "right" side and the "wrong" side.  The names are misleading.  You can prefer either side, and either side can be the finished product.

Generally speaking, the wrong side is the one opposite of the right side which is facing you when you work.

Wrong = Back

Right = Front

As the pattern indicates.

For these flowers there are two steps.  The center and the petals.  General speaking, again, you work on the right side.  I created the centers and continued the petals looking at the right side.  

BUT when the petals are done, I liked the wrong side better.  The wrong side in this case is puffy and the right is flat.

You follow?

SO.  Here is the difference....

In the "right" you see what I call the SC Vs.  The single crochet stitches form Vs that you put your hook under.

On the "wrong" you see what I call the equal sign.  Here you are putting your hook between the signs on either side. 

Depending on which one you have facing you when you make the petal, the centers turn out differently.  Lemme show you.

Here is the right and wrong side and the completed petal.  When I crocheted into the right side of the hook I got what you see on the left.  It is flat and looks like a spoke to me.

When I crocheted into the wrong side I got what you see in the right.  A nice little circle.

Keep in mind that when you are making the petals the side you are looking at will end up being the "wrong" side of the project, or in my case the side that is facing the mattress.   You have to flip over the flower to see the puff on the top.    This is a little hard to show, but here's a shot at it.

Also last note, you can't push that puff in to reverse the top of the flower.  I tried and now I have two flat flowers.  Wah wah.  :(

So.  Yah, I hope that made some sense.  Let me know if this helps or just makes it worse.  :)  Now go up to the top pic and find the two different ways.  :)

Also.  If you are following along, let me know.  If you have questions I might be able to help.

Puff Stitch Flower Tutorial.

These are starting to look decent so I'm going to show you how I make them.  

Keep in mind I've been agonizing over them all day today.  I've made 10.  And started more.  Watched every video I could find and read every tutorial.  It really isn't a difficult stitch.  But its awkward at first.  

Crochet is all about muscle memory.  ALL about it.

Also I apologize for the background switch up.  It took me a minute to realize the glare.

Start with two colors.  You can do one.  I just like to look of two.

Make a Magic Circle.  This was a pain in the ass until it clicked, now I use it for everything.  You can also chain 4, join with a slip stitch, and do 6 single crochet in the hole and start with the second color.  If you wanna do the majestic magic circle try this.  

Pull the yarn through, not a SC (Single Crochet) yet.

Now 5 SC (Single Crochet.  The last loop on he yarn here is going to be the 6th loop for the petal.  One SC per loop.  So in theory, well, in practice really, you can make as many petals as you want, just make that many SC.  If you need help with Single Croceht, try this one.  

***PRO TIP***  Make that first SC a bit exaggerated   It's hard to see and get in with you tighten the yarn.  This will help.

Pull the yarn tight to pull the SCs together.  This is where you are going to want the video linked above.  (Keep trying!)

Join with the first SC.

This is a SL (Slip Stitch whenever you see "join" you are completing the circle with a slip stitch.  Here you may be able to see the 6 ST (stitches) that will become the petals.

Here you are going to grab the yarn again, pull to through and cut it.  You cut it off only if you are going to do another color.  If you are continuing this color skip this step.

Pull it tight.  You will be crocheting into this loop and don't want it to pull more than the rest.  That will warp the petal.  

Ok, now you need to add the next color.  Insert your hook at the ST before the tie you just made.  Put your yarn on the hook and pull it through.  This might help.  Skip to a minute.

When you have it through, chain (CH) 3.  This is going to be the height of your petal.  You can vary this a bit.  Some people are tight crocheters, some are loose.  It's just want is natural for you.  When working in a round I'm tight.  I apologize if the three chains are difficult to see here.

Yarn Over (YO).

Insert the hook into the SAME SC ST (don't forget your vocab!  This is Single Crochet Stitch, this is what you made when you did the magic circle.  You remember, each one is a petal.)

 - Different View - Same Directions - 

Pull through.  Pull up with your hook so that the three loops you have on your hook is the same length.  This will help create space you will need later and keep the height of the petal consistent.

Do this YO (Yarn Over) and pull through 4 times.  This will give you nine loops on your hook.  You can do more or less depending on how full you want your petal to be.  It's your call. 9 seemed good to me, that when the SC ST started getting tight.  When it does start getting tight there is nothing wrong with pulling the circle to stretch it a bit.  It will spring back.  

YO....

And pull through all 9 loops.  This is going to take you a couple tries.  The more consistent the height is, the easier this will be.  A couple pics up when we started this step.  That's what I was saying.  :)

Tug it a bit to bunch the loops up a little and CH 3.  Some patterns will tell you to SL (Slip Stitch) one and chain 2 but really you're chaining 3 so, yah.  Do that.

Now this is important.  This is what I was weirding out about.  Take that and go back into THE SAME HOLE.  The same one.  

Pull through.... 

And chain 3. (SL and CH2)  
***PRO TIP***  The difference in a chain and a slip stitch is really where you are in the pattern.  If you are going into a ST its a slip.  If you aren't and you are just grabbing the yarn and pulling it through itself, then it's a CH.

YO and insert your hook INTO THE NEXT SC ST.  This begins your next petal.
* Repeat all steps 5 more times.  

At this point is when I cut these.  I stitch around them for one petal and get rid of em.  Some people keep them the whole time to secure them.  I figure they are secure.  The likelihood of this coming undone from those tails is like ... like ...  someone giving me a time machine so I can go back to 1945 to pick up some dresses and get a hair cut.  Not bloody likely.

FF>>

Alllllright.  Good job getting to here!  Now, you are back at the top of the 6th petal.  You are going to do the same...

CH 3 and connect with a SL to the same SC ST.

The difference here is that you are going to pull it up and cut the string.  I tend to cut the tail part.  I'm keeping a long string because I'm using it to sew the flowers together later.

   
Pull it TIGHT and in the direction of the center.  This will keep it close to the middle to make it look more complete and secure.

Pull on the side that you have designated as the "wrong" side.  The side that won't be seen.  My "wrong" side is the flatter one.  I want the puff to be the visible part.

Aaaaand done.

I kind of love them.  :)

The Official Pattern
Color 1 - 
Row 1 - Magic Circle, SC 5, SL to join
Color 2 - 
Row 2 - Chain 3, YO, through SC ST, YO* Repeat 4x, Pull through loop, CH 3, through ST, SL, CH 2, YO through next SC ST * Repeat 6 times.  Last SC SL complete with SL.

(All those pics for THAT.)