Round crochet coaster

A few days ago I finished crocheting another coaster in the round.  This time I used stitch counters and what a difference it made!  The finished product is below:

This is the right-side up view.

This is the wrong-side up view.

I think the coaster turned out quite well for my second attempt at crocheting in the round.  (^_^)

Materials:

Patons Classic Wool Natural Mix
Crochet hook size 8

Stich counters if you have them

I followed some very simple steps:

(1) Chain 4 stitches, and join with a slip stitch to form the center loop.  Then chain 1-- this counts as the first SC (single crochet)-- mark this with a stitch counter if one is available, and do 7 SC (single crochet) through the center loop, for a total of 8 SC (counting the first chained stitch).  Join the last of the SC to the first chain with a slip stitch (the stitch counter comes in handy for letting you know which stitch to join to).

(2) Round two: chain one-- mark with a stitch counter, then SC twice in each of the stitches for a total of 16.

(3) On each round increase by 8 stitches in regular intervals.  (For example on round three SC twice in every other stitch, and on round four SC twice every third stitch.  This will lead to an increase of 8 stitches per round.)

(4) After finishing the 6th round, turn once you chain 1 to reach the 7th round.  This means that you will crochet back around on the part you just finished, instead of proceeding forward in the same direction.  This creates a slight change in texture (you can see it especially clearly in the wrong-side up view as the indentation).

(5) After the 7th round, chain two, marking the 2nd chain with the stitch counter, turn, and finish the coaster with a DC (double crochet) in each stitch.

In other news my husband just purchased a Brother CS6000i sewing machine for me as a belated Christmas present!  I am so excited.  It will arrive this coming Wednesday (only 2 days away).

Yesterday I spent some time cutting out patterns for my next couple of sewing projects.

I think I briefly mentioned in my previous post that I had purchased some patterns.  I have the "Very Easy Vogue" pattern V8634 in Xsm-Sml-Med (a close-fitting pullover top with a cowlneck), meant for two-way stretch knits.  I also picked up Simplicity 2317 Size(s) A 8-18 (multiple patterns in this pack, all variations on sleepwear).  The dress pattern that I picked out before, Vogue Options V8648, seems more challenging so I am putting it on the back burner until I acquire some more experience.

It took awhile to cut out all 22 pieces of the Simplicity pattern, but I did it!

For now I want to focus on just making the simple tank top and shorts PJ set, but eventually I want to make the Tshirt + long sleeve shirt/pants PJ set in flannel too, so I figured I might as well cut out all the pieces.

I made some adjustments to the patterns (cowlneck and PJ set(s)) before cutting them out.  After measuring myself with a measuring tape, I realized that I am relatively thick-waisted (less than 9" of difference between my waist measurement and my hip measurement), but in other measurements I am pretty standard (my numbers: 32-26-34 1/2) so I adjusted the patterns by drawing natural looking lines to the next size up only for my waist area.  Fortunately this was easy to do thanks to modern day multi-size patterns!  I also lengthened the inseam on the pants leg pattern to end up at around 31" once fully made (seam allowance and all that accounted for), and made some simple adjustments to the shorts pattern to make them a tad bit longer (I am too old to be showing off my booty to that extent...).

Today I purchased some simple knit fabric (navy blue for the cowlneck top, and heather gray for the tank top and shorts PJ set), matching thread (Gütermann) and elastic for the waistband of the shorts.

I just finished washing and drying the fabric.  We'll see if it shrank or not in the wash!