Creating Stitch Charts for Crochet Knitting and Crafts

Some time ago I made a video tutorial to make a crochet butterfly stitch to incorporate into your work. You can see the video here:

Someone asked on the video comments if I could make a chart for the pattern. I know that some people like charts, some like written instructions and some prefer a video to follow so they can crochet along. We are all different in the way we work and I was keen to help by making a chart for this subscriber. 

However it is something I've never done before, I've used many charts myself but never made one. I tried drawing out the stitches on paper and it worked fairly well but was so time consuming and twice I made a mistake on the last row which meant I had to start drawing from scratch - it was so annoying and I was cross with myself! It looked something like this and was not great.

 I decided to try a quick internet search to see if there were easier ways to make charts and one of the first things that came up was a site called Stitch Fiddle. https://www.stitchfiddle.com/en/chart/new

Well this site changed my day! It took me a while to understand how it worked but it was easy to use and after a few trial and error attempts I managed to make a chart for the butterfly stitch.

It is a simple 'drag and drop' to make your chart. You have the choice of free style, crochet, knitting or cross stitch charts and can even upload a photo to make into a chart. You can save your designs by registering with them free of charge, all you need is an email address.

Lots of stitch symbols are there to use and they follow the common, universal, worldwide symbols that most people use. 

Below is a quick example of my chart however, if you would like to see it more clearly you can download it in pdf format from my documents if you would like to have a go, print it or just see it:
https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B3r0r1j1kA2ZcUE5UjVJc0RfYzg

It took me all afternoon to make my chart but I'm sure with practice that time would get much shorter as I learn how to do it. There are help features that you can access at any time as you create your chart.

This is the response I got regarding the chart request on YouTube:

"Tried the Butterfly Stitch with the Chart you made for it and it was a breeze. Charts are such a welcome part of crochet over written instructions - which are the one downside to crochet in my opinion. Thanks a million"

Well that has inspired me to try some more and I think Stitch Fiddle will become my new place to play :) It is still being developed and new features are being added regularly. It is free to use and you can create a chart without any cost but you can also pay for more advanced features if you wish.

You can save charts and share them with others, edit previously made charts, change the palette of stitches to your own choice adding more or less to those that are always available in your design view. You can also print and export your chart - I'm sure there is much more that I've yet to discover too. 

Go on, have a go - if I can do it anyone can :)

and of course - thank you Stitch Fiddle!

Happy crafting!

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The Very Hungry Catterpillar Crochet Toy

Watch out there's a hungry catterpillar about! Lock up your fruit and vegetables :)

Loved making this for my friends granddaughter and it is really easy to do, working in the round all the sections join together in one piece so there is not lots of sewing to do! I made it in a week working on it just in the evenings now and again.

Don't make my mistake and decide to leave stuffing to the end (I didn't have any and was keen to get on with the crochet) however I managed to stuff it OK but it would have been easier to do it as I went along.

There is not a great amount of sewing, just the legs, antennae and eyes. 

To help keep the body tight I ran a long thread from nose to tail and pulled it tight sewing it firmly at each end, you don't have to do that but I felt it gave it shape.

Mine came out at around 22" long and about 5" high to top of antennae but you could make it bigger by just keep making more segments - or smaller by using thinner yarn and a smaller hook or less segments.

I used Cygnet Aran yarn in Mint and Forest green and then oddments of yarn from my stash for the other parts. 

Hook size used - 5.00 mm and 5.5 mm

Very easy to follow FREE pattern with clear instructions big thank you to Londie for sharing this for free.

Get the pattern here or through Ravelry: http://www.londieshandmadecrochet.com/2016/08/the-hungry-caterpillar-amigurumi.html

Happy crocheting!

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Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Dragonfly Stitch Crochet

The dragonfly stitch is done in a similar way to the Butterfly Stitch which I showed you a few months ago.

It is a very easy technique to learn but very effective and can be used in a lot of different items such as coasters, mats, shawls and blankets.

In this video I show you how to do just the Dragonfly stitch and in the next one I do a crochet a long (CAL) to show you how to make a small mat or granny square with a Dragonfly Stitch on each side.

Coaster mat/granny square tutorial:

Happy crocheting!

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Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Simple Crochet Butterflies

I've been making these beautiful little crochet butterflies. They are so lovely and can be used for applique, embellishments or simply as decorations.

The first pattern is called Dainty Butterflies and is designed by Jo Ann Maxwell

They were really easy to make and I did lots in one evening using different yarns, crochet thread and embroidery silks.

I did make a few changes to how I did the antenna, rather than make them from a separate piece of yarn I used the starting and ending threads and slip stitched them to the head and then chained a few stitches. It saved having to weave in the starting thread :)

I also added beads to some of the butterflies on the ends of the larger wings, I thought it added another dimension to them. 

Once finished I made a wash of 40% PVA glue and 60% water, pinned them out and painted them with the stiffening wash, left them to dry and was really pleased with the finished butterflies.

See my video for some close ups of the butterflies: https://youtu.be/5mBdsKelKto

You can find the link to the free pattern here: http://www.crochetmagazine.com/printer.php?mode=article&article_id=3322  

The other pattern is for a butterfly made from 5 hearts

Again this was an easy to follow pattern, you make three hearts for the body and two larger hearts for the wings, adding little antenna to one of the body hearts for the head.

So simple but really effective.

You can find the free pattern here: http://www.goldenlucycrafts.com/free-patterns/crochet-heart-animals-butterfly

The original pattern is in US terms, I had to change it to UK terms.

Happy crocheting!

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Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Butterflies made from crochet hearts

I love these little butterflies which are made from 5 hearts - 3 small and two larger ones.

The pattern is really easy, the small heart is made in just one round with all the stitches being worked into the first of 4 chains.

The medium and large hearts are all made by starting the small heart and then adding more rounds to give larger sizes. It is so simple but VERY effective.

I made these butterflies in about 45 minutes one evening while watching TV.

You can find the FREE pattern here: http://www.goldenlucycrafts.com/free-patterns/crochet-heart-animals-butterfly

Thank you Elena for sharing your pattern for free :)

Happy crocheting!

Find me on:

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Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Butterfly Stitch Crochet Shawl

I've now finished the Butterfly Stitch Shawl, it was a lovely pattern to do and thank you Sharon and Debi for sharing it for free.

The design is by njSharon and DebiAdams and can be found as a free download on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/butterfly-stitch-prayer-shawl

It is worth noting that the pattern uses US crochet terms, so you will have to remember to convert them to UK terms if you prefer to work with them.

I used 100% mercerised crochet cotton from 'Boyes' the high street store, I used 2x65g balls in Ecru.

The pattern is really easy once you get into the rhythm of doing it and it grows really fast, I actually started it in December 2015 and finished in April 2016 but was working on it in between doing other things too, it is nice and relaxing to work on while watching TV.

Because it is worked from the back point you can make it as big or small as you want, so once you are happy with the size you simply stop crocheting!

Each of the pattern repeats creates an offset butterfly design.

When I had finished it I added a beaded edge to give it a bit of weight.If you would like to know how to add beads to edgings, see my video here:
https://youtu.be/wBb92wE0wgc


Happy crocheting!

Find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts Twitter: www.twitter.com/Pookie_Doodle

and Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Amigurumi Little Bee - Free pattern and tutorial

I'm buzzzzzzzing with excitement at having made my own little bee!

I searched all over for something that looked like what I wanted but couldn't find anything so decided to have a go.

I find it quite easy to make things, but writing down what I did into an understandable pattern always proves quite tricky but hopefully I've done it - let me know if you find any mistakes though. :)

You can download the free pattern here as a pdf: https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B3r0r1j1kA2ZUUdkT205d1lLX0k


and you can find a video tutorial here if you want to CAL - crochet along:

The bee is done in one piece for the body and head and the legs and antenna are really easy to do, made mainly from chain stitches.


The wings are worked by going along both sides of chain stitches.

Happy crocheting if you get 'buzzy' making a bee!

Find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts and Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Amigurumi crochet Ant

We have a friend called Ant, so what better small gift than a crocheted ant :)

I found this free pattern on Ravelry - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ameise---ant it is by Conni and offered free of charge.

Really easy to do I made it in an evening.

Worked in the round so the only sewing was to attach the legs and antenna, I just left a long thread at the top of each leg and threaded it through the body and sewed off.

I used plastic googly eyes and glued them in position, the sort you get in children's crafts but if it was for a child you could sew on the features to make it safer.

He was thrilled with it and I don't think he was just saying that - it now has pride of place in his office :)

Thank you Conni for a fun pattern and free too!

Find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts and Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Butterfly Stitch Crochet Tutorial

This is a beautiful stitch with very pretty results.

There are many ways to incorporate the stitch into your work so it is hard to do a tutorial covering every possibility, I will therefore just give the basic pattern for a "granny square" style and you can then have a go and try it out in different designs. Below are a few that I've tried:

You can also see my video here if you find watching a tutorial easier: 

I also have a PDF chart if you prefer, this can be found in the downloads here:
https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B3r0r1j1kA2ZcUE5UjVJc0RfYzg

Begin by crocheting a base on which to work, I did some two rows of 15 trebles.

Butterfly Row 1: 3 chain turn which counts as the first treble, 3 trebles (in each of the trebles in row below), 7 chain, miss 7 trebles, 4 trebles (in each of the trebles in row below)

Butterfly Row 2: Repeat row 1. It should now look like this:

Butterfly Row 3: 3 chain turn which counts as the first treble, 3 trebles (in each of the trebles in row below), two trebles in next treble of row below. 2 chain, then work a double treble into the centre treble of your base row. eg. in the trebles below the first space. See pictures below where I've tried to show the stitch you are looking for.
The double treble will go around the chains to bring them together to form the wings. 2 chain, two trebles in next treble of row below, 3 trebles (in each of the trebles in row below)

Butterfly Row 4: 3 chain turn which counts as the first treble, 4 trebles (in each of the trebles in row below) 2 trebles in the two chain space, 1 treble in the double treble of row below, 2 trebles in the two chain space, one treble in each of the trebles in the row below.

Finish off with one or two rows of trebles or add your own border.

You can now see the butterfly design, you can use this in lots of ways - I hope you have fun trying it out.

Here I did four butterflies around the edge:

Happy Crocheting!

Find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts and Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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