DIY Blue Crochet Cardigan

“If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose]. “1 John 1:9 (amp)

 

Hello Everyone!

Happy Hump Day!  I’m so happy to share with you all my last crochet sweater from the January Gallery Night/Day exhibit.  While it is the last sweater from this small collection it is not my last crochet project.  As a matter of fact i’m finishing up another crochet crop sweater.  I’m calling it the Brighter Side Skinny Crop Sweater.  Chunky yarn was fun but I wanted to create a more slim down version of the Brighter Side Cropped Chunky Yarn Sweater.

So stayed tuned i’ll be debuting this new piece in the coming weeks.  Along with sharing with you some crochet tips and tricks on my instastories.  If you don’t follow me on social media my handle on instagram is @themodestlifeblog and you can find my facebook page under the same name.  You can also click the links on my homepage to get to my pages as well.

Onto this week’s make.  This sweater was my first piece from the collection that I made.  It also took me the longest to make.  I wasn’t happy with it. It felt like it needed something extra.  But everytime I added the extra it didn’t feel or look right.  I went on back and forth like this right up until the week of the exhibit.  In the end I settled with the mantra “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.  It also by far was the biggest hit with the people who came to see the exhibit.  Even men gave me compliments on the sweater.  Telling me “it was their favorite.”  Go figure….

My inspiration was born out of an impulse.  I bought this yarn to make a homedec pillow for my bedroom from a crochet pattern using Bernat simply softee yarn (which is not so soft by the way).  I didn’t like the way it was turning out and thought the color would make a pretty sweater.  So that’s how it all started.

Ironically, while it is not my favorite piece, it is my favorite photographed piece from the entire collection.  I really like the images that the photographer was able to capture with this look.

I kept it simple and casual when it came to styling. Black faded washed skinny jeans, my rust colored mule heeled slides.  I also had the t-shirt custom printed to say “handmade”.  I felt that this collection definitely had a handmade feel to it and wanted to celebrate that. I actually plan on playing with various styling options in the future and sharing on my social media as #OOTD.  So get connected to see what I come with.

I used a size 13 crochet hook which is bigger than what the yarn called for and used a single crochet to the back loop only to create the ribbing texture in the body of the fabric and a single crochet for the sleeves.  The ribbing I made using a sc to the back loop only. I used a combination of acrylic and acrylic/wool blend chunky yarn.

Photocredits: Latoya Gale Studios

Well that’s all for now!  Until next time…….

 

 

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DIY Chunky Crochet Duster

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

1 John 3:18

 

Heeelllllllooooo Everyone!

Happy Hump Day!  I am really feeling on fire today.  I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately. The winter blues was kind of holding me down a bit.  But I give God glory because after church service this past Sunday I felt like I got a second wind.  And in good timing too.  I have a lot to get done.

In today’s post I am sharing with you all my second look from the January gallery night and day exhibit.  If you missed the 1st look you can read about it here.  After I made my brighter side chunky yarn cropped sweater,  I knew that I wanted to make a second piece with the same color story and concept.  Which gave birth to this crochet duster.

The inspiration for this piece came from European street style.  I was seeing all kinds of crazy and colorful oversized knit sweaters and dusters on european blog sites and the desire to create a crochet version of these insanely cool and fun looks was ignited on the inside of me.  One of the things I was loving about my inspiration images was that they didn’t weave in the yarn ends from color changes.  It gave the pieces a more rustic and laid back vibe that felt artfully imperfect (Not to mention that it gave me an excuse not to have to weave in my yarn ends).

I entitled this piece “Laid Back Cool”, because I could envision myself walking down city streets window shopping, sight seeing, or just meeting friends for coffee or lunch.

To bring the look together I paired the duster with my favorite fringe hem skinny jeans, a Ralph Lauren Polo man’s button down shirt that I thrifted, a crossbody bag, my favorite tassle earrings that I purchased from Mendy’s ( she’s great and I love her pieces.  You can get a better look at the earrings here and shop her site from here).  The shoes were a recent acquistion from Forever 21.  I caught a post christmas sale.  I normally don’t engage in Fast Fashion but from time to time because of my budget, I entertain it.  These shoes were on sale for $15 so I bought a pair in rust and a pair in black.  For the shoot I wore one of each because I thought it added to the eclectic vibe of the outfit.

I used a chunky weight wool/acrylic blend yarn, a single crochet stitch to create a simple textured fabric and a jumbo size Q hook in order to maintain a drape in the fabric.  It features bold and bright color blocking tempered by stripes in a neutral black/cream colorway.

Photocredits: Latoya Gale Photography

 

DIY Cropped Chunky Crochet Sweater

“When anxiety was great within me,
    your consolation brought me joy.” Psalm 94:19 (NIV)

Hey Everyone!

I pray all is well with you!  I have been super excited about sharing today’s post with you.  As I’ve been sharing on my Instagram since the beginning of the year,  I had an opportunity to display some of my work at a recent gallery night/day in my city back in mid-january.  I was super grateful for the opportunity to feature some of my work.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to also take a step further than my normal iphone blog photos and I collaborated with La Toya Gale Photography .  Over the next few weeks i’ll be sharing some of the photos from my shoot along with my inspiration and creative process for each piece.

This week’s piece I entitled “The Brighter Side” I absolutely love this cropped sweater! My inspiration came from a desire to smile and have fun.  Which is also why I chose to crochet some pieces for this collection.  There is such a creative freedom that I feel when I crochet that allows me to tap into a much more fun and vibrant side of my personality.

I also desired to create pieces that exuded boldness and confidence.  The hardest struggle for me along this journey has been in having CONFIDENCE!, Confidence in my purpose, my gifts, my designs, my appearance, etc……. So I chose to experiment with bold colors, simple style lines and chunky yarn as a way to express this aspect of my vision.

This sweater to me represents a brighter side.  The color story makes me think of sunshine and reminds me that there is still a lot of life left for me to live.

Garment Description/Styling:

This oversized pullover sweater is hand crocheted using a chunky weight wool/acrylic blend yarn.  It features bold and bright color blocked stripes tempered by stripes in a neutral black/cream colorway.

I styled it with a street style vibe in mind.  I paired with skinny jeans, copper red suede slides, and my favorite mustard colored tassle earrings.

Photo Credits: Latoya Gale Photography 

Well that’s all for now!  Until next time…..

 

xoxo,

♥Iris

 

DIY Crochet Super Scarf w/ free pattern

“Whoever pursues righteousness and love
    finds life, prosperity^[a] and honor.” Proverbs 21:21 (NIV)

Happy! Happy! Happy! Wednesday to you all!

That is exactly how I have been feeling lately. Very happy! I walked into 2019 bursting with creative energy, renewed vision, focus and an immense amount of peace. God has been sooooo good ya’ll!

This week’s post is a quick one! I decided that one of the best ways to keep to my 2019 modest comsumerism goals was to organize my yarn and fabric stash. This not only helped me to be organized by it also rejuvenated my creativity. My first project is my go to yarn stash buster. A scarf. but not just any scarf…..

I created a crochet suuuuuuper scarf! using Bernat softee chunky yarn in the color teal. I’ve been wanting to make one of these 70s throwback scarves for sometime now but I really lacked the motivation to get it done. Reorganzing my stash gave me the motivation that I needed to get things going.

Its pretty and simple. I love the soothing but vibrant color of this yarn and wanted to create a fabric that had a lot of texture but wasn’t stiff and allowed the yarn color be the star of the show. The yarn recommended a size L/11 hook but I used a jumbo size Q crochet hook instead to help create drape and a single crochet stitch to create the simple textural fabric that I was envisioning.

This joker is suuuuuper long! With the fringe it barely touches the floor. I can wrap this around my neck twice and still have free ends that drape down from my shoulders. I also find that the color works not only with my coat for an outerwear accessory but i’ve been able to coordinate it with some of my day to day casualwear. Its been getting a workout this winter.

I whipped together a quick and easy pattern in case your looking to create your own super scarf below.

Pattern

Symbols and terms

SS=slip stitch

SC= single crochet

Hook= size Q

Yarn= super bulky size 6. I used Bernat Softee Chunky Yarn in the color teal.

Chain 26

Row 1= sc into the 3rd chain from hook. Sc into remaining chain stitches. Ch 2. Turn. (24 sc)

Row 2=ch 2. Sc into next sc and across the entire row. Ch 2. Turn. (24 sc).

Row 3-191: repeat row 2 throughout until you reach row 191 or your desired length.

Row: 191: sc across and ss into last sc. tie off and weave in tail end.

Fringe

Cut 36 strings of yarn double the size of your desired fringe length. For example: the fringe on my scarf are 5 inches long so I cut my yarn 10inches long. Take 2 strings and double them over by folding the yarn strings in half. Attach the fringe to the first and last rows. Inserting the fringe in every other stitch. You should have 9 fringe on each end.

And that’s it! Easy! Peasy!

Well thats all for now! Until next time……

xoxo,

Iris