Cathedral Window-CAL

[Fidgement]

Tiffany,

I love your colors. What are they???? Good job!

I'm still waiting for the pattern to arrive here so I'm still trying to decided on mine.

[Fidgement]

Tbird, I can't wait to see it. I'm also watching ebay. I didn't realize how many good buys there are on there.

[tbird]

I am starting to keep a list of the various tips and tricks folks posted earlier in the thread. If it doesn't violate some Crochetville tradition, I'll start a Web page for them on my own server; but here's what I've got so far. I'm paraphrasing a bit.

 

The central octagon ends up being 64 stitches around - that's 8 stitches per side. I also think of it as "1 sc in the ch1-space, 6 sc across to the next corner, 1 sc in the ch1-space."

 

This matters because each of the pentagons should *also* end up with 8 stitches on each side. Round 3 of the pentagons leaves you with 30 stitches, or 6 per side. Then you do the same "1 sc in the ch1-space, 6 sc across to the next corner, 1 sc in the ch1-space" trick that you did on the octagon.

 

Diamond's post (#139 in this thread) phrases it slightly different, if my explanation doesn't make sense. She notes that you *have* to make the first sc in the top of the double crochet that's the "last bit" of the dc-1ch-dc vee at the corner, or the pentagon loses its shape. Is that clearer?

 

Diamond's post also notes an error in the directions, which several of us have confirmed. Round 3 of the pentagons says "Ch 3, 2 dc in next." But it *should* be "Ch 3, dc-1ch-dc in next", and then on with the directions as stated.

 

Cheryl's very detailed post #312 includes how she did the job. Near as I can tell she's the first person in the CAL to have finished (but I'm only about halfway through my careful reading of the whole thread - as opposed to the "OMG I have to make this now" reading I did at first).

 

I'll respond back as I find more tips and tricks.

 

cheers - tbird

[darski]

Thank you tbird, I was remembering that there was something there I had to remember and was hoping I'd remember it when I needed it.

 

I have been thinking of using Red Heart's Mexicana (crayon box explosion) as one of my colours. I have been thinking that I could start my centre Octogon with it and make 4 of the section 2 septagons as well.

 

I plan to use lots of colours. (Well, I am going to buy enough of two to make the pattern as written but that is a last resort plan B)

 

I so want next month to come so I can buy more yarn. This food thingy really eats (boo, hiss pun) into yarn buying eh?

[Fidgement]

Tbird, This is great! All the experience in one place, Thank you!

[sunnywolfgar]

Enjoyed reading about everyones Catheral Ceiling Afghan those of you that are going to be crocheting.. I am excited for you all:yay . A big crochet project ahead down your road and a speedy crochet fun time:hook . I am going to be doing this afghan down the road as of right now ~~~~way ~~~~to many crochet projects going on. I have yarn colors in mind and that will probably change down the road. As by then we may have new yarn colors on the market. but then again I may use old colors so we will see.

 

Looking forward to more pictures as some of you are already crocheting and posting them.

[tbird]

This is going to be a labor of love -- in the process of that room cleaning, I made my rheumatoid arthritis flare up really badly :-( My doctor agrees that crocheting helps my hands stay flexible, and keep some of their strength -- and I'm too stubborn to stop, ha -- but it certainly limits how much I can do.

 

So here are two pictures of my yarn choices and the very beginnings of my "Cathedral of Trees":

 

 

If I'd been trying to make it look more like a real stained glass window, I would be using more reds, and more of the azure blue. But since I'm after a forest in spring, this suits me fine.

 

My goal is to get 4 of the octagons done tonight.

 

cheers -- tbird

[tbird]

Sorry for the rotten formatting -- I have worked with 7 or 8 different wiki/forum software packages, and I haven't yet figured this one out. I didn't think the pictures would run right up against each other that way.

 

t.

[Fidgement]

Tbird - you're amazing! Great job so far and I admire your goal setting abilities ! Your colors are so different from everything I've seen on here and they look really cool. In the original cathedral window, I see a lot more reds and pinks. I'm making these observations solely for the purpose of the yarn choices I'll end up with. I also see the purple, but all the colors I've seen so far are too purply for me. Don't mind my thinking out loud here...it helps if I write this.

Also, I love your little balls of yarn and your yarn holder. I bet that makes crocheting a lot easier. How do you get your yarn into such neat little balls?

 

Take care and happy crocheting!

[tbird]

The majority of this yarn comes from an E-Bay seller called jojoland-online. It's their fingering weight yarn, and it comes pre-rolled in those nifty little balls :-) something like 2200 yards of the dark brown for $36 if I'm remembering correctly. The mostly greeny-blue was $65 for the 2200 yard lot, cos of the shading. I also picked up a few singles (yellow-green, green-purple, sky blue) for the various accent bits. And, a couple skeins of Cherry Hill's Supersock, one in a green and yellow variagated (which is what I used for the central octagon) and the indigo/blue/violet one in the photo (which will be used somewhere near the outer edge).

 

I also scored the yarn holder on E-Bay (I have a serious E-Bay habit). It's very useful. Let me know if you want the seller ID.

 

t.

[Bookchick29]

Fidgement -- I am using the colors that the designer recommended. RH Classic Wedgewood (make sure to get the classic size as the Super Saver colors are completely different) and Patons Canadiana Stained Glass.

 

TBird -- that is just beautiful! I can't wait to see how it progresses and I'm sure the finished product will look great.

[birdlady1]

Wow Tbird, I love the yarn holder! You bought that on eBay? Would you mind sharing the seller's ID? I need to look into a yarn holder. As you know, you lose a LOT of time when using two balls as you have to untwist them quite frequently. Thanks in advance!

[Fidgement]

Thank you for the info T. I am quite an ebay fan myself and becoming more of one where yarn is concerned.

 

[sunnywolfgar]

So here are two pictures of my yarn choices and the very beginnings of my "Cathedral of Trees":

 

 

If I'd been trying to make it look more like a real stained glass window, I would be using more reds, and more of the azure blue. But since I'm after a forest in spring, this suits me fine.

 

My goal is to get 4 of the octagons done tonight.

 

cheers -- tbird

 

tbird,, I love your color choices. Love that green one ~~~

[crochetlady100]

Could someone please tell me where I can get this pattern. I really want to make this.

Thanks

Trish

[Lisaizme]

Unless someone RAOK's you with it.. your best bet is to haunt eBay.

[Fidgement]

Sorry for the question, but what does "ROAK" mean?

[Fidgement]

Tiffany, I'm trying not to use the exact colors used in the original, aside from the black and white. I may regret my decision, but I won't know if I don't try!!! I still haven't got my pattern yet, drat!

[tbird]

Hello Birdlady1 -- The seller from whom I got my lovely thread holder is jewlbal3. E-Bay item number 280012464314 is another cat holder that they have listed now, with starting bid of $20. I ended up paying $26 for mine plus shipping. Definitely worth it for this pattern, where there's so much color work going on!

 

I could kick myself though. When I was a teenager my grandfather made me one of these -- not so finished as the lovely one I got from E-Bay, but of course made with love for me :-) Alas it has disappeared in the mists of time. But that recollection was part of what made me hunt around for a special one.

 

If you bid, please tell them I sent you! They seemed like very nice people, and were very happy to hear how much I loved it.

[Lisaizme]

Sorry for the question, but what does "ROAK" mean?

 

Random Act Of Kindness

 

 

and no need to apologize.

[Lawless]

this thread is awesome!!!!!...

 

 

so tempted!.. soooooo tempted!!!

[Fidgement]

It never ceases to amaze me. The post office can get things to you extremely fast, at times, almost lightening quick! Other times, it just doesn't make any sense!!

Go figure!

 

I'm just venting because I still don't have my pattern ! How can I possibly plan without it? Well, I've already bought some yarn and I reason that if I don't like it, I'll use it in something else! Just a little bit of rationalization here.

 

T - how are you progressing? I'm wondering how much farther along you are since the other night??? I've also had to rip myself away from ebay. I'm getting tempted by all the good yarn deals I keep seeing. Is anyone else making any progress here?

 

Till next time (hopefully my pattern will arrive sometime soon!!!)

Cheers:hook

[tbird]

Well, my arthritis decided to get *really* bad this week, so last night I only did 2 more pentagons. I started number 7 tonight, but my actual *goal* is to get the pentagons done and the parts sewn together tomorrow night.

 

Fidgement, I sure hope your pattern arrives before the long Labor Day weekend!

[Fidgement]

Tbird, I hope your arthritis eases as pain is no fun! There is an instructional post on here for using wool roving and applying it to your crochet hook to make it more ergonomic. Have you seen it? You make your own comfort grip by doing so. This may help with gripping and allow you to crochet more comfortably. I came across it yesterday while browsing the forum, I just can't remember which one it was in. Stores also sell comfort grips which may help!

 

You are still making wonderful progress. I look forward to seeing a picture when you're able to post another one.

Take care!

[tbird]

Most of the time my hands are not so bad as they've been this week -- I did *way* too much housecleaning last weekend (that's a likely story). Most of the hooks I've got are wooden, which I've found makes a *huge* difference for how long I can work at one sitting. And my smaller hooks (like the F and G I'm using for this) have a much larger crrcumference, which also helps.

 

I did manage to squeak out one more pentagon last night :-) I'm getting an injection today, so I suspect I'll have no problem doing one more pentagon while the sun is up, and I can take a photo of all the pentagons *before* they get attached. I'm really pleased with the way the variegated colors make the overall color of the pentagons shift ever so slightly. I have a feeling that when the whole thing is done, none of the individual segments will stand out too clearly...

 

thanks -- tbird