not a great combination!
Close up of row four of the Catherine Wheel crochet pattern. Note the thick chunky cotton...
I fear this project will go the way of the try, try, try again scarf! All the signs are there, right there on the first attempt to blend stitch with yarn.
I probably need to explain. I fell in love with this scarf. Go on, have a look. I'll wait for you.
It seems I wasn't the only one. One of Moonstitchs' blog posts about this scarf, the Rhubarb Scarf, got 107 comments. I was inspired by the patterned stitch and the change in yarn colour. Now the fact that she made it from a fine varigated wool and I was attempting to use a thick cotton should have been my first clue that things would not go to plan.
Then, the fact that I did five rows of the crochet pattern without working out what a 7-DC CL was should have been clue number two. (In case you are wondering, in a cluster you need to leave one loop from each DC on the hook and then join them all together in one fell swoop. I finally worked that out thank goodness!)
In the photo above you can see the "wheels" in the pattern forming. After I worked out the cluster thingo.
So cluster sorted, I pushed on. It was rather hard going. Remembering which number cluster I was on (five or seven?) and working with the dense fabric I was creating with my multiple stitches in one chain space with a very thick cotton yarn. My greenolive said I looked so cranky, he didn't think he liked me. Not cranky I bleated, concentrating. And he certainly didn't help matters by being funny and saying 3, 2, 5, 4, 6 - any number but the real number of DCs I was doing. Regardless of this interference, I perserved, I didn't want to be beaten by poorly-worded instructions for Catherine's Wheel.
I managed to get to row four of the five row pattern repeat before I chucked in the towel. It was with a very heavy heart, after investing about five hours and a lot of cranky concentration that I had to admit to myself that while this was a worthy experiment, this Catherine's Wheel was never going to become a FO.
But, I have started attempt number two. I have mastered a knitted ripple stitch. A simple one with a four row repeat. Only row three is tricky, lots of K2 tog and yf k1. But I've got it sussed and have done about 50 rows...
I know a majority of this post is from 2008, but if anyone finds this and needs help, there is a great tutorial on YouTube that makes this so easy.
Posted by: carla lockwood | Monday, 12 December 2011 at 10:20 PM
I found this blog as I have also been sooo frustrated by the catherines wheel. I have made a few squares of them but the sides are so confusing. I need more instructions!!!!!
Posted by: Lisa Foster | Thursday, 20 May 2010 at 01:22 PM
If you can tell me where to find the pattern, please e-mail me and I would love to go to the site and begin working this pattern. I know it is a book called "The Ultimate Sourcebook for Knitting and Crocheting stitches." and it is put out by Reader's Digest but I can't find one of the books. Please help :) Thanks so much!
Posted by: Ruthie | Sunday, 31 August 2008 at 03:10 PM
I have been looking for the Catherine's Wheel pattern. Can you please tell this crochet-loving grandmother of 8 1/3 where to find the pattern.:) I love it! Tks.
Posted by: Ruthie | Sunday, 31 August 2008 at 03:03 PM
I love the colour combination that you used. It's very pretty!
Posted by: CurlyPops | Thursday, 17 January 2008 at 07:39 PM
I am actually a bit surprised by this scarf - it doesn't really look like your kind of thing at all, apart from the colours! You must tell me about the new ripple stich.
Thanks for the new link to me!!
Posted by: Aunty Shabby | Thursday, 17 January 2008 at 02:43 PM
Oh I feel for you- Moonstitches scarf is so beautiful, I can understand your urge to try the pattern too. And I can relate to the difficulties of crocheting cotton- It nearly put me off crocheting when I made my Amineko! (I'm currently working on a second one using wool, and it's so much easier on my hands!)
Posted by: di | Wednesday, 16 January 2008 at 02:38 PM
I think it is looking good so far. I find it annoying when I see something I like but decided to work it in a different way and it doesn't work at all. But I guess sometimes it does so I shouldn't be too picky. I like th pinks and white as well. I am also a fan of the pink and green, I got a couch most people would think is ugly on ebay which is a floral pink and green number. Gareth hates it. I got it to go in my studio, which I imagined was large, with big windows and white walls and white floorboards.
Posted by: Anna Laura | Tuesday, 15 January 2008 at 04:40 PM
It's good to know when to walk away from something. I've just thrown a half completed baby cardigan to the floor because I finally admitted it looked really crap.
: )
That yarn is very pretty.
Posted by: Lyn | Tuesday, 15 January 2008 at 09:45 AM