Smug summer crochet

Now, I'm rather pleased with this. I wanted to make something in cotton, but I'm not a huge fan of garments in cotton yarn. Then I had a browse through Susan Cropper's book, Vintage Crochet, and saw patterns for those crochet pot covers with little bead things on them which keep insects from falling into your cup of tea... or wine glass! The pattern is by Emma Seddon and she edges them with vintage buttons, rather than beads, which I really like the look of. Mine has buttons from a charity shop so they're not at all expensive to make.

I used DK Sublime Egyptian Cotton, which comes in a 50g ball (115 yards). I should think I've used about half of it - there's quite a lot of crochet in there! Two possible problems: one is that the buttons don't move as easily as beads would long the yarn. This matters because you thread all of your buttons onto the yarn before you start the crochet, so you have to shunt them along rather a lot before you get to the final row when you actually incorporate them into the stitches. This is just a bit of a pain - the end result is worth it, but I did spend rather a long time moving buttons along. The other problem is that, although I religiously counted the buttons onto the yarn, and followed the pattern as closely as I could, I still ended up with two too few buttons for the number of scallops I had when it got to the last row. So, somewhere along the way, it's grown.... I counted the spokes in the first couple of rounds ... then felt a bit lazy and just left two scallops without buttons hanging from them, one on each side. And, for this, I'm fine with that!

I'm now beginning another one in blue. My first one was the "Tumbler Cover" and the blue one will be slightly larger, I think, and is called the "Milk Pitcher Cover". But really, both fit rather nicely over a wineglass:

So, should it ever be nice enough to sit outside, sipping wine - I'll be ready!

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A Pot of Bulbs can only be improved with Crochet

Spring is here! Well, it is if you're in my kitchen next to the radiator:

These snowdrops are in a shallow, 7" diameter bowl, with compost and some bits of moss on the top. I crocheted the edging for the pot as follows:

Materials: a size 3mm hook and about a third of a ball of Sublime Egyptian Cotton DK in Shade 322.

To make: measure the circumference of your pot. Mine is 55cm. For this size pot, make 96 chain. Check your sizing by putting the chain, quite tightly, round the pot until it only just meets. Err on the tight side, because with crochet, it's relatively easy to add a bit on at the end if need be!

Then, do two rows of double crochet (dc) missing the first stitch each time. Then, for row 3, do one DC in second stitch from hook, then 3 chain (ch). After the 3ch, miss one stitch and do one dc into next stitch along. Continue this to the end of the row, ending units a couple of dcs next to each other if need be. Your 3chs will make the little loops and your dcs will be joining the loops to your rows of dc.

Turn so that you are working across the short end of the strip to make the button loop: make 3 chain then make a dc into the other corner to make a button loop like a bracket across the end of the strip. (If your strip is too short st this stage, you could do a quick row of dc across the short end first).

Sew button onto the other end to match button hole (If your strip is a little long, just sew the button a bit further up the end).

Enjoy!

 

 

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#WIP Wednesday and a review of 'Simple Crochet'

How nice to find a new crochet book in our local library!

I spent a very happy hour this afternoon reading Sara Sinaguglia's Simple Crochet. The tag line, 'With more than 35 vintage-vibe projects for your handmade life' was rather off-putting because I find the possessive 'your' as well as the ubiquitous word, vintage, rather irritating, but I'm really glad I persevered. The book has a lovely, informal tone and is peppered with details about the author's life and why she first made some of the projects in the book. As always in crochet books, there's a little too much in the How To section - this sometimes puts me off buying crochet books as it's rather repetitive. There is quite a lot, though, on something i really want to try: crochet edging on linen or cotton, so that part of the How To is quite eye-opening. Anyway, the book is themed around different rooms in the house and I was pleased to see that I'd make at least two things from each section. What I also enjoyed about this was that quite a lot of the projects involve sewing as well as crochet - the iPad cosy, for example, is made of fabric with crochet motifs sewn onto it - and these projects look really good. This book even had me contemplating crochet washcloths - and that is no mean feat! The photography is gorgeous, too. So - definitely worth a read.
And now for the WIP: so far, my preparation for teaching my first crochet course for Cafe Knit has only stretched to deciding what the wear. But then I thought I'd better write my pattern for crochet bracelets, which I hope will be easy for beginners to make in under three hours! Here they are so far:

I hope my crochet classes go well - it's hard to gauge how much a random group of people will be able to make in three hours! Still, at least crochet is east to unravel and quick once you've got the hang of it. Wish me - and my students - luck!

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#FO Friday! In which crochet trim turns jar into vase...

For once, a Finished Object! Here's Wednesday's WIP crochet trim, now adorning a jam jar. This was very easy and I'll post the pattern up over this weekend. I have great plans, now, to make lots more of these this weekend and to decorate many more jars with them ... #looksformorethingstocoverwithcrochet ... But for now, it's time for a drink and a rest.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

 

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#WIP Wednesday - little, easy crochet trim...

I'd been trying to think of a nice, easy crochet item to make which I could use when I start my crochet classes later this month. Although I've rummaged in Pinterest a bit, I've ended up making my own pattern for this, which I'll post up on here once it's done.

I'm trying, trying, trying not to just cover our house in crochet ... but this edging would look lovely round a jam jar which you could then put flowers in. I've used cotton 4 ply but you could easily adjust it to use up DK if you have more of that left over. Possibly I'll only be allowed to make one of these for our house, but they'd look great round jars in a row, in different heights - anyway, this is what I have so far:

 

More to come, when I've finished ... What's everyone else making today?

 

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Simple Crochet Baby Blanket Pattern

I have dispatched the latest baby blanket to its recipient and here is the pattern! It's really simple if you are happy with chains, trebles and double crochet. It is a great present and looks so nice when it's done. Lots of photos, too, to help you if need be! Blogger is playing up, however, so there are some rather large gaps under pictures - I can't work out how to get rid of these. Still, I'm pleased with the blanket; enjoy!

You will need:

2 balls of double knitting, one of each colour.

A 4mm crochet hook

A darning needle

Finished measurements: 58 cm wide and 78 cm long (but you do not need to be too precise about this!)

Using Colour A, make a chain of 93 stitches (90 to crochet the pattern into, 3 for the turning chain).

Row 1:  still using Colour A, miss 3 chain. 3 trebles (tr) into next chain, 1 chain (ch), miss three chain, 3 tr in next chain. Repeat til end of row; 1 tr into last stitch of row (you need this to give a firm, even edge).

Row 2: still using A, 3 chain. 1 tr in first chain from hook, 1 ch, miss 3 chain, 3 tr in space between previous row’s groups of trebles. Work 3 tr into these spaces until end of row; 1 tr in last stitch.

Row 3: join Colour B to do 3 chain. Do not cut Colour A free, but just leave it at the end of the row. Work the same pattern along the row.

Row 4: using B, work the same pattern back along the row.

Repeat the pattern. Between rows, at the edge of the work, twist the colours together once or twice, close to the edge. This will keep the edge flexible and make sure you don’t have huge loops of wool where you have swapped colours. The edges will look like this:

  

 

 

 

 

Border:

You need to use your judgement here, to make sure, according to your own tension, that the blanket will lie flat and not curl up.

Using Colour B, do a row of DC along the short edge of the blanket, one DC in each chain. At the corner, do 1 DC into end stitch, then 2ch, then 1 DC (all into end stitch).

Along the long side, continue to DC in Colour B. Try to space the DC so that their spacing mimics the spacing on the short edge. If they are too far apart or too close, the edging will start to curl up. Don’t do the DC too tightly. Do one row of DC all the way round, then do the same, 1 DC in each st, in Colour A.

Then, all you have to do is to darn in the ends!

Close-up of the corner, and border, is below, as well as a shot of the completed blanket! Happy crocheting!


 

 

 

Ta-Dah! A Friday #FO - one simple crochet baby blanket

 

 

Better pictures to follow soon, hopefully - these were under the kitchen light on my phone! Such was my excitement at having a Friday Finished Object! The blanket is done!! The pattern is to follow as I'll be writing it up this weekend. I'm really pleased with it, though it took longer than I thought. I'll be posting it next week to my very-pregnant friend!

 

Now, back to the Louisa Harding bobble hat - the next WIP!

#WIP Wednesday - simple crochet blanket - & a knitted mug

 

This is a treat for myself - like I need one, after Christmas! - a Fair Isle mug, from Blacks. Not my usual shop of choice, but I spyed it from afar. In the sale, too! Hurrah! It's actually huge - I had to peer down into it to see my coffee - but I love it.

 

Today's WIP: a simple crochet baby blanket, for a friend whose baby is due on, er, 25th January! I am making this up, so pattern will follow. I had a yarn emergency at the weekend, as I left my other WIP (a Louisa Harding Himalayan hiking hat) at my parents' house and only realised when I got home - tragedy! Still, I popped out to a trusty charity shop and bought two crochet hooks (which I bleached throughly - should I admit to that?!) and then bought the yarn for the blanket and got going.

 

 

Finally - it's always good to see a knitting-themed display - and this one is in Holt Library, North Norfolk, to launch their Monday Knit & Natter (clearly a more sedate occurrence than our Stitch & Bitch!) I really want to read Rachael Herron's A Life in Stitches (left hand side of the display) as I've made one of her patterns for a friend and I read her blog, about her writing, knitting and life with her girlfriend. In the corner of this picture is a book I actually got for Christmas - Claire Montgomerie's Knitting Vintage. I'm sure I will write more about this last, once I get the blanket...and hat... done!

 

So, that's how my 2013 has begun. Hope yours has got off to a similarly good start.

 

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

Handmade Monday: Crochet Christmas Snowflake Pattern - Surely It's Not Too Early?

 

So, as promised on my earlier post: here is how to make a crochet snowflake, like the one shown above.

 

Crochet snowflake pattern

Easy-peasy .... really!

 

I used DMC Natura Just Cotton, in Colour Ibiza and a 2.5 mm crochet hook.

 

 

Base chain: 6 chain, join with a slip stitch.

Round  1: 1 chain  [1 double crochet into ring, 3 chain]12 times. Slip stitch to join end to first double crochet (dc) stitch. You are making a row of DC plus 3 chain. This will be quite a tight fit. See picture below.

 

 

 

Round 2: Slip stitch into top of the two chain from previous round, then 1 ch, 1 dc into 3 chain arch from previous row [3 ch, 1 dc into next 3 chain arch] 11 times, then 1 ch then 1 half treble into top of first double crochet. In this row, you are making arches all the way round the star. See the picture below.

 

 

Row 3: [6 chain, 1 dc into next 3 chain arch, 3 chain, 1 dc into next 3 chain arch] 4 times, then 6 chain and 1 dc into next 3 chain arch. 1 chain, I treble into half treble from previous round to close. Essentially, you alternate making arches of 6 chain and 3 chain round the star, into the 3 chain arches you made in row 2. Picture below of star with rows 1-3 complete.

 

 

Row 4: 1 half treble, 4 trebles, 2 chain, 4 trebles, 1 half treble into 6 chain arch, 1 dc into 3 chain arch. Repeat around the star and close row with a slip stitch. The groups of trebles and half trebles fill out the points of the star, while the double crochets anchor the points. See the picture of this last row in progress below.

 

 

Ta-dah! Now hand it proudly on your tree - or make lots, and tie them into bunting. Please don't make commerically - please don't sell the pattern or the snowflakes.

 

More Vintage Pattern Goodness!

 

Another quick installment as I have another charity shop success story! Now, I'm probably *not* going to make the 'sweaters' on the cover - but some of the ones inside are good, and could be tweaked a little to resemble some in shops at the moment. I want to develop a crochet jumper pattern so I'm hoping this book will help me out. I should be delivering snowflakes... but am just too tired! Somehow this week has been exhausting. Still, am making a stiff cup of coffee and preparing to continue knitting my sister's birthday present!

Nothing like #FO Friday - A few crochet snowflakes...

 

So, this is what I've been doing recently - making Christmas decorations. The pattern will follow - now I've done six of them, I think I've got it sorted out! I'm sure it counts as a #FO, even if only one is technically finished (all those ends....!).

 

These are made with more DMC Natura cotton - I love this stuff. It's the same as the cotton I used for the crochet collars in my earlier posts. It's not too shiny, and isn't so fine that it's fiddly. These work up quite quickly; I think I made three during Downton Abbey ;)

 

Oh - and a couple of pictures from the fantastic 1940s weekend in Sheringham, North Norfolk, earlier this month. Creative Crafts, Sheringham's wool shop, had a fabulous themed window, in which my mother recognised various styles of outfits she had worn as a child! Sadly no knitted swimsuits (yes, she wore one of those) were on display, but there were plenty of 1940s patterns to see:

 

 

She pointed out that she still has the Crochet Stitches booklet you can just see in the bottom right hand corner here  - though sadly no patterns like these, for Fair Isle berets. Mum remembers having one my Grandma had knitted her, but sadly the patterns are long gone. We both loved the vintage-style jumper you can just see in this shot:

 

 

Now, I'm aiming for ten snowflakes, so must get back to it  . . . .

 

 

 

 

I have another #FO! Enter: One crochet collar ...

Hurrah! I have finished this collar. The pattern is from a beautiful crafty blog by Emma in Wiltshire; I have a link to it below on an earlier crochet-themed post. This has worked out exactly as the pattern said, and it's really quick and easy. I found a lovely glass button in a charity shop; here it's at the back, but it would actually be nicer as the front, I think - you can see it, and the colour, better below (why does my BlackBerry not give good colour reproduction?!). A quick post, as I'm off out tonight, just to wear it! Woo hoo!

How can this be my first #FO Friday post?

Ta da! One completed crochet necklace (pattern link given in previous post). Oh, and here it is just one more time, swinging jauntily on my wardrobe door handle:

I would love to say how easy this was ... and actually, the crochet part *was* pretty easy, but sewing on the button was a _pain_. In fact, if you follow me on Twitter, you will know that it took me a whole documentary on the Amish (which was brilliant) to sew on the button ... and unpick it....and sew it on again - and so forth. I wanted to get it so that I could wear it with the button at the front or back, so it had to be neat, and to sit properly . . . anyway, it now *finally* does. Phew. The jade collar is waiting 'til tomorrow to be finished - even though I want to wear it tomorrow night. Now to have another little sip of Three Choirs English white wine and watch the women's football semi-final.

Wednesday's #WIP : all about crochet!

As I reported on Monday, it's all about the crochet at the moment: this rather shady picture shows the necklace from a free pattern by Carol Meldrum on The Making Spot. The fun part - the actual crochet - is done, but I haven't sewn the button on yet. The pattern says it needs blocking - I normally never do this as I just can't really be bothered (shame on me!), but I did wonder if I should here, as the arches do poke up a bit... then I had a genius idea:

Here is the necklace, underneath Nigella Lawson! Pressing it like a pressed flower has done the trick nicely, so today I'll sew the button on.

And _here_ is the completed @Lululoves1000 collar (website given in Monday's post). I bought some *gorgeous* 4 ply cotton to make this in, as the DK wool (I use the term loosely) one in taupe here is actually too bulky for me. This cotton is new at Mill House Fabric - it's DMC Natura Just Cotton, and the colour here is Jade. It doesn't quite fit my made in Britain policy - but it is from France, so somewhere, er, nearby. The colours in this range are just *lovely*: I really want to make loads more. Mill House Fabric has a good range of haberdashery stuff, though they only sell crochet cottons and not wool now (they used to stock wool upstairs). They don't have a website but you can find them in shop directories for Suffolk.

So, today's challenges: sewing on buttons and crocheting more of the Jade collar. I don't care if it rains!

She cooks, she crochets....

So often, patterns for crochet accessories are frumpy and/or downright unnecessary - but two patterns I've come across thie weekend have been so beautiful and timely that I've just had to make them.  I've set my chunky Sarah Dallas jacket to one side in favour of crochet collars and necklaces. Above is my crochet collar in progress. This pattern is from www.lululoves.co.uk - a beautiful blog, with gorgeous pictures of Emma's crochet makes, as well as other aspects of her life in Wiltshire. This collar is just lovely to make: it curves really nicely, and seems pretty easy, too - and quick! My only disappointment is my own wool: because I was so keen to start it, I rather ignored Emma's yarn advice on the blog...so although the colour of this is lovely (I wanted a tea-stained, vintage-y colour), the cheapy DK is making the whole thing rather bulky. Still, now I know it works up so nicely, I can buy some proper 4-ply cotton.

My second crochet effort at the moment is a necklace, designed by Carol Meldrum at www.beatknit.com. You can find this pattern at www.themakingspot.com. This is made with a teency hook - 2mm - so I am practising it with a rather girly pink to see if it works. The cotton is Sirdar Luxury Soft Cotton 4 ply. It's got quite a nice texture but splits *really* easily so I'm having to undo stitches every so often as I haven't managed to hook every strand through each time. I've added, here, 12 more chains to the original number . . .  will report more on my amendments when it's done!

What else have I done recently? Oh: read Alison Bechdel's fabulous graphic memoir about her mother and her own childhood, Are You My Mother? I've written a review of this, so more to come.

 And, finally:

I bought Peyton & Byrne's British Baking a few weeks ago, and made the blueberry and hazelnut crumble recipe from it yesterday, as British blueberries are on sale at the moment. This was just delicious - like eating warm blueberry jam . . .

Anyway: it's Stitch n Bitch tonight, so better sort out my knitting bag.