Rainbow Toddler Mittens & Scarf Set

 

A couple of years ago, my sister-in-law asked me to crochet my nephew (her son) a rainbow striped scarf. He was 3 years old at the time and she said that by the next winter he would start refusing rainbow colours, so she wanted him to have one while he was still young enough. They loved the scarf so I made him a couple of pairs of mittens.

 

The pattern for both the mittens and scarf is available in my etsy shop, and on Ravelry. To make them you'll need double knitting yarn in 7 colours and a 5.5mm hook. The mittens can be plain, striped or blocks of colour and will fit a 2-4 year old.

Hands and Feet!

Patterns for gloves and socks, all available in my shop and at Ravelry.

The Journey of a Cardigan...

  'Sweet Yolk' Scandinavian-inspired yoke cardigan.

Here's a picture of Henry, taken in August 2011, when he was 4 months old. I made the cardigan some time around February 2011 before he was born, and we didnt know whether he'd be a boy or girl so I chose neutral brown and rust colours.

September 2011, aged 5 months.

 November 2011, aged 7 months. Getting a bit small now...

And now here's little Peter, taken in June 2012, just over 2 months old.

I love it that Peter gets to wear Henry's clothes, there are some things that I will keep even after they have both grown out of them, and this is one of them.

Free Crochet Pattern - Extra Chunky Tea Cosy

I'm taking a break from pattern-writing for a little while (I just had 2 babies within a year, phew!) but here's a pattern I wrote a couple of years ago for a ribbed tea cosy. It's been available on Ravelry and my etsy shop for a while, but here's the pattern for free:

Extra Chunky Tea Cosy Pattern

Use extra-chunky yarn to work up a super-quick tea cosy. It fits an aberage 6-cup teapot.

UK / British Crochet Terminology. For USA terminology, click here.

You will need:

9mm crochet hook

100g Extra Chunky Wool (I used Sirdar Denim Ultra). Any super chunky will work, as long as it has an approximate tension of 9sts x 12 rows = 10 cm square.

Yarn needle

Stitch key:

dc = double crochet

bldc = back loop double crochet (crochet in the back loop of each stitch).

Instructions:

Chain 16

1. Dc in 2nd ch from hook. Dc across to end of row (15sts). Ch1, turn.

2. Dc in 1st st. BLDC in next stitch and all stitches to end of row. Ch1, turn.

3–18. Repeat row 2 until you have 18 rows (or until your work loosely covers one side of your teapot.)

19. Dc in 1st st. Ch 13. 1dc in last st of row. Ch1, turn.

20. Dc in 1st st. 13DC in chain space. 1dc in last st. Ch1, turn.

21-38. Repeat Row 2 until you have 18 rows starting from Row 20 or until your work loosely covers your teapot.

Break off yarn leaving a long sewing length.

Joining:

Fold work in half. Sew together first st from first row to last row, leave 13 sts open, and sew last st to last row.

Alternative method – crochet together first sts, slip stitch across 13 sts on one side only, then crochet together last sts. Leave a long sewing length then weave this in an out like a drawstring, pull tight.

Making the pom pom:

Wrap the yarn around your hand until you have lots of layers of yarn, approx 20 times. Cut off.

Cut a length of yarn about 10 inches and tie this around the middle of the bundle. Put scissors through the loops and cut so you effectively have a lot of short lengths tied in the middle. Attach this to the tea cosy using the long sewing length. Trim your pom pom to desired size.

Sew in ends.

Waffle Stitch Bag

A bag for a custom order. It's based on the waffle stitch bag, just much bigger. I used double knitting yarn in charcoal grey and a 4.5mm hook. Details and more photos at Ravelry.

Hurrah! Finished Socks.

I seem to have about a hundred crochet projects waiting to be started, mostly for other people, so I'm glad I finished my cosy autumn socks last night. Now I can start on something else...

They are made from 1 ball of King Cole Zig Zag yarn, (bought from ebay for less than a fiver) and I went up a hook size because my feet are bigger from being pregnant. I also added a few more rows to the main foot part. A really nice project to carry around because they're so small, I worked on them a lot during our 3 and a half hour car journey to see my grandmother, it was the first time she had seen her new great-grandson. The pattern is on Ravelry and Etsy.

Hurrah!

It's time to start thinking about making things for Christmas; the raspberry gin is getting nicely pink in the back of the cupboard, I've made my little H his first stocking, and today I baked the Christmas cake. I've used this Delia recipe for the past 5 years and it always comes out great, the only change I made was, after soaking the dried fruit in sloe gin (instead of brandy) overnight, the mixture still seemed quite dry so I so added half a cup of strong black tea and let it soak for a few more hours. This will be my first christmas at home with my husband and baby, (we got married in July), I usually go to my parents in Worcester, so I'm getting really into the idea of making it really special. After 4 and a half hours in the oven this is what came out:

Really moist and yummy looking. I will wrap it in foil, feed it every now and again, then decorate it with fruit and nuts.

Crochet Tank Top... or vest if you are American.

Check out my handsome model! This tank top was made using a pattern I wrote a couple of years ago, available at Ravelry and Etsy. The pattern uses 4ply sock wool, and comes in 4 sizes up to 24 months. Perfect for autumn with a cute t-shirt underneath.

Reasons to be cheerful...

It's not much fun having SPD/PGP, so I thought I'd distract myself by writing about some much nicer things...

1. Finding a Christmas present for H in a charity shop, a Djeco vintage-style wooden puzzle. American bloggers sound so much more hip when they say 'thifted'!

2. Making a funny monkey, another present for H. I've been reading a book called 'Radical Homemakers', about reclaiming the home, not being a consumer. I'm not sure that its particularly radical, but I do like lots of the ideas. I can definitely relate to it since giving up work to be a mummy. When you work full time you do spend more money; for example, after work you might be too tired to cook so you buy a takeaway or a ready meal. At the end of a hard week, you might feel you deserve a nice new dress. I dont want to buy H plasticy toys made in sweatshops halfway round the world. The book talks about making toys for children, but you cant really avoid consumerism altogether, I mean I still had to buy the wool and the stuffing... The pattern was from Ravelry.

3. Making some lovely crocheted socks, just for me! I'm always making things for other people or for etsy, its sometimes nice to have a project that's just mine. Cosy socks for cosy evenings at home. They're made following this pattern.

4. What a horrible word 'weaning' is! H is 7 months old, and eating us out of house and home, and its nice that now we can all have bowls of porridge, just like the three bears. Mine has brown sugar, cinnamon, seeds and a sprinkling of bran.

5. Carving a Halloween pumpkin, then hiding upstairs with the lights off because we're scared of trick or treaters! We made spicy pumpkin soup the next day.

6. Best of all, my brother and his girlfriend had a baby girl, no name yet, but she was 2 weeks late and weighed 9lb 10!

Folksy

In between looking after a baby and doing tons of housework (how did it ever get done when we both worked full time?) I'm really enjoying getting back into crochet pattern writing. I've just re-opened my Folksy shop. Folksy is a British version of Etsy, lots craft-loving people selling handmade, vintage and quirky items. All my patterns which are available on etsy, ravelry and my website, are also now on Folksy. 

Happy Hexagons Organic Cotton Baby Blanket

Happy October! We've having a heatwave, so it doesnt feel very autumnal at the moment. Yesterday I somehow a lot of work done, which isnt easy when you're looking after a 6 month old at the same time. I managed to get some patterns listed in my etsy shop, and this is one of them!

My brother & his girlfriend are expecting a baby in 2 weeks, so I decided to make them a blanket. They love bright colours and dont know whether they are having a boy or girl, so I raided my stash and found lots of different colours to make motifs with. I played around with squares, and stripes, and finally settled on hexagons. I wanted a plain kind of shape that wasnt too girly.

 

Later, I was making a cushion cover from some organic cotton, and when I had some left over I decided to make some more hexagons, as they are so nice to make! So I ended up with another blanket. It's made from lovely Twilley's Freedom Sincere Organic Cotton.

I enjoyed working with Sincere, it was a bit splitty, but all cotton yarns are. I often question the ethical and environmental sourcs of yarn. Acrylic yarn is essentially made from oil. When I was (mostly) vegan I hesitated about using Sheep's wool, also it makes me itch. There are soya and bamboo yarns available, but I guess there isnt really a truly sustainable yarn. 

   

Freedom Sincere is just like Rowan Organic Cotton, but about half the price. I stopped liking Rowan yarns so much when I worked in a wool shop. The colours and textures are gorgeous but when you come to work with it, it often has knots in, and it bobbles when you wash it, which isnt great when you've spent a lot of money. Modern yarns like Sirdar and Patons are so much nicer than they used to be, and are washable and dont bobble. When I'm making things for H, I tend to use budget acrylic yarns because they need to be washed so often, and he grows out of things so quickly.

Happy Hexagons Baby Blanket pattern is available from The Tree Bridge and Ravelry.

Northern Star Christmas Stocking

I wanted to make a stocking for H's first christmas, but I couldnt find an interesting pattern I liked, so I decided to make one up! I chose traditional green and red, and used a granny square motif. The stocking is made as two motifs, and then worked in the round, just like a sock. I had great fun decorating my fireplace for Christmas to take these photos when it's still only September!

   

The pattern is available at Ravelry and The Tree Bridge etsy store.

Cornish Coast Baby Blanket - Free Crochet Pattern

I've been making a blanket for H, when he's out and about in his pushchair and car seat. I wanted it to be small enough to carry around, and made from acrylic yarn so it can be washed easily. I used Robin Picasso Chunky, and managed to get the whole blanket out of one ball.

Here's the pattern:

Cornish Coast Baby Blanket

UK crochet terminology.

You will need:

15mm / Q hook

10mm / P hook

1 x 100g ball Robin Picasso Chunky, (150m per ball) or equivalent yarn.

Tension

Approximately 6 sts x 7 rows over 4 x 4 inches, using 15mm hook.

Stitch Key

Ch = Chain                            

Dc = Double Crochet

*---* = Indicates a sequence of stitches to be repeated.

Instructions.

With 15mm hook, Ch 51. 
R1. Dc in 2^nd ch from hook. *Ch1, skip next stitch, dc in next ch*. Repeat across to end of row. Dc in last ch. Ch1, turn.

R2.  Dc in 1^st st. *Ch1, skip next stitch, dc in ch1 space.* Repeat across. Dc in last ch. Ch1, turn.

 

Repeat row 2 until there are 39 rows in total. Do not turn.

Edging

Using 10mm hook, work all the way round the 4 edges of the blanket, working 1dc in the end of each row, 1dc in each chain, 1dc in each dc. Slip stitch to join.

Fasten off. Sew in ends.

The USA version of the pattern is available free on Ravelry