More crochet gifts...

Following on from my last post, here are some more gifts I gave at the end of last year.

My daughter's teacher was about to go on leave and was heading for the UK and Europe as soon as school ended... hoping for a white Christmas and I'm pretty sure she would have had one. So with her bottle of wine she got a scarf, and a block of Toblerone. (Just 'cause she likes them. :-) )

The scarf is lovely and soft, but there are a few things about it that I wasn't happy with.

For starters, it took more wool than I expected; that's why it has black rows either side of the purple. (I had more black than purple. I used purple as this particular purple is this teacher's favourite colour and she wears this colour somewhere on her person almost every day. But I thought the black would work okay with it.)

Also it's a bit too short; I was worrying about the amount of yarn I had. It's the sort of length that will work tucked into the front of a coat, but it's not the sort of length for multiple-wraps-around-your-neck or tossing-over-your-shoulder stuff.

I'm 99% sure that I used this pattern. (It was a few months ago and I was pretty busy - I didn't note down anywhere what I was using!) The pattern is simple, but a little bit different: all you do is US dc, US sc, all the way along. Then, on the next row, do a dc in every sc from the row before, and in every dc from the last row, do a sc. Make sense? The pattern explains it better than me. :-) It produces a nice bumpy texture and helps the yarn to drape softly. I liked it and will probably use it again, next time trying a more chunky yarn like the pattern suggests.

I'm not even sure of the hook size any more, but I think it was a 5 or 6mm (bigger than recommended for the yarn to help the scarf to drape). The yarn I do remember, it is Moda Vera Cupcake. A nylon/acrylic blend, it is sooooo soft. Lovely to touch and work with.


And here is one more thing I made last year. I found this great pattern over at Tangled Happy. Tangled Happy is a great new blog absolutely choc-full of crochet ideas. I absolutely LOVE it! If you haven't visited it, please do - it is such a beautiful place to browse and get ideas.

Anyway, this "ear-warmer" pattern - I thought - was also a great headband pattern. I made these for two sisters, aged 2 and 5. The red one is for the little girl, so it is a bit smaller and one row thinner. The pattern is dead simple and sooooo quick! I used 8ply cotton/acrylic yarn and a 4mm hook. Such a quick, easy gift.

To attach the flowers, I used an idea from Little Birdie Secrets - I sewed a button on to each headband, and the flowers are attached to the hat using the button and the centre-loop of the flower. This means the flowers can be swapped over if the girls want to, or they can be left off the headband altogether for a simpler look. I really liked doing the flowers this way and think I will use this method a lot in future, as my own little girl often changes her mind about what she likes!

As for the flower patterns... I'm pretty sure the first flower I did (the red one) was from a link provided by Tangle Happy (pattern can be found here). But I found this pattern to be a little to open/loopy, so I got some ideas from patterns here and here, and modified my second flower a bit so that the petals sat a little closer to each other and to the button. I wish I'd taken more note of what I did, because now these have been gifted, I can't look back at them at all. Sorry! But if you try those links, you'll get some great ideas for layered flowers.


Well, that's all I have for my "show and tell" today! :-) But more to come soon as I had a very productive Christmas holiday.

Have a happy, hooky day,
Caz :)

Long Time, No See

It has been almost two months since I have said hello to you all in the world of blogland, and I must say it is very nice to finally find a spare half-hour to sit down and type a quick message to you all.

Yes, I am still here, still visiting all the crochet blogs that I love from time to time (though not as often as I'd like), and will hopefully now have time to post more regularly again for a while.

We are finally back into a semi-normal routine of school and work and me playing taxi-driver for my kids (for swimming lessons, dancing lessons, soccer training, etc etc) and somehow finding time to crochet (and blog!) occasionally.

Over our long, tropical, very wet summer I have enjoyed a relaxing holiday, with lots of visitors coming and going. We spent a lot of January watching the continuous media coverage as flooding spread over huge parts of Queensland (the area underwater was the same as France and Germany combined!). The flash flooding west of Brisbane was terrifying and heart-breaking. We had family evacuated from that area, but all are, thankfully, safe.

We felt devastated to see Brisbane (my home town) experience flooding almost as bad as in 1974. Some of my family had to evacuate their homes, but fortunately they were spared the inundation others experienced. We do have friends in Brissy whose homes went under, and they are still being affected by the disaster, unable to live in their homes. The community spirit during the clean-up was amazing to see and hear about - Queenslanders were at their finest at this time.

Here are some photos from news sites: Brisbane at the peak of the flooding: here and here; and the amazing army of volunteers helping with the clean up: here.

We then experienced the chaos of the whole back-to-school new-school-year - always a busy and exciting time for my kids, and extra-crazy with both my husband and I being school teachers. This year my responsibilities at work were changed unexpectedly just before students returned which has really thrown me in a spin and added to my workload.

AND in the second week back we had school closures as the biggest cyclone to ever hit Australia was heading our way! Our town was originally right in line with the cyclone's predicated path.

Last year we endured cyclone Ului (category 3) and fortunately experienced minimal damage. But this cyclone (Yasi) was a category 5 and much bigger in size as well as speed. We ended up packing up everything that we could and evacuating our home, before the cyclone changed course slightly and headed slightly north of us. In the end our town only experienced minimal rain and winds.

The beautiful seaside village of Mission Beach and the towns of Tully and Cardwell were worst-hit places when cyclone crossed the coast. Many homes have lost their roofs; some houses were completely ripped apart. If it had hit a larger town (like Cairns) head-on, the devastation would have been enormous. But that is little comfort for the families who have lost everything in these smaller towns.

Click here for a gallery of photos showing the aftermath of Cyclone Yasi.

So, like I say, it has been a busy - and unusual - start to the year, but things are starting to fall into a more regular routine once again. Cyclone season isn't over yet, so we always have one eye on the weather reports. Touch wood my beautiful state won't be hit for six again.

Amongst it all, I have found some time for crochet. I have lots to show and share with you all, it's just a matter of finding time to get the pics uploaded and to write about it all. Sounds simple in theory, I know, but when you have kids and you work part-time, very little is simple, at least that's how it seems to go at my place!

Hope you are all well, and look forward to sharing some crochet with you soon,
Happy hooking,
Caz :)

P.S. If you would like to donate to the Brisbane flood appeal, visit this website. There are thousands of people who have lost everything, and every bit you can contribute WILL help!

And donations to support those who have lost their homes from Cyclone Yasi can also be made there.

(This is Queensland's official government website and is a ligit, safe method for donating. If you can give, even if it's only a few dollars, then please do.)

http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

My First Ever Cable

I got this magazine for Christmas yesterday. Yes, it's summer here, but we still get the Northern Hemisphere magazines... complete with winter patterns... :-)

No matter! They are still interesting and chock-full of ideas. I love reading through crochet magazines - I learn so much!

So, on Christmas night, with all the fun and festivities winding down, I decided to give this pattern a go. I (almost) finished the first glove that night.


I am really pleased with the cable part of the pattern. Normally I feel too daunted to attempt such complicated-looking projects, but being a small item I decided to take the plunge.

It seemed a little tricky at first, but once I saw what the pattern was asking me to do, it all made sense. I Never Knew how cable designs "worked" - how they reveal themselves as you stitch along - but now I do. And it's not that difficult at all!

The stash yarn I used, with its coloured flecks, takes away from the texture of the work a little, but I still think it looks nice.

I was so excited that I couldn't wait to share it with you and I got photos up on here as soon as I could! :-)

Not that I'll be wearing these, though... maybe I can send them to one of my friends living in the UK or Europe - it's cold enough there at the moment!

Since I last posted, I have been really busy at work and then my holidays began. Since then I have been busy with Christmas and family time, and I have found only a little bit of time to crochet, and no time to blog! I have been trying to keep up with reading all my favourite blogs, though, but can't seem to find the time to create posts of my own.

I am trying to finish some WIPs that have been lingering for a little too long. I'm losing interest but I really want to persevere and finish them; I've told myself that I can't start anything else until they are done!

Except for these mitts, mind you! ;-)

Anyway, I do have some crochet to share with you, and I can't wait to do so. Just a matter of finding the time in this busy, festive time of year. Our home is full of visitors at the moment - this is a very family-oriented time for us - it's lovely but busy!

Will share my other projects with you just as soon as I can.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying the festive season. Hope you all find some time to crochet amongst it all!

Caz :)

Christmas Bunting - A Pattern!

Okay... FINALLY... I have attempted to turn my Christmas Bunting into a pattern.

Like I mentioned, this is a combination of patterns and ideas from other clever people on the web.

Making the star

The first step is to make a star and this pattern is part of another pattern from Michelle at The Royal Sisters and she has kindly said that she's happy for me to share it with you.

If you want to see the original pattern and instructions for this part, have a look at Michelle's Grandma Star Hexagon Tutorial. I am using the first part of that pattern.

Like Michelle, I am writing in English crochet terms (and American terms in brackets).

This flower/star has "petals" made with a cluster/bobble kinda-stitch.

This is the cluster stitch:
yarn over hook, insert into next stitch, yarn over hook and pull up loop (3 loops on hook),
yarn over hook and draw through 2 loops,
yarn over hook and insert into same stitch, yarn over hook, pull up loop,
yarn over hook and draw through 2 loops,
yarn over hook and insert into same stitch again,
yarn over hook, pull up loop, yarn over hook, and draw through 2 loops,
yarn over hook and draw through all 4 loops remaining. Cluster stitch done!

Okay, so here we go:

Chain 4 and join with a slip stitch to make a ring.

Round 1: chain 1, 12 dc(sc) into the ring.
Join with a slip stitch to first dc(sc)

Round 2: chain 2, then:
yarn over hook, insert into same stitch,
yarn over hook pull up the loop (3 loops on hook),
yarn over hook and draw through 2 loops,
yarn over hook and insert into same stitch,
yarn over hook, pull up a loop,
yarn over hook and draw through 2 loops.
yarn over hook and draw through all 3 loops remaining.
(this is the cluster stitch but it's a bit different/weird because it started with a chain 2)

THEN
*chain 5, skip one dc(sc)
make cluster stitch into the next dc(sc)*

Repeat * - * until there are 6 petals and one dc(sc) remaining.

Chain 5 and join with a slip stitch to the top of the first cluster.

Finish off and weave in ends - you've completed the first part - you've made a star!


As you can see, I made my "stars" in a groovy gold thread. I made all my stars first, then moved on to the next part - surrounding them with a granny triangle that becomes the Christmas Bunting!

OKAY... (How am I doing? :-) Feeling quite nervous here!)


Making the flags

Now time to make the triangles. I used red.

S0....

Change to new colour. Attach new colour with a slip stitch to one of the chain 5 strands. Chain 3 (counts as a treble/dc).

Do three more trebles(dc), chain 3, do 4 more trebles(dc), all along that chain 5 strand (in between 2 petals). Chain 1.
In the next space (on the next chain 5 strand): 4 trebles(dc), chain 1

In the next space: 4 trebles(dc), chain 3, THREE trebles(dc), (corner made leading into the "shorter" side of the triangle), chain 1

In the next space: 3 trebles(dc), chain 1

In the next space: 3 treble(dc), chain 3, FOUR treble(dc) (corner made, you are now going down one of the longer sides again), chain 1

In the last space: 4 treble(dc), chain 1

Join with a slip stitch to the top of the chain three, completing that round.

Did that make sense? Can you see in the pics above the treble(double) "groups" as I call them? On two sides the treble(double) groups have four stitches per group, and on one side of the triangle the groups are groups of three? This makes one side shorter than the other two. Or have I confused you more now??

Well, moving on to the next round...

Slip stitch across to the next chain 3 space

In this space:

Chain 3 (acts as a treble/dc), 3 trebles(dc), chain 3, 4 treble(dc), chain 1,

In the next chain 1 space: 4 treble(dc), chain 1

Repeat in the next chain space

Then you reach the corner again. Remember, this is the corner that takes you to the "shorter" side, so this corner will be:

4 treble(dc), chain 3, THREE treble(dc) (corner made) chain 1

Then in each of the next chain 1 spaces: 3 treble(dc), chain 1

Then you reach the next corner. You need to finish your "shorter" side and start the next "longer" side, so you do:

3 treble(dc), chain 3, FOUR treble(dc), chain 1

Then in the next two spaces: 4 treble(dc), chain 1

You should be back at the start of this round. Join with a slip stitch at the top of the beginning chain 3.

Slip stitch to the next chain 3 space...

And repeat for a many rounds as desired!

Does that make sense???? I really hope it does!

When you are ready to finish your work, you can do this soft, shell edging:

After joining with a slip stitch at the end of the last round DO NOT slip stitch all the way over to the next space. Instead, you only slip stitch to the MIDDLE of the treble group. Then you use that corner space, but you are reaching over to it.

4 treble(dc) in corner space, chain 4

slip stitch into the 4th chain from the hook (picot made),

4 treble(dc) in the same (corner) space,
join with a slip stitch in the middle of the trebles(dc) in the next "treble(dc) group" from the last round.

Then, in the next chain 1 space: 4 treble(dc), join with a slip stitch to the middle of the next "treble(dc) group".

Continue until you reach the corner.

At the corner, 4 treble(dc) in the corner space, chain 3, then THREE treble(dc) in the corner space, chain 1. (Do NOT join with a slip stitch as you have just been doing down the side.)

Continue along the "shorter" side as you have in previous rounds: 3 treble(dc), ch 1 in each space (so this side will look straight - no shell edging)

At the corner: 3 treble(dc), ch 3, 4 treble(dc), join with a slip stitch to the middle in the next treble group from the previous round (so you're starting the shell edge again for this side).

Continue down this side:

4 treble(dc) in the next ch1 space, join with a slip stitch to the middle of the next treble(dc) group from the previous round.

Continue until you reach the end of the round. Then join with a slip stitch to the original slip stitch from the start of this round (end of the previous round).

Finish off and weave in ends.

You've done it!

Joining your flags

Chain about 20, maybe more. It depends how much "hanging up thread" you need at your ends.

Then dc(sc) into the top right corner or your flag. *Chain 3, 1 dc(sc) into the next chain 1 space.* Repeat *-* to the next corner. Chain 10 (or however far apart you want your flags). 1 dc(sc) in the next flag's top right corner. Repeat *-* to the next corner. Chain 10 again and continue until all flags are connected. Chain 20 to create "hanging up" thread for the other end, then finish off and weave in ends.

NOTE: the "top right corner" is the corner that has 4 treble, ch 3, 3 treble

Phweeeew! I'm exhausted! :-)

This is the first time I have ever, ever, EVER tried to write out a pattern. It is so much more difficult to do than I realised. I have a new appreciation and respect for anyone who manages to successfully write out patterns for others to use.

So, that said, if any part of this doesn't makes sense, please let me know! Chances are I've left something out, or typed something incorrectly. So please tell me so that I can help you out, and also fix it up so it makes sense to others.

Hope you can do it/that it makes sense!

Happy hooking!

Caz :)

Cushion Success!

Well, it all worked out in the end - better than I expected!

I added a couple of extra rounds to the back (daisy) side, and then I blocked both cushions.


So now I'm a blocking convert - it makes such a difference!


I also did this amazing concept called... wait for it... counting stitches. I know! Crazy, huh?, but it just might work!

It turned out that my squares were now almost identical in stitches - one side was about 4 stitches smaller than the other.


So, taking the advice from some of my lovely comments, I just made sure that as I went along, I did a stitch that sort of squished two crochet stitches from one side into one stitch from the other side. It looked like it was going to be noticeable, but just two little stitches stitched into one didn't show up in the end. I made sure that it was done about 4 times for each side, and that I kept these spaced apart, fairly evenly, across the side.

I hope this is what Jacquie from Bunny Mummy meant by:
"join the two halves by putting them right sides together and over sewing in outer loops only"!?

Then when I reached the end of the side, the stitches lined up and I could sew to the corner with ease. Whoo Hoo!

Something else wonderful happened through all this blocking and extra-round-ing - the cover got bigger! So much bigger, in fact, that I thought it might, just might, make it around this cushion that came with a blue cover.

A little hard to judge at this stage!

This cushion (cover + insert) was $7 at Big W. And a white insert, same size? $5. Silly, hey?

(Also silly - who's making crochet cushion covers when she could just buy a perfectly fine cushion and cover for $7?? ;-) Hmmm.....)

This cushion is 40cm x 40cm - a standard size that I thought I wouldn't be able to cover... before blocking and adding those extra rounds. But now... it was going to be snug but it just might work! And with the blue cover - much nicer than a white filling thing.

(I know I could always sew my own covers, to any size I liked, but I really, REALLY dislike sewing. I have a sewing machine, up in the cupboard, I know how to sew, but I will avoid it whenever possible - including with this cushion!)

ANYWAY... I sewed it up... I used Bunny Mummy's button closure method... I didn't have enough buttons so my opening is pretty small... and I had a moment of panic because I thought NO WAY is that cushion going to fit through that opening!

Then I decided I would MAKE IT FIT! So I squished and pushed and squashed and punched and shoved... and ...

I got it in! Sewed on the buttons (yes, I only did that at this moment!), and ...


It was done!

YAY!



Voila! I think we can call this: Cushion Success!

That said, I doubt I will be doing another cushion any time soon! It all took a lot longer than I thought, a lot more yarn than I thought, and a lot of fiddly-sewing drama which is SOOOO not to my liking!

Back to blankets, methinks!

And a few other projects I've been dabbling with...

Will share it all as soon as I can.

By the way, I haven't forgotten about that bunting pattern. It's going well, I've been taking photos and all... just haven't gotten it all finalised yet. That pesky Paid Work is getting in the way big time at the moment - this is one of the busiest times of the year for me. :-(

And when that's all out of the way, I will be able to blog a lot more. Looking forward to that. :-)

See you all soon, I hope,
Caz :)