Friday, March 23, 2012

Flowers on Friday

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I've already given a brief view of this yesterday in my tassels tutorial, but it deserves a ta-da all of its own. And here it is!


Happy crochet!


The top flower uses a pattern from CAROcreated on Etsy.




Then there's  Lucy's happy flower.




Next, a heart using this pattern.




And finally, my blue and pink tassel!

Each component was crocheted with acrylic yarn as I have a ridiculously large stash of odd balls of acrylic in various mismatched colours which I'm desperate to use up! It works well enough but cotton would be better.

It's now brightening up my kitchen wall.

And if you haven't seen it already, check out my crochet tassels tutorial and let me know what you think!

More crochet tassels



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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Crochet tassels

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Look - my first crochet photo tutorial! If you'd like to have a go at crochet tassels, give it a go! I'd love some feedback on what you think!

Yarn: whatever you have on hand, although a smoother or cotton yard probably works best.

Hook size: whatever appropriate to make a fairly tight fabric, eg. 3.5mm for dk yarn, 2.5mm for 4 ply.

Tension: not important.

These instructions use UK terminology.

First, the top 'cover' of the tassel.

Round 1: 6 dc in magic ring (6 sts)




Don't tighten the ring to close the centre hole, but keep a small hole in the centre.

The following rounds are worked in a spiral without joining.

Round 2: Working in the front loop only, 2 dc in each st all round (12 sts)




Note that the photo above shows the 'wrong side' so that you can see the unused back loops which we'll use later.

Round 3: Working in the front loop only, increase every 4th st to 15 dc (15 sts)




Round 4: Working in the front loop only, 1 dc in each st all round. (15 sts)




Round 5: Working in both loops, 1 dc in each st all round. (15 sts)

Round 6: Working in both loops, *1 dc in each of first 3 sts, work next 2 sts together, repeat from * to end. (12 sts)

 Sl st in next 2 sts




Keep this top 'cover' wrong side out with the empty back loops showing as we'll now use these back loops to anchor the dangling 'tassely' bits.

Ch 2 and sl st in first back loop from round 4.




Next, work 40 chain then sl st in the next back loop.




Continue in this way (40 ch then sl st in next back loop) until you've worked all the way back round to the beginning once.



(Please excuse the fact that I've switched to a different tassel here!)

However, as an alternative, you could work the 'danglers' in two different colours.




Now ch 40, miss one back loop and sl st in the next back loop. Continue to ch 40 and sl st in alternate back loops until you get to the centre.


(Looks like some kind of weird sea creature, don't you think?)


Work a long chain 'handle' and thread through the centre hole. On my blue/pink tassel, I worked 40 chain in blue, cut the yarn, then threaded this 40 chain through the centre hole. I then threaded the yarn tail back down again and finished it off among the 'danglers'.

You can now tighten the centre hole and finish off the yarn tail from the beginning.




Now, you need to fold over the top 'cover' of the tassel so that all the slip stitches and back loops are hidden inside the cover and the 'cover' is now right side out.




You would notice on the pink tassel that I added beads to the middle of each dangler. My hanging loop I then made extra long to make a necklace for Iona.




On my original tassels, I didn't make a complete hanging loop, but threaded some wooden beads on to the yarn tail.




And my blue/pink tassel I thought would make the perfect finishing touch for my Happy Flowers, inspired by Lucy!


 


So there it is! My first crochet tutorial. I'd love to know what you think, both of this way of making tassels and of the tutorial itself. Is everything clear? Are the photos OK? Any questions, let me know!

More crochet tassels

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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Two on Tuesday 2 + a little destashing

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Two things that make me happy:

1. A walk round the allotment with my 3 lovely children.

2. Crocheting in bed at midnight, discovering unexpected delights in this yarn!




I'm also clearing out my yarn stash a bit and trying to get rid of some stuff I'm fairly sure I won't really use.

Is anyone interested in any of the following? All is new and unused unless otherwise stated. The cost will be 1gbp a ball + postage

1. 2 balls Wendy Happy 4 ply sock yarn, shade 2503 Pisces, 75% bamboo, 25% nylon




2. 3 balls Sirdar Squiggle, super chunky, shade 0602, 51% wool, 49% acrylic. 2 balls completely new with ball band, 1 ball partially used then unravelled and wound in a ball.




3. 2 balls Regia 4 ply sock yarn, shade 01932, 75% wool, 25% polyamide - below left

4. 1 ball Regia 4 ply sock yarn, shade 05180, 75% wool, 25% polyamide - below right




5. 2 balls Sirdar Crofter Dk (Fair Isle effect), shade 0059, 60% acrylic, 25% cotton, 15% wool




That'll do for now!

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Friday, March 16, 2012

Friday finishes

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Just a couple of recent finishes I haven't shared yet!

P2251396

My first amineko! I love these - more toys with character!

You can see that Merry the cat soon found a friend, although he insists they're really cousins!

P2251404

I also made some tassels recently for a parcel I was sending on a long journey!

Crochet tassels

The tassles in this photo worked out particularly well and I'm in the process of writing up how to make them, so come back next week to find out how to do it!

Friday, March 02, 2012

February motifs

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Well, now that I've writted about my plan, I feel kind of obliged to stick to it! Thanks for your comments, they make me feel like I've got something to live up to now!

Here are the motifs from Beyond the Square that I crocheted in February. Just 2 of them as Iona's got a bit of a cough and interrupted my evening's crochet!

Beyond the Square, motif no 11

This is motif no. 11. I'm not so keen on the colour combination on this one now, but I'm not going back to change it!

It's also not a great photo as I'm doing a bit of playing around and testing with my new iPod to see if it's worth using it for photos at all as it'll save time for formatting and uploading.

Beyond the Square, motif no 14

No 14 now. This one has a couple of extra rounds as I was having fun with the front post dcs! (iPod pic again.)

Writing this up, I'm finding it funny how easily I slip between UK and US crochet terminology these days! I think the pattern probably calls them front post dcs, but you might want to call them trebles.

You can see the motifs everybody else has been crocheting here on Barbara's blog. Alternatively head over to Tami's!