Turtle Power

My Gran loves turtles and growing up living next to the beach she saw them quite often. She's due to have surgery soon so decided to make her a small gift of a turtle. He's called Terry.

Terry is made using Patons Jet wool and alpaca yarn. I crocheted him on a 5.5mm hook in the back loops to give a ridged effect. It produces a softer more snuggly style quite diff from my normal 3.5mm amigurumi. I may try a slightly smaller hook next time to close the holes a little.

I'll try and post an abbreviated pattern later.

Enjoy x

Granny square from Grandma

Look what arrived in the post today. A granny square blanket from my Grandma.

My Gran knows I get cold and kindly made this lap blanket for me. Aaah!

The best presents are made with kindness and love. Not only do I have a blanket my Gran also taught me how to crochet. Thanks Gran.

Zingy Cotton

Hello! Meet my version of the EDF blob Zingy. My Alpaca Sky worsted cotton arrived and after I unravelled it (made quite a hash of it) I got to work on my little blob.

The yarn is lovely - soft, bright and smooth with no spilts. Yeah! Although it does shed a little but this might be to do with the tangled mess I ended up with whilst trying to wind into a ball.

I used a 3.5mm hook to make the blob but I know other crocheters use up to a 5mm on worsted. I wasn't that brave and wanted to make sure the stuffing would be well hidden as I'm giving the blob to my baby nephew.

If you would like to make your own. Here is my free pattern...

Buy more...

Hello, I finally found some yarn to make a an infinity scarf (I'm suffering a bit form yarn envy at the mo... will write about that another day). I chose my stitch. I wanted it to be chunky and ribbed. I patiently cast on about 200 stiches, worked about 20 rows (30 mins each row) and then I ran out of yarn....no!
I hot footed it back to Big W - no gray skeins in sight! A week later, still no yarn. Lesson - always by more yarn. So here is my scrarf halfway. I've still worn it out and about and it looks great if I do say so myself. Will let you know when I find more yarn.

Coco

Please welcome my latest crochet project ...Coco! Isn't she cute!
Coco is a ballerina bunny complete with tutu and ballet shoes. She is a present for a friends new baby girl due August. Mum is a dancer so I thought this would go down well.

Okay. Will post some close ups and the materials used later. Enjoy.

Crochet Slippers

Winter is approaching here on Oz and it's getting pretty cool in the evenings (hence the socks). So I decided to use my new bamboo hook to make some snuggly crochet slippers.

As per usual I've made my own pattern.I wanted them to be quite firm but have the look of a Mary Jane or clog. So, I got googling and found these two videos mikeysmail & bobwilson 123 .

I used 3 strands of yarn 'Sean Sheep Stirling' machine wash 100% Oz wool and a 5.5 hook. Keep notes as you go along. I had a lot of trial an error as I was using thinner yarn (hard to get worsted yarn here) and used hdc's.

If you'd like to make your own, here is my free pattern...

Ooh... Bamboo!

After leaving my crochet supplies in the UK it was time to get back on that crafting wagon and make a trip to Lindcraft. "No crochet hooks...what?" I couldn't beleive it. So I tried again on a couple of weeks and spotted a lone 5.5mm bamboo hook. It was larger that I needed but I thought I'd give it a try and now I'm hooked (pardon the pun)!

The Sullivan's hook (2nd from top) is my fave. Smooth, pointy with a bit of flex bamboo is supposed to be kinder on the wrists. Worked a treat for my slippers but not so great for amigurami, I snapped mine.

The others I bought online thru eBay. Good value but don't have the point or deep groove. But I remedied that with a craft knife and a bit of sand paper (top pic).

On the hunt for some nice yarn now. TTFN

Sean the Sheep

Sean the Sheep

Ever since I created my first Crochet project "Mr Red" back in 2010 I promised to make my father-in-law a soft toy. He is an avid collector of soft toys so after a little think I opted for a sheep. It was also an opportunity to mastered another technique - loop stitch  - I like to set myself a challenge.
The pattern has been adapted from Craft Passion 'Little Timmy'. Thank you.
Luckily Bob has a soft spot for slight mishapen toys so my wonkey legged sheep (ran out of yarn) will feel right at home. He now sits pride of place on the mantel piece. Aaawwww! Or should I say Baaaa!
Check out the link for ear muffs at the bottom of the Craft Passion page - So cute!

Crochet | Bunny

Meet Jay my new crochet bunny - another present for my nephew. His Mum and Dad have bought absolutely everything for him so a hand made gift was in order...and its in their favourite colour black so extra brownie points for me.

Jay is worked with two strands of Sirdar DK black crepe. I wanted to use cotton but there was none in my local shop so opted for crepe remembering my Grandma's tip that it doesn't split like other yarns. To minimise holes and unsightly white filling against the black I doubled the yarn thickness and used 3mm hook.





As per usual I like to freestyle. So made the pattern up as I went along. I've added extra details such as the 'J' on the bum, an 'X' for the tummy and cross stitch for the ears.

If you would like to make your own...

Crochet | Cactus

More crochet....
Found this blog by elf luvs dwarfs featuring some super cute crochet cactus. The pattern is worked in rows using the back loops to form the ridges. Genius!
{photo credit}