Monday 24 December 2012

Roo's Christmas prezzy

My father-in-law's partner is affectionately Nick-named 'Roo' within the family.

She has a Samsung Galaxy SII like my father-in-law's.

For Christmas this year we made her a pink phone case so that they could have 'his n hers' phone cosies. 

See his here and hers below .

Yvette's Christmas present

Another cute Christmas prezzy idea is a hot water bottle case. This is a nice gift because it is so easily personalised. Think of a person's fave colour, pet or hobby and I can guarantee there is a cute hot water bottle design that can come from it.

My mother in law is called Yvette and her favourite colour is green. This is what me and my hubby came up with for her and she seemed really chuffed with it when she unwrapped it.



Steve's Christmas present

My father in law has a Samsung Galaxy SII so we decided to give him a neat, grey case for it for Christmas.

The pattern mainly consists of each round being 32 double crochet long, slip stitch together, turning stitch, turn work, repeat. (UK terminology)

This was attempt number three as we wanted it to be very clean cut and angular, which meant each round needed to be perfectly counted.

Because it was a simple colour we wanted it to be impressive in neatness and  a satisfyingly snug fit.

To detail we surface appliqued on a letter S, and gave it a big chunky button.
I think it turned out well.







Saturday 22 December 2012

Mini Martha the amigurumi bunny

This week my husband and I are visiting home for Christmas. This year there is a new member of the family.

Meet Martha...



Ever since I began to crochet I have watched the world of amigurumi from afar, with wonder; cute elephants, marvel super heros and colourful beads.

Originating in Japan, but understandably popular worldwide, amigurumi are three dimensional crocheted or knitted toys that are usually worked in the round and stuffed with wadding. 

The word 'amigurumi' is a combination of the Japanese word 'ami' which means to knit, crochet or braid and the Japanese word 'nuigurumi' which literally means 'sew and wrap', and refers to many kinds of sewn/stuffed toys.

Today I had a go at my own little amigurumi bunny. I found the making of this bunny quite tricky - especially attaching the parts together because I wasn't sure of the best way to do it - but this project was a quick one and looks pretty cute. It took just a couple of hours and it was really nice to see my work take shape and gain a personality. 

Meet mini Martha...




I'm really looking forward to making other animals in the future.


Thursday 20 December 2012

Have a 'cosy' Christmas

My latest project


In our house we sure love a good cup of tea or a cosy cup of coffee so I've had a lot of fun making these crocheted mug cozies and the end result is just too cute. I don't really want to give them away but duty calls.

I selected the mugs, designed the pattern, crocheted the cosy and sewed on the details and all components are locally sourced where possible because I am all about supporting small local businesses. After all, my own business The Flower Mill is adorably small and brilliantly local. 

a finished cup cosy - crocheted in the Bakery


The exciting bit


The reason I have been crocheting cup cozies is because the rather lovely Lucy, in charge of social media at Moorland Road's Bath Bakery, kindly commissioned some for them to sell at their lovely cafe. As you know I do love to crochet and I often frequent the Bath Bakery with hooks and wool in tow, so of course I jumped at the chance to make them some crochet pretties.

On Saturday 22nd December there will be a handful of my unique and lovingly hand-made cup cosies for sale at Oldfield Park's The Bath Bakery & CafĂ©. (Find the bakery on Twitter and Facebook.)


I am so so excited to be selling them on our wonderful local shopping street. Such a joy. They cost just £7.50 each - pretty cup included and are a Christmas exclusive to the bakery. Once they're gone, they're gone.


preparations for my cosy display

They are not yet for sale on-line, but I am happy to make you one if you contact me via my website.
Click here to jump there now.

Bye for now. Am off to put the kettle on.

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Experimenting with parcel string

I'm having a little go at crocheting a storage basket for myself out of parcel string...

Thursday 13 December 2012

Laura's Christmas present

For my mum-in-law's partner's Christmas prezzy (now there is a mouthful and a half) me and the hubby designed and crocheted a personalised iphone case. This is a great idea for a Christmas prezzy as long as you know what kind of phone somebody has as it is very easy to look up the dimensions on line.

For all you crochet geeks out there, the phone case we put together is made by using a double crochet stitch (UK terminology) in alternating colours of blue wool and cream cotton, 4ml hook.

We finished this stage on the train on our way to see them...



 I then darned in all of the tails and single crocheted a chain that I shaped  into her initials, double crocheted around, and appliquĂ©d onto the case. I sewed on a long dark blue button and gave it a chain loop button hole.

I love the end result. Here it is complete and ready to wrap...




A floral photo shoot

A local and lovely lady called Lucy has recently set up a fantastic photography company called Just Watch The Birdie with her (also rather talented) friend Dot. I was crocheting at her house the other day and she offered to photograph me in the early stages of my production line, in front of her cosy living room fire. This is the most blissful way to spend an afternoon; getting my stock up for craft fairs.

If you would like to find out more about Just Watch the Birdie click here for their website or on these links to see their Twitter or Facebook accounts.










Thursday 6 December 2012

A little something for grandma

I've just written a good old fashioned thank you letter to my grandma who gave me a lovely birthday present a couple of weeks ago.

I attached a little brooch to her card.

She actually saw one that I'd given to my mum and requested one for herself so that she could drum up some business for me up North with all of her friends, so I have slipped in a couple of business cards too so I might get a few more customers at my online shop on my website.

She may look like a sweet little grandma but Ilkley watch out! Ever the business woman, she's on my case. Spreading flower power across the generations.

I love her lots and feel proud that she might get pleasure out of this small yet rather fiddly-to-make trinket that I put together by hand.

I think it looks rather cute. I really hope she likes it too...

Ten Free Crochet Christmas Projects

I've been rummaging through the interweb, and have stumbled across some really fun and festive crochet projects. Here are my top ten FREE patterns on the web for the holiday season, in no particular order.

Enjoy :)




1. The reason for the season

by Cat Carlisle at craftycattery.com, she has also done free patterns of an Angel to put with these three. So cute...

Photobucket
check out the free paterns here

2. A Yummy Candy Cain

by Doni at 'whiskersandwool'
click here for the free pattern.

3. Sweet Amigurumi Christmas Lights Garland

by 'Dapper Toad'. You will need to log in/sign up to Craftsy or Ravelry to access this free pattern.


to have a look click here.

4. A Little Santa hat

by 'Homemade Zen'. This project is just so simple and cute.
click here for the free pattern.

5. A Festive iPhone Snug

by a 'decoratingandcookingforchristmas' website and would make a perfect Christmas gift. Don't you think?
get the free pattern here

6. A Quirky Turkey

by Teri Crews. Again, you will need to log in/sign up to Craftsy or Ravelry to access this free pattern.

take a closer look here


7. A delicate snowflake

by 'FabAct'. There are hundreds of snowflake patterns online. For a choice of just 21 pretty (and free) patterns try this site.
go to this page and click on the snowflake you like

8. Silly Santa Hat With Beard

by 'red heart'. Not the cutest pic I ever posted but is sure to cause a giggle or two when you visit family for Christmas.
Santa Hat and Beard
get your free pattern here




9. A Versatile Bauble Pattern

by Catherine Hirst. This could be made in whatever colour you like, or strung onto a garland. Lovely...
click here for the free pattern.

10. A Crocheted Pudding

by June Gilbank of 'JunePlanet'


crocheted christmas pudding
click here  for the free pattern.




Wednesday 5 December 2012

Crocheted little bow

I have just found the cutest, easiest, little crochet bow tutorial on YouTube.

This is nothing to do with me but it is thanks to queen of crochet "Bobwilson123" (who you can search for on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, so take your pick.)


Grab a hook and a scrap of wool right now and crochet along with this video. You will love how easy it is.

Enjoy.

Sunday 2 December 2012

Selling my crochet flowers

Since learning to crochet in May 2012 I have made so many little flowers that I have been experimenting with putting them on brooch pins and hair slides. I tried selling a couple on my friend's card stall at a craft fair at the start of November. I didn't sell many at all but I did get a good feel of how to do better next time.

This weekend was the 'next time'.

I am in love with this bird cage!

This time I had them displayed on a big piece of bark and a bird cage that I sourced from a local garden/junk shop where the lovely, friendly owner spent ages scrambling over garden furniture, baskets and crates to help me to find shabby chic props for me to display my crochet pretties on. 



Hair slides and bobbles displayed on the bark

I had a lovely time selling my crochet flowers at a local school's Christmas fair last Saturday. I saw many friendly faces of people that I recognized from the bakery where my husband worked, people from my Church, people from the local craft club that I go to fortnightly on Fridays and neighbours. So it was simply delightful!

Despite getting a numb bum on the tiny infants chairs that I sat on for two hours, I had a lot of fun and I sold a handful of hair bobbles, a handful of hair slides and a handful of brooches - in fact three times more than I sold on my first attempt - so I'm a happy bunny.


Some hair-slides, made-to-order for a customer whilst at the fair





Friday 23 November 2012

Flower bobble

This afternoon I was invited round to my friend Lucy's house for a cozy cuppa and cupcake. It was a lovely fire-lit crochet sesh where I have been experimenting in crocheting a flower onto a hair bobble.

A quick pic of attempt #1
I would usually crochet a chain of eight to begin a flower, slip stitch it into a ring and then work the petals around that ring. For this I tried crocheting a chain of two then slipstitching around the bobble, chaining four more,  slipstitch around the bobble again, chain one more and slip stitch together with first chain to create a ring that joins the bobble at two points.

To see a clearer picture of my final products click here



Thursday 22 November 2012

Darn it

Most crocheters seem to dislike weaving in the ends of their work, but I find it satisfying.It's the moment that your work goes from 'work in progress' to that 'special something'. Plus, if you do it well it will ensure that your creation stays in one piece. 


Some leave about 8″ of yarn at the start and end of their project, but not in my house! In my house wool is precious and I think that's a waste so I just leave about 1” and I've never had anything fall apart yet. 

Sometimes I darn as I go along but normally I do what I did last night -  I'd crocheted 15 leaves, so I had a darning session with a pot of tea in front of the TV and got them all completed in one go. Yay!

Here is more info on how to darn in the ends with a needle...






If you want to leave a short tail


This is fine for little leaves as they are probably going to be sewn to a flower anyway, so are not going to unravel. 

Take the yarn needle and weave it into your project so that the eye of the needle is near the tail you want to get rid of. Then thread the needle with the tail. Pull the needle through and taadaa, tail has vanished and is neatly tucked inside so that your project won’t unravel. 






If you want to leave a long tail


This is probably better for bigger projects. 

Take the yarn needle and thread the 8″ tail. Find a nice ridge of crochet stitches near by to the end of your work, for example on a granny square the edge will do, on a leaf the edge or the centre, on a flower the ring in the centre, or the edge of a petal. Push the needle through that ridge so that the tail completely disappears.  Either keep sewing it in until it has all gone, hidden inside your work, or ruckle your project up a little and snip the tail short before straightening out your project so the end disappears within. 





If you can't be bothered with the whole darned thing


You can work over loose ends as you go along instead, by holding them next to the chain or ring that you are working into. This method is a bit fiddly but it does save you darning the tails in at the end. 




Crochet Leaf



This crochet leaf is the perfect addition to any crochet flower and is very simple. I made up the pattern myself but I am sure there are many leaf patterns out there on the great big interweb if you would like something a little more complex. 







To make a longer leaf you simply begin with a longer chain. I have experimented with a few different lengths and I think seven gives a really cute size without it being too fiddly.



You will need

  • 3mm hook
  • Green wool
  • A yarn needle
  • some scissors

The Pattern

1. Chain seven.

2. double crochet into the second chain from the hook.


3. treble crochet down the chain stopping on the penultimate stitch, so you have one single stitch left in the chain.

4. double crochet five times into the final stitch, this will force your stitches into a curve to create the rounded bottom of your leaf. (Cheeky!)

Here, you may want to tuck the yarn tail 
between your fingers and the leaf, 
as it can get in the way.


5. now treble crochet all the way up the other side of the chain, again stopping at the penultimate stitch.


6. double crochet into the final chain. Your leaf should be looking very leaf-shaped by now.


7. Take some scissors and snip your leaf free from your ball of yarn.


8. do a final slip stitch to finish off your leaf with a tight point.


Your leaf is now complete...

If you are not sure how to darn in the tails, click here.




Wednesday 21 November 2012

A birthday brooch

Today I attached one of my hand made brooches (see The Flower Mill) to an art deco card and sent it to my mum for her birthday  I thought the flower and card looked cute together. What do you think...