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

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.

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...

Jenny's headband

It's finished! 

This pretty and chunky headband took me a couple of evenings. I loved doing it. I learnt a new stitch
and I finished it with my triple layered flowers.

Triple layered flower pattern

Here are the finished triple layered flowers ready to use on Jenny's headband...

My pattern

I used a 2mm hook, a 4mm hook and a 6mm hook to create the three different sized flowers.

Chain 8.

Slip stitch into first chain to form a ring.

**Chain 2, 3 treble crochet into ring, chain 2, slip stitch into ring**

Do that bit in stars 5 times for 5 petals.

Fasten off and darn in the tails.

Sew layers together.

Finish with a button.

Teeny tiny flower

This is the smallest flower I've ever crocheted...

It was so fiddly, but it's just adorably tiny and just what I wanted to put as the final layer of my triple layered flowers (check them out and their patterns here) to decorate the headband I've been making.

Chunky Winter Headband Pattern

With Christmas upon us I have been eager to teach myself to crochet really chunky headbands as Christmas prezzys. What with it being winter I decided the chunkier the better. This is the pattern I have decided to use after much interweb trawling.

It is cute because it is chunky and the pattern is very versatile.

The ties are a fab idea as they make the headband less bulky under the hair and make it adjustable to different sizes. Useful for a Christams prezzy. Don't you think? I probably won't follow the pattern exactly but I will definitely this to get me started...

You will need - 40 g any worsted weight yarn - 4mm hook - Yarn needle

Gauge -  Approx. 4 stitches per inch - Approx. 4 rows per inch

The Pattern

Chain 4

Increase

Row 1: sc in 2nd ch and across, ch 1, turn

Row 2: (2 sc) in 1st st, sc 1, (2 sc) in last ch, ch 1, turn

Row 3: sc across, ch 1, turn

Row 4: (2 sc) in 1st st, sc to next to last st, (2 sc) in last st, ch 1, turn

Repeat Rows 3 and 4 until you have 13 stitches. Work one row of plain sc, ch 1, turn. Now you are ready to begin your pattern. Feel free to insert any stitch pattern.

Main body of headband

 (You could use any stitch you want to for this part of the headband but I think this looks nice and solid) 

dc in first stitch, *skip 1 stitch, work (sc, dc) in next stitch; repeat from * repeat starred instruction until there are two stitches remaining. Skip 1 stitch, sc in the turning chain of the previous row, ch 1, turn

Repeat that sequence until it reaches approximately 12 inches from the start of your pattern (do not count the sc)

Note: If your stitch is particularly stretchy (like sc rib), you may want to work less than 12 inches. It would be a shame to have a floppy headband that looses its shape! If your stitch doesn't stretch much, you may want more, depending on the size of your head. 

When you finish that main body of your headband decrease as follows.

Decrease

Row 1 (of decreases): Sc dec 2 st, sc to last 2 st, sc dec, ch 1, turn

Row 2: sc across, ch 1, turn

Repeat these Rows 1 and 2 until you have 3 stitches remaining. Now you are ready to do the sc border and ties. 

Single crochet around the edge, and ties

(You may find it easier to read the entire next section before you begin!)

Ch 1, sc around the headband. 

Sc 3 in corners. 

When you reach the 3 sc at each end, sc in 1st 2 stitches, then ch approx 7 inches. 

Slip stitch in 2nd ch and across. 

When you reach the base, sc in the 2nd ch again, then continue around. 

When you get back to where you started, join to the first sc with a slip stitch. 

You may want to sc once more for extra stability. 

Fasten off and darn in ends. 

And finally

Wear your headband and feel more than just a little bit fabulous!

Hope you enjoy making and wearing this item!

I originally took this pattern from here  but then I did rewrite parts of it so that I would find it easier to follow. The pattern was originally put on-line with a creaive commons license. 

Welcome

Hello and a warm and wooley welcome to my blog.

This blog is a place for me to journal my crocheting. I do also have a crochet jewellery business; The Flower Mill. Please do have a little nosey in my online shop.

Thanks

xx