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.

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 & Café. (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.

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 appliquéd 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...

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...

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.

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'

click here  for the free pattern.

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.

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.