Sunday Shawl

Sunday Shawl is a crochet pattern by Alia Bland, The little Bee. I started seeing them popping up all over the place on Instagram and thought I'd like to give one a try, not really thinking how much yarn it would use! Cue a mild panic attack. Luckily (but not really) our local yarn store was closing down and I got a great deal on some Paton's Jet a lovely mix of wool and Alpaca. The yarn was 12ply a bit thicker than the pattern called for so I changed some of the stitches to shorter ones, the pattern calls for a few more colour changes but my choices were limited so I repeated some colours. So it's not a faithful version of a Sunday Shawl. Lucky I made the changes too as it ate up a wee bit more yarn than I thought and I ended up with very little left over.

That awkward moment that you forget to move your daughter's shoes!

 It works up extremely quickly, I'd happily make another if I could find some budget friendly yarn, I've got my eyes peeled!

The weather has taken a turn for the cooler, after what must have been the warmest Autumn ever, it makes it the perfect time to snuggle up with a shawl. I thought my Nana might need something cozy for her shoulders, turns out it was very well received!

Any snugly knits on your needles, or on you hook? You can find out more about The Little Bee here.

Commemorate

A year ago we were preparing for Centenary commemorations of the Gallipoli landings. I crocheted what seemed to be a ton of poppies to give to friends who wanted something a bit more than the bought ones. I took a wee project bag of them with me all over the place, stealing a few moments here and there. It's possibly the only way to complete anything these days! Also pretty satisfying to see how those stolen moments add up.

My son was also invited to an Army themed party on Anzac day. I had some "jungle green" pants in my "upcycling" collection of clothes and I scaled them down using a pattern from Melissa Wastney's Book - Sweet and Simple Handmade. I cut the pattern pieces out making good use of existing details, like pockets etc. The pattern is so easy they were whipped up the day before in an hour or so.

Lest we forget.

Crochet cowl (16/52)

I recently finished crocheting a new cowl, I don't need another one. However I'm fairly sure that you can never have too many! I made it using the wool that I spun back here.

I didn't have a pattern and with only 100g of wool I knew I needed to crochet something quite open otherwise it was not going to go very far, the plus side of that is it crochets up quite quickly.

It tones in perfectly with the colours in my garden don't you think?The bright pink leaves belong to a type of Coleus I think, but I'm unable to find a picture that quite matches it. Many years ago my Nana gave me a bouquet of flowers from her garden with a few pieces of this amazingly, almost unnaturally coloured plant in it. It's the sort of plant that obviously grows quite easily from cuttings as it took root in the vase, not one to waste such and opportunity. I popped them in the garden and they flourished! Isn't it an amazing colour? Nature is amazing!

Overdyed (9/52)

A long time ago when I started experimenting with acid dyes, I started off practicing on some pre-loved woollen baby clothes. It seemed a great way to see how the dyes reacted and I wasn't ruining my precious (spent a million hours spinning it) hand spun wool. The most I had to lose was a small amount of dye and a thrifted cardigan.

I went a bit crazy dying lots and lots of wee cardigans. Most needed slight repairs, a missing button or two, or a seam gently pulling apart. For the most part they have sat unfinished in their freshly dyed state for quite some time.

A few weeks ago, I decided the time had come to finish a couple of them and gift them to a couple of little baby girls I know. A few crochet flowers and new mother of pearl buttons and they were done. Hopefully they'll be keeping their new owners snugly and warm in the coming cooler months.

Now to finish off the dozen or so other jumpers I've got stashed away, and to find myself a cardigan in that perfect shade of green!

Testing - 52 things I made (3/52)

I'm a self taught crocheter. All the crocheting women in my life are right handed and I'm a lefty. Growing up I would have dearly loved to have learnt but it just didn't happen. In my early twenties I was at an art workshop and one of the left-handed ladies there showed me how to chain stitch and I was away!

That was before the days of You Tube videos and there was little in the way of modern, contemporary patterns too. I learnt new stitches by holding a mirror up to library books. I learnt how to read patterns and there was not stopping me (except when I had morning sickness! I thought I'd never pick up a hook again!).

It wasn't long into my crochet journey before I became frustrated, it when the start of online patterns and crochet magazines started to pop up in the local shops. I was faced with mistakes in patterns, at first I thought I might have been doing things wrong, misreading the pattern and try, try, try again I did. But it turns out the problem didn't lie with me, but the turn around speed and lack of pattern testing these publications seem to find acceptable. Each issue of one magazine often has errata from previous issues! Not great if you don't buy the next issue or if you've started the pattern before the next issue comes out!

This shawl is one example, even more frustrating is that there is mistakes in the errata too! I only bought the magazine for this one pattern too. I started it in the middle of last year and in total frustration I left it unfinished until last week. I couldn't decode the errata or my notes on how I thought I could crochet it to make it work like the pattern picture so I added just a little row of edging and blocked it. It's much smaller than the pattern intended and despite all the problems I am still pretty pleased with it.

I feel sorry for those beginner crafters and how they might feel that the mistakes lie with them!

Things I made (1/52)

Late last year I challenged myself to spin some thick/chunky yarn. Each skein I've spun since I started learning to spin has become more fine and even, to the point I'm left with extremely thin yarn that I end up doubling when I crochet with it, it seems a little absurd, all those spinning hours wasted. As it turns out however it's extremely hard to return to spinning a thick yarn (I was warned of this when I first started), my fingers just didn't want to co-operate. In the end after much frustration I spun one thick and one thin and plied them together to create quite a bumpy yarn.

By chance I stumbled across a knitting pattern for a shawl that I loved, I haven't knitted in a very long time. I also only know one stitch, but luckily that is all the shawl pattern required! Unfortunately the yarn doesn't show the stripes of the pattern made by changing needle sizes and I also ran out of yarn! So it's ended up quite a bit different to the pattern and the image I had in my head. I also crocheted a small border along one side to cover up the fact I ran out of yarn half way through the last row and I had no idea how to rip back the stitches, hmm I don't think I can claim it's from any pattern really.

It is however super soft and snugly organic merino, all ready for those cooler months coming soon I hope! Anyone else melting just a wee bit? Summer is not my season.

cacti

I have a friend who often laments that she can't grow anything, bemoaning the fact that she can't decorate her house with any houseplants, especially disgruntled as now it seems to be making a comeback! I didn't think I'd see the day that my mum's macrame plant hangers would be on trend! 

So I crocheted some cacti for her using some hand spun wool that seemed to be a good "cacti" colour, a combination of merino, alpaca and silk. 

I "potted" up a couple of cacti for her and with a few cacti left over I potted up some for me too. They are now sitting on my work desk, a little bit of colour, with the added bonus that they don't need any watering! 

I didn't have a pattern, but I did google "crocheted cacti" for a bit of inspiration, there are some amazing examples. If crochet isn't your thing, have a look at these painted stones! I think the kids and I might have a go at those these holidays.

Grandma, me and Dee

I contacted Dee for a special custom doll a wee while back. My Grandma made my sister and I dolls when we were small, they were big, their limbs were long and they were stuffed so hard! I have memories of their heads feeling like rock. They had beautiful dresses and lovely shoes. As time passed they fell apart somewhat, and with their big gangly limbs were hard to store. We made the decision to keep the best bits, the clothes and shoes and carefully unpicked the faces with the hand stitched details. I also had a small piece of the original dress fabric saved from my Grandma's estate.

This is what she came up with! Isn't it fabulous! Once the doll arrived here I added a few details. I crocheted a little shawl with a shell pattern, the clasp is actually one of my Grandma's screw on earrings! As a child it reminded me so much of a cape gooseberry, it still does. My Grandma made tatted doilies and although it's not her tatting, I stitched a delicate length of tatting around the bottom of the dress. 

A true collaboration - Grandma - Me and Dee! 

knowing me

I thought I knew myself pretty well,  for example the foods I like, the ones would be temped to try. The ones that would never pass my lips! I thought I knew my crafting style too, willing to give anything a go at least once. I've often looked at free form crochet and wanted to have a go at a crochet wrap. I started off well, and then I quickly realised that the "organic" nature of free form was just not me! How did I not know that I like things to look straight and uniform!

I gave up in disgust, it sat forlorn for weeks that then turned into months. I was so disappointed that I had wasted my precious handspun yarns in such a way (breaking off as I went along left no chance of ripping back).

It is funny how after a break things can look different, when I picked it up again last week I didn't feel so deflated in my efforts. Once some of the ends were woven in I started to like it even more. Now I'm quite looking forward to the cooler months and swinging this over my shoulders and a black top. It's turned out much more uniform than "free form" but it turns out I'm not a "free form" gal after all.

hooked

A close up might make you think I've been busy crocheting Christmas ornaments. I have in fact been crocheting a Kokeshi doll from a pattern that the talented Cait from CHD designed. You can find the pattern in her Etsy shop - Along with some other seriously cute crochet patterns!

I have a rather large (and ever expanding) collection of Kokeshi dolls, I'm always stuck by the differences in their styles and the decorations on their Kimonos. Cait's pattern gives you that flexibility too, you have a couple of options for decorating the top of the head and also free reign to decorate the body as you wish. 

I ran out of the black bamboo yarn I was using for the hair, so my doll has a "cropped" hairstyle! I also stuffed her body with coloured wool roving, I hate seeing white stuffing poking out from behind the stitches.

I think this one will be right at home on the shelf with the other wooden Kokeshi!

no sun

After a November that topped the temperature charts (the hottest November in Auckland since 1959), we've been met by a bit of a rainy December thus far. It's meant that I haven't taken photos of all the things I've been up to. But it gives me a chance to share some things that I have forgotten to share.

I made this Owl mug hug for teacher that was leaving preschool. It was super soft, I want one too.

I finally gave up on searching for pine needles to mulch my strawberries, instead I bought some straw. I also painted some rocks red to pop around the plants to deter the birds. I haven't lost any berries to birds so maybe they are working? But I do often find a teeny tiny slugs curled up on a strawberry munching away. So how do I deter teeny tiny slugs?

Speaking of berries, I've been busy picking boysenberries and raspberries. The raspberries disappear very quickly, popped into mouths and lunchboxes. The boysenberries are going into the freezer and into crumbles!

So it turns out it's mostly a berry post! Here's hoping I get a bit of sun soon and I can share a few more Christmas projects.

crochet a Christmas tree!

Here's a little pattern for a sweet little crochet Christmas tree, or a "pine" inspired tree if you will. They are quick and easy to make and use very little wool!

Crochet Christmas tree

You will need:
A small amount of yarn in green and brown. Also a contrast, a different green or for a snowy look, white!
Embroidery thread (optional)
3.5mm crochet hook (or hook of your choice to work with the yarn you like )
Small pom poms
Sewing thread
Felt (optional)

Note: Tree is worked from the top down.

Row 1: Ch 3 (counts as first dc, here and throughout the pattern) 2 dc in 2nd ch from hook (3 dc)
Row 2: Ch 2, 1 dc in same space as ch 2. 1 dc in next stitch, 2 dc in last stitch  (5 dc)
Row 3: Ch 2, 1 dc in same space as ch 2. 1 dc in next 3 stitches and 2 dc in last stitch (7 dc)
Row 4: (decreasing row) Ch 1, slip stitch in next 3 stitches. Ch 2, dc in same space. Dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next stitch. (5 dc)
Row 5: Repeat row 3 (7 dc)
Row 6: Ch 2, dc in same space as ch 2. Dc in the next 5 stitches, 2 dc in last stitch ( 9 dc)
Row 7: Ch 2, dc in same space as ch 2. Dc in the next 7 stitches, 2 dc in last stitch (11 dc)
Row 8: (decreasing row) Ch 1, slip stitch in next 3 stitches, Ch 2. Dc in same space as 2 ch. Dc in the next 4 stitches, 2 dc in the next stitch ( 8 dc)
Row 9: Ch 2, dc in same space as 2 ch. Dc in the next 6 stitches, 2 dc in the last stitch (10 dc)
Row 10: Ch 2, dc in the same space as 2 ch. Dc in the next 8 stitches, 2 dc in the last stitch (12 dc). Fasten off.

You'll end up with a shape similar to the one pictured above. I've used hand spun yarn so it's not perfectly even. Now it's time to add some contrast. This is done by attaching the chosen contrast yarn to one side of the "decreasing rows"

Ch 4, then insert your hook into the next stitch. Repeat along the width of the "decreasing rows" and also along the bottom of the last row. Use the photo below for reference. You could use embroidery thread for this or just a contrasting colour in the same weight yarn as the main part of your tree. Each row could be a different colour, like your tree is covered in tinsel! I particularly like the white for a snowy look.

The trunk is crocheted as follows:
Row1 :Ch 9, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each stitch till the end.
Row 2: Ch 2, sc in each stitch till end. Repeat this row 2 more times.
Row 5: Fold the 4 rows in half and slip stitch the two long ends together. This creates a long tube. Fasten off leaving a long tail for stitching to the back of the tree.

Decorate your tree! Add mini pom poms, or sequins or any other little decorations. You might opt to leave your tree plain? It's up to you!

Stitch the trunk to the middle of  back of the tree! I wanted to make my hand spun go a long way so I stitched some felt to the back of the tree to cover up the trunk and the rest of the messy back. You might want to crochet a second tree and whip stitch them together?

Add some embroidery thread to the top with a needle and hang it on your tree! Or tie it on a gift. I'm planning on hanging these off the teacher presents this year.

One tree can look a little lonely, so why not crochet a forest of them!

I'd love to see your trees if you make any!

progress

Time is ticking on by and my plans for a handmade Christmas are making really slow progress. I've ticked a few off my list, I printed off these beauties to make my list making a little easier. To take some of the pressure off (self induced pressure of course!)  I've taken part in some "online handmade buying"  from Felt, a New Zealand handmade website, there are some amazing handmade items for sale there.

I put the finishing touches on this cushion for a special person on my list. Each "petal" is in fact a small crocheted flower, I didn't bother counting them, there are lots! The leaves are cut from a tweedy woollen skirt, from a local thrift store, and the backing is more of the woollen blanket I used here.

Have you made any Christmas presents yet? Leaving it to the last minute? I'll be right there with you if that's the case - ah best laid plans eh?

hooked

 I was pretty quick to sign up for the dishcloth swap that Leonie organised recently (I'm pretty addicted to making them too Leonie). I made a couple of my favourite woven crochet pattern, I've made so many of them over the last few years. I can make them with my eyes closed, it seems like my hands and fingers seem to magically know what to do, crochet still seems like some magical power to me!  The other wash cloth was "fruit" inspired, my own design, apple maybe? It has two sides which makes it nice and thick, long lasting too. I posted them off to my partner a week or so ago, so hopefully they have arrived safely.

Now to crochet lots more for Christmas gifts .....

buttercups and daisies

Do you remember the wool I spun and dyed recently? The "spring green" wool has been transformed into a "Buttercups and Daisies" cushion. 

The Buttercups are crocheted with some 50/50% Silk Merino that I had in my stash, the Daisy petals are 100% silk that I spindle spun! The colours look a little washed out in the photos, the green is darker and more vibrant in real life. I used a thrifted woollen blanket in a soft green for the backing.

I'd love to crochet a big picnic in the same style, it would be like sitting on a summer lawn! I doubt I've got the patience (or the pockets) for such a project, but wouldn't it be fantastically magical? Perfect for a Winter picnic in the lounge.