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Tri-colour Crochet Striped Scraps Snood

19 Feb

Tri-colour striped Snood

Some of you might have noticed that I’ve been modelling some new homemade knitwear on my twitter profile. What do you do with all of those colorful yarns ends that need using up? Those bits of scraps will forever be at the bottom of your wool bag, but here’s how to make a warm woolly accessory and crochet up all those loose ends.

Using up scraps by bad bad magpie on Flickr

This hat by bad bad magpie caught my eye on Flickr – as do most of my crochet projects, like the Manta Hueco Zig Zag Cushion cover. I really liked the colorful randomness of the pattern, which is made up of different coloured yarns, but each round has the constant dark green or sage strand running through it. It inspired me for my next project, a thick woolly snood.

Tri-colour striped Snood

I started making this snood while I was between projects, and had lots of yarn ends and scraps that needed using up. I use three colours in one yarn, my main constant colour was going to be purple (my favourite colour), and I decided to keep the colour scheme graduating from one colour to another, with each . For example;

Round 1 was green, black, purple,

Round 2 was red, black, purple,

Round 3 was dark red, red, purple…. and so on.

The wool used was mostly Stylecraft DK and I used a 8mm crochet hook. The pattern was also very simple:

Ch to the desired length of the snood – this one was at least Ch 120 and slip stitch the foundation chain without twisting it so you have a continuous loop. Round 1 is a continuous round of  double crochet stitches, and then round 2 is a continuous round of triple crochets in the same colour. Round 3 is a colour change, and then a repeat of the round of DC stitches and then DTR stitched. Easy peasy, but look tri-brilliant!

Tri-colour striped Snood

Like this? You might also like these similar posts:

How to make a Giant Granny Blanket A Beginners Thoughts on Crochet

Rainbow Ripple Stitch Crochet Scarf Rainbow Ripple Stitch Crochet Scarf

An Animated Gif Cross Stitch!An Animated Gif Cross Stitch

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Manta Hueco Zig Zag Cushion Cover

11 Feb

rosie2 (13 of 18)

I’m quite chuffed with this pair. They don’t match, but this stripey wool twosome were the perfect crochet cushion covers for some Ikea cushions that we have had for yonks. It’s a really easy pattern, as long as you have already nailed the mighty Granny Square, and I’m going to show you how to make.

I had been eyeing up a Manta Hueco Zig Zag design on a photo on Flickr, and asked the maker who I could make my own amazing creation, and the reply was, just google it! The pattern is  traditionally made of small granny squares and the corners are stitched together, but then zig-zag stripes are made either side of the squares. A tutorial on this Spanish blog ‘buscando comienzos’ provided all the information that I needed to start this pattern off.

Manta Hueco Zig Zag cushion cover

Manta Hueco Zig Zag cushion cover

How To Make

To make the cover you need to make 3/4 granny squares that are the length of your cushion when arranged diagonally in a straight line. You make the stripes like making normal rounds on a granny square (3TC Ch1 or Ch2 if on a corner) , but when you go to attach the squares on the decent, you need to do this unusual stitch.

stitcheshowto

1) Begin a triple crochet stitch as normal – yarn over the hook, insert into the stitch, yarn over again, pull through two loops

2) Rather than finishing the stitch, you want to start making the next triple crochet. Do this twice more, so you have four loops on your hook, and three unfinished stitches.

2 ) Continue into the next square, by repeating the above process again, so there are three more unfinished stitches and 7 loops on your hook.

3) Yarn over and pull through all 7 of the stitches. Ch 1.

Once you have nailed that stitch (anyone have any ideas of it’s name?) then this pattern is your oyster! Continue with the rounds until the work wraps around the cushion and the points of the zig zags touch, and connect the work by doing reverse granny squares with the above stitch. Stitch one side together with a DC seam, and the other side sew 5 buttons.

Manta Hueco Zig Zag cushion cover

Manta Hueco Zig Zag cushion cover

Ta Ta! Now you have a super stylish stripy cushion cover. Who said granny squares are boring? Not when they are stripetastic! Have you made something with Manta Hueco pattern? Feel free to share your stripey wares in the comments below!

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Finished Cross Stitch – Malarky Graffiti

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Crochet flower pattern

28 Jan

flowerblog

Is it a Violet? Is it a Pansy? Or is it a Waterflower? I came across this beautiful flower crochet pattern and was a little perplexed, not only about what kind of flower it was, but also about the instructions, which were half in Spanish. But after falling in love with the pattern, I decided to take it on, and when I found the spanglish a little confusing, so I’ve decided to re-write the pattern with alterations. Now you can learn the best way that I learn… with lots and lots of pictures. flowerblog (2 of 48)

1) Make an adjustable ring – make a loop with the end of the yarn over the main wool. flowerblog (3 of 48) Insert the hook into the loop, pull the main wool line and twist under the loop.

Round 1 – Yellow

flowerblog (4 of 48)

2) Chain 3, and then 15 Triple Crochet stitches (TC), so that you have 16 stitches in total on your first round.

flowerblog (7 of 48)

3) Pull the loose end on the adjustable ring and join the rounds with a slip stitch.

flowerblog (9 of 48)

Round 2 – Purple

flowerblog (10 of 48) flowerblog (12 of 48)

4) In the first stitch, Chain 3 then in the make 3TC in the same stitch. 

flowerblog (13 of 48)

flowerblog (14 of 48)

5) Skip the next stitch, and 4TC in the next one.

flowerblog (15 of 48)

6) Repeat 6 more times. Join with a slip stitch. This will then be the beginning of your petals.

Round 3 – Blue

flowerblog (17 of 48)

flowerblog (18 of 48)

7) Make a loop in the first stitch, and then insert into the adjacent remaining stitch on round 1, and pull the yarn through the top. Pull the yarn through both loops (kind of like a single crochet stitch)

flowerblog (21 of 48)

flowerblog (22 of 48)

8) In the next stitch make a Double Crochet (DC). In the next stitch 2 TC 2 chains(C) and 2TC, all in the same stitch! In the next stitch, a Single crochet (SC). This will make a scallop for your petal..

flowerblog (25 of 48)

9) Make a SC by inserting the yarn into the spare stich on the first round – like in step 7.

flowerblog (27 of 48)

10) Repeat steps 7/8 on the rest of the round so that you have 8 petals. Finish with a slip stitch.

Now you could stop there if you wanted to. But if you want to go the whole hog and add petals… l

Round 4 – Leaf stem

flowerblog (30 of 48)

11) Holding the front of the work towards you, insert the hook into the larger loop on the back of your work you created between the 1st and 3rd rounds. 6C.

flowerblog (31 of 48)

12) Turn around and do 5 Slip stitches back along your chains, and then 1 more on the loop between your 1/3rd round to secure the stem.

flowerblog (33 of 48)

13) Chain 4 to the next 1/3 round loop.

flowerblog (34 of 48)

14) Repeat steps 11 to 13 until you have 8 leaf stems.

flowerblog (35 of 48)

Round 5 – The Leaves

flowerblog (38 of 48)

15) With a lighter green and holding the front of the flower towards you, works from right to left at the base of the leaf stems, 3 TC, 1DC, 1SC, and then a 2 chain picot stitch at the tip.

flowerblog (42 of 48)

16) Work back along the leaf with a 1SC, 1 DC, 3TC to the leaf base and do a slip stitch at the base.

flowerblog (44 of 48)

17) Moving to the next stem, do a slip stitch halfway round the connecting stem and repeat steps 15/16 on the rest of the 7 leaves.

flowerblog (47 of 48)

And that’s it! Ta-da! You have a very pretty finished flower, complete with leaves. You can experiment with the colours with these flowers – I’ve gone for a multicoloured vibe with these.

Check back soon for a great way to connect these flowers and make something very useful…

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A Beginners Thoughts on Crochet (or How to Make a Giant Granny Blanket)

7 Nov wavy_stripe_scarf (2 of 8)

So, I have recently just blogged about a recent crochet project I have just completed, rainbow ripple crochet scarf for my lovely boyfriend. What I didn’t share however, was that the scarf wasn’t the first project that I completed. Oh no. My first learning of the dark art of crochet were first with the Amazings, where after covering the basic stitches I then tried to tackle the idea of making a granny square, which then developed into a giant blanket. Pretty standard beginner’s fare eh?

To begin with I did a lot of Pinterest research – If research counts as looking at other people’s gorgeous items and thinking “I wish I could make that”, until I finally settled on recreating a similar design to this one featured on the Little Tin Bird blog. It’s not in my nature to keep things small and square. With Rosie, life has to be big, bold and colourful. And even better for me, there was a tutorial to recreate the magic on the post, as well as plenty more tutorials to look through. Hurrah!

http://www.littletinbird.co.uk/basic-granny-square-pattern/

So. I had picked the pattern. Now to pick the yarn. I had discovered that my local sewing shop lives up to it’s name, Sew Amazing. It stocked lots of different varieties of the colorful Stylecraft Double knit DK, which was my yarn of choice, for cost (£2.50 a pop) and aesthetic reasons. Living room wise, we have a  red sofa, a green rug, and accents of different colours around the room, so I decided that the main colour of the blanket should be lime green, with each square having a different multicolored accent colours. In practice, some of the squares took a  rainbow and graduated turn rather than completely random. Armed with a 4mm crochet hook from amazon, I was ready to rock & wool!

I was going well… until I got stuck. I had forgotten all those wise words those amazings taught me! Thankfully Youtube came to my rescue. If you ever have a question, 9/10 there is a YouTube tutorial answering it. And for me, this was my gospel. Four months later I had completed all the squares, or so I first thought, thinking that 12 squares was going to be enough, bearing in mind it took me about 3 hours to make justvone square of 18 rounds. It wasn’t. I had to do 15, or else it wasn’t going to cover my toes. This was going to be a giant blanket…

9 giant granny squares

Post assembly, joining and a few extra rounds around the whole blanket and I’m not just impressed with the result, I’m now properly addicted.

Giant Square Crochet Blanket

I’m already dreaming up new projects. tutorials, and homewares. I’m afraid by previous love of cross-stitch is now taking a bit of a back foot! But if I could do it all again, I would pass on the following tips:

  1. Do a test square first. You don’t have to use it in the final pattern, but it’s important that you get the pattern nailed before you carry on. Everyone makes makes mistakes in the beginning, and your first project is not going to be perfect. But the best bit about crochet is that you can unravel if you go wrong!
  2. Watch a master in action. They can teach you things about the craft that you can’t learn from a book. Like the best way to hold wool. Or crochet anecdotes. And if you are lucky, their skillz might be catching…
  3. Buy all your wool in advance – and then some.  I made the tragic mistake of not buy enough of my lime green wool to finish my lime green border. Unknown to me at the time, wool is dyed in batches, and once the whole batch has gone, the next batch might be the same shade, but not the same tone – which is silly of me not to realise that now thinking about it. I used 3 balls of the lime green, and still needed more. Next time, I’m buying bulk.
  4. Buy your wool in person if you can. Then you can really get a feel for the textures and qualities, as well as comparing those all important colours. You can always buy your favourite kinds online later on, but it’s important to support local traders!
  5. Absorb ideas everywhere. Read blogs. Make a Pinterest board. Like pictures on Instgram. Keep collecting visual examples of projects to inspire and challenge yourself ton the next project. The craft community is lovely too, be sure to share the love! Books are great, but the internet is your friend. Here’s a few blogs that have defiantly inspired me along the way: One Sheepish Girl, The Purl Bee andA Beautiful Mess.

So there are my thoughts and musings from a crochet beginner, even now I am no longer a novice. but it’s OK. Because I am making pretty things If anyone has any crochet thoughts, stories or musings as a beginner, be sure to let me know in the comments, I would love to hear from you!

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Rainbow Ripple Stitch Crochet ScarfRainbow Ripple Stitch Crochet Scarf

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Rainbow Ripple Stitch Crochet Scarf

22 Oct

Hanging up against my green wool coat

Last weekend, I completed not one, but two (yes TWO!) crochet projects. I have only recently taken up the craft, to take little break from my recent cross stitch embroidery, while I start to draw and come up with some of my own design ideas to work on. This scarf was my second yarn project, I started it when we took a trip away to stay at the Down Hall Country Hotel. I was grumbling that I couldn’t take my first project with me for the trip, so  my boyfriend requested that I started to make him a multi-coloured wool scarf instead.

Rainbow Ripple Stitch Crochet Scarf

I began my search for the pattern by searching crochet images on pinterest and instagram, and asking the owners of interesting work where their stitch came from. I’m always big on bright colours (life is far too short to wear grey) and like me, Ross wanted the scarf to be as multi-colored as possible, almost rainbow. The finished scarf has a bit of a Tom Baker about it, and will defiantly brighten up any rainy day. It took me just under a month to make, on and off, growing to be over 6 foot long. In the end he was very chuffed – well I hope so anyway!

Close-up of Rainbow Ripple Stitch Crochet Scarf

The crochet stitch itself a  ripple stitch, or wave stitch. I followed this AMAZING tutorial on Attic24 - this blog is an idea haven. The only tricky part was learning the tr2tog (treble two together), but if you have mastered the granny square, this pattern is a piece of cake. I started with a chain of 45, and did go a little wrong in the beginning as I didn’t follow the pattern as strictly as I should have, but it just made on of the ends a little uneven – but to be fair this stitch isn’t known for being straight!

Rainbow Ripple Stitch Crochet Scarf

The thing that make this scarf so special is the mesmerising nature of the ripples, you are instantly drawn into the relaxing nature of this pattern – and I reminded me of my water ripple photographs from my trip to Spain. I have seen many blankets created in this pattern, and it truly does allow you to experiment with the colours as much as you like. You don’t need to use the same colours to again, or repeat the same ones again. But for me it was defiantly the graduated effects of the multi-coloured rainbow that I thought looked the best.

So there it is, my rainbow ripple scarf! And a very big recommendation to any crochet beginners!

Read the tutorial on Attic 24

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How to make a Giant Granny BlanketA Beginners Thoughts on Crochet

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Malarky Cross StitchFinished Cross Stitch – Malarky Graffiti

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Trinkets from the London Renegade Craft Fair

17 Sep

On Sunday I visited the 2nd annual Renegade Craft Fair at the Truman Brewery at Brick Lane, London. I’ve been quite excited about this event for a few weeks, firstly to see other makers wares and get inspired for making more of my own. Looking at their instagram feed a was a little concerned for my bank balance, but I needn’t have worried, I was quite restrained! There were some gorgeous items on sale, and here were some of my faves.

There was quite of plastic jewellery at the fair – that Tatty Devine has a lot to answer for! At plastique*, I thought tape and turntable deck rings were very cute, but it was true lust at first sight of this synthesizer keyboard knuckle duster ring. Unleash the geek.

keyboard knuckle duster ring

I particularly fell in love with the designs at i am acrylic. The stars, spaceships and lightning bolts in particular really caught my eye, as they reminded me of the glow and the dark stickers I would put on my bedroom ceiling as a kid. I would have bought a necklace or two were it not for my metal allergy!

Rocket necklace - i am acrylic

Onto the fabrics, and these naughty but nice slogan applique cushions from Pink Minx are fabulous. Aparently ‘Fuck this shit’ is a big hit, but I personally think anything with a cunt on it is bound to make a statement. ie;  don’t mess with this craftster!

Fuck This Shit cushion - Pink Minx

And what did I purchase? Some cards from Lovely Jojo’s, as I particulary liked the simple but funny messages couple with the bright and bouncy illustrations, but I have since fallen in love with some of the drawings on her blog as well.

Nice one card - Lovely Jojo's

Everything is under control - Lovely Jojo's

I also got the chance to make a trinket of my own, in the shape of a paper rose flower. Thankfully this creation was a bit easier to complete than my own crepe paper roses, using card, a glue gun and the templates from Suzi Mclaughlin. Thanks for the workshop!

Rosie Rogers - Instagram - Paper rose flower

Well, those were the things that I liked, were you are the fair and spotted some other lovely items?

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Finished Cross Stitch – Malarky Graffiti

10 Aug Malarky Cross Stitch

4 weeks of hard stitching and I have finished my latest cross stitch. You might have seen my posts showing off the work in progress but here is my finished embroidery, my first project from a completely new own made pattern.

Malarky Graffiti Cross Stitch

East London residents might recognise this cuddly multi-coloured bear, it’s a character created by Graffiti artist Malarky, as seen on the shop shutters in Shoreditch. I first discovered his street art in the brilliant Street Art Magazine VNA, and since I can’t walk down Brick Lane without encountering these cute colourful characters.

Malarky graffiti East London

Image by snakefightinglife on Flickr

I have been a fan of this London/Barcelona artist for a while, but inspiration struck when I saw his prints for sale at the Pick MeUp Graphic design fair. I was toying with the idea of buying a print for several months, but I then decided to make my own as a homage to his fun and playful work. Browsing through Flickr I was instantly drawn to the this bear, a) for the Bolt shades (it is the Olympics after all) b) for the colour c) for the gnarly gnashers. This hipster bear has attitude! To make the design I borrowed an image from Flickr, put it into Photoshop and modified to make sure the colours were all in blocks and there was no shading, put that image into Kit Pro App and then commenced stitching.

Malarky Cross Stitch

Malarky Back Stitch

And…. (and this is going to become a running them with my posts)… I couldn’t resist making another animated gif of my stitch in progress.  Note: The Gif doesn’t replay – yet – so just refresh the page to watch again!

Malarky Gear gif

Not sure what to do with my latest work, it seems like it would work well to be turned into a cushion cover, or I could stick in a frame. Not decided yet, but I am sure I will share it all with you when I do.

Now for the next project… this latest embroidery has given me the bug for making my own designs. Rather than cheekily copying designs from other people’s work I defiantly want to start drawing again and see if I can come up with some new patterns and designs to share with the world.

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Craft in progress

21 Jul

What have I been up to? Other than trying to attend closed down festivals and flirting with the idea of setting up another craft blog? Stitching.

A little while ago I put the colour palette together for a new cross stitch project, learning how to make a composition and new pattern from an existing image. I have been working on this new hand embroidery for just over 3 weeks now, slow to start but is coming along really fast now I’m in the stitching flow!  I’ve been posting some pictures online of my stitch in progress, but here’s a compendium of the images that I’ve previously posted to Instagram. This graffiti character caught my eye on the shutters around East London…. can you tell what it is yet?

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New Cross Stitch Project…

3 Jul

New Threads

I have a new cross stitch project on the go. This time I have selected an image of my own choosing, done a little photoshopping to make sure all the colours are 2D and processed the image through the Knit Pro App to get my own cross stitch pattern.

This will be very exciting as it’s the first time I have made a design, my only forays into stitching have been from other designs, so very excited to see how this will turn out.

But what is the image? Well, lets say he’s a familiar sight on every shutter in East London, and will be a very cute addition to the craft wall, which I am sure will be growing exponentially in the future.

So I have picked my DMC threads and I am ready to stitch, I might even make a little animated gif of the process…

DMC Threads

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The Finished Cross Stitch Skulls

8 Jun

It’s no secret that I have fallen in love with Bombastitch and her amazing Sugar Skull designs. They are the cutest and most colorful designs, and very easy to make, even for the humble beginner like myself. I love her designs so much that not only have made an animated gif out of them, I have made and framed a triptych of her designs and hung them on my Living Room wall.

Sugar Skull Triptych

They fit perfectly in my Living Room, and as if by magic, it feels that little bit less Ikeaised. Ahh, what the homemade touch can do to a place – and the slightly dead plant in the middle of the room! Suddenly those crazy cushions don’t seem so alone.

Sugar Skull Triptych - The Living Room

I think I am not the only one who has fallen in love with these patterns. I have already had two requests for gifts and have made two extra for presents to my nearest and dearest. Newcomers into the flat often gurgle; “Wow, you didn’t make those did you?” Yes I did! I ooze pride. As every girly crafter should do in her homemade flat. But if I have the patience to make more though is a different story… I might be skulled out for now.

First Craft Mission completed! Now to set myself a new craft challenge… what should I make next?

Disclaimer: I have since moved the sofa. Just encase you spy on my living room since and think “that bitch has re-arranged her furniture!”. I did. 

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