So… my father gave me some young sweet peas and I planted them into tubs with bamboo canes to climb. I was going to lash the canes using the tripod lashing that I learned as a Girl Guide but then thought: why not add some colour? So here is a slightly colourful crochet tie to hold the canes together. the only thing is… I have no idea what colour the sweet pea flowers will be so it could be that they will clash horribly.
Crochet
Coasters
These coasters are a birthday present for a friend who is very keen on putting little mats underneath coffee cups.
The mats are made from Wilko Yarnfair DK on a size 4 hook. On the small coasters I really like the irregular effect that the self-striped yarn creates but I don’t think that it works as well on the large mat. The way that the colours change in the middle of each row seems clumsy and it also does not show the different stitches. For example, in the second to last row, two-thirds of the row seems to have a curved pattern whilst the rest does not but, of course, the stitches are the same all the way round the circle. The next time I make a set like this I will use a single colour yarn for each row; this would highlight the stitch variation beautifully.
The two yellow buttons on the large mat are attached to a drawstring. When the drawstring is pulled then the sides of the mat come together to form a little bag to keep all the coasters tidily in one place.
“Shades of red” coin purse
At Christmas my son received a ‘Mighty Wallet‘ made from a material called ‘Tyvek’ which looks and feels exactly like paper but is much stronger and seems impossible to tear. The only problem is that it has no fasteners so whilst it is great for cards and banknotes, the wallet does not hold coins. He has asked for a coin purse but I hadn’t been able to find one that was suitable until…
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I realised that I didn’t have to buy a coin purse for him!
The yarn is Wilkinson’s ‘Yarnfair’ DK in ‘red and cranberry’. I really like working with this yarn; it’s 75% acrylic / 25% wool but very soft, doesn’t split and the stripes emerge clearly. With this particular shade the difference in colours is more subtle than the (no longer available) shade that I used for the phone sock and webcam cosy but I still find the variation pleasing. One thing that I’m not so happy with, though, is the finishing. Sewing up has never been my strong point!
Phone sock
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My husband likes to keep his phone in some kind of case so I knocked this up for him. It took about an hour and half and is double crochet throughout. I used the foundation chain as the top edge so that the opening is a little narrower in order to hold the phone securely. |
Coffee cosy
The pink and lime yarns were sitting next to each other in my scrap yarn box and I thought they looked good together. The lime is also an exact match for my cafetiere so I added some leftover blue and made this coffee cosy. I didn’t use a pattern; the only pattern I’ve seen is from a book by Nicki Trench but it is for a cafetiere with a handle attachment point in the middle of the jug which allows the cover to button above the handle. On mine, however, the handle attaches at the top. The cosy is made with double crochet throughout (DK yarn with 4mm hook) and this has produced a fairly stiff fabric which supports its own weight. If I originally planned to use poppers rather than buttons which is why there are tabs for fastening: they were an afterthought!
Baby ripple: the photo
So… it’s a bright sunny day, the spare bed is extended (waiting for the sheets to be changed) and here is a photo of the complete baby ripple blanket. It’s made with the Neat Ripple Pattern from Attic24. I blocked it which has evened up the edges and generally given a neater finish. The blocking is not perfect as I did it in sections on the ironing board but it has still made a huge difference.
I’m in the middle of marking so I guess I’d better get on with that before changing those sheets!
Baby ripple blanket
The baby ripple blanket is finished although I am not happy with the photographs that I have taken so this one of the work in progress will have to do for now. The light in my house is not very good for photographs and the pictures really don’t show the colours well. Although I love the colours I found that I got bored with the stripes. Next time, maybe I will use more colours but although it’s a good make for a baby, I don’t see myself making an adult-sized ripple blanket. However, I have plenty of yarn left over from the world-traveller blanket which I think would ripple into a lovely cushion. Next time I make striped crochet I will use a larger-sized hook for the foundation chain as the chain was a bit tighter than the first stripe. The border was a bit of a problem and I tried three different designs before settling on a row of lime trebles followed by a row of teal doubles with a row of pink doubles to finish. I had rather a lot of ‘help’ from Rosie whilst making this blanket so it needs a wash before going to its new home.
The blanket is made from three 100g balls of Wilkinson’s ‘Yarnfair’ acrylic DK (with very little left over).
Crochet and concentration
As may be evident already, I love crochet! One of the things that I love is that I can do it whilst paying attention to something else: TV, radio, audiobook, music or conversation. The same is true, for me, of knitting, by the way. Listening and watching do not impair my concentration on the crochet; my hands go into automatic with a tiny part of brain monitoring whilst most of my conscious attention is is on the TV, conversation etc. What surprises me, however, is that when I am crocheting my attention is actually better than if my hands are idle. My mind is more focused on the conversation and, because my hands are busy, I am less likely to be distracted by, for example, checking email. So, whilst it might look rude if I crochet whilst you are talking, in reality I am listening more carefully than if my hands were empty. Now all I need is the courage to take my crochet to staff meetings!
Webcam cosy
I know that this is tinfoil-hat territory but I find webcams creepy. A webcam is an eye that sits on the computer monitor looking at me like a little electronic peeping tom. So, from now on, all my webcam can see is the inside of this teeny cover, pulled firmly over its cyclops eye. I fully realise that a crocheted cover for a webcam is silly, possibly even bonkers, so why not embrace the silliness to the max? Therefore, I’ve put a little pom-pom on the top because every nosy webcam needs a bobble hat.
The pattern for this cover is adapted from an egg-cosy pattern at Annaboo’s House.
Scissors for a friend
My friend Gilli, who rebooted my crochet, is having a BIIIIIG birthday – one with a 0 on the end – so I have made this little gift from my flowers and leaves. I’ve blocked the flower (using the steam method developed by Lucy at Attic24) and I think it makes a difference. The card was bought at Yarndale with just this birthday in mind but I didn’t plan how well the flower and card would go together. Once again, I have used baby nail scissors; these are from Boots and I think they are prettier than the Tommee Tippee ones. They are also flat whereas the Tommee Tippee scissors are curved. Gilli is flying to the USA soon and will be able to take these on the plane for non-stop crochet.
My Mother taught me that it is unlucky to give scissors or knives; you may cut the relationship. Instead, the scissors must be purchased by the recipient so Gilli bought her birthday gift for 20p.