Small striped bag with flower & Handmade 1st Birthday Card

Today is the second 1st birthday in our mother’s group so we have a party to go to, it’s very exciting! I made this small striped bag with a flower as a gift, I hope she likes it!

I used 5 colours from my batch of cotton blend, it’s a thick yarn so I used my 4mm hook. It’s a simple bag, changing colours every row of sc using orange, yellow, green, purple and white. I didn’t follow a pattern for the flower either, just did a couple of rounds in yellow ending up with 16 sc, then changed to orange and did 8 petals. Each petals started as 3 ch in every 2nd sc, then the second row is 5 sc into the sp with a sl st to start a new petal. I used fine cotton and needle to do a simple running stitch to attach the flower to the front. For the bag, a sc ch lip for a ch handle to be threaded through, and a larger ch handle with a second row of sc in orange. The one thing I’m unhappy with is this cotton is too thick to thread through my needle so I couldn’t finish off the ends very neatly. Instead I have to weave them in with my crochet hook which means the ends can poke through easily. Eventually there will be some loose ends visible in this bag which will make it look a little rough. Hopefully that will add to the home made character of it!

To go with this gift my mum made a special home made birthday card, which is very nice! I’ll also include a small Fisher-Price little people car inside the bag, and of course a book which I always love to give children! Children can never have too many books!

Pretty Irish Rose for a Sunhat

I had a go at adding a flower to the child’s sun-hat I made the other day, using a tradition Irish Rose pattern. I think the end result is very cute, if I do say so myself!

I wasn’t sure how the colour changes would go, but it worked out fine. I changed colour after doing the back posts and chain foundations for the next row. I made a 6th petal, although the pattern I followed had 5, as I prefer it this way. A couple of buttons added to the centre provided just the right amount of embellishment. I’m glad a couple more of my homeless buttons have found a new home. This flower is not removable like my other flowers I make for hats, I just sewed it right on securing it tightly.

I wonder if my 4 year old niece would like this hat? I don’t know anyone else this would fit, and it would be a shame if no one wore it, it’s just too nice!

Crochet Motifs in White

Here are some more motifs I made using patterns in Jan Eaton’s ‘crochet basics’ book that I borrowed from the library and had to return last week. It such a good book, I might have to borrow it again!

• 3 Lacey squares, on pages 68-69
• 3 simple shapes, triangle on page 76, wheel hexagon 74, flower hexagon page 75

Like my other motifs and false starts, these will go in my sample bag. I wonder if I’ll be able to sew them altogether one day to make a big rug? Lol, not sure that will work with the lacey squares … hahaha

Three Small Things – coaster, dishcloth, flower

These are three small things I’ve made recently using patterns from Rachel’s Crochetspot. Needless to say, this is one of my favourite crochet websites for free patterns and crochet related discussions.

<<< This drink coaster is proving to be handy, I’m using it by my pc to sit my bottles of water on. This was with a 4mm hook and my thickest cotton, it’s great for soaking up the condensation on my drinks. The pattern for this coaster is at Crochetspot.

>>> I haven’t made a crochet dishcloth before, so I started with this small one to test it out. It’s about the size of a hand’s palm, we’ve started trialling it in the kitchen, and so far so good. I made this basket-weave dishcloth with a 3.5mm hook and some thick aqua coloured cotton my mum gave me for my birthday. The pattern for the basket-weave stitch is at Crochetspot.

<<< I had a go at this small flower from Crochetspot for fun. This was with a small hook and fine cotton and is currently hanging from my pc with the my purple premmie booties.

A big thankyou to Rachel and her team at Crochetspot for these patterns!

Light and Lacy Purple Scarf with Flower Ring

I’m really pleased how delightfully light the lacy trellis stitch on this scarf turned out. Finished with a nice scalloped edge, it has a cute detachable flower scarf ring.

The scarf took me a couple of evenings to complete while watching Battlestar Galactica on our tivo. I used some of the left over winter warmth yarn from Lincraft and an 8mm hook, following the ‘plain trellis’ lace stitch which is basically made up of 5 chains,  on page 94 of Crochet Basics by Jan Eaton. It’s a handy book so I extended my library loan on it for an extra month. The light purple yarn turned out beautifully I think, and I made it nice and long, too. The edges are some scallops I added to make it a bit more ‘pretty’, putting 7 trebles (US dc) in each one, 4 in the corners, each edge has 2 rows of scallops to round it out nicely.

I still felt the scarf needed ‘more’ so I searched for a new flower pattern. I wasn’t happy that the ones I know would ‘match’, so I found this flower on youtube by Teresa. She does heaps of very  well explained crochet tutorials on youtube and has helped me with several things so I do recommend her. This flower turned out real cute, using a 4.5mm hook to make the shape more defined than the loose stitch in the scarf. By making a chain on the back, the scarf can be threaded through and held firmly, so this flower can be used as a scarf ring which can be removed.

I made this purple scarf with my mother-in-law Freya in mind, as I remember she likes purple and I still had this beautiful yarn in my stash.  Although winter is over, it’s still a little chilly, maybe she will get some use out of it before it gets really hot. I hope she likes it!

Silk Bamboo Wool Hat with Flower Brooch

This is the most expensive wool I’ve ever bought, but it was on special and I just couldn’t go past this gorgeous blend of silk, bamboo and wool. I chose a colour similar to another hat I’ve made, because my sister-in-law said she liked it.

I used a 4mm hook for this hat, and the pattern is my own which is the same as my Pretty Patterned Beanie. As promised back then, this time I used a much nicer yarn with a 60% wool, 20% silk, 20% bamboo blend. This yarn was a such a joy to work with. It has a luxurious softness and consistent thickness, it’s called ‘silk plus’ yarn from Lincraft. Again, I made a matching detachable rose brooch, using the free pattern at Crochetspot.

In everything I make I would like to include a little of what I call ‘wabi sabi’. Apparently it’s a Japanese term that means imperfect perfection, and is often included in handcrafted art works! I think it helps remind me that not everything can be perfect, no matter how hard we try. It’s much healthier to accept and appreciate the beauty in handcrafted things that often include a slight flaw and lend the piece some personality. It also helps me avoid an obsession to try and produce perfection, which can be very frustrating as I find little flaws irritating! The ‘wabi-sabi’ in this piece is hidden at the base of the rose brooch! If you see it you will know this is a homemade piece made with affection.

It’s my sister-in-law’s birthday and I wanted to make her something but I wasn’t sure what. I remembered she said she liked the patterned beanie but it’s too small for an adult to wear, so I made another one with nicer wool in a similar colour. I was worried this one would be too small as well, but it’s slightly larger than the proto-type as I used a bigger hook and thicker yarn.

I also put it on David’s head for a while to make sure it was big enough, which was pretty cute! Sorry I forgot to take a photo of that, lol. I’ll be posting this one off with the first one I made like this as a pair, which is a smaller size. Hopefully these two will get some wear, I’m just sorry they didn’t arrive in time for winter!

Enjoy and Happy Birthday
❤ ❤

White Flowers Baby Blanket

This one took me a couple of weeks and turned out to be 65cm x 80cm. I used a stitch from a pattern my mum has leant me which I thought was very pretty and have been meaning to try for quite a while. It turned out to be simple enough, for some reason I thought it would be hard! I like the idea of crochet flowers that are not seperate granny squares that you join up together after you’ve made them, this is just a single piece. Turns out this is about the same size as my green and white baby blanket, just seems to be the right size. I used the three balls of variegated white with tiny flecks of colour like pink, blue, green and orange in it which was part of the pile of wool my mum gave me for my birthday. It’s very nice and perfect for a lovely new baby blanket!

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Four Little Lost Angels

As I was taking them home from the market, I knew I would have so much fun cleaning up these second-hand dolls and dressing them in new crochet outfits, perhaps even with angel wings! In the end I settled on summer dresses complete with pretty bonnets and mary jane slippers. These tiny Kelly dolls are just 4.5 inches tall.

I first found the little blonde in a washing basket full of toys. The stall holder was busy selling a set of Dora dolls, so when I said I would like the tiny doll, she dismissed me saying I could have it for free. Well, I wouldn’t take something so special for free, it just wasn’t right! Her hair is in excellent condition, and she even has two near new shoes. I was thinking to give a dollar, but when we looked in David’s wallet a 50 cent coin was sitting on top so I grabbed that and pressed it into hand of the man that was helping her with the stall. I think it must have been Karma, because later on at another stall, I saw the three other dolls, all with different coloured hair and all just 50 cents each! It was so uncanny it must have been fate that these four tiny Kelly dolls should meet in this way!

Crochetting some clothes for these dolls turned out to be a lot more challenging than I first anticipated. I made several attempts before I ended up with a dress I was happy with. At first, I did a smaller version of the Barbie doll dress I usually do, using baby yarn, but I decided the result looked too bulky. Later, I made matching knickers for that dress using a free pants pattern I found on an old blog, again using the baby yarn. I made a top using baby yarn and a free ruffle top pattern, but I did not use the right size hook and yarn, and it didn’t fit. The problem was, I was using baby yarn when I should have been using fine cotton thread.

At first, I really didn’t think I would need to follow a pattern for this project, but I did. I had a little success with a free dress pattern @ Crochet Crafts by Helga, using fine cotton and 1.5mm hook as recommended. But I didn’t like the skirt, I thought it was too short so added more rows, which then made the result bulky. Finally, I made a dress I liked using the bodice from Helga’s free pattern, but adding my own skirt. Using the same cotton, I made some panties using Helga’s free pants pattern,shortening the legs by making just one row of sc. I stitched up the gap at the back of the pants as I don’t think it needs a button, pull on pants are fine for this small doll. I then made matching pull on panties for the other dresses I made, one each of pink, green, apricot and yellow. Each dress has one button on the back of the bodice.

Because you can’t see the panties underneath the dresses, I decided the dolls needed some little tops to show them off! Maybe these outfits can be PJs or summer beach outfits? The tops are just the bodice part of the dress, with every stitch in the bottom frill incr. The tops looked a little plain, so I crochet a tiny heart, clover, flower and sun to attach in contrasting colours to the front, to make them look more fun (hopefully!). The flower is just clusters to form 5 petals, and the sun is a round of 15 trbls, with a 2nd round of a picot in every 3rd trbl. I used the heart and clover patterns explained in previous posts.

Then I made them all matching Mary Jane slippers with my own made up pattern.

Mary Janes for Kelly Dolls by Teena Sutton
using 1.25mm hook, fine cotton
1. ch 7, trb (US db) in 3rd ch from hook, 2 trb, 2 db (US sc), turn
2. ch 2, trb in next 5 trb, 3 trebles in the stitch space at the toe, go round to the other side of the shoe and do trb in ea 5 trb, 1 trb at the heel, sl st in 1st trb of this round
3. ch 2, db in next 2 trb, sk 2 trb, trb in next 3 treble to form top of toe, sk 2 trb, db in next 3 trb, sl st in 1st db  of this round
4. ch 8 to form ankle strap and sl st in 1st ch

Finally, I finished the outfits with bonnets, again with a pattern I made up myself. When I found these dolls, their hair was mostly ‘fly-away’ and a real mess. After shampooing, conditioning, air drying and finally smoothing with baby oil, their hair came up very nicely indeed. The pretty bonnets help keep the hair in place.

Pretty Bonnets for Kelly Dolls by Teena Sutton
using 1.25mm hook, fine cotton
1. chain 10, trbl (US dc) in 3rd ch from hook, trb in ea next 6 ch, 5 trbl in last ch which is the bottom of the last trbl, trb in the bottom of the other 7 trbl, turn
2. ch 2, trb in ea trbl, extra 3 trbl in last trb, trbl in bottom of each trb, turn
3. ch 2, sk trb, (3 trb in next trbl, sk trb, trb in next, sk trb) twice, 3 trbl ea in next 3 trbl (9 trbl), sk trb, trbl in next trbl (sk trbl, 3 trb in next trbl, sk trb, trb in next) twice, turn
4. ch 2, (sk trbl, 3 trb in next trbl, sk trbl, trbl in next) thrice, 3 trbl in next, trbl in next, (sk trbl, 3 trb in next trbl, sk trbl, trbl in next) thrice, turn
5. ch 2, repeat (sk trbl, 3 trbl in next, sk strbl, trbl in next) seven times, each cluster of 3 is in centre of cluster below, turn
6. repeat row 5 except don’t turn, ch about 12 or enough to be long enough to form the chin strap, measure, slip stitch into the other side of the bonnet to form chin strap, don’t turn
7 (bonnet frill), ch 2, repeat the pattern from previous row, except each cluster has 5 trebles instead of 3, turn
8. ch 2, repeat the previous pattern, except each cluster has 7 trebles instead of 5, fasten off.

Making outfits for these four Kelly dolls was heaps of fun and very satisfying. I learnt more about adjusting patterns for size, and also how to make pants. These are such a joy – but I think they will be going in a box soon. One day I’ll bring them out again as a special treasure.

This is my post for this week’s Transformation Thursday hosted @ The Shabby Chic Cottage. Be sure to check out fun crafty stuff at this blog party!

White Sunhat with Daisy Garland

The purpose of making this sun hat was to practice before trying to make one for a child, possibly my niece who has gone back to live in Darwin and has no use whatsoever for one of my winter beanies!

This is a very special doll my mother gave to my grandma. When nanna went to hospital I was given this doll for safe keeping. I think my mum wants this doll back one day but when I offer she says ‘next time’. So I am taking good care of her by making her a pretty hat, so she doesn’t feel left out because all the other toys are getting clothes made for them, too!

I have real trouble reading patterns as I often say, I need to understand in my mind beforehand how what I am making will work. This means I have a lot of trial and error while I try and make up my own patterns when I want to do something a little more complicated. I looked at images of cotton crochet sun hat on google but did not follow a pattern or any one image idea. I started with a five petal flower then continued with a flat round, then stopped increasing down the sides, making gaps in the five corners. With the brim I started increasing again at the corners, filling in the gaps with increasing stitches. I mostly used double trebles (American trebles) for this hat.

The hat was a little loose on the doll and I made it that way so it wouldn’t ruin the doll’s curls. But it wouldn’t stay on! Looking at the completed hat I decided it needed some more five petal daisies to match the one in the centre. So I came up with the idea to make a little daisy garland to go round the hat to keep it tightly on the doll. The daisies in the garland are the same size as the daisy on the hat, but are made differently so the tips of the petals are not joined in a round. The daisies on the garland were (3 ch, sl st, 3 ch US treble into centre cluster, 3 ch, sl st into centre) repeat 5x, then each flower was joined with 15 ch. I had to do the final sl st of each flower on the opposite side to front so they would sit properly on the garland, all nicely facing the front.

I’m still not sure how I will make one to fit a child though. This used cheap 4ply mercer cotton from Lincraft and a 1.5m hook. It might be a bit fine for a child’s hat, but I wouldn’t want a summer hat to be much thicker either. Making a child’s sunhat is just one more thing on my ‘list of things to do’!

❤ ❤

Cream Ribbed Hat with Rose Brooch

I was very surprised when this beanie hat worked out so well, because I made up the pattern myself!

I learnt how to do ribbed stitches when I made my purple bolero shrug using a pattern from Lincraft. I had seen round ribbed crochet hats before but I’d never read a pattern when I made this hat. I sat down to watch tv with David with a new ball of Sullivans Softply in cream which cost $2.49. I flicked through an old stitches book my mum has leant me but couldn’t find what I was looking for, but I did start thinking about the ribbing, and wondered if it would work. It easily worked out, it was a lot simpler than I thought!

Then I just had to make a big rose brooch to go with it didn’t I? This is the 4th flower I’ve made using Rachel’s pattern from Crochet Spot. But this time I remembered the pattern as I had done the Berry Pink one the day before. But I made this one different. There are 14 petals, and for the 1st 7 I did trebles (English db tr) instead of doubles (English trebles) to make the petals at the bottom bigger. The other 7 petals are double crochet (English trebles) as usual. It makes the rose more full at the bottom.

My easy ribbed beanie pattern, using 5mm hook and thickish wool
1. 1st round is a beginning 3 chain, sl st, then 12 trebles (American doubles) in the round, sl st
2. 2 ch counts as 1st treble, treble front around the post of the treble below, treble into each treble (as well as front treble around each post) = 24 trebles
3. 2 ch counts as 1st treble, treble into each treble, treble front around each 3rd post (the one thats raised from the previous round) = 36 trebles
4. 2 ch counts as 1st treble, treble into each treble, treble front around each 4th post, sl st = 48 trebles
5. 2 ch counts as 1st treble, treble into each treble, treble front around each 5th post, sl st = 60 trebles
6. 2 ch counts as 1st treble, treble into 5 trebles, skip one treble, treble front around each 6th post, sl st = 72 trebles
7+ repeat row 6 until desired length is reached

The wool I used feels soft to touch, but after wearing this hat for a short time the skin on my forehead started to itch. I’m assuming this is why people usually use nicer wool for beanies. I will live and learn! Still a fun hat to make, and I’m very glad my mother in law liked it enough so I could give it her last time she dropped by for a visit. She didn’t think it was scratchy, so I hope she will get some use out of it.

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