Frida's Flowers Cushion for Linda

Have a friend who loves Frida Khalo and made a going away present for her (sniff 😢). You can find this lovely design by Jane Crowfoot on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fridas-flowers-blanket. I used my current favourite yarn Patons 8 ply cotton blend and size 4 hook.  Also turned my hand at tassel making (coz Linda LOVES tassels!).

Turned out very colourful...

Silver round bag

I found a gorgeous free pattern called Passion for Purple by Hobby Lobby at Passion for Purple bag pattern. Even though it calls for a vibrant colour I wanted to make it in silver and used my all time favourite cotton yarn Patons Regal 4 ply.

The pattern is quite easy to follow and builds fairly quickly. I do need to add a lining before I can use it. I omitted the last set of rows which double up the frilly collar as I thought it was full enough. 

Elise's daisy chain jacket

 Continuing on in the baby theme...I recently finished a jacket and hat for my boss' new baby daughter. This pattern was another free one from Patons called Daisy Chain Cardigan and hat available at http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/daisy-chain-cardigan-hat.html. 

The wool I used is slightly thinner than the pattern called for and I used a size 3.75mm hook to get the right gauge with Patons Dreamtime Merino 4 ply. The colour ways were 0333 (pink) and 2959 (silver).

I found the pattern quite difficult to follow around the neckline and wondered if it had an errata but I couldn't find any on Ravelry. Must have been just me with the issues! I ended up having to adapt the pattern around the neck and sleeves so it would sit right. A few frogs along the way with this one but I was happy in the end and the yarn is lovely and soft for wool. 

Bec's baby blanket

When my favourite administration officer went on maternity leave I wanted to make her something special. I had wanted to make a blanket by Felted Button for some time and settled on http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spring-into-summer-blanket which is available as a free pattern. 

I used 3 skeins of the yarn called for in the pattern which is Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable in the gorgeous colour way Candied. It is a very fluffy acrylic which is hard to unravel when you frog it.  

Connor's granny square blanket

I found this gorgeous pattern at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/daisy-cottage-designs. The colours are not quite the same but I am happy with it and it is perfect for a boy. 

I used a yarn I found at Spotlight called Passioknit Vintage Breeze Kiki which is quite bulky but easy to work with. It is 100% cotton (my favourite fibre!) and the colours were called Wasabi, Almond Milk and I can't quite remember the name of the sky blue colour. Crocheted with a 5.5m hook mainly when watching the Shanara Chronicles (I'm a fantasy freak). 

Katya Spring Shrug

I loved this pattern! It is easy to do, works up quickly and wears great! It takes a bit to get used to how short it is (I am used to shrugs that cover your boobs).

It's a pattern I saw while roaming and just had to buy - here is the link:-

Katya Spring Shrug

I used Bella Baby Alpaca Blend which is lovely and warm to wear.

Comfy cardigan

This is a pattern from one of my favourite books:-

I have used the yarn that is called for in the pattern and I still had to go down from a 4.25 hook in the pattern to a 3.25 hook to get the right gauge ? I had no idea I was such a loose hooker :) I started with size 38 but ended up doing 35 as it was clear from the first row it was going to hook up way bigger even with the smaller hook. it turns out the pattern does actually pull in a fair bit when you have done multiple rows but and size 35 was still ok especially considering the size of the arms.

Ever noticed how when you read a pattern at night when you are tired it makes no sense then you look at it fresh in the morning after a cup of coffee and it makes perfect sense?? Thought I was going to have to unravel the whole centre arm section but all good.

I adapted the pattern a bit to make the breast panels one pattern repeat wider so it fits over my boobs. Other than that looks like the size is ok.

Can I suggest when you are doing the ribbing that you constantly check the number of stitches because somehow they just disappear. I went from 17 to 13 and I had to unravel a bit to get back to 15 - not unravelling the whole lot that’s for sure takes too long to crochet ribbing again.

The yarn is Blue Sky Blue Alpaca Silk in Amethyst which is lovely to work with. It was slightly scratchy when I tried it on but after blocking came out ok. 

Mixed Stitch Stripey Blanket - #2 Frog Post

Ok so here goes frog post #2...

Another thing the pattern clearly says is to COUNT YOUR STITCHES REGULARLY! After doing the zigzag pattern I somehow managed to pick up an extra 50 stitches (I started with 216) so the blanket bulged out all wokeye after that. Again I didn't notice it until 8 rows later...no fixing this one I just unravelled and started again from the top of of zigzag stitch decreasing one stitch every 5 stitches.

Its a good thing I love crochet so much!!! And kitty does too...

Mixed Stitch Stripey Blanket - #1 Frog post

I started a blanket (my first one!) and have been using the pattern by Hannah Davis at Not Your Average Crochet - you can find the link here.

This project highlights the problems you can come across WHEN YOU DONT READ THE INSTRUCTIONS PROPERLY!!  See the Catherine Wheel pattern in dark blue and white? Well the pattern clearly says to use a bigger hook or crochet very loosely as it will pull in your work. Being  my usual stubborn self thinking I would be fine I used the same crochet hook and didn't really try to crochet loosely and it did pull in dramatically. But did I stop and pull it out?  NO! I kept crocheting along another 20 rows thinking a good blocking at the end would fix it. It became painfully apparent that no amount of stretching or blocking would fix this. Faced with the prospect of unravelling about 20 cm of hard work I decided to fix it from the shorter end (about 10 cm). 

I couldn't find any instructions on the web on how to do it so I took a deep breath and undid the knot at the beginning of the Catherine wheel row and started unravelling. I was left with the bottom end of a double crochet row which did not look at all right to leave as is. 

So I had to work out a way of finishing off the row.  I used a larger hook (4.5 hook) and did a row of single crochet into the end of each of the double crochet that were left unfinished. 

Now I think about it more I could also have undone and then redone the Catherine wheel stitch and then joined the lower part with a row of single crochet in the same fashion. Too late now I unravelled all of the lower part. Not sure that the join would have looked so good to my perfectionist eye (what a curse that is!) anyway I am very happy with the progress ! 😊

Blue Mandala throw

Ohmygosh it has been so long since I have posted! Working two jobs that is why. I have been crocheting up a storm but I never seem to finish anything. I have about five projects on the go at the moment - but here is one that I have finished...

The free pattern for it can be found at Ravelry. Just make sure you look at the errata as well is is at the same site at the bottom of the page.

It is a bit tricky to start (it helped me to look at some finished projects to see how the spiral starts and the edging pattern works) but I got there in the end.

It gobbles up the wool though. I used Patons Cotton Blend 8 ply and a 5.5 hook.

Brain Waves Beanie

The latest instalment of Tassie wear - the Brain Waves Beanie! My partner had been asking me to make him a beanie but he didn't like any of the patterns I found. I came across this pattern at +Craftsy  and made it before he could knock the pattern back :)

I used the Cleckheaton yarn I had left over from the Wool Hooded Cardigan I made for bub so they will be matching when they wear it together. The hook used was size 5.5 (I). 

I think it suits him with his wooly beard on. 

The pattern is a free pattern by Playing Hooky which is linked below:

Brain Waves Beanie

Angora Mariposa Beanie

Another item for the Tassie trip! 

This is made from 100% Angora hand spun yarn which is wonderfully soft and warm! And a lovely pattern to make from The Crochet Lounge called the Mariposa Beanie. I can’t wait to wear it in the cold. This is the first time I have used the foundation chain and I will never go back to the ordinary
way of doing chains and then sc for the first row where I can avoid it!

The yarn was purchased from Morris & Sons Sydney a while ago and I was waiting for the perfect project to use it. 

Wool Hooded Cardigan

Off to Tasmania for a holiday yay! So I thought I had better make some winter woollies for my little man - such fun because we really don't get to wear them up here.

This is a lovely stitch pattern to make and it grows very quickly. I couldn’t buy the Sirdar Eco yarn used in the pattern so I had to substitute with Cleckheaton yarn and the colours are very similar. Had a bit of trouble with the hook size and had to redo it a few times until I settled on size 3.25 hook.

Well a few frogs along the way - must learn to pay closer attention to the pattern and not the tv (Game of Thrones!!!) As it is not as soft a wool as I would have liked I decided to make a lining for it. I had some beautiful royal blue coloured Chinese design silk material which goes quite well.

The pattern is from a lovely book I borrowed from the library - click on the book cover to go to the Amazon link to see more:

I formed the idea about how to do the lining from the website link below:

Instructables: Lining a hand knit sweater

Baby Boy Blue and Grey Cluster Yoke Cardigan

I originally made a jacket with this free pattern from Patons for my cousin's baby in the reverse colours - mainly grey with blue. The yarn is a lovely merino super wash 4 ply which was purchased from Morris & Sons Sydney. I must say looking at the range available now the colours are much better than they were when I bought the yarn a few years ago.

The pattern link is still available in Ravelry at this link - it is called Patons Cluster Yoke Cardigan