Granny Blanket

A very special baby boy is being born into our family in the next day or two. Our hearts are bursting with excitement.

He would have to be a very special person to be the recipient of a blanket like this. A huge investment of time, planning and, of course, yarn.

Made in my ‘spare time’, this blanket has taken me two years to complete.

I started off using my yarn stash – granny squares are perfect for those tiny bits that can’t be used for much else. I changed my colour scheme about 3 times along the way, and ended up discarding the first few squares I made.

Unless you are making a purse, or some other little granny square project, don’t think of it as a great way to use up your stash. I ended up with a bigger stash than I started with.

This collection of 70 squares spent many days on my lounge carpet being arranged, and re-arranged, until I was happy with its layout.

It’s made of 29 different colours of hand-dyed, locally produced, 100% bamboo yarn, and a 5mm hook.

Some great strategy I learned early on: stitch in the ends on each colour change.

I tried a number of different ways to join the squares and settled on a simple ‘join as you go’ method. I’m happy with the softness that the boarder gives the blanket, and it also gave me my desired finished size.

I found the following chart helpful in planning my joining.

The bamboo yarn gives this blanket the most gorgeously soft and cuddly feel. I’m delighted with the finished product and trust it will last a lifetime for our young man.

Two-Tone Sun Hats

I recently sent these hats off to KZN. They were for an order I received.

They’re very bright and colorful, which is not my usual go-to style. I tend towards more neutrals. I’m happy to have been nudged out of my comfort zone, though.

They are really fun to make, and I can imagine many more hats in my near future.

A matching beach bag would finish the story off really nicely. If only I had as many hours as I have ideas.

These hats also look much better on someone’s head than they do lying flat. I need to up my photography skills…and find a willing model. My sons aren’t up to the challenge (thank goodness).

For these hats I used a double strand of crochet No5 yarn, and a 4mm hook. They are a simple double crochet (English) stitch, made in the round. The next one a make will have a brim that’s not so wide.

Embroidered Romper

Once in a while I get my sewing machine out. It’s usually to make mundane things like curtains, or to mend clothes. But every now and again I’m motivated to try and make something a bit more special.

This little romper was, for me, a huge project, and I often felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew. I didn’t have a pattern, so had to try and combine google measurements with online images to create a pattern for what I had in mind.

The inspiration came from this picture found on Pinterest:

Embroidery is not something I do very much of at all, but the above image gave me all the guidance I needed to get the job done. It took me a few weeks, but was very satisfying.

My completed embroidery

The only unfortunate thing about a project like this is that little people grow so quickly and don’t get much ware out of it before it’s too small. But more little people will come along and each will have their chance to enjoy it.

I was happy to find some linen fabric in a local store, and bought a few different colours for different projects. This was the first. Linen can often feel quite stiff until it has been washed a few times, but I was very happy with the very gentle texture of this linen.

My romper fitted our precious granddaughter when she was about 4 months old. It was very sweet on her. If I was to make it over again, I would raise the embroidery up a bit on the romper as it ended up being positioned more across her tummy rather than her chest. However, I cannot see myself making another one of these any time soon.

My list of projects to get to is getting longer, not shorter.

Trudy’s Hat

At the end of July we traveled to Cape Town to celebrate Trudy’s 60th birthday with her. It was a wonderful weekend of family, friends, flowers, food and plenty of colour.

Trudy is a particularly colourful person, and loves to express herself in colour. Usually quite bright colour. It was only fitting that I made a hat for her that would match her character.

I was delighted to find the exact bright pink and orange crochet cottons that I was looking for. It took quite a bit of trial and error to get the tension right, but I ended up using a double thread and size 4mm crochet hook.

I used the same basic pattern as I did for my wooly hat, but because of the smaller hook and finer yarn the stitches were much smaller and so I added many more rows to each section of the hat. I simply kept crocheting until I reached the right size.

This is also the first hat that I’ve made in two colours. I simply changed yarns once I’d finished the bucket part and started the rim part.

I am delighted with how this hat turned out. It’s my best so far, and I think I’ll model all future hats on this design. It’s a lot more work, and takes longer to make, but the outcome is superior.

Judging by the top Trudy wore on the day of her birthday, I’d say I picked the perfect colours for her.

A very happy 60th birthday to Trudes.

Cotton Pot Holder

If this cotton looks familiar, it is. It’s some of the cotton that remained after making my wooly hat.

I’ve sat staring at this cotton for a few days wondering what to do with it, and then this pattern came across my path. Considering that we always need new pot holders I thought to give it a go.

I’m happy with how it came out. It’s very thick, and solid. Crochet work often has holes or gaps in it, which wouldn’t be appropriate for a pot holder. This one is very practical, and I think quite beautiful too.

The pattern is really, really simple. It is basically a ring of chain (64), and then slip stitches done continually in a spiral until it is the shape of a square. Then lie it flat and close off the top and the bottom.

I used Elle Cotton On, 100% virgin cotton, double knit in peacock colour. The crochet hook is a 5.5mm. This particular one used 55g of yarn.

I crocheted a few chain in the last corner, before finishing off, to make a little loop to hang it in the kitchen.

Considering that similar one’s are sold for R110 each (or R220 for two), I feel rather pleased with my homemade one. The yarn cost me about R20 and it was a wonderful way to spend a few hours.

I’m going to check if I have enough cotton remaining to make a second one, then I’ll have a matching pair. You always need two.

EDIT: And then there were two. You may notice that the stitch looks quite different in this one. It’s the same pattern, but one is turned inside out. I rather like the two different textures together.

I expect I may make quite a few of these in the run up to Christmas. They make wonderful gifts, I think.

Thanks to Mama In A Stitch for the pattern.

Swaddling Cocoon

Aaah, my heart melts. Not just because this is the cutest baby cocoon ever, but because this is the cutest baby ever. Yes, we became grandparents a little while ago. Amazing.

But, this is a blog about crochet, so more about that…

Our daughter posted a picture on Pinterest of a cocoon that she wanted. It was a post entitled ‘20+ free crochet baby cocoon patterns’, so I scrolled through the 20+ patterns and none were remotely like the picture. So I had to try and work out the pattern myself.

Luckily I have made simple cocoons before, so I had a good idea how to start.

And this pattern from crochetvolution.com provided a helpful template, for which I am grateful.

I used Elle pure gold DK 100% acrylic yarn for this and….I can’t remember which size hook. Probably around 5mm.

I was delighted with the big wooden buttons I was able to find, but need to make sure I sew them on with sewing thread next time, as they fell off pretty quickly.

The top collar can fold down for teeny tiny babies, and stretch up for bigger or older babies. And because of the way it opens, it’s super easy to get your baby in and out.

I really love this design, and can see myself making it over and over again.

Wooly Hat

It’s another hat!

I said I’d try making my beach hat with a cotton that is not mercerised, and this is the result. It looks very wooly to me. Definitely much more of a winter’s day hat than a summery sunshiny day hat.

Having said that, I love this colour. It’s called peacock, and is a rich greenish kind of colour. The cotton itself is a lovely natural cotton. Delightful to work with.

The pattern I used was this one, but I made a round circle rather than a hexagon. The bucket section is 2 rows less, as my thread is thicker. And the brim is much narrower, just to do something different. I used a 4.5mm hook and crocheted quite tightly. I wish I had used a 4mm.

The cotton is Elle, Cotton on, double knit, which is 100% virgin cotton, and comes in 250g balls. I got mine from Pandora’s (no, I’m not being paid to say that, just doing my bit to support local).

Now I need to decide what to do with the remainder of the ball of peacock cotton….

Ladies Beach Hat

My Aunt has just been to the Mediterranean with two friends for a fabulous holiday. While there, they came upon some lovely crocheted sun hats in a multitude of colors and ended up buying several.

As soon as I saw the pictures, I thought, ‘I can make those’. And so my next project began.

I had some Elle premium cotton in my stash, so I googled around for patterns and got started. The basic pattern I used was this one from Make and Do Crew, although I did make a couple of adjustments.

My cotton is a DK and I used a 5.5mm hook. As this pattern suggests, I used galvanized wire rope to stiffen the brim. It works perfectly.

I am delighted with the outcome. The hat is super comfortable. It squashes down completely flat, so is easy to pack. It’s 100% cotton, so keeps you really nice and cool in the hot sun. The rim is firm, but flexible. What’s not to like?

I only have one very big problem – Elle have discontinued supplying this cotton (see very sad face here). So, I am unable to make another one just like this. So far, I have not been able to find another supplier of DK mercerized cotton.

As a result, I am playing around with a natural cotton. It is also a double knit, but is definitely thicker. The hat will turn out quite differently, but I’m interested to see the final product. Watch this space to see it for yourself.

Patchwork Blanket

This blanket was made over many hours. The most memorable being those with my friend, Janet, sitting in front of her wood fire, sipping sherry, on their farm in the Winterberg.

I just love the fun selection of colours picked out by Pippa, as I made this for her little daughter.

It is just the most basic granny square pattern made with the simplest acrylic yarn and a 5mm hook. I made it to fit a single bed.

Acrylic doesn’t have to be cheap and nasty. It is durable and perfect for items that are going to be well used. The trick to keeping it perfectly soft is to not crochet too tightly. If you naturally crochet more tightly than others (like I do) then try using a bigger hook.

This is a wonderful project to sit with in the evenings. And a very special gift that will last a lifetime.

Market Bag

As I said in my previous post, I was not happy to gift my daisy bag, so I had to make a different bag to give to my sisters (yes, I made 2 for my 2 sisters who I was visiting in Aussie. The second one is burgundy).

I found this stunning Bellissima market bag pattern online. It’s a wonderful pattern to follow. She gives two different handle options: Romanian cord or braided crochet cord. I went with the Romanian option. She also has a tutorial on how to line your bag, if that is your preference. I did not line mine.

I used a 5.5ml hook and Stawberries and Cream recycled cotton yarn for this project.

There are so many different crochet bag patterns available online, one of the hardest things was deciding which one to make. I’m happy with these. They are pretty, sturdy, and should keep their shape.

They are also a great size and can be multipurpose – beach bag, shopping bag, laptop bag, school books bag etc.

The handles are a lovely length to easily hang from your shoulder, and still have a good grip on the bag (something we have to consider living in South Africa).

At the moment it seems like I’m better at making things than I am at recording them. Hopefully one day I’ll catch up.