Pranks and the no sew wallet

Where I work, we are often busy and the work is mentally taxing.  As a consequence we make our fun where and as we can.

One of my colleagues has been away at Police College on his Sgts course and we discovered he'd left his drawer unlocked.  Last year we got hold of his diary and covered it in pictures of the "Thunderbirds", you'd think he'd have learned!  So now his diary is covered in pictures of Justin Bieber.  We sealed it with clear contact and I crocheted a pretty "cosy" for his diary, in pink, complete with a large pink flower.  He's back at work tonight and we cannot wait!

Now my contribution to our little prank was literally dreamed up, literally and crocheted in the space of a couple of hours.  It's basically a wallet for his diary.  I crocheted a chain of 50, then single crocheted all the way around the chain to end up with a rectangle. Moved into granny stitch and within a few hours I had produced the A4 diary cosy!

When I got home from work I started again with my leftover gelato cotton to make something smaller. To reproduce it but this time taking a bit more notice of what I was doing.

See the bottom?  By crocheting around the entire chain I made a base.  I then switched to tr and crocheted two into a single stitch at the corners.  Effectively crocheting in the round.  Then I switched to grannies.  The key was having the base chain in a multiple of 3.  This little wallet began life as a foundation ch of 28, with one being used as the first sc when I began to crochet into the foundation chain.

In various sizes this would make an awesome Ipad or Kindle cover, cellphone sock, laptop sleeve, coin purse, make up bag or even a large messenger type bag.  The possibilities are endless and I plan to explore them.

You could use any type of stitch you want, I just decided granny stitch is one of my quickest to do and it grows so quickly.  I'd like to try all sorts of different things and once I have the method for creating the bottom perfected I will post a tutorial.

This one is going to be a make up bag to carry my seldom used lipstick and mascara about in.  I'm not big on make up so a tiny bag like this will do nicely.

I will make a liner and sew it in.  If nothing else my rudimentary sewing skills are getting a good work out lately.

The edging along the top is crab stitch, something I have never done before as an edging but am liking a lot.  It would look amazing on a headband.

It took me some time and patience to figure it out, there are instructions in my book the A to Z of crochet but I have seen instructions on line as well.

After the storm

This morning was eerie, for the past two days we've had stormy weather and this morning is was clear, still, cool and quiet.  As I was leaving work the sun was rising out over the harbor, there was a subtle reflection of the sunrise in the western skies.

I took this shot with my phone as I was walking to my car.

A reminder of the stillness and an early morning sunrise and one of the first of Autumn.  I will miss Summer, it's my favorite time of year, the holidays with the kids and the husband, the long nights and lazy days.

Autumn brings it's own joys, we don't get the wild seasonal foliage with deep colours but we do get warm days and cool evenings.  A welcome break from the heat of Summer, the evenings are still long and I like the lead in to the bleakness of Winter.

I got a few hours sleep, then spent the afternoon on a prototype project.

Remember that stitch I was learning a few days ago?

Here is a little clutch I made of it for the wee girl.

My sewing really sucks but for a first effort not too bad.

I used plastic canvas to give it more form and my needle must be a little blunt because it didn't like all those layers.

I can do this better, I WILL do this better because I like the concept and I have two magnetic clips to find a use for.

Introducing...

My cute little cellphone/credit/cash card holder!

Usually when I go out to the mall, for personal security reasons I carry very little.  My keys, my cash card and my cellphone.  I even have a small bag in my purse/tote for this reason.  For years I have been looking for something small and simple for this purpose.

Today I made it myself:

Isn't it scrumptious? It was so simple to make and I didn't even use a full ball of the cotton I purchased to make it.  Now I will be able to grab my stuff and go, go, go!

For those on a creative bent, this was made with Moda Vera Sombre 100% organic cotton and a 3.5mm hook in sc (single crochet) or dc (double crochet) for americans.

A foundation chain of 29 stitches 

sc in the second chain from the hook for the first row

sc every row till you reach the desired length.

To make up:

I folded both ends into the middle, leaving a 1cm gap to allow for neat folding.  I used my iPhone and a credit card to get the right sizing for each pocket.  The credit card being not as wide meant that the top flap was smaller and it looks like a purse flap rather than a wallet but that is my personal choice.

I pinned it and then sc all around to join.  Weaved the ends in et voila.  A handy dandy purslet to grab out of my bag when I am running a quick errand that doesn't require the entire handbag.