Winter Warmer Tutorial

There's nothing like snuggling with a hot water bottle on a cold night.  I like to have one handy to snuggle with in my arm chair while I watch tv and this mini sized hot water bottle works a treat.

I wanted it to look pretty while it wasn't in use though.

So I created this pretty jacket with Moda Vera Marvel Soft 8 ply in white.

I used a 4.25mm hook.

The pattern is simple.  Just UK sc, tr and increase/decrease.

Ch 26
Row 1, tr in third chain from hook, tr to end 23 stitches.
Row 2 chain 3 turn, 2 tr in second stitch, tr to second to last stitch 2 tr in second to last stitch, tr in last.

Rows 3-15 chain 3 turn, tr in each stitch 25 stitches.

Row 16 ch 3 turn, dec in second/third stitch tr to 3 stitches before the end.  dec in 23/24th stitches, tr in 25th.

The increases and decreases give a nice curve to the top and bottom of your cover.

Make another exactly the same.
Sew or crochet the sides together.
Pop it on your hot water bottle to check where the neck sits.  (Mine was about 5 in from the edge on each side.)
Crochet the top together leaving a gap for the neck.
Crochet a row of sc around the neck hole. Join with a ss and chain 3
Crochet a row of tr around, join with ss and chain 3.
Increase by crocheting 2 trs into every other stitch. Join with ss and chain 3
1 more row of trs and join with ss chain 1
1 row of sc and tie off.

Weave in your ends.

I've sewed a small zip on the end of mine to facilitate removal and for washing but you could use buttons.

This pattern is loose in that it can be adjusted by increasing the size of your foundation chain to make a cover for a full sized bottle.  The same principles apply to the neck of the bottle.

I decorated with a rose and some leaves from Attic 24. Lucy has a lot of different flowers amongst her tutorials or you could just as easily cross stitch or put something else on it, like maybe an owl.

Tea Cosy Love

Irony, I don't actually drink tea!

This started as a favour for my Stepma.  She had an operation last month and I travelled north with the Wee Girl to help out around the house for a few days.  Stepma was somewhat nervous regarding Dad's house keeping skills while she was incapacitated so the Wee Girl and I cooked and cleaned.  I have to say though that Dad had it all in hand from what I could see.

During some down time we were discussing crochet and I mentioned I would like to try a tea cosy.  Stepma enthusiastically mentioned that her teapot was cosy less and she would just love a nice tea cosy.  And so it came to be that the teapot came south to spend some time at my place.

Making the cosy wasn't easy.  All of the patterns on line are for somewhat taller china teapots.  The shape was different on this chrome pot, the spout is higher and above the widest point.

I settled on this pattern from "Why didn't anyone tell me" but it needed some adjusting.  My cosy had to increase and decrease quite rapidly.  I winged it and have started to create a tutorial.  I think I got it right on my third effort (pictured above).  The first two work just fine, but the third one just came together and I got regular increases.

Above are all three.  What do you think?

Jacob's Blanket

I've just finished a blanket for my Great Nephew Jacob.  It's a granny ripple like the one I made for my Grandmother before she died.

I think it looks pretty good.  I love the Granny Ripple, it's very simple yet very effective as a pattern and most importantly it grows at a very satisfying rate!

The pattern is very easy, if you can do a Granny Stripe and you know how to do a treble crochet (uk) decrease, you can do this.

Unlike the one I did for my Grandmother, this one has straight sides, I didn't do the modification that creates points on all sides.  Much easier to tuck him in with when the nights get cooler.

If they ever do!  It was announced today that Northland is suffering from a drought, I think we've known it for some time now.  There hasn't been any rain this month bar a light drizzle a couple of weeks ago for a few hours and there's no rain forecast till mid March at the earliest.

It's very hot, 27-30 degrees Celsius most days and dipping to the mid to low 20s in the evenings.  I've spent the better part of this week without my husband due to bush fires too.

This photo is a fire on Dept of Conservation land at Tapora.  I was with my husband when the call came in and ended up along for the ride, luckily we had been out taking night shots, so I had my camera with me.  It gave me something to do as well as keeping out of the way.

It's still burning as I write and my husband is at another large fire on the opposite coast between Warkworth and Matakana.

Spare a thought for the Fire Fighters during this dry season.  It's hot and dry everywhere, living in Auckland we are more used to rain and fire is not generally a big hazard, at the moment though? Well we have a fire ban for a reason.  Don't light fires, use solid fuel (wood/charcoal) bbq's, light fireworks or drop a match or cigarette butt.  Fire is scary destructive and we don't want someone getting hurt due to someone elses stupidity!

Canisters

I haven't blogged much because I'm making a blanket and there isn't much to show.  It's also been summer holidays here and the children have just gone back to school.  I've been driving children from Auckland to Northland, Northland to Auckland and Auckland to Tauranga and back!

I did make this though.  It started life as a tin of Evil Child drinking chocolate, I use it when I make mocha's in my Nespresso.

I like the tin and I even like the Evil Child label  it's pink and retro looking.  With that in mind and a build up of empty tins I decided to make some small canisters out of the empty tins.

I simply painted over the label with turquoise blue acrylic paint and then varnished it with a matt finish varnish from the art section of Warehouse Stationery.

I did another in a paler blue and I am thinking of getting some scrap images like the rose left, to make a kind of decoupaged tin.

I think it would look really nice and the shape of the lid just makes it so retro.  I could also glue a small silver knob to the lid to change the look.

Or labels, I could paint it white and decoupage vintage labels on it.

So many possibilities, so little time!

The bun cover

Here's a close up of the bun cover I made.  I made it all up as I went along so I am going to have to remake it and write it down.

The only stitches are chains, trebles (UK) and Double Trebles (UK).  

You will need a size 2mm steel hook, crochet cotton (I used milford) and a hair tie in the smaller range.  

I will be collating the pattern over the next few days.

Christmas is coming

That won't mean holidays for me until mid January but that's life!

I've been busily shopping for the offspring and crocheting when I am not working, doing house work or preparing.  The decorations have yet to appear, that will be this weeks days off.

On the right is a blanket I made for myself, to watch tv and snuggle with on top of my bed in the chilly days to come.  I got it finished before the crazy Auckland humidity hit thank goodness.  It's so stuffy here at the moment.

Since it warmed up I've been making smaller and cooler things like bun covers for the wee girl for next year at Intermediate school when she will have to wear her hair neatly put up and a uniform.  I will post a pic when I put her hair up, we did an experiment and they work really well.

I've also been experimenting with booties.


These wrist warmers are made from sock wool aka fingering weight and will keep me warm next winter.

I'm working on some patterns which I hope to get finished next week and display for the bun covers.  Right now I am seeing if I can make one with beads....

Creating a space

Well I am back and I have been busy!  Back at my last post I had my arm in plaster for a clinical scaphoid fracture.  Hated it!  The plaster made me incredibly claustrophobic, two weeks in I went to the doctor and begged them to find another way.  Where upon I was very reluctantly fitted with a splint but only because the ManChild had his own accident.  He was playing hockey and got smacked in the face with a ball causing two fractures to his cheek.

Eventually my x rays came back clear.  The MC is still having visits to the cranio facial dept but all is good.

We purchased a sleepout for the MC which was built during these shenanigans.  He's all moved into his fully lined, carpeted and painted room.  He's thrilled.  It's very cosy, he has a locking door and more space than he's ever had.

As a consequence his old room became errr vacant!  But not for long.

It is now an office for the Hubs and I.

This is my side.  Organised with a desk and shelves.  I have all my wool stash and photography stuff tidy and accessible.

I'm currently working on a blanket which is a little boring so when the mood takes me, I create some little things.

I have an old chair in the shed that belonged to my great grandmother that I am thinking of rejuvenating to add some character to my bedroom.

Lots and lots on the agenda with Christmas fast approaching though.  The MC has finished school and is on study leave for exams.

The WG had a marimba recital, then a choral concert at the town hall.  This is her last year at primary so they are preparing for their graduation assembly.  I have to buy a uniform for her for intermediate.

It's busy time!

The current hiatus explained

Can't really type and definitely can't crochet.  Back soon!

Stash busting

Recognise the colours?  This is left over yarn from the Zig Zag Granny throw I made for my Grandmother's 100th birthday.  Seeing as it is allegedly returning to me now that she has sadly passed on, I decided to use the left over yarn to make a hottie cover.

I haven't perfected my technique yet, the edges are too square and messey but it's quite warm and much nicer than  a rubber hot water bottle on my back.

I started with a foundation chain of 35 stitches.

1st row sc
2-end of front (a panel big enough to fit end to end minus the neck of the hot water bottle) alternating sc and trebles to make the textured stitch.

I then made two more panels for the back half the size of the front each.

I crocheted button holes on one by missing crochet through two stitches and just making two chains the same way I make basket handles basically.

I think I will have to decrease to shape the tops.  I'll keep you posted and when I get it right I will post the pattern.

Meanwhile in an effort to use up more yarn....

Here is the front of a cushion I am making.  I have wanted to make a granny square with a flower on it for ages and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to play.  I found the pattern on pintrest.  It's not very easy to understand though so I only made the one.   I am busy crocheting the back now.  Just plain alternating rows of trebles and singles.

Work has been busy as ever, Winter is usually a quieter time for us but this year it just doesn't quit.

Mt Tongariro erupted last week.  That meant writing an emergency plan in case it happens again.  Apparently it's not a matter of if but when.

We seem to be having more than our fair share of natural disasters lately.

Hotwater bottle covers and other things...

One of the best things about winter is snuggling under a blankie with a hottie to keep you cosy while you watch tv.   It's cheaper than electric heating and it's fun on a cold, damp day.

But it's not so much fun snuggling with a rubber hot water bottle, it feels wrong.

I just got some new full sized hotties for the grand price of $4.50 so they needed some dressing up.  There's a pattern in "The Art of Crochet" issue 14 so I decided to try it.  Apparently UK hot water bottles are bigger than those in NZ or 8ply was too thick, because it was far too wide.  So I turned it sideways and improvised.

<~~~~~~~~ Tah Daaaaah

Not the best pic I know, I'm currently temporarily at dial up speed because my broadband allowance "somehow" got exceeded.  Even a cellphone pic takes ages to upload.  I went grocery shopping while this one was uploading if that gives you any idea!

I am currently making a second version, with horizontal stripes, keeping a note of what I am doing so I can share the pattern with you.  I'm loving the textured stitch which consists of 1 tr and 1 sc (UK) it crochets up nicely.

I am quite please with my result, so is the Wee Girl because she's not over keen on naked hotties.  She's a snuggle on the sofa gal from way back.

I've also made a cloche style hat and some pacifier clips for my friends stall.  I've had a busy week.

Hello Again

I can't believe it's August all ready, the past two months have gone by in a blur.  As mentioned in my previous post my Grandmother turned 100 in June.  Sadly she passed away on the 10th of July.


Altogether July has not been my best month ever.  I did finish delivering the training course at work, update our business continuity plan and get all my team performance appraisals written, but in between there have been a series of small disasters.

There was the puncture on my way home from work that saw me sitting on the side of the motorway for an hour at 10pm on a Saturday night.  From that I learned that a surprising number of people forget to turn on their lights, the shoulder is much narrower than it appears as you whiz past it at 100 kph and really people should slow down.

My eldest the Man Child has caps on his front teeth due to an accident when he was a boy child.  He managed to break one whilst eating a lollypop! Oh and he sprained his ankle playing hockey.

My cat had a stroke! She'd been sitting snoozing in her usual position on the top of my chair when she suddenly leapt off and started walking in circles.  The dogs had a freak out over her and by the time I got them out of the way she was fitting. When she came out of the fit she was very strange so it was off to the vet at 10pm on a Sunday evening.  She's more or less back to normal now, but for 24 hours she was blind and didn't know me.   She bit me, hissed and spat until she came out of it.   Thankfully cats recover from such episodes a lot better than humans, she's a bit weak in the back legs but that is it.

The hubs opened an official looking envelope to discover a speeding ticket from a speed camera for my car.  I've never had a speeding ticket (touch wood) so he handed it to me smugly.  I looked at the date and said hang on! That's was the day after Grandma's funeral, I wasn't working that Sunday, we went shopping and YOU were driving! Then I gave it back to him!

The Wee Girl got glasses!

I got new glasses, I've had to move to progressive lenses with a special pair of reading glasses for all the crochet and writing I do.

But every cloudy month has silver linings.  I got a new laptop and a new camera.  I have been lusting after the camera for some time.  As soon as I get my software sorted out, I shall be posting new pics taken with it.

A busy few weeks

Here is the wee girl wearing her now, somewhat grubby slipper boots.  That's what happens when you slide on the lino when the dogs have muddy paws.  She's very happy with these boots.

I adapted this pattern for a basic boot, instead of ribbing I trebled (U.S. dc) 6 rows then did granny clusters for another 5 rows for the folded down part.

The WG likes to keep toasty warm and there has a been a bit of a cold patch.

I've also been making hats flat stick.  A teddy bear,  a monkey and a couple of earflap hats for my nephews and friends little boy.

If that wasn't enough, I've been working on a training module for work and started delivering it this week.

All in all I've been working my tail off.    The man child had a teacher in service day today and begins exams tomorrow, this evening the WG has an open house at the intermediate school she will be attending next year.  There's hockey and work for me on Saturday, Sunday is work and Monday, Tuesday I am both working and delivering the training I developed to yet another team.

I don't believe this business will abate for a while yet.  Both the hubs and I are working on Saturday so in a true test, the MC has to get himself and his sister to their hockey games at the local field.

I'm hoping things will slow down soon.  Who'd have thought winter would be so much busier than summer?

A Granny for Gran (Ripple Granny Tah Da!)

I'm excited to present my version of the Ripple Granny throw.  

Two weeks, less than10 100 gram balls of Marvel acrylic.  It is approximately 3 feet by 3 feet.  Enough for Grandma to cover her lower body down to her feet and tuck around herself when she sits in her chair.  About the size of a cot blanket.

Here is a peek at the colours.  A dusky mauve, mossy green, dusky pink, chocolate brown and cream.  Not the bright colours I generally use but definitely Grandma colours.

58 rows of Granny clusters.  108 stitches on a 5mm hook.

I adapted the pattern I found by doing a colour set and then counting in on the clusters to start in the same place so the first row of the mauve in each colour set is 5 cluster sets.  That is how I managed to get the zig zag sides 

The edge is just 3 rows of single crochet because I thought the zig zagginess was pattern enough.  I think I mentioned it was acrylic rather than wool in case it gets put in the residential care driers.  Now I just need to label it with Grandma's name, wrap it in a ribbon and I'm ready to go.

I will write up the pattern if anyone is interested.  It's a mixture I adapted from a number of different Granny ripple patterns that I googled to work out how to do it.

Now I have to get my a into g and start cooking for the party this weekend!!!  Have a wonderful day!

Foggy Saturday Morning

Saturday morning at this time of year means Hockey.  Both the Wee Girl and the Man Child play.  There's one thing you need to know about hockey, it's never cancelled.  Rain, hail or shine, hockey is always on and today was no different, in spite of the fog.

The WG had a game at 10:30 thankfully just down the road at the local high school the MC attends.

The MC had a game for his club at 2pm today, during the week he plays for the school in the first 11, he has practice twice a week for school, a game on Wednesday and then another practice Thursday evening for the club with a game on Saturday.

Some of the WG's games are played away, which generally means a trip to another school across town.  A couple of weeks ago we had to be in Mt Roskill for a game at 9:30am then back to West Auckland for a marimba recital at a local festival by 11am.  It was tight!

Today though, it was just the two hockey games, some hours apart.  Did I mention the fog? Those buildings are right across the road from the field but they were only just visible at 10am when we arrived.

The WG plays 8 a side and on half of the turf.

Here she is with her pink hockey stick on attack.  She played the first half on defense.

Unfortunately it was something of a whitewash, the opposition won by 4 goals to 1.

I remember when those shorts she's wearing hung down around her knees and there was barely any skin to be seen between the top of her socks and the bottom of her shorts.  4 years later and she looks a lot bigger.

And here is the MC, playing in the 3rd Division Men's team.  He's 15 and playing guys in their 20's, 30's and my age!  The guy who is tackling him in that shot, is a former Olympic player, he played for NZ.

The MC holds his own with the older players and he's bigger than some of them.  That astounds me.  Although he is taller than me, I still think of him as my child.  Seeing him taller than men with facial hair, well it's something of a shock.

As you can see he got around the former Olympic player.

We came home around 3.30 having been at the hockey turf for the better part of the day.

The WG is doing the 40 hour famine too, so she has been shoveling back Barley Sugars and Just Juice.  She's given up food, technology and talking!  It's been a quiet 20 hours so far.

Crafting for cash?

A friend of mine is thinking of taking a stall at the local market and she has invited me to crochet some goodies to sell.  I don't usually sell anything I make.  Sometimes people give me wool to make things from for them.  That's about as close as I have ever got.

I'm thinking of making some fingerless mitts, hats, cup cozies, flower posies and key rings to start with,  quick stuff that doesn't take a lot of yarn.  Then I can use any money to make more expensive things and things that take a little longer, scarves etc.

I'll have to think on it.

Meanwhile, my granny stitch zig zag/ripple is moving along nicely.  I've made some alterations to the pattern so it's got zig zag sides as well as top and bottom.  I can't wait to get it finished for Grandma's birthday.  I have 12 more days to get it done.  I have to work out what I will do to edge it.

Home Sick

I awoke this morning to the pitter patter of feet, well not so much a pitter patter as a stamp stomp, the wee girl has elephant feet.  I usually wake around 8:30 - 9 ish on my days off.  My darling hubs gets the kids up and off, so awaking to the sound of footsteps in the house was a little odd.

It transpired that the WG had been allowed to remain home as she was "sick" with the unlikely combination of sore throat and  sore tummy.  The hubs made a call and left her home for observation.  Her colour was good, she didn't have a temperature, no sign of a cough or even a sneeze.  I was and remain a little skeptical.  A little bit of chit chat and I discovered that the WG's bff is moving away which may explain why she felt off and a day at home with Mum isn't going to hurt.

I had intended to go out and get some more yarn for the Zig Zag Granny rug and wander Spotlight looking for some monkey hat wool and a colour scheme for my next project.  The zig zag granny isn't going to take a long time because it's not going to be that big.

I have some work to do perfecting the granny zig zag foundation as well.  I started this one using a pattern on Ravelry by Birdlebee, it has a multiple of 18 but the ends are a lot longer than the actual zig zags.  I think I can work that out for the next one.  I'm liking the granny ripple!

Back at work

Sadly my holiday is over.  I can no longer devote hour upon hour to crochet.  I was just getting used to the whole idea of being a stay at home mother.  I've had a good month so I can't really complain and I still have lots of leave to take later in the year.  Meantime taking the month off has meant that I am within the target of less than 40 days of leave....just.

I made two more hats for my friends children.  The pink bowler style hat was my own adaptation of a beanie, I created the brim by doing an increase row and then two more straight rows of trebles.

The monkey helmet is an earflap hat with two circles sewn on afterward for ears.  I now have requests from a couple of different friends to make monkey hats for their little boys.  So I will be making hats for a while longer.  They are very quick so I am happy to do it.

I've also made a couple of pairs of wrist warmers for the wee girl and myself.  For those cold winter morning hockey games.

I'm also making a zigzag (ripple) granny throw for my grandmother's 100th birthday next month.  It's not going to be huge, just something she can use to sit with to keep her legs warm. She doesn't get around too much these days, so even in the warm rest home, she feels chilled.  She can walk and does, but she has cataracts which mean that she doesn't see too well.  While she's happy to trot out to the dining room for meals, she doesn't like to be in unfamiliar places and fair enough.

It's difficult to get something for her, living in a rest home means that she can't have a lot of "things" and because she can't see, photographs while appreciated are fairly meaningless because she can't enjoy them.  Which is why I decided to make her the rug.  She may not be able to see the colours but she will be able to feel the stitches and appreciate the warmth it gives her.

Because clothing and bedding is washed in the rest home laundry, I have chosen to use acrylic yarn, so that nobody can accidentally shrink her rug.

I've chosen a brown, sage green, soft muted pink and cream as colours and I am using mode vera marvel 8 ply (DK).  The ripple in granny clusters is growing quickly and as soon as I have a respectable number of rows, I shall post a picture.

Hats

 

I've been busy making hats for children this week.  It's another fab way to bust that stash. Yes it's all about hats here at the nook.

It all started with the cream hat in my previous post.  Made for a friends daughter who is about 7 months old.

Then I moved on to this blue ear flap hat which was surprisingly easy.  Jack who is 4 should suit this one nicely.  It's not overly decorative, but seems like the kind of hat a little boy might wear happily on a frosty morning to go to kindy.

 

This pattern was as easy to knock up as it looked, all trebles with the forward and backward around the post to create the ribbed look on the last three rows.

Then I decided to adapt the pattern for granny clusters...














That cream yarn is left over from the hobo bag and I still have more to use.

Withe the exception of the first hat with the flower and the adaptation I got the patterns here.  There are sizes from newborn to toddler.

With the granny adaptation I used this pattern for the crown then moved into granny clusters until I felt the hat was long enough.  Then I crocheted a row of tr (dc US) and instead of ribbing the flap I kept it flat so that it would show better.

Hobo Bag

This is another Pintrest find, I loved this bag on sight and I knew I could make it when I read the pattern found here at a site called ShortyLam Crochet.

It's a simple v stitch made up of trebles and single crochet.  The author  made her own version but if you look closely it doesn't curve quite as much as the original for my liking.

I got around this by decreasing on the 6mm hook round of single crochet by one stitch every 6 stitches.

I'm really happy with the outcome.  This isn't an everyday bag, due to the colour but it's a good one for the odd outing.







I used 12ply cream Marvel from Spotlight for about $3 a ball and used less than one ball.

The handle is currently a belt from the local emporium for $3, the silver rings were .70c each from the same emporium and I used brown satin ribbon, less than two metres for less than $1 a metre, also from the emporium.

I lined the bag with a remnant from Spotlight, it's cream thermal drape material in a jacquard pattern and it looks great.

My entire bag cost less than $20 to produce.

As you can see I hand sewed some of the ribbon around the top of the bag, to hide the stitching of the lining.  That's my sewing machine in the background LOL.

I also relined my granny bag with more of the remnant and still have some left over.

The thermal drape material doesn't fray because of the thermal lining and it provides a level of stiffness to the bag that the crochet alone doesn't.

It's a lovely simple bag, the body was crocheted in one evening.  I put it all together and lined it this afternoon, including popping out to the emporium to find the hardware.

I'd like to remake it and see if an increase and decrease in the bottom makes a difference to the shape, just for the sake of curiosity.

What a week

I've been wrestling demons this week, trying to give up smoking and failing.  I had a bad reaction to Zyban 3 days into not smoking at all so it's off that stuff and trying another.  All in all I haven't felt like doing much of anything so it's a good thing that I planned this for my holiday.

A friend asked me to crochet her some hats for her baby girl.

This is my first effort, trouble is I have no idea how big a baby head is these days.  My kids had exceptionally large heads anyway but it's been a decade since I had a child under one year old full-time so I have lost my ability to estimate the right size.  I can guesstimate for a 10 year old though!