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?

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!

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.

Scarfs and other Winter things

I'm like a squirrel storing nuts for winter.  I finished the WG's hat, then a v stitch scarf in raspberry with pale pink fringe to match the hat.  Then I decided a ruffled brights scarf was in order, I mean everyone should have choices right?

The WG will be going to intermediate school next year and that means uniform.  This is the last year that I get to dress her, kind of.  Make no mistake, she chooses her own clothes every day but I still get input to the larger wardrobe.  The boho crochet beanies I made her last year are the envy of many a little girl at her school, as is her pencil case.  These are one of a kind things that nobody else has, that make her a little exclusive.  So she's keen for more.

Ruffled scarves are easy peasy, but look somewhat complicated and they use quite a bit of yarn.  It's simply a matter of crocheting a foundation stitch to your desired length, then adding 3 for the first treble.  Then you crochet two trebles into every stitch till it's spirally and ruffly as you want it to be.  I used the Moda Vera Willowy from Spotlight (it's on special for $3.99 a ball) and a 3.75mm hook. 5 balls though is a lot of yarn for a scarf.  Still it's exactly what I wanted it to be, it reminds me of a carnival and I'm sure it will brighten the greyest winter day.

I'm making another in black and silver.

Meantime I've had some adventures with the girls.  Western Springs was sadly missed, they (the girls) decided they just had to go to the movies.  I wanted to go so badly on the off chance I would meet up with Aunty Mum who was up visiting Auckland from Tauranga.  Unfortunately you have to learn to pick your battles with teens and tweens without letting them know there is a battle of wills.

I made the argument that it was a waste of a lovely day to spend it in the dark in a movie theatre, that rain was coming in the next few days but they held firm and pooh poohed my forecast of rain in coming days.  Deciding it wasn't a hill I wanted to die on, I dropped them at the mall and came home to do some housework in relative peace for a couple of hours.

The Man Child has no interest in being seen at the mall in the company of his 10 yr old sister (and up until her second year at school she was dead set she would marry him, cried her eyes out when he went off to intermediate and left her at school by herself and would love her friends to see her with him!) despite the enhancement being seen with a somewhat comely 16 yr old female cousin would afford, stayed home to help his dear old Mum.  He really can be very good.  He mowed the lawn and cleaned the deck while I vacuumed and dusted.

This afternoon (apparently sleeping until midday is de rigeur for school holiday teens although the tween is usually up by 9am) we are heading down to Save Mart to see what we can find amongst the racks.

Then I expect there will be a fashion show.

The one with the versatile hat...

I finished the WG's hat today, made with spotlights DK (8 Ply) Shepherd very crafty pure wool, left over from the granny stripe I made her.  It takes less than a ball and only a few hours to make these berets, they are simple.

To make hers larger than the red one in the previous post, I changed the pattern considerably so I don't think I am infringing on the authors pattern because of the changes so here is how I did it.

The basics are as follows: To make a flat circle -

chain 4, join the last chain to the first chain to form a circle.

Row 1:  Chain 3, counts as first treble.  11 tr into the centre to create a circle of 12 tr.

Row 2:  Ch 3, 1 tr into the same stitch, 2 tr into every ch = 24 tr.

Row 3:  Ch 3, *1 tr into the next stitch, 2 tr into the next stitch rpt from * to end.

Row 4:  Ch 3, *1 tr into the next 2 stitches , 2 tr into the next stitch rpt from * to end.

Carry on increasing the number of single stitches between the 2 tr into 1 stitch until you have 7 single trs between 2 tr into 1 stitch. This should be row 8.

This is a standard flat circle pattern used for many different objects from bags, pot holders and hats to  mats and simple doilies.  Lucy from Attic 24 has a good step by step flat circle tutorial, you'll find her site in the sidebar to the right.

When you have 8 rows as above:

Row 9: Ch 3, tr into each stitch to the end.

Row 10 & 11 As per Row 9 .

so that is 3 rows of plain trebles no increases.

Row 12:  (This is where you start a standard decrease click to see how) Ch 3, 1 tr into each stitch 7 times. Then tr decrease into the next two stitches to turn two into one.  The result will be an upside down V

Row 13:  Ch 3, 1 tr into each stitch 6 times then tr decrease into next two stitches as above.

Rows 14-18:  SC into each stitch join at the beginning with a slip stitch OR if you prefer, keep going to crochet in a spiral and avoid a seam on the band which is what I did, that part is at your discretion.

Row 19:  Crab Stitch to end. Tie off and weave or sew in your ends.

Note crab stitch gives a pretty edge but it's kind of fiddly at first, it's almost backward sc.  Here is a video tutorial that will help.

The crab stitch also firms up the edge slightly.

If you prefer a small picot edging would look pretty too.

I did this in a solid colour but there is no reason why you can't do stripes or blocks of colour.  It's entirely up to you.  The hat can be worn in a variety of ways, as above the WG has it like a beret but you can pull the front forward to form a peak like a cheese cutter cap or wear it further back with hair tucked into it kind of like a snood.  The WG is well pleased with hers.

This hat fits me too.  For a larger head, I am guessing you should add another row of increase as required and the decrease rows should be adjusted accordingly e.g. 8 tr between incr then 8 tr between decr.  I haven't tried it out.  Or you could try a larger hook for a looser stitch.

******************************************

For my next quick project, before I get back to my squares, I am making a V stitch scarf for P, my niece who arrived at lunch time from Tauranga to stay for the holidays.

Here is the wool although the colour is kind of off under the lights.  It's Shepherd 8 ply lambswool felted from spotlight. $7.99 a ball which is more than I usually pay but I wanted to see how it went.

In real life it's more a reddish purple, almost a raspberry colour and it will look fantastic on P with her dark hair and peaches and cream complexion.

The V stitch looks pretty good with this wool.   I wanted a stitch that would use the yarn to best advantage but still be warm and cosy.

I found the pattern on Ravelry it's the Rosey-Posey Scarf Pattern.

The yarn helps the stitches look nice and defined although it is a little uneven in thickness some bits being thicker and others thinner as you crochet through the ball.

I am using a 5mm hook.  Even though this is basically a DK wool, I felt that a smaller hook would make the felted wool quite thick and solid feeling, too stiff for a nice scarf.  I could of course be wrong.

Preparing for Easter

I've never been much of an Easter person.  As a child at Sunday school I learned all about the various religious festivals on the Anglican calendar, Easter being a major one of course.  Really though, truth be told, it's all about the chocolate and hot cross buns these days.

I have lots of Christmas decorations but nothing for other holidays.  So when I cam across this nice easy crochet Easter Egg pattern by Kate at Greedy for Colour I just had to have a go.

I have some very cheap acrylic that I picked up at a dollar store on a whim.  It's quite stiff and not very nice to crochet, it actually feels a bit like industrial carpet, stiff and scratchy.  But for a small project that needs some solidity, it's pretty awesome.

The past two hours have thus been spent making eggs.  I'd like to make a few more, but I have things to do outside the house, like buy Easter Eggs for the children and purchase hot cross buns for tomorrows breakfast.  So I have reluctantly put it down for now at a grand total of 4.

I'm going to be a busy girl tonight!

I'm also planning to make 3 egg cozies.  One for each of the children.  Wait...did I say 3? It's because by Sunday when the Easter Bunny makes his appearance, I shall have another teenager in the house.  Niece Paige is coming to visit for the school holidays.

So it's off to the shops now to get some real chocolate eggs.  I intend to try and get some in egg cups so the budding adults have a permanent reminder of Easter past.  I generally get the kids a mug or something to keep when all the chocolate is gone.  We have Barbie egg cups, Clowns and Thomas the tank engine in our collection.  Most prized by me is an egg cup made just for me by my Standard 3 teacher, Mr Chambers.  It has my name on it and I have cherished and used it, since it was presented to me on the last day of the 1977 school term.

Meanwhile my stack of alternative granny squares continues to grow.  There's over 40 in those two piles.

I shall have to put some thought into joining them soon...

Busy as a Bee

Today was all about cleaning, I got my kitchen/laundry floors scrubbed, cleaned the grease filter in the range hood, the bathroom scrubbed within an inch of it's life, bathroom cabinets cleaned out, picked up the kids from school and cooked dinner.

Having written it out it doesn't seem a lot really, but it's autumn cleaning time, you know that deep intensive cleaning that you do every 3-6 months.

That's dinner, a quick and on fly version of Thai chicken cocoanut curry and rice.  I seem to have run out of or misplaced my green curry paste so I substituted red, the WG hates hot curry so there's a can of cocoanut cream and a dash of lime in it, as well as fish and soya sauce.  Some red onion, finely chopped mushrooms (finely chopped because if the hubs knows they are there he will object) and some frozen veg because the WG left the veg box on the floor in the laundry on Friday and my dogs ate them overnight while I was at work!

Yes they ate the fruit and veges,  they did leave the leek, onions. oranges and potatoes but everything else is gone burger! They really love banana's best but happily ate the rest too.  Weird dogs! I found the remains spread all over the laundry floor and two very burpy dogs greeted me at the door.

The Henna tattoo on my hand got darker overnight.  When I scraped off the paste yesterday it was yellow, overnight it went brown.

I got lots of interest in it when I went out today to get coffee.  I have a weakness for BP Wildbean cafe's mocha and we were out of milk so I popped up to the local BP.  The barista grabbed my hand to look at it, she wanted to know all about it.

My youngest brother arrives tomorrow with his fiancé.  They live in Australia and came over on a cruise ship for Dad's birthday, and to have a holiday.

I'm excited to see them again.  I will be picking them up at the port tomorrow morning after the kids are dropped off at school.

My middle brother called to make arrangements for a get together and when we are together we will sort out the plan for Dad's birthday bash.  It's going to be a big weekend!

The African flower scarf hasn't been forgotten here is how it's shaping up.  I decided to do a single row and I am working on making the scalloped edges straight.

The monochrome bags (there are two on the go) are nearly done for the trip up.  I shall put Easter Eggs in them as treats for the grown ups.

I think when my niece arrives from Tauranga to stay for the school holidays, I shall get her and the WG working on some dyed eggs.  I found a great tutorial for silk dyed eggs on Pintrest using old silk ties from second hand stores.  I'd quite like to try it.

The girls like doing projects and it keeps them from begging to go to the movies...

The Monochrome Ombre Basket

Ta daaaa!

The other day I mentioned the basket I was making to take up North.  The Ombre Basket by Crochet in Color.

What I would really like to do, is make this with more greys graduating from charcoal through to white.

I made this with a few modifications.  I don't know what worsted weight is (if anyone can tell me please leave a comment) so I winged it with some inexpensive acrylic 8 ply from Spotlight, their Thorobred, in Black, White and Grey.  I used two strands and a 7mm hook.  Using about half a 100gm ball of each colour, slightly more of the black.  I decided to use the black at the top because the white would get grubby just because of the oil we all have on our hands.

It turned out 23 cm (9 inches) deep, 30 cm (12 inches) across.  As you can see it holds itself upright and is about the same dimensions as the one by Crochet in Color.

It only took a few days because I have been working, given the right circumstances I think I could whip one up in a day and a half.  It's not a complicated pattern and once you have the bottom done, it's single crochet all the way to the top.

I'm actually considering this one to a friend and whipping up another to take up north.  Or maybe a couple because I am sure when my stepmother sees it, she's going to want one for herself.

This would make an awesome basket for works in progress providing they aren't too big.

So in short.  If you are looking for a quick and easy bag to make, this is it!

Autumn Storms

That's the shade cloth over the deck.  Not a lot of use for it the past two days with the crazy wet weather we've had.  At least it's not cold, but that isn't stopping Cassie Cat from fighting for space on my lap as I try to crochet.  She's determined that she must come inside all wet, with nasty cold paws and dry off on me.

My African Flower scarf is all but completed, but I'm taking a break from it briefly to make a basket to take up to Kaitaia next week when the family gathers to celebrate my father's 70th birthday.  I first saw it on Pintrest, the Ombre Basket by Crochet in Colour.  Mine is monochromatic, inspired by Aunty Mum's blanket.  Black, grey and white.  It's coming together quickly with a size 7mm hook and two strands of 8 ply crocheted together.

Here's hoping these weather systems will pass before we head North.  We're lucky in that the last major flooding where my parents live on the Hokianga happened during Cyclone Bola in 87, the rest of Northland hasn't fared so well this week with everything North of Whangarei being isolated by slips, downed trees and flooding.  There's always a chance of getting stuck up there when weather like this happens.

Happy St Patricks day!

It's 9am and everyone is sleeping.  Last night we went out adventuring till late.  The husband had a rare night off i.e. he wasn't "on call" for fires, which meant we could go out and not worry about having our evening interrupted by the pager.

We took the children out to play mini golf, something they've expressed an interest in doing over the years.  My hockey playing children were somewhat confused by the golf putter but adjusted well, the man child got a couple of holes in one.  The match took about an hour and was won by the hubs who has previous experience playing golf but professes to be useless at putting.  The man child came second and the wee girl 3rd.  I brought up the rear as usual my lack of competitive spirit and skill at things sporty no doubt had a bearing.

Then we tootled down to the Wynyard Quarter for dinner.  The man child showed a great interest in the "hot" girls walking down Quay St to Vector Arena for the Taylor Swift Concert.  We had an awesome meal and got home around 10pm, everyone was in bed before 11pm.  And now I am up alone as they slumber on.

Spotlight are having a sale and whilst wandering looking for odds and ends for my squares (I have 30 now and I've used up quite a bit of my stash) I stumbled upon this:

Moda Vera Willowy, 100% Viscose for $4 a ball.

It was calling to me to play with it, I swear!  I've never used 100% viscose.  It has a pretty sheen and it's soft.  So beautiful and soft!

I had to buy some, had to!

So I got 3 balls, the pink, green and white.

I brought them home...

I sat and contemplated...

What does this want to be? I asked myself.  I thought and thought.

Flowers, definitely flowers.

And so I hit on African Flowers.  They are unbelievably soft and pretty.  I put aside my squares to make them.  This is going to be my scarf this winter.  Two hexagons wide and as long as I can make it to wind around my neck.

There is a darker purple I might have to go back for as a contrast, I haven't decided yet.

It's going to be just warm enough for Auckland and I have wanted a new scarf for a while now.  The wee girl has her own flower scarf but this stuff is so pretty and so lovely to work with, I might have to make her another!  It glides over the hook and feels absolutely silken as it runs though my fingers to create the tension.  I'm in love!

My days off have been busy this week.  With my new sew pouch I have created a cellphone sock in cotton.  fiddly to work with but I think it looks pretty good.

It looks better on the phone but I couldn't take a picture of it with the phone, while it was on the phone.  I could have gone and borrowed one of the other phones but they were all tucked up on their chargers, in the bedrooms of their slumbering owners and if I have learned one thing being a mother, it's to let sleeping husbands and children lie, if I ever want time to myself!

And of course today is St Patricks Day.

May your pockets be heavy, your heart be light and good luck pursue you each morning and night.

Slainte.

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.

Stash busting

Making the granny stripe for the wee girl, and various other blankets, has left me with a stash of dribs and drabs of wool, some the better part of a ball, others just a small amount.  I was surfing yesterday evening and found this alternative granny on one of my favorite blogs, The Little Room of Rachel.  This is exactly what I need to get rid of some of those bits and pieces.

It looks a little like a Maltese Cross.  When you join the squares, the holes create a diamond pattern.

I started straight away and before bedtime, I had a dozen 4 inch granny squares.

They are extremely quick to make and much easier than they appear.  No fiddling around with different colours at this point, I am making solid blocks of colour.  They are also firmer than your average granny square.

I love Granny Squares because they are quick and awesomely portable.

It's also a bit warm still to be draping myself in wool as I crochet.

I'm also conscious I have a couple of unfinished projects on the go.  I have an Attic 24 striped bag to sew handles on to help keep my wool stash tidy.  I had my granny bucket bag to line and the blue and white granny stripe to carry on with when it cools down.

I've gone off the idea of the top, the bamboo cotton will be put to good use though.

So I got to work and lined the granny bucket with a remnant of dark green material I had in a cupboard.

I made a basic barrel bag open at one end.

Turned it inside out and sewed it in with the right side showing inside the bag.

I'm not the tidiest sewer so I plan to get some binding tape or pretty binding edging and sew it over my hand stitching at the top.

I made it fairly large, I wish I could give you measurements but I did it by eye seeing as I had no idea how to get the diameter of the circle base.

Somewhere in Auckland my math teacher is shaking her head and saying, I told you that you would need to know about Pi one day in the future!

The husband was going to help me (he's a math wiz!), but he's been busy all week, doing station visits both Monday and Tuesday.  On Sunday he spent the entire day at a fund raising gala for a new volunteer fire fighters station.  So I went ahead and did it myself.

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.

Mad as March Hares!

As the saying goes.  I can't believe it's March already and summer is on it's way out.  Mind you our summer this year has been dismal.  Rain, wind and rain, storms and the odd sunny day have been the hallmarks of this summer.  The only difference between summer and winter was the temperature.  Blue skies may have been few and far between, but the humidity and heat have been a constant.

I have two bags sitting here begging to be lined, but I won't be able to do it until my days off on Sunday!  Work is my focus meanwhile and it's crazy.  The heat and the occasional fine weekend seem to bring out the worst in some people.  I'm 3 days in with 3 left until my days off.  Late shifts consist of a 10.5 hour shift for me, so I am literally getting up, getting ready, going to work, coming home, going to bed, lather, rinse and repeat.  I get perhaps two hours to sit, one at the start of the day and one at the end before bed.

Still I am trying to be productive.  I am learning this stitch.  It consists of a single crochet and a treble into the same stitch.

It results in this rather pretty texture and a nice flat row.  I think it would make a nice warm blanket that reminds me a little of a knitted moss stitch.  It's very simple to do and would make good squares or a whole panel in a blanket between squares.

I've crocheted some roses to hide the handle bottoms on the granny stripe bag and putting some thought to some beading or trim along the top when I line it.

The roses are simple rolled scallops, sewn up to create the rose I found the pattern by googling crocheted roses.  There are a ton of variations.

Meanwhile I must get ready for work so enjoy....

Basic Granny Bucket Bag Pattern

This is going to be a two or three part Tutorial.  I under estimated how much time it would take based upon the ease of the flat circle.  So far I am onto day two, yesterday was something of a washout with just a couple of rows made.

So without further ado, here is the body of the bag.

I used 4 balls of Moda Vera Gelato 50% cotton, 50% acrylic mix.  A 3.25 mm hook.  The bag is 30cm across and 22cm deep so it's quite large.  The cotton/acrylic blend will stretch a little so I didn't want to make it too large to begin with.

Create a flat circle:

Chain 4

Row 1: 3 sc into the circle to equal one treble (dc) 11 trebles and join with ss to create a circle with 12 tr.

Row 2:  3 sc to equal 1 tr.  1 tr into the same stitch.  2 tr into every stitch = 24 stitches, join with ss to 3rd stitch of first tr 

Row 3:  3 sc to equal 1 tr. 1 tr into the same stitch. *1 tr into next stitch, 2 trebles into the following st, repeat from * to end. join with ss to 3rd stitch of first tr = 35 stitches

Row 4,  3 sc to equal 1 tr. 1 tr into the same stitch. *1 tr into next 2 stitches, 2 trebles into the following st, repeat from * to end. join with ss to 3rd stitch of first tr

Row 5,  3 sc to equal 1 tr. 1 tr into the same stitch. *1 tr into next 3 stitches, 2 trebles into the following st, repeat from * to end. join with ss to 3rd stitch of first tr.

See the pattern? Every row you increase the number of single tr stitches between the 2 tr into 1 stitch to increase the size of your circle.

I finished on row 12 with 10 tr between each 2 tr into one stitch, with 149 tr.

Row 13:  single tr in each stitch.

Row 14:  3 sc to equal 1 tr, *skip 3 stitches, 3 tr into next space, skip 3 st, 3 tr into next space* repeat from* until the end, there should be 3 tr between the last granny treble (3 tr into 1 st) and the first post consisting of 3 sc.  2 tr into the same st and join with ss to 3rd sc of the post.  You should now how a row of 35 granny trebles.

Row 15, ss into the gap, 3 sc to create first tr, 2 more trs into the gap, 3 trs into each gap.  (at this point I changed colour to make it easier and more obvious to photograph but there is no requirement to do this.)

Keep doing this until you reach the desired height, for me it was 27 rows of granny trebles.  In the middle I did two rows of straight trebles then turned back to granny trebles by skipping 3 and doing 3 tr into the next space.  But you don't have to do that if you don't want to.

I did two rows of dc to provide the top edge of the bag.

*******update********

Granny stich handles:

Chain 100

Row 1:  using the last chain of the foundation ch as your first stitch, crochet a row of dc

Row 2: ch 3 as first tr, two more trs into the first dc, *skip 3, 3 tr into the next dc, repeat from * to end.  1 tr into last dc turn.

Row 3: ch 3 as first tr, two more trs into the gap, 3 tr into the next gap repeat 3 tr into gap to end, 1 tr into last tr in row, turn.

Row 4: repeat as for row 3

Row 5: dc to end

Row 6 dc to end tie off.

Make two handles, it goes without saying but I said it anyway.

Sew them on securely! I used the white cotton I used in the last two rows of the bag to hide the majority of the stitches.  Don't worry though, we'll cover that up with our decorations!

So this is the finished bag:

Now I just need to work on the lining!

Sneak Peak

As I mentioned I am a little behind.  Today was full on and didn't give me the time I thought I would have.  I should have known.  First of all today was our wedding anniversary, second it was the day of the Karaoke/Come as your fav popstar party the WG was attending.

My morning was spent as hair, make up and wardrobe.  Last night I braided a layer of the WG's hair and created long pin curls while it was wet.  About lunch time I was removing braids and pins of varying degrees, which textured her hair with waves, ripples and straight bits to create the "funky" look she wanted.  The make up was way grown up and gave her father palpitations but it was still not as full on as I would wear for a night on the town, just some smokey eyes just like Brooke Fraser wears and a touch of lippy.  The wardrobe was jeans, a long tank top and a lacy rockstar jacket and books.

We added a pair of dangly earrings, a tambourine necklace on a leather thong and the WG's acoustic guitar as accessories.

She looks every inch the rockstar but in a wholesome kind of way in my opinion.  Natural hair, no skin in sight.  I wish there were more rock chicks like her!

I got some rows done while the party was going on, but after we picked up the WG, I was whisked out to an anniversary dinner and a drive about town.  Just like we used to back in the day!

We went down Queen St, around the bays and back again.  Stopped for a mocha and home about 10:30pm.  I think we broke curfew because the Man Child was baby sitting and didn't look impressed when we rolled in.  Oh well!

Anyway.... Moving right along!

Can you work out what I am making? It starts off with a flat circle.  But wait....

There's more!

Granny stitch?

Yes!  It's the Lucy inspired Granny bucket bag!

I'm just a few rows away from finishing the body, then I'll be making the handles and assembling it.

I'm seeing it lined with pretty fabric ultimately but I should have the basic pattern worked to show you very soon.  Providing everything falls into place and does as I want it to do in the household tomorrow.

Sites that helped me

I thought I would put together a list of some of my favorite crochet resources.  Links from my favorites folder that I use to help decipher patterns and for inspiration.

Crochet Basics:

Here you will find a handy printable pdf download of basic crochet stitches.  

This is a chart of crochet hook comparisons.

A guide to sizes for basic crochet projects can be found here.

This is a UK/US stitch conversion chart.

I also have a wonderful book called the A-Z of crochet that my husband got me from Spotlight (a local craft store chain in Australia and NZ)

I've found all the above sites very useful, my memory can be quite shocking when it comes to working out what stitch I am meant to be doing so I keep them handy to refresh myself.  I also learn better with a combination of text and images rather than videos.

I'm also dreadful at keeping count, math was never a strong suit for me and it's got worse over the years.  You will often find me unpicking, restarting and using a few salty terms when my darling husband dares to inquire what's wrong.

Lucy from Attic24 is definitely one of my biggest inspirations.  Her stitch work is so pretty, neat and tidy as it is and she is so clever.

Kate from Greedy for colour is another.  Her crochet bike just makes me want to go for a ride in the country and have a picnic!  Best of all she's from NZ like me so her materials are locally sourced, I know I can easily find them.

Aunty Mum is another huge favorite.  I'm loving her square challenge and I will eventually get around to doing a similar project.  She is also a Kiwi, so again I know I can find the materials she writes about.

This post comes to you

While I am sleeping! I'm trying out the magic of the schedule function.  I am actually on a nightshift or have just finished one, taken the Wee Girl to school and am sleeping.  So this post will be something of an introduction to me.

Here I am, that's me on the left having just got ready to go to work one night so I was looking quite respectable.  At the moment my hair is a little longer and the highlights that blend my white (yes white, I skipped grey went directly to white) hair into my naturally ash blonde hair have grown out somewhat.  It's going to be a while before I can throw away money on haircuts and colors because we are saving for a trip to Australia in September to attend my younger brother's wedding.

I'm 44, which seems awfully old in years, I only ever feel 44 when I wake up first thing in the morning.  I have been married for 16 years 362 days to my wonderful husband (our anniversary is coming up).  We have two pretty decent children.

The Man Child is 15 going on 16.  He's doing well at school and taking NCEA this year, he wants to become an electrical engineer.  He's very good really for a 15 yr old young man but terribly frustrating at times.  He and his father have begun to butt heads a little as the MC makes efforts to establish himself.  It's pretty normal, having had 3 brothers I'm not overly perturbed by the whole boy turns to man thing.  The husband on the other hand finds it incredibly stressful.

That's the only recent picture I currently have of the MC, taken accidentally while I was trying to take a proper picture of him on my iPhone and he was objecting.  I think it turned out rather well though and he doesn't know I got it.  I'm apparently banned from taking his pic.

The Wee Girl is 10, in her very last year at Primary school.  So far this year she's joined Ukelele, Mirimba and Recorder instrument clubs, she's in charge of the PE shed on Wednesdays and as such gets to climb onto the roof and fetch balls down for smaller children with the special ladder.  She is a mediator which means she helps other children sort out their playground issues, she's also a librarian. In short if there's a club, a movement or a cause, she'll join it.  Later in the year she'll be playing field hockey for her school as well.

That's the WG walking with her older cousin at a community emergency services day last year.  I'm banned from photographing her too unless she's feeling very indulgent.

The husband? what can I say? He's patient, indulgent, loving and sometimes the most frustrating person in my life.  I love him to bits.  That's us 16 years ago, before the white hair, before the MC and the WG, on a stinking hot February day, under the shade of a tree.  The Hubs isn't hugely tall, just under 6 feet in fact.  I am just small, just touching 5 feet in my heels that day. They were only small heels because I knew I'd be doing a lot of walking that day lol.

The hubs is in Emergency Management, which means he plans for disaster, he administers the local rural fire brigades and civil defense teams.  Which means if there's a disaster, he's out the door lights and sirens, to attend and to manage it.  He was deployed to Christchurch twice and actually went 3 times, once to retrieve a vehicle left down there for use of another team.

I work for the Police in a civilian role so we are quite the duo covering all sides of emergencies.  Chances are if there is a disaster (as with Christchurch) we are both involved in one way or another.

My home life is fairly placid.  Working shifts makes it difficult in some ways, child care in the days before the MC turned 14 and could legally care for his sister was a nightmare at times.  I can't come home at 10pm and vacuum, I'd wake everyone up so housework tends to get done in regular clumps instead of daily.  I don't have regular routines as such and I'm quite prone to procrastination.  Nobody is perfect though.  I love photography and own a canon dslr with a variety of lenses.  I crochet, knit and cross stitch.

We have 2 dogs and a geriatric cat.  Cass (the cat) was a birthday gift from the Hubs the year we first started going out, 1993 I think it was.

So that's me or rather us.  I hope you've enjoyed getting to know me better.