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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.