Christmas delights

Here are some of the projects I am making for the holiday season...

 1. A sweet little poncho for the Teddy Bear/Pocketful of Sunshine/ My niece, scaled down to size from the free pattern from Coats and Clark.

Here it is modeled by her ever-patient cousin (she just can't keep still so I had to get one of the boys to do it for me!)
And here's the adult version, which I made last Christmas for my friend, Cathy...

2. Christmas themed hexagons for a blanket...

3. Crochet flowers, which seem to be an ongoing obsession (along with making crazy yarn, of course!)

and finally,

4.  Beaded flowers, which are super fast, and therefore instantly gratifying

And I STILL have a ton of baking to do before the 25th!

Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Flower motif hexagon tutorial

Remember these guys from the previous post?

Well, after a few errors, I found that I could comfortably convert them into hexagon motifs, which will be joined into a bigger project!

Again, I am just flying through my scrap yarn like mad, and I am loving it!

So, here's the free pattern to convert your flowers into hexagons

You're going to continue from where you ended off the flower motif as follows:

Round 1-3: Work as for Flower Motif

Round 4: join yarn in center treble of any petal, ch2, dc in same st, ch1, 2dc in stitch (first corner made), *ch2, tr in next sl st from Round 2,(ch 2, 2dc, ch1, 2dc) in next center treble*, repeat from * to * around, join in 3rd ch of beginning ch-3.

Round 5: sl st over next 2dc into ch-1 space, into ch-1 sp work (ch3, 2dc, ch1, 3dc), then work *(3dc in next ch-2 space)twice, 3dc, ch1, 3dc in next ch1 space*, repeat from * to * around ending with sl st in top of beginning ch-3.

End off. Weave in ends.

Enjoy!

Flower motif tutorial

So I have had a very productive week, crochet-wise. I spent most of the past two days making these flowers ...

from a pattern I came up with myself, which I'd like to share here. I'll be posting a tutorial later for how to turn these into hexagons if you want to make a bigger project like a blanket, or bag or something.

Remember this sad stash?

Well, now its finally gone. Between my current obsession with creating my own crazy yarn

(inspired by this scene from The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy where Arthur upchucks the stuff up), making these flowers and then turning some of them into hexagons, I have hardly any scrap yarn left!

And that suits me fine.

Except, its worrying that I now need to buy MORE so I can create more crazy yarn to feed my sick obsession!

Okay, tutorial time...

Simple 3 Round Flower motif

Designed by Uche Eronini (I can't get over how good it feels to type that!)

Hook : 3.5mm

Gauge is not important

Notes:

1. To work a magic ring, loop yarn over index finger loosely twice. Insert hook between finger and yarn, yo and pull through(magic ring made). Remove finger and chain 3 or desired length of starting chain. If I have not explained this well, I apologise. You should just go see this video to make it clear (I did!)
2. This is written in American crochet terminology, and you can find an excellent conversion here

Round 1: Ch-3, work 17dc into magic ring, sl st to join in 3rd chain of beginning ch-3. Gently pull tail tight to close center of ring (18dc)

Round 2: Ch-3 in same st as join, *skip 2dc, sl st in next dc, ch-3*, repeat from * to * around, ending with a sl st in beginning st (6 ch-3 loops)

Round 3: *sl st into next ch-3 space, ch-1, , sc, hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc, sc* in ch-3 space, repeat from * to * in each ch-3 space around, ending with a sl st in beginning ch-1 (6 petals)

End off. Weave in ends.

Its that simple!

Hope your little blooms bring you as much joy as mine have!

Terms I use on this blog

I learned crochet with American terminology, so in case you're wondering which way to read the patterns, I hope that clears up any doubts.
Lots of new photos to load on basic stitches and free patterns,; my week is just really mad in the run up to Christmas!
I WILL not disappoint you, though, so just please be patient and I will come through.

Thank you very much and a very Merry Christmas to you all!

Mi blog

I am obliged, in the interests of cross-marketing, and just because I like to share random bits of information, to tell you that my other blog address is uchesworld.blogspot.com. Feel free to visit anytime and drop a comment/become a member/ share something to Facebook/Twitter/Google+ or whatever. Like I said, I am a lazy crafter, and an even lazier blogger... But you should still stop by there anyway!

Granny square throw pillow

I sold this pillow last month, and was too lazy to take pictures as I went along, so I can't offer you advice on how to make it.
You can do as I do, and adjust or tweak the basic pattern to your tastes.

The granny motif is one of the oldest designs in crochet, and was one of the first things I was taught when I first started learning crochet waaaayyyyyy back in 2005 (has it really been THAT long?).

OK, so this throw pillow is made up of 2 granny squares, a zip and a pillow (DUH!).

NOTES

• No gauge was used in the making of this project, as I am not a big fan of gauge when making  soft furnishings
• You'll need a zipper that's slightly longer than the pillow you're covering, so this is the part where you whip out your tape measure and GO CRAZY!
• Feel free to seam on the inside of the pillow, for a smooth finish. I seamed mine on the outside because I always try to incorporate a little texture in my projects; it's kind of my trademark!

MATERIALS
Approximately 300grams of acrylic yarn in green
Approximately 300grams of acrylic yarn in tan/beige
One zipper in colour to match your chosen border yarn.
Sewing needle
Matching thread ( you'll be hand stitching the cushion closed)

For an easy to understand tutorial on how to do the granny square, please see this, which I used to do this pillow. For changing colours, this and this might be more instructive. Enjoy!

Scrap Muncher Scarf

Here's the free pattern for the scarf, as requested. The final scarf (before killing), can be found on my other blog.
This is my first EVER original design, so forgive me if the instructions are a bit mangled. Do tell me if you have any issues, and I'll correct the pattern accordingly.

SCRAP MUNCHER SCARF

Designed by Uche Eronini (oooh, doesn't THAT look fancy!)

Gauge: this project is gauge free

Materials: Any yarn scraps you want to get rid of

Hook: I used a E-4 / 3.50mm, but feel free to use whatever works best with your chosen yarn. For guidance on the right hook to use with your yarn, check the label on the yarn. If you are still in doubt, please read this.

NOTES

1. This pattern consists of 2 stitches, the chain stitch and the single crochet. If you don't know how to do them, check out these excellent tutorials that helped me when I was first learning.
2. A quick project, this scarf only goes as far as 12 rows. I made mine within an hour.
3. There is no joining to change the colours at any point. Each row is ended off at the completion of the fringe, and a new colour is used to start the next row, with it';s own fringe.
4. Feel free to adjust the length of the scarf as you wish; I am making a shawl with this stitch repeat next!
5. The colours I used are:A=White, B=Orange, C=Turquoise, D=Pink/fuchsia (2 strands of pink and one strand of fuchsia cotton), E=Purple, F=Red, G=Green, H=Blue/electric blue cotton, I=Yellow, and J=Black/fuchsia

INSTRUCTIONS

Chain 250.

Row 1: with A, chain 30 (first half of fringe made), *single crochet in the next 10 chain stitches, chain 10, skip 10 chain stitches, single crochet in the next 10 chains*. Repeat from * to * until you get to the end of the row then chain 30 once more (second half of fringe made). End off colour A.

Row 2: with B, chain 30, *single crochet into the first 10 single crochet of the previous round, chain 10, skip the chain 10 of the previous round, single crochet into the next 10 single crochet stitches*. Repeat from * to * until you get to the end of the row then chain 30 once more. End off.

Row 3: with C, chain 30, *single crochet into the first 10 single crochet of the previous round, chain 10, skip the chain 10 of the previous round, single crochet into the next 10 single crochet stitches*. Repeat from * to * until you get to the end of the row then chain 30 once more. End off.

Rows 4 - 12: Repeat Row 3 until scarf is the size you want, changing colours on each row.

FINISHING

If you made this with acrylic yarn (as I did), you are going to have to block your finished project. This site has a wonderfully simple tutorial for blocking acrylic yarn that helped me immensely.

However, because I wanted it to drape like a factory made garment, I decided to "kill" the fiber. A big thank you to this wonderful lady for showing me how! This is how the scarf looked before killing...

 The stitch details were all scrunched up together with almost no stretch. Had a violent tug of war before I could take this photo...

The ends were all curled up (acrylic will do that)

And this is the scarf after killing with a steam iron and a wet towel...

 Styled on a red dress I have never worn, but love to look at. Maybe next year...?

You see how the fringe has straightened out beautifully? The scarf now drapes like silk, and the steam has brought out a lovely lustre in the acrylic fibers.

And that's that for my first post! I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I hope you have a great time making this.

Peace and blessings.

New blog, new things

My first ever post on my new blog, YAAAYYYY!!!!!
Drum roll, please...cue loud marching band....

So DELIGHTED to finally have an independent blog up and running for the many, many things I occupy my hands with.

They say idle hands are the devil's workshop. I say why sit around when you can sit around AND make something beautiful, functional and sturdy?

So, this is my odyssey in the land of crafting, and I shall share my adventures with you.

Enjoy...