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A One Skein Crochet Mesh Bag. Free pattern

May 1, 2016April 26, 2026crochet, free pattern36 Comments

One Skein Mesh Crochet Bag

EDIT:: Hold your horses!! Before you read on, you might like me to direct you to the updated version, which is a far more straight forward pattern with pretty much the same results. GO HERE for the new written pattern. And go HERE to YouTube for the video tutorial. Ta! x

The first anniversary of my blogging ways today. That went quickly! Yay me! I’ve enjoyed all of it so far. I’ve learned so much and (conversely) haven’t learned anything at all! I wasn’t sure what it would be like, and I have been pleasantly surprised. I wonder what the following year will bring!?

In celebration of this momentous occasion (and it totally is momentous), I’m sharing a crochet pattern of mine.

I’ve made a couple of mesh bags before, but they required more than just one ball of yarn. I didn’t want loads of balls/skeins rolling about everywhere, and I didn’t want to spend loads of money. Crochet can be an expensive hobby!

There are some photos below that show the bag’s strap stage, and there is also a delightful diagram to help show how the rounds are joined. I found it tricky to word the pattern for those bits!

Crochet mesh bag. Easy, one skein pattern.

A Crochet Market Bag

It’s a deceptively good-sized bag. When I was making it, I was unsure there’d be much point in it, but you can actually fit loads in this mesh bag. It has a good amount of stretch.

The yarn I used is Rico Essentials cotton dk in Emerald. I used a 3mm hook.

At the end, I had approximately one metre of yarn left. Your tension will probably be different to mine, and if you’re worried about running out of cotton, you could skip a round or make the strap shorter. The yarn is lovely to use, and I want more!!

One skein crochet mesh bag. free pattern.

Crochet Mesh Bag Pattern

3mm crochet hook
Rico Essentials Cotton dk in Emerald
The pattern is written in UK terms.

Start with a magic ring (or ch4 and join with a slip stitch).
Round 1: Ch3, 11tr into ring, join to third ch of initial 3ch with a slip st. Pull the magic ring tight to secure. [12st]
Round 2: Ch3, 1tr into first st, 2tr in each st around, join to third ch of initial 3ch with a slip st. [24st]
Round 3: Ch3, *2tr in next st, 1tr in next; rep from * around, ending with 2tr in last st. [36st]

Round 4: Ch1, 1dc in same st, *ch3, skip 1 stitch, 1dc in next; rep from * around until the second to last st, ch1, 1htr into beginning dc.
Have a look at the diagram to see how to join rounds at the end. Bear in mind that it’s just a partial section of the round, showing the important bit. Placing a stitch marker on the last stitch of each round from here will help. [18 ch sp].

Round 5: *Ch4, 1dc in next ch sp; rep from * around until second to last ch sp, ch2, 1htr into the top of the last st of the previous round (ie into the top of the htr of previous round).

Round 6: *Ch5, 1dc in next ch sp; rep from * around until second to last ch sp, ch2,1tr into the top of the last st of the previous round.

Round 7: *Ch6, 1dc in next ch sp; rep from * around until second to last ch sp, ch3, 1tr into the top of the last st of the previous round.

Rounds 8 & 9: *Ch7, 1dc in next ch sp; rep from * around until second to last ch sp, ch3, 1dtr into the top of the last st of the previous round.

Round 10: Three increases will be made at even intervals in this round. *Ch7, 1dc in next ch sp, ch4, 1 dc in same ch sp, (ch7, 1dc in next ch sp) x 5. Repeat from * two more times, finishing before the last ch7. Instead, Ch3, 1dtr into the top of the last st of the previous round. [21ch sp]

Rounds 11 & 12: *Ch7, 1dc in next ch sp; rep from * around until second to last ch sp, ch3, 1dtr into the top of the last st of the previous round.

Rounds 13 & 20: *Ch8, 1dc in next ch sp; rep from * around until second to last ch sp, ch4, 1dtr into the top of the last st of the previous round.

Round 21: As Round 7.

Round 22: As Round 6.

Round 23: Ch1, 1dc in same stitch, 4dc in each ch sp, 1dc in top of each dc of previous round, sl st to join to first st.

Rounds 24 & 25: Ch1, 1 dc in same space, dc around, sl st to join to first st. Do not cut yarn.

The Crochet Bag Strap

Continuing from Round 25,
Row 1: Ch1, 1dc in same space, 1dc in next 7 sts, turn. [8]

Row 2: Ch1, 8dc, turn. [8]
Repeat Row 2 until the desired strap length or when nearing the end of the yarn. My strap measures approx 18″.

Turn your bag inside out. To attach the handle to the other side of the bag, first count how many stitches are around the top of the bag. I had 100 stitches. The strap needs to be in the middle. I counted 42 stitches along the right side of my handle (42 + 8 = 50. That’s half of the stitches around the top of the bag). The next stitch (see pic below) was where I started to attach the other end of the strap. Make sure there are no twists in your bag strap!

The hook should be on the right-hand side. If it isn’t, crochet another row of the strap or take one away.

Ch1. Insert hook through first stitch on strap and the chosen stitch on the other side of the bag (see pic below). Yarn over and pull through all loops/stitches. Repeat for the last 7 stitches, leaving out the initial ch1.
Fasten off and sew ends securely.
Finished!

Make sure to sew the ends in really well.

A Finished Crochet Mesh Bag

I only made one crochet mesh bag, which I frogged a few times in the design process. This crochet pattern is mostly a way for me to practice pattern writing. It took blinkin’ ages, but it’s free! Useful feedback would be gratefully received. Thanks.

Please don’t publish this pattern without my permission. Please don’t pinch the pattern to sell. If you want to make the bags as items to sell at craft markets, then this is totally fine. And send me a message to say what you’ve been up to, as I would love to hear from you. Ta very much!

Thanks very much, and thanks for reading!

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Crafty Crochet and Buttons

April 20, 2016March 1, 2026crochet26 Comments

Crochet and Instagram

A lot of my time has been taken up with my addiction to Instagram recently. I’ve been taking part in a month-long mission of posting crochet makes every day. It has become an obsession, and I possibly need to chill out a bit.

It’s called the Lazy Daisy Jones Hook Up (#ldjhookup). It has encouraged me to get my craft on and make some stuff rather than fart about on the computer. However, the downside is the IG addiction. One bit of tech to another, but at least I’m making stuff too. And what do I care?! I flippin’ love it all.

Some of the creative themes meant I had to whip something up quickly, as I didn’t have anything around the house. Some of my pictures have been tenuous to say the least. The mandalas pictured at the top were made a couple of nights ago [top left is a pattern from the fabulous book, Boho Crochet, and the other two are from Red Agape Crochet The flowers [also from Boho Crochet] were crocheted last week. It’s fun!

On the side, I’m making a crocheted market bag. More about that another day!

Buying Fabric

Over the Easter holidays, we were in Totnes. I love the shops in Totnes; there are some truly lovely places. I only bought a few fat quarters of fabric and some buttons.

I almost bought some wool, but there weren’t enough balls of it for the project I have in mind. I had also intended to buy shedloads more fabric, but I didn’t fall in love with as much of it as I imagined was going to happen. Come on, I was totally willing to go on a spending spree! Ugh.

Liberty Prints and Buttons

I love this floral Liberty print. I wanted to buy swathes of it, but stuck to a small amount as I know that I’m not ready to ruin that much Liberty fabric with my dodgy sewing skills.

I’ve got plans for the fabrics but not the buttons.

It all came from different shops. There are a few dotted around Totnes that are craft-related.

My Button Collection!

Buying these buttons meant I had to get my (Hendricks) button tin out.

It’s only half full here, but it’s usually buttony all the way to the top.

I even attempted a rainbow placement of buttons but got bored. This is only half of my button collection. I’m sad enough that the rest are bagged up into different categories: big, small, multiples, colourways etc. I tried playing craftily with buttons again another day, but was interrupted by the cat and kids. Everyone loves buttons, it seems.

These are some of the fancier buttons I’ve got. I think I need to re-evaluate this mini offshoot collection. I’ve got some more favourites/fancy ones that can be added, and a few that need to be taken away. But, you know, that’s for when I’m desperate. I honestly don’t know if I’m enough of a button geek to go that far but, yeah, there’s a chance I might be.

Anyway, that’s it for now. As I said, I have plans for the fabric, and hopefully I’ll get my machine out this weekend. I’m also surrounded by lots of crochet squares that are being blocked for a new project. Everything is alright.

Gah, I almost forgot! I celebrated my first Etsy sale on Sunday! I was so very happy. SO thank you to my lovely customer! It has spurred me on, and I’d better get some more stuff in the shop now I know I can do this thing. XXX

I link up here:

A Really Easy Minecraft Cake

April 15, 2016March 1, 2026crochet15 Comments

Minecraft Chocolate Cake

You know those amazing cakes you see on Pinterest? Yeah, this isn’t one of those. I am not a very good baker. I love cooking, I am good at making food that tastes nice, and I love eating, but I am not a baker. If you are also not much of a cake maker, then you can probably make this recipe and feel halfway pleased with yourself!

Ok, so it isn’t Pin-worthy but it’s alright. I’m not good at decorating cakes either, so I think simple is best. I’ve tried being fancy before, but it just doesn’t work. So, this cake is for you if you need a very easy Minecraft cake recipe that is also very easy to decorate.

Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe

This recipe has evolved from a different one that a friend passed to me a few years ago. If ever I want chocolate cake, this is the simple recipe I go to. Over the years, I’ve made tweaks and changes, so much so that I now think I’m allowed to call it an original!

It’s a dead easy cake to make as it’s an all-in-one method and you can cheat even further by using self-raising flour instead of farting about with baking powder and bicarb! The recipe below is plain flour plus the powders, but just swap them for self-raising if you prefer.

Easy Chocolate Minecraft Cake Recipe

Minecraft Cake Ingredients

275 grams plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp bicarb
3 tbsp cocoa powder
210 grams caster sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
210 ml sunflower oil
210 ml milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Half tsp salt.

You will also need ingredients for the buttercream icing, below. Plus, chocolate sprinkles for decorating.

Sift all the dry ingredients into a big bowl, then add the wet ingredients. Whazz together with an electric whisk and divide into two 7″ square tins (lined with greaseproof paper).

Put them in the oven, Gas Mark 4/160c, for 35-40 minutes. I don’t have a fan oven, so I swap the tins over after 25 minutes. Sticking a skewer into the middle will tell you if it’s done. If it’s clean, it’s done; if it’s not, then it needs a few extra minutes. Take the cakes out of the oven and leave them to cool.

Prep For Decorating in Minecraft Colours

The cakes won’t be 100% flat, and you want them to be as flat as possible. That means slicing a bit of cake off the top of each. These can be taste test bits; you need to taste plenty of them to make sure it’s ok.

Butter Cream Icing Recipe

350 grams of softened salted butter. If your butter is too cold, microwave cubes of cold butter in a bowl to soften it in 4-5 second blasts, mixing around after each blast
700 grams icing sugar, sifted (Did you know that you can freeze leftover butter icing!)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3tbl cocoa powder
Green food colouring.

Mix the above ingredients thoroughly together in a big bowl. Take a generous quarter of the mix and put it into another bowl. Sift and mix 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder into the big bowl. Squirt two tubes of green food colouring into the small bowl of icing and mix (Aldi do a good version of the Dr Oetker gel colouring, but it’s not local enough to me).

Now there are two bowls of butter icing, one green and one brown.

Smoosh the chocolate butter cream to the top of the bottom square and then sandwich the other on top, which I place upside down. This provides you with a top surface that’s more square.

Before I start doing this, I tuck bits of greaseproof paper under the cake to stop the board getting messy. (Next time, I want to see if decorating somewhere else, then transferring it, will work better because I ended up tearing half the icing off the bottom when I removed the paper…ho hum).

Once sandwiched together, put more of the chocolate buttercream around the outsides of the cake, filling in any gaps. A knife in some hot water will neaten up corners and make it more cubey, like a Minecraft block.

The green icing is spread on the very top of the cake. Use the flat of a knife to pat over the top to create grass. I added chocolate sprinkles to the sides for dirt. I emptied it into my hand and then gently threw/pressed it on.

Then you eat it! Or, before eating, add little Lego Minifigures to decorate a bit more, and/or some birthday candles!

Oh my goodness, it’s such a moist and chocolately cake. And it’s by far the easiest Minecraft Cake recipe you’ll find!

Old Craft Projects and New WIPs

March 18, 2016March 1, 2026crochet, sewing17 Comments

Random Craft Projects

This is going to be a bit of a random post today. I’m chucking up pictures of where I’m at with my crafting this week. There isn’t a theme as such, just sewing and crochet I’m tinkering with.

English Paper Piecing

I’ve had all these EPP hexies stored away in a tatty old paper bag for about three years. I think I was pregnant when I was basting the fabric to paper, and now my boy is turning three soon. A long time.

With spring on its way, the change in season has created a new surge in enthusiasm for this sewing project. I have the painstaking task of hand-stitching all of the fabric hexagons together. It’s actually not that bad. I think I put it off for so long because I thought it was going to be a nasty job. I’m actually enjoying it!

I’m not going to go nuts, it’s only a patchwork bag. It’d be a definite labour of love to go bigger. I’ve got an amazing patchwork blanket my Nanna made for me when I turned eighteen. I think she was at the EPP for years.

Handmade Jedi Robes

Next: a pile of Jedi-appropriate fabrics. Both my boys have birthdays on the way, so they will each have something Star Warsy. If I’ve got enough fabric, I’m thinking reversible Jedi robes. The kids can decide whether to be a Jedi Knight or join the Dark Side!

I’m not sure how this’ll work right now, but I’d better get on with it and start the design process.

Handmade Summer Dress

For me, I want a summer dress. I saw a really pretty handmade dress on Instagram about a month ago, did some nosing and found out it was the Charlie Dress from Simply Sewing magazine.

The sewing pattern was spread over two issues, and it was the second issue that was in the shops. I ordered the back issue of the first one, and it arrived within a week. I’ve sorted the pattern pieces and dug out some ancient fabric from the depths of my fabric drawer. Fingers crossed, I will actually do this.

I have repeatedly got to the cutting out stage with many a dress pattern over the last few years. Then all stops. I chuck it all back in the fabric drawer and forget. I think I’m pretty consistent like that.

Using Up Fabric Scraps

Also kicking about is my sweety tin. My sweety tin is a good size for keeping embroidery-type projects in.

I’m not very far ahead with this idea. I’ve drawn a rough sketch of what I want (a bouquet of wild flowers) and now need to sort out all the little bits for it. I’m not sure how it’ll turn out; it’s more of an experiment at this stage. I just really enjoyed making my spring flower stitching a few weeks ago and want to play some more.

I’m thinking of a fabric collage, which is a great way of using scraps of felt and fabrics. Colourful embroidery thread adds more depth and shaping.

A Baby Crochet Ripple Blanket

Then there is an actual finished object! A baby crochet ripple blanket. I’m going for a plain border. I guess I could add something a bit snazzier, but I feel like I’m finished with it.

I thought that was it for WIPs, but I’ve got garter stitch knitting kicking about somewhere.

It feels a bit weird to write this post as I reckon I’ve mostly been banging on about crochet for the last few months. This has actually been quite effective because traffic here has gone bonkers (relatively speaking). It’s tempting to try to force new crochet ideas upon myself to keep up with momentum. Not gonna do that though. Since I don’t get paid for blahing about my hobbies, I’m going to carry on and do whatever I fancy. But it is lovely to know that people like things I do, so thank you. I’m loving it here. x

A Touch of Spice with a Pompom Edge.

March 14, 2016March 1, 2026blanket, crochet, free pattern36 Comments

Crochet Pompom Edging

I think a crochet pompom edging is one of my favourite types of blanket borders, so far. This is a cosy blanket just for me!

It’s a real thrill because most of my finished crochet blankets tend to make me feel a bit “meh” after I’ve finished them. It’s usually to do with them not ending up how they looked in my head, so they get abandoned, or I give them away. Not this time!

The main crochet stitch used in this blanket is the Stacked Shells section from Cherry Heart’s Spice of Life blanket. Sandra herself did the same thing, and I liked it even more than the Spice of Life Blanket [here’s my SoL]. I’ve totally copied the idea! It’s called A Touch of Spice, and I really love it.

A Touch of Spice Blanket

Last year, I bought a pile of Stylecraft Life DK, thinking I was going to make a Rustic Lace Square blanket. I’m still undecided about the Rustic Lace Square with this particular yarn, though. Some of the crochet blankets I’ve seen are exquisitely beautiful, but they look cottony and fine, not woolly and wintery. They’re lacey. I’m not sure this is the yarn for that crochet project. However, I’ve still got loads of Stylecraft Life left so…

Stacked shells with a crochet pompom edging

A Bobbly Pompom Border

The bobbly crochet pompoms are my absolute favourite bit. I love the red, and I just think they’re fabulous. I was super proud of them because I made up the crochet pattern myself.

I’d found a couple of crochet patterns and tutorials that had really faffy ways of crocheting pompoms, which I just couldn’t be bothered to do. I did try. Every pompom took an age, and it would have taken a lifetime to go round the whole blanket. My reaction to that was to come up with my own cheat pompom that takes half the time to crochet.

Spice of Life inspired Stacked Shells crochet blanket.

Bobbly Crochet Pompom Edging

Before I share the pattern (below), let’s take a look at the instructions for how to crochet a bobble. I have used UK terms, but a UK treble crochet is a US double crochet. Super simple to translate.

5tgr = treble crochet 5 together. Here are the instructions for a crochet bobble ie 4tgr:
Yarn over (YO), insert hook in stitch, YO, pull up a loop, 3 loops on hook. YO, pull through 2 loops, 2 loops on hook.
YO & insert into st, YO, pull up a loop, 4 loops on hook. YO, pull through 2 loops, 3 loops on hook.
YO & insert into st, YO, pull up a loop, 5 loops on hook. YO, pull through 2 loops, 4 loops on hook.
YO & insert into st, YO, pull up a loop, 6 loops on hook. YO, pull through 2 loops, 5 loops on hook.
YO & pull through the last 5 loops.

Gosh, that’s tricky to write down, that’s for sure!

Crochet PomPom Edging Pattern

This pompom edging is worked into a foundation of plain stitches that you’ll have already worked. I crocheted this pompom edging onto a round of UK treble stitches / US double crochet stitches. I continued to use the same colour.

Round 1: With right side of blanket facing, *Ch7, 5tgr in 4th ch from hook, ch1, sl st into bottom of bobble, ch3, skip 3 sts of blanket edging, and sl st into next st; rep from * around.

I’ve broken it down with a few pictures below:

How to make a crochet pompom edging. photo Tutorial.

Crochet Pompom Edging: Step By Step

Step1: Chain 7.
Step 2: Beginning the 5tr bobble.
Step 3: Before pulling through the last 5 loops on the hook.

A photo tutorial for a crochet bobble edge.

Step 4: A finished crochet bobble.
Step 5: Slip stitch into bottom of the cluster (original 4th ch from hook.)
Step 6: Chain 3.

Step 7: Miss 3 stitches. Slip stitch into the 4th chain.
Repeat all the way around. Fasten off, sew in ends and admire your new crochet pompom edging.

My Spice of Life inspired crochet blanket.. Except this has a crochet pompom edging

A Lovely Blanket with a Crochet Pompom Edging

Amazingly, for me, I blocked this crochet blanket. I pinned it directly onto the carpet because I don’t have any spongy foam blocking boards. It doesn’t seem to have ruined the carpet.

To block my blanket, I sprayed it lightly with water and left it overnight. By morning, it was dry (It was near the radiator). I have draped myself in my cuddly new blanket every evening since I finished it last week. It’s lovely.

Anyway, I think I’m sewing stuff next. Maybe some Jedi robes for the boys, slightly different to usual. And I’ve dug out some paper piecing hexies, which is a very old, ongoing project.

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Amigurumi Easter Egg! Free Crochet Pattern.

March 8, 2016March 1, 2026amigurumi, crochet, free pattern45 Comments

Easter Eggs

Chocolate Easter Eggs are my favourite sort of chocolate. Mini eggs and creme eggs are both very good reasons to look forward to Easter, but neither truly beats a large Cadbury’s Dairy Milk (or other Cadbury) egg that has been put in the fridge for at least two hours so that it cracks and crunches as you bite it.

When I was little, I used to drink milk out of half a chocolate egg. I thought it was fancy. The other half of the chocolate egg was crumbled into a mug and ruined with hot water to make some kind of bad hot chocolate (not so fancy). I don’t waste it like that now, I shovel it in my face whilst hiding behind the fridge door. Mostly, I hide because the chocolate doesn’t belong to me. When I’ve finished mine, I’m then stealing from the children. Anyway, I shall move on…

Pretty amigurumi Easter eggs. Free crochet pattern.

Decorated Crochet Easter Eggs

Nearly as good as the chocolate eggs are crocheted versions. I am here to celebrate Easter with a little bit of amigurumi-style crochet eggs. I came up with the pattern for these at Christmas. I was trying to design a Father Christmas head/hat combo, but whatever shape I tried looked like an egg. I binned the Christmas idea, but out of it came these, so I can’t complain.

That’s the thing about crochet design. Through mistakes and failures come good things! I guess that’s the creative process, right?

I think these decorated crochet Easter eggs are cute, and I hope you like them too.

They did look quite nice sitting up by themselves. The children like throwing them around, and I know the cat would too if she could get her paws on them.

It’s rather telling that I don’t have any egg cups, and I had to use shot glasses.

Happy Easter! Cute amigurumi Easter eggs. Free crochet pattern.

Amigurumi Easter Egg Pattern

As with most crochet amigurumi patterns, the pattern is written in US terms.
I used Stylecraft Special DK yarn and a 3mm hook. I even found a use for the shade, Duck Egg!

Round 1: 6sc into a Magic Ring.
Round 2: 1 Inc in each stitch around. [12 sts].
Round 3: 1 sc in next stitch, 1 inc in next. Repeat around [18].
Round 4: Sc around. [18]
Round 5: 1sc in next 2 st, 1 inc in next. Repeat around. [24].
Rounds 6-7: Sc around [24]
Round 8: 1 sc in next 3 st, 1 inc in next. Repeat around [30].
Rounds 9-15: Sc around. [30]
Round 16: 1 sc in next 3 st, 1 dec. Repeat around. [24].
Round 17: 1 sc in next 2 st, 1 dec. Repeat around. [18].
Round 18: 1sc in next st, 1 dec. Repeat around [12].

Fasten off, leaving a long tail. Stuff your crochet egg firmly.
Using a darning needle, thread through the front loops only. Pull tight to close the hole. Stitch in and out a few times to fully secure and then snip the end neatly.

(Go HERE to see what I’ve done with the egg pattern for 2018!!)

Embroider Your Easter Eggs

Decorating your crocheted Easter eggs is relatively quick and easy. With a darning needle, I went in through the bottom of each egg and then made French knots for the flower centres and a few chain stitches for petals and leaves. With a poke and a prod from the darning needle, the snipped ends can be hidden inside. Hey presto!

Please don’t be frightened of the embroidery. I show you how I do it in the video tutorial (just below). I have very little experience with needlework and just make it up as I go along. If I can do that, then so can you, I promise!

I also tried a few different styles over the following years too.

YouTube Video Tutorial

For 2017, I’ve added a video tutorial for How To Crochet an Easter Egg on YouTube, which also includes how to decorate eggs with pretty embroidery.

This is an amigurumi Easter Egg pattern I’ve designed myself. It can be used to make decorations for yourself, gifts for friends and family, and even to be sold at your craft fairs.

Thanks very much. Feel free to say hello, and follow my blog for more free crochet patterns and, dare I say, creative inspiration. Cheers!

Happy Easter!!

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Dodgy Battenburg Crochet Cowl

February 26, 2016March 1, 2026crochet20 Comments

Crochet Cowl Fail

I had a great idea for a new crochet scarf! However, it hasn’t turned out how I thought it might. I chose the colours thinking they were pretty and expressed the joys of spring. Sadly, once I’d completed it, all I could see was a bit of batternburgh cake in crochet scarf form. I’ve made a cake scarf.

It’s a pretty useless scarf as it’s too big for how I imagined it should look. Sooo, my question is, do I add a couple more sections to make it big enough to twist and double up into an infinity scarf? Or… is it acceptable to wear as is?

I thought about adding a border too, but I can’t do that until I’ve made a decision. A crochet border often brings everything together, but I am on the fence with this one.

There’s not much point in a crochet infinity scarf that’s so open at the neck. Yes, it’s a design choice, but it doesn’t feel like a practical one. The thought of revisiting a project I’d hoped was finished is very annoying. But then, if I leave it, will I wear it?!

Some lovely daffodils to brighten up this half-arsed post! Daffodils always cheer me up! But will they help me make a decision about my crochet cowl?!

Small Crafts and New Supplies

February 18, 2016March 1, 2026crochet, sewing18 Comments

February Half Term Small Crafts

Handmade Cards

Husband got a Valentine’s card, and my Mum got a birthday card. Both quick, easy and fun to do yet very effective, I think. Inspired by The Messy Brunette and her post about Valentines.

To achieve the hand-painted flowers, swirls of pink and white paint were blobbed onto card with the end of a pencil. Tiny flicks of green paint made the leaves. Easy peasy.

Cotton Crochet Doilies

I crocheted a couple of doilies with cheap Drops cotton I bought recently. Cheap for a reason. It’s VERY splitty. But I wasn’t expecting it to be amazing at 80p a ball.

The first crochet doily is the better of the two, but neither is particularly great. Not dainty in the slightest, the yarn is too thick for that, and I would prefer a more lightweight yarn for a dainty doily!

I think they’ll just get hidden away rather than used. I found a crochet diagram pattern for the doily on Pinterest that I used. And I only went and blocked something!! I usually try to avoid blocking crochet, but there was no escaping it this time.

Finishing Spring Flower Embroidery

I completed my hyacinth embroidery. I can’t find the time to do anything with the flowery embroidery things I’ve been doing. Maybe next week I shall think about what to do with my new spring flower embroidered pieces.

Crochet and Yarn (Thread)

I’ve been crocheting instead of persevering with my knitting. I love crochet. I’m making a simple cowl in three spring-like colours.

Colourful Cotton Thread

I go through so much embroidery thread when making flower embroidery and Christmas decorations. Hopefully, this is the answer. Lots of colours of mercerised cotton thread bought from eBay for less than £25! 50 flippin’ balls!

It wasn’t in any kind of shade order, so I’ve been playing with the way the colours all live together.

I’m more excited than I should be about some cotton thread.

Look at the beautiful bounty of awesomeness! It was bought with Christmas money, and I still got a mild telling off for buying more “craft crap”.

Crochet Circles in a Square Blanket

February 5, 2016March 1, 2026blanket, crochet, free pattern26 Comments

Circle Centre Granny Squares

A few days ago, I had a nice comment about one of my crochet blankets that I’d used as a backdrop for another project. Every once in a while, the blanket just happens to appear here on the blog somewhere, usually in the background of a random photo.

Check out a very jolly, colourful version of this granny square blanket, here

I decided that I should write a post about one of my most-used and loved crochet blankets. I don’t have much I want to share this week, so it’s an ideal opportunity to talk about something I made in the past.

I’ve taken lots of pictures of the blanket, and I will just bung them up as I blather on about how I made it.

Crochet Inspiration

I remember the pretty picture that inspired me to make it. I haven’t seen the picture for a couple of years and now that I see it again… well, it’s miles better than mine… poo. The blog the original pattern is from is called Crochet with Raymond, and it’s still active (although the crocheter doesn’t write new content anymore). It’s still up and has lots of wonderful woolly things. It has been such a beautiful source of creative inspiration.

I crocheted this granny square blanket three years ago. I was very pregnant with my youngest boy, and I really wanted it to be finished by the time he arrived. I remember staring at it whilst I was in labour, feeling annoyed that the border still had two rows to go.

Granny Blanket Colours

I chose colours similar to the original. I used Stylecraft Special DK because that is what they sell at the shop down the road. I use Stylecraft for the majority of my projects, but I want to try something new – any suggestions?

There are ten yarn colours: Lipstick, Fondant, Pomegranate, Cloud, Sherbet, Aster, Meadow, Clematis, Wisteria and Cream. Lots of balls of cream were used, maybe 8 or 9, and then I think it was just one of each of the others, but I really don’t remember.

Granny Squares That Start With a Circle

I didn’t use an existing pattern; I made it up. It was easy enough to do. I’ll quickly write down what I think I did (using UK terms, so a “tr” is a US “dc”). FYI, I used a 4mm hook for the DK yarn.

I’m sharing the pattern for the granny circles here. They were turned into squares while working a Join As You Go method. I’ll share more about that in just a moment.

Granny Circle Pattern

Ch4 and join with a slip stitch.
Round 1: Ch4 (counts as 1tr and 1ch), *1tr into ring, ch1; repeat from* 10 more times, join with a slip stitch to the 3rd ch. – [12 tr stitches].
Fasten off (I think fastening off and then joining the new colour with a slip stitch looks much better than other ways of colour changing – didn’t do that here though).

Round 2: Join new colour. Ch2, 1htr, ch1, *tr2together in each chain space, ch1; repeat around from* around, join with a slip stitch to the top of the first 2ch. Fasten off. – [12 tr together].

Round 3: Join new colour. Ch3 (counts as first stitch). 2tr into first chain space, ch1, *3tr into next chain space, ch1; repeat from* around, join with a slip stitch to the top of the first 3ch. – [12 granny clusters].

Join As You Go Crochet Technique

Once I had lots of crochet granny circles, I crocheted them all together using Attic 24’s method of Joining As You Go. It creates a lovely, decorative pattern in the corners, which is one of my favourite things about this granny blanket.

Using this method still means lots of ends to sew in, and I’ve since sacrificed pretty corners in favour of the Continuous Join method, which stops all the dreaded ends as you have just two (one at the beginning, one at the end).

Looking at the picture above, I see that the stitches in the corners of each square have triple trebles rather than trebles.

Anyway, I think that’s it. The granny stripe border is just going round and round with clusters, and the final round is a variation of the bobble edge from Attic 24 (thanks again!), but with slip stitches between them. There are either 2 or 3 slip stitches between each bobble.

Mostly it’s screwed up on the sofa and the children wrap themselves in it whilst they watch the telly after school!

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My Spice of Life Crochet Blanket.

February 2, 2016March 1, 2026blanket, crochet, free pattern23 Comments

The Spice of Life Blanket

I started this colourful crochet blanket three Sundays ago. I sewed in the last end of the Spice of Life blanket on Saturday night.

I didn’t know where this crochet blanket would end up for the first few days of making. Then all of a sudden I knew it would make a great birthday present for my Nanna and Grandad. They both had their 90th birthdays in January, and on Sunday, we had a lovely family birthday party.

Yarn For My Crochet Blanket

As is often the case, Stylecraft Special DK is the yarn I used. I loved the Spice of Life Rico colours that you can buy as a pack for making the blanket, but I couldn’t justify spending any more money on yarny things when I had loads of yarn stashed away already.

I only needed to buy a couple of balls to make up the blanket’s colour palette, which consisted of: Cloud blue, Storm blue, Cream, Lemon, Mocha, Lipstick, Emperor, Fondant, Shrimp, Kelly Green, Lobelia, Petrol and Spring Green.

I looked at the original Spice of Life blanket and matched the colours as closely as I could. My eyes tell me that the Stylecraft colours are a lot more vivid and saturated than the Rico yarn (not that I’ve seen the Rico in real life).

I downloaded the free crochet pattern from Ravelry via Cherry Heart (one of my favourite blogs) and off I went. There were a couple of occasions where I went wrong, so had to do some unravelling. There were a couple of other mistakes that got left in. I am hoping that they go unnoticed.

I had to crochet in the car on the way to Southampton (about 2 hours from home). And I added the final row of the border at my mum’s house. I tried several times to get a good photo of the finished blanket, but the weather was grey to the extreme. Rainy, cloudy skies and one hundred year old windows did not help. Neither did dodgy camera skills.

A Finished Crochet Blanket!

The blanket is actually one of the brightest crochet projects I’ve ever made. I’m glad it was a present for some old people, their eyes are rubbish.

Take a look at a painting of my hands as they sew in the ends of the Spice of Life blanket. My artist friend is painting my portrait! I’m finding the process lots of fun. I’ve said she can paint me any way she wants. Unfortunately, that means she wants me to take my clothes off. That certainly isn’t going to happen in February. Too cold. Anyway, more about that another day.

This week, I’m trying out some very basic knitting next. Hone my skills and all that.