Zeens and Roger

Crazy Crochet Chevron Blanket

February 21, 2017March 5, 2026blanket, crochet, free pattern30 Comments

For a relatively small blanket, this zigzag chevron blanket seemed to take forever. I’ve made crocheted chevrons before, but not for a long time. I now know why. Every stitch is so small that the build-up is mega slow (yet very much worth it).

Crochet Chevron Blanket

It took a good week to get into the flow of the zigzag stitches. Once I could see that the colours were making me happy, I sped up and started to enjoy the rhythm of it. It’s a classic crochet chevron pattern, with stitches worked in the back loops only. I used this chevron pattern from Meet me at Mike’s, which has step-by-step photos.

I think I worked 11 multiples of the stitches, maybe 12. I thought that would create plenty of width, but it’s actually a lot smaller than I was aiming for. The nature of the stitch created a concertina effect, with it squishing in on itself dramatically. If I stretch it out, it does look bigger, and I think that if I give it a wash, it should settle down more.

Adding a Crochet Border to Zigzag Blankets

The border was a bit of a pain. I knew I wanted the blanket to have a crochet border, and I also knew that many zigzag blankets don’t have them. Probably for a good reason! The valleys and peaks created by the stitch mean that you have to fill those spaces in.

Sadly, I no longer have links to the ones I used to make the border. However, all the yellow bits in the pic below are worked separately. Then the blue was sort of “coloured in” in the spaces.

I wish I hadn’t added a second row of the cloud blue dc stitches (US single crochets) over the top. It looks a bit messy, and it really doesn’t need to be there. By the time I’d got to this section, though, I’d already unpicked a first, super-ugly border attempt. I was fed up. I just could not be bothered to do it all again (I’d already gone round with the grey at this point too, as I had done the first time too). So if anyone out there fancies having a go, perhaps don’t add a second row of blue!

Crochet Bobble Edging

I thought the grey was going to be the final colour, but the blanket’s recipient (Youngest boy) came over and told me that he wanted the neon pink. He knew what he was talking about. It looks fabulous. I seriously love it! You know, I think grey would have been nice on its own, but now it really pops! (and I don’t use that word lightly- I never ever say “pops”).

There isn’t really a pattern for the full border in its entirety; it’s just pairs of 2 UK treble stitches sitting next to each other and ch1, miss a stitch. It would look something like this in a pattern:

UK terms – Round 1: *2tr, miss 1 st, ch1; rep from * around.
US terms – Round 1: *2dc, sk 1 st, ch1; rep from * around.

The bobbles/pompoms are a little stitch pattern I came up with when I crocheted a Touch of Spice blanket nearly a year ago. This time I chained 6, not 7, made my tr5tgr in the 4th ch from hook and chained 2 rather than 3.
Pop over to the Pompom Edging blog post and take a closer look.

colourful-crochet-blanket-chevron-pattern

Order of Yarn Colours

Essentially, this was a crochet stashbuster of a blanket. I had so much Stylecraft Special dk acrylic that it needed to be made into something lovely and not stuck alone in the dark cupboard under the stairs.

I’m going to say that it was mostly random colour choices, but there is a pattern repeat:

Six rows of one colour,
3x two rows of different colours,
4 rows of another colour,
2x two rows of different colours,
finishing with six rows again.

I’ll also tell you the colours because I’m super proud that I remember them all off the top of my head: Fiesta, Grey, Citron, Wisteria, Aspen, Shrimp, Sherbet, Cloud, Kelly, Apricot, Lobelia, Fuschia, Plum, Pistachio.

on-the-banister-my-favourite-crochet-chevron

And I’ve still got enough to make another sort of blanket…because there’s a chance I might have gone out and bought some more… you know, to make up the colours….Soooo…. what next? Granny squares or treble chevrons, maybe a sunburst? I’m torn.

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Crafty Crochet Catch Up…

February 8, 2017March 5, 2026crochet15 Comments

i-love-this-picture-daffodils-with-my-crochet-cushion

A Roundup of Current Crochet & Crafting

It’s been a while since I had a round-up of current crafty WIPS. Today is the day to remedy that by sharing all the crochet.

This colourful crochet chevron has been my main focus. It’s a very jolly, bright blanket. I’ve wanted to make one for ages. I gathered all the yarn colours together in October, but they sat in a bag for months.

I think I made over 200 stitches for the foundation. Unfortunately, the chevrons have a concertina effect, and it’s smaller than I wanted. I’m thinking about how to square off the zigzag for the border next. The chevron pattern is called the Zali Zigzag blanket from Meet me at Mike’s.

The Humbug Scarf

I’ve made a start on the Humbug shawl with a pistachio coloured wool from Blacker Yarns. The 4ply yarn was a Christmas pressie from Becki at The Dartmoor Yarn Company. The pattern is by The Crochet Project, and I got that as a freebie for naming it! (Always happy to mention that). I started it a few weeks ago, but put it down for a while. Last weekend I did a few more rows, and I’d like to see it grow some more.

Pretty Crochet Mandala

I made a crochet mandala in yucky colours. Ok, they’re not yuck. Just not seasonal. I don’t have a vast collection of cotton DK yarn to choose from. It seems I need some spring colours.

It’s a great crochet pattern, though. It’s a free crochet pattern called the Magnolia Mandala by Crochetmillan

The idea was to stitch it over a gaping hole in my jeans. It turned out that a great big doily stuck to my haunches was gonna look pretty silly so the idea was binned….

…in favour of something more subtle.

I’m happy to wear my jeans with a piece of Liberty fabric and floral embroidery. I quite like how this Make Do and Mend approach turned out.

I’ve got another pair of jeans waiting to have similar crafty treatment, but this time the affected area is around the other side. Do you know that awful feeling when you realise you’ve been walking round in public, all day, with a split in the seat of your trousers?! I do.

Hand Dyed Yarn Purchases

I made a couple of naughty yarn purchases recently. I’m arguing that this is still Christmas money. Not sure how long I can get away with that excuse, though. The pale one is a dye job I requested from Rhapsodye Yarns, and the other is called Nebula, glorious neon zip yarn from The Wool Kitchen. Both are aran weight.

Both new yarns are for my continuing experiments with crochet triangle infinity scarves. Once these are done, that’s it. No more messing about with triangles. I have to draw a line under this project.

Still, I’ll make the most of the crochet triangles while the yarn lasts. And maybe I’ll wear one of these to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival next month! That’s right, I got me a ticket!! I’ll be there with my sister on the Saturday. My birthday is the beginning of May. Do you think I can wangle some birthday money in March?!

Once all the other stuff is done, I’ll pick this up, a stash-busting granny square blanket. I like getting it out every few weeks. It feels like a new project each time I work on it.

And last week, one of my boys and I made flapjacks. Not technically a crafty thing, but nevermind. I forgot how yummy they are. I can even eat them when I put raisins in them. That means they must taste good; everyone knows how much I don’t like raisins! Maybe we’ll make some tomorrow too.

Also, I can’t believe I forgot to mention my mini interview in Inside Crochet magazine. What a chump! I was so excited to see it in there, too. It’s the “Blog We Love” section. Get yourself a copy. Lots of fabulous patterns too. X

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Wool And The Gang’s Foxy Roxy Scarf

February 1, 2017March 4, 2026crochet25 Comments

Knitted Foxy Roxy Scarf

Do you remember when Wool and The Gang asked me to review their new Take Care Mohair, and I thought they’d made a mistake? Well, it can’t have been much of a mistake because they got in touch again to ask if I wanted to try out one of their other knitting products! Result!

Today I’m here to tell you all about how I made my Foxy Roxy knitted scarf.

I chose the Foxy Roxy scarf from the WATG Hygge LookBook that I was sent to peruse. I could have chosen something to crochet, but I was seduced into going a different route. I’ve mentioned in the past that I’d love to knit more (I can do the very basics, but that’s all).

The sock knitting phenomenon still eludes me, but I do see lovely knitted shawls out there. Maybe one day…. Anyway, I thought the Foxy Roxy would be a good introduction to the world of knitting, and the fact that I was being sent the kit would be a good kick up the bum to get something done.

The kit included five balls of Crazy Sexy Wool, some fab knitting needles, the pattern and a little label to pop on the finished project. I just love the packaging it all comes in ( I didn’t take pictures this time because my mohair review has those). It was Christmas again when the box was brought to my door!

I chose Midnight blue, but it really was hard to decide (there are so many colours…). In the end, I went with the sensible choice. I knew that I’d wear a shade of navy. And it’s true, I’ve been wearing it non-stop since I downed needles a week ago.

Relearning How To Knit

I took it easy at first. My parcel arrived the Saturday before last, and I knitted up half a ball that afternoon and the second half the day after. By Monday, I’d gotten into the swing of things; I caned through the last four balls in less than three days.

For a couple of rows at the beginning, I kept stabbing through the yarn with the pointy needles (these are proper vampire slaying needles). After a few rows, that stopped, and I got into a good rhythm. It seems I respond well to the noise of needles. It might be the main reason I fancy taking up knitting. The noise of these chunky knitting needles is hypnotic, and I really enjoyed the woody clacking I made with my chunky stakes.

And oh my goodness! No achy hands! I’m used to achy hands when using a giant crochet hook, but I must hold needles differently, cos no ache this time!

Obviously, I needed tea and cake to help me along the way, but I did get a few crumbs on my stitches [I use the best lemon drizzle recipe there is]. I needed the energy to keep on with all the rows of knitting.

One ball in and I could see that this Foxy Roxt Scarf was gonna be loooonnng. To be honest, I have no idea if there are more rows than the pattern told me. I didn’t count. I just kept going until I ran out of yarn. I got carried away with this and didn’t have enough to cast off.

At that point, I had to take an enormously deep breath and frog a few rows. I gathered each stitch slowly and carefully back on a needle and knit back on a couple of rows before trying the cast off again. Here, I have to admit that I don’t actually know what a row looks like. I think it’s both the wiggle chain things per row and not half of one of these. Is that right?! Er, I don’t know. Whatever the weather, I now have a knitting project under my belt, and I am proud!

Thank you to my eldest boy for taking some amusing photographs of me. It was very good timing that he was off sick from school. I made him take a squillion pics. To help him, I even cracked open the tripod that I bought a year ago.

Why haven’t I ever used the camera tripod before!? It makes life so much easier. Duh. How snuggly and cosy does my new knitted scarf look though!? It is flippin’ gorgeous, I love it. I know it’s wrong, but I’m wishing for colder weather so I can enjoy laughing at everyone else in their piddly little, ineffectual scarves. I will be super warm and happy! Gleefully, manically laughing, I expect.

All I will say is this: when wearing it, I will have to learn to be careful. Yesterday, as I casually sauntered home from the school run (probably with a little hint of scarf smugness too), a great big gust of wind took my scarf and threw it in brambles. So embarrassing. I was there for an eternity, carefully and not so casually untangling my precious new, hand-knit scarf.

I’ve only included a picture of the cat, due to the fact that she was watching me whilst I took the photos.

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Corner to Corner Broken Heart

January 27, 2017March 4, 2026crochet, free pattern16 Comments

What Becomes of the Crochet Broken Hearted?!

Coming up to February, hearts are everywhere. I get it, love is in the air and all that, but what if you don’t want to get all schmaltzy and saccharine about it?!

This is my answer: crochet a broken heart! I’ve come up with a crochet corner-to-corner graphgan design that’s cute but not pukey. How great is that?! To make your own crochet heart, read on…

I chose neon pink (almost impossible to photograph by the way) and a light grey aran yarn. I was all set to go for a blue background colour until I found out I didn’t have enough yarn. This pattern needs two balls of the grey and one of neon pink, with just a scrap of blue for the shiny reflection.

I recently learned about a chart making website called Stitch Fiddle. It’s brilliant! You can make up your own crochet designs for knitting, cross-stitch and crochet. It’s free to do the basic stuff, but I’m tempted to sign up for the fancier version. You get fifteen freebies; after that, you have to pay.

I haven’t used it to do crochet diagrams yet, but I’m probably headed that way. Anyway, I’m not here to sell their stuff. I shall move on…

Above is the graphgan chart to use. I think it can be printed off if you save it as a document, then you can mark off the squares as you go. I started in the bottom right corner.

Things Needed to C2C a Broken Heart

2x 100g balls of background colour, 1x ball for heart, a few metres of a third colour. It’s aran weight yarn
4.5mm hook. (If you have a particularly loose tension, try a 4mm).
1x 50cm cushion pad
1x 50cm cushion cover
Sewing needle (not as giant as a darning needle, but big enough to squeeze the yarn through, it needs to go through the cushion cover).

Before you begin, the first thing you need to do is separate out about 20 grams of the grey yarn, this will be the ball you use to work between the two heart pieces. The thing about making crochet graphgans is that you need a ball/bobbin for each section of colour. I had three grey and two pink balls being worked at the same time (I wound a separate ball of the pink yarn too, just under half). It’s not as tricky as it sounds, I promise. It’s very hard to explain, but very easy to do! As long as you know how to Corner to Corner, this is really simple to achieve.

I learned how to do a C2C from a pattern I got from Ravelry, but I’ve found this video by Bella Coco, which I wish I’d seen at the time!

Here is a video about colour changes. It was immensely helpful and got to the point. No faffing, thank goodness.

I kept all my workings on one side (it’s a cushion, they’re not going to show on the wrong side). To avoid lots of these, make sure you keep one ball of pink for one heart half, and the other for the other. There are a couple of places where the yarn would be carried over too many blocks if you didn’t split the yarn, and that might look messy. If you look too closely at the picture above, you can see where I broke that rule. Just don’t look.

Pin your finished piece to the front of a cushion cover. Pin the four corners first, then add a couple more pins inbetween. I found my cushion cover from Amazon, it was about £3, which is better than the £4.50 it would have cost to buy two more balls of yarn to do a plain c2c back, and more time efficient. Woohoo for saving time and money!

Stitch it on. The ends can be woven in when it’s finished.

Keep the stitches as close to the edge as possible.

Finished! A giant crochet cushion with a broken heart!

Let me know what you think. Do tell me if you make one, I would absolutely love to see it. Please feel free to make as many as you like, and why not check out some of my other free crochet patterns!? Thanks.

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Crochet Triangle Infinity Scarf

January 19, 2017March 4, 2026crochet, free pattern18 Comments

Geometric Crochet Love

My love for crochet triangles all started when I was playing around with geometric patterns for crochet. It became a conscious thing last summer when I made my C2C crochet cushion. Since then, I’ve seen triangles all over the place. I now absolutely love geometric patterns in crochet!

Crochet Cowl Inspiration

I’m on a mission to make the perfect crochet cowl. I know exactly what sort of design I want, but have struggled with translating it into crochet. Basically, if you take a look at my pattern Pinterest board, you’ll get the idea.

I’d love to intersperse different colours amongst the triangles for my cowl idea. So far, I’ve resisted just doing colour changes for random single triangles, as it could potentially compromise the structural integrity. I might have to try it though, just to find out how safe and secure it would be… Hmm, anyway, I’m glad to say that I’ve found the ideal cowl/scarf pattern to play with.

crochet-cowl-monochrome-triangle-infinity-scarf

Crochet Triangle Infinity Scarf

The best crochet cowl pattern I’ve recently come across is called the Triangle Crocheted Infinity Scarf from Friendly Nettle. I totally love this pattern, it’s utterly fabulous, and I know lots of other people feel the same way because my Instagram mates have gone nuts for it too!

Triangle Cowl Pattern

The pattern is very simple and Rasa, the designer, has made things super helpful by providing loads of pictures, a video tutorial and pattern diagrams. As I’m I can’t help myself, I did change a few elements to the original pattern.

My first two cowls were made with Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran, so I didn’t need as many triangles in my starting row. I think the tri-colour version of the infinity scarf (cowl) has thirty triangles, and the monochrome one was twenty six. Each cowl has fifteen rounds for the main body (plus the first and last rounds of UK htr stitches).

When working the crochet triangles, I made 1dc (UK), 1htr), 1tr and 1dtr. This sequence is different to the original pattern (I messed around with a few different stitch sequence experiments. I was curious to see what would happen to the shape of the triangles). You’ll need to see the original pattern to work out where these stitches go! I wouldn’t want to give away too much of the original pattern as it isn’t mine.

My edging was also added to, but nothing particularly fancy.

Self Striping Yarn

The final triangle cowl I made was this crazy rainbow job. It’s a double knit, self striping yarn from Rhapsodye Yarns, which I was really intrigued by. The number of triangles in the starter row was increased by a couple more to make the cowl a good size. Double knit yarn is finer than aran weight yarn, so adding more triangles was necessary for a good fit. I pretty much used the whole 100-gram skein.

I was on the lookout for something that had both colourful brights and a plain base. In my imagination, there was more grey and less colour. I didn’t really think about how the colours would be laid out on the skein, and I blame my lack of education regarding hand-dyed yarn rather than anything else. Still, I think the effect is pretty good. Just not what I was after in this case.

I bought the rainbow dyed yarn from a UK dyer, Rhapsodye Yarns. It’s a superwash merino, and it’s just lovely!
See the running rainbow? I’d like only two, maybe three colours, each long enough to make a triangle, with grey in between each shade. Do you think I need to take up yarn dying as a hobby next?! I’m tempted to contact the dyer and make a special request instead. Seriously, I do not need any more hobbies right now.

For such a simple pattern, the crochet triangle design is so impactful. It is definitely worth trying this pattern if you haven’t already.

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A Bunch of Handmade Crochet Gifts

January 11, 2017March 4, 2026crochet, sewing20 Comments

The Post-Christmas Craft Comedown

My blogging will is not here today. I’m not really here. I’d rather be doing my crochet. I’m looking over to the other side of the room to where my current WIPS are. Getting the balance between making stuff and blogging about it can be tricky! The problem today is that I’ve seen all this stuff, like, ages ago! I love writing a craft blog, I really do, but I also must find the time to do the thing I write about. It’d be a bit futile if I didn’t do any craft, wouldn’t it?!

I probably made this little fabric basket in October. I use a great tutorial for making these (it comes in two different sizes). Go Here for the instructions on how to sew a little fabric basket.

I made up the pattern for this bag. I must make another and, when I do, I think I’ll do a sewing tutorial. This will hopefully happen at some point this year; it’s on a list of things to do, but so are lots of other crafty things! I also want to do a crochet version with bamboo handles as well!

This project bag annoyed me. I forgot to add interfacing, and it’s all floppy. The recipient didn’t mind, and I guess that’s what counts.

I made this crochet basket with it simple crab stitch edging a few months ago, and it was meant to have another to nestle within. It hurt my hands to crochet with such bulky yarn, so I didn’t make the other one. I think I chose a hook a size that was too small, which is what made it painful. The yarn itself is a t-shirt yarn from Flying Tiger and felt beautifully silky to the touch. I don’t know who has actual T-shirts that silky, not anyone I’ve met.

There’s no pattern for this one; I made it up.

Aran Weight Crochet Cowl

This crochet cowl was lovely to make. Very quick, too. I used two balls of Drops Alaska, and the pattern is from a new book by Nicki Trench: Crocheted Scarves and Cowls. I bought it from The Works around November.

mustard-waffle-crochet-cushion-wiht-wooden-buttons

Waffle Stitch Cushion

Ages ago, I’d wanted to make a crochet blanket using waffle stitch. About 100 grams of yarn into the project, I realised that the stitch was a massive, greedy yarn eater and it wouldn’t go as far as I’d imagined. I frogged it and went in the cushion direction.

It’s an 18″ cushion, and I did 70-something stitches across with the old Stylecraft spesh DK. Love it. But it was a present, so I gave it away.

It looks very tight-fitting but cushions like negative ease for their crochet jackets. Otherwise, the fabric stretches out, and you get a baggy, saggy cushion.

The Kelpie Hat

This is the Kelpie hat by The Crochet Project. Such a lovely yet simple stitch! I had to tinker with the number of stitches because I used a thicker yarn than recommended. This is a Malabrigo aran weight yarn. I can’t remember the colour name, and I don’t know where the label is!

Another Red Crochet Cowl!

And this cowl is a free crochet pattern called the Lacey Shells Scarf. I reduced the number of stitches so that it was a cowl and not an infinity scarf.

Think this is Drops Nepal. Maybe three balls … 4? A couple of years ago, I made the infinity version in a brown yarn, and I wore it for about two years solid.

There really was so much more that I intended to make, and time ran away from me. I also gifted lots of Christmas decorations. Crochet baubles and lots of felt things were great for giving as little extras.

And now I’m going to dash back to my crochet pile and hide in there. It’s a lovely place to be.

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Handmade Christmas Gift Round Up.

January 6, 2017March 4, 2026crochet17 Comments

A Handmade Christmas

Christmas feels like it was months ago. A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks to really make sure it has completely distanced itself. However, it wasn’t really that long ago, and I think I’m still allowed to talk about it today (if only in a crochet/crafting capacity).

I do hope everyone had a good one and all that. I received so many lovely things, and I’m going to share some of them now.

Secret Santa Craft Swaps

First off the bat is my wonderful gift from Bekki at The Dartmoor Yarn Company. I got an amazing array of crafty things. They were all individually wrapped, and it was so much fun to open them all on Christmas morning. I managed to lose a couple to my Littlest, who thinks that all presents are for him. I don’t think he was impressed with receiving yarn, though. I was! Thank you, Bekki, I love it all, but my particular favourite is the Blacker Blends pistachio yarn (a project has already begun). And the teeny Advent sack is so cute!

This gift was all part of Stitching Santa, organised by Shelia from Sewchet. I sent a gift to another craft blogger and felt terrible because I hadn’t included half as many things. I hadn’t even thought to include chocs or sweeties. What kind of Christmas gift is that?! No chocs or sweeties, it would’ve been a sad day…

I also took part in another Secret Santa swap. This one was all arranged by Emily of Make.e over on Instagram. I got a gift from Emma of Moomaloom. The pencils are brilliant, and now I really want to make a pencil case, just for them. In the initial sign-up process, we had to provide a bit of information about ourselves. I wrote that I didn’t do princess stuff and that I was a fan of GoT. The Khaleesi mirror fit the brief perfectly, and it made me laugh. I’ll make the Christmas Robin next year. I can’t bring myself to do festive anymore. And I’m totally keeping the tissue paper, it’s gorgeous!

This one isn’t strictly a Christmas present, but I’m including it anyway. My name was pulled out of a hat as part of a Giveaway from Eleanora at Coastal Crochet. It worked out quite nicely because we were both celebrating reaching 1000 followers on Instagram.

I’m a meany and didn’t think to do a Giveaway for my milestone, maybe when I reach 2000! I’m not sure what I’ll do with the seaglass, maybe something for the garden? A mosaic type thing…

The bunting was put up immediately and looked wonderful as part of the Christmas decor. And Crikey, the Malabrigo yarn is beautiful. I think there’s enough for a dainty scarf of some sort. It’s lace weight, which means it’ll go quite far. I hope.

My last gift of internetty origins is the Humbug Scarf pattern by The Crochet Project. Jammy sod that I am, I was sent it as a gift because once again I named the crochet scarf pattern! It totally looks like a Humbug pattern!

A few weeks back, I had the good fortune to name another two of their new crochet patterns (the Kelpie hat and the Selkie shawl). I have promised not to keep doing it! If only I could come up with decent names for my own projects. Anyway, I’m using the Blacker yarn for this project, and I started it last night.

Other Cute Christmas Crafty Things

In the real world, I got a massive load of colourful embroidery threads from my mother-in-law. I need to sort them out. I got little plastic bobbins too, so wish me luck in all the winding.

Look at this teeny bunny that my mum found at a craft market. He’s so cute. She mentioned coals and Newcastle, but I don’t really knit, so it’s not the same thing.

And I bought myself presents from a very smart wool shop in Bovey Tracey (I dragged the family there after going to visit Father Christmas at the House of Marbles). I want to crochet some mittens with the purple yarn and a shawl with the mustardy stuff. Both have slight variegation, which I (secretly) don’t normally like. But since working with some green Malabrigo yarn recently, I’m on the turn.

Magic Christmas trees are an essential stocking filler, no?

There are a few more things that could be classed as crafty gifts, like books. Mostly crochet stitch dictionaries that I forgot to take a picture of (not that they’d necessarily make a good photo). And I’ve also purchased another skein of yarn that I’m waiting for Posty to bring.

Anyway, I’m off to make pizza dough for tea. I’ll sort out the pics of the things I made for presents and do something about it next week. That doesn’t have to be a Christmassy post. I don’t think any of it is actually festive themed, so I can get away with that in mid Jan.

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I’m in a Crochet Magazine!

January 3, 2017March 4, 2026crochet39 Comments

Celebrating Being In A Crochet Magazine

Happy New Year! *Toot!

My first blog post of the New Year is going to be a selfish one. Toot! I’ve got lots of Christmas stuff I want to post about too (and soon), but today, it’s all about me! Toot!….. I’m in a crochet magazine, a real-life magazine!! And a flippin’ good one too. Toot!

*Toots are not associated with the musical fruit kind.

A few months ago, I summoned the smarts to email the editor of Inside Crochet magazine. I asked if they’d be interested in my designs. I felt quite brave. Over the last six months or so, I have developed a sort of “why not?” sort of attitude.

A couple of years ago, I would never have been so brazen as to approach someone with my creative ideas. But recently, I’ve been thinking that it’s about time I stopped being such a Cowardy Custard and just did the things everyone else seems to find so easy.

The catalyst for my sudden burst of proactivity was a presentation the Husband gave to a bunch of tech dweebs about the future of technology. In it, he talked about the difference between Generation X and Millennials; how Gen X waited to be discovered, whilst Millennials went out and got the thing they wanted.

I learned that I was old: Gen X. Ugh. It was time to do something about my burning desire to be a crochet designer! Anyway, a week after I pressed send, I got a fabulously positive response, which got me pacing around the living room whispering the “F” word for a while.

A Published Crochet Designer!

Published. In a magazine. Ermergherd!!

A Design In Inside Crochet Magazine

Issue 85 of Inside Crochet magazine is in the shops right now. I saw it in Tesco the other day, and I pointed it out to my son, who grinned. He recognised the cover and was nicely gobsmacked. We were in Southampton at the time, and he couldn’t fathom that the magazine I was in wasn’t just the copy we had at home.

The process of designing has been brilliant and really quite interesting. The making bit is obviously the best, and it feels pretty good when the pattern is all typed up, too. My biggest fear is that this is one-trick pony territory, that the crochet ideas will dry up or get rubbish.

Who can tell?! What I will say is, just keep your eyes peeled for future issues, too. Hmm, maybe go and buy next month’s copy of Inside Crochet too…

Righty, Happy New Year to all, may it be just as interesting as 2016 (but in all the good ways not the nasty)…X Toot!

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Speedy Crochet Bracelet. A Free Pattern.

December 21, 2016March 3, 2026crochet, free pattern8 Comments

A Really Quick Crochet Idea

I was working out the design for my recent crochet wrist warmers pattern, playing with different methods and whatnot, when this idea popped up. A very simple crochet bracelet. It’s basically front post and back post stitches, which ended up being too bulky for the mitts, but still had something I liked.

It is such an easy crochet pattern; it only takes fifteen/twenty minutes from start to finish. Who doesn’t love super speedy crochet ideas!?

If you’ve not tried crochet post stitches before, this crochet bracelet is a great pattern for practising. These stitches are so easy. They’re the same as normal US double / Uk treble stitches; it’s just where you put your hook that counts. There are countless YouTube videos out there that demonstrate beautifully. I use the technique in some chunky crochet mittens, here.

I’m not sure if this is a crochet cuff, bracelet or other thing, but whatever it is, (seeing as it’s Christmas) here’s a lovely little free crochet pattern for them!

A Quick and Easy Crochet Bracelet

Pattern Notes:

I’ve used Paintbox Aran with a 4.5mm hook.
I’ve used UK terms with US terms in brackets.
In Row 2, I work under the bumps of the foundation chain. This makes a neater finish, but it does mean it looks twisty when you come to slip stitch together. Ignore the twist and join anyway; it won’t be noticed in the final piece. Just double-check that you’ve not got a twist in the stitches you’re going to work into next.
Crochet over the ends as you go to allow for minimal stitching at the end.
I have wrists like twigs; you may need to go up to 26 or 28 stitches

super-easy-crochet-cuff-bracelet-free-crochet-pattern

Crochet Bracelet Pattern

Chain 24, join with a slip stitch.
Round 1: Ch1 (does not count as a st), dc (US sc) in each st around, join with a slip stitch to the first st. Fasten off. [24 sts]
Rnd 2: Attach new colour to any stitch. Ch3 (counts as a st), 1tr (US dc) in each st around, join to the top of the initial ch3. [24]
Rnds 3 – 5: Ch2 (does not count as a st), *FPtr, BPtr; repeat from* to the end, sl st to the top of the first st. Fasten off after Rnd 5. [24]
Rnd 6: Attach new colour to any st. Ch1 (does not count as a st), 1dc (US sc) in each st around. Join with a slip stitch to the first st. Fasten off and sew in any ends. [24]

And there you have it. Easy peasy! The quickest crochet bracelet to make! Now go and crochet loads of cuffs, bracelets, sweat bands, whatever they are!

Happy Christmas! See you in the New Year. 2017 is going to be amazing!! X

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The Autumn Vintage Crochet Collection

December 14, 2016March 3, 2026crochet13 Comments

Autumn Vintage Crochet Accessories

I’ve done it! All finished. Woot!! I’m so pleased with it. Truly, I love this cosy crochet accessories set. It’s taken a while because I’ve been busy with other things too. The more I get into crochet design the quicker I’m surely going to get.

It’s technically still autumn too, so it didn’t take six months afterall! Please pop over to Ravelry to buy your PDF copy.

No silly faces like my last blog post! I have very serious, yet… what? wistful? expressions for the real deal. It took a million pictures to get these. I scrutinise every last one to make sure I don’t look like too much of a freak and that the pompom is showing or I’ve got my hand in the right place. It’s possible I need a helper.

I took loads of pictures of all these vintage-inspired crochet accessories. I wanted them to be informative as well as good looking. In the crochet patterns themselves, there are step-by-step photos for any tricky bits.

I’ve focused on the making of the crochet mitts as they have elements where more detail is needed. But there aren’t many tricky bits because the patterns are super easy and quick to make, because they’re all aran weight yarn.

Please do let me know what you think. I’d absolutely love to hear if anyone makes a set. At some point, I’ll do some different colour combinations too. I think there are loads of options where the colours will make it look completely different.