Pink Round Bunny Rug

I only just finished this one the other day, its been languishing in my project basket for months. I'm glad to have finally finished it, adding a delicate white edge. The pattern for the white edge was (sk 1 3 sc sk 1 sl st) repeated which made for smaller scallops. I used 5 ply pure wool my mum gave me, the same wool I used for the pink home shrug, and a 3.5mm hook.

pink round bunny rug with a white edge

detail of the swirling centre

detail of the delicate white edge

Pink & Green Flower Coasters

I've been spending too much time obsessively looking over my shop and how I can improve it. I got the idea that I should focus on having a matching collection in the shop that compliments each piece. So I thought I would make green and pink coasters to match other coasters I have in there, and these are the result. Now that they're done I'm not happy with them, I think I should only sell the best yarn, and the pink doesn't scrub up. I think I'll have to give them away, or use them myself!

pink and green flower coasters

Pink Home Shrug

I have been working on this shrug in one form or another for about 12 months. Last year I was mostly finished but was unhappy with it so unraveled it. I'm so glad its finished, and just in time for Autumn here in Australia.

a simple home shrug in pink pure wool

A shrug like this is quite easy to make, but this one took a long time to do because I used a 3.5mm hook and some pink 5 ply pure wool my mum gave me. She gave me so much, I still have a few balls left. For the shrug to fit around the tops of my arms the starting rectangle had to be quite wide. I didn't do any shaping in the sleeves, I wish I had because I'm not happy with how the cuffs and sleeves are very wide.

detail of the scallop collar

Once you make the large rectangle, you join up the sleeves at each end leaving the centre open. I then finished with an edge of simple scallops. Then I washed it to block it and it stretched, so I had to do it again. Luckily it snapped back to shape. Phew!

Pink Fairy Toddler Hat

Here is my toddler sized hat modelled by my cousin's daughter Izabella Rose. I took these photos nearly 2 months ago, this colour way I call "Pink Fairy". The main colour is pink and the contrast trim is purple. The flower I made for this one is one of the daisy-centered Irish Roses. I'm hoping the pattern for these hats will be available soon in my Ravelry store, I'm about to get them tested. If you're interested in testing any of my patterns please join my testers group on Ravelry, its called Rosy Colour Patterns. My testers will receive a copy of the finished pattern you helped test, including a license to sell what you make outside of Australia.

Pink Fairy hat modelled by Izabella Rose

 

the Pink Fairy hat is pink with purple contrast trim

Pink Angel newborn hat

I've finished writing the rough drafts for my Princess Hats, just in time for my crafty friend Hazel to test a few more. She's already tested the premmie hat and we found a couple of errors which I was able to fix and update the pdf download on Ravelry.

this "Pink Angel" newborn hat is pink with white trim.

To be sure the newborn pattern was the best I could make it, I quickly did up this test hat. This one is a "Pink Angel", with pink as the main colour and white trim. I chose to make an Daisy-centered Irish Rose instead of the smaller flowers to see what it would look like. I think its turned out quite well, don't you?

the newborn hat as worn by a doll with a 12 inch head

Spring Blooms Garland

I made up some cute flowers to sell as embellishments in my online shop, along with some leaves which I made following the pattern from Easy Makes Me Happy. But I couldn't help myself, I felt I had to make something with them to show what could be done with them.

Spring Blooms garland on a white cot

Spring Blooms on a single bed head

So I joined them up to make a "Spring Blooms" mini-garland. This one is not as long as the "Love Grows" garland which has leaves as well as hearts. This Spring Blooms mini-garland is only one metre long, and is intended to be used a decoration of smaller places.

my own flower pattern, with some leaves from Easy Makes Me Happy

Cute 2 Round Flower, free pattern

This flower is very similar to another flower, my tiny two round flower, but it is slightly different. I wanted a 5 petal two round flower to quickly make up for my online shop and needed something cute and funky, so this is what I came up with! I hope you like it, please let me know if you do <3

cute 2 round flowers made into a spring blooms garland

Cute 2 Round Flower (US terms)
1. 2 ch, 5 sc into 1st ch, sl st into 1st sc
2. sl st into next, (2 ch 1 dc into same 2 ch sl st into same sl st into next) repeat for 5 petals, pull yarn through to back and tie off at the back of the flower

cute flowers with leaves for sale in my online shop

A Successful Sale!

I've very happy to report that my "Love Grows" mini-garland sold within 30 minutes of the charity event starting! I've since deposited the money into the fund-raising account, and I feel very privileged to be able to participate and contribute in this way.

my new packaging, which reflects my pink and natural theme

I'm now wondering if I should make more of these garlands to put in my online shop? I have so much work to do, and with moving house next month, precious little time to do it in! While Thomas slept yesterday I managed to find some time to update my banners, do you like the new look?

I did some research on how to have a cohesive shop and am thinking I really want to continue with the pink theme with natural tones like brown paper, cane and wood. That's just what I have here in my home that I think makes the items look nice, anyway. It really is hard to try and turn this hobby into work. I don't earn anywhere near enough to call this a job, and now we are getting a mortgage its even more important. So far, I've earned about half of what I spent on yarn! I really must remember not to buy any more!!!(lol)

Little Girl's Pink Headband

I made this headband for my cousin's daughter, Isabella Rose. She came to Thomas's birthday party so I gave it to her then, and took some photos, which I think turned out really well.

Isabella Rose wearing my flower headband

Isabella's parents gave me permission to use the photographs in my shop, so I've listed it there in case anyone would want me to make them a custom order. It's pretty quiet in my shop, but I have managed to sell a couple of things. Well, its 10 things to be exact. I've made back almost half of the money I've spent on yarn! Needless to say I have a LOT of yarn left over and still have a lot of things to make!

close up detail of the crochet flower which is known as an Irish Rose

This headband is a traditional crochet Irish Rose, which is available as a free pattern if you do a google search. It's a fairly common pattern. I did this flower in 3 colours, the white is some cotton I had left over, the pinks are new 4 ply cotton I bought from Bendigo. I know I said I wouldn't buy any more yarn, but I just HAD to get some pink 4 ply cotton!

the flower is attached to a stretchy lace headband

I attached the flower to a short strip of thin stretchy lace I bought from Lincraft. I hope I hear back from Isabella's mum so I can learn if it stays on well enough. It certainly seemed to when the children were playing at the party.

Frangipani Flowers

A friend asked me to make her some frangipani flowers, so I searched for a pattern but couldn't find one. So I made up my own, and this is the result.

crochet frangipani flowers, design by Teena Sutton Murphy

I'm working on writing the pattern down, I'm hoping to sell it on Ravlery as part of a set of flowers. I don't imagine I'll sell it for much maybe for a dollar, or even less. I am after all, just starting out! Please let me know if you like this flower and think I should include it in a pattern download on Ravelry.

frangipani flowers in 'pink blush', 'yellow with pink' or classic 'white and yellow'

Two More Spring Flowers

Here are two more spirng flowers I made last month and haven't posted before. I rather like the pink one, it has 3 layers of petals and is made with a pretty variegated pink 4 ply cotton.

my version of an Irish Rose made with 4 ply variegated pink

The second flower is my own version, I hope to share the pattern one day. It's basically two layers with Heather's flower on the 3rd layer in green so they look like leaves. I made this one out of bright 8 ply acrylic.

a tri-colour flower with green Heather's flower leaves in 8 ply acrylic

A Fabric Covered Button

I rather like this fabric covered button I made a few weeks ago. I've attached it to a simple hair tie and like to wear it when I'm wearing pink and green.

a pink and green fabric covered button hair tie I like to wear

A few weeks ago, I bought two different kinds of fabric covering kits to try out. The cheaper plastic one didn't work at all I found, and I think it was a waste of $3! The metal one is the one I ended up using for this button. I still have 6 left of the packet, so I hope to make some more when I get the chance.

how does the button look with this pink and green flower, with pink stretchy lace?

While I was at Lincraft, I also bought some stretchy lace to see if I could make some headbands to go with the spring flowers I made. I only bought about $6 worth, I hope I haven't wasted my pennies on more useless craft material! I took some photos of how the flowers would look against the stretchy lace. I rather like the pink and green one with the fabric button in the middle. I wonder if anyone else does?

Cotton Anniversary Gift, Man-sized Dishcloth

Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary, and the traditional gift to give is "cotton". My husband has already given me the best present ever, a packet of cotton seeds! My eldest plant is nearly 7 weeks old now. But what can I give him? Well, how about a man sized dish cloth for the kitchen, in a romantic lovey dovey design?

love hearts detail, perfect for a 2nd anniversary gift

I used a pattern from a photo I saw on pinterest, which sent me to the free pattern called "I love scraps" by Mary Ann Frits. But I had to work out how many starting chains for a small dishcloth. The number you start with must be a multiple of 7, plus 1. There will be one less heart cluster than the number of 7s you have, as half a heart is on each edge. For this dish cloth, I started with a 6 x 7 +1 (43 chains), which gives you 5 heart clusters across. Then I went up for 7 rows of hearts, which gives you a cloth that measures about 22cm x 25cm, if you use a 4mm hook with 8 ply cotton, like I did here.

man-sized dish cloth in pink and green

This man-sized dishcloth is perfect for when my husband is working in the kitchen! I have other gifts to give him of course, including a new cookie tray for baking, but none of them are cotton. So I thought I could pop this into the wrap! Happy Anniversary, darling!

Cotton Bow Tie with Pink Stripe

I made this bow tie up quickly a week or two ago. I love men's ties that have a little pink in them, I just think they are so pretty!

cotton bow tie with a pink stripe by Teena S. Murphy

This is the first bow tie I've made in multi-colours, I just made this one to see how the stripe would look. The next bow tie needs to be stouter and shorter, so it bunches up better. This time, I just wrapped some chains around the middle part. I popped this into a package I sent to Ronda, who won my first giveaway on my facebook page. I know she is a crafty person, perhaps she will find a use for the bow tie.

Pink Edge Crochet Doily

Here is a lovely crochet doily with a pink edge made by my mum, I think this was also made between 1969 and 1971, like the two embroidered linen doilies I blogged about yesterday. I'm very sorry, but she doesn't remember where she got the pattern. It was, afterall, a very long time ago!

40 year old crochet doily with pink edge made by my mum between 1969 and 1971

Spring Flowers Coasters

Here is a set of 6 spring flowers coasters I made up the other day to update my online shop for Spring. They are simply the same as my Summer Drinks coasters I made for Christmas 2010, just in different colours.

6 Spring flowers coasters made with Australian cotton,

This time I used 8 ply Australian made cotton in lime, lemon, sky and pink. Just what I need to pick me up for the new season!

perfect for a Spring tea party

... or for pink champagne!

Spring Doily Coasters

I made these quickly on a whim on the first day of Spring in an effort to spruce up my online shop. I think it should have a colour theme to match the season!

four doily coasters in colours of Spring

four Spring doily coasters in lemon, lime, sky and pink

I didn't use a pattern although I was inspired by a picture I saw on pinterest of an old doily pattern from 1893. I didn't copy the pattern though, I just did a variation of it. I used the Australian made cotton I bought from Bendigo months and months ago, and also some pink Australian made cotton my mum gave me. I really like the colours and help gave me a lift to celebrate the new season. I think I used a 3.5mm hook for these.

afternoon tea, anyone?

Pink Princess Crown Headband

I was going to make my cousin's daughter a headband for her 1st birthday, but decided this Princess crown would be more appropriate. She's not the only one year old Isabella Rose that I know, its a very popular combination of first and middle name! This one is made with lotus pink luxury 8 ply Australian wool from Bendigo in Victoria, and a 4mm hook.

Princess Crown Headband

I was inspired by a photo of a crochet crown on pinterest. This was really easy to make, the most difficult part was deciding on a width that was most likely to fit a 1 year old. I finally decided it should 8.5 inches, so that's 17 inches circumference. Plus an extra inch for stretch means the head should measure around 18 inches, I hope that's right! If not, I'll just make another one!

this is how the headband looks when worn, with the pointed crown sitting up like a tiara

This was really easy. The beginning chain needs to be a multiple of 3. I did 2 rounds of sc, then a round of (dc 1 ch dc) sk 2. The last round has sc for 10 clusters, and 12 clusters have points into them. There are 22 clusters in total around the entire headband. The 12 points are (2 hdc 1 ch 2 hdc) twice, (2 dc 1 ch 2 dc) 8 times, (2 hdc 1 ch 2 hdc) twice. Simple!

The Tiniest Butterfly, free pattern

When I gave my mum a tiny flower made with variegated pink yarn she said it looked like a butterfly. That was because 4 of its 5 petals were pink and one was white, so it did look a butterfly, and that gave me an idea!

simple butterfly designed by Teena Sutton Murphy

Simple Butterfly by T.S. Murphy in UK crochet (US trb = dc, dc = sc)
Leave a short bit of yarn free at the start, don't weave it in, it is the 1st antennae.
3 ch, work all into 1st ch, 1 trb, 2 ch, sl st (2 ch, 1 trb, 2 ch, sl st) repeat 2 more times for 4 wings in total,
fasten off leaving a small bit yarn free at the top for the 2nd antennae.

Variegated Divine Hat

I made this hat with unravelled yarn to practice the divine pattern at Rheatheylia. I had made one in a dark green hopefully to give to my friend Karen for her birthday, but I wasn't happy with it. So I started this hat to practice the pattern.

variegated divine hat

I made these two hats while I was learning in 2010, but I never wore them. They just weren't quite right, one I made following a pattern I found on a free sheet from Lincraft. But when I sorted out my wardrobe the other day I realised this yarn would go well with my winter clothes, and that I needed another beanie for myself. The yarn for these I bought new from Lincraft, its a nice thick variegated yarn in pink, green and white, but these hats were not worthy of it, so I unravelled them to make one special hat for myself.

I ran out of yarn so couldn't do the full brim. Because this is a very thick yarn, I originally tried using a smaller hook, but I had to still use the 6mm for the body and 5mm for the brim as suggested in the pattern because of the gauge. So because I ran out of yarn, I only did 2 rounds of sc for the brim, but the hat fits just fine. I had a tiny amount left at the end so I did a small loop at the brim so the hat can be hung on a hook.

This was a good exercise to practice the pattern, and I get a nice beanie for myself as a bonus! Now I can go back to making the beanie for Karen.