Geisha Girl in our Garden

To be honest, I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by the prospect of starting a new garden on a suburban block, when so far all I've kept is a very modest potted garden for the last 4 years. Sometimes I think I just don't know where to begin! But it has always been my intention to observe for at least a little while, perhaps a full year, to get to know what we have and what's worth keeping.

the Geisha Girl Golden Dewdrop in our garden is visited by many honey bees

This small tree in our back yard was the only thing in full flower when we moved in a month ago, other than a few blooms on a grevillea. My research confirms its the Geisha Girl variety of the commonly named Golden Drewdrop. Wikipedia tells me the proper name is Duranta erecta! Straight away we decided this was one worth keeping, with a profusion of bees visiting all through the day, its great to know we have pollinators visiting our garden. This will make the prospect of growing our own vegetables more viable, and the flowers have a gorgeous scent.

apparently the fruit of this Geisha Girl is poisonous

But I am concerned about one sentence in the Wikipedia page that says "The leaves and berries of the plant are toxic, and are confirmed to have killed children, dogs and cats."!! This makes me wonder if we should reconsider keeping it? In the very least I think I shall go and remove the fruit that I can reach. I've already pruned the understory as I didn't want Thomas touching the fruit, but at the time I didn't know for sure it was poisonous! Hmmm, something to think about!

Lattice and Solid Triangles, free patterns

I first made these triangles like these as part of a free sample pack I sent to my first customer. She wanted crochet shapes to add to her cloth books. Since then, I've been asked to write down the patterns, so I shall attempt to do so! Feel free to leave your feedback in the comments. I will be making these triangles into a pyramid toy for my son. For these triangle, I used a 4mm hook and brightly coloured 8 ply acrylic.

two kinds of crochet triangle, solid and lattice

8 colourful triangles to be made into a toy pyramid

LATTICE TRIANGLE by Teena Sutton Murphy
~ worked in two rounds ~
1. 4 ch, (dc ch 1) into 1st ch 5 times, sl st into 3rd ch (wheel of 6 spokes)
2. sl st into next ch sp, 4 ch 1 dc into same ch sp, (1 dc 1 ch 1 dc, 3 ch 1 dc 1 ch 1 dc) into next ch sp to form 1st corner, 1 dc 1 ch 1 dc into next ch sp, (1 dc 1 ch 1 dc, 3 ch 1 dc 1 ch 1 dc) into next ch sp to form 2nd corner, 1 dc 1 ch 1 dc into next ch sp, (1 dc 1 ch 1 dc, 3 ch 1 dc 1 ch 1 dc) into next ch sp to form last corner, sl st to 3rd ch, fasten off and weave in end

4 solid triangles to be made into a toy pyramid

SOLID TRIANGLE by Teena Sutton Murphy
~ worked in rows until a final round around the edge ~
1. 11 ch, sc into 3rd ch from hook, sc into each ch to end (9 sc + starting ch), turn
2. ch 1, sk 1, sc into next, sc into ea sc to end, sc into starting ch of prev. row (8 sc + starting ch), turn
3. ch 1, sk 1, sc into next, sc into ea sc to end including starting ch of prev. row (7 sc + starting ch), turn
4. ch 1, sk 1, sc into ea sc to end as above (6 sc + starting ch), turn
5. ch 1, sk 1, sc into ea sc to end as above (5 sc + starting ch), turn
6.  ch 1, sk 1, sc into ea sc to end as above (4 sc + starting ch), turn
7. ch 1, sk 1, sc into ea sc to end as above (3 sc + starting ch), turn
8. ch 1, sk 1, sc into ea sc to end as above (2 sc + starting ch), turn
9. ch 1, sk 1, sc in next (1 sc + starting ch)
10. turn to work in a round along the edge, sc into a sc or starting ch of 9 rows down one side, 3 ch at the corner, sc into the bottom of ea 9 ch of the starting row 1, 3 ch at the 2nd corner, sc into a sc or starting ch of the 9 rows up the other side, 3 ch at the corner, fasten off and weave in the end

Engraved Lilac Lidded Pot

This engraving is another method you could use to decorate your purchased green-ware. My mother made this, I was too young at the time to try this, but my mother was very good at it.

engraved lilac lidded pot

I really like this simple lidded pot my mother engraved by hand with a tiny tool, and painted in a pretty lilac colour. I think it's something precious for our family. This little cutie is at my mother's house.

Starting a Granny Cluster Spiral

One night last week, Thomas woke me up, and I couldn't get back to sleep, although he could! So I sat up and gave a granny cluster spiral a go, to see if I could do it.

the start of my first granny cluster spiral in purple, blue, green and bright pink

I just used the principals from my other spirals, but with granny clusters instead. A granny cluster is 3 dc put into the same space, or 3 tr if you speak UK crochet. I think this was slightly less complicated than the other spirals. I'm now making plans to work on a cushion cover which will have this bright purple, green, pink and blue spiral on one side. I can't wait to see it finished!

Isabella's Flower, free pattern

I just made this flower this morning based on what I did to make a flower for Isabella's headband in March.I can share the pattern for the flower easily enough, but the 3rd round I'm not sure of and will have to ask my crochet friends to pattern test it for me. I have a lot to ask of them!

Isabella's Rose by Teena Sutton Murphy

Isabella's Flower - free pattern in US crochet
- the flower is the 1st 2 rounds of the rose, seen in purple here
- UK crochet sc = dc, hdc = htrb, dc = trb, trb = dbtr

1. 3 ch (counts as 1st dc throughout), 11 dc into 1st ch, sl st into 3rd ch (12 dc, seen here in light purple)
2. * (sc, hdc, dc, 3 trb, dc, hdc, sc) into next, sc in next repeat from * for a total of 6 times, sl st into 1st sc (6 petals seen here in dark purple)
pinch and turn petals inside out so they puff and furl

The 3rd round is seen here  in white, and the 4th round is seen here in green. I hope to share the pattern for the 3rd and 4th round very soon.

Dark Purple Divine Hat

This is the 3rd divine hat I've made following the free pattern at Rheatheylia.

dark purple divine hat

The dark green divine hat I made like this was quite large, I used the recommended 6mm and 5mm hooks. But for this dark purple beanie I wanted one that would fit me better than it fit my husband, so I used a 5mm hook for the main part and a 4.5mm hook for the brim. I also added an extra 3 rounds of 4 dc shells because the smaller hook made it too short.

are you flushed with rosy colour?

I know a couple of people that might like this hat, purple is a popular favourite colour! But if no one wants it I can always use it myself, it matches my purple trench coat perfectly!

Yes, they do fit!

Here is my 18 month old son Thomas modelling the monster beanie with ear flaps. It looked so cute on, I just had to share the extra photos!

18 month old Thomas models the toddler size monster beanie with ear flaps

tail view of the monster beanie worn by 18 month old Thomas

I think its better to see how my crochet can be worn, rather than just a flat photo on top of my blue desk!

Ear flaps and ties for toddler beanies

When we tried the toddler sized monster beanie on one year old Mason's head, he pulled it straight off! So this was the solution - ear flaps with ties!

ear flaps and ties for toddler sized monster beanies

The triangle begins with a row of 10 sc, turn skip one 9 sc, turn, sk 1 8 sc etc until 1 sc then 50 ch, then sl st back along the ch. Then sc along one edge of the triangle, sl st along the edge of the triangle ear flap that runs along the bottom of the beanie. End with some more sc along the last side of the triangle, you should finish at the pointy end of the triangle where the tie is, fasten off.

I wasn't sure what colour they should be and fooled around with contrasting colours. But thanks to my husband who told me it looked funny and should be the same colour as the beanie its turned out rather well!

Small Lavender Satchel

This is a tiny slip I've made for a herb satchel. Using some fine lilac coloured cotton and a 2mm hook, I made up my own pattern for the 6 petal flower in the centre of the granny square.

six petal flower inside a granny square

I attempted to write the pattern down, but I'm not happy with it so in the bin it goes! Back to the drawing board, I wonder what I will make next ...

the back of this slip is like a pillow case that opens the same way

Tiny Bow Tie for a toy

I quickly did this up while my son was on my lap. I did this to amuse him, as he has shown some interest in carrying around this toy lately. I'm thinking it will fit into his childcare bag better than the glow worm comfort toy he usually takes.

a tiny bow tie for a small toy

I quickly did a short chain, then sc into every ch, and another row of sc. Then sl st to the centre and a ch to go around the middle of the bow. Then I slst to secure the ch, then ch around the neck. There is no attachment, its just sl st right onto the toy. I figured that was the best thing to do with such a tiny bow tie!

This was just a quick fun thing to do that I thought I would share!

Small flower with leaf

I made this purple beanie for a newborn back in March, and yesterday managed to find some time to make a flower appliqué for it. I think it's just what it needed to be extra cute!

For this beanie and flower I used classic wool from the Bendigo Woollen Mill. Now I've started using just luxury wool for beanies because its softer and not much more expensive. But I had a little of this left so I could do the flower and leaf.

I haven't crochet a leaf before, so now was the time to try it. The crochet leaf I liked the most was at  a blog called Easy Makes Me Happy. I rather like how it turned out. Go to that blog if you want to see the tutorial on how to make it.

For the smallest pink flower I started with a magic circle, (ch 2, dc, ch 2 sl st) into the magic circle 5 times, fasten off. For the larger purple flower I also started with a magic circle, (ch 3, 2 trbl, ch 3, sl st) into magic circle 5 times, fasten off.

This newborn sized beanie is homeless, I will try and sell it in my new shop! I'm seriously considering buying a newborn sized doll to model it!

Monster Beanies with contrasting tails

Here are the next three monster beanies I've completed for orders in my little online shop.

toddler sized purple beanie with green tail and blue eyes

Because each one of my monster beanies are unique, I won't be making any two the same, I have many options to make each one different. These ones have contrasting coloured tails! Maybe one day I will need to make monster beanies with a missing tooth, but we shall see if I ever make that many!

faulty child sized green beanie with red tail and blue eyes

When I had just finished the second eye of the child sized green monster beanie, I snipped a little too close and accidentally cut part of the yarn. After a close inspection I saw that the yarn was not completely severed, but with wear and washing this might unravel slightly. I'm not sure what it will do so I can not sell this beanie just in case it does unravel. I'll keep it for Thomas to wear when he's older, I think this size will fit 5 to 10 year olds.

I still have two more orders for monster beanies, but they'd prefer colours I don't have at the moment, so I've ordered more wool. I also have a baby sized beanie that's started, but I'll wait until I get better choice for colours before I do the eyes. I've ordered two shades each of pink, purple, green and blue. I think these colours go really well together and I think this will make a nice colour scheme for my shop.

child sized purple beanie with red tail and green eyes

The eyes are turning out to be quite fiddly, but the more I do the happier I am with them as I get better at it. My anxiety means that if any beanie is not perfect I'll worry that the customer will be very unhappy with me, so every beanie must be just perfect!

Small Scallop Edged Basket

While I was putting my baby to sleep tonight (last Friday night), I thought about what I didn't do quite right with the last basket. So I whipped up this one quickly after he was asleep to see if I had it right yet.

small scallop edge basket

This basket was inspired by a small scalloped edged basket I saw on pinterest, which comes from a blog called Mountain Mama. I didn't follow her pattern, but she does have a free one there on her site. Instead I did the basket with sc like the last one I did, but this time I used a 6.5mm hook. Again I used 3 pieces of acrylic yarn, this time a purple and an apricot coloured one my mum gave me, along with the nice aqua acrylic I used in the last basket.

inside small scallop edge basket

I started with 6 sc in the first round, then 12 in the 2nd. The 3rd round has 18 sc and the 4th round has 24 sc. Then I started up the sides no longer increasing, I spiral so there is no seam. There's only about 3 rounds up the sides, then I put the scallops along the top. Because I had counted ahead I had planned to be able to do this. With 24 stitches in the round, I could do 6 scallops. Each scallop is 5 hdc.

side view of small scallop edge basket

This is a very simple little basket I will use myself to put my hair ties into on my dresser. This little project took me about 20 minutes to whip up. I really enjoy making a useful item with my crochet skill, its very handy and satisfying!

Purple Jar Candle Cosy

I must have seen something like this on google images at some point, because the idea came to me when I recently finished a great big jar of coffee. I then found heaps of pictures of these on the internet, even the stitch I chose is very common, because its quite pretty.

large jar candle cosy

I think this large empty coffee jar would make a great gift. We're hoping to make some cookies to go inside, and I'll pop the tea light candle into the lid to wait while the cookies get eaten! I wonder if the person I'm thinking of giving this to will like it? I certainly hope so, otherwise I might keep it for myself!

My first attempt was with a 3mm hook and I just did a circle that didn't end up flat! That's very weird, I should be able to do a simple flat circle by now!  So I looked at a dishcloth pattern I liked and did that, I switched to the 2mm hook and it looked much better. For the sides, I did a (2 dc 1 ch 2 dc) 2 ch pattern, then a drawstring at the top. I did decrease a little at the top too, but I couldn't too much, otherwise the cosy would not go onto the jar. I want the cosy to be removable so it can get washed.

Royal Garden Two Way Tea Cosy

This teapot cosy is a tight fit on my smallest teapot, so I'm looking for a new home for it, as it can't live at my house! I've been planning this tea cosy for months now, its called "Royal Garden".

Using classic wool from Bendigo Mill and a 4mm hook, this type of tea cosy is quick and easy to put together. This is my own design, I hope one day to write down the pattern to share. But basically, its 4 squares joined together, two squares of each colour. You can turn the tea cosy inside out to get a different colour. The inside of this one is purple, the main side is green with blue butterflies and purple flowers.

spout detail of 'Royal Garden' two way tea cosy

I could make teapot cosies in  all sorts of colours, like "Pink Plum" and "Honey Bee". This is the 3rd teapot cosy I've made now, its the same as my "Ladybird & Lady Grey" two way tea cosy. It all started with the "Sunshiney Happy" tea cosy I made for my brother last Christmas Eve. Cup 'o tea, anyone?

Lilac Easter Egg Cosy

Here is my first successful attempt at a crochet Easter egg which I finished yesterday. I decided on a drawstring cosy to make it easy to put the egg inside, and to get it out!

delicate lilac egg cosy

When I first saw these a year or two ago I thought they looked amazing and far too hard for me to attempt. This year, when I saw them again I did think I could try it, but I didn't think it would be as easy as it turned out to be. I'm now planning to make quite a few of these! The handy drawstring can also be used to hang the eggs as decoration, if you're that way inclined!

I used my 1.5mm hook, anything smaller than that and I start to go cross-eyed! I chose some fine candle-wicking cotton my mother gave me (she has given me almost all of my cotton, thanks mum!), in a pretty lilac colour. Last weekend I went to the trouble of blowing some chicken eggs and dying them with food colouring. Then last week I saw these plastic ones that you can open at Lincraft for $1.50 so I grabbed them.

While I'm still learning, I'll use these plastic eggs. When I get more confident I'll use the real egg shells. I hope I don't smash them!

Purple Newborn Beanie

I made this little beanie last week when I thought I was giving up on the hexagon jackets. It was meant for a 1 year old girl, but ended up being too small and would fit a newborn.

purple newborn beanie

I used a 3.5mm or 4mm hook for this, and some of the purple Bendigo wool. I started with 5 rounds of increasing dc, then switched to 5 dc scallops. 7 rounds of scallops are finished off with a round of dainty picot.

All this needs is a pretty flower, or maybe it's pretty enough as it is? I wonder if this is something I could try and sell in my Etsy store ...

Purple Flowers & Blue Butterflies

I've made up these little flower and butterfly embellishments to go on a larger project I've been planning for a while. I couldn't find any patterns for these that I liked, so I made up my own! I want to write down some notes here on how I made these so I remember what I did for next time.

purple flowers and blue butterflies

I used a magic circle to start the flowers. One flower started off with a pink 10 dc centre, but I prefer the other flower which has a pink 5 sc centre, then a 2nd round of 2 sc in every sc. Then using purple, a petal is (2 ch 3 dc 2 ch sl st into same) sl st into next, sl st into next, repeat petal, sl st, sl st to create 5 petals.

I was inspired to make these butterflies by some I saw on Pinterest, but I didn't follow anyone's pattern. For the butterfly, I started with a 4 ch loop, then 4 ch 4 trbl 4 ch sl st into loop to form one large upper wing. For a smaller lower wing, ch 2 3 dc ch 2sl st into loop. Repeat a small low wing and a large upper wing to complete the butterfly and fasten off. In a contrasting colour, tie some wool around the middle and knot it at the top to form the antennae.

I used a 4mm hook and some of the classic wool from the Bendigo Mill for these. I'm looking forward to seeing them on a two way tea cosy I'm going to call "Royal Garden"!

Pink Plum Hat, free pattern

Here is the hat I made to match the Pink Plum Jacket I posted about yesterday. I would like to share my pattern with you.

Pink Plum Hat

There are 5 increasing rounds to begin, when the increasing is done its time to do granny clusters. Each round has 16 granny clusters. Finish the hat with a round of scallops in a contrasting colour, and a simple flower embellishment. This hat will most probably fit a 6 month old baby, but might also fit a newborn up to 12 months due to the extra stretch in the hat. The circumference of my hat measures 14 inches, 16 when stretched, but that will depend on your tension.

4mm hook and 8 ply yarn, this takes less than 50g of yarn
1. ch 3, sl st to form loop, 3 ch, 15 dc into loop (16 st)
2. ch 3, dc into same, (dc, 2 dc) to end, sl st
3. ch 3, dc into same, (dc, dc, 2 dc) to end, sl st
4. ch 3, dc into same, (dc, dc, dc, 2 dc) to end, sl st
5. ch 3, dc into same, (dc, dc, dc, dc, 2 dc) to end, sl st
6. ch 3, 2 dc into same, (sk 2, 3 dc) to end, sl st (16 granny clusters)
7. ch 3, 2 dc into same sp, (3 dc in next sp) to end, sl st (16 granny clusters)
8. repeat round 7 until desired length reached (eg. about 10 rounds of granny clusters)
9. in contrasting colour, (5 dc in middle dc of next granny cluster, sl st in next sp) repeat to end, sl st in 1st dc, fasten off (16 scallops)
10. in contrasting colour, make a simple flower and attach with main colour and yarn needle.

I'm still learning to write crochet patterns, so please feel free to point out any errors by leaving a comment!

Pink Plum Hat with jacket

Purple Butterfly Birthday Card

purple butterfly birthday card

Here is a pretty purple butterfly birthday card my mother made. I'm giving it with the purple flower baby headband I made last week, and a white and purple cardigan I made when I was pregnant, as a gift to a one year old girl for her birthday.

purple butterly envelope

Before I found out I was having a boy, I crochet baby clothes and blankets in white, purple and green. My intention was these items would be ok for either a girl or boy, but I secretly thought I might be having a girl. Mainly because I assumed the chances were I would, because everyone I knew had boys! Surely a girl was due? That's why I think that purple and white cardigan has flower buttons, I must have subconsciously chose them. I noticed them recently and realised I wouldn't put it on my son, so needed to give it away or it would never be worn!

The birthday card comes with a special envelop embellished with purple butterflies. I hope the birthday girl likes her purple package!