Large White Flower

I'm quite happy with how this flower turned out, I made it to go on the Blue Angel hat I made for my niece Chloe. Its a combination of two of my patterns, you start with a daisy-centered Irish Rose. Then you add a round of ch to add a round of Heather's Flower petals at the end. I think I need to make more of these!

a daisy-centered Irish Rose with Heather's Flower

Two Square Shrug

Well, I spent a fair bit more time on this than I should have! Because I wasn't sure if the two squares would work, I kept unravelling my work, to make the squares smaller or larger. In the end I settled on making the squares quite tight so they would pull tighter at the back, and not buckle up like they do if the squares were larger.

shrug made with two granny squares joined together then extended for sleeves

For this simple shrug, I used a 4mm hook and three 50g balls of 5 ply pure white wool my mum gave me. I kept the shrug simple, deciding not to add the shells along the collar like I did about three times and had to unravel as I resized my work. I kept it simple because when this shrug is folded in half long ways it can double as a generously sized long and thick scarf. Not that I will use it as a scarf, but you never know when I might need another one!

the simple shrug can be folded lengthways to make a warm scarf

It starts off as two granny squares joined together to make a bolero shrug. For this shrug, my granny squares have 13 rounds, this would depend on how tight you want your shrug around the tops of your arms. My arms are a bit big, so if you were making a shrug for yourself, you would need to check that the corners of the granny square meet around you shoulders. After the two granny squares are joined on one side, the opposite corners are joined to form armholes. Check that the squares pull neatly across the back of your shoulders, then you add sleeves to your desired length. I went this long because that's all I had left of this white yarn. I just wove in the ends with a hook instead of sewing them in with a needle, just in case I change my mind again!

this yarn was originally half a pair of fingerless gloves

I've had this yarn for a while, and at first I thought I would make some fingerless gloves. I started by making the first of the pair, thinking that perhaps I could have them for sale in my online shop. I found this fingerless gloves pattern from pinterest that I thought looked nice. But I decided they weren't nice enough to become wedding gloves, so I undid them so I could use the yarn in my white shrug.

Hynotising Eye Mask

I made this up quickly one afternoon while my 21 month old son slept, as I was going to see if I could have a Nanna nap myself! I would need these to be put to the test right away!

first draft of my hypnotising eye mask

I'm sorry I can't share the pattern for this as this is my rough draft, and as you can probably see, it is very rough! I kinda of just 'winged it' and it looks it, too. If I have reason to make this again I will think more about how to write the pattern down.

Jug Cover my Great-grandmother Made

This beautiful white jug cover with delicate real shell weights was made by my maternal great-grandmother, Mary Margaretta Davis. She is the  great-mother that made all of the delicate crochet doilies, some of which I have already blogged about. My other maternal great-mother Elizabeth Jackson also could crochet, but she did more work with thicker yarns like baby jackets. I don't think I have any samples of her work, but she is my mother's grandmother who's parents owned a tailor shop.

A beautiful white jug cover made by my great-grandmother Mary Margaretta Davis

When my mother gave this to me a few weeks ago, it had an awful stain on it. Mum said I could try and wash it out with lemon juice. I did a search and found a site that recommended how to wash cotton in lemon juice so I gave it a try. The doily spent a couple of hours in the sun sitting on this glass and the stain has definately faded. I was worried it would deteriorate the cotton, but it doesn't seem to have and is still holding together strong.

I hope one day to have the time to copy my great-grandmother's pattern. She has swirled it, instead of starting new rounds with chains. One of the many things that is on my list of things to do!

Flowers and Hearts for Scrapbooking

My mum asked me to make her some flowers and hearts for scrap-booking, so this is some of what I came up with, using a 4 ply white cotton.

white flowers and hearts made with 4 ply cotton and 2mm and 3 mm hooks, ideal for scrapbooking

Mum said she preferred if I just used white so that she can dye them any colour she wants to match her cards. I hope one day I can share pictures of the cards she makes with these flowers and hearts. For these I used a 2mm or 3mm hook. For the hearts, I followed my favourite heart pattern at Suzie's Stuff. The 3 larger 5 or 6 petal flowers are based on my flower pattern. The smallest flower of 5 petals is 4 ch, all st into 1st ch, 2 tr 2 ch sl st (2 ch 2 tr 2 ch sl st) repeat until you have desired number of petals.

tiniest 5 petal flower, using 1.5mm hook

Heather's Flower, free pattern

This is the 2D version of Heather's Rose, which has an extra round of internal petals that sit up. This one is flat and has just two rounds.

these Heather's flowers were made using 4 ply cotton and a 3mm hook

4 tiny Heather's Flowers made using fine crochet cotton and a 1.5mm hook

My mum asked me to make her some flowers and hearts for scrapbooking, and she needed them to be flat. So I tried the first two rounds of Heather's Rose and I think it turned out quite pretty. For the larger flowers I used 4 ply white cotton and 2mm and 3mm hooks, for the smaller ones I used finer crochet cottons and my 1.5mm hook. Working with the finer hook and thread is quite tricky I find. The most difficult part of the rose pattern is explaining how to do the internal petals, so I will share the easier first two rounds here.

Heather's Flowers using 4 ply cotton and 2mm and 3mm hooks, designed by Teena Sutton Murphy

Heather's Flower (1st 2 rounds of Heather's Rose) - UK version

1. 4 ch (counts as 1st tr and 1st ch), * 1 tr into 1st ch 1 ch,  repeat * 4 more times, sl st into 3rd ch 
(a wheel of 6 spokes)
2. * sl st into next spoke space, 3 ch 2 db tr 2 ch 2 db tr 3 ch sl st into same, repeat * 5 times 
(6 large petals)
* pinch petals to make them pointed

Heather's Flower - US version
1. 4 ch (counts as 1st dc and 1st ch), (into 1st ch, dc 1 ch) repeat 4 more times, sl st into 3rd ch (wheel of 6 spokes)
2. (sl st into next spoke space 3 ch 2 trb 2 ch 2 trb 3 ch sl st into same), repeat 5 times (6 large petals)
* pinch petals to make them pointed

3 white Heather's Flowers and an Australian 50 cent piece

Black & White Birthday Card

Today is my birthday so here is a photo of the beautiful card my mother sent me and I just got out of the mailbox!

Black & White Birthday Card by Feather's Nest

 On the front it has a cute pocket, inside is this quote you can pull out. Its so sweet! Thanks Mum <3

Winston Churchill quote

Beautifully Simple Shell Shrug

For months, I've been meaning to make a shrug with this lovely white wool acrylic blend with lovely flecks of pink and blue in it, from New Zealand which my mother gave me. It's the perfect colour to go with the dress I wore when I got married, but there were only 4 small balls of it. The design of the shrug would have to make economical use of the small amount of yarn, because I knew I needed something with sleeves down to my elbows so I could wear the dress in cooler months.

beautifully simple shell shrug designed by Teena Sutton Murphy

I put a lot of thought into the design of this shrug. Like I said, I didn't have much yarn to throw around. The amount of yarn I had would determined the length of the sleeves. So I started at the middle of the back, starting in the direction of one sleeve. I started with a chain and a row of sc, then straight into the shell stitch, which is a pretty common stitch, but I was inspired by this photo of a scarf on pinterest.  Using a 5mm hook complimented the yarn and this stitch quite nicely. I also started with the seam at the middle of the back so that the shell stitch would be symmetrical. In the first shrug I made, which followed a pattern I purchased from Lincraft, the lace stitch went in one direction, starting at one wrist and ending at the other, so it wasn't symmetrical. I didn't quite like that, although it was easy to make.

starting at the centre of the back creates symmetrical sleeves

I used up the first two balls of yarn making the section that covers the back from shoulder to shoulder, starting at that middle seam. Then I considered the collar. I knew I wanted a collar, but wasn't sure what a few rows would look like, as I haven't made a shrug like this with a collar before. I couldn't spend too much yarn on the collar though, so opted for just one round of the same shell stitch as the main part, which I think looks quite tidy. I used the 4th ball for one sleeve, and the rest of the 3rd ball for the other, and fooled around with the cuffs for quite a while. In the end, I decided on a slight flair at the cuff, although I did consider a tighter cuff of simple rows of dc. I joined the left over 4th ball to the shorter 3rd. The cuffs are simply three rounds of (3 dc 1 ch 3 dc, dc), when the main shell pattern was (2 dc 1 ch 2 dc, dc). I did try wider flairs but I thought they just looked silly.

collar detail

I used almost all of the yarn, with the tiny bit left I made a new flower and put it on a brooch. I think I'll give it to my mother, she might like it. After all, she did give me the yarn!

Delicate Cable Beanie

I was still looking for a nice beanie to make for my friend Karen, and thought I would try a beanie with a twisted cable design. But the pattern ended up being too bulky I thought, so then I decided to try my own design for a cable beanie using finer 4 ply yarn and a small 3mm hook. After many hours, I finally finished sewing in the ends yesterday morning.

delicate cable beanie by Teena Sutton Murphy

I did not follow anyone's pattern for this hat, I just made it up as I went along. I did a search for cable patterns but I wasn't happy with how they were going and unravelled them, I found it much more satisfying to just give it a go for myself. I like using cables because the starting chain for each row can be hidden behind a cable. I think that's perfect, because the start point bugs me when it obviously shows up. I experimented with twisting the cables, just crossing them over once or meeting them without crossing. I made each row slightly different so it wasn't a predicable pattern. I think that looks better.

delicate cable beanie by Teena Sutton Murphy

I had planned to end with a brim of camel stitch but that wasn't working out, so I did a brim of front posts instead and I think that worked out rather well. This is a one of a kind beanie that I think I will keep for myself. This took many hours to make so I don't think I'll be wanting to make many of these.

White Cotton Card Pocket

I have a bunch of business cards in my wallet that keep falling out, so I made them a pocket to put them in. I've kept my first draft as well!

white cotton business card pocket

When I looked for crochet business cards on google images and pinterest, almost all I saw were very simple pockets made with thick yarn. But I wanted to use a finer cotton. I found one image of a vintage card holder, but that was all I did find. So I made this pattern up, I used the butterfly stitch idea from corchetspot. I didn't read it though, I just looked at the picture as I don't think its a difficult concept.

the card pockets inside my wallet where they belong

The first one I did ended up being the rough draft, which I kept anyway to hold some cards in my wallet. I did that one like a bag, then did the scallops around the edge but then realised I wouldn't be able to do the pillow slip bit at the end. So the second one I did was a rectangle, I made it 22 rows longs, 9 rows for each side, plus an extra 4 rows for the pillow slip type fold to hold the cards in place. To get the cards in and out of the pocket, you simply turn the pillow slip fold inside out.

first draft business card pocket

This was a very quick project I did for myself to make life a little easier. Now my cards won't fall out all over the place any more!

Granny Square Bunny Rug

I made these granny squares from baby yarn so long ago now I'm not sure when it was, it must have been sometime last year. I think the colours are perfect for an Easter themed bunny rug, so I recently joined them together to make this baby blankie!

granny square bunny rug

My mother gave me a large bag full of small balls of baby yarn, in lots of white with some pink, blue and yellow. There was also a tiny bit of purple and variegated yarn. I didn't know what I would do with it all so I started making simple granny squares thinking I would make a large rug. But I've recently decided on another project for the left over baby yarn so I lay the squares out and I had enough to make a 6 x 7 bunny rug. Only 2 squares didn't get used.

detail of corner and joining of granny square bunny rug

These granny square rugs are pretty simple to make, I'm sure you don't need me to explain how to do it! I chose to join the squares with sc, and then edged the finished rug with 3 rounds of sc. I kept the edge plain so as not to distract from the simple squares. I couldn't remember which hook I used for the squares, it might have been the 3.5mm so I used that for the joining and edge.

I like this one, I think I'll use it as a pram or cot rug for my baby boy <3

Fluffy White Bunny Ears Beanie

With Easter less than 2 weeks away, its time to start sharing all my Easter projects for this year, starting with this very cute fluffy white bunny ears beanie!

fluffy white bunny ears beanie

 For the fluffy ears and edge I used  a very fluffy 50/50 wool acrylic blend I got for $1 from the RSPCA op shop, and a 6mm hook. I didn't have enough in the 25g ball to do the whole beanie, so the rest of the hat is made using frost luxury wool from the Bendigo Mill. For that part of the beanie I used a 4mm hook.

To learn how to do the ears, I first did a sample in wool to learn the pattern. It's hard to see what you're doing when working with very fluffy yarn, so I could see the stitches better just using wool. The pattern for the ears came from pattern from an amigurumi pattern at Craft Passion. But for my ears, I added an extra increasing round (round 5, 2 sc, 1 sc in ea next 5 sc, sl st) so there are 5 rounds increasing then 10 more rounds not increasing. This way they are slightly bigger to match the beanie.

practicing making bunny ears

The beanie itself was quite straight forward, it has 6 increasing rounds then 10 more rounds not increasing, then 3 more rounds of the fluffy yarn to create a cute edge. The first round has 16 dc, the second round is (2 dc, dc) repeated.

these ears are not too floppy

I stitched the ears quite firmly to the beanie so they would have a chance to stand up. They looked rather cute on, so I thought I share a photo of Thomas wearing them!

Black and White Striped Tea Towel Topper

This is the last in a series of 3 tea towel toppers I've made for my sister's birthday. It compliments the white tea towel topper and the black tea towel topper I've made which will be in the post to Darwin very soon!

black and white striped tea towel topper

For this tea towel topper, I changed colours to create stripes to match the tea towel. I did not fasten off each colour after each stripe, but left the cotton at the side and picked it up when it was time to change. So I could do that, there are 2 rows of each colour, so I could go back to the side that had the cotton waiting. The white stripes are 2 rows of dc, the black stripes are 2 rows of sc so they are thinner. Other wise the decreasing rows are the same as the black tea towel topper I made. I'm glad I decided to do the sc edge in black, I think it looks better than if I did it in white. Lastly, I chose a pretty grey button that I think compliments the stripes.

Happy Birthday, Sis!
<3 <3

White Tea Towel Topper

white tea towel topper

This is not my first attempt at a tea towel topper, but the first worth sharing! This one I unravelled a couple of times before I was happy enough to leave it.

My sister's birthday is coming up and she's asked me to make her something black and white for her kitchen. I was thinking of making dishcloths, but white dish clothes are not a good idea as the white part will stain and end up looking grubby. I thought I'd make some oven mitt pot holders, but then I realised the acrylic blend cotton I had bought was not suitable, as anything that is exposed to heat like that should be 100% cotton, otherwise it might melt! I finally decided I would give some tea towel toppers a try. The first one I tried a couple of years ago was just a random effort, I did not follow a pattern at all and it wasn't very good.

This time I decided to try a simple tea towel topper pattern at the Lion Brand Yarn site, but after I did it I wasn't happy with that either. It was too gathered and the decreasing stitches were too spread apart. The next morning I went to my craft group, taking Thomas with me which meant I only had a little time to do it before he woke from his nap. While I was there, I unravelled the topper to the 3rd row, and then went on making my own pattern that was not as puckered, changing from a 4mm hook to a 3.5mm to make the stitches closer together. Instead of decreasing every stitch in every row, I did every second stitch in every second row. Every other row was just a normal 1 for 1 row. This made it less buckled up. By the time I got to the strap I realised another lady at the craft group had some vintage tea towel topper patterns, so I found one I liked and just copied the strap part only, it was a pretty fan design. Then I went all the way around with sc to finish it off.

a fan design on the topper strap

I had to change the fan design slightly as I didn't understand the vintage pattern, this is my version of it.
Fan strap design added to work
1. 8 dc, turn.
2. 2 ch, dc, 2 ch sk 1, sc, 2 ch sk 1, dc, dc, turn
3. 4 ch, tr into dc, 5 tr into sc (fan), tr into dc, tr into dc, turn
4. 2 ch, dc, 2 ch, sc into middle tr of fan, 2 ch, dc into tr, dc into tr, turn
5 - 10 repeat row 3 & 4 3 more times

The Lion Brand Yarn pattern said to start the first row as an embroidered chain stitch with needle and thread. I found this method works better for attaching the crochet, rather than trying to crochet straight through the cloth, which I have tried before with minimal success. The problem with this first attempt is it is wonky, not going straight across the middle fold exactly, so next time I will have to draw the line so I can follow it more accurately.

I intend for this to form part of a set of three. Watch this space for more tea towel toppers to come!

Small Cream and Wine Pentagon Lap Rug

I'm not sure how useful this item I finished yesterday will turn out to be, it's very small due to the amount of this wool I had. But it was so nice to make, I had to use it all up to make this small rug. It could be used as a baby rug, or maybe a small lap rug.

star shaped lap rug in cream and wine coloured acrylic

I've known for a while, I'd really prefer to make items using yarn that is locally grown, spun and dyed. This way, you can reduce your carbon footprint - its better for the environment if we use products sourced locally. Before I saw this yarn, any attempt to source something like that was way over priced in my opinion. But I found some assorted blends that were on special in Lincraft, which were from the Wangaratta Mill Shop. This may include synthetic fibres, so they are blended with local wool, but spun locally. I even found a local spinners site that sells drop spindles if I ever buy some raw local fibre.I've already made a beanie for Thomas using a sea green yarn from the same Wangaratta package.

the star lap rug is the perfect size and shape for our rocking chair

This thick yarn has a nice, soft feel and it was a pleasure to make this small rug. But it is a bit small to be very useful, as I only had 3 balls of this type. I used a 7mm hook to make the stitches large and the rug quick to make up.

In other news, I sold my first item on ebay today, my old queen size mattress! We got a new mattress after Thomas was born, and my old mattress has been taking up room and had to go so I started bidding at .50c hoping someone would come and get it, and they did! The experience was a positive one, so I hope to sell a few other things from around the home that need to go. Who knows, maybe I can sell some crochet projects as well?!

Colourful Scrap Rug for a Toddler

This rug started off as a pile of scraps given to me by my mother last year, and is now the second rug like this I've done. I'm hoping it will be a useful rug for Thomas.

I really enjoy making these rugs. The material is not expensive, you can pick it up at op shops or find it in your own craft cupboard, and it's satisfying to turn balls of left over yarn into something that can actually be used. I enjoyed making the first one so much I called it a 'therapy rug'! There's no pattern to the colours, the only rule is whenever I change yarn it's a different colour to the last. It's therapeutic because there is no stress at all about the design, it just comes down to a decision at the moment it's time to pick a new colour.  And the idea of these rugs is to use up all of that left over yarn, that's why there are not finished rows, rather they run into each other like spirals until the yarn runs out. Then I choose a contrasting colour to continue. This way there are no little bits left over at all.  That's why this is much better than making a rug out of small granny squares sewn together. And I find sewing all those squares together at the end very tedious! For this rug, I used a 4.5mm hook, so not too small so it doesn't take too long.

The first thing to do is sort the balls of left over yarn according to size. The very smallest ball of yarn is the one you want to start with, next choose a contrasting colour that looks to be amongst the smallest of the balls left. I've even resorting to weighing the balls on a small kitchen scale! This way you get the spiral effect. I'm rather proud how this one turned out, the pattern is quite nice considering there was little planning in it. It's good to know I have something useful to do with all those annoying left over balls of yarn!

February 2011

It's hard to believe I haven't posted anything for the whole month of February yet, so I better do it now while I have the chance!

It's been wonderful finally having Thomas at home, and David home from work too, so we can play happy families. Thomas has been doing very well, drinking his milk and putting on weight, what a good baby! But David had to go to work today, and I'm now on my own with the baby. He's still sleeping so I've got a chance to post up a couple of photos of things I made that I haven't posted yet.

We bought the bassinet when Tom was in hospital, it was lucky we had a chance to get some things, we also got his cot for when he grows. But the bassinet only came with a frilly quilt not a sheet, and the SIDS guidelines say to remove all the frilly unnecessary stuff. So I made a fitted sheet of my own. I did it very roughly, just hacked at a piece of printed cotton and sewed up the corners. Then I made a pocket around the inside edge, it was very rough with all 4 corners left open. Then I thread some elastic through the pocket with a safety pin. I even forgot I left the safety pin in the pocket and only took it out last night, sewing the two ends of elastic by hand. I was reluctant to use up any more material to make another sheet because Thomas won't be using the bassinet for long. Luckily my mum bought us a couple more.

I made this little white baby beanie when we were 'rooming in' with Thomas in the hospital. I must say the whole experience was very strange. They had us on an overflow ward, and there weren't many people there so they didn't pop in very much. They must have thought we were doing so well they just sent us home early. We were supposed to stay for two nights but only stayed for one. They couldn't find us a single room on the other floor where all the nurses were, and I think they realised it was useless to have me there without David. So far he has been doing all the midnight feeds, and we're not sure how that will work when he is back at work. We were very lucky last night, baby Tom went 7 hours between feeds, so we were able to get some sleep. I think that's pretty good for an 11 week old baby!

Well, thanks for the chat! It's been nice to pop in for a while to make a post. Baby Tom is stirring now and it's time for a feed, so I must go!

EDIT: I just have to add that about an hour after posting this, Thomas had been fed and was happily having some tummy time on a bunny rug on the lounge room floor. For the first time, he rolled over! He gave himself a real fright, bursting out crying. How cute and sweet that he should have a milestone today. I had to ring daddy straight away to tell him the good news so he doesn't miss out on too much.

Three Small Things - blanket, beanie, curly worm

<<< I bought 2m of this warm brown fleece last winter from Lincraft, thinking I could make myself a skirt or wrap dress which I didn't end up doing. So the other day I cut it in half, and then one half was cut in half again to make a 80x80cm square. I then edged it with blanket stitch in a contrasting blue cotton. I didn't do so well when I needed to sew in more thread. I'm sure there is a trick to it, I just don't know it. This is like the material the blankets are made of, and the nurses hospital are using these not crochet rugs which have been donated. But I don't think I'll edge the next one with hand-stitching, I might use my trusty sewing machine instead!

>>> I made up this beanie using the cream yarn from Wangaratta Mill, which is part of the Australian Country Spinners. If I ever sell anything I make, I would prefer to be using locally made yarn, much like this. I used a 4mm hook and the pattern has the ridges at the increases for the 1st 5 rounds. This one has a turned up brim of 3 extra rounds. I call it a "junior fisherman's hat" because the look of it reminds me of the beanies fishermen wear on their boats on cold, early mornings.

<<< This curly worm I made for a mobile I'm working on. Its a common pattern, I found one at Art of Crochet by Teresa. You just make a chain, then trb 4 times in ea ch. For a contrasting colour, I did a second round in red with 2 dc in ea trbl. You can make these into bookmarks, Christmas decorations, cats' toys or anything else you can think of. For this one, I used a 4.5mm hook and it just took me a few minutes, so it's a fun little project to do.

How to make shoes for a flat-footed Barbie

My niece is turning 4 soon, and an order for new shoes for her flat footed Barbie has arrived so I set to work!

a pair of orange sandals for a flat footed Barbie doll

two pairs of shoes for a flat-footed Barbie

These are now the 3rd and 4th pair I've made for flat footed Barbie dolls. The shoes for these flat feet are very hard to find, and when you do find them, they are overpriced. So I make my own, and it's very easy. The first pair of flat-footed shoes I made were these slip on pink shoes which went to Darwin with my niece. The second pair I made were these orange sandals with ankle strap, which were for a flat footed doll I picked up at an op shop for $1. I'm most happy with those ones, they worked out quite well.

To make these doll shoes, I use some recycled black vinyl, I can't even remember where I picked it up from. You sometimes can find this on packaging or old things you might throw away, so keep an eye out for it, you don't need much. Any kind of flexible plastic you can pierce with a needle will do. I trace around the soles of the doll's feet to make a paper template, then trace that with white crayon onto the vinyl, and cut out the soles with sharp scissors. Then I pierce the plastic with the largest needle I have, pushing it all the way through, 3 times each side where the shoes strap will go.

I then use my 1.25mm crochet hook, and push that through the needle holes to make sure they are big enough. Then using fine crochet cotton, the first row is three single stitches (UK dc), then 4 rows of 2 ch 3 dc (UK trbl). The last row is some slip stitches and singles again to attach to the other side. Sometimes I'll add an ankle strap of chain stitches like I did with these red ones. I always put the shoes on before finishing the final stitch to make sure they'll fit. They don't take long to do, especially as I chose not to spend too much time fiddling on these ones.

In the package I'm sending to Darwin, I'm also popping in some doll knickers which I made ages ago using a pattern I found at crochetville. I'm not happy with them, they have ties but I'll pop them in the package none the less.

So I had a go at making my own Barbie doll knickers, they are 'boyleg hipsters' so very easy to make. They simply pull on and sit on the hips, which will be easier for my 4 year old niece to dress her doll.

My own pattern for Barbie doll 'boyleg hipsters'
1. ch 28, sl st to form ring, treble into ea ch (US dc), sl st, do not turn, 28 stitches
2. ch 2, treble into ea treble (US dc), sl st, do not turn, 28 stitches
3. ch 2, treble ea into next 5 treble, turn
4. sl st into next treble, ch 2, treble into next 2 treble, turn
5. ch 2, treble ea in next 2 treble, sl st into 3 trebles on opposite side of ring to form two leg holes
fasten off and turn inside out to hide the seam at the crotch.

Then I just had to make a simple pull on party dress, didn't I?
My own pattern for a pull-on dress for Barbie
* using 3.5mm hook, gauge depends on the yarn and how many stitches it takes to go around the chest, check every few rows to check fit.
1. ch enough ch to go around chest, sl st to form ring, pull on over hips up to chest to check fit, ch 2, trb in ea trb (US dc), sl st in 1st trb, 23 trb
2. ch 2, trb in ea trb, sl st in 1st trb, 23 trb
3 - 8 repeat row 2
9. ch 2, 2 trb in ea trb, sl st in 1st trb, 46 trb
10. ch 2, 2 trb in ea trb, sl st in 1st trb, 92 trb
11. ch 2, 1 trb in ea trb, sl st in 1st trb, 92 trb
12. in bottom of row 1 using contrast yarn, ch 1, dc (US sc)  in bottom of ea trb, sl st in 1st ch, fasten off

Summer Drinks "Frangipani" Coasters

This is the last coaster set I'll do for now. I guess if anyone else wants one, I'll just get some more cotton and make more! But next time I buy cotton, I'll get some red, pink and purple so I can get different colour combinations. Below is a photo of the colours I used for this gift giving season.

It's fun to think of a name, a scene or season to match the colours and vice versa. I have done this last set because these three colours to me say 'frangipani' and I had enough of these colours left over. When I lived in Darwin there were a lot of frangipani trees about. They would loose all their leaves in the dry season, which is the north Australian equivalent of winter, but it really doesn't get very cold at all. Then as the wet season approaches, the trees would become full of flowers and the smell was gorgeous. Most of them were the yellow and white variety, some had a light blush of pink. And very rarely, there was a deep red variety which didn't seem to grow as thick but had the rich fragrance of a rose and was very special. The blue in this set represents the clear blue skies of the Darwin dry season.

I do not recommended this coaster set for red wine drinkers, as it's mostly white and yellow. If you spill red wine on these, soak in cool water immediately. Here are some more tips on how to remove red wine stains from cotton.

Next, to make some Christmas decorations and practice baking some home-made treats to share as gifts!