A Purse for my Mother

My mum liked the crocodile stitch purse I made and asked for me to make her one, so of course I did! And its perfect timing too, because in Australia we celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. This is my very first attempt at lining a crochet bag, and I must say I really enjoyed doing it, it turned out surprisingly well. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing this again for other crochet bags I make!

crocodile stitch purse made with Wangaratta acrylic

Thankyou so much to future girl for showing me how to line a crochet bag. (updated futuregirl craft blog : Tutorial: Sew A Lining Into A Crocheted Bag) She has an excellent tutorial on her blog which explained clearly what I had to do. She has helped me make something really polished for my mum this mother's day. Besides the lining, this small purse is very similar to another one I made. Both use the same variegated acrylic from the Wangaratta Woollen Mill and a 3.5mm hook. I revised how to do the crocodile stitch by watching again the Art of Crochet video by Teresa. I remembered to add 2 ch to make each scale pointy.

detail of pink bag lining, my first attempt

I'm fairly confident my mum will like this! Happy Mother's Day, mum!

Black Beanie with a coloured stripe

This is a large adult sized beanie for my father, as he wanted a new one for the coming winter. The simple brown beanie I made for him two years ago has stretched, it was made with acrylic, this one is with the luxury wool from Bendigo.

large adult size black beanie with white and green stripe

I'm not sure this beanie will not be too big, although I did try it on my dad's head when he was visiting last weekend and my mum said it was the right fit. I suspect this one might be too big! Its what I call a 'large adult' size, with 10 increasing rounds.

I have been starting new rounds on beanies with a sc 2ch after a visit to my craft centre and my crochet teacher suggested it. But that leaves a gap so the seam can be easily seen, which is why I put tails on my monster beanies. But my father was quite adamant that his beanie should not have a tail! So for this beanie I started each round with a sc 1 ch and there is less of a gap.

detail of white and green stripe on a black beanie

For the colour changes at the stripe, I used a new method for invisible seams on Sarah London's blog. I also now sew every end of yarn through with a yarn needle. I've found that when I've used the weave in method the ends poke through after you wash the item. I believe taking a bit more effort and care produces a hand crafted item of high quality. I'd much rather do this than a rush job and be less than happy with the result. But I'm still not entirely happy with the colour changes at the stripe, so its something that I have to keep working on.

Home-grown Herb Satchels

I've read that rosemary and lavender are excellent moth repellent herbs, so I've made some satchels using these herbs from my potted garden. I'm considering slipping these in with woollen things I make.

dried rosemary and lavender with lentils as satchel filling

I pruned my rosemary bushes on Anzac Day, its something you do to remember the horror of war on this traditional day in Australia. I removed the leaves and dried them in our new food dehydrator, which took a couple of days. When they were dry, I pruned my lavender bush and dried the tiny branches the same way, that also took two days. I scrunched up the lavender leaves and sticks with my hands in a bowl, there were no flowers in this pruning. Then I added most of the dried rosemary leaves and a few handfuls of lentils. The lentils give the satchels padding and firmness.

moth repellent herb satchels waiting for pretty crochet slips

I then used my trusty sewing machine to sew up some tiny pouches and put in a scoup of herb mix. I sewed the last seam right up, there's no need to open up these herb pillows again. Next I will crochet some slips to go over them!

How to wash hand-made woollens

Its really important that hand-crafted woollen items are cared for properly. I wash all my garments before giving them to customers so they can wear them straight away.

drying woollen beanies flat on a towel

I recently had to wash a bunch of monster beanies before giving them to customers. First I washed them in luke warm water and Earth Choice wool wash. Then I rinse them in cold water and squeeze them gently. I then lay them on top of a towel on top of my kitchen table and gently ease them into shape. I pinch the ends of the scales and teeth to make them more pointed. I press the double tails together to make them stand up better, and pull the bottom scale of the tail into shape.

I hope the washing instructions are not too tedious for the mothers who have bought these beanie monsters!

Here are the washing instructions that I now write inside my hand-made labels.

O.O.A.K. Monster Beanie
luxury Australian wool from Bendigo Mill, VIC
* gentle hand wash in luke warm water and wool detergent, rinse
* squeeze gently
* dry flat in shade
* ease into shape
* pinch scales and teeth while damp to make them pointed
* do not tumble dry
* do not iron
* do not bleach
www.flushedwithrosycolour.com
<3

Two more Monster Beanies

Here are two more monster beanies I have completed for my little online shop.

child size dark blue monster with blue tail and blue eyes

toddler size green monster with purple tail and dark purple eyes

The dark blue one was made to order and is sold, I wonder if someone will buy the green one?

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!

Blue Hair Bun Net

I quickly made this on Tuesday night because I had an appointment the next day and wasn't happy with my hair and decided I needed to tie it up.I feel like I need to hide my hair until I find time to get to a hairdresser!

a useful blue hair bun net by Teena Sutton Murphy

 For this I used some blue 4 ply cotton my mother gave me and  a 2mm hook. I didn't follow a pattern for this, although I did check google images for ideas. But I didn't really like anything I saw there, so I made up my own.

blue hair bun net

I started with 12 dc into a magic circle, then dc 2 ch into every dc for the second round. The third round is a dc 3 ch into every ch sp, the 4th round is dc 4 ch into every ch sp. Then there are 3 rounds that do not increase, starting with dc 2 ch, dc into next ch sp 2 ch, dc into next dc. The 8th round starts to decrease with dc 4 ch, sk dc, dc into next dc. The 9th round is sl st dc 3 ch, into next ch sp. Finally the last round is when I attached the elastic hair tie by doing 3 sc into every ch sp around the hair tie.

detail of blue hair bun net

I'm quite pleased how dainty this turned out, I haven't worn one of these since I was a girl, I hope it doesn't look silly! At least I can hide my hair until I get a chance to get to a hairdresser!

Blue Easter Jacket

When I finished the Autumn Cardigan last week and tried it on Thomas, I realised it needed a simple tie to keep it on.

a tie is added to a blue winter sleeping jacket

A tie is perfect for a sleeping jacket as there is no button to dig into the skin. So I also added a tie to the blue Easter jacket I made for our Easter visit to Stanthorpe, which is a lot colder place than here. The tie is a chain of 35 then sc back the other way, and securely fastened into the edge. I put the tie down the front the same width as the neck. This blue jacket is made out of 8 ply, while the Autumn cardigan is made out of 4 ply, so this thicker one is to be worn during the coldest season.

Just in time for winter, perfect!

Yellow edged Handkerchief

Thomas and I have been really sick with flu for the last month, David also got it but not as bad as he's had the vaccine. Next time I'm at the G.P. I'll be getting a flu vaccine, having the flu with a sick baby is Not Fun!

I'd misplaced this handkerchief and thought it had been thrown out because it's white, it might have been mistaken for a tissue. When I found it yesterday I decided to have a go at edging it so it will be less easy to loose. I used the petal edge pattern on page 87 of "Crocheting on the edge" by Nicky Epstein, and a 1.5mm hook and yellow cotton my mother gave me. For the 1st round I used my .75mm hook, I took one evening and a bit of a morning to complete this.

I'm not really thrilled with how it turned out, but I don't have a lot of time for something as frivolous as this, so this will have to do! I think it came out tight perhaps because my tension didn't match the gauge. It was a good exercise none the less, to learn something new. But next time I edge a handkerchief, I think I will try a more simple stitch.

Frog and Lion Faces

I'm fooling around with some ideas for kids, and came up with some animal appliqués. I'm wondering if they will look fun on a pair of socks or slippers?

lion and frog face appliqués

These were pretty easy, I just started with 12 dc in a magic circle, then a 2nd round of 24 dc. After that its easy to add ears. For the lions, I changed colour and added 5 ch behind every dc to form the mane. For the lion eyes and frog smile I crochet sl st in white. The frog eyes are a round of 12 dc. Finally I finished these with some embroidered black cotton. I'm thinking I need some embroidery lessons, as I need to get better at that!

I'm not quite sure what I'll use these for, but I suspect they may come in handy at some point!