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!

Beginning to Spiral

I've wondered for what seems ages if you could spiral crochet, then months and months ago I saw a spiral on crochet spot. I recently started a spiral bunny rug and am in the process of finalising my own pattern.

my first crochet spiral incomplete

Last week when I was ready to start a spiral I looked on pinterest for some saved images of spirals.  The most useful one I found was at sew ritzy titzy. Pictures of crochet spirals at another site were also helpful, but it was in another language, which is ok for me as I usually just look at the pictures! Still another useful one I found was also in another language.

closeup of crochet spiral

I started one and got quite a way into it when I decided that I should leave a marker in my work at every increase, like a ch 1 sp. This way I wouldn't have to count every stitch, and as the rug gets bigger this becomes more and more tedious.

I have started a 2nd spiral, this time with the ch 1 sp, but I'm not quite happy with it. Yet another W.I.P. to keep practising on!

Toddler's Autumn Cardigan

Its Autumn here in Australia at the moment, so its perfect timing to finish this cardigan that has been a work in progress for quite a long time! This cardigan is so very special to me, because I started the granny squares while I was in hospital after my son was born.

Autumn Cardigan

I was so very sick when Thomas was born, which is why he had to come 9 weeks early. He was in the baby nursery for nearly 8 weeks, and I was in hospital for 2 weeks. I chose this beautiful 4 ply baby yarn when I was pregnant before I knew I was having a boy. I now wish I chose dark blue instead of the orange, but at the time I thought these colours would be good for either a girl or boy, but now I don't like the orange.

Autumn Cardigan

I wanted to crochet when I was in hospital but couldn't do anything too complicated as it was too hard for me to concentrate. My husband brought in some yarn from home and I chose the most expensive yarn I have bought which I was saving for a nice cardigan. But when I was sick I simply started making granny squares thinking I would make a rug! Some of the granny squares are not even simple granny squares like most of them are. Some squares start with an attempt at a circle but I didn't know how to do them properly at that stage so the circles are wonky! I did do some strange things when I was sick.

the granny squares I made while I was sick in hospital

As summer was drawing to a close and the promises of a chill in the air could be felt, I went back to these granny squares. The thought of this very expensive yarn going to waste bothered me. I didn't want to waste it in another bunny rug, the yarn is so soft it should be worn. Thomas did need a cardigan, so I started increasing the rounds on some of the squares so they were all one of two sizes. I started to plan how I would put the squares into a granny square jacket. It was all I could do with these squares.

Doing a spot of autumn gardening

 I ran out of yarn towards the end and started unravelling a few of the tiny ones that were left over. I only just had enough to make this cardigan, but was determined not to buy any more of this wool. Its more than twice the price of the Australian wool I now buy from Bendigo in Victoria. With this 4 ply baby wool I used a 3.5mm hook.

checking out the baby cherry tomatoes

This cardigan took me a long time to finish, even though in the end the design is very simple and straight forward. I learnt a lot from making this one. I've now decided the best way to join granny squares is with a yarn needle to create an invisible join. I now also join yarn using a Russian join instead of knotting. These methods reduce the ends eventually showing through after wash and wear. And because I've made it for my own son I'll be able to see first hand how it wears. I expect the joins I made with these new methods will persevere longer than the old knotting and weaving methods I used to use.

"Hello" from Thomas

All in all I'm relieved and pleased how this turned out. This has been bothering me for quite a while, and I thought I would just have to end up making something not very good with the squares I started when I was sick. In the end, its turned out rather nice after all. Thomas seems happy with 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!

Monster Beanies with double tails

The first orders for my online shop have been for monster beanies, so last week I was hard at work making a bunch. I plan to make each one of my monster beanies unique, no two will be the same.

baby sized green monster beanie with green tail and purple eyes

The double tails are my own design. I first came up with the idea to hide the seam along the back of the hat which was bugging me. Then I realised the single tail wasn't symmetrical so I mirrored it to come up with the double tail design. I hope to find the time soon to write the pattern down, and perhaps try selling it on craftsy and ravelry.

toddler sized purple monster beanie with purple tail and red eyes

child sized red monster beanie with red tail and blue eyes

The first 3 monster beanies are for my mother in law. I won't be charging her for those though, as she and her husband give us so much and I'm happy to make them for her. Every time we visit them, they give us a box of fresh veggies from the garden, including heaps of tomatoes, and beautiful home-made pickles which I love. Grandpa has even promised to make Thomas a little table with chairs! I can't wait, because I just love the wooden blocks and train he made for Christmas.

Pink Butterfly Birthday Card

pink butterfly birthday card

pink butterflies envelop

I really liked this beautiful pink butterfly card my mum made.

It has a special message inside "the world got a present the day you were born", I think its so sweet. On the front is the message "the time to be happy is now, the place to be happy is here", so true!

This card comes with a lovely matching envelop that is embellished with pink butterflies. Perfect for a special little girl on her first birthday!

Please check out all the pretty pinks at my favourite blog party Pink Saturday hosted by How Sweet the Sound!

No crochet from me today, but there are some excellent examples of crochet at today's Pink Saturday party, so check them out!

A gorgeous pink crochet tea cup and saucer @ Her Resplendent Lair
A finished granny square rug and African flowers @ Howling at the moon
Linen edged with some lovely pink crochet @ Protector of Vintage
How to fold crochet doilies with napkins for a pretty table scaping effect @ Nancy's Daily Dish
<3 <3 <3

I finally did it!

After a lot of encouragement, I've finally taken the leap and opened a modest online store to sell some of my crochet items.

the cover photo for my new online shop on Facebook

I was tossing up whether or not to make an Etsy store, and to also try selling on ebay, but I've decided the best way for me is to simply go with a facebook page because so far all my customers are friends and family. Facebook seems like the most sensible option, and there are no fees involved. I've seen others sell crochet this way, so maybe I can too?

For the last 2 years I've been making crochet items to give to family members for birthdays and Christmas presents. Some people have asked for more and have offered to pay. I've been very nervous about accepting these offers for work, as my anxiety is holding me back. I worry that someone might be very unhappy with my work once they pay for it. Giving crochet as gifts has been a very safe option for me.

So (gulp) here goes a try at making some work for myself. Wish me luck, please <3

Another Green Basket

This was made with the same yarn as the first basket I did, but the bottom circle was different so its sides are straighter.

2nd green basket

The bottom circle starts with a round of 6 sc, followed by a second round of 12 sc. Although it has 8 rounds, 2 more than the other basket, it should have end up larger but it didn't. I think that might be because the first basket has a bottom circle that is not flat, instead it is a bit hyperbolic because it started with too many stitches. For this one, I used the same 3 strands of acrylic as the last basket, white, aqua and dark green, and a 7mm hook.

This basket might come in handy holding socks for Thomas. They have been turning out to be hard to find in a hurry!

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!

Mottled Green Acrylic Basket

I was inspired by a photo I saw of a basket made from yarn, so I made one myself this morning!

crochet basket made with acrylic yarn

The photo I saw was on a blog called Crochet in Color, I know she spelt colour wrong, didn't she? (lol, just kidding, we spell it differently in Australia). She suggested 3 to 4 pieces of yarn held together and a 7 or 8mm hook. As suggested by Liz, I spiralled up the sides instead of sl st each row, so there is no seam to see. I also crochet the last round of the base so that the loops show on the outside, as suggested.

mottled green crochet basket

I used a 7mm hook and 3 yarns held together to make this basket. I used white, dark green and aqua acrylic my mother-in-law gave me at Easter. I really like how the colours came together like this. I found this a lot easier than making a basket out of plarn, which I have tried. That's quite hard on your hands. This is too, but not as much. I also found using T-yarn hard on your hands. I think I'd must rather make baskets out of acrylic if I have enough to use, like this great stash I scored from my MIL.

handle detail of green basket

This basket will become my 'indulge' basket on my dresser. You probably know what's like with a small child, you just don't get a moment spare for yourself. I had to go through my dresser yesterday to make room for a vaporiser as we're all really sick with flu at the moment. I realised I have a bunch of beauty treatments that I'm not using, so they will go into this nice basket. When I get a moment to myself, I hope to quickly grab something and slap it on!