Granny Love
December 24, 2012 § 4 Comments
The humble granny square is one of the thing that first drew me to crochet and made me want to learn, yet in all my years of crocheting I hadn’t actually made anything with granny squares. Part of the reason for this is that blankets (even small ones) scare me, it’s such a huge, time consuming commitment. I always thought “what if I stuff it up? What if I the colours aren’t quite how I imagined them? All that work and love for nothing”. My little boy is due in only 3 months so I thought that this would be the perfect time to get over my commitment phobia, after all once he is here I won’t have the time to do such a project for quite some time.
So here it is! My first official granny square blanket, it’s small but I did it!
A good tutorial for the basic granny square can be found here.
Flower Girl Collar
December 8, 2012 § 14 Comments
I made the dark grey one first by starting with a 56 ch and adding an extra row between R3 and R4. Unfortunately It was a little bit big for my daughter so I made the light grey one which fits her much better. I would recommend this one for a 2 -3 year old. If you wish to adjust the size simply start with fewer or more chains.
ABBREVIATIONS
Ch: Chain
HDC: Half Double Crochet
st(s): Stitche(s)
DC: Double Crochet
sl st: Slip Stitch
hk: Hook
This pattern uses American terminology.
COLLAR
Hook: 4mm
Yarn: Sport / 5 ply – I used Sullivans Coton-a
Ch 52
R1: HDC in 2nd Ch from hook and in each to end. Ch 2 and turn.
R2: HDC in next 2 sts. 2 HDC in St *HDC in next 3sts, 2 HDC in next sts* Repeat to end. Ch 2 and turn
R3: HDC in next 3 sts. 2 HDC in ST *HDC in next 4 sts, 2 HDC in next sts* Repeat to end. Ch 1 and turn.
R4: Skip next 3 sts. 5DC in next st. DC in next st. 2 DC in next st. *DC in next 5sts,. 2 DC in nex st* Repeat until you have 5 sts left. 5DC in next st. ch 1. Skip 3sts sl st in last st.
If you wish finish off by SC all around the edge of the collar, Don’t forget to add extra SCs for the corners. (I didn’t do this bit because I’m too impatient)
Cast off. Weave in ends.
LARGE FLOWER (Blue and Fuchsia)
Hook: 2.5mm
Yarn: I used embroidery cotton – it’s good if you don’t want to buy a whole ball of yarn for one flower plus there are a wide variety of colours available.
Ch 4 and sl st to first ch to form a ring ( I left a long tail to stitch the flower to the collar)
R1: 10 SC in the ring. Join to first SC with a sl st. (change colours here if you wish)
R2: *ch 10 and sl st in same st. ch 10 and sl st in same st* Repeat in all remaining 9 SC (giving you 20 10 ch loops). sl st in first SC.
Cast off.
LEAVES
Hook: 2mm or 1.5mm for smaller leaves.
Yarn: Embroidery Cotton
I almost always use this pattern I found from Easy Makes Me Happy for my leaves. It’s the best one I’ve found so far, it’s quick, simple and gives a nice shape.
Ch 7 ( I left a long tail to stitch the leaf to the collar)
R1: SC in 2nd ch from hk, HDC in next ch. DC in next 3 chs. Work (2 HDC. ch 2. SC in 2nd ch from hk, 2 HDC) in last ch. Now working on opposite side of foundation chain. DC in next 3 chs. HDC in next ch. SC in last ch. Join with sl st into first SC.
Cast off.
SMALL FLOWER (Yellow and Light Pink)
Hook: 2mm
Yarn: Embroidery Cotton
Ch 4 and sl st to first ch to form a ring ( I left a long tail to stitch the flower to the collar)
R1: 10 SC in the ring. Join to first SC with a sl st. (change colours here if you wish)
R2: * Ch 2. 1 DC in next st. 1 HDC in same st. sl st into next st* Repeat to end – You should have 5 petals.
Cast off.
TIES
I simply attached some embroidery cotton to the corner of the collar and chained 70 with a 2mm hook. You could attach pom-poms or tassels or just use ribbon instead – the possibilities are endless!
If you have photos you’d wish to share of anything you’ve created using one or more of my patterns I’d LOVE to see them!
Email me: crochetlatte[at]yahoo[dot]com[dot]au
or upload to the Crochetlatte Flickr group
New Pattern
December 7, 2012 § 3 Comments
Before I start with the patterns for boys I want to share a pattern for this crocheted collar I made for my daughter. I’m still putting the finishing touches on it but I should be up within the next few days.
Hoat Cangers
December 5, 2012 § 2 Comments
This is more than a little embarrassing to admit but for the longest time I thought that coat hangers were actually pronounced ‘hoat cangers’. It’s a mistake I made as a small child and never really thought about untill…… well, quite a bit later. In my defense I’m extremely dyslexic and this is not the first, or indeed the most embarrassing mix-up I’ve ever made. Anyway, this lovely project from Dottie Angel has been on my to-do list for a very, very long time but I’ve always had bigger, ‘more important’ projects to finish. The other night I wanted a quick project that was straight forward, pretty and that didn’t involve any altering. Immediately this pattern sprang to mind, I didn’t even need to choose my own colours. I made 3 of these in around 2 hours (at a very relaxed pace). The only problem is that I like them so much I can’t bring myself to put them back in the closet but I have no room or wall space for them anywhere else. Time to get a bigger house – I can dream.
Pattern can be found here.
In Other News
December 3, 2012 § 5 Comments
Firstly….
I had my 20week ultrasound the other day. Having convinced myself that the baby was a little girl I was surprised to find out that in fact…..
The same day I went out to buy something boyish and I have to say that I was more than a little disappointed in the range of boys clothing available. I came to the conclusion that if I wanted something I liked I would either have to spend thousands of dollar at boutique European online shops or I’d have to make something myself. With a little trepidation I picked up my crochet hook for the first time in over 3 months (the morning sickness is still lingering and I find the motion of crocheting makes it worse). I found this free crochet pattern via Pintrest and decided to give it a go:
Oh how I’d forgotten how much I LOVE crochet. Sometimes I get too caught up in the end result and I forget how much I enjoy the actual process of making. There is nothing more satisfying than making something with your bare hands.
I found the bunny rabbit image on the internet and printed it onto transfer paper and ironed it onto the little onesie. God bless Creative Commons.
I altered the original pattern somewhat but you can find my project notes on Raverly here.
To celebrate I’m also working on a few baby boy patterns like this knit-look pixie bonnet so stay tuned…
Apologies
September 20, 2012 § 7 Comments
OK, so I haven’t posted in a while. Not because of lack of inspiration or laziness or because I had nothing to show – although all of these are true to some extent. The main culprit is this little munchkin:
I thought I knew morning sickness, I had it with my first – I was wrong. But now I’m 12 weeks and on the home stretch (please god, please god, please) so hopefully I will be back in action within the next week or two.
