Rainbow Ripple Rug

This is, without doubt, the longest running project I've had and it has been an absolute joy to work on. Part of me couldn't wait for it to be finished but at the same time, I didn't want it to be over.

I can't quite believe I made it, sometimes I will just stop, spread it out and admire the pretty colours. I wish I'd made it a little wider but my partner suggested that I do a large border to make it the width I want.  This rug was only meant to be a square, as something that protected the lounge from my tootsies.  We have an L-shaped lounge that is awesome for gaming that my brother gave us when we moved house.  Guess where I sit?

 

As you can see the rug grew into something much bigger than a square and I'm a bit in love with it!

The basis for this rug came from Lucy at Attic 24. Her blog is a riot of colour and I find it a soothing place to spend time ogling the colours and her enthusiasm for all things hooky.  There is a sense of love from her blog, she really invites you in *shrug* I can't really explain it.

I ran out of yarn when I only had one block of 7 ripples to go and the red is not the same shade as the one that has been used for the majority of the blanket.  This annoys me.  Lesson learned: make sure you buy enough yarn from the same dye lot!  Not to worry, this blanket is for me and won't be for sale.  The border gave me a bit of grief but I think for a first attempt at a blanket, I did pretty dang good!  The difference between border and no border is amazing, it looks so much better with one I think.

Blocking this sucker was...interesting as I don't have a floor space large enough that can be protected from my doggy's fur and feet.  I chucked it in the machine with some other washing to make it easier to block and get rid of the slightly chemical smell that the yarn had.  Necessity is the mother of invention since I don't have a blocking board so I got some extra large towels and put them outside in the sun on the front deck and pinned the blanket to them.  It wasn't perfect by a long shot but it did the job well enough.  I think for the next blanket I make, I'll get some styrofoam to stab the pins into.  One layer of towels is a bit tenuous!  Since it was a pretty warm day yesterday, it didn't take long to dry and I think the heat actually killed the acrylic a little and now the blanket has a lovely drape.

I do believe that is enough banging on so without further ado, photo's!

Much chocolate was consumed in the making of this rug.

This is post-blocking.  Looks much better!

The last two pics show my favourite spot in our back yard under a big Camphor Laurel tree.  I sit out there quite a bit and crochet, drink too much wine and plot my woolly world domination.

I'd love some feedback lovelies!

P.S. For my fellow hookers, I used a 5mm hook and 8ply DK acrylic yarn.

#widn

Even though its going to be hot for another couple of months, I've started my next scarf.  I'm pretty sure I won't be selling it, although if there is any interest I just might!  This is my progress so far, I started it last night and have done another 2 rows this morning.

I bought 2 skeins of yarn for this project thinking it would be enough but I'm not sure it will be, so I'm going back to get more as soon I can get myself organised to get out the door.

P.S. The pattern can be found here.

Rainbows and other pretty's

Turns out I like rainbows.  Well, who doesn't right?  What I mean is that I like the colour graduation and frankly, I just like lots of colour so these gorgeous iPhone covers are the latest things to fall off my hook.  I like them so much I'm going to make one for myself.  The ones you see here are for sale through my Etsy store if you want to pick one up! (After 7pm AEST 23/1/13)

They suit iPhone's 3 and 4 that don't have a case on them.  I have a screen protector on mine (iPhone 4) and use a cosy to keep my phone safe from dings and whatnot.  I will be making some slightly larger cosy's to accommodate a case as well in the near future.

I couldn't find a star pattern that quite suited my needs so I wrote a very simple one.   The flower was an unfinished project from something else, but I like how it looked with the cosy so it all of a sudden went from and unfinished object (UFO) to a finished one.

Ryno Rhinoceros

Say hello to my latest addition!

He has been about a month in the making from conception to photo shoot.  I've written the pattern for him, but haven't typed it up yet and made it all pretty with photo's and what not.

I'm very new to pattern writing so I tend to write it as I'm hooking it to make sure it works.  However if someone would like to test the pattern for me I'd really appreciate it!  Anyway enough of my inane drivel, may I present to you Ryno Rhinoceros!!!

Love him or hate him, it would totally rock my socks (if I were wearing any) to have some feedback!

African Flower Owl Hotpad

I've had the idea for this floating around for a while and finally got around to it last week.  Hope you enjoy it, it works up very quickly!

The link for this colourful kitchen addition can be found here or on my patterns page.

Sailor Ted

Isn't he gorgeous?  I'm so proud with my self for managing to get the vision that was in my head onto my hook.

Again, big thanks to Rachel H of Little Yarn Friends for making her pattern free and available to all.

Teddy

My latest effort.  Big thanks to Rachel at Little Yarn Friends for being so kind as to make her patterns free.

The golden coloured yarn for this little guy was incredibly soft, weird since his jumper colour was the same brand, ply and 100% acrylic  Funny how much variation can be in the one brand!  Anyway I'm really happy with how he turned out and he now resides in my spare room for my guests to cuddle up with.

Cupcake Pattern

Who doesn't like cupcakes?  This pattern is an adaptation of a few patterns made into my own.  I'm not terribly happy with how the icing ended up so pointy but that just means I get to make another one a different way :)

Shonamigurumi Cupcake

There are many cupcake patterns out there and this is an adaptation of a few that I like. Check out Bethan David's pattern for my main inspiration. I have, however, changed the icing structure and used a different amount of stitches for the cake base and Back Loops Only for ribbing.

US crochet terms are used throughout this pattern and gauge is not important, just keep your stitches tight so stuffing doesn't show through.

 Stitches used:

• Chain
• Single Crochet
• Slip stitch
• Magic Ring
• Single Crochet Back Loop Only
• Single Crochet Increase
• Single Crochet Decrease

You will need:

• 3.5mm hook
• 3mm hook
• Scissors
• Stuffing
• Stitch Marker (whether you put this in first or last stitch doesn't matter, whatever works for you)
• Tapestry needle
• Cake coloured yarn
• Icing colour yarn of your choice
• Red yarn for cherry
• Single strand sewing thread

Abbreviations:

• MR – Magic Ring
• Ch – chain
• sc – single crochet
• sl st – slip stitch
• 2sc – 2 single crochet in one stitch (increase)
• sc2tog – Single crochet 2 stitches together (decrease)
• BLO – back loop only
• rep – repeat

CUPCAKE BASE

Rnd 1. MR, 5 sc in ring, pull tight to close (5)

Rnd 2. 2sc each st (10)

Rnd 3. *2sc next st, sc next st; rep from * around (15)

Rnd 4. *2sc next st, sc next 2 st; rep from * around (20)

Rnd 5. *2sc next st, sc next 3 st; rep from * around (25)

Rnd 6. *2sc next st, sc next 4 st; rep from * around (30)

Rnd 7. sc BLO around (30), sl st next st.

Now we will be making the paper ribbed and will be working in ROWS not rounds.

*This may be confusing so contact me if you need to and I will try and talk you through it.*

The important thing here is to make sure you do the slip stitch at the beginning AND end of each row so there will be 2 slip stitches next to each other.

Row 8. Ch 8, sc BLO 2nd ch from hook, sc to end in BLO, sl st next st (this is the base of the cake)(7)

*the slip stitches do not count as a stitch*

Row 9. sl st in next st, TURN, sc BLO (7)

Row 10. ch1, turn, sc BLO to end, sl st (7)

Repeat Rows 9 & 10 until they meet up and join by sewing or slip stitching them together. Finish off. The cupcake base is now finished.

ICING

Work back loops only.

Grab your Icing yarn and your single sewing thread and crochet the 2 strands together.

Rnd 1. MR, 5sc in ring, pull tight to close (5)

Rnd 2. sc each st (10)

Rnd 3. *2sc, sc next st; rep from * around (15)

Rnd 4. sc ea st (15)

Rnd 5. *2sc, sc next 2 st; rep from * around (20)

Rnd 6. sc around (20)

Rnd 7. *2sc, sc next 3 st; rep from * around (25)

Rnd 8. sc around (25)

Rnd 9. *2sc, sc next 4 st; rep from * around (30)

Rnd 10. sc around (30)

Rnd 11. *2sc, sc next 5 st; rep from * around (35)

Rnd 12. *3sc next st, sl st next st; rep from * around and FO.

Leave a long tail for sewing onto base.

CHERRY

Using 3mm hook

Rnd 1. MR, 5 st in ring, pull tight to close (5)

Rnd 2. 2sc each st (10)

Rnd 3. sc each st (10)

Rnd 4. sc each st (10)

Rnd 5. *sc2tog; rep from * around (5)

Stuff.

Cut yarn leaving a long tail.

Weave yarn through FLO of each stitch inserting needle from back to front and pull tight to close, thread leftover yarn through the centre of the cherry to other side to create stem.

ASSEMBLY

Attach cherry to icing by sewing or gluing.

Sew Icing to cupcake base ¾ around, stuff firmly, finish sewing and admire your handiwork!

©2012 This pattern is an original pattern by Shona T of Shonamigurumi. Please do not claim this pattern as your own. If you would like to share this pattern, you may link to this pattern but do not reprint it on your site. You may keep a copy for your own personal use but you cannot sell or distribute it. I am more than happy for you to sell items made from this pattern but please credit and let me know. Cheers!

Bookmarks

I am an avid reader and have more books than will fit on the shelves at home, so invariably, I end up with piles of books next to the bed and pretty much anywhere else I read.  For many years I have folded over the corner of the page I was up to, before putting a book down (or more likely falling asleep with it in my hand and being woken with a fright by my partner THEN folding the page).  I learned how to make 2-dimensional things like flowers and stars so I made a few very simple book marks.

You need your favourite hook (mine is 3.5mm), yarn, scissors and tapestry needle.

Make a chain to your desired length, finish off, leaving a length for attaching to the top piece.

Make a flower or star or whatever you like really and attach it to your chain with the tapestry needle.  I added a bead to the end of mine but getting them to stay on was/is a work in progress. I don't want a big knot at the base because I find it a bit uggs, but haven't come up with a better plan yet.

Buggin'....

Ladybug was made at the request of one of my Facebook liker's.  After I made one, I quickly had requests for another 2 which was really exciting! The pattern for these gorgeous girls come from the Lion Brand Yarn site.  They have tonnes of patterns for knitters and hookers (teeheehee, I've always wanted to use that term!) alike.  Mine are a little different to the ones on their page but very cute nonetheless!

Phone Cover Cozy

These phone covers are just so simple: a chain, single crochet around and around until it's the height you want and slip stitch the top row to finish.  The rainbow one I just did single crochet until I got it to the height I wanted, then chained one, turned and continued like this to create the length of the flap and added a button to close it.  The inspiration for these came from here.  It's a fabulous site =)

Tawashi

Dish scrubbies! Again it's Japanese like amigurumi. This one was soooo simple and a good way to learn how to increase stitches.  I made two yellow circles, 2 white circles and 2 blue circles for the eyes, sewed them onto one yellow circle then whip stitched the 2 yellow circles together.  My partner's mum has a fascination for smiley faces so this one went to her. It was subsequently nicked out of her car when she did the Variety Bash earlier this year.  I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry!  Of all the things that could get stolen, this was it!

Baby Monsters

After finishing Joggle, I really began to crochet in earnest.  Baby monsters came next.  The pattern for these cutie pie's can be found here.  It has awesome step-by-step instructions.

Joggle

Joggle is the very first amigurumi that I made.  Ever.  It took me all day.  There was much huffing and throwing of yarn and the hook in frustration when I didn't get things right.  In the end I was so proud of what I made...and he's inside out.  But ever so cute!!