Rainbow Poncho

This is my first bit of crochet in a while since life has been pretty busy...

Tilly asked for a poncho like her sister's (which had been given to her from a cousin) so I decided to try making one. I have some rainbow colours left from making the unicorn, and she loves everything rainbow. 

I made this one up as I went along, it was pretty easy. It starts with a ribbed cuff for the top by doing rows of 8, alternating between normal single crochet for one row then single crochet on the back loop for the next row. 

Then it was double crochet around the edge of the cuff.  Each additional row I increased once in the front and once in the back where the "point" appears. The increase alternated between 3 stitches in the middle of the increase on the previous row, then on the next row 2 stitches in each of the 2 spaces if the last row's increasing triplet. 

Finally tie on tassels using a lark's head knot. 

She loves it, it was super easy and pretty quick (3 evenings) and we all love it. Her sister is even a bit jealous and has already said she wants her own rainbow one. 

Beginner's Guide to Crochet

I've put together this beginner's guide to crochet.  If anyone would like this pdf emailed to them, just ask :)

Long Basket Weave Scarf

This scarf was for my sister.  She had requested a long one, so this one, in it's finished state was 9ft long :D and will probably stretch over time too!

I used the basket weave stitch because I really like the chunky pattern it creates.  I also used a darker purple to finish the ends of the scarf and make little pockets for a bit of added fun detail.

And yes, I'm wearing shorts and T-shirt whilst modeling a warm wooly scarf, it's all the rage now, didn't you know? :D I live in NZ and my sister is in the UK, so my summer is her winter.

Rainbow Unicorn

This is from a book I got from the library: Amigurumi Toy Box by Ana Paula Rimoli

As soon as I saw this unicorn I knew I had to give it a go!  And I actually followed the pattern... well, mostly!!  (You can buy the pattern here) I found the body to be quite small, so after making all the parts I decided the rip the body back to the increasing section and do one more increasing row.  That tweaked it enough to be just what I wanted.  The other slight change was just a minor one for the mane.  I hate the sewing parts of making things, just takes too long for my liking.  So instead of making each chain and then sewing it on, I made a chain of 8 in white and then started each chain of coloured hair in one of the chain loops, doubling up as I went along.  Then I had a sort of hair piece at the end to just sew onto the head.  I also did the horn in pink (instead of yellow) 'cos I felt it matched better.  And picked my own colours and order of them for the mane.  Oh, and made each nostril with one round of 6sc instead of just cut out felt.  Sounds like a lot of tinkering with the original pattern, but it really wasn't much this time.

This little cutie will be winging it's way to my niece very soon.

Funky Baby Booties

I've been doing crochet properly for about a year and a half now (I say properly because I actually did it a little as a teenager, but only granny squares...actually that probably deserves another post, the story of how I got involved in crochet now, anyway, I digress...) and a lot of people seem to start off on things like booties.  I've not really had any desire to do them before, but needed to make up a quick baby shower present and after a bit of googling looking for inspiration I came up with these.

And I love them!  If I do say so myself.... They came together fairly easily and don't look like your grandmother's crochet, if you know what I mean :)  It's hard to tell the size here, but they're sized for 0-3 months.  Would be pretty easy to make them bigger though, and also the straps can unbutton to pull a bit tighter if you have a teeny skinny little bub.

I've already had a request to make another pair :)

A little birdy

This was one of those projects where I saw the yarn in the hobby shop and it made me want to do something with it.  It's all pinks and purples and soft fluff.  Gorgeous.  Begging to be made into a little bird toy.  This one is pretty diddy and fits in the palm of your hand.  I made it for my niece.

I put all the children's toys and things I make through the 'taste test' with my own kids first.  If they keep trying to sneak off with it while I'm trying to make it, I know I'm on to a winner :D And this little birdy kept pulling all my 3 monkeys to it, wanting to hold and snuggle it.

Cupcake

I have done a few versions of the cupcake, this was the 2nd one I think.  I quite like it, but still trying to tinker with how to do the frosting, it's not quite how I'd like it yet.