crochet bath mat & loopy neck wrap....

 I made this little bath mat this week

using my Calico Crochet Rug Pattern

This time I made it with some pre made

t'shirt yarn (also known as tarn)

This one measures 61cm in diam

and weighs approx 1420gms.

I used All Purpose Household Tie (see picture below)

almost 8 balls and a size 12mm hook.

You can find my pattern HERE on my blog

and the Ravelry Project page HERE

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After I made the bath mat I had a little of the yarn left

so I looped it to the size I wanted and wrapped the end around and stitched it in place to create this loopy neck wrap....an easy and fun piece to make and wear!

 just make sure that you hand stitch

through all of the layers when you sew the wrapped section.

and you can make them any length and number of wraps you like!

Below is a picture of the yarn I used

of course you could make your own tarn, there are many youtube video's on making t'shirt yarn or tarn...but I was quite chuffed when I found this at my local Spotlight store...they did have a very limited colour range and hopefully they will get some more colours in.

I'm quite confident it would take on a dye if you wanted to experiment!

 There is no mention of what the fibre content is, but I ironed the rug when finished (best way to block a crocheted floor rug/mat) I found that it handled a med temp iron quite well, so I think there is a large proportion of cotton in the fibre.

The yarn was very good to work with and soft on the hands.
It should be a strong durable bath mat and I will be washing it regularly in my washing machine.

I hope you are having a creative day

~ Gillian ♥

little owl bookmark....

 I hooked this sweet little owl for my little miss this week,

to keep her company while she reads :)

The pattern comes from the Panda Vintage Crochet book #228

as you can see below the original pattern is for a beautiful necklace,

but I thought it would make an equally cute bookmark.

 I've been enjoying this book by Panda

it is the same one I made the

Square motif crochet button scarf from.

and the yarn is the same also, 

I only needed a tiny bit of the left over to make this little owl. 

I used Panda Cotton blend 8ply & 3mm hook.

 

Have a lovely day

~ Gillian ♥

square motif crochet buttoned scarf...

 I finished off this buttoned scarf last week,

I was just waiting for a moment to photograph it.

I'm quite happy with how it came out :)

 I love how versatile it is,

simply by adding some lovely vintage buttons

and hooking a row of button holes.

 It is lovely and long

measuring approx 15cm x 180cm

As you can see below the original pattern was slightly different with a sweet bobble fringe, but being a practical person I was sure I would get frustrated wearing a scarf with a fringe like that so decided to make a few slight changes.

 Below is a picture of the Panda book

Crochet modern vintage

that the pattern was found in.

It is full of GORGEOUS crochet designs,

and well grabbing a copy if you can!

I used Panda Cotton Blend 8ply (as per pattern) & 4mm hook.

 

If you cant find this lovely Panda book

the square motif is almost identical

 to the block

Circle in a Square #13

in Jan Eaton's book

200 crochet blocks

 

I hope you are having a delightful day

~ Gillian ♥



would you like a jelly baby?......

 yay, it is finished!!!

Jacob's Dr Who Season 16 Scarf

The original scarf was knitted in garter stitch,

but when I started this scarf back in May I was nervous about making such a long scarf on two needles...silly really, but that was before all of my recent knitting practice.

So I decided to make it in Tunisian Crochet in Purl stitch.

The Tunisian purl is a good stitch and easy to work, but it does curl and needs to be blocked and pressed to get it to sit flat and even then I think it will still curl when my son wears it. I am pleased I have learnt Tunisian Purl Stitch but I wouldn’t use it for another scarf.

 

 It is long....really long

I haven't measured it yet, I will add the measurement soon.

I can tell you it weighs approx 665gms, and is 100% acrylic

 Here is a picture of the scarf folding down our internal staircase and our inquisitive cat which gives you an idea of the length.

Here are some useful links if you feel brave enough to create your own Dr Who scarf

Witty Little Knitter    Dr Who Scarf   Scarf-o-matic

oh and I just have to share this clever youtube

it makes me smile :)

have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

sets of three....

Three more waffle knit washcloths for the bathroom.

I made these lovelies over the past week while I have been working hard on my son's Dr Who scarf, it is such a big and repetitive project that I need little breaks from it to keep me motivated.

I find I burn out quickly from large projects sometimes but working small projects at the same time as larger ones seems to keep my spirits up and things tend to get finished that way!

That is where these little treasures have come in ;)

 The Dr Who scarf is now over 80% done

but these little sweeties are 100% ;)

and this equals a motivated me!

Of course this means the Dr Who scarf takes a little longer to finish,

but it also means the Dr Who scarf does get finished!

so a many rows of Dr Who scarf each night is rewarded with a few rows or rounds of fun & quick little project. 

This time for these little washcloths I used 4oz ball of Lily Sugar'n Cream & a pair of 4.5mm (US 7) needles for the washcloths, This made 3 washcloths and with the small amount of left over yarn I made some more little garter makeup remover pads using 4mm (US 6) needles.

using the same pattern as I did HERE

You can find the pattern for the waffle knit washcloths

by Debbie Andriulli

on Ravelry Here

or on her blog Homespun Living Blog Here

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my little bottles...

I love little vintage bottles, particularly green glass ones

I always wonder what was in them ;)

The little ink bottle is special as it was a little one I gave my Dad  with some vintage calligraphy pens once as a present (he always had beautiful handwriting and enjoyed calligraphy) - very special x

The Tall one is rather nice as it has measurements down the side, the photo doesn't pick that up too well....maybe it was a medicine bottle?

and the little one, also medicine bottle I think....I dug this one out of my garden as a child and have had it ever since :)

have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

Wribbed Wristers.....

 Love this pattern!

It is a simple 'worked-flat' pattern,

easy to adapt to make your wristers the right size for you...

Seamed along the thumb side with mattress stitch they come together beautifully and are totally wearable and quick to make.

You can find the pattern by Joan Janes

on Ravelry Here

I used 1 x 50gm ball of Cleckheaton Perfect Day 8 ply

- 70% Wool, 30% Alpaca

(matching wool to my Calm Cowl)

4mm needles (US 6)

and worked 50 rows for each wrister.

Hope you are having a creative weekend,

Gillian ♥



simple project & new skills.....

 Moving along with my knitting...

This simple little project has taught me two new skills

- knitting in the round with dpns (double pointed needle set)

& grafting using Kitchener stitch.

 as you can see it is a little iPod sock :)

knitting socks is high on my to do list

so learning these two skills is a must!

This was a great project to tackle both,

and get some practice in,
without the fear of messing up a bigger project, while learning.

I used Jillian Neary's pattern

iPod Sock which can be found on Ravlery Here
and when it came to learning the Kitchener stitch
I used this great YouTube by
Very Pink Knits which can be found Here 

I used Cleckheaton Merino Bambino 4 ply (about 1/4 of a ball)
and a set of 4 - 2.75 mm (US size 2) dpns

Have a great day

~ Gillian ♥



calm cowl....

 A girl can never have too many accessories!

and this one really keeps the cold August winds away...

 I made just a few little changes to the pattern to suit my individual needs

and added a little row of pearl buttons,

which catch the light and add a little extra texture.

Both the changes to the pattern and addition of buttons were inspired by fellow Ravelry members.

One of the things I love about Ravelry,

is that you can look at what others have done with patterns

and be inspired by them  ♥

It measures approx 1.5mtrs long

and I will be wearing it doubled as above

but here is a picy of it showing the full length.

I used 3.5 balls of Cleckheaton Perfect Day 8 ply

(70% Wool, 30% Alpaca) a 4.5mm hook

& Beutron buttons - SR0834

You can find this lovely pattern by Suzana Davidovic

on Ravelry Here

my slight changes to the pattern can be found

on my Ravelry project page for this pattern Here

I hope you are having a delightful day

~ Gillian ♥

Twisted Granny Scarf.....

 This scarf has been a long time coming....

 not the crocheting of it....

as I finished it months ago!

But for some reason it has avoided being photographed by me...

I'm not sure why, maybe it is the colours?

Anyway, I was photographing another item this morning and thought to myself,

Just get on with it and photograph it!

To me an item isn't really finished until I have photographed
and blogged about it...

silly maybe but hey, I'm a craft blogger & that is what we do!

I have worn it twice, and enjoy it very much when I'm feeling colourful and arty ;)

I purchased the pattern from Jessica Turner on Ravelry

It is called Twisted Granny Wrap :)

You can find the pattern Here

It was a fun piece to create

I used a little over 5 balls of Lincraft Splendour & 5mm hook.

You have yourself a lovely day!

~ Gillian ♥

a slouchy beanie = warm head....

Next up in my knitting list was a beanie for my son

We both decided this was a cool beanie in the pattern book

so I set to work knitting away...

It is a simple beanie knitted flat and seamed down the back.

Perfect for a beginner and we were both pleased with the results.

The pattern comes from Lincraft Creative Book Volume 17

Knits for Men and Boys Comfort with style.

page 20, Boy's Slouchy fold-up rib brim beanie.

I used Moda Vera Pure Wool Extra Twist & 4mm needles

My son is 13 so I made the size for a 14-15years.

have a lovely day

~ Gillian ♥



waffle knit dischloth + more gartering....

 Still working on more wash cloths for our bathroom

this pattern was mentioned in the book Down to Earth

The pattern is called Waffle Knit Dishcloth

by Debbie Andriulli

It is a simple 4 row repeat pattern, great fun!

You can find the pattern here on Ravelry

or on Debbie's blog Homespun Living Here

I worked mine up in more Lincraft Bamboozle

in two colours I have used for my previous wash cloths.

and on size 4mm needles (US 6)

Because the Bamboozle yarn is a DK weight my washers ended up being around 18cm x 18cm square, which is fine for a face washer in our home.

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To finish off the balls of bamboozle I made some little makeup remover pads,

I have made many of these over the past couple of years, and they have all been round crocheted ones but while in the knitting mood I thought I would work up some little garter stitch ones :)

 

Made using Lincraft Bamboozle and 4mm needles (US 6)

cast on 14 stitches

knit 23 rows
cast off.

= cute little garter squares

ready to cleanse, tone and wash to use again :)

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oh and do you like my pretty leaf dish?

I thought I might start to share some of my pretty collectables on my blog from time to time...

I have collected many pieces over the years and thought you might like to see some of them.

I love this one I picked it up at a Charity Shop for $4.00!

(I was pretty pleased with myself that day)

It is English Ware by Lancaster Sandland Ltd, Hanley England.

Well I hope you are having a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

garter stitch ♥

 Moving on with my knitting practice

This pattern caught my attention because of that

lovely garter stitch and the beautiful leaf shape...

 this was an excellent exercise for me,

reacquainting myself after many years with the following stitches k2tog, m1,ssk….

I made an error at some point in my green leaf (my first of the three)

somehow I ended up with an extra stitch at the point.

oh…and I think I was a little over zealous with the blocking of these poor little leaves ;)

the bamboozle yarn is much better to knit with than to crochet with,

so it was very nice to work with on this project.

I used all of the left over bamboozle yarn from my washcloths from last week

each leaf only took 0.3 skeins = 24.6 yards (22.5m) of the Bamboozle

I used 4.5mm needles (US 7)

the leaves do need a good blocking when finished.
after blocking mine measured approx 21cm x 15.5cm

You can find the pattern by Megan Goodacre

on Ravelry Here 

and on her website The Tricksy Knitter Here

the pattern also has a Stocking Stitch version of the leaf :)

Hope you are having a delightful day

~ Gillian ♥

a mouse made of twine.....

Our little dog loves cat toys!

so last night I hooked him up this super easy little mouse :)

I love that it has little ears.

This is such a great little pattern,  the tail is the first thing you make and then the body is worked at the end of the tail, the ears are made in the round so nothing is sewn on afterwards - less things for my dog to chew off ;)

I used some 100% cotton twine from the stationary section at Big W.

and a 4mm hook.

I stuffed it with toyfil and also put an eraser inside so that he had something a little more solid to chew that wouldn't hurt his teeth it also adds some weight to the mouse, which I think he likes also.

the pattern can be found on Ravelry Here

ps...sorry for the bad photo, I made it in the evening and we couldn't wait for daylight to take a photo of it before giving it to him....So a night time photo was snapped before it was chewed on ;)

have a great day

~ Gillian ♥



3 little dishcloths....

 We are in our final week of school holidays this week

so all sorts of projects are happening all over our home...

from Ginger beer making to setting up a little aquarium with sea snails!

The kids and I have been busy and having lots of fun :)

This is one of the projects I have made this week -

another set of washcloths for our bathroom

 When you have a busy week...a simple project is best,

So this pattern by Amanda from Chalklegs

was a perfect on to pick up and put back down again when needed.

I used Lincraft Bamboozle (70% Bamboo, 30% Cotton)

and a 5mm hook

they measure approx 20cm x 20cm and so soft.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry Here

Have a happy day!

~ Gillian ♥

just love this pattern....

 I really do love this simple little pattern

great for my knitting practice!

 so I made a pair for my daughter in this lovely Teal Cleckheaton wool

and another pair for my son in Charcoal....

Both are made using Cleckheaton Country Tartan 8ply

and 4.5mm (US 7) needles.

The pattern by Roxanne Richardson can be found on Ravelry here

if you are new to knitting or just want an easy pattern this one is great!

hope you are all having a lovely weekend,

~ Gillian ♥