Hemp bag

Back in November I started making a hemp bag for my mum for Christmas, it was an interesting experience! It was slow going because it took a lot of effort, but equally because the yarn was so heavy it actually made up much more quickly than I'd expected. I made the bag on the cover of the book the pattern came from, 'Hemp Yarn Bag Collection' (ISBN978-4-7778-1482-4).



The blue hemp I had was quite fine and I'd hoped that doubling it would result in the same weight as the natural but it didn't quite. It didn't really affect the size of the bag because the yarn held the shape of the hook well, but the top is a little more open-looking than the bottom. Three strands would have been better I think. Anyways, it went really well! When it was done it was oddly twisted which was easily dealt with by getting it wet and blocking.



I'd say its only drawback is how heavy it is! Mum uses it for knitting yarn and I think that's probably a good use, it's a bit hefty to be carrying around as a purse. Perhaps a lighter fibre might make it more useful as an actual handbag? Not sure what would suit though.

Crocheting with hemp yarn

My friend Yumiko has a huge collection of Japanese craft books of all sorts, and she brought a few of her crochet ones to our stitch group a couple months ago to show me. I fell in love with two of the flower ones so I searched them up on Yes Asia and bought them, along with this book on hemp bags (ISBN978-4-7778-1482-4). I had no idea what was in it really, I managed to find a few photos online, but it was a bit of a gamble! When they arrived I was pleased I'd taken the chance and am looking forward to doing several of them.

Hemp isn't the most common yarn but luckily the Hemp Store on K'Road here in Auckland carries twine, which is the same thing I think, and there are sources online. I don't often go down to K'Road so it was a nice outing and the Hemp Store was pretty much as I'd expected - incense, reggae, bongs and a really good assortment of different weights of hemp twine, along with rope and some webbing. I did feel like I should have a big sign with me that said "I'M ONLY HERE FOR THE TWINE" though. That's probably hopelessly middle-class of me! Actually I probably looked hopelessly middle-class with Hazel in tow and no-one had any illusions about me at all, but I'll pretend I'm hip enough for there to be doubts ;) I was hoping Yumiko would be at group this morning to help me get started but she wasn't, so I puzzled through the pattern instructions with the help of Christina. Yumiko did tell me that Japanese patterns aren't nearly as prescriptive as western ones, so there's no gauge or hook size, and as usual, very little in terms of instructions just good illustrations. It's not like a bag is hard though, do a rectangle (this one is just back and forth) and then start up the sides by going around and around. Oh boy though, it's hard work doing the actual crocheting because the twine's so stiff! The others were laughing at me making little noises of effort at the end as my hands tired, and I'm pretty sure they will be sore tomorrow! It's clearly not a project I'll be done in a hurry, an hour here or there will be the only way I can survive. The twine itself is nice to touch as it's waxed so it has a smooth texture and a pleasing stiffness when crocheted. It does twist and curl though, so depending on whether the sides push the bottom flat, or if they twist themselves, I may need to investigate how to block hemp.

All my stuff looks the same

I was sitting on the couch eating breakfast this morning when I looked over and saw this pile on the shelf next to me

There is an almost-finished crocheted coat hanger and yarn from that, and fabrics I've been making hexagons from. My first thought was "they all look so good together", my second thought was "they're actually mostly the same colour, I just need to add some aqua to the coat hanger" and then I thought "I'm going to make a matching hanger with aqua in the middle and orange on the outside". And then all my stuff will look the same! :)

Crochet

During my blogging break I've been doing quite a bit of crocheting as well as making quilts - well ok some crocheting and making quilts!

A teething ring for my little niece Eva. I saw a similar one on Pinterest and also in a tutorial. The rings are curtain rings and the beads are just wooden ones from Spotlight that I sanded until all the varnish was gone so nothing will come off when chewed :)



Some egg cozies







and some kittens



I also made another crocheted hanger, from Mollie Makes No. 41.

Crocheting hangers

I've been wanting to make crocheted hangers for quite awhile now but we only have two of the really basic wood hangers in the house because, really, they're totally crap on their own! I had a look around Spotlight the other day for some but couldn't find any and gave up. Then the other day I was in there to get some more solids for the Moda quilt and the lady at the counter in front of me had about 10 packages of them and when I asked where she'd got them the assistant pointed to the shelf right behind me and voila! Adult and kid sized ones. I only got one pack of 6 each, goodness knows what the other lady was going to do with so many hangers!

Anyways, the first one I did was for Hazel from the tutorial at Karen Anderson. The colours and flower were chosen by Hazel (art direction), the crocheting by me (labour). It's pretty cute!




 I got a bit cocky after that and decided I was going to do Dotti Angel's hanger in a lighter yarn and it would turn out ok. Well it did - in the end! I finished one side and then realised it was too big so pulled it all out and reduced the number of chains to start with and that was perfect. And it was still perfect when I realised that it was going to be too narrow to go around the hanger and I'd have to add an extra row of single crochet around it to make it bigger. But then it wasn't ok when I did the second row of sc to stitch the two sides together - suddenly it was two shells too long. I kidded myself that I could pad out the ends of the hanger and make do, but after getting half way around it I realised that was a no-go and pulled the whole thing apart and started with two shells less chain. Perfect (for real this time!). Of course, I could have made two and a half in the time I've been messing around with the one, but at least I can do the whole pattern off by heart now!



For my next hanger (remember I have 10 more to cover), I'm going to do the spotty one in this pattern from Mollie Makes.

Crocheting stones

I never really got the whole crocheted stone thing when it was really big a few years ago, at least not until lovely Ellie over at Petalplum sent me a couple of little ones she'd done and I realised how neat they are, not the least because they are oddly very satisfying to hold and touch. I have no idea why, they just are! I've always meant to try for myself, but aside from a very brief and unsuccessful attempt to crochet over a piece of beach glass a couple years ago, I never got around to it. My interest was revived by my mum who was very taken with Ellie's and wanted to find a pattern to make some herself. I spent quite awhile searching for patterns online and got interested again! I need to take some better photos but in the meantime here is my first attempt along with a little clay bunny I made a couple of weeks ago. It's surprisingly hard to make something perfectly smooth and rounded, with ears that stay on but I do like my rather amateurish attempt to rip off a bunny I saw on Pinterest.

Classic Baby Cardigan

The first cardigan I made for my impending niece was the Classic Baby Cardigan by Lisa van Klaveren in the 12-18 month size. It's been done for ages so I can't actually even say what pattern I used for the booties! The cardigan has a kind of odd shape, very long across the yoke to the sleeves but since I don't have a tester baby to try it on I can't really say how it looks on but it's cute in the pattern photos! It's possible I did one too many ribs in the yoke, I found it hard to know when I'd done the right number of rows for some reason!

The only reason I haven't blogged it was that I needed some ribbon for the booties and I wanted it to match the dress I was going to make except I couldn't find any fabric I liked. I had a real Posy Gets Cosy outfit image in my mind and nothing matched! I finally found this pale yellow Japanese lawn at Spotlight the other day and it was the closest so far so I grabbed it.

 I'm using this retro Simplicity pattern for the dress (View A), again I had a mental image and short of ordering gorgeous French Citronille patterns I thought this was pretty close and it has the little Peter Pan collar and puffed sleeves I was after.

It's all cut out and ready to go - the question is whether I hold the parcel for it or send it on later? I'm scared if I hold the parcel the baby will be born by the time it gets there, but also scared if I don't hold it then the dress will be too small when I finally get around to sending it on! Of course, I could just sew the dress this weekend and send the parcel on Monday...

Pixie bonnet

As soon as I saw this little hat on Ravelry I knew it had to be made for the impending niece, and in red just like the pattern. If Hazel were younger (and living in a colder climate) she would have had one for each day of the week.

I know, how frickn' cute is that? AND it's free! I love Ravelry so much, I really do. If I was so inclined to come up with patterns I'd be posting free ones there to say thank you back to all the nice people who have done the same for me. I buy patterns there, and they're (usually) good value for money but when you get a cracker pattern and it's free then my day is kind of made!

I used 4 ply baby merino wool doubled instead of 8 ply and it worked perfectly, bang on gauge and when I blew up the balloon to the 38.5cm of Hazel's newborn head (yay for Plunket books!) it fit perfectly. Hmmm...just occurred to me that she had a 100th percentile head so it might be a little big for more average babies - she takes after her giant-brained parents (harhar). Good thing my brother has an even bigger head than Mat or me so the baby might be well-endowed too! The shaping of the bonnet is incredibly simple - I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to work when I started and half way through I was all "are you sure this is shaped?" but voila, stitch up the back and it's all pixieish and adorable.

Baby crochet

When I had Hazel I didn't know how to crochet and we were reliant on the kindness of others to supply hand-knitted goodies. Then I learned how to crochet but there were NO babies to be found anywhere! At last my brother and his wife took pity on me and decided to have one so I could learn to make tiny cardigans and little booties. Yay! I keep saying "just one more" because I just cannot seem to get the size down to an actual newborn, despite having the correct gauge and all that. But hey, I'm happy to keep trying! I had to find one of Hazel's newborn cardies to get an idea of how I was going and was slightly appalled how tiny it seems now!

This one is close, I think it's probably a 2-3 month old size.



The pattern is the Cecily Baby Sweater by Alicia Paulson and it's nice and simple to make up and is super-cute!

I wish I could say that we should have smell-o-vision so you could appreciate the sweetpeas but despite being touted as 'old fashioned scent' they aren't. What's the point of them if they don't smell? Sort of like freesias that don't have a scent, as much use as tits on a bull. Fortunately the roses do so spring is not ruined.

Nana chic

My friend Steph has just moved house and we're off to see the new place this afternoon. Since they've bought with her in-laws and are dealing with two house's worth of stuff, I thought maybe something edible might be a better gift than more...stuff! But an unadorned jar of lemon curd, while tasty, isn't particularly exciting given the occasion so I decided I needed to jazz it up a bit. I'd pinned these jar covers (http://www.karpstyles.com/crochet/jarlid.html#.VC8WOabXfCR) a couple months ago and figured one would do the trick. 

I ended up adapting it for a smaller jar and I added a frillier edge and did the flower separately. 

 

It's definitely OTT but that was kind of the point 😀

Valentine's

I'm not a fan of the commercialised entity that Valentine's Day has become but I couldn't resist making some decorations this year to satisfy the small part of my shrivelled heart that likes girly stuff in pretty colours.

A few months ago I pinned this image of crocheted hearts and it has been mildly popular.

The notifications of re-pins has been keeping it in my mind so I started out making a few of my own using a tutorial at Pepika. I used the cotton yarn I already had so I haven't managed to achieve the lovely sorbet colours of the original pin but I figure that it's a work in progress and I'd like to add a few more hearts every year, maybe in different shapes and sizes (very easy to do once you have the basic technique down).




Mat and Hazel thought they were quite amusing to watch being made from the top down because when they are half done, as Hazel so eloquently put it, "they look like bums!" They also look like Barbie bras when you first put the two tops together. However, when they are finished they are super-cute and a quick and very satisfying little project!

Two finishes

I have a real issue with finishing things, they'll sit 99% done for ages before I spend the 10 minutes needed to sew on a button or finish off a seam. So when I say that I finished TWO things yesterday it really should have party streamers and balloons and noise makers surrounding it. I'm pleased with both of them but I must admit a certain amount of trepidation in showing them here because they will reveal the extent to which I have become a tragic pug owner who has "all the pug-related merchandise made by anyone, ever" to quote this Gemma Correll poster. Or in this case, made by me. And yes, I have that poster too!

 

This cute little guy is destined for the (human) new baby brother of Ace, one of Ollie's mates. I think his head ended up a bit big due to overstuffing, but he manages to stay upright despite it. The pattern was from Jaravee on Etsy.

 

 The second was this embroidery, from Bridgeen, also off Etsy. I changed it a little from the original so it looked a bit more like Ollie looking up at me with big eyes so that I'll give him an almond.



And yes, he usually does get the almond - who could resist?

A new year

A new year and hopefully an increased interest in crafting because to be honest it's been lacking for the last month and I don't know why! I had visions of lazing away the holidays on the couch, crocheting, or getting in some good sewing time, but as it turned out I really didn't want to do anything crafty at all. I made a crochet necklace for my mum and then somehow ran out of steam. It's weird. Has anyone else had this happen to them? From being enthusiastic to complete lack of interest in a couple weeks? No blogging, no reading blogs, no Instagram. Maybe it's a virus... or the summer heat...

Anyways, I've been feeling stirrings of interest in the last couple days, and although I don't know how far it will go, I thought I'd post about a couple of things I made for presents.

As I mentioned, I made a necklace for my mum, from the Knot's Itoami book. I realised when I went to get a photo of it that I'd only taken an 'in progress' shot, so that'll have to do.

It's done on a .65 hook with #20 mercerised cotton and I found it very hard to do in anything but good lighting! I also realised, much to my chagrin, that if I want to keep doing this very fine stuff that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy some cheapy reading glasses. I don't need them for reading but I do for this stuff. Well I don't technically, but it's not fun sometimes and my eyes hurt a bit afterwards! Frankly I'm annoyed, crafting shouldn't remind you of your mortality.

The other Christmas present I made was a tea cosy for my friend Jess, who has been using her Xmas one year-round. I used the pattern for the cosy in a book she gave me called Cute and Easy Crochet. I then spent a fair amount of time on Pinterest looking at pretty flowery cosies and then made my way through the various flowers in 200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments & Trims to end up with the garden on top. Oh it was fun! But eventually I had to stop and put them on the cosy. I defy any heat to escape this baby!

Luckily it fits Jess's tea pot better than mine, and I'm determined to make myself one that suits my pot. Although the pattern is really easy, it clearly suits the rounder-bodied 'Brown Bettie' type best.

Crochet flowers

It's so much fun making flowers, I've been having a ball! And I think it's definitely the best way to use up your little scraps of yarn. I've been working my way through a book I have called 200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments & Trims, making whatever takes my fancy, and thoroughly enjoying myself!



I borrowed Mini Motif crochet pattern from my friend Yumiko and it has some neat flowers to try out too - but in small!
 

Hazel had a quick look through it yesterday and instantly fell in love with the little icecreams and shoes, as well as the colourful flowers (monochrome is so not an 8 year old girl!).



There are quite a few motifs done in fluffy yarn which isn't really to my taste so much but if you google ISBN978-4-02-190416-5 there are quite a few photos of other pages in the book. Sorry mine aren't that great, but hopefully they'll give an idea of what's in the book. The designs are all charted so there's no issues with it being in Japanese.

The Little Tree

My next Christmas project is going to be crocheting a couple of little trees to go with Sarah's very cute book The Little Tree. I love that you can get the pattern to recreate Little Tree and bring the story to life in a way. I'm going to do two for my niece and nephew and they can share the book. I'm not so naive as to think they'd share a tree :)



You can buy the book and see some more images at Sarah's Felt store.

I need to find a good brown for the trunk still, which means another trip out to Spotlight - when I popped in last week they were reorganising and it was so radically different that it felt a bit surreal and I couldn't quite focus on what I was meant to be doing and came away with a totally wrong brown! Sad when a craft store revamp sends you into a tizz.

Teeny tiny crochet

I'm a huge fan of the delicate crochet jewellery I keep seeing in Japanese craft books. I got Knot's Itoami out of the library ages ago and fell in love with it but couldn't find any copies to buy at the time. I had another look recently and found it on Fishpond (our local NZ online bookseller) and snaffled up a copy. I've started in on just about the simplest pattern in the book but I'm thrilled with how it's coming out.

It's done with #60 mercerised cotton and a .60mm hook. It takes me awhile to get the hang of it when I start but it's not too hard actually! The hard bit is focussing to be honest. I'm not quite at reading glasses stage but I can tell it's coming, my eyes don't focus quite as well or as quickly as they used to darn it!

Doll's Ripple blanket

I started this ripple blanket because I've always wanted to make one but didn't want a big (and expensive!) project, plus I thought I'd be able to use up a goodly amount of my left-overs from my granny square experiment. As it turns out I ended up buying another ball of pink and one of the light green, so I'm not sure I entirely succeeded on the 'using up' bit! I thought I had heaps but crochet uses up wool like it's going out of style. The pattern came from Cute & Easy Crochet, which my friend Jess gave me when I was in Canada, but it's a pretty standard pattern with three increase stitches and three decrease stitches to get the zigs and zags.



I really enjoyed doing this, it's fun switching colours so often and using such bright ones was cheering. I think a larger blanket would be somewhat garish, but it's fun in this size. Originally I was going to make the cushion as per the instructions but it was going to be really small so part way through I thought I'd make it a doll's blanket. But then I changed my mind because Hazel is, in her own words "not much of a doll girl" and it wouldn't get used, so I finished it off square. About a week later we got an invitiation to our young friend Samantha's third birthday party and the doll's blanket idea immediately sprang to mind because she IS a doll kind of girl, big time. She loves toting them about and putting them to bed, the whole nine yards. So out came the ripples again! You can tell I had to abandon my repeat of six colours but I think it's fine. If I did something like this again though, I'd start off random so that using up one colour wouldn't matter so much.



Here is the finished bed. Since she's a girl on the go I thought perhaps a portable arrangement would be good, and I found this laundry basket thing at the Warehouse. Nice and bright, lots of handles, and it fitted the blanket fairly well. I made a simple box mattress, two flat sheets (crisp white of course), and a comfy pillow. I would totally sleep in here myself if I fitted!




 I can't wait to give it to her on Sunday!

Rada the rat

I've been working on this guy for quite awhile, Ravelry says I started in April, but at long last I'm done! The main hold-up was running out of yarn about half way through, and it took me ages to get into town to the shop where I'd bought it originally. Luckily the new skeins were exactly the same and I can't even tell where I stopped. The other major hold-up was my issues with finishing things and it's been 95% done for quite awhile now, only lacking 2/3 of an arm. It's not a hard pattern really, probably advanced beginner/intermediate, it's just involved and takes a lot of rounds!

He's really just so super-cute I think I'm going to have to keep him for myself! More info on the pattern etc. over on Ravelry.

Crochet rug

I've been hoping a reason to buy some Zpagetti yarn would come along for awhile now, and I finally came up with one! I needed a small rug to put in front of the basin in our toilet so that the splashes that come out (it's one of those stupid small basins that you can't help but make a mess with) don't get all over the floor and make it slippery. It's a total health and safety thing. Really. It suddenly occurred to me that a red crocheted rug in Zpagetti would be just the ticket. The yarn itself isn't that expensive, but it's heavy and the shipping to NZ from Australia cost as much again so it's not a cheap rug, but I love it! This rug took 1.5 large cones.

I used this pattern from Gosyo -the link is to the pdf of the pattern, you can see the whole range of their free patterns here. If you are a knitter or a crocheter and haven't been to their site you must, it's full of great patterns. I have yet to check out their yarns etc. but at a glance it looks interesting, not sure about shipping etc. from Japan though.

There are a few issues with it, and I'm not sure if it's the yarn or the pattern because I'm not all that experienced with doing ovals. The pattern called for seven stitches into the last chain at each end and that bulk meant that it turned out sort of lozenge-shaped. I think if I did it again then I'd only do five or even three. The edging doesn't sit all that well going around the ends, it pulls too tight compared to how it is down the sides. I suspect both these issues are more to do with the bulk of the Zpagetti than the pattern, and if I felt like pulling it all apart (I don't) and redid it then it would be just perfect!

Here is Ollie helping take the photos. The only way I could get him to stay out of the one above and stop attacking the rug was to make him sit and stay behind me. Amazingly it worked. Sometimes he really is an A dog even though he was a solid B at puppy school. Apparently he is very good at 'stay' and 'leave' - for a pug.

Bathroom storage vessels

When I was in Edmonton my friend Jess and I ordered some Knitpicks wool. I'd never heard of them before, and as it turns out they don't ship outside of North America anyways (in this day and age? Seriously?), but they really do have a wonderful range of colours, particularly in cottons. I ordered a ball each of a range of colours, including their Cotlin range, which is a blend of cotton and linen and meant to be good for dishcloths etc. I always have good intentions of making such things but I think I must have a subconscious issue with the idea because somehow it never happens and now I've used most of it up making containers!



The pattern calls them bathroom storage vessels but I don't think I'll use them there, in fact I'm not entirely sure where I'll use them but they're fun anyways! I used the Cotlin doubled to give more body and they're certainly solid (though rather squishy despite that) but boy did it chew through the balls! I have no white left, and very little of any of the other colours either. Sheesh. The bowl is about 16cm wide and 9cm deep and the pot is 10cm by 14cm. I wish I'd done some more rows in the dark grey Wallaby to show it off better, it's my favourite of the whole lot. I have a ball of red left too, which would look great with the leftovers of the Wallaby, so maybe I'd better bite the bullet and do a dishcloth?