Ripples and all things crotchet

Over the last weekend I spent a relaxing hour or so in my sunny conservatory sewing in all the ends on the finished baby blanket I have made recently.  Silly really because I could have crochet them in as I went along.  This is some good advice I picked up when watching a YouTube video guide when looking for other things to crochet!

Here is a picture of the finished blanket I made using a ripple effect.  

I had been very keen to try this ripple effect for some time but didn’t know how to do it.  On watching a few YouTube videos I came across this one by “VeryPinkKnits”  demonstrating a Rugged Ripple Crochet Pattern which I felt was the one for me.  It is a simply pattern to follow with increases and decreases where there are either valley or mountain folds.  I decided to work my hook into the back loops of the stitch which is why the bands of colour look like they overlap.  It is the first time I have tried this and although requires a little more attention, I really liked the look. 

The pattern is worked in multiples of 12 plus 3 (used for chaining up at the end of the row to change direction). The stitch used throughout is the double crochet stitch and is worked as follows:

Working a sample chain 36 stitches plus 3 for turning at the beginning of row 1.

1. Crochet 3 double crochet stitches from the 4th chain space into each consecutive chain spaces (leaving the first 3 chains for the turn). 
2. Crochet 2 double crochet together (decrease).  This is where you start a double crochet in the chain space, leave two loops around the hook and then proceed to work another double crochet into the next chain space to complete the stitch.  Two double crochet stitches become one!
3. Crochet another 2 double crochet together (decrease) and now you have formed the valley fold.
4. Crochet 3 double crochet into next 3 chain spaces
5. Crochet 2 double crochet into same stitch (increasing)
6. Crochet 2 double crochet into same stitch (increasing) thus forming the peak.
7. Start the pattern repeat.

I have been inspired to crochet different things since coming across a crochet book written by Nicki Trench
Cute & Easy Crochet: Learn to crochet with 35 adorable projects

I have made a couple of items from it so far, a scarf and a teddy bear and plan to have a go at the tea pot cover on the front page.  I have been practicing the flowers with some spare wool.  I quite like them and feel like will look great in the wool I intend to use.

The teddy bear was made in just one day, albeit it took most of the day!  Since it was a successful enterprise, I plan to make another one soon!

 

Hand decorated Easter Eggs

Easter is behind us now so I have been tidying away what my husband has sweetly named my "love eggs".  Before I put them in our loft for a well earned rest I thought I would share them with you.  The eggs are made of polystyrene and I have covered them in either sequins with pins or decoupaged them.  The idea came from Princess Pinflair when she appeared on the Create and Craft TV Shopping Channel last month.  I thought this was a novel idea and something new for me to try.  There are lots sequin kits available on the Pinflair website but I think this kit was only available to members of the Create and Craft Show.  They were fun to make and kept me quiet for three weeks or more.  Once I had finished adorning the house with my love eggs, it really did feel like Easter.

I hope you liked my love eggs, Crafty Hugs, Natasha

Sew much fun

It has been great to have some time off and be able to be creative.  I have had this itch for some time to do more sewing and although I had an idea what I wanted to make, I hadn't researched patterns so wasn't in a position to do much sewing until today, Easter Monday!

Searching on YouTube lead me to a sewist called "Patty Doo" who gives amazing clear instructions on making purses and bags.  One design that grabbed my attention was her tutorial on the Bowie Case. The Bowie case is a cute little bag with a bow, that can be sewn in 4 sizes depending on the size of your mobile device or an even bigger version to use a clutch purse.

Watching the video tutorial made understanding the steps involved simple so I went to Patty's website to download the pattern for £2.78 so I could give it try.

Thankfully, no resizing of the pattern was required and it was easy to determine which size would best match the size of my mobile device.   The hardest decision was whether to go with the bow or not!

Having cut out the pattern pieces I then rooted through my small stash of fabrics recently purchased through Little Laura's Haberdashery (www.littlelaurashaberdashery.co.uk) to see if I had something suitable to use.  In the end I settled on another fabric because I liked the really pretty print and felt I had something equally suitable for the contrasting bow.

A couple of hours of sewing and re-winding of the tutorial video and I was soon finished.  All that is left to do is put a magnetic clasp on it and then I can start using it.

Not bad for an afternoon's work and a very nice change it made.

                                           Back view

                                           Front view

I hope I have inspired you to make something for yourself.  Do check out Patty's website at http://www.emmalinebags.com for more ideas and tutorials.

Craft hugs, Natasha