Home ware Crochet

What’s nicer than a home personalised with handmade cushions, throws and candle cosies you have made yourself. Big or small if you’ve made it yourself its special and will reflect your taste, skills, favourite colours and loves, so enhancing your home.

If you are making home ware crochet for gifts, crochet is a fantastic way to give a friend or relative a gift for a special occasion something unique for them. Everyone values handmade quality gifts and treasures them. 

What can you create? The choice is only limited by your imagination. If you are making something for yourself then choose to make something that fits in with and enhances your home decor. It’s a good idea to personalise what you make to the colour of one room of your home.

William Morris said’ Have nothing n your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’. I use this to guide me when making something for myself and for friends. This especially applies if you are making something for a gift such as a house warming or wedding present.

Crochet home ware makes fantastic house warming gifts and wedding and engagement presents. Make it special for your friends by making your gift in their favourite colours and styles. Here are my ten favourite crochet home wares to make.....

Baskets – for storage in bedrooms, craft rooms and children’s bedrooms

Cushions – not just forlounges, make then for conservatories and garden rooms

Table mats – make these in the more traditional style of fine lace crochet or in more modern styles using bright colours and thicker cottons

Pot holders – perfect for kitchens, make a pretty stack and tie with a ribbon for a small but thoughtful gift

Table runners – these lookgorgeous on modern long tables and sideboards. You can make them by using lacymotifs or stripes of pretty cottons Throws – these are really special to make and are a lovely heritage housewarming gift, or wedding present

Candle cosies – gorgeous and useful  in bathrooms and bedrooms

Door and bedroom wreaths – the perfect housewarming gift , you can also make them for children’s bedrooms

Rugs – made in thickercotton, make them round, square or oblong

Door stop – make these round, square or in the shape of dogs and cats and add weights!

Lace Crochet

Traditionally lace crochet used fine cotton threads to make round mats (doilies) table runners, lace collars and tablecloths. Now thanks to better choice and a wider selection of cottons and threads we can make traditional lace crochet without having to resort to the very fine traditional cottons (thread). DMC petra for example comes in sizes from 3, 5 and 8 all of which come in a range of lovely colours. Use them to make traditional crochet lace and you will produce stunning results without losing out on quality.

The wonderful thing about the colour selection of cotton threads is that you can now create table runners and covers for modern settings as well as the more classic designs. Don’t restrict making lace crochet to the more traditional styles. Lace crochet creates light airy structures perfect for creating lace shawls and lightweight scarves and you can do this with DK (light worsted) or 4 ply yarns.

Make crochet lace as simple or as intricate as you like. For beginners to crochet rows of basic shells creates a simple but very pretty lace finish and would make a stunning crochet long style scarf or cowl, particularly if you use a blended yarn. Basic net crochet is a good place for beginners to crochet to start with lace. Net crochet in its simple form is created by making 1 or 2 ch spaces between trebles (double crochet) and it’s very simple to make using fine thread or yarn. Add in groups of 4 trebles and make filet crochet which can be used to create designs and images, everything from birds to people, houses and animals.

You can also use net crochet combined with clusters and shells together in one row or make a scarf with simple net crochet and add a scalloped edge to create a stunning scarf with a simple design.  Use lace crochet to make round or square motifs and you can do this with fine cotton or thicker yarn. As with other lace projects make your motifs as simple or as complicated as you wish. Granny squares for example made in a finer yarn creates a very pretty lace effect.

Irish crochet lace has always had its own style creating simple motifs in a variety of shapes, including spirals and leaves which have particularly featured in traditional Irish crochet. For more experienced crocheters this has developed from its own traditional style into free form crochet.