Tea cosy Story

The carnation is the flower for January. It represents love, fascination and distinction. Carnations  are such pretty flowers and thanks to modern growing techniques come in a whole variety of colours  including some with very attractive frilly edges. I made a hair decoration with my carnation flower design but it would also  look lovely as part of a corsage or added to a flower wreath.

I decided to add the crochet carnations to a tea cosy and I created the design for the cosy in a slightly different way. It’s made on the horizontal to create a pretty effect from the bands of raised stitches, This makes it easier to adapt the pattern for different tea pot sizes! Simply add more rows to make a taller cosy and start with more chains to make a wider cosy. 5 more chains make about half an inch.

It’s an easy pattern to make and you can make this tea pot with pom poms or hearts if you prefer.
Tea cosies are very English and very traditional! Once visiting France we took a teapot and cosy as we knew neither would be available in the holiday gite we stayed. The French owners clearly thought us very eccentric when they unexpectedly called.

I returned to one of my favourite yarns Sirdar Snuggly double knit, it’s soft and strong and comes in a range of colours. I like it because it is reliable, the quality is always the same and it crochets easily.
I wanted to create a ridge effect and a chunkier finish after all its purpose is to act as insulation.

Crochet Styles

What other craft is as flexible as crochet? With just a few basic crochet skills you can make throws, hats, scarfs, shawls and baskets. Who doesn’t enjoy making something that is original to them?  With a bit of practice slippers, sandals, delicate curtains and jewellery are all achievable. There is even a free form style of crochet and spectacular crochet art installations can be seen online. For a craft that has only been around for about 150 years, the range and scope of crochet is fascinating and is growing year on year.

The lovely thing about crochet more than other crafts is the variety of styles and techniques. Once you’ve mastered the basics your choices are limitless. Twenty crochet style ideas for you:

1. Different countries historically have different styles of crochet. One distinct styles of crochet comes from the Azores where you find lace with sun motifs.
2. Irish crochet is very delicate, intricate and distinctive. Much of it is made free without patterns to produce flowers, leaves and tiny berries.
3. Tunisian crochet is a cross between knitting and crochet. Made using a long needle with a hook at the end, it holds multiple loops on the hook. The result is a fabric that is beautifully textured.
4. Russia and eastern European adapted Irish crochet to form their own style. This is now used widely in free form to create the most intricate and delicate dresses, tops and exquisite wedding dresses. You can find subtle shades of one colour for free form crochet to create delicate scarves and jewellery.
5. In South America crochet is used to make bright Aztec inspired bags. 
6. Bavarian crochet is a fairly new term for an old crochet style of motif that is worked in two rows. The first row is a series of clusters, and the second row is a series of shell stitches worked into the post below the stitch. 
   
7. The development of affordable yarns and clever blends from national, international and independent producers and dyers has opened up a whole world of possibilities for crocheters of all skill levels. The choice of yarns from wools and blends in every weight from lace to super chunky, and yarn blends with Merino, Alpaca, cotton, silk and linen. 
8. Multi coloured yarns and the very popular sock yarns cleverly produce bands of colour to create regular stripes, Fair isle and a whole range of effects, using the simplest of stitches. 
9. Crochet doesn’t have to be restricted to traditional yarns crochet can be made with very fine and very thick cotton, garden string, recycled T shirts and even plastic carrier bags.
10. Jewellery and crochet shoes and sandals for children are very popular now. 
11. In the U.S. favourites are bright multi coloured throws, using variations of the traditional granny square. 
12. In Europe bright colours are also popular but you will also find intricate designs using fine wool based yarn from designers such as Sophie Digard. 
13. Choose what you make by style, Raised crochet, lacy, textured or shells or more intricate stitches. 
    
14. Choose styles by what you want to make, clothes, children’s, home, decorations, jewellery
15. Motifs are a whole category in their own right, make square ones or round ones. Then decide how you want to put them together, in panels, as a circle or with one motif in the centre and building rounds on rounds. 
    
16. You can also make crochet in panels or strips, which works very well for throws and blankets, giving you the chance to show case various stitches and techniques using a subtle blend of colours. 
17. Broomstick crochet gets its name from 19th century crocheters who used a broom handle to crochet lace. Using a broom handle isn’t necessary a large knitting needle will do the trick. The circumference of whatever you use determines how large your lace pattern is. It produces very pretty open clusters.
18. Filet crochet is an old technique and is made using one or two types of stitches to produce blocks of stitches and spaces. These can be used to produce images everything from flowers, faces and house scenes.
19. Overlay crochet is made by crocheting on top of crochet already made. This is done to create a 3D effect and to highlight specific areas of the original crochet
20. Amigurumi from Japan is a whole new world of crochet, using mainly one stitch. These are not as easy to make as they look!

Bergere de France 50 coton review

Coton fifty is a round twisted yarn, quite fine but not at all breakable. Made up of 50% acrylic and 50% cotton there are 20 different colours to choose from, bright to subtle and muted  including creams, greys, lime green to pinks and corals. Plums, browns, black and white complete the range.

Machine wash and tumble dry makes Coton fifty an easy care yarn. The combination of acrylic and cotton makes it easy to use and produces a soft firm finish with good stitch definition.  Cotton fifty would be good for summer jumpers or crochet mats and heavy weight small summer scarves.

A 50gm ball has approximately 140metres of yarn. I used a 2.5mm crochet hook to make the bookmark. 11 stitches made 2” (5cm) and 6 rows made 1” (2.5cm).

Where to buy 
http://www.bergeredefrance.co.uk/coton-fifty.html 
or laughinghens.com

Twenty ways crochet can transform your home

Everyone wants their home to be a warm and welcoming place that reflects their personality and that feels comfortable and safe for family to live in, a place to enjoy and relax in. Here are my twenty ways to do it.

Making your own crochet projects whether you design them yourself or follow a pattern by your choice of colours will always make your home something that is original and created in a style you love.

1. Add crochet blankets and throws to your lounge or bedroom they serve a purpose and look lovely on display.
2. Whatever your style your crochet projects will make your home homely, this might be in a cottagy style or in a modern, contemporary or elegant way, just choose what you like to make
3. Crochet cushions can be as easy as you like to make but instantly transform your lounge and bedrooms.
4. William Morris said “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Use this as a guide when deciding on crochet projects for your home. It will probably be both.
5. Make things that you can’t easily find in the shops such as cushions or throws to match your furniture or table mats, coasters and runners that match your decor.
6. Change your crochet makes with the seasons 
7. Make crochet projects for special occasion such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter or family events
   
8. Take patterns you like and change the colours, the thickness of the yarn you use or the size of the project. 
9. Table runners are very fashionable now. Transform your home with your own original runners and mats for your kitchen diner.
10. Bring your whole family into creating special items for your home, everyone can have a go at tassels or pom poms
11. Crochet bunting for your kitchen
12. Mug holders and pot holders in your kitchen.
13. Make pretty crochet hangers for your children’s special clothes.
14. Add extras such as edgings or tassels to your crochet projects
15. Crochet baskets for your bedroom and kitchen.
16. Crochet mats and rugs for your hall and reception rooms
17. Add crochet flower wreaths on the doors
18. Make crochet pouffe, chair and seat covers
19. Something as simple as a crochet edging to a bought cushion or throw will transform your home

It doesn’t all have to be on display at the same time so you can create different moods for the different seasons or just to suit your mood.

Silver Table Runner

My latest design for an elegant table runner was lovely to make. I’ve become a bit addicted to DMC Petra, it’s soft with a sheen and gives a good definition to raised and textured stitches. This runner would make a lovely silver wedding gift. I used number 5 in Khaki and cream to make this one.
My inspiration for my latest crochet project came from an afghan throw I saw on Pinterest. It was made in strips of shades of brown and rust starting with a pale shade and ending with a dark brown. Very autumnal and very lovely!

Earlier this year I made a golden wedding runner and it brought in requests for another special crochet gift design. I thought it would be a good idea to design and make a silver wedding runner. I had sent for a selection of DMC petra in number 5 for the Russian style runner. I decided to buy the cream and khaki (looks more like grey to me) on impulse and they look beautiful together.

Looking at the autumn coloured afghan it inspired me to make a runner in long strips. I tried out the arrow stitch and it immediately looked really pretty, bearing in mind not all stitches look good in both thin and thicker cottons and yarn but this one worked very well. I added a few rows of dc’s to emphasise the arrow stitch and break up the two bands of colours.

Finally as the runner was designed as a special gift it needed something special so I added long silky tassels in the khaki cotton. It was very satisfying to make and while arrow stitch is a bit fiddly I loved the finished textured look.

Grab the pattern here.... suitable for intermediate crocheters

Ella Rae cosy double knit yarn review

Ella Rae was created in Australia and I think the colours of this yarn reflect the bright light of Australia. The brand has a reputation for creating simple and classic designs using a range of yarns. Ella Rae is soft, machine washable and excellent value for a 100gm ball. The content of this double knit (light worsted) is 75% acrylic and 25% wool and a 100gm ball is around 195 metres.

Ella Rae comes in many different colours including 9 bright blends that use the same dyes as the plain coloured yarns. All the colours are bright from pink, orange to turquoise and lime green. There is also a white to tone things down. I use a hook size 3.75 with Ella Rae cosy.

Ella Rae would be good to use for soft cozy scarfs and lovely for baby and child garments. I used it for a pretty brooch. Despite all of this I have to say this is not my favourite yarn, it has a tendency to split and I find the finished colours a bit brash. I tried it with other yarns of the same weight and it just didn’t look right. If you want bargain soft yarn with a wool content this could the one to go for.

Buy it from.....yarn.com or knittingwoolandyarn.co.uk

Table Runner Story

When I started out in crochet fine crochet was all I made. Since then I’ve used a variety of yarns and learned to love them all! Following my review and testing of Puppets Eldorado I decided to try something new with this finer cotton. Traditionally fine or thread crochet is intricate and ‘open’ to create a lace effect. With a new design I wanted to change this and I was sure a closer texture would create a modern look. Gone are the days when finer crochet cotton came in white, cream and ecru only! Puppets Eldorado comes in a whole range of colours and sizes 6, 10, 12, 16. The traditional colours still exist but for a more contemporary feel go for a darker colour.

Colours range from pale pinks and blues to darker like a deep red, dark brown, black and dark green.  Autumn colours for my new design were my inspiration. I wanted to show fine (thread) crochet can fit beautifully into contemporary surroundings.

I started out by working on a small motif design. Using gold and cream cotton kept the design looking modern and updated. By using a combination of the two colours in each motif and in the layout of the design by accident the design created a ‘wheel effect which I liked. The motifs I crocheted together using picots as the joining stitches as I went along which I always prefer! The finished runner didn’t need an edging which would have ‘spoilt’ the contemporary look.

The key is to keep the design simple, The finished runner would look good in grey or deep purple and light and dark peach.