Ernest the Owl

Today is my sister's 24th birthday!
A while ago she'd requested that I crochet something for her instead of buying a present and she wanted a pink and purple giraffe  That didn't quite work out due to a lack of nice purple yarn (I shall remedy this one day by dyeing my own). So instead I told her I'd make an owl!

I decided to make this completely on my own, with no pattern to go from. The beginning took forever! I find it difficult to work with very dark yarn because my eyes suck. One thing that was really lovely about just doing it my way is I could use whatever stitches I liked. So I threw in half-double crochet, single crochet (normal and through the back loops) and double crochets. It was really fun and I actually wrote up the pattern, I'm planning on selling it in my Etsy store which is being set up and hopefully opening in December.

Here are some pictures of Ernie (as Lucy has lovingly named him)

Button eyes!

Happy birthday Lucy!

Another Hat

So after I made my green hat I loved it so much that I decided to make the same one for my friend Tobi. Since I tried knitting, 8 months ago, I promised to make her a hat but never did. She'd already chosen wool so I just had to get my act together.
For this one I used a larger crochet hook, a 5 or 5.5mm I think. The hat ended up bigger than mine, which was the plan, and it fit really well.

The flower starting to take shape.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the completed hat so I will have to get her to take one someday!

I've very excited as tomorrow I am picking up a spinning wheel that I am renting for a few weeks to try it out. After learning to crochet, then decided to dye wool I ended up watching tonnes of youtube clips of how to spin wool and so I thought I'd give it a try!

Snail time!

So I can finally put this one up because the gift has been given to its new owner.

This is a snail from the pattern book 'Crocheted Softies' by Stacey Trock. Her patterns are AMAZING! So easy to understand, I've made other patterns from this book too and they all work out perfectly. The animals are so cute and animated. Love this book, and she is in the process of writing another one! Yay!

So this snail was made for my sisters friend who is having a little girl.

It stands up and everything =)

I used acrylic for the main part of the body as it is sturdier and really holds the shape well. The shell is made from bamboo cotton and is incredibly soft. I used a 3.75mm crochet hook for this. I find that it turns out much tighter and less stuffing leaks out.

I have another snail in the making currently for another special little girl.

Flower Beret with Hand-dyed Yarn

Well I used up the first lot of hand-dyed yarn for a toy, pictures will come in the next few weeks as it is a gift and therefore cannot be put up until after it has been given! I decided to try again, attempting not to damage the wool as much as last time it came out rather rough. Well this time it work a charm, I didn't leave it in the hot water as long and used less vinegar. The results were fantastic! I didn't take any pictures of the dyed skeins but I already crocheted a hat out of it!

I used this free pattern: http://kellsbubble.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/tea-time-doily-beret.html

Here are some images of the progress!

Here is the beginning of the petals.

Flower motif finished, beginning on the bulk of the hat.

All finished!

The day I finished it I wore it out with a friend to the Tesselaar Tulip Festival

Originally I really struggled with making the hat, I was used to simple toy patterns so using a variety of different stitches was a bit confusing. But I succeeded and have already made another hat for a friend! A blog post for that is coming up =)