Crochet bunny time!

       Hello my yarny friends,  I hope you are all going ok and staying healthy, I don't know what it's like where you are, but there is a lot of Covid around here, so many people have had it,  I feel like I'm just waiting my turn. 

Anyway, it's nearly Easter and this is the time of year that I seem to like to crochet bunnies.  I always think I'll have plenty of time to hook up a big bunch of bunnies, but time gets away from me.

So here are some bunnies that I made over the weekend, I'm pretty pleased with this little family, I used Rauma Garn Puno for the bigger bunnies and it was a dream to crochet with and has given them a cute fuzzy fabric. It's a blown type yarn where the fibres are blown into a tiny tube so its very light and airy.  

You can of course make these with any yarn you like, I've made tiny ones in 2ply and 4ply in the past and once a giant 20ply bunny which was fun.  Just adjust your hook size for the yarn weight you are using, I always go down a few sizes so the fabric is nice and firm and the stuffing doesn't show through.

I've popped a link to the pattern if you'd like to give it a try.

  find pattern over here

You can also find it on on my Ravelry page Julie Harrison Designs, I have updated the pattern slightly and also made it available free as a little thank you gift to all my yarny peeps.  I hope you have fun with it!

Crochet Eyeball Squares

  

Happy New Year and all that, I can't believe it's nearly the middle of January already!  

2021 has started at a cracking pace with the first few weeks very busy in the shop, but I think we might have a bit of a quieter time this week, the weather has really improved and Summer is hitting with a vengeance, the beach is the place to be if you are lucky enough to still be on holidays! 

 

I have been making some of these cute little colourful squares that I have called Eyeball Squares. 

One of my favourite things about crocheting granny square type patterns is all the possibilities for colour play within each square.  That's how these started, I had lots of colourful little scraps and stared making circles and adding more colours in each round, the rings of colours reminded me of an eyeball. :) Then it was a simple process to square them up, introducing a couple of more colours!  I chose to use solid colours for the backgrounds to help the circle colours stand out. 

In case anyone else has a scrappy stash they would like to play with, I thought I would pop the pattern on here. :) 

                              EYEBALL SQUARE

The Eyeball Square is a quirky variation on the simple ‘circle in a square’ granny square, it is made using small amounts of different colours, so is great for a scrap busting project.  I have used scraps of 4ply sock yarns for my eyeball circles and then squared them up with a plain coloured 4ply, but you could really play around with colour in these squares and do whatever you like! 

   Materials:  3mm hook, Small amounts of 4ply yarns, lots of colours or few,  

use as many as you like!

Stitches used (UK/ Australian terminology)

Slip stitch  -slst

Double crochet - dc

Half Treble - htr

Treble crochet - tr 

Double treble -dtr

The starting chains of each round do not count as stitches.

Chain 4, join with slst to form a ring.

Rd1- Ch2, 12tr into ring.  Finish round with a slst to 1st tr.  Bind off.  (12 sttches)

Rd2 - Join new colour to any stitch , Ch1, 2dc in each stitch around.  

Finish round with slst to 1st dc.Bind off. (24 stitches)

Rd3 - Join new colour to any stitch, Ch2, 1tr in same stitch, *2tr in next st, 1tr in next st*  

repeat  * to * around circle, ending with a 2tr in the last stitch.  

Finish round with a slst to 1st tr.  Bind off.  ( 36 stitches)

Rd 4 - Join new colour to any stitch,  Ch1, 1dc in each stitch around. 

Finish round with a slst to 1st dc.  Bind off. (36 stitches)

Squaring up rounds

Rd 5 -  Working in back loops only this round, Join background colour to any stitch

Ch 1, * 1dc in next 3 stitches, 1htr in next stitch, (1tr, 1dtr, 1tr) in next stitch, 1htr in next stitch, 1dc in next 3 stitches*  repeat 3 more times around circle, join with slst to 1st dc. (44 stitches)

Rd 6 -Ch1, *1dc in next 5 stitches, 3htr in next stitch, 1dc in next 5 stitches*  repeat 3 more times around circle , join with slst to 1st dc. ( 52

Rd 7 - Ch1 *1dc in next 6 stitches, (1dc,1htr, 1dc) in next stitch, 1dc in next 6 stitches* repeat 3 more times around circle, join with slst to 1st dc.  Bind off.

Rd 8 - Join outline colour to any corner stitch, ch1, *2dc in corner stitch, 1dc in next 14 stitches,* repeat 3 more times around circle , join with slst to 1st dc, bind off.

Make as many squares as you like and join together either with your favourite crochet join or hand sew them together. 

In case anyone would like to know, I am using scraps of hand dyed sock wools for the circles (like the ones in the Hand dyed Scrappy Yarn Packs  in my shop)  and Scheepjes Metropolis for the solid colours. 

Happy making! 

Make Some Crochet 'Fairy Lights' - Recipe/Pattern

Helllloooo!  

It's been such a long time since I've posted on here, it really is time to dust off my blog and get back into it!! 

I can't believe over a year has past since my last post.  What a crazy 12 months it has been with bushfires and a pandemic and lockdowns and having to close the shop and working online only and then being able to reopen again, such a rollercoaster of a year! 

I know a lot of other countries are still in lockdowns and suffering big time with Covid,  I hope everyone is able to stay safe and well and find ways to stay busy and happy even through the lockdowns, sending positivity and strength to you all!  

Life has returned to a near normal state here, our hard lockdowns over winter seems to have done the trick and things are starting to feel a little freer, fingers crossed we can keep it under control!

Anyway, it is nearly Christmas and I've been feeling quite festive recently and making some crochet 'fairy lights' with my little crochet bead recipe.  I call this a recipe instead of a pattern because you really can play around with the number of stitches to make them longer or rounder depending on the shape you want.  

For the 'fairy lights' I wanted a bigger bead than the ones I make for my necklaces, 

so I use 8ply wool and a 4mm hook to get bead that is big enough to be seen on the Christmas tree.  

(For necklace sized beads use 4ply yarn and a 2mm hook.)

These are very simple to make and are great for using up precious scraps of hand dyed speckled yarn.  You can use any yarns for this I think it would be cute to use some fluffy yarns to create little fuzzy beads, or you can use plain colours or whatever you like really, if you can crochet with it you can use it!!

 Crochet Bead Recipe - Basic Bead

(I am using English terminology in the pattern. )

Rounds are made in a spiral, so no joining at the end of each round

In a magic loop, make 4dc, pull magic loop tight. 

OR  Ch 2, 4dc in the 1st chain.

Round 2 :  2dc in each stitch  ( 8 stitches in total)

Round 3: 1 dc in each stitch (8 stitches)

Continue making 1dc in each stitch, spiralling around until your bead is as long as you want.  

At this point I like to stuff the tail inside the bead, or you could stuff it with scrap wool threads

Last round: Using the invisible decrease method, dc2 together x 4 to leave you with 4 stitches.  

Bind off, and leave a tail long enough to thread onto a needle and weave through the bead to hide.

Variations: To make a fatter bead, start with 5dc in the magic ring and in Round 2 make 2dc in each stitch for 10 stitches in total. Continue as for the Basic Bead. 

Double Crochet Invisible Decrease :  insert hook into front loop of 1st stitch,  insert hook in front loop of 2nd stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through  2 loops on hook.

 

Making a necklace or string of Fairy Lights or a garland of beads:  Once you have a collection of beads you can make them into a necklace or string of fairy lights for decorations.  You can arrange them in many ways, spaced out individually, clustered in groups, colour themed, or whatever else you can think of! 

I like to join my joining thread for the beads to a bead then crochet a chain and then use a few double crochets to join a bead where I want it, then make more chains and add more beads, and so on till I have my necklace/string of beads as long as I want it, at this point it is really a garland or string of little beads ready to go on the Christmas tree or across a window or mantle piece.   To make it into a loop for a necklace I then I join my chain to the first bead and bind off. 

I hope you have a bit of fun with these little things, they are whimsical and always brig a smile to my face, hopefully they will to you too!  

Talk soon!   I have so much I'd like to share on here, I had forgotten how nice it is to create a record of things I'm making  and other stuff, maybe I can show the gorgeous yarns that come into the shop and share patterns and recipes and gardening things too, all the things I'm interested in!

(I promise it won't be another year till I post again! ;)

Rainbow Petal Flowers - A Pattern For You!

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted on here, so much for good intentions, it's been a busy time and the weeks have just been flying by!!  I'd love to think I can blog here on a more regular basis, but it seems I'm just not organised enough!  Also I used to take photos each day and then write about them at night, I don't seem to get the photos taken anymore, so everything grinds to a halt.

Must get the camera out more often! 

Anyway, I have a pattern for a cute little decoration today, it is perfect for using up your favourite scraps of DK/8ply wool.  

I have been meaning to share it for ages, and am finally getting around to it today!!

It is a flower ( I am still kind of obsessed with crochet flowers) that has different coloured petals, you make a circle for the centre then make 5 different coloured petals around the centre.  Make 2 of these flowers and sew them together using the tails of yarn and stuffing any other tails into the centre.   This makes quite a sturdy, thick, flat flower, I like to hang mine on the Christmas tree. It is very simple and you will soon be whipping up a heap of them!  

I used some different scraps of hand dyed speckled 8ply, leftovers from my polka dot blanket, but you can really have a play with colour in this project, use whatever colours you like.

 Here's the pattern if you'd like to have a go yourself. 

Rainbow Petal Flowers

UK terminology.

Materials:  8ply yarn scraps in different colours

Hook: 3.5mm

(starting chains do not count as stitches)

In centre colour:

Round 1: Ch3,  join with slip stitch to 1st chain to form a ring, ch1, make 5dc into the ring,  join with slip stitch to 1st dc to complete round.  (5 stitches)

Round 2: Ch1, make 2dc in each stitch of previous round, join with slip stitch to 1st dc to complete round.  (10 stitches)

Round 3: Ch1, make 2dc in 1st stitch, 1dc in next stitch, *then 2dc in next stitch, then 1dc in next stitch* continue repeating from * to * to end of round,  join with slip stitch to 1st dc and bind off.  

(15 stitches) 

Make Petals.

For each petal:  (Leave a long tail when you join the new colour so you can use it to sew up later)

Working in the back loops of the stitches in the last round of the centre:

Row 1:  Join new colour to any stitch, ch1, 1dc in same stitch, 1dc in next stitch, 1dc in next stitch. 

(3 stitches) Turn work. 

Row 2: Ch1, 1dc in same stitch, 2dc in next stitch, 1 dc in next stitch. (4 stitches)

Row 3 and 4: ch1, 1 stitch in each stitch (4 stitches)

Row 5: Ch1, 1dc in same stitch, in next stitch (1htr,1tr, 1dtr), in next stitch (1dtr, 1tr, 1htr), 1dc in next stitch, bind off.

Make 5 petals around the centre, 1 in every 3 stitches.

Make 2 flowers like this, reversing the colour order of your petals so they match when wrong sides are put together, and use the tails of each petal to sew the 2 sides together.

Tadah!  You have made a Rainbow Petal Flower!

It should look some thing like this:

They look cute hanging from the Christmas tree, or you could hang them from presents, or make a garland or whatever you like really! 

Have a great weekend everyone, I hope you get some fun hooky time, it's not looking likely in my house, the silly season is well and truly here! 

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Little Woollie Rabbits!

Hello everyone!
I hope you're having a good week, it's a beautiful day here and I'm making bunnies!  :)
I have had so much going on recently, (I've been trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and run more classes and workshops) it seems like my brain is always buzzing and full!
Organisation is not my strong suit, (as my sporadic posting over here shows! ) so I do find it quite a challenge to get everything ready for workshops.  I'm slowly getting slightly more comfortable with running workshops, I find if I keep my intro very short and we just get on with the making, I can enjoy the afternoon and just talk with people one on one. 
Anyhoo, that's just what  I've found seems to work well. :)

But I digress!  I was going to talk about this little bunny rabbit I've made for an amigurumi workshop on the weekend.  The girls all seemed to enjoy making him, and we ironed out a few pattern faults,  (thank you ladies!!) so I thought I would pop the pattern up for sale on my Ravelry pattern page for anyone who would like to make one too! Also, I think he would be a great little Easter bunny gift !

I made him out of Scheepjes Cahlista cotton, which is 10ply, and used a 3.5mm hook, so it's a nice tight fabric.  You could use an 8ply cotton with a 3mm or 2.5mm hook as well, and I have also made a small bunny with 4ply wool and a 2mm hook.  It is great for using up small amounts of yarn, so start stash busting!!

These bunnies don't take too long to make, you could probably whip one up in a couple of nights, so I think a whole bunny family is very doable. :)  The little satchel bag is also the perfect size for a mini chocolate egg.  I think I might make a couple of these for my nephews for Easter, I do have a lot of colour combos to try out!

Hope you all have a great day wherever you are in the world, and that you are getting some fun crochet time !  xxxxxxxx

PS I have a lot of crochet things on the go at the moment, I'm going to try and share them on here soon, I miss the record of makes that blogging gave when I was doing it regularly!

Crochet a Christmas Tree!

Hi there! I hope you're having a great day wherever you are! 

So December is nearly here, and that means Christmas is just around the corner!! Eek!  Where has the year gone? I feel like I have been going backwards this year, always chasing my tail!  Hopefully I'll be more organised next year and get my act together!! :) 

Anyway, I have been doing a bit of crochet and I thought I'd share a little Christmas decoration that I've been making this week, I like to try and come up with a new decoration each year and this is what I've made for this year! 

I hope you like it!  It has a bit of a rustic, folky feel which I like.  

These cute crochet Christmas Trees are made in 2 flat pieces, a front and back, that are then crocheted together. They can be left flat or can be stuffed for a more 3D effect, They are very simple to make, I have done a spotty bobble version and a striped version, so you can make a whole forest of dangley trees if you like!  There are lots of ways you could decorate these trees you could add a little sparkly star to the top and a loop and hang them, you could sew on beads or buttons, or make little stands from slices of branches and stand them up like a forest. or you could make a few and turn them into a Christmas bunting!  ( I think I might do this with mine!)

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Crochet Christmas Trees!

Materials and hook: They can be made from any yarn you like, different yarns will give you different looks, use the crochet hook 1 size smaller than recommended for the yarn you use.

I used MoYa cotton Caresse which is a rustic 10ply yarn and a 4.5mm hook.

Stitches used:

Chain (ch): Yarn over and draw through loop on hook.


Treble (tr): Yarn over, insert hook in stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, (3 loops on hook),

yarn over and draw through 2 loops, yarn over and draw through remaining 2 loops.


Treble two together (2trtog): [Yarn over, insert hook in stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over, draw through 2 loops] 2 times, yarn over , draw through all loops on hook.

Double Treble Bobble (dtr bobble) : [Yarn over twice, insert hook into stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over draw through 2 loops, yarn over draw through 2 loops] 3 times, yarn over draw through all loops on hook.

(To make a bobble in a contrast colour; in the stitch before the bobble, use the bobble colour for the last yarn over so that it is ready to be used to make the bobble. Change back to the background colour in the last yarn over drawing through all loops on hook.)

Turn work after each row.

Staring chains in each row do not count as stitches. 

Australian/English terms.

Bobble Tree Front:

Row 1: Ch3, 2tr in 1st chain. (2sts)

Row 2: Ch2, 2trtog in first stitch, 2trtog x 2 in last stitch. (3sts)

Row 3: Ch2, 2trtog in first stitch, dtr bobble in next stitch, 2trtog x 2 in last stitch (4sts) 

Row 4: Ch2, 2trtog in each stitch to last stitch, 2trtog x 2 in last stitch. (5sts)

Row 5: Ch2, (2trtog in first stitch, dtr bobble in next stitch) repeat to last stitch,

2trtog x 2 in last stitch. (6sts)

Row 6: Ch2, 2trtog in each stitch to last stitch, 2trtog x 2 in last stitch. (7sts) 

Row 7: Ch2, (2trtog in first stitch, dtr bobble in next stitch) repeat to last stitch,

2trtog x 2 in last stitch. (8sts)

Row 8: Ch2, 2trtog in each stitch to last stitch, 2trtog x 2 in last stitch (9sts) 

Row 9: Ch2, (2trtog in first stitch, dtr bobble in next stitch) repeat to last stitch,

2trtog x 2 in last stitch. (10sts)

Row 10: Ch2, 2trtog in each stitch to last stitch, 2trtog x 2 in last stitch. Bind off (11sts)

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Tree Back:

Row 1: Ch3, 2tr in first chain. (2sts)

Row 2: Ch2, 2trtog in first stitch, 2trtog x 2 in last stitch. (3sts)

Rows 3 to 10: Ch2, 2trtog in each stitch to last stitch, 2trtog x 2 in last stitch. (increasing 1 stitch in each row) Bind off.

Place the front and back together with right sides outside, join edge colour to bottom right corner and dc through both layers. Dc around the tree making a picot (4 chain, slip stitch into 1st chain) ever 3 stitch or so. when you get back to the bottom edge, dc half way along then pop a small stick for a tree trunk and crochet around it and continue to where you started , join with a slip stitch to the first stitch and bind off.

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For a striped tree:

Make as for the tree back, but use 2 colours alternating each row and crocheting over the unused colour across the row, so it is in the right place to start the next row. 

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Well that's it for now, I'm off to make a few more trees for my shop window! 

Talk soon! xxxxxxx

Solid Granny Square Pattern ( my version:) )

Hello!  How has your day been?  

Mine has been great, it's warm and sunny here, hard to have a bad day in weather like this.  :)

Today I thought I'd share the pattern I've been making recently, it's my version of a solid little granny square.  I'm sure there are heaps of patterns out there for a traditional square like this, but I want to keep a record of what I've done just in case I happen to get side tracked by some other shiny project and leave these sitting unfinished for ages. I tend to be a bit of a fickle crafter!

Ok here we go! 

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Little Woollie Solid Granny Square

(This pattern is written in US terminology.)

Material: MoYa Caresse Cotton (Aran weight)

5mm hook

Special stitch:

2dctog : Yarn over, insert hook into stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through 2 loops, yarn over and insert hook into same stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through all loops on hook. 

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Chain 4, slip stitch join to create a circle.

Round 1: Ch2, 4dc into circle, ch1, 4dc into circle, ch1, 4dc into circle, ch1, 4dc into circle, ch1, join with slip stitch to 1st dc.  Bind off.

Round 2: join new colour to any corner chain space, ch2, 3dc in same space, *1dc in next stitch, 2dctog in next stitch, 2dctog in next stitch, 1dc in next stitch, (3dc, ch1, 3dc) in corner chain space,* repeat from *to * along each side of the square, ending with 3dc, ch1 in 1st chain space. Join with a slip stitch to 1st dc.  Bind off.

Round 3: Join new colour to any stitch, ch1, sc in each stitch around, making (1sc, ch1, 1sc)  in each corner,. Join with a slip stitch to 1st sc. Bind off. 

Weave in ends.  All finished.

As you can see from the photo above, the squares benefit from some blocking to get their square shape in order. ( the one on the left hasn't been blocked yet, the one on the right was lightly blocked)

This is quite a chunky little square, I think it will make a nice sturdy blanket when I sew a heap of them all together

Anyway that's it for now, I'm off to make a few squares! 

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Baubles for Christmas - things I'm making.

Hi there!  Hope you have had a gorgeous day!
I just thought I'd pop these photos on here because I am enjoying making Christmas Baubles at the moment and aren't those colours just lovely together!   I haven't made these for a few years and am really having fun with all the colour play.  The end of the year is coming up so fast, it feels too early to be thinking about Christmas, but it will be here before you know it!  So this is me being organised and Getting Things Done Early! :)

Have you started to think about Christmas yet?

I am planning on writing up this pattern tomorrow as I am having a bauble workshop on Saturday,
so I thought I might pop a few bauble kits in the shop next week, and put the pattern in my Ravelry shop if anyone would like to make some of their own...... well that's the plan anyway, fingers crossed it will happen!

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Dotty Flower Hexies

Hi there! 

I hope your having a great day. :) 

Today I thought I'd share a pattern that I've had tucked away for a few months, it is an extension of my Dotty Flower pattern, by adding a couple of rounds I have turned them into hexagons that can be joined and made into blankets, cushion covers or whatever you like! 

It is quick and easy and I really like how they turn out!

I'm using US terminlogy, so for Australian/UK terms, 

sc = dc, 

dc = tr, 

tr = dtr, 

dtr = trtr

(I'll pop the original flower pattern here too, to make things a bit easier.  If you want to check out the whole tutorial with photos you can find them in the original post over here.)

Dotty Flower

4 mm hook, small quantities of 8ply/DK yarn in 3 colours

Special instructions:  

2dc Cluster: Yo, insert hook in stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops ( 2 loops left on hook) , yo, insert hook in same stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops (3 loops left on hook) , yo and pull through all loops on hook. 

Petal Cluster: Step 1- *Yo twice, insert hook into 2 ch space, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo and pull through 2 loops, leave last loop on hook ( 2 loops on hook) * .  

Repeat * to *  (3 loops on hook) 

Step 2 - Yo 3 times, insert hook in skipped stitch of round 1, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo and pull through 2 loops, leave last loop on hook  ( 4 loops on hook) 

Repeat Step 1 into the same 2 ch space ( 6 loops on hook) .

Step 3- Yo and pull through all loops on hook. 

Pattern: 

Chain 4, slip stitch into 1st chain to form a ring.

Round 1: ch2 (does not count as a stitch), 12 dc into ring, slip stitch join to 1st dc, fasten off. 

Round 2:  Join next colour to any stitch, ch2, make a 2dc cluster into same stitch, *ch2, skip 1 stitch, make a 2dc cluster in next stitch, * .  Repeat * to * 4 more times, to make 6 cluster, ending with 2ch and slip stitch join to 1st cluster. Fasten off.

Round 3: Join next colour to any 2ch space.  *Ch 4, make a petal cluster, ch 4, slip stitch into same 2 ch space, slip stitch into next 2ch space. *  Repeat * to * making 6 petals around the flower in the 2 ch spaces of previous round. Slip stitch into 1st space to join, fasten off and weave in all threads. 

All finished! :) 

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.....and here are the extra 2 rows: 

Dotty Flower Hexagon:

Background Rd 1: Join background colour to top of any petal, Ch1,  *3sc in same stitch in top of petal,  5tr in stitch on top of  Round 2 dots*,    Repeat * to * 5 times,  slip stitch to 1st sc. 

Background Round 2:  Ch1,  Make 1 sc in each stitch of previous round, except in the corners of the hexagon where you make 3 sc in the same stitch, ( this will be the middle stitch of 3sc in top of each petal) 

Join with slip stitch to first sc. Bind off. 

.........In this photo you can see the 5 trebles in between each petal and how it should look after the 2 rounds.

.......and here you can see the 3sc in the top of each petal in the first round.   In the final round, the corner are made by making  3sc  into the middle stitch of these 3 stitches of the first round.

So that is the Dotty Flower Hexie, I am thinking of making a couple of pillow cases for our bed with these hexies, I think it would be lovely and colourful. 

Happy days to you! 

Talk soon!