Windy day softie making

Hello.

Today I have been finishing off this red rabbit softie, the weather has been horrible with severe winds and rain on and off all day, so a good excuse to sit down and do a bit of crafting.  

(I always forget how windy Spring is, it surprises me every year!)

This poor softie has been sitting in a pile of pieces for a couple of years, 

so it was high time I got him Finished Off!

I really need to work on my embroidery skills, a bit rough I think! 

I made this using the basic pattern from my kitty cat, with a modification to ears to make them more rabbity.  I had forgotten how much I like making toys, they are fun to make and I am glad I have another finished project to tick off my list.

.......here he is sitting with his softie mates, cat and pig, nice cheery peeps!

I have used Heirloom Colorworks , Heirloom Babywool 8ply and Loyal DK for these toys, they have such lovely vibrant colours to choose from, and make very soft, cosy toys.  

(As well as the blanket behind them!)

What have you been up to today?  

Has it been windy where you are?  

I think we have more wind coming our way tomorrow here in Melbourne, so hang onto your hats!

Craft Fest weekending......

Yesterday I had a stall at the Western Port Craft Festival in Hastings, we were lucky with the weather although it was very windy and the tent  nearly blew away on a few occasions!

I was sharing the big Bendigo Bank tent with another lady who did quilting and made other fabric things,

 I thought I'd show you some pictures of my half of the tent, even though it feels a bit dumb and self promoting.   

I took lots of bits and pieces that I thought might inspire people to give crochet a go, several half finished pieces of crochet and my toys and some scarves and baby things and a big pile of my wool.  I also brought some of my crochet books  for people to look at and get ideas, I wish I had a few to sell as people liked the books!

I have to say that my stall did look colourful, even with the red tent giving everything a rosy glow! There were many comments on the lovely colours of my Heirloom wool, I can't believe how many people find it hard to find good coloured yarn and weren't aware of this yarn, it is Australian too!

I was a bit disappointed in the lack of interesting colour in the other stalls, I don't thing colour gets enough consideration in a lot of crafts, I felt that many people were just using up whatever materials they had on hand and it is such a shame that all this work goes into a piece that is kind of ugly ( in my humble opinion) because of drab colours or really bizarre combinations!   I think I must be a colour snob!  :)  Of course I realise not everyone has the same taste as me, and I have been told my colour choices are a bit 'out there', so I might be the one with the strange ideas!  

Anyway, it was a very pleasant day spent chatting to lovely ladies who were all very complimentary and kind about my stuff and I even had a few sales!  

I also felt quite young!  Most of the people there were older than me and in a lot of cases much older than me!  Is craft something that is not interesting to younger people (say 30 - 45 year old) ?  I must be a bit weird, but it seems that the online crafting community has a wider age range and more people 'having a go' than our local community.  Another reason why blogging is great!  But a bit sad really for our local crafters.  

I put a sheet of paper out and took email addresses for people who might be interested in learning to crochet and knit, and I am happy to say there were some takers, so I am going to offer some classes or workshops from home and spread the crochet love!  Our local area is going to become super crafty whether it likes it or not!  :)  On the off chance that there are local Hastings/ Western Port area people reading this, if you'd like to join in and learn to crochet or knit, drop me an email and I'll add you to the list!

There were a few things that I got finished in time for this stall, mainly my mini granny square blanket, so I will show you all the tadah moment soon....

So how has your week end been going?

Having a fun one or just chilling out?

Talk soon, bye!

Tweety Bird Softie -Tadah!

Sooooo....... how's your day been going? 

It's pretty grey here, I have been trying to make the most of some sporadic sun and take a few pictures of my new softie that I showed you a bit of yesterday.

Tadah! 

So this is my version of a bird, still quite owl-like but I was trying for more of a kooky, parroty type bird this time.  Not sure how successful I was!  It's been a while since I made a softie, and it was really enjoyable to make something a bit whimsical.

I made some little feathery things for a bit of a flamboyant crest, a bit like the peacock that has been visiting us.

The green and red honeycombish stitch that I have used for the body, was something I came up with while trying to create a polka dot type effect, it's not too far away from polka dots.

I like this stitch combo a lot!

I am sure I'm not the first one to come up with this stitch combo, but I have no idea what it's called, I think it is quite effective though, and have plans for a few other projects using something like this.

Stay tuned!

....same old stitched and embroidered face as my other softies, I am getting a bit predictable i think!

Here she is on the work table like yesterday, I don't have a pattern for this tweety bird, as I made her up as I went, but I might make another one in different colours and a slightly different shape and I will try and write a pattern as I go, but that could be a little while down the track!

On a slightly different note, I was wondering if anyone out there would be interested in a little crochet-a-long?  I am thinking of making another mixed stripey blanket, using some of the interesting stitches I have come across in the last few months, and I thought it might be fun to make up a pattern and share it with you all, and kind of make it in stages together?  

I will see if anyone is interested, this idea still needs a fair bit of thought, as i have some ideas for a pattern but haven't drawn anything up yet.

Anyhoo, it could be fun, but we will see!

Talk soon!

Have a great weekend!

Softie wants new home....

Hello!

Thought I'd show you my little softie doll that I crocheted for the Softies For Mirabel appeal. 

(I am really getting stuck into finishing things at the moment!)

She's all dressed up ready for a new home!

And this is the thing I was working on last post, the partay dress!

I am very happy with how this turned out, it was the most fun part to make too.

I made the dress and the doll up as I went, and I think it looks ok.

..........bit of a freaky, starey face, she looks a bit ditzy I think, my embroidery skills could use some improvement.

 .......just hanging around.....

........and with the other toys in the 'hood, just chillin' out....

Hope someone out there will love her.

I have a weekend of gardening and housework ahead of me so it was nice to get a finished project out of the way. 

What have you got planned for the weekend?

Talk soon!

My creative space...more finished softies

Hello!

You might remember I had a little pile of flat owls sewn together and waiting patiently to be stuffed and finished....well I have got my act into gear and finally got them finished!

This was the bit that was holding me up.. finding the perfect wing...see what I was making those half circles for the other day? I think the lacy wings really finish these birdies off nicely.

Soooo...... what do you think? You like?

They turn out taller and skinnier when they are stuffed and it gives them a different look and personality I think. Their ears are quite shapable and I can make them look quizzical and amusing.....

I still love all these colour combinations........

I have been a busy girl and actually popped this little family in my shop, along with granny porky.... am in 'finishing off'' mode now so you might see some other things going that way too, I have plenty of unfinished projects around here to give my attention!

On another front, my blogging has got a lot easier today, I have discovered how to reduce my photos in size, and voila, all my blogger problems seem to have disappeared! I think my photo files were way too big and taking forever to upload and it was just timing out. So now it takes like 2 seconds to upload 5 photos!! I am a fairly low tech person, probably why it has taken me this long to figure this out. But the good news is now I can put lots more photos in my posts! Yay! I hope the quality of the photos doesn't suffer too much in the reduction, I think they will be alright for blogging purposes.

Anyhoo, playing along over here today, check out the creative types and all their creations!

Softie love....

hello!

I thought I would show you my new softie - granny porky, my version of a piggy!

......I used slightly more muted colours than usual, but I am happy with this paler pink piggy, the snout is maybe a bit chunky, but anyhoo, I am pretty happy with her......

.....she is very squishy and cuddly, Max tested her out for me!

------------------------------------

I decided to give my blog a bit of a renovation, you know, a change is as good as a holiday and all that.......

Have a great day!

my creative space.... softie on the go....

Today I am working on a new softie.

Hope to have it finished soon, it should look quite cute if it turns out how I imagine it.

But that doesn't always happen!

Today is my bloggy birthday, 12 months ago exactly from my first post, I am surprised and pleased that I have managed to blog for a whole year, I thought i would lose interest or life would get in the way, but no, I am really enjoying the whole blog experience and the extended community of supportive bloggers are pretty amazing!! Thank you for reading my stuff and for coming back!

So, to mark this occasion I am planning a Birthday give away which I will post about soon! Detail to follow, not sure what it will be yet, but it will be good!

Kitty Cat Tutorial/Pattern .....Part 2

This is the second part of my tutorial to make my granny square softie kitty Cat.
We have made the front and back body pieces in part 1, now is the relatively simple bit of making the arms, legs and face and putting it all together.

Face :
3.00mm hook, 8ply wool.
Make 2 round circles for eyes.
Ch 3, join with sl/st to create ring.
Rd 1 : ch2, 10 hdc into ring, join with sl/st to 2nd ch, bind off. (11 st)
Rd 2 :Join new colour, ch2, 1 hdc into same st, then 2 hdcs in each st, join with sl/st to 2nd ch. bind off. (22 st)
Rd 3 : Join new colour, ch 2,* 2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next st, * repeat around circle, join with sl/st to 2nd ch . Bind off.

Make 2 and these are the eyes.

To make a nose , do the same thing in one colour only and using 1 ch beginnings and scs around circle. It makes a smaller circle.

Pin the eyes and nose in place on front piece, and sew on. I use blanket stitch for the eyes, and just a straight stitch for the nose, but you can do what ever you like. I chain stitch some whiskers and a mouth, and voila! a face is done!


Legs :
Make 2 .
Ch 4, join with sl/st to form ring.
Rd 1 :ch1, 9sc into ring, join with sl/st to 1ch.
Rd 2 :ch1, 1sc in same place, then 2 sc in each st, join with sl/st to ch1.
Rd 3 :ch1, *2sc in next st, then 1sc in next st* continue in this pattern around, join with sl/st to ch1.
Rd 4 :ch1, 1scin each st around, join with sl/st to 1ch.
Continue for 6 more rounds, then change colour.
Continue till leg is desired length. bind off.


Arms :
Make 2.
Arms are made the same as legs, just starting with 8sc into the ring instead of 9sc, and made a bit shorter.


When you have your arms and legs done, and the face sewn on, it is time to sew it all together.

Pin the front and back piece together, right sides facing. Try and match up the stitches down the sides, as this gives a neater finish. Stitch around the cat, leaving an opening for stuffing at the bottom. Turn right side out, stuff and sew up opening.
Stuff each arm and leg, pin in position and sew into place. (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of this bit!)

And that, my friends, is how I made my granny square kitty cat!!

There is plenty of room for improvisation in this pattern, so have fun!

Kitty Cat Tutorial/Pattern .....Part 1

Hi there!
It's been a while!
I seem to have lost my grip on my blogging mojo recently, over a week since a post, so sorry, but I have been trying to create a post that has been niggling at me for a while, and a few nice ladies had asked about this, and it has taken alot of my spare blogging time to figure it all out, but here goes.......

.......... I have finally gotten onto writing a little pattern tutorial for my granny softie I call Kitty Cat.

This is the first time I have tried to write a pattern tutorial post so please excuse me if it is pretty crappy! ( for instance I am looking at the photos I have taken to try and help explain my crochet and can't really figure out what I am doing in some of them!! So I hope I don't confuse you all.)

Having said that, this is a fairly straight forward crochet make and if I could make it I'm sure all you clever people will find it a breeze.

My original Kitty Cat (pictured above) used the Sunburst granny square as the tummy panel, in this example I am using a different square pattern, as I wanted something a bit more solid with less places for stuffing to poke through.

You can use whatever square pattern you like as your tummy square, but I think the ones with less gaps work better for a stuffed softie.


My incredibly high tech pattern writing notebook. Haha. ( I really have been busy!!)


Ok, here is the square I am starting with, this pattern is called Spinner from the Jan Eaton Crochet Squares book, as I said choose whatever square pattern take your fancy and make 2 of them.

The basic construction of this toy is a simple back piece and front piece that are the same, sewn together, with arms and legs sewn on last and the face hand sewn on and embroidered.

I used a 3mm hook and 8 ply wool to make a nice thick piece of crochet to stuff.


How I made it :

Take one square and with right side facing you, join your main colour with a sl/st to any corner stitch of the last round. (above picture)


Round 1 of main colour : Ch 1, (acts as 1st st), sc in same stitch, then sc in each st around square, with 3sc in each corner st. When you get back to the starting point, sc in same st as ch1 and join the round with a sl/stitch.
(there are now 3 sts in each corner st of the round)


Next round : ch 1, TURN WORK and working on the back side of the square, sc in same stitch, then sc in each stitch around the square, working 3sc in each corner st.
When back to the start, sc in first st and sl/st to starting 1ch to join the round.
Round 3 :Ch 1, TURN WORK and repeat the first round

So now you should have a square with 3 rounds of sc bordering it.


(Starting body/head) :
You now start working in rows back and forward to make the head.
Ch1, (acts as 1st sc st so miss the next st) ,Turn work so working on backside, then sc in each st across til 1st corner, (end of row) then Ch 1, turn work, miss 1st st, sc in each st back across row.
Continue on in this way til you can count 12 'double rows' ( see photo below to see what I mean)

Making ears:
On 1st 14 st start shaping a triangle by decreasing 1 st at each end of row on every right side row. Like this :
1st ear
Next right side row, only sc 14sts, then ch1 and turn. Sc in each st back to start.
2nd RS row, Sl/st to next stitch, then ch 1 , sc in next 11 sts, (12 sts all up), ch 1, turn. Sc in each st back to 1st ch.
Continue on in the pattern,( the sc in the middle will reduce by 2 each RS Row) until there are 2 st left. At this point bind off.

2nd ear :
Count 14 st from left hand side of work and join wool, ch1.
Make 2nd ear the same way as the 1st.

You can make your ears bigger or smaller depending on how many stitches you start with in your rows (depends on the square you choose to use), So this is really more of a guide, if you have a different amount of stitches and there is a big gap between your ears (I mean your softies ears!! I don't mean your brain space! haha!! I'm not being rude!) you can adjust the number of sts in each ear, just make sure they are the same number. I like to leave a gap of 3-4 st on my cat.


So they should look something like this when done.

Make another piece the same way for the back, and there you have it, the front and back of kitty cat!
In part 2, I'll show you the arms and legs and face details and how it all goes together.

Sorry this is in 2 parts, but it has taken me so long to get just this far that I think you would be waiting for ages if I did it all in one go. I think I'll be able to finish off the 2nd installment for you pretty quickly, and maybe even post it tomorrow!

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial, if you find any problems or inconsistencies with the instructions feel free to let me know and I'll try and fix it! ( this is my 1st try after all!)

Have a great day!

PS. I have used American crochet terms for this pattern, so for you English Ladies, I think that means Sc =Dc

My Creative Space........birdies...

Finally got these little birdies sewn together and ready for stuffing and wings! Yay!

I might get a bit of public crocheting done today, I'm taking the eldest and a mate into the city this afternoon for a concert ( some very loud and not too bad band - Escape the Fate, I think they're called), so will have a few hours to kill waiting for them. I'm thinking a cosy little cafe in one of the laneways might be just the place to pull out the hook and do a bit of people watching, there is always something to look at in the city. (although the weather is one of those gorgeous Autumn days, sunny and still, so maybe a stroll around the streets will be a better use of the me time)

Hope you all have lovely creative days !



Lots of other creative places over at Kirstys here.

New crochet happiness.....

.....Soooooo........ this is the crochet WIP I have been working on recently.

I really wanted a pattern for a solid circle in a square, and was going to have a go at making one up, when I came across what I was looking for in a book. I think everyone who crochets must know that "200 crochet Blocks" book by Jan Eaton (I think), there it was right in front of me, saving me a lot of hassle, so I could just start making to my hearts content.


These squares are going to be turned into a family of little owl softies.
Do you like the colours?


.....and when I have made them, I think I'll make some more for a blanket, I really like this colour scheme, it's a bit softer than I usually use but I like the change!

I'll show you more as I get them finished.
Have a great day!