sweet summer cover up

The good side of being, quite literally a bonified and kosher dusty old mole, is that at least I’ve been able to enter the made it monthly challenge, over at the fabulous woolhogs!

In case you didn’t know I’ve opened a Misi shop (make it sell it) you can check out my post here, anyways it has taken up a lot of my time, to say the least! Not only am I very dusty, but the house, well let’s just say we have a bit of a dust situation!

So, as I’ve been so busy being creative, for once entering was a breeze! I chose to enter this gorgeous super sweet waistcoat as it has been a real labour of love! It’s worked in a gorgeous silk and linen rowan yarn mix, like my bag in my post here. I had to add the chunky flower, as in case you hadn’t noticed I’m a bit of a flower power kinda chick!

I hope you guy’s can all forgive me for not posting/commenting as much as normal, but I have a right achy old back, which proves I’ve been slogging my gut’s out, also I can’t stop sneezing which is down to dust more than hay fever!

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flower power bag

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yikes I finished my bag in time for the made it monthly challenge over at the gorgeous woolhogs by the skin of my teeth!

It’s a sort of combination of lots of things I’ve spied in books and magazines and I love it. I’m trying to make enough stock to start an online shop so I’m a bit of a dusty mole surrounded by yarn and crochet hooks, with a pink bow on my head of course!

recently my beloved hubby told me I would never make enough money for all my time, but that has just made me all the more determined, so watch this mole hole!

ps I can’t wait to tell you about a gorgeous package I received from knitexpressions and heaps of yummy awards to share too!

love and hugs Teresa ♥ (aka dusty mole!)

pretty daisy chain necklace

I am like a magpie when it comes to flowers and diamonds, and as flowers are cheaper I’m always covered in tons of them! So when I was thinking of ideas to enter woolhogs made it monthly challenge, flowers were on my mind,  just a little!

What can be cuter than this super cute daisy chain necklace, the daisies are attached to a simple crochet chain and fastened with a button. I love it and can currently be found day-dreaming of meadows filled with buttercups and daisies!

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daisy chain

daisy chain

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pretty spring crochet coasters

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I got more hooky!

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Over at the gorgeous woolhogs, every month they hold a made it challenge. For April, they added a theme ‘seasons’. I really fancied entering and this cute idea popped into my head.

I loved making them, and am hoping to sell some at some local craft fairs if I can take the plunge and be brave!

They are very simple and sweet to make, It’s really just the inside of a granny square, from another fave book of mine, Granny Squares, by Barbara Wilder, Melanie Sturm & Stephanie Gohr.

I used cotton yarn and a 3mm hook, but you can use whatever you like such is the beauty of crochet!

ch5 join with ss into first chain to form a ring. round1: 1ch, work 8 dc in ring. round2: new colour, slip stitch in any dc, 3ch, 1 tr, 1ch, 2tr in each dc, ss in top of first 3 ch. round3: new colour, slip stitch into any ch space between tr clusters, 3ch, 2tr into same space, 1ch, 3tr into each space, ss into first 3 ch. round4: new colour, ss into same space, 1 ch dc into next 2tr, 4tr into ch space dc into 2nd and 3rd tr, repeat till end, ss into first ch. Fasten off and darn in ends.

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granny sqaure iPhone cover

This is such a cute and versatile phone cover which fits most modern smartphones from one of my fave books, ‘granny square crochet’ by catherine hirst. I’ve added one extra row of edging purely to perfect any untidy stitches!

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cute granny phone case

two cute cases!

pick any colour

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• front
• Using any colour, ch4, join with ss in first ch to form ring.
• rnd 1: Ch3, 2tr in ring, *ch2, 3tr in ring; rep from * 2 times more, ch1, join with ss in top of ch-3. fasten off.
• work second square as staring square but use join as you go method: work the first set of the corner grouping, then instead of making ch2 for the corner sp, insert the hook into the corner space of the starting square from underneath as shown. (1dc into the corner sp of the starting square counts as the first of 2ch for the corner space), ch1, then work the second set for the corner as usual. To continue joining the squares together, instead of the ch1, work 1dc into the next side sp of the starting square.

 

 

 

 

• Rnd 2 : Attatch new colour in any ch-2 corner sp, ch3, (2tr, ch2, 3tr) in corner space, *ch1, (3tr, ch2, 3tr) in next corner space; rep from * 2 times more, ch1, join with ss in top of ch-3. fasten off.
• Edging.
• Attatch edging colour in any stitch, ch1, *1dc in each st and ch to corner, 2dc in each corner ch; rep from * 3 times more, 1dc in each st and ch to end, join with ss in first dc. fasten off.
•  back:
• row 1: using any colour, ch15, miss 1 ch, 1dc in each ch, turn. (14 sts)
• row 2: Ch1, 1dc in each dc to end, turn. Rep row 2 another 21 times or untill piece measures same as front. fasten off.
• finishing:
• Hold front and back together with wrong side facing. Attatch edging colour to corner of one long edge, ch1, work dc join around 3 sides, working 2dc in each ch at both corners and leaving one short side open. fasten off.

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Love ♥ love ♥ love ♥ granny chic!

Help I’m in love with granny, chic that is!

It all kicked off when I set my eyes on this gorgeous book, granny chic from dottie angel and ted & agnes. It oughta come with a warning cos I’m addicted! I’m lovin fabric wrapping. It’s like patchwork but instead of stitching you glue (I know neat huh!).

All you do is grab yourself some wallpaper paste and stick patches of fabric to whatever you fancy (alright not the kids!), paste all over the top and leave to dry. Then apply several coats of clear varnish, sit back and admire your work!

At this moment I’m looking around the house with a glintful eye for something else to cover in fabric, driving my family bonkers as per!

If you like this granny chic style you have so totally gotta give this a whirl!

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granny chic

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Granny-chic tea cosy

Well I’m glad to say that my nightmare on tea cosy street is finally over! It all started when….

I found this gorgeous pattern in an extract from a book called: granny chic from dottie angel and ted & agnes, and I had to have a go. Trouble is me and patterns don’t go well together, I much prefer symbol patterns as you can’t miss-interpret what people mean. So now I’ve deciphered it I thought it would be cool to share! I was so releived to be finished, proud of my tea cosy I drove my family mad taking photos of it, so take a look!

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nb: This pattern makes a good old british style tea cosy (big!), so you may like to make fewer rows and chains to start with and adjust your pattern accordingly. The pictures following are to show where you join yarn as I find that hard to tell sometimes, and show stitches for some visual help. Throughout I used 4mm hook and stylecraft acrylic dk yarn.

Chain 82 stitches. In 3rd chain from hook, 2 treble crochet (skip 2 chain, 3 treble crochet in next chain) to end. Fasten off. you should have 27 treble crochet clusters.

Now as I learnt from the gorgeous blog crochet with raymond which you can find here:

http://crochethealingandraymond.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/granny-tea-cozy-tutorial-hurray/

You need to find your centre point. So fold work in half and mark centre point with a strip of yarn as you can see in the bottom of this picture:

Join yarn with slip stitch in space after first treble. Chain 3. 3 treble in next space for a total of 12 clusters. (this should be the last space before your mark) Fasten off. Join yarn with slip stitch in next space (this should be space above your mark), 3 chain, 2 treble in same space, 3 treble in next space till end. 1 treble in space after 2nd treble in last cluster.

If you look at the above picture you will see that you repeat this process for a total of 11 rows, but you need to alternate it. So for the next round as per blue above you join with a slip after the first treble of the cluster and make 3 chain, then 3 treble in next space to end. Alternate at the ends as well:

So once you’ve gotton your 11 rows, continue pattern for the next row, but don’t break the yarn in the middle, carry on to join both sides, as in the white strip below:

For the next row, repeat, but when you get to the middle space, 2 treble crochet, and then continue:

Join yarn in end space of first cluster, chain 3, 3 treble crochet in next space for a total of 11 treble crochet clusters. 2 treble crochet in next 2 spaces, (3 treble crochet in next space) continue till end.

Slip slitch into 3rd stitch of chain on the opposite side, now you have a complete circle!

Join yarn in first space, chain 3, 1 treble crochet in same space. (3 treble crochet in next space) for a total of 10 clusters. 2 treble crochet in next 3 spaces, (3 treble crochet in next space) continue to last space, 2 treble crochet. slip stitch into 3rd stitch of first chain:

Join yarn with slip stitch in back space, chain3, 1 treble crochet. (2 treble crochet in next space, 3 treble crochet in next) 5 times. 2 treble crochet in next space, (2 treble crochet in next space, 3 treble crochet in next space), repeat to last space, 2 treble crochet in last space slip stitch into chain 3:

Join yarn in space between last 2 treble crochet space of previous row, chain 3, 1 treble crochet. (2 treble crochet in next space) repeat to end. slip stitch in chain 3:

Join yarn in space between 2 treble crochet directly above handle space, chain 3, 1 treble crochet. In next space 2 treble crochet, then 3 treble crochet in next space, (skip 1 space, then 3 treble crochet in next space), repeat to last space, 2 treble crochet, slip stitch into chain 3.

Join yarn, chain 3 ( counts as 1 treble), 1 treble crochet, (2 treble crochet in each space), repeat to end, slip stitch to chain 3.

Join yarn, chain 3 ( counts as 1 treble), 1 treble crochet into every space to end, slip stitch into chain 3.

Join yarn, chain 3 (counts as 1 treble), 1 treble into every other space, slip stitch into chain 3.

Repeat last row, fasten off. Thread an embrodiory needle and darn in all ends neatly. (just run your thread back through several stitches and snip as near as you can.)

Now you can add a pom pom or two if you want to. I found the best way for me was this:

grab a 5 cm piece of card and the yarn of your choice. wrap around 180 times. Tie securely at the top with a seperate piece of yayn/string, and cut the opposite end. Now shake your pom pom and trim to shape.

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Pretty crochet flowers

If you ask me girl can never have too many flowers. I love to give and receive a bloom, but what I really love is to crochet some! There’s nothing cuter than a little bunch of crochet flowers displayed in a simple jam jar on your kitchen table, as part of a brooch or even to brighten up winter shrubs in your garden, and with a little practice you can easily achieve some stunning effects.

Give it a try and see if you don’t get hooked yourself, if your not already that is!

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The pattern I’ve used here is from one of my fave books: Crochet Bouquet by Suzann Thompson.

make 5 chain and join with a slip stitch to form a ring. then there is only one round:

make 3 chain and do 2 treble clusters into ring. yarn around hook, insert into ring, yarn around hook and draw through 2 loops on hook (do this twice) yarn around hook and draw through all 3 loops on hook. Repeat for a total of 5 times. Fasten off, and weave in all yarn ends.

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♥ Gifted Crochet Bracelet ♥

     

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I love crochet and once you have mastered the initial steps you can whip up a lovely gift in next to no time! I found the best way to  learn was heaps and heaps of practice, so here is a little project to have a go at!

This project can be made using any yarn or beads available to you, you just need to adjust your hook and needle accordingly.(Usually your chosen yarn will specify the size of hook required, I usually find the best thing is to have a selection handy and play around until you reach the desired effect. Here I have used necklace cord and a 2.5 mm hook.)

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Once you have chosen your yarn the first thing you need to do is thread your beads. Get a length of thread and arrange in a U shape threading the ends of the U through the eye of the needle (as shown here):

Then arrange your yarn through the U:

Thread the needle through your bead:

Thread through and pull your bead down until it reaches the yarn:

Continue until all your beads are threaded. (it’s much better to have too many than not enough as you won’t be able to add more beads later):

Great, you are now ready to begin your beaded crochet. The next step here is to fasten on. Make a slip knot as illustrated here:

Insert the hook through the loop, and catch the tail with the end. Draw the yarn through the loop on the hook:

Pull the tail to tighten the slip knot around the hook:

Now we can begin to crochet:

Yarn around hook and pull through, you have just made your first chain stitch!

Continue 9 more times for a total of 10 stitches:

Now you need to slip stitch into the first chain to form a ring:

Yarn around hook and pull through, you are now left with a ring:

Yarn around hook and make 5 chain stitches. (you can adjust this number according to yarn and wrist size):

Now you can start your beaded crochet. Bring your bead right down to your work on the hook. Yarn over hook and chain stitch as normal incorporating the bead:

Continue this process until all beads are incorporated with an even spacing between them of 5 chain stitches (or your chosen amount). After your last bead work 5 chain, then a further 10 chain stitches, finishing with a slip stitch into the first chain of the 10 to form a ring to match the start:

Fasten off. (cut yarn leaving a good length for darning in, Yarn around hook and pull through.) Thread an embroidery needle to the end of your yarn and darn in neatly through several stitches, and cut thread:

Yay! one cute bracelet:

And from the back! You can either hook the ring around the bead to fasten or pull through to give a leaf effect:

Now you can gift wrap your creation. I tend to keep a whole stash of boxes, tissue paper etc. for this. Grab yourself a cute box and pop in the bracelet wrapped in tissue paper:

Customise your box by adding a cute crochet flower:

For a vintage feel wrap using some wallpaper. This one is vintage Laura Ashley. (You can find loads of stuff like this at charity shops and thrift markets.)

Wrap up and tie with a scrap of yarn and you got yourself one cute little parcel:

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