Crochet a Shamrock for St. Patrick ...

Are you in some far-flung part of the world where Shamrocks are pretty scarce on the ground? What to do? How to get one for St. Patrick's Day (17th March - this Monday!)?

Rest easy. I have the solution. You can crochet one!

How does this look? And it's super easy-peasy to make.

Crochet Shamrock

Here's what you need:

A little bit of left-over green wool in 4 ply
3 mm crochet hook
darning needle
very small safety pin

Here's a crochet map of how to do it:

By way of explanation, the terms used are American terms. Ch for Chain is, I believe, universal. SC is Single Crochet in America, but in Britain it's called Double Crochet. Tr is Treble Crochet in America, but it's called  Double Treble Crochet in Britain.

Here's what to do:

1. Start off with a sliding loop: wrap the yarn a couple of times round your left index finger (if you're right handed like me - or the other way round if you're left handed) keeping the dead end of the yarn closest to your wrist.

Row 1

2. Work a slip stitch with the working end of the yarn through the loop.
3. Ch 1. SC 8 into the loop and join with a slip stitch into the first Ch 1. Be really careful to work clean stitches in this round without splitting the yarn as it's easy to get it knotted when you come to tighten the circle in step 4.
4. Gently pull the dead end of the yarn to tighten the loop and close the circle in the centre.

It should look like this: -

Row 2

5. SC, Ch 3 and Tr 1 into first SC of last round. Tr 1 into next SC. Ch 3 and join with a SC to the same stitch that you did the last Tr into. SC into next stitch. *Ch 3. Tr into next stitch. Tr into following stitch. Ch 3 and join to the same stitch as last Tr with a SC. SC into next stitch.* Repeat from * to* once more. SC into next stitch. Ch 7 to make the stem of the Shamrock and cast off.

It should look something like this:

6. Now you need to attach your safety pin. Place it on the wrong side of the Shamrock and sew the harbour pin (the one that doesn't have a pointy tip) to the Shamrock, like so:

And now you're all set for the big day!


Bonny x

Crochet Lavender Sachets ... and waiting for the delivery man ...

These days I seem to spend my life waiting for deliveries. The principal culprit in all of this is my lovely husband, who has a really bad internet shopping habit. Wild horses won't drag that man to a bricks-and-mortar shop, but boy does he know how to burn his plastic on-line! Most of what he buys is boring tech-stuff that I never even knew we needed, but someone has to be on duty when the precious consignment hits the doorstep. And today, that honour falls to Maxi and me. And we're more than just a little bit bored with how it's cramping our style.


The problem is we're here:

When we'd really like to be here:

Or here:

Of course, it helps that it's raining outside and blowing a gale (no surprise there, we're in London and it's February), but still we'd like to have the option of going on one of our 'Big Out-of-Doors Adventures'.

To pass the time, because I can't seem to settle my head for any proper work, I've been playing about with scraps of wool.


After my efforts the other day with the Skinny Heart Lavender Sachet I got to thinking that it might be nice to make some smaller lavender sachets to use with my woollen jumpers, which are always vulnerable to moth attacks.

What do you think?

It's a variation on the Skinny Heart that I wrote about before, but this one is smaller and not quite so skinny - more of a Sweetheart heart (of the fizzy sweets fame).

I added a rosette flower, which borrows more from the prize rosettes down at the pony club than anything Mother Nature ever conceived of. It's very quick and easy to make as I used treble stitch for speed. I'm aiming for a lot of sachets in as little time as possible.

If you'd like to have a go at my variation on a theme here's what you need, and how to go about it.

A: to  make the heart sachet

Materials

Small amounts of double knitting in main colour and contrast

3.5 mm crochet hook

Pattern

The number shown in brackets is the number of stitches that you should have in each row. I am using English terminology, so if you're on the other side of the pond you may have to make allowances for the lingo.
At the end of each row you should chain 3 to turn, which is not included in the instructions below.

First side

1. Chain 2
2. 2 Treble Crochet (TC)  into second chain. (2)
3. 2 TC in each stitch. (4)
4. 2 TC into first stitch. 2 TC. 2 TC into last stitch. (6)
5. 2 TC into first stitch. 4 TC. 2 TC into last stitch. (8)
6. 2 TC into first stitch. 6 TC. 2 TC into last stitch. (10)
7. 2 TC into first stitch. 8 TC. 2 TC into last stitch. (12)
8. 2 TC into first stitch. 10 TC. 2 TC into last stitch. (14)
9. TC entire row. (14)
10. TC entire row. (14)

Large lobe of heart

1. TC 7.
2. TC 7.
3. TC 2 together. TC 3. TC 2 together. (5)
4. TC 2 together. TC 1. TC 2 together. (3)
5. TC 2 together. TC 1. (2)
6. Cast off and work other lobe of heart. 

Small lobe of heart

1. TC 7, with the large lobe held to the right hand side.
2. TC 2 together.TC 3. TC 2 together. (5)
3. TC 2 together. TC1. TC 2 together. (3)
4. TC 2 together. TC 1. (2)
5. Cast off. 

Second Side

Rows 1 to 10 for main body of heart as above.

Small lobe of heart.

1. TC 7.
2. TC 2 together. TC 3. TC 2 together. (5)
3. TC 2 together. TC1. TC 2 together. (3)
4. TC 2 together. TC 1. (2)
5. Cast off.

Large lobe of heart (made with small lobe on the right hand side)

1. TC 7, with the small lobe held to the right hand side.
2. TC 7. 
3. TC 2 together. TC 3. TC 2 together. (5)
4. TC 2 together. TC1. TC 2 together. (3)
5. TC 2 together. TC 1. (2)
6. Cast off and weave in the loose ends.

Join together with contrasting yarn using DC stitch.

Stuff partly with toy filling, and with dried lavender heads wrapped in kitchen muslin to keep them from spreading through the body of the sachet. You can see how I wrapped them up here: Skinny hearts

B: to make the rosette flower

Materials

Small amount of 4 ply wool for the centre
Small amount of double knitting for the petals
My plan in using different thicknesses of wool was to make the petals bunch chunky like on a rosette.
2 mm crochet hook.

Pattern

Chain 4 in centre colour (green in my case), and join with a Slip Stitch.
Chain 3 and make 11 TC into chain 4 loop.
Change to petal colour (pink double knitting wool in my case).
Slip Stitch to join. Chain 3, 1 double treble crochet (DTC), Chain 3 into the same stitch as the original slip stitch. *Slip stitch into next stitch, Chain 3, 1 DTC, Chain 3, all into same stitch*. Repeat from * to * all the way round to create 12 petals. Fasten off, weave in ends - or leave them loose and trim like the tail of a rosette - and attach to the crochet heart.

I have used English terminology here, but I think the following is an accurate translation of the terms into American terminology:

English Double Crochet = American Single Crochet
English Treble Crochet = American Double Crochet
English Double Treble Crochet = American Treble Crochet

Anyway fingers crossed for my delivery to arrive some time before I need to leave for the school run,

Bonny x

Knitted, heart-shaped lavender sachet

Today I'm making a lavender sachet as a gift for a friend who won't be feeling very happy this Valentine's Day. I won't talk about her private grief other than to say that I think she's being a real star, handling a very tricky situation with great dignity and lots of courage.

Anyway, what do you think? Any chance it might raise a smile?

 I'm loving all the pinky, flowery, girliness of it, and I'm not normally a very girly kind of girl.

If you would like to make one of your own, you can find the pattern here Skinny heart pattern on "Lulu loves" website. It's very clearly, and accurately written, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to you.

I filled mine in part with the suggested toy-filler, but in the very middle I placed a couple of sachets of dried lavender seeds, tied up in some kitchen muslin so that they don't come out. As a result my room is smelling like summer, and that is making me very happy whilst the wind whistles down the chimney and the rain batters against my windowpanes.

And then I embellished it with some knitted lavender stems for luck.

If you'd like to have a go at knitting your own lavender, here's what you need and here's how to go about it: 

Materials:

Small amounts of 4 ply wool in lavender and green colours. I used Sublime extra fine merino wool in 4 ply.
1 set of 2 mm needles. I used a 4-needle set that I have for making socks, and I found having a spare needle to do the double-back-and-make-petals bits quite handy.

 Pattern: 

Cast on 3 stitches

Row 1: knit (3 stitches on needle - all numbers in brackets shown below are the number of stitches you ought to have on your needle at the end of the row.)

Row 2: purl (3)

Row 3: knit (3)

Row 4: purl (3)

Row 5: knit into the front and back of each of the first two stitches, knit 1. (5)

Row 6: purl (5)

Row 7: *knit 1, cast on 5 stitches by rolling the wool in front of the needle to create two loops and drawing the first loop through the second one to create a stitch. Cast off the 5 stitches that have just been created by knitting back across the new five stitches and casting them off one by one*. I found it useful to use one of the other sock needles to knit back in the opposite direction and cast these stitches off. Repeat from * to * across the row, ending with knit 1. (5)

Row 8: purl (5)

Row 9: knit (5)

Row 10: purl (5)

Row 11: knit into the front and the back of each of the first 4 stitches. Knit 1. (9)

Row 12: purl (9)

Row 13: knit 1, cast on 5 as in row 7, and cast them off again. *Knit 2, cast on 5 as in row 7, and cast them off again*. Repeat from * to * across the row, ending with Knit 2. (9)

Row 14: purl (9)

Row 15: *slip 2, knit 1, cast off the first 2 slipped stitches by drawing over the first knit stitch*. Repeat from * to * across the row. (3)

Row 16: Change colour to green to knit the stem: purl (3)

Row 17: knit (3)

Repeat rows 16 and 17 until the stem is as long as you want it to be.

Cast off.

Sew in your ends, and sew up the back of the lavender head and stem.

Ta-dah: you've just made a lavender flower.

 Enjoy!

Bonny x

The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show

I don't know about you, but I love a good knitting and sewing show. I love getting to meet all those arty, creative people who share my passion for textiles and wool. I love seeing all those glorious fabrics and yarns, and dreaming about what I could sew/knit/crochet them into. I love a good day out with a couple of friends in tow, a spot of lunch thrown in, and the odd coffee to sip along the way as we take the weight of our feet for a well-earned rest after all that heavy browsing.

If that sounds like your sort of thing too, then you seriously need to check out the forthcoming Spring Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia.

They promise to have over 200 companies exhibiting their wares along with lots of workshops in everything from quilting and dressmaking to crochet.

You can check it out here :-

The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show

Put the date in your diaries: 13th to 16th March at London Olympia, and maybe I'll see you there.

 Bonny x

just hooking, reading and doing my thing ...

Shush … don’t tell anyone, but I secretly like to crochet (and knit and sew).

It’s one of my guilty pleasures. Guilty? I don’t know, but it just never seemed to be intellectual/ artistic/ interesting enough to talk about. What kind of sad hausfrau would I appear to be if I arrived with my yarn bag under one arm? So my lovely double knitting, super soft cashmerino and multi-coloured four ply all stayed hidden at home.

And then, little by little, people seem to have rediscovered the pleasure of quietly creating something unique in a palette of colour that pleases their eye. Stitch by stitch it’s become respectable, therapeutic, trendy even, to crochet and knit again. Groups have grown up of like-minded people who want to get together for a knit and a natter.

Perfect! How lovely! Now I can take my needles out of the closet and practise my passion in public.

I’ve often wondered whether someone like Tracy Chevalier shared my secret enthusiasm? Have you read, ‘The Last Runaway’, her latest book? It’s about an English Quaker girl, who emigrates to America and gets involved in rescuing escaped slaves as part of the Underground Railway movement. One of the many charming things about the tale is the way Tracy describes the lead character’s love of quilting. Either she has done her homework very thoroughly, and then used a lot of empathy/ imagining to get it spot on, or she’s done some sewing in between times.

I especially loved the way bits of fabric, from a loved one’s cast-off dress/ tablecloth/whatever, would be stashed away, and later incorporated into a quilt, and a memory would get stitched into a practical, intimate, everyday object that would become a very physical connection with the past. That’s got to be the ultimate up-cycle!

Anyway if you haven’t’ read it, and especially if you enjoyed ‘The Lady and the Unicorn’, in which she did a great job of recreating the workshop of the fifteenth century tapestry weavers in Paris, go get yourself a copy. It’s a delightful read.

Enjoy!

Bonny x