I’ll forgive you if you have to look at this a few times and screw your eyes up a bit to work out what it is!

I’ve always looked longingly at amigurumi wishing I could make something so small, cute and neat and with my new-found crochet skills I felt the time was right. 

Although the little ‘creatures’ are sweet, something else caught my attention at Lion Brand.  You’ve probably noticed by now I love tea in many forms and tea with craft is a great combination.

So here is my attempt! OK, so I’m not saying it’s my finest work, but it’s a start and I thought it only right that I share it. 

I decided to enhance the original pattern with a saucer and ‘T’ on the tea bag tag just in case it isn’t clear what it’s meant to be.  I followed the pattern for the handle exactly but it is proportionally very chunky, so I’d try for a more delicate version next time.

Funniest of all though I am going to give this to a fellow tea and craft loving friend.  If she’s reading this she’ll know who she is.  Lucky girl…. maybe!!  My only concern is that she may choke on a custard cream laughing at it!

(It’s a little crochet tea cup and saucer with dangly teabag in case you’re still wondering!)

Yay… the string bag which I have been crocheting the last few days is finished! And its FAB!!  About half way through the same 9 stitches over and over and over again I thought ‘this isn’t worth it’ but as I got nearer the end I was spurred on.

I don’t think you can see it very easily in the pictures but I really like the way the handles are formed, by doing a couple of rounds along the top of the bag, then making chains the length of the handle and attaching them a little distance along the top.  You then do a few more rounds, going over the length of the handles.  Cool, eh?

Of course when it was finished I just had to put some shopping in it to show it off.  And doesn’t it look great, until you do one thing…

When it’s got things in it and you pick it up it is sooooooooooo stretchy!  It is substantially stretchier lengthways than widthways and becomes very long.  Not quite to the ground, but nto far off it.  I don’t know if that’s because of the thickness of yarn and hook I used or something so I might try slightly different proportions next time.

But I do think its great.  Did I say I was going to give it away?  Wondering if I can go back on that if the intended recipient is unaware…

BTW, I was going to make soup with those yummy leeks but just couldn’t be bothered tonight so maybe tomorrow.

I love string shopping bags, hate paying for carrier bags and never remember to take reusable bags with me to the supermarket.  So here’s something I thought I’d try and, hey, its working!

I looked at a few patterns for crocheting string shopping bags and decided to try this one from The Purl Bee.   I had already bought some Patons 100% Cotton 4 ply for this job, as  previously posted  when I had a bit of a crochet shopping binge, and it’s finally time to give it a go.

Lo and behold, this bag is so easy!  Its quite a marathon task because after the first 6 rounds it is a completely repetitive pattern, but sometimes that’s just what I need and enjoy – no thought required.  So far I think I am about a third of the way through. 

I haven’t changed the pattern as such, but I am using a slightly finer yarn weight and hook size, so I think it’s coming out a bit smaller.  Next time I may change to 9 or 10 chains in every link (instead of 8 in the pattern) or use a larger hook, but I’ll see how the finished size turns out.  Also a little reminder – this pattern is from USA so single crochet is double crochet in the UK.

Unfortunately, I may not reap the benefits of my own work because I may generously give it to my friend Andy, who I am meeting this weekend, as he is a proper dippy hippy (his own words!) and loves all things homemade.  I am sure it will be appreciated, and I’d always be forgetting to take it to the shops anyway!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Dr Who Tom Baker scarf I knitted for Caveman.  We met 2 years ago next month and I knitted it for our first Christmas together.  As you can imagine from the timescales of October to Christmas I started knitting it pretty soon after we met to get it finished in time!  In hindsight that was a pretty tall order and perhaps just a bit presumptuous in a new relationship!  But here we are still so I can tell the story with a smile!

Anyway, I wanted to share the pattern I developed for the scarf.  Caveman is a massive fan of Dr Who and Tom Baker was his favourite.  I did lots and lots of research, looking at pictures, colours, film etc and developed this pattern.  I used Sirdar Country Style yarn which I have found in the past to be a very standard double knit and stable and easy to knit with, using 4mm needles.  I also have a very standard and even tension, which does help.

Here are the colours and rows you will need to knit.  (Note that the inch / cm measurements vary slightly from each other just because of rounding)

Changing colour every few rows became a bit of a pain at times so I’d recommend you sew in ends as you go along.  Needless to say I didn’t!!

When all the knitting is done make tassels in each shade to finish about 6inches long each.

I have tried to find the ball bands from the yarn I used to give details of shades but just can’t track them down, although I am sure I kept them.  If they turn up I will blog details.  I’ve given the rough type of colour above and the pictures may help.

My final tip: if you are knitting this in secret for your beloved find a good excuse for the amount of time you will need to spend at home knitting.  They may become suspicious if you say you spent the evening knitting and have nothing to show for it until you present them with the fruits of your labour.

I’ve been putting my new-found crochet skills to good use and completed my first project.  My Curly Wurly Scarf is a variation of lots of twisted crochet items I’ve seen and developed to form this pink and grey scrummy scarf just for me!

So here’s how it came about:

Materials:

Pink Double knitting: not very much, enough for foundation chain and one double crochet row

Grey Double knitting: not very much, enough for 2 double crochet rows

Pink/Cream/Grey: I needed just over one ball but would probably make scarf a little shorter next time and use just one ball.  I used Sirdar Crofter DK Fair Isle

Make foundation chain, to length you want scarf, in pink (mine was 72inches but would probably go a bit shorter next time)

Row 1: 1 turning chain, then start dc in 2nd chain and dc in each chain of foundation chain, turn

Row 2: Join grey. 1 turning chain, then start dc in 2nd chain and dc in each dc, turn

Row 3: Join Fair Isle. 3 turning chain (counts as 1tr), 2tr into same place, then 3tr into every dc, turn (I did try just 2tr into each dc but found in this yarn it didn’t create any twist)

Row 4:  4 turning chain (counts as 1dtr), 1 dtr into same place, then 2dtr into each tr, turn

Row 5: Join grey. 1 turning chain, then start dc in 2nd chain and dc in each dtr, fasten off.

That’s it!  A curly wurly scarf!!  I have lots of ideas on curly wurly colour combinations so there may well be more.  It was fairly quick to make, although row 4 took quite a while to complete.

I am delighted with the result of this and look forward to wearing it with lovely grey woolies this winter!