Pokemon crochet - risky but worth it!

My side of the sofa has been taken over with Pokemon crochet again. After making a few more Pokeballs as a last minute present for one of Sam's friends I finally got around to making a few different balls to add to the kids pokeball collection. First I crocheted up this Ultra ball - on giving it to my children it was promptly thrown at me.
 

This didn't deter me though as I foolishly decided to try and make a repeat ball. I was very proud of it and so passed it to my husband to admire and he then threw it at me with a shout of 'I choose you!' 

Emily then requested a crochet pokemon for one of her friends and so little Lotad has just been finished up ready to join a new family. Before heading off to a new home though he went out to visit our garden pond to see if he could spot one of the frogs that have been occasionally popping by.

I'm pleased to say that Lotad has not been thrown at me, at least not yet...

Baby blue

I'm back trying to get busy crocheting and wanted to quickly share this ripple baby blanket I finished at the beginning of Spring... 

Colours from a yarn pack bought for me by my lovely sister. Ripple pattern by Lucy of Attic24. 

Should be keeping a new tiny one warm soon :-)

Easter eggs

We're off for an egg hunt tomorrow and after seeing lots of yarny eggs hanging up at Dunham Massey I was inspired to come up with my own crochet eggs to hide along side the chocolate treats.

My eggs turned out pleasingly egg shaped so I thought I would share with you my simple egg pattern.

Simple crochet eggs

Magic circle to start

Work 6 sc into circle (6sc)
Work 2 sc into each sc (12sc)
Work *2 sc into next sc, sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (18sc)
Work *2 sc into next sc, sc in next 2 sc* repeat 6 times (24sc)
Work *2 sc into next sc, sc in next 3 sc* repeat 6 times (30sc)

Work 1 sc into each sc around for next 5 rows

Work *2 sc into next sc, sc in next 8 sc* repeat 3 times (27sc)
Work *2 sc into next sc, sc in next 7 sc* repeat 3 times (24sc)
Work *2 sc into next sc, sc in next 6 sc* repeat 3 times (21sc)
Work *2 sc into next sc, sc in next 5 sc* repeat 3 times (18sc)
Work *2 sc into next sc, sc in next 4 sc* repeat 3 times (15sc)

Stuff egg firmly

Work *2 sc into next sc, sc in next 3 sc* repeat 3 times (12sc)
Work 2 sc into each of next 12 sc (6sc)

Finish off with long end. Use end to close top of egg.

 Now you're ready to go off for your own Easter hunt!

Hope you all have a lovely Easter :-)

Pokemon headwear

I thought it was high time for some new crochet hats for the residents of Tea Towers. After much pattern searching it seems that Pokemon are still very much in Emily and Sam's hearts so I started on a Pikachu hat for the cheeky one.

Emily kept me on target to get it finished with daily challenges that she set each night before she went to sleep - 'Mummy tonight I want you to finish ...'

She was also very clear about the level of detail she required and made sure to check in with me that I had all the materials I needed - 'Don't forget that you need red wool for the cheeks..', 'it needs to have brown stripes on the back Mummy, don't forget'.

Sam took a lot longer to decide on what he wanted. He still wears the crochet hat I made for him 5 years ago... it still fits and is super snuggly and has almost become his trademark at school, so he only wanted a hat that would continue to be as noticed.

I think he is going to be noticed in this :-)

The droid gang

I'm still loving the fantastic Star Wars crochet patterns by Lucy Collin. In the run up to Christmas they were the perfect quick gifts to make for the family.

BB-8 has come from the new Star Wars crochet book "Even more Star Wars Crochet" by Lucy Collin. I love how the clever construction worked so well to show so much detail and he ended up looking fantastic.

This kit came with so many exciting new patterns as well as the materials to make BB-8 & a Jawa.

"Utinni!"

I was much happier with the finish of my Jawa after adding an extra row of sc around the finished edge of the hood to make it slightly deeper.

Last up I made a really quick R2-D2 (and he really was very quick, only took about 3 hours from start to finish). My R2-D2 has pipe cleaners in the legs to reinforce them without any stuffing which I think worked really well.  

I just love these patterns and will be sorting through my stash to make more soon :-)

 

Dinky Tardis

Just heard that a friend is in hospital so needed a little something to cheer him up fast! Thankfully I found this fabulous Tardis pattern by Nyss Parkes on Ravelry which worked up super quickly.

The detail is added with bits of white felt and black embriodery done in a hurry so slightly irregular but still looks good. A bit of black yarn sewn round the top shows where 'police box' should be written (no way I was going to be able to sew that in so small!)

I decided to stuff mine and crochet the bottom closed, by decreasing in the corners it also helped with keeping the Tardis a box shape.

A little crochet light added on top finished it up beautifully :-)

Cooling down

Our super hot Summer weather has quickly become rainy and overcast... however that hasn't stopped my Emily from very much wanting me to make her this little cute crochet ice lolly.

Pattern is from the latest issue of Simply Crochet (#74) and is written by Susan Yeates. It worked up super quickly and was perfect for gratifying the demands of this little bossy girl.

The dark side of crochet

I'm really excited to be showing off this little stormtrooper made from the Star Wars Crochet kit that I've had sitting waiting for me to start for years. (Star Wars crochet by Lucy Collin)

Well now I've made a start and created this little guy I think I shall just have to keep going and see how many of these fantastic characters I can create.

The patterns are fantastic - detailed, clear, well thought out and easy to follow. I love all the detail that has gone into this little guy, especially his chubby cheeks!

Dancing Darcy Dog

Latest quick make from Simply Crochet magazine, my son Sam saw this come in with my magazine last week and was very excited so I quickly whipped it up for him.

It's so lovely to be on Summer break and be able to finally get through all these little projects I have tucked away!

Christmas llama

I'm still cracking on with the backlog of Simply crochet kits that I've amassed, here is the latest off the hook - Fa-la-la-llama by Erinna Lee.

Quite a fiddly make to do, lots of small pieces to crochet and then join together including some tricky embroidery on the face using separated yarn... which ended up pulling apart so had to make do with some doubled up thread.

When I made up the sequined reins I decided to crochet them straight into the chain which I think gives them a much neater finished than the method in the pattern.

Pretty pleased to have him finished, and also glad to crack on with some other exciting projects I've been keen to start... more on that soon :-)

Peaceful waves

I've done it! I have finally finished my very lovely snuggily Moorland Blanket from the yarn pack I bought way back in September last year.

I love the colourway - it blends so well through the grass colours, into the heathers and then to the beautiful colours of the sky.

I had difficult choosing a four colour border so I stuck with the 3 colours liked best together and that I felt went well with the blanket all the way through the colour phases. Now I'm all ready to snuggle up on the sofa - may have to wait a few months though!

I'm also putting a few repairs into Sam's old toddler blanket, it's seen a lot of love over the years and from being on Sam's bed since he was tiny it is starting to unravel in a few places... hopefully I can keep it together for a few more years!

Hot hot hot!

The weather is so very hot - our Manchester garden has never been this dry... however there is one plant that seems to be loving the recent heat wave.

This ever so cute amigurumi crochet cactus is from the kit with issue 59 of Simply Crochet. I love this pattern by Ilaria Caliri, the little details make it look so perfect, like the spike stitch around the top of the pot to create the rim and the tiny pompom that you put in the centre of the flower.

The hot weather seems to make it hard to face any larger projects so at the moment I am happily working through some of the lovely kits from my back issues of Simply crochet.

I've also recently finished this Tilly Flop card design that made me smile - so true :-)

Tasty and useful!

I've just finished up this quick Jammy dodger biscuit, and it looks good enough to eat ;-)

But wait... it's not just a biscuit...

It's also a tape measure!

This was made from one of the Simply Crochet magazine kits that came with issue 71.

World book day

Behind the scenes I've been busily crafting away on a variety of projects that I've yet to get around to letting you know about. Until I find a few moments to finish and take some photos I wanted to share with you this year's costumes for World book day.

Emily has suggested a wide range of ideas from 'a pencil' ("The pencil" by Allan Ahlberg), 'a loaf of bread' ("Hooray for Bread!" by Allan Alhberg), 'a rainbow fairy', 'a guinea pig' ("I love guinea pigs" by Dick King-Smith) and 'Norman' ("Norman the slug with a silly shell" by Sue Hendra). Eventually we agreed on 'Keith' ("Keith the cat with the magic hat" by Sue Hendra) and this crochet hair band is what I've come up with.

Sam was much simpler... he at first wanted to be a moving castle ("Howl's moving castle" by Diana Wynne Jones) but happily settled for Calcifer the fire demon instead for which I've made him this mask.

I'm so pleased to have costumes sorted well in time for World book day and that we've managed to do characters from books that both my two love :-)

Happy New Year!

Hope you are all enjoying the start of 2018. I've just started a new blanket so I'm extremely happy :-)

Blanket is from an Attic24 wool pack - the Moorland blanket. So soft and snuggly already!

Crochet decorations

The Christmas decorations are all packed away for another year in readiness for welcoming in 2018. Before they all got sent off to the loft I managed to snap a few photos of some of my crochet (and one knitted) decorations.

These little thread crochet stockings may be the first tree ornaments I ever crocheted and were simple to make up with a heel worked in too. The pattern is by Karen Perkins.

These ginger bread men are also some of my first - you can tell as they date back to when I only ever worked in one loop so my crochet in rows looked corrugated! Pattern by Priscilla Hewitt.

This is my crochet poinsettia - made using the lovely pattern by June Gilbank but with thread instead of yarn so it would fit on my Christmas tree.

I've made so many of these lovely crochet granny squares over the years, they look very lovely in crochet thread and also show up beautifully on a tree when made up in white cotton. 

Pattern by Michelle Kludas from the Royal Sisters blog.

Next up are these very quick and satisfying to make simple crochet baubles pattern by Lucy of Attic24.

These little Christmas trees were designed by myself 10 years ago - one of the first patterns I wrote up and shared. Pattern can still be found here on the CrochetMe site.

Aww - this little bear bauble still makes me smile each year with his snuggly blue striped scarf wrapping him up. Pattern by Stephanie Jessica Lau.

Another favourite are these snow men ornaments - they turned out so very cute (unfortunately I didn't think to keep any for my own tree, all of these made friends in new homes). Pattern by Audra Brown and available as a free Ravelry download - you may need a Ravelry account to access this one.

This is one of my few knitted decorations - made after my visit to the first Yarndale back in 2013. Pattern was published in the Yarndale program that year. I really love this pretty bauble and if it hadn't taken me about 5 hours to make I would have covered my tree with more :-)

Last decoration now - these are the holly leaves I made up this year as presents (as well as making up so many felt hearts) - simple and pretty from the holly pattern by Lucy of Attic24.