Making Shamrocks....

So I got out my irish crochet patterns again to see if I got any inspiration ... so I decided to go with the thought of St Patricks day approaching & made a couple of simple shamrocks

I am planning to make a more detailed one as well....

I guess once I have a few made I'll decide what exactly I'll do with them :)  For now I'll be making a stash of shamrocks.

What to make next ....

I have quite a few things lined up in my ideas book.  I am running a little short of toys, and they seem to be quite popular with folks.

Maybe a little more Irish crochet, after all St Paddy's day is coming shortly :)

I think this evening may be more planning than creating.

Crochet Cowl is finished

With a little concentration ... I managed to finish the cowl.

This picture is a bit shoddy, but it was taken on my phone :)  I'll have to wait until the weekend to take some daylight shots properly & then I'll be able to list it on Walnut Baby.

Arrgh button holes

I am trying to create the button holes for my cowl ... how hard could it be!!!  I've so far created the row 3 times and ripped back.

I am blaming Edward Cullen ... I was watching Twilight at the same time, so I figure I was distracted LOL

The "problem" is that with the trinity stitch there are the CH stitches between each trinity, so when I am creating my chains for the button holes I am having problems making them evenly spaced while keeping the hole sizes reasonable.

I wanted to have 3 buttons, perhaps I should try with just two and see if that works any better.

Crochet Trinity stitch tutorial

I thought I'd give a quick tutorial on trinity stitch.  I'll be using UK notation, for US notation simply change the DC to SC :)

It is made over any odd number of stitches (+1 for the beginning chain)

Starting with a chain of even number. 

DC into the second chain from the hook,
DC3 together by inserting the hook into the same chain that the first DC is in, draw up a loop, insert the hook into the next chain & draw up a loop, insert the hook into the next chain & draw up a loop.  You now have 4 loops on your hook, having worked into 1 preworked chain & 2 new chains.  Yarn over and draw through all 4 loops on the hook.
Chain 1

Continue as such across the chain until you reach the end.  The last stitch on the chain will form the last loop of a trinity.  In this case do not chain following the trinity, but instead DC into this last stitch.

For the next row;

CH1, DC into the last DC of previous row. 
DC3 together by inserting the hook into the same DC just worked into & draw up a loop, insert the hook into the next stitch & draw up a loop, insert the next 1CH loop & draw up a loop.  You will have 4 loops on your hook, having worked into 1 preworked DC & 2 new stitches's.  Yarn over and draw through all 4 loops on the hook.
Chain 1

Continue as such across the chain until you reach the end.  The last DC will form the last loop of a trinity.  In this case do not chain following the trinity, but instead DC into this last DC.

Follow this pattern.

Crochet Cowl

My next creation is a crochet cowl. I haven't tried one of these before so its a bit trial and error to get the size right.

I want it to have an interesting texture so I am using Trinity stitch.

I am using Sirdar Softie super chunky yarn & getting the right hook size has been a challenge, I started with an 8mm but have decided to move up to a 12mm hook as it was coming out a bit stiff & tight.

I am planning to fasten the cowl with a couple or maybe 3 very large buttons.

Walnut baby

I bought myself a display head this week - I thought it about time really!  So I have started updating the photographs on Walnut Baby to show them "worn".

Walnut Baby

Walunt Baby

Hopfully the new images give a better impression of my little creations :)

I still have quite a lot of re-photographing to do.  I want to take the pictures in daylight, which is quite difficult at this time of year ... on a day like today it barely gets light at all!

Crochet "love" mobile

Here it is.  I crochet the hearts & letters and strung them together to make the mobile.

Walnut Baby

Crochet Hearts

I finished my crochet hearts :)  I decided to create a mobile with them so the four hearts hang one below the other.

I have also added lettering to each one so that they spell out "Love".

As soon as I get myself organised I'll take some photos and load them, and also load this item onto my Etsy shop!!

Valentine Inspiration

I am still putting off creating that little floweret ... I'll do it sometime, just not today :)

So in a fit of valentine inspiration I've started crocheting hearts, I've not decided what to do with them yet but so far I have 3 and the 4th on the way .... pictures to follow.

I wanted to create stuffed hearts rather than flat ones and I think they are turning out quite well.

Scarf #2

This is the one I made for my husband.  I made it with a slightly different design to mine.  Still 3 cables but I put a raised bar between each cable as well as along the edges this time

It has been crochet using Sirdar Crofter & a 6.5 mm hook.

The finished article

This is the scarf I made for myself, I'll post again with pictures of the one I made my husband.

Here it is ... the finished scarf, it is so warm I've hardly stopped wearing it.

All in all its just over 5' in length & 9.5" wide.  Its wide enough to keep my ears warm when I'm wearing it (I really don't like wearing hats).

 The yarn is lovely and chunky and really soft !!! 

The Scarf is finished

I did, just about, have my scarf for Christmas :)  In the end I decided that plain ends were just fine.

It took 4 100g balls of yarn to complete - I just kept on crocheting until I ran out, the scarf is just more than 5 feet long.

Given the chilly weather we are experiencing right now I am very glad that I decided to make it, its wide enough to keep my ears warm too :)

Its been such a success that my husband has asked me to make one for him too!