Mothers day is coming

Taking inspiration from the gifted folks on Etsy, here are some of my favorites

Convertible clutch to shoulder bag made in the free form crochet style.  I love the colours in this little bag, its so versatile.

BlueMoonLighting On Etsy

Ivory Crochet Shawl, absolutely beautiful.  It looks so warm & inviting

WeekendEveryDay on Etsy

White Swarovski Pearls on gold wire, what mum wouldn't love this necklace

OccaisionalGems on Etsy

Black and lavender fancy indoor cashmere slippers, Maybe its my love of all things purple, but I think these are lovely

ElleGanT on Etsy

Hooker, if your mum is the crocheter in the family.  I had a good laugh at this one & was seriously tempted to just buy it for myself :)

matsudabunch on Etsy

Medal for Mom, title says it all really.  Its quite a cutesy idea.

KnittingGuru on Etsy


Crochet hand decoration, These Irish roses are so beautiful and delicate.

HeddaVatter on Etsy

Sand Dunes.... Beaded crochet necklace, totally stunning work

IrregularExpressions on Etsy

Silver garnet and Peridot Spring cuff, I love the colour combinations in this cuff.  I've never mastered wire crochet myself so I'm always fascinated by examples of this work

AliBaliJewellery on Etsy

Grey/Silver Crochet hoops, these are so delicate and pretty they are almost like webs.

TaniaNovaCrochet on Etsy

I hope that you find some inspiration in the items I have listed above.

Irish Crochet Necklace - Old Rose & passion flower

Walnut Baby shop

I started by creating the passion flowers, really I wanted the challenge of creating the roll (or Bullion) stitches & the clones knots that are required for the center & the pistils.

They are quite tricky stitches and more so when using fine thread.  This particular necklace is created with No 30 crochet cotton, so not the finest my any means - but fine enough !

I decided to create an Old rose this time rather than the more traditional Irish rose

It love the lacy petals, I think it creates a beautiful and delicate centre for this piece.

I finished off with a sprig of open work leaves & joined the flowers with little double leaf motifs.

The chain of the necklace is quite plain, but given the complexity of the motifs I thought that this was best. 

This necklace has a tie closure so that the wearer can adjust the length to fit.  When using a tie closer I like to add little crochet covered washers to the end of the chains - this adds a little weight to make the ends hang nicely, otherwise they are prone to curling up.

Irish Crochet Necklace - Irish rose design

Walnut Baby shop

This is one of my favorite necklaces that I have made so far.  It is created with 3 Irish roses, one large and 2 smaller.  Then 2 Irish Crochet rose leaves are added.

In crocheting the necklace "chain" I added in some gutterman beads in groups of 3 along each chain.

I have added some covered crochet covered washers to the ends of the chain to add weight and make them hang nicely when tied. 

There is no specific closure, the chains are tied to close - in that way the necklace lenght can be altered to neck size and also to neckline.

I used no30 multi-coloured crochet thread.  I really like the effect that the multi-coloured thread creates.

Christmas flower necklace

Walnut Baby shop

This flower didn't quite work as expected, but I prefer the way it turned out in the end. It, in theory, should have been much flatter - but I tend to work my crochet quite tight so in the end it became quite 3D.

I prefer the fact the petals stand up from each other it makes the whole flower much more real.

The flower itself reminds me of a poinsettia, which is very much a Christmas flower in the UK (perhaps the rest of the world too??).

The dark red and pink thread also helps with the Christmas theme.  Again, this is no 80 crochet thread.

The necklace "chain" is made with crochet over 2 strands of padding cord & I finished off the necklace with an iridescent flower button for the closure.

Irish Crochet Necklace

I created this necklace using No70 crochet thread, it is reasonably fine thread and creates a quite delicate look.

Walnut Baby shop

This Irish rose has an additional layer of petals compared to the "Traditional" 6 petal design, I think it gives it a very soft look.

I have also covered the centre of the rose with a little "dome".  The centre can be left open showing the cartwheel of spokes making up the flower or covered like this.  I think that either look very pretty.

In this necklace tried out creating a vine leaf design, which is the leaf on the left side below and then added the Rose leaf on the right.

The cord is simply a row of crochet on the padding cord and fastened with a little iridescent flower button.

Irish Crochet

Irish crochet is my latest adventure.  It is made with very fine thread, not much thicker than standard sewing cotton & creates such delicate, intricate work.  I have to admire the ladies who created Irish crochet back in the days before electric lighting, it can be quite a strain on the eyes even with the best of light.

Walnut Baby

This is one of my creations, its made with No 30 crochet thread - so not the finest by any means.  This is the classic Irish rose with rose leaves, its one of the most popular Irish crochet motifs. 

A typical & traditional use of  Irish crochet is to create garments and garment fragments such as colars or cuffs.  Looking through some of the old pattern books I confess that I wouldn't have the patients to create some of the work that they show ... but the detail & workmanship is amazing.

This image is from Priscilla Irish Crochet Book No1, originally published in 1912.  I cannot imagine the patients required to create something like this - that's why I stick to smaller pieces like jewellery & motifs.

I am always fearful that I would ruin a well made motif by trying to incorporate it into a larger item ... perhaps as I get more confident with creating Irish crochet I may become more adventurous.