I picked up the book again before Christmas this year, and I was determined to figure it out. The funny thing was that once I did, the project was really easy and crocheted up in no time. The main problem with the book is that Doris makes reference to other patterns in the book, and you have to refer back and forth to multiple pages in order to make the project. The other issue is that there is no clear indication of which bit you follow to make a gauge swatch, and on any clothing gauge is super-important. But once I eventually pinpointed the bits with which to make the gauge swatch, I was able to figure out the rest, and I am really pleased with this, my first crocheted garment with sleeves and such. I am now actually quite a fan of Doris’s patterns, so I reckon I will definitely make something else from the book soon.

Cosy & Comfy Mittens, with Flaps

This is a variation from the pattern in the book:
* note all stitch references are British method as the book is British *

Work the pattern as written up until Row 21 (you should end on a popcorn round).

Row 22: Basically you want to crochet as written the half of the mitten that sits on the back of the hand (the side with the popcorns) and make a chain along the palm. The order of these depends on whether you are working the left or right mitten: Work 17 st as written along the back/top of the hand, then ch 17 and slip stitch to attach (or do the ch first and then the normal pattern bit on the other mitten). The ch form the front of the flap (on the palm side).

Row 23+: Continue pattern as written, working the htr* stitches into the chain you made as if it were a part of the normal mitten. You will end up with a full-width hole on your palm, but otherwise the mitten will look as expected.

After you finish the mitten as written in the pattern, you need to go back and cast on to crochet the fingerless portion, which will cover the hole in the palm and also add some warmth to your fingers when you have the flap open. The fingerless portion is worked in the round in double-crochet* (or single crochet for us Americans!).

• Step 1: Fold open the flap, and find the row where the flap ‘officially’ starts (in other words, where the fold is). You will be crocheting into the back of the fabric on this row. For now, just leave it open but know where you are going.
• Step 2: Join yarn at one side of the hand: pinkie-finger side on the left mitten, index-finger side on the right. This is so you can crochet clockwise along the palm edge first.
• Step 3: Work dc* across the palm, and when you reach the bit where the flap starts, carefully continue your dc stitches into the back of the fabric where the fold is, making sure you follow the same row around. TIP: You may want to skip the first/last stitches on the corners of the fold, as this makes the fingerless portion fit a bit more snugly and therefore makes it easier to open and close the flap.
• Step 4: Continue working in the round, making as many rows as you want/need in order to cover the hole and extend over the base of your fingers. Stop and try them on every now and then. Keep going until you are happy, but not too long or you might find it difficult to move your fingers around and use the flap. TIP: If you find that the palm portion of the mitten dips down a little lower than you’d like, you can add an extra 1/2 row to the palm, and end up on the opposite side of the palm from where you started.

That’s it – enjoy your mittens and play Angry Birds in the snow without taking your gloves off!

Just a really quick little project to while away a few minutes one evening: it’s one of the 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet from the self-titled book. The pattern is called Centifolia Rose and the yarn I used was some freebie yarn that came with a crochet magazine. It really only takes a matter of minutes to make this, and I reckon it would be a great way to use up leftover yarn.

I made mine into a brooch, but there are loads of clever ideas for what to do with this flower (combined with others from the book) over at Ravelry.

I have washed all signs of Bad Kitty away, but still the bed goes empty. Either Dierdre hates it or he’s just being a cat and picking other places to sleep. Here’s a rare moment of him actually in the bed. My brief moment of joy. You can’t force cats to like something, but at least people will wear something you made just to make you feel better

The yarn is a yarn with a conscience: not only is it made from the very sustainable bamboo plant, but the company Be Sweet is based in South Africa and provides women who live in economically depressed regions of South Africa with a fair wage. The artisans who make and dye the yarn are primarily from the Xhosa tribe who live in the Cape Town area. Be Sweet also donate a portion of their profits to support educational development in South Africa. I reckon this makes the yarn a perfect choice for Liz (my mother-in-law) as she spent her working life as a schoolteacher.

The photo shows the work in progress, but as I was crocheting right up until Liz’s birthday party, I didn’t get a chance to take a photo of the finished product. I will have to ask Liz to model it sometime so I can post a pic here. Until then, you can see other pics of the same pattern on Ravelry.

UPDATE: Finally got some photos of my mother-in-la wearing the shawl, so here you go!

The original pattern in the book just calls for the front and back of the head to be sewn together, but other books from the Magic Scrubber series have a sponge inside, so I decided to add a sponge to this one, too. It certainly makes it a bit more robust and I reckon a bit more useful as well. As the yarn is pure acrylic, it should be pretty hardwearing, faster to dry than natural fibres, and it should last a good long while.

I decided to give this as a gift to my friend Nettie, who has a pronounced love of all things slightly bizarre – especially plastic dinosaurs. I reckon there’s no one better to appreciate something like this!

One of these days I’ll get someone to take a photo of me wearing it, as it does look rather pretty when worn. The cool thing is that grey goes with everything, so I know it will get a lot of wear. Plus it’s s very soft merino wool which feels great on the skin, and it has a beautiful drape.

The pattern is one I found on Ravelry here – a very popular pattern, and for good reason. If you can face the boredom of the long project, then it’s really pretty easy and the results are fab.

I chose the owl pattern, and made it with felt eyes instead of plastic ones, as it would be for a newborn baby. I also added a rattle inside, by putting some beads into a little plastic spherical container and nestling this in the stuffing. The container is from one of those vending machines that looks like a gumball machine, which you sometimes find in petrol station loos (usually containing a wet wipe or a fuzzy brush). I knew it would come in handy for something & I hate throwing away plastic, so why not recycle it!

As the current fashion seems to be for really bright almost fluorescent colours, I made this one in fluoro pink, with a grey leaf and purple centre. There’s no sewing involved: it’s all about cutting the pieces carefully then slotting the inner petals in place through the leaf/outer petal. The actual making of it was easy, but the cutting took the most time as you have to place the slots in exactly the right place. I think it looks pretty cool! The best thing was that when I gave it to Lucy, she was wearing a fluoro pink T-shirt, so it matched her perfectly.

A few years ago I made soap for all my friends & family as Christmas gifts, so I decided to revive my soapmaking stuff to make something for a friend of mine. He’s a punk musician and a drum n bass DJ, so I figured he’d appreciate some ‘dirty’ soap to go with his basslines. I decided to add some thematic messages hidden in the soap by embedding a little plastic disc made from shrink plastic (also known as Shrinky Dinks in the US). Basically you just draw on a special plastic sheet with coloured pencils, then pop it into the oven on a low heat and it shrinks and hardens. It’s kinda fun and I picked up some sheets at a craft shop in Texas a few years ago when I was visiting my mother, but never quite knew what to do with it.

Here you can just about read the message inside: it says “Johnny Clash Rinsin’ It” which is a pun based on his DJ name. This soap was made with orange zest and essential oil for a fresh scent.

The other soap is clear on top, with an opaque ‘dirty’ base made with kaolin clay. You can’t yet read the message (it will appear as the soap is used) but it says “Dirty Punk Rocker” inside: