Crocheted iPhone Cover.

I was sitting on the sofa working on a crocheted cushion cover when I came to a stop.  I needed a new ball of wool to complete this particular project which I would have to wait until after the weekend to collect.

So, there I was with a crochet hook and some oddments of wool left over from the cushion project.  There are loads of unfinished things that I could/should have got on with, but really couldn't be bothered to get off the sofa.  What to make?

My iPhone was laying on the sofa beside me and I decided to make a cover for it.

In a simple crochet double stitch, made in one long piece and sewn together at the edges.  I added a large coconut button and a crochet loop to finish  :)

Funky Knitted Headband.

I've noticed a few of these headbands around at the moment, so thought I would bash one out.

It's not something I would wear myself, but I think they look quite cool on younger people.

I totally love the Aran wool I made this one with, it's called Colourworks by Patons, and it is a lovely soft wool to work with.  The shade I used is a colour-changing blend called Orion.

It's a really easy design, done in K2 P2 rib througout, this means it will have a certain amount of stretch.  The added flower is a crocheted one, no design as such, simply a chain, joined in a ring, then treble stitched into it until it looks flowery.  If you cannot crochet, simply add a large focal button, or ribbon bow.

Here is a basic pattern for you, this was made for a smallish mannequin head for a display, so you might need to add a few more stitches to the cast on number.

Aran Headband.

You will need:

·         Pair of 6mm needles

·         Large hole darning needle

·         100g ball of Aran wool in the colour of your choice

·         Focal Button

Method:

·         Using the thumb method cast on 80 stitches for a small head, or 90-100 stitches for a larger head.

·         *K2 P2 (Repeat from * to end)

·         Repeat this pattern for 16 rows

·         Cast off

Add a crochet or knitted flower, or ribbon and a button for decoration.

If you ever make anything from my patterns, please do email them to me at soozintheshed@gmail.com, I would love to see them.

Upholstering a stool.

Today I decided to trot along to an "Upholster a Chair" workshop, ran by Sustainable Carlisle.

The class was free, you just paid for any NEW materials that you used.  We were to take along a chair.

Now, as it happens, in my Father's garage was a chair that I had started a while ago.  One of my many unfinished projects.  So he dug it out for me.

I had started to strip it down, so the plan was to get the seat re-upholstered and deco-patch the actual chair.

My friend Laura was going to come along with me and the plan was to share the chair, but whilst out shopping the day before I found a fabulous little stool in a charity shop for just £5.00 so I couldn't resist.

So Laura took on the chair, and I started on the stool.

This is how my stool started out.

First of all I took the seat pad out, well it just fell out really.

Then came the difficult job of getting all the staples out.  First there was a black cover held on with staples every inch or so, but once that came off I discovered hundreds of the blooming things, so it took me quite a while.

Once done I had to pull some cotton felt to fit, this was to pad the chair out and replace the old smelly sponge padding that had been on it originally.

Next was to choose some material, I choose a rich burgundy pattern as it will match the deco in my living room.

Tacking the material in place was a two step job, the first lot of tacks are temporary so you can get a good tug on the material to make it nice and taught.  My seat pad wasn't quite as taut as it should be, but I was happy enough with it.

The corners were tricky though, having to tack and trim, tack and trim, until it looked neat and tidy.

And there we have it, the seat pad ready to pop back into the stool frame.  :)

I will be doing something with the frame too, but not quite decided what yet.

Now for Laura's chair.

As I said, I had already started to strip it down, I sandpapered a lot of the frame and removed the material and padding, but the big job was to remove all the nails, for that, Laura needed a big girl's hammer!  (being advised by Gill Curwen from Sustainable Carlisle)

As the plan is to deco-patch the chair in black & white, we needed a colour seat that would compliment.  Between us we decided on the greeny colour.

Now to pad the wood with cotton felt and tack on the material.

Finishing off the corners with some really good whacks.

Laura and her chair.

The rest of the class with their chairs.

Crocheted Mug Hugs

"Mug Hugging" seems to be quite popular at the moment, personally I don't get it - I spend half my brew drinking time waiting for it to cool down to a drinkable temperature, so to keep it warm just doesn't do it for me.

But for those who do, here is a very easy crochet pattern for you  so you can hug your own mug  :)

Mug Hug

You will need:

• ·         A small ball of wool
• ·         5.00mm Crochet Hook
• ·         A mug (straight sided ones are easier)

What to do:

• ·         Crochet a chain long enough to fit around your chosen mug neatly, but not too large. Do not join.
• ·         Add 2 more chain stitches then work back along the chain, DS into each chain stitch.
• ·         Working in DS throughout, back & forth, until your piece measures just slightly smaller than the height of your mug.
• ·         Sew the edges together by a few stitches at the top and bottom, allowing a space for the mug handle.
• Slide into place.

Aran Wristwarmers - A Pattern for you.

Aran knitting can seem daunting to some people, with all those fancy stitches, although I am sure we would all agree it can look very impressive.

So, what would be a good introduction to knitting with Aran, incorporating a couple of stitches, without worrying too much about shapes, decreasing, increasing and all that jazz?

What about an Aran Wristwarmer?  It's relatively easy to knit as it is just an oblong, but by adding some simple Aran stitches you can have a nice warm winter wooly for people to admire.

I chose two stitches, a "Moss Stitch" which is one of my favourites, and a double cable stitch.  The moss stitch would be the underside of the glove, while the cables ran across the top of the hand.

Moss Stitch

Cable Stitch

And the finished product :)

And here is the pattern for you, hope you enjoy it  :)

Aran Wristwarmers.

You will need:

·         Pair of 5.5mm needles

·         Cable Needle

·         Large hole darning needle

·         100g ball of Aran wool in the colour of your choice

Method:

·         Using the thumb method cast on 40 stitches.

·         ROW ONE:    *K2 P2 (Repeat from * to end)

·         ROW TWO:   *P2 K2 (Repeat from * to end)

·         Repeat Rows ONE & TWO 5 more times in total

We will now be working with two different patterns, the underside of the wristwarmer will be “Moss Stitch”, while the upper side will be a double cable design.  Both are knitted within the one piece.

MOSS STITCH  (to be worked over the first 19 stitches on the left hand Wristwarmer & the last 19 on the right hand one.

·         ROW ONE & TWO:            K1 *P1 K1 (Repeat from * to end)

·         ROW THREE & FOUR:       P1 *K1 P1 (Repeat from * to end)

·         Repeat these 4 rows

DOUBLE CABLE  (to be worked over the last 21 stitches on the left hand Wristwarmer & the first 21 on the right hand one.

·         ROW ONE:        P3, K6, P3, K6, P3

·         ROW TWO:       P21

·         ROW THREE:    P3, Slip 3 to cable needle & hold at back, K3, K3 from cable needle, P3, Slip 3 to cable needle and hold at front, K3, K3 from cable needle, P3

·         ROW FOUR:      P21

·         Repeat these 4 rows

·         Work until your wristwarmer measures around 7”, cast off and leave a length of wool for sewing up.

·         Fold the glove in half lengthways & sew the sides up from the bottom for 3.5”. 

·         Rejoin your thread to the top & sew 1.5” down, leaving a 2” gap for the thumb.

·         Sew in your ends.