More Granny Square Madness...

Granny squares - pain is so close to pleasure... 

It's fun to crochet them, but then my patience is severely tested when I have to darn in all those loose ends.

That's why I haven't yet managed to make a granny square blanket, and I'm not sure I ever will...

For this top I just made eight squares and added a wide border with picot edging at the bottom.

The cotton yarn was leftover from other projects, which was just enough for a sleeveless granny square top, which in materials cost me less than a tenner.

Bargain!

Crochet Boxes

I really enjoyed making this storage box as featured in the latest edition of Inside Crochet (Issue 19, June 2011). It's suitable for beginners and doesn't take long to complete. Best of all, you can let your imagination run wild and create boxes in all colours, patterns and sizes.

I have slightly changed the simple double crochet pattern replacing it with the cross-over double stitch and adding picot edging to the lid.

If you would like to make this box yourself, then click on the instruction image below and zoom in with your cursor:

And if you need more ideas, then check out this book I recently found in my local library; it contains lots of fabulous ideas for all sorts of crochet boxes, containers and pots:

Things to Do with Granny Squares: Arm Warmers

What to do with granny squares? Blankets, throws, table cloths, bags, scarves...whatever. When I recently tried out a new design, the size of it (13cm square) fitted perfectly around my arms, and a light bulb moment sparked off the granny square arm warmer.

Of course you can turn granny squares into gloves, mittens and gauntlets; it all depends on your imagination and skills. Granny square arm warmers are great stash busters, and the ones you can see here are all made of leftover yarn.

All you need to do is crochet two granny squares (any design that takes your fancy) to a size that fits around your arm. Then fold a granny square in half, sew together and add a crochet border to top and bottom in the desired length. And that's it - very easy!

If you love crocheting granny squares, then you will love making these. And once you've made your own granny square arm warmers, then please get in touch and post a link to your pics.

Pink Medieval Style Corset Top

Gosh it's been a while since I last added a project to my blog, but here is my latest creation, another corset top, which I really enjoy wearing.

The yarn used is Sublime Soya Cotton dk, shade 088. Again, it has been crocheted in one piece with straps and borders added to finish it off.

The idea is based on the Medieval Corset Belt design, which can be found in Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker crochet book - very easy to make.

Crochet Corset

In my earlier post about the Medieval Corset Belt, I started exploring historical influences in modern fashion, and here you can see continuation of that theme.

I'm starting to realise that you can crochet any type of clothing, and I was surprised how easy it is to create a funky little garment like this medieval style top, which works best over a frilly t-shirt or white blouse.

Of course, you can wear it without anything underneath, but that would be a bit too kinky for me and doesn't comply with medieval standards ;)

The dark colours give this top a gothic feel, but I'm now working on a similar top in a lighter colour and longer length.

The corset has been worked in one piece, front stripy panels have been added before the picot and frill edging finished the garment.

The main crochet stitch used is the double crochet cross stitch, which gives the corset a textured feel.


Yarn used: Sirdar Balmoral, shade 484 (Butler Black) and shade 487 (Windsor Purple)

Crafty Crochet: Glasses Case

I love quick projects that can be completed easily on an evening, while the "men of the house" are watching football or other boring sports. When I realised that my bulky shaped sun glasses don't fit in any regular glasses case, I had the bright idea to make one myself.

So I took some yarn from my stash and without a particular pattern, I started with a chain of 22 and worked double crochet stitches into a scarf-like shape until it was long enough to fit in the glasses when folded.

The elastic of one of my pearly hair baubles was worn out, but the pearl beads were too good to throw away, so I started using some of them as decoration and added crochet flowers, frilly trim and cord. Finished! Overall this project took me about 2 hours to complete.

This is a great project for a beginner, and you can use your own imagination when it comes to colour, yarn type and decoration. All I'd suggest is using a yarn for needles up to 4mm; thicker yarns would make the glasses case too bulky. Double crochet stitches make the case material nicely stiff, offering more protection for contents.

Yarn used: Sirdar Balmoral

Shade 476, Damask, and 487, Royal Purple, for flowers, trim and cord

Crafty Crochet: Pen Holder

Spring has finally arrived, and I'm finding it harder to continue knitting the black sleeveless jumper I started a few weeks ago; I want to work with happy colours, not dark and depressing black. I've been looking through my knitting magazines to select my next project, and until I find something suitable, I pass my crafty time with creating little things, like this crochet pen holder.

Making notebook covers is nothing new, but if you own notebooks too pretty to be covered, all you need is a pen holder. This way I no longer need to search for my pen, when I want to write something into my notebook, which used to happen frustratingly often. But not any more!

Crochet is the easiest way to create these nifty little holders; just start off with 7 chain stitches, join the round and keep on crocheting until it's long enough to hold the pen. Add crochet chains to top and bottom, so the holder can be tied to the notebook. The yarn used is for 4mm needles.

I kept the one I made simple, but if you make a pen holder for a plain notebook, why not embellish it with some embroidery, sequins, beads etc. And don't forget to send me some pics of your creations.

By the way, if you like the notebook pictured, you can find similar ones here:

Funky Notebooks & Journals

Gothic Granny Squares

Granny squares don't need to be all prim and proper in pastel colours.

I thought I'd give them a sinister twist for my recent creation, a Tarot reading cloth.

This was a really enjoyable crochet project; so easy to complete whilst watching TV.

Traditional Bohemian (i.e. Eastern European) designs have inspired me to come up with this colour scheme.

Now that it's finished, it would also make a lovely baby blanket for the Addams Family. What do you think?

Yarn: Sirdar Click DK; colours: Black Sheep 138, Fern 132, Blueberry 137. Available online here.

If you would like instructions for the granny square, please check out this page.

The Passionate Scarf

When I looked at the photos of my latest creation, I thought that there's a lot of red, pink and purple happening on this blog! But don't fret, if you're starting to find this boring; soon I'll be posting pics of some green and black creations moving towards a more gothic feel.

In the meantime, I did some crocheting for a change and learned the V-stitch pattern and a new type of flower.

The yarn is Sublime Kid Mohair in Rouge (shade 68), the softest Mohair I've felt for ages. One of my bargain buys at just £1.99 each 25g ball (I needed three balls to make this scarf) from The Black Sheep. I wanted to create a romantic piece, that brightens up dull winter days and perk the wearer up a little. In fact, I made it for a friend, who needs a bit of cheering up and will hopefully like it.