Launched & Giveaways!

An exciting week for me!

Not only have my new range of no slip interchangeable hair clips and headbands launched on etsy.. but I'm about to do my 1st ever giveaway with Forty Toes Photography.

It's going to be a huge giveaway with many many prizes including my $50.00 Tangled Blossoms Design store credit!

It'll be free to enter & I'll let you all know when it goes live.

I have a few more new headband designs that I can't wait to show you but they're hush hush with no sneak peeks until the end of the month!

So for now I how about I show you my new Valentines Filigree crocheted pure silk heart no slip hair clip that has a choice of matching headbands if needed :)

I'll be back soon to tell you all about the giveaway!

Launching later this month!

Remember this hat?

This week I finished mapping out the rest of the sizes! It's currently being tested by a few crocheters in real life and on ravelry. In fact i'm short some testers for some of the sizes so if you're on ravelry & fancy signing up to test a particular size then pop over here to see more details & sign up. You must add it as a project to your ravelry notebook & upload a digital photo of your finished hat by November 14th. Use any 4ply from your stash you fancy & all testers get to keep the pattern for free!

The sizes I've worked out are for 0-3m, 3-6m, 6-12m, 1-2y, 3-4y, 5-6yrs.

UPDATE - Finished pattern now in my ravelry store - click here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crochet-cloche-hat-with-tassel-flower

NEW! Pattern now finished

Well.. the pattern is finally finished and has been uploaded to Ravelry here so you can purchase & get immediate download. Typing and the proof reading just takes me forever... maybe one day i'll be a little faster ;)

The swing into spring coat pattern costs $5.50 If you would like to purchase one just click here and you will be directed to the ravelry shopping basket to make your purchase & receive your instant pattern download.

I'm already working on the next patterns... my usual model was not co-operating this morning...

so I persuaded her elder brother to pose for me...

What do you think he wanted as a reward? To Play Star Wars Lego on our Wii & be naked! The joys of being 3 & 3/4's :) So that was our deal... I was able to take some better photos and he... well I didn't take any photos of him playing afterwards.. I'll leave that to your imagination!

Swing into Spring fluffy coat update..

I'm busy typing up the pattern but just couldn't resist sharing a photo from my 1st go at a proper photo shoot with our youngest modelling the coat :) & I now take my hat off to professional photographers! Phew.. getting just a few good shots was no easy task but also a lot of fun too! I plan to have the pattern uploaded to Ravelry for sale in the next week priced at $5.50.. So if you would like to know as soon as it goes live either leave a comment below or message me through Ravelry & i'll let you know as soon as it is available!

Fiona

x

UPDATE - pattern now finished and available - click here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/swing-into-spring

Helloooo & Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful time. Here in the Kelly household we're having a relaxed Easter... staying put at home & just spending time together...

I'm back into my designing & crocheting and going by the last few weeks I've definitely got my crochet mojo back! So I'm delighted to tell you all that I have some new patterns on the go.. the first of which is almost finished. It is a swing style coat (that will fit up to 12 months) in snuggly soft Wendy/Peter Pan Velvet Touch aran weight yarn (see photo above). Of course I just had to try it on Grace as soon as I had a chance & I think she really likes it :)

The coat also has a removable hood and the option of making some crocheted daisy flower motifs to decorate it with... It took me 16 variations of crocheted daisies until I was finally happy!



I've a few more of the daisies to crochet, stitch on & hopefully I'll be able to get Grace to model the completely finished daisy decorated coat... with & without the hood if she's willing! Then as soon as I've finished typing up the PDF pattern I will upload it for sale on Ravelry... so watch this space!

Fi

x

Felted stocking

Felted stocking

Originally uploaded by fiona-kelly

Eek! Slightly more of a colour run when it felted than I expected. The red isn't so Christmassy and the cream... well it's now more of a definite pink... even the snowman is the same shade (i'm not even going to bother photographing that). On the plus side the fringing felted extremely well and if this was done in a single colour it could work. But this wasn't exactly the overall look I was going for so I think this time it'll have to be a non felted pattern.

Stocking snowman

This is the snowman so far for our F's stocking. It's also in the machine and I'll add the rest of his details when I sew him into place.

F's stocking almost finished!

Just a bit more to do. I re-did the toe section and I'm now doing some fringing around the top plus a little snowman decoration next before felting..

F's Christmas Stocking progress...

 I'm making fast progress with F's Christmas Stocking now... Just a bit more to do height wise, then the fringed top and I think the toe section is a bit short so I need to re-do that part. 

I just have to untangle my ball of cream merino DK that he got hold of before I realized.... it's amazing how a toddler can turn a simple doughnut of yarn into a tangled heap in minutes. I should have guessed as soon as he got very quiet! Anyway I've not long to go at all & I might even have it in the machine to felt by Wednesday. Looks like F is into Snowmen at the moment so that's what I'm going to decorate it with... more updates to come :)

Weekend crochet for babies by Sue Whiting

About 3 weeks ago a Lauren from New Holland Publishers sent me an email wondering if I might be interested in doing any reviews for them. As you may know New Holland publish a wide range of crochet, craft & knitting titles. I emailed Lauren to say I'd be delighted to have a go a reviewing them & shortly after a lovely parcel arrived by post. Inside was a great surprise... not just one hardback book but 3! It turns out they had 3 new titles coming out....

Weekend Crochet for Babies by Sue Whiting, Beautiful Knits for Heads, Hands & Toes by Alison Dupernex & Beautiful Crochet for Heads, Hands & Toes by Melody Griffiths.

To be honest I've never written a book review before so my first thought was how would I go about it. After looking through all 3 books and seeing quite a few irresistible projects, I quickly decided my best way forward was to try out a project from each of the books and let you know how I got on following the patterns. 



With Christmas fast approaching I started with Weekend Crochet for Babies as the title suggested to me that the projects would be fairly quick and easy to do. I needed a Christmas present for my friends little girl 'Nia' who was 1yr in October and I'd spotted this really cute hat, scarf & bag set made using Colinette Jitterbug 4ply in the book. 

Unfortunately I don't have any jitterbug yarn but I do have plenty of Kauni & Evilla 4ply pure wools from astrids dutch obsessions in my stash to choose from so my 1st project was speedily underway with a lovely cream, pink & biscuit Kauni colourway.

 

 In recent years I am more used to writing my own patterns than following someone elses and I was delighted to find the project patterns were very easy and clear to follow. 

I started with the hat and by the end of my 1st evening it was already finished... I'm not a speedy crocheter so this was indeed a very quick item to do as i'd made the largest size 12-18 months! The main body of the hat is worked in rounds of trebles (UK terminology) and finished with a lovely double shell like edging which gives it a gentle fluted brim.

The next evening I started the scarf and again found the pattern very easy. When I'd got into the rythm of the design I only had to refer to the pattern when starting the next round as it is made using trebles and the same edging from the hat. It took me a bit longer to do than the hat... just over 2 evenings altogether as there are a fair amount of stitches involved working around the length of the scarf. The finished piece is charming though and well worth it. I just love the way the fluted edging spirals around the scarf as it drapes... It even rolls around itself into a lovely looking flower shape which will be an ideal method to present it in the Christmas wrapping paper!

The last item in the project was the bag... again in the now very familiar treble fabric with shell edgings. It took me about the same time to complete as the scarf and this was mainly due to the hand stitching needed to attach the handle at the final stage. I had to re-read a few parts of the pattern carefully towards the end when you are making the frill part, as when I'd initially read the pattern through before starting... those parts had seemed a bit unclear. When I actually got to crocheting that stage in the bag it then made total sense and it was very easy to see what to do next to make sure the frill lay the right way down the bag. The handle is easy & made of a spiraling tube of double crochet (UK terminology) and stitched securely to the top edge of the bag opening.

So within a matter of some evenings all the items were now finished and looking great. The book definitely followed what I was expecting from it and with no brain draining tricky things to wear you out in the process :) If you are looking for some quick & cute projects for sweaters, jackets, hats & toys to rattle up for presents then look no further... you'll not be disappointed. Or if you know an avid crocheter who is always looking for new projects to do for babies this book will be right up their street.

Free blanket square pattern - songbird

To make this 15cm blanket square you will need

1 x 4mm (USA 'g') crochet hook & 1 x embroidery needle

1 x 50g Debbie Bliss cotton DK in shades Ecru / Cream shade 02 (or similar)

A small amount of soft brown cotton DK for the bird itself, an oddment of orange for the beak & a small amount of green cotton DK for the musical notes

The pattern for this square is written using UK crochet terms


The cream 15cm x 15cm dc base square

Foundation row    24ch, 1dc into 2nd ch from hook, dc to end, turn. (23sts)
Rows 1 - 24          1ch, dc to end, turn. (23 sts)
Row 25                 1ch, dc to end, fasten off. (23sts)

NB. If your finished square is not 15cm square you can adjust the size by using either a hook size up or down depending on whether your square is too small or large.

Click here to download my free PDF pattern.

The songbird - worked in rounds & then embroidered

Foundation ring    Using your soft brown cotton DK make a magic adjustable ring, 6dc into ring, pull tail of ring tight, do not turn, place stitch marker if wanted. (6sts)
1st round             2dc in each of the 6 dc's of previous round, move stitch marker, do not turn. (12sts)
Final round           [1dc,3tr,1dc] into 1st stitch of this round, 4dc, [1dc,4ch,5dtr,4ch,1dc] into next stitch, 9dc, [1dc,3htr,1dc] into next stitch, 1dc, slip stitch across next 4dc's, then to form a wing shape... slip stitch into the previous rounds dc's with another 7 or so slip stitches curving firstly downwards and then back across to the right, finishing just below and to the right of your magic adjustable ring, pull last loop through to back of work, fasten off.

Use a single strand of your brown DK & small stitches to stitch the lower/outer loops of your completed bird shape to the bottom left hand corner of the cream square. Then using a single strand of the brown DK embroider 2 birds legs in back stitch, start at the birds body... work few stitches downwards and then work the last stitch across horizontally to form a foot at the end of each leg. Using a single strand of cream work a french knot for the birds eye. Lastly using a single strand of bright orange DK work a tiny triangular shaped satin stitch area for the birds beak.

The musical notes

Using a single strand of green DK work each musical note one at a time. Start each musical note with a bullion stitch circle wrapping the yarn around the needle 12 times before pulling the needle through and pulling it tight. Finally work the vertical stem of each note with 2 x chain stitches. Do as many musical notes around the square as you like!

NB. The pattern for this square is written in UK crochet terms ie.

1 DC= 1 x UK double crochet/USA Single crochet (SC)

1HTR= 1 x UK Half treble/USA half double crochet (HDC)

1 TR= 1 x UK Treble/USA double crochet (DC)

1 DTR= 1 x UK double treble/USA triple crochet (TRC)

Have fun & if you have any queries just let me know :)

This pattern has been featured on

Free Crochet Afghan Patterns - Free Crochet Afghan Patterns and More from AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns.com

1st of Free blanket square patterns... flower square

Flower Square

To make all 4 of the 15cm blanket squares as shown in my previous post I used...
1 each x 50g Debbie Bliss cotton DK in shades Ecru / Cream shade 02 & Bright Orange shade 42
1 x 100g Katia 100% cotton DK in Jamaica (multi col... red, green, yellow & soft brown).
( I still have a small amount of each yarn left to use up too)
1 x 4mm crochet hook.

This square is a modified version of the one found in the Harmony Guide '300 crochet stitches' book and uses UK crochet abbreviations..  eg.
a UK double crochet (dc) is a USA single crochet (sc),
a UK treble (tr) is a USA Double crochet (dc)



If you are using the Katia Multi colour cotton DK... find the start of the red colour in the ball and make 8ch, join with a sl st to form a ring.

1st round    1ch, 18dc into ring, sl st to first dc, (18sts).

2nd round   1ch, beginning into same st as 1ch (1dc, 3ch, miss 2 sts) x 6, sl st in first dc.

3rd round    1ch, work a petal of (1dc, 3ch, 5tr, 3ch, 1dc) into each of the next 6 3ch arches, sl st to first dc.

4th round    1ch, (1dc between 2dc, 5ch behind petal of 3rd round) x 6, change to the green part of the Katia ball and sl st to first dc.

5th round    1ch, work a petal of (1dc, 3ch, 7tr, 3ch, 1dc) into each of next 6 5ch arches, sl st to first dc. Fasten off.

6th round    Using the cream/ecru join yarn between 2dc, 1ch, (1dc between 2dc, 6ch behind green petal) x 6, sl st to first dc.

7th round    Sl st into next ch, 3ch (count as 1tr), *(4tr, 2ch, 1tr) all into same arch, 6tr into next arch, (2tr, 2ch, 4tr) all into next arch**, 1tr into next arch, repeat from * to **, sl st to top of 3ch.

8th round    3ch (count as 1tr), 1tr into each tr of previous round & work (3tr, 2ch, 3tr) into each 2ch space, change to green of katia ball again & sl st to top of 3ch.

9th round   3ch (count as 1tr), 1tr into each tr of previous round & work (3tr, 1ch, 3tr) into each 2ch space, sl st to top of 3ch, fasten off.

Have fun & if you have any queries just let me know :)

As featured on

Free Crochet Afghan Patterns - Free Crochet Afghan Patterns and More from AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns.com

The 4 squares together

The 4 squares together

Originally uploaded by fiona-kelly

I managed to rattle off a couple more squares in addition to finishing the songbird one. I'll write up the patterns longhand tonight as they're going off in the post tomorrow.

As soon as I can I'll pop patterns for all 4 in the free patterns page so you can have a go at them too if you want :) They're all 15cms square and made with 100% Cotton DK... so nice and quick!

Haggis' horns have been giving me a headache

I've been back to working out the pattern for Haggis the highland cow this week. I started with the hooves and hoof decorations. They came together very easily... I only needed to make one change to the hoof base and the heart came out just right first time... Phew!


The horns though have been a real challenge. I have ripped them down so many times this week. The 2 tall ones are just 2 of the ones I kept to help work out where I was going wrong. The 3rd smaller one is my current work in progress. The shape looks more promising this time. Not too many kinks and twists and gently getting wider as I go round. This one looks good and fingers crossed It might just be the one :) If you look closely you'll spot I've been shopping on etsy again. I just can't keep away from Yarnimals cute amigurumi round markers ( I've got the sheep & have my eye on a few more too).

The body, head and legs are should be quite straight forward as I've already done the swatch for his shaggy hair. It's a slightly wavy version of Marlion's mane...

I'm working out Haggis's pattern in some lovely Jojoland melody 4ply/fingering weight pure wool. I'd never tried this yarn before and bought it from a lovely lady in Canada via Ravelry. I've not tried felting it yet so I'm really excited to see how this prototype turns out. Don't worry you'll be the first to see the pictures as knowing me I'll be so excited to show how he turned out!

I have been buying more yarn too! I loved the Kauni so much I went a bit mad and ordered a lot from Astrids dutch obsessions I'm going to use the Kauni EJ (cream/camel/pink) to try out the finished Haggis pattern and I think he's going to be scrummy.

The Lion is nameless no more....

Thank you to everyone for all your name suggestions and you'll be glad to hear our little dog douglas is a lot perkier... the anti-biotics seem to have kicked in... we just have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't cough them back up half an hour later!

It was extremely difficult to choose the best boy & girl names but after much thought & getting help from my husband Paul the decision was eventually made...

Congratulations to our 2 winners..... Share for 'Marlion' & Brenda for 'Leona'. Your pdf pattern prize is on its way via email :) Putting both names on the pattern was a bit of a mouthful... so we decided to make the Lion a 'he' to keep it simple.

I have listed my Marlion Pdf pattern in my etsy store which is now up and running and I'm working out how to add it to Ravelry for purchase too. The pattern costs $5.50 full crochet instructions include photos where needed for assembly & felting instructions.

Thanks again to you all... it was so much fun I might just do this again!

Fiona

x

The lion prototype is felted!

The washing machine is fixed and I just couldn't wait to show you how the lion prototype turned out. I used up some of my stashed 4ply/fingering yarns just to work the pattern out hence the multicolour!

I'm busy typing up the pattern.. so I'm now setting a closing date for the competition to name him/her... so this is your last chance to have a go if you haven't already. All entries must be submitted by posting your suggestion on site by 11am (GMT) Tuesday 20th May. I will announce the 2 winners (1 boy name & 1 girl name) Wednesday 21st May & email them their prize of the Lion PDF pattern :)

Only one more question.... I'm wondering whether I should have done the shaggy mane all over the back of the head too? It is a proper mane as it is & making the back of the head shaggy would use more yarn... is it worth doing? I can easily amend the pattern if you think it's worth doing...

Fi

x

Nearly my first month of blogging already!

F is growing up so fast it seems... as of this week he's now saying 'mummy' & 'daddy' properly. These days all I hear through the monitor when he goes for a sleep is a lot of giggling, bouncing on his mattress like a trampoline & now chanting 'mummy''mummy''mummy''mummy' when he's supposed to be sleeping. Luckily this usually doesn't last long, as tiredness wins out and all goes quiet... but it does make me smile :)

I bought my first accounting book yesterday to try and be good and keep the business paperwork up-to-date. I did discover one problem though... F wanted to read it first. After following him around the lounge for a while... asking him nicely to give mummy back her book (as taking it off him these days creates an instant meltdown) I decided to get the camera out and take a picture instead. All I managed to get was one picture and then the book suddenly wasn't so interesting!

Well I can't believe it's been a month since I started my blog already... time has just flown by. I'm getting to grips with widgets, page links, wp code & animated buttons slowly but surely and most importantly having fun.

The amigurumi lion pattern is pretty much done but I have a hold up in the testing of my crocheted pieces. The washing machine is broken... I'm told it's just a pump. Luckily not too expensive to fix & the part has been ordered so I hope to be up and running again very soon. So in the mean time I'm typing up the PDF and keeping my fingers crossed the prototype works out beautifully when I can felt it. There have been some great name suggestions for him/her. I'll let the competition run until the washing machine is fixed and i'm able to check the pattern pieces are all ok.... so a bit of time left if you still haven't posted your suggestion...

Sneak preview of Haggis....

My Lion pattern is nearing completion... I'm working out the last bits of his head & mane at the moment. The muzzle, body, arms & legs are done and look just how I pictured in my head :)

As soon as the head and mane sections are crocheted... I'll felt all the pieces & keep my fingers crossed that my original felted swatch tension was correct so I won't have to re-do any parts!

So while you're waiting for the finished lion I thought you'd like to see my outline sketch of the next amigurumi toy...

His name is Haggis the highland cow. He's going to be very shaggy all over with curly horns next to his ears and a loveable grin.

New category in name the lion...

I wasn't sure if I could get away with a girl name for a lion with a big mane.... but why not?! Can always add a bow to the mane :) So I've decided to have 2 winners.... The best girl & best boy names will each win a copy of the pattern. I've almost finished the body section of the pattern... so nearly half way through. 

Thanks for all of your names so far,

Fi

x