A baby rattle

This is such a lovely project to make, it is crochet, it is sweet and it makes a lovely gift. This one I made for my friend's baby Guadalupe to enjoy.

You can find the pattern from Pica-Pau for free here but unfortunately it is only in Spanish. If you wish to give it a go with Google translate, bear in mind that mp means single crochet. Enjoy...

Liberty love

I cannot resist going by some Liberty fabric without it automatically jumping in my shopping basket. So a few weeks back while browsing the remnants section in the local haberdashery in Windsor I came across some cuts of this awesome Liberty Tana Lawn... And the three pieces just had to come home with me... This is what I made so far with it... Other two exactly the same will be on their way soon.

The cushion is a simple one with an invisible zip in the back (easy and quick). Quilted on the front and back (I just quilted along rectangular piece and added the zip joining the short sides. So not even the quilting distracts your eye from the lovely fabric, I just quilted it around the design to highlight it shapes, it is uneven and a bit messy but looks just right... Liberty fabric always does.

I also did a little shopping trip to Liberty recently and used my birthday gift card, to buy, yet more amazing fabric... hoping to get sewing and showing it soon!

The never ending scarf

You know when your sister (brother, mum, friend, even a distant relative...) calls you and asks if they could please have a scarf just like the one you made for your mum last winter? Well be aware... this is what happened with my sister and how I got to knitting this scarf for her.

Sister: "I really want a scarf just like the one you did for mum last winter, same same, with the same cable design and everything, I just love it!"
Me: Well fine... (not very keen, I knew that wasn't the end of it)
Half an hour and a few whatsapp pictures later... sister: "Can I have the scarf three different colours, except of just one?". Me: "Yes fine, but stop sending me different colour combinations I will pick a nice one you like from what is actually in stock at the shop".
Half an hour and even more pictures sent by many different means... Sister: "Can it also be way longer than mums? Like double at least?". Me: "Well given that we are changing almost everything, shall I also change the pattern?"

And this is how it goes, with my sis, that I love so so so much but drives me insane sometimes... and given that I wasn't going to hear the end of it until I saw the end of the scarf... I got on knitting.

and knitting....

and the knitting came on a trip to Whales.

And finally the almost 3m long scarf was finished.

Cable design Bubbles from Vogue Stitchionary, link to the free pattern here.

I love the end result of the pattern and even though I normally like to knit monochrome when working with cables, I have to say that transitioning half way up the bubbles looked great!

If you are brave enough and would like to embark in a never ending scarf like me, mine was 45cm wide by almost 3m long.

For my teapot

Yes, I finally bought a new tea pot, and I wanted her to feel welcome to my kitchen, by making a little crochet heat mat! And here it is... with a super quick tutorial on how I made it.

Doesn't it look cute in the kitchen counter... love the pop of colour it gives to the black and white kitchen!

So how it was done, really easy:

What do I need?

Thick yarn  and hook to match size. I used a 6mm hook and quite bulky yarn.

Start by making a 6 ring chain (ch), close it with a slip stitch (sl) to form a ring.

Round 1: Ch3 (this counts as the first double crochet), 11 double crochet (dc). Close the round with a sl, cut yarn.

Round 2: With a different colour yarn, ch 3 (counts as first dc), dc1 in the next dc from round 1, 2dc in each dc from round 1. Close the round with a sl, cut yarn.

Round 3: With a different colour yarn, ch3 (counts as first dc), dc1 in the next dc from round 2, [dc1, dc2 in the next dc from round 2] 11 times.Close the round with a sl, cut yarn.

Round 4: With a different colour yarn, ch3 (counts as first dc), dc1 in the next dc from round 3 [dc1, dc1, dc2 in the next dc from round 3] 11 times.Close the round with a sl, cut yarn. 

Round 5: With a different colour yarn, ch3 (counts as first dc), dc1 in the next dc from round 4 [dc1, dc1, dc1, dc2 in the next dc from round 4] 11 times.Close the round with a sl, cut yarn.

Round 6: With a different colour yarn, ch3 (counts as first dc), dc1 in the next dc from round 5 [dc1, dc1, dc1, dc1, dc2 in the next dc from round 5] 11 times.Close the round with a sl, cut yarn.

And voilà,you have a lovely colourful item for your kitchen.