spring catch up

It may only be the last day of February but there is diffidently an air of spring about.

I've been out in the garden doing the spring clean and clear. This is this gardens second year so at lot of the plants I put in last year should coming back again this year.

I've added in some early flowering bulbs and corns so this time next year there will be even more colour.

 This is my hellebore its about doubled in size since last year. I have a white and pink one aswell but that ones not looking too good the leaves look like they've been eaten by something.

 The anemones I planted last year are already starting to come up already. These did so well that I'm going to put some more in but I'm waiting to see what plant offer lidl get in.

The pond is a bit of a mess, full of duck weed and dead leaves. Its a full weekend job I think as I want to put some structure from the back of it so the liner isn't showing anymore.

It was nice to take a few days of work and get the garden set up for the spring. I have ahd a awful lot of crochet projects on at the the mo and its been pretty none stop.

In between commissions I've been working on some pt projects of my own.

This idea started as I needed a draught excluder for the back door. Its a bit of an old fashioned thing and I wasn't really liking any I could find in the shops and online. 

I thought I could think of a good crochet solution and after seeing a lot of rows of beach huts and house I thought a row of animal would be a cool idea.

I decided to go for sheep pretty quickly. I wanted a back sheep but struggled to find a fluffy yarn brand that had a dark grey or black. Not surprising really, these yarns are normally in baby colours and soft pastels. Black doesn't sit well in that type of colour pallet.
I thought if I couldn't find a black I could have the sheep all different pastel colours or have one of the sheep facing the wrong way, but luckily I the drop yarn.


The bodies of the sheep are made in one piece, then the heads and feet are sewn on. I had great fun giving each little sheep its own character. The one at the end is asleep,  two of them are kissing and one is chewing a flower :)

If you want the pattern for this it is available in my etsy shop here

I've also been working on some more tea cosys for my pattern collection.

 This first one is an afternoon tea, tea cosy. Its blue striped cobble stitch and covered in cakes.

 On top there is a swiss roll, battenburg cake, strawberry cupcake and bakewell tart.

No pattern for this one yet I've a few to type up and test then I'll be adding them to my etsy shop.

This one is a simple one. Again in cobble stitch so it has a lovely texture this one is cover in lots of pastel stars. For this I developed a new  way of making flat crochet starts. Its ridiculously easy but it makes a perfect little star every time.


I'm debating making 12 teacosys and turning them into a calendar as I have a half finished Christmas pudding one and a bee hive in the making. So I only need to think of another six and its done.
It might be one of those things that doesn't happen for a while as I have some big commission projects coming up and they always push my pet projects to the sidelines.

I have some pics of the few latest magazine projects to share but I'll save them for my next post.
till then happy crocheting xxx

seahorse amigurumi free pattern

Here is the free pattern from last Sundays live tweet

see previous post for step by step making guide

Seahorse

You will need:

4ply yarn green and blue

3mm crochet hook

Wool needle

Toy stuffing

Abbreviations

Sl st –slip stitch

dc – double crochet

htr – half treble crochet

tr – treble crochet

st/sts – stitch/stitches

dc2tog – double crochet the next two stitches together

Back fin

Make one in green yarn

Make a magic ring and work 4dc into the ring. sts

Rnd 1: (dc in the first st, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 6sts

Rnd 2: (dc in the first two sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 8sts

Rnd 3: (dc in the first three sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 10sts

Round 4: dc in each st to end. 10sts

Fold the circle in half so there is two rows of five stitches. Work the next row through both rows to close the gap and create a decorative edge.

Row 1: (ch3, dc in next st) repeat to end. 5sts, 5 ch loops

Fasten off.

Back fin

Make one in green yarn

Make a magic ring and work 4dc into the ring. sts

Rnd 1: (dc in the first st, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 6sts

Rnd 2: (dc in the first two sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 8sts

Fold the circle in half so there is two rows of four stitches. Work the next row through both rows to close the gap and create a decorative edge.

Row 1: (ch3, dc in next st) repeat to end. 4sts, 4 ch loops

Fasten off

Back spines

This part is work along a chain rather than in the round

Make one in green yarn

Ch 25

dc in 2nd Ch from hook, htr in next st, Ch2, sl st in next st, (dc in next st, htr in next st, Ch 2, sl st in next st) repeat to end along ch

fasten off

Head and body

Starts at the tip of the nose and works down. Stuff as you go along.

Make a magic ring and work 6dc into the ring. 6sts

Rnd 1-3 : dc in each st to end

Rnd 4-6: 2dc in the first st. dc in each st to end. 9sts at end of round 6

Rnd 7: (dc in the first two sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 12sts

Rnd 8: (dc in the first st, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 18sts

Rnd 9: (dc in the first two sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 24sts

Rnd 10: (dc in the first three Sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 30sts mark this round with a stitch marker

Rnd 11: (dc in the first four sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 36sts

Rnd 12-14: dc in each st to end. 36sts

Paus to insert toy eyes on the marked round 14sts apart

Rnd 15: (dc2tog, dc in next four sts) repeat to end. 30sts

Rnd 16: (dc2tog, dc in next three sts) repeat to end. 24sts

Rnd 17: (dc2tog, dc in next two sts) repeat to end. 18sts

Rnd 18: (dc2tog, dc in next st) repeat to end. 12sts

Rnd 19: (dc2tog) repeat to end. 6sts

Rnd 20-24: dc in each st to end. 6sts

Rnd 25: (dc in the first st, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 9sts

Rnd 26: (dc in the first two sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 12sts

Rnd 27: (dc in the first three Sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 15sts

Rnd 28: (dc in the four sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 18sts

Rnd 29: dc in each st to end. 18sts

Rnd 30: (dc in the first five sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 21sts

Rnd 31: dc in each st to end. 21sts

Rnd 32: (dc in the first six sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 24sts

Rnd 33: dc in each st to end. 24sts

Rnd 34: (dc in the first seven sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 27sts

Rnd 35: dc in each st to end. 27sts

Rnd 36: (dc in the first eight sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 30sts

Rnd 37: dc in each st to end. 30sts

Rnd 38: (dc in the first nine sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 33sts

Rnd 39: dc in each st to end. 33sts

Rnd 40: (dc in the first ten sts, 2dc in the next st) repeat to end. 36sts

Rnd 41-45: dc in each st to end. 36sts

Rnd 46: (dc2tog, dc in next four sts) repeat to end. 30sts

Rnd 47: (dc2tog, dc in next three sts) repeat to end. 24sts eyes

Rnd 48: (dc2tog, dc in next two sts) repeat            4to end. 18sts

Rnd 49: (dc2tog, dc in next st) repeat to end. 12sts *stuff now*

Rnd 50: (dc2tog) repeat to end. 6sts

Rnd 51-80 : dc in each st to end

Fasten off and sew closed hole in base

Sew on fins and back fins as per photo to finish

We don't have a name for this guy yet so please comment with your suggestions 

thanks

Liz xxx

New seahorse design live tweet feed

For this Sundays live tweet I decided to take the pattern of the week and totally redesign it. This is the live tweet feed from sketch to completion.

Link to free pattern x

Micro crochet spider live tweet feed

Last weeks pattern of the week was Parker the spider.

Pattern can be found here

 

I picked this pattern as I wanted to remake it for the live tweet feed and take some more up to date photos. I was a bit restless and couldn't wait till Sunday so this happened...

I made my rainbow of spiders. I did however leave me with nothing to make for the live tweet. I decided it might be quite cute to make a tiny spider and share how I create micro crochet.

Below is the tweet feed from Last Sunday. Join me again this sunday at 10am were I'll be making a seahorse. Follow @lizwardcrochet on twitter or ~amigurumibarmylive

If you are not on twitter you can catch up with the feed here on the blog next week. You can also email me any questions and I'll answer them during the live tweet xxx

my email is amigrumibarmy@gmail.com

 all questions about amigurumi and or crochet are welcome

 

Live tweet feed Parker the spider micro crochet 

 

 

Shortly after this last shot was taken I tried taking more photos of the complete spider. Cassi stole it, had a mad half hour playing with it the lost it. Combing cats and crochet has its complications.

See you next Sunday
Happy crocheting
love
Liz