Amish Puzzle Ball and Crochet Boots Swap

I was reading through posts one day and came across some lovely crochet slippers made by Simply Hooked with an offer I could not resist. A swap request, offering a pair crochet slippers in exchange for an Amish Puzzle Ball, “well” I thought to myself “I have made these puzzle balls before and I would love those gorgeous slippers”. So here it is ready to be shipped off.

And here are the said gorgeous slippers!

We exchanged emails and Simply Hooked agreed to my swap offer and chose the colours for the Puzzle Ball. If you haven’t seen one before I will try to explain how it works. You make twelve triangular pouches and three rows of lids. Each row of lids is attached to four pouches stuffing each pouch before finally closing it off.

So you end up with these.

First you interlock 2 of the finished rounds.

Then the last round fits into the gaps to make a round ball.

I love this pattern so much, they are quite quick to make and there are animal versions too. I made an Elephant shown in a previous post here.

If you fancy making your own puzzle ball you can download the free pattern from Ravelry Amish Puzzle Ball Pattern, there is also a flower version which is delightful. These two  patterns are kindly available free thanks to Dedri Uys.

The Elephant Puzzle Ball pattern is available to purchase on Ravelry too. Dedri is obviously quite dedicated, I talked in my post about how struggled a little with the elephant head and Dedri was kind enough to contact me and advise that she had altered the pattern and asked if I made one again would I let her know if it was better. How kind was that?

Hilda the Hippo

I was going to make a pink rabbit but fell in love with the hippo so made her instead. Another make from Edwards Menagerie, this is a great book with simple animal patterns great for beginners too.

That is a great thing about these animals, the main body parts are he same for most of the animals, it’s the head, ears and tails that are the defining features. You can start with a certain animal in mind and then change your mind as many times as you like while making the body, arms and legs. I applaude the author, Kerry Lord, for this simple idea.

I have named her Hilda, for some reason I think it suits her. I have used some of the lovely cotton yarn that was kindly donated to our Yarnbombing from Best of Crochet and the good news is I think I will have enough of leftovers from the other colours to make another one but in my favouite………. stripes! The plan is to make a collection of these gorgeous creatures for this years project, I just need to come up with a unique way of displaying them.

Any ideas?

 

 

Charity Yarn Bombing – Part 3

This is the final instalment.

This was another of my favourites, I was so happy that I actually won the bid for it so we can keep it up at the surgery.

The wooden tree was made by a friend using a photo frame as inspiration. It stands 5ft tall made from MDF and stained with wood stain. I am currently making more leaves so it will look fuller, then the plan is to decorate it with snowflakes for Christmas.

Not sure if you can make this out but it is a real nest that we were given, it had been abandoned so no little birdies were dislodged from their home we promise. Debs made a little crochet bird to sit in the nest which was given a new home in our floal garland adorned tree.

 These were balls from a childs ball pool that we covered with yarn to hang like colourful woolly fruits.

 A pair of gnomes donated by Dean’s Garden Centre were yarn bombed and graced the front garden with their crochet flowers.

Then we had our safari theme, ok I know a koala does not really fit this theme but he is so cute we had to include him.

The colourful purple snake slithering along the branch. A little boy won the bid for him and when he collected his prize we were trying to help him choose a name. We were all suggesting names that would rhyme with snake like Syd, Sammy and Cyril, good names we thought. But no, “Bob” said the little chap, tied Bob around his waist and off he went. One very happy little man and a snake called BOB!

This colourful parrot was a great hit with all our visitors but sadly he was not available for bids, although his maker did offer for eggs to be laid and nurtured for baby parrots.

Cheeky monkey swinging on a crochet vine, his mate was sitting behind the parrot awaiting his turn on the vine swing.

Below all the activity on high there was an animal picnic going on.

Bunting and birds were hung and strung all around the building giving life to all the themes.

I have to finish by saying a final thank you to all of you who helped us achieve a display that in the end was more than we could have hoped. Both the Hospice and the Hospital are extremely grateful for the funds that we have all raised. And the patients too have continued to show their appreciation.

Thank you.

So here ends our Charity Yarn Bombing story………………….until next year!

Flower Version – Amish Puzzle Ball

I am so taken with these fun little balls, I have made 3 regular ones now and I also had a go at an elephant but that is another story!

Thought I would try the flower version to add to my growing collection. It works pretty much the same as the other pattern in principle except you make flowers for the tops instead of the oval shapes. I did download a pattern here which is free, thank you to Dedri Uys, check out her pages on Ravelry she has lots more ideas using this unusual pattern.

I regret to say that I was not keen on the four petal flowers so decided to adapt the flowers a bit and have tried making a 5 petal version. I also chose to make a multi coloured version rather than the monochrome style shown in the pattern. I am hoping to get it finished in the next couple of days so I will let you see how it goes.

Baby Booties With Teddy Bear Faces – Lois Daykin Baby Crochet

Here at last, these cute little crochet baby shoes, I just adore the teddy bear faces on them. They were really fun to make, well maybe a bit fiddly when it came to making the ears, but they are worth a bit of faffing wouldn’t you say?

Photo: Liv Cawston

You may remember I told you back in August about my colleague NG who was expecting her second child when I wrote about the Teddy Bear (thegrangerange.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/teddy-bear-for-a-baby-boy-from-lois-daykins-baby-crochet-book/). Well the expected little man has made his entrance to the world and is now the grand old age of 2 weeks. NG and son number one, Master R, brought Baby S into the office last week to see us, so sweet, so little, so sleepy.

Big brother Master R,  was so excited as he proudly introduced little Baby S as my new sister! Well, he is only three and a half himself, bless.

Anyway back to these lovely little baby boots. I used the same as for the Teddy, Rico Soft Essentials Merino Aran from www.crafty-yarn.co.uk/shop/115/175/index.htm the delicate pale blue for the main bootee colour with beige for the face and paws and a touch of cream for the finishing touches.

I am definitely intrigued by baby shoes, you see so many fabulous designs from cute Baby Jane shoes to mock Wellies, Converse baseball styled boots and trainers.

I was a bit confused at first as other shoes that I have made have always started with the sole and worked up but with these you start at the top. By making a chain and joining to form a circle then working in rounds you create the boot cuff.Then you add the top of the boot, it looks like a big blue tongue at this stage.

Then you pick up and work in rounds again the form the sides, heel and toe.

That leaves the sole to do.

So with the sole completed and a line of cream trim around the top of the bootee it’s time to make the sweetest of Teddy Bear faces, their cuteness being the essential element for these baby feet treats.

Finally stitch the face onto the bootee, I actually applied the features before stitching on the face as it was easier to manage and gave a neat finish as any ends were tucked away.

Make another one to match and you have the cutest little Teddy Bear Bootees fit for a prince, or in this case Baby S.

Photo: Liv Cawston

This is my favourite photo of both Teddy and Booties taken by my lovely friend and photographer Liv, you can probably tell that she also took the image of the boots at the start of this post. I do my best with the photography but find it quite trying at times as I get shadows and dark patches or cannot get the composition to look on the image the way I had envisaged it in my head.  I was struggling with this image when Liv just happened to pop round and quick as a flash (pardon the pun) it is done. You can see more of Liv’s work on her website www.livcawston.co.uk . Thank you Liv.

Tutorial for Stripy Cat Upper Body

Sorry if this post appears a bit unusual but I got a message from a fellow hooker who was having some problems with the Upper Body part of the Stripy Cat pattern from Lois Daykins Baby Crochet book.

I love my Stripy Cat so much I think the world should be full of them! Obviously I had to try to  help.

Row 1

Chain 7 and follow pattern to 4dc in last chain.

Work down the loops on the back of the chain.

You will now have an arch shape with the starting tail on the right hand side.

Before commencing row 2 you need to turn the work over so the tail is on the left.

Row 2

Work back around the arch following the pattern, the increases should all be at the top, rounded end of the arch shape. Note that having worked back around the arch the tail is now on the right again.

Turn the work over so the tail switches to the left hand side ready to start the next row.

Row 3

As Row 2 work back around the arch following the pattern, the increases should all be at the top, rounded end of the arch shape. Again you will note the tail is back on the right.

Once again turn the work over so the tail switches to the left hand side ready to start the next row.

Row 4

As above following the pattern.

Again remember to turn the work so the tail is back on the left before starting Row 5.

Row 5

There are no increases in Row 5 so you will see the work start to curve for the roundness at the top of the body.

Row 6

Continue following pattern remembering to turn work at the end of the row so the tail is on the left ready to start the next row.

Rows 7 to 16

Having formed the arch at the top of the body and started the curve shaping in Row 5, these 10 rows form the length of the body.

I have only gone up to Row 16 but will happily do the rest if required. I was guessing that it might be the ‘turn’ at the end of the rows that was confusing. Anyway I hope the tutorial makes it a bit clearer, if you need any more help please let me know.

I would love to see a photo of your Stripy Cat when you have finished it. I hope you love yours as much as I love mine. Happy hooking my friend!