Charity Yarn Bombing 2015 – Part 1

 

For those who followed the project last year you will know we are a small GP surgery on the beautiful coast of North Yorkshire. We have a group of patients and friends of the surgery who love crafting with yarn, following the sucess of the yarn bombing last year we ran the event for 2015 following a similar format for but with some new themes.

Dinosaur Park

I had my doubts about including dinosaurs anticipating it would be limiting in terms of patterns, couldn’t have been more wrong as you can see.

We had quite a few knitted prehistoric deliveries both large and small.

Lots of dino’s for our park in a variety of sizes from the miniature 4-6 inch creations above that patients brought in. To the rather large Stan the Stegosaurus who you may have seen in a previous post where I shared the working progress of creating this colouful prehistoric creaature.

And Monty the Diplodocus.

Teddy Bear’s Picnic

This was one of my favourite pieces, you can see from the size of the raffle ticket just how tiny these little teddies are, they sat on their little picnic blanket contemplating their miniature sandwiches and cakes throughout the weekend. As I am sure you can imagine they were one of the first items to receive a bid.

There was an array of little woolly bears and teddy toys gathered in the picnic corner to share in the knitted and crochet cakes, biscuits and sanwiches including Mrs Baker Bear sat on the chair with piping bag in hand to finish off the last bun.

Rollo the african flower bear settled down amongst the log pile for a snooze after devouring his fill of the picnic.

To sit alongside the picnicing bears we had a stand (ok and yarn bomed step ladder) laden with tea cosies.

These were a very popular contribution to the event, it must be in celebration of the great british brew!

Down on the Farm

One of our group particularly requested we include a Farm theme this year, she had a new book by Sarah Keen that she was dying to try and we were so pleased with results, you can almost hear those little piggies snorting.

Our Parctice Nurse managed to aquire a hay bale for us to display our farmyard creatures, I was thrilled but my lovely hubby was less so as I used his car to collect it! Four weeks on and he has just about got the last of the straw removed from his car boot.

A patient kindly donated this gorgeous african flower horse, I believe it is from the Heidi Bears pattern but sadly the donator remains anonymous so I cannot be sure.

We also had a gathering of owls nestling in the bushes casting their wise eyes over the weekend proceedings.

And in the hedgerow below gathered a collection of bunnies and other creatures.

And birds simply sat on the fence watching the world go by.

 

I don’t want to bore you so will call this post part 1, I will continue working on compiling the other half of the images to post early next week. I am working tomorrow as we are open for our first Flu clinic, it is always a bit crazy at this time of the year when everyone wants to get their vaccination done early to protect against catching a flu bug!

 

 

Charity Yarn Bombing – Part 2

The seaside scene was really spectacular but I found it was the hardest to photograph because of the size. To give it some perspective the stretch of railing that it s dressing is 4 metres long. To get the whole thing into view it lacked detail so I will have to ask you to use your imagination a bit. I really regret not taking more close-up shots.

I had to wear a wrist support for a week after making two thirds of the sea blanket and was extremely grateful to Debs for taking over and finishing it. She made the wonderful pennant and ball bunting and the magical giant jellyfish too.

Sorry that the light doesn’t show up on the lighthouse but it really does work, honestly, the top lifts off and you just have to press down on the bulb and hey presto, it lights up! With a bulb top and bottom it gave off a good amount of light and drew lots of comments.

There was a family of whales swimming above the tiny fishes amongst the seaweed on the far side. In the centre were more fish,  jellyfish and a knitted submarine. The octopuses occupied the near side of our woolly sea blanket. As you can see some of the creatures were stitched into place and others were 3d and hung from the top giving the whole scene a life-like appearance.

At the back of the surgery the pond scene worked so well despite a last minute hitch about getting the cover made! We were very grateful to the local builders who we managed to rope into doing it for us just a week before the event.

We had little creatures nestling in the undergrowth.

And a tea cosy disguised as a fishing gnome.

Just around the corner from the pond was the little grotto.

Imogen finally got her wings thanks to Rosemary and she sat primly on her swing overlooking the scene below that was full of taodstools, mushrooms and gnomes.

At the front of the pond scene was this amazing tree that was full of little birds. It has found a new home as a window prop in a local shop in town.

The pond was home to a little family of ducks that swam amongst the groups of water lillies sent by my lovely Mama H.

And caterpillar was very good and did not nibble into our plants.

There will be one last post to show you that last of the photos including our safari corner with snakes, monkeys and friends.

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.

Stripy Mouse All Finished

I am so happy to say “ta dah” the colourful stripy mouse is finished at last! I know you cannot tell from the images but inside his tummy, hands and feet are some bags of plastic beans so he is nicely weighted and sits really well.

He looks so sweet on his matching baby blanket.

I just popped off to replace the battery in my camera and when I came back he was helping himself to some cheese and crackers, with a few grapes on the side no less! Think I have created a rather sophisticated chap?Really happy with how he has turned out especially considering he was originally going to be a giraffe! See link below for more on that little mishap.

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Agathi’s Handmade Crochet, Lace and Handcrafted Olive Wood – Kassiopi, Corfu

While we were in Corfu enjoying the friendly atmosphere wonderful food and of course, the sunshine, we visited Kassiopi which is bigger than San Stefanos where we were staying but still a relatively small place. The photo below, provided by Agathi as you can see was taken in 1963, this little place has definitely grown over the last 50 years.

I met Agathi in Kassiopi when we were here last year, she is such an inspiration with amazing talent and so many skills, crocheting, knitting, lace making, weaving, whatever I take to show her she can tell me more about it. Oh how I long to absorb all her knowledge.

I couldn’t wait to go back to her shop this year, it is a veritable treasure trove of wonderful things, they are literally everywhere………

……….hung are tablecloths in all shapes and sizes in featuring handmade lace and embroidery………

………more cloths, sheets, pillowcases and bedspreads are stashed and stacked on shelves along with the paintings by one of her sons………

………on hangers are napkins and smaller tablecloths………

………in bowls, on the counter in shelving.  A zillion things in this little shop, from carpets and rugs to baby shoes, bibs and Christmas Angels.

Shelves are piled high with hand embroidered sheets, table cloths of all sizes just waiting to be snatched up.

Crochet is very fashionable in Europe and Agathi makes a range of different clothing and accessories.

They are a talented family, Agathi’s other son creates with olive wood, his wonderful creations are also available in the shop.

There is an area dedicated to his work with the shelves bursting with options.

All these beauties are turned on the lathe he imported.

My favourite is this pestle and mortar but unfortunately it was too heavy to bring back, I will try to allow for the weight on the return flight next time.

For a small shop Agathi is amazingly busy. If you ever have the pleasure of going to Corfu I would definitely recommend a visit.

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!

Lois Daykin Stripy Crocheted Cat Pattern

Here it is, my lovely Stripy Cat, another project from Lois Daykin’s Baby Crochet book. I did not quite follow the guidance for the features but think he worked out rather cute in the end. Although I have to admit I cannot make up my mind about the whiskers.

• Should they stay?
• Should they go?
• Should they be sewn flat onto his face?

I have used some of the yarn left over from the Blooming Flower Cushion as I had lots of colours and plenty of bits and pieces that could be put to great use on this project as it doesn’t take too much of any of the individual colours.

I really love this colourful crochet Stripy Cat, I cannot decide whether to make another one in different colours.

He sits so nicely.

And can be rather playful and cheeky too!

Please find a link to this fabulous book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-Crochet-Designs-Babies-Months/dp/1904485871 . Hope you enjoy it as much as I have. And let me know what you think about the whiskers?

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Lois Daykin’s Baby Crochet Teddy Bear For a Baby Boy

This book by Lois Daykin is definitely one that I could recommend. I found the book when browsing on amazon recently, it has one of those look inside options so you can have a look at some of the patterns before you commit to purchase. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-Crochet-Designs-Babies-Months/dp/1904485871

Here is project number two from Lois Daykin’s Baby Crochet book. I have not told you about my first one yet that will follow shortly, my wonderful Stripy Cat!!

I took the book into the office along with my finished gorgeously lovely Stripy Cat to show the girls. NG who is expecting her second child fell in love with the Teddy and matching Bootee’s so I was delighted to say I would make them for her expected little man.

Actually the truth is I had already planned to make them for her so was secretly excited to have approval for making this gorgeous pair of cuties. I had sent for the wool the previous week so was ready to get started straight away. I am using the Rico Soft Essentials Merino Aran from www.crafty-yarn.co.uk/shop/115/175/index.htm this delicate pale blue for the main teddy colour with beige for the paws and and cream for the tummy. I am always pleased when Crafty Yarn have the yarn I am looking for as they offer a very quick service which is a downfall with some other wool websites.

If you have a favourite website that you can recommend please let me know. Isn’t it dreadful when you get all excited about a new project then have to wait 10 days for the wool to arrive! This has happened to me recently, ordered the yarn on the 24 July and still waiting!!!!!

Anyway, my apologies back to this exciting project. Here he is, a first glimpse of the pattern.

This is only the second toy I have ever made so I found it very interesting seeing how it all went together. I started as instructed with the body and head which are worked in one piece.

Starting by creating a base then working upwards in rounds to form the body and joining in with the cream for the tummy, then decreasing to shape the body up towards the head. You stuff the body as you go which means that you can manoeuvre the stuffing to get it nicely placed (no lumpy bits).

The pattern said to do the muzzle next but I was so keen to give Teddy some legs I skipped the nose, no particular reason I just wanted to give him some limbs!

The little paw pads are made separately and stitched on, a bit fiddly but worth it don’t you think?

He does look a little odd at this stage as you can see………….

…………. his face is lacking character and I thought his head was a slightly odd shape, so next I thought I should go back to following the pattern and make the muzzle. Once made the muzzle is stuffed and sewn in place.

With the muzzle made I set about completing the other leg and Teddy’s arms and stitched him all together. He was so pleased to be complete he could not stop looking at himself.

Eventually I managed to get him to sit nicely for a photograph.

I wanted the limbs to have a floppiness to them so I confess I did add an additional row of single crochet to the top of the legs and arms before sewing them on.

The picture I had in my mind is of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh, do you know the picture I mean? When CR is dragging Pooh by the arm down the stairs

When the little man is big enough to carry Teddy around he will be nice and floppy and easy to hold by which ever limb he decides to hang onto.

I will be posting soon the pictures of the Stripy Cat so please come back soon!

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