A visit from the grandkids

I had a lovely visit from my grandsons tonight, it gave me the opportunity to try the pink pussy hat on for size, I chased Cooper (2 yrs) around to get him to try it on, but he would not have a bar of it, so I picked on Brady (5 mths) it was a little too big for him so I would say the hat would fit a 4 to 5 yr old.

Cooper is wearing the first spiderman hat I made, this one does not even fit Pa, it is way too big, but Cooper likes to wear it over his face and crawl around on all fours being spiderman. If you look close you will see he has also put on Nanny's out door thongs (flip flops). Trying to fit into my shoes already.
My daughter (Cristy) brought me over this jar and asked if I might be able to use it, my other daughter (Danielle) said "what more clutter", I had an idea immediately.

I've been saving my scrap yarn for months to felt and roll into balls and then into a necklace, I really stuffed them into the jar and I think the effect looks great.

You can also roll newspaper into the balls for a necklace too.

Crochet Rag Bag

I saw this being done over at laughingpurples blog and I just had to try it.
I already knew I had supplies in my linen closet as I had planned just prior to this project to clean it out and give it to charity, doona covers, pillow cases, curtains, just to name a few. So far I have used, 4 pillow cases, 1 curtain and I'm starting on a pair of jeans that shrunk (LOL).

The beginning

The ball.
Another beginning.
This far into the project I have used 4 pillow cases and a curtain.
Now the jeans.

So now the denim is a ball of denim to use

Oh no, the denim is too thick for my bag,I don't want to damage it, so now I am cutting it down the middle, which will give me twice as much and thinner, but ouch! my fingers hurt whilst cutting it.

I'll be back with more!

Here it is finished. The denim was tough to crochet with. I made a flower to place on the bag but I did not like it, so I will leave it without embelishment until I know for sure what I want. I made the handles so as Icould throw it over my shoulder or hold it with my hand. Nothing fancy all sc and chain one with the handle, the rest of the bag was made all in sc. I usually crochet in the back loop only when I am going from the base to the sides of the bag, but it was not quite possible here, so I did a back post sc instead, which had a similar effect. I have used an 8mm hook (US L/H)

My daughter Cristy models the bag over the shoulder.

Here is a link for some more rag idea's.

Crochet for Pets

I do not often advertise published books here, but this one bought a smile to my face and I really love the colour schemes used. I have not bought the book, but I think many of the patterns could be used for a baby as well.

The pattern book has dog toys too, such as donut's and ice-cream cones.

Crochet A Kookaburra

Some basic instructions

I am naming the Kookaburra, Kooka.

He now has a friend, Sammy the Koala

You can find the Koala pattern here.

To begin, find a picture of what you wish to make.

Now draw your project. I can't draw for nuts, but it helped me realise what components I will need to make my kookaburra.

Knowing what parts I needed to be making, I made a selection of textures and colours from my yarn stash. I've used a 5.00mm hook and changed to a 4.00mm hook for the facial features. The yarns vary from an 8 ply to a 12 ply.

I first made the body in simple single crochet rounds with out joining the rounds and increasing, working straight, then decreasing. The body began with 8 sc and increased to 40 sc, then reversed with the decrease to 8 sc.

The head was made the same beginning with 6 sc, increasing to 24 sc and ending with 12 sc.

Any stuffing will do. If you use snap on eye's this is the best time to do it.

Then sew head to body.

I made the beak next. The yarns were a different thickness, so I used the thinner one for the top of the beak.

I then weaved thin wire into the sides of the beak, so as I could shape them better.

I deliberately used a lighter shade of yarn to sew the beak parts together, to define the top and bottom parts of the beak.

Now with the embroidery of the face, I sc the sides of the eye's across the beak and across the other eye over the top of the face (not made seperate). I then hand sewed a contrasting yarn into the gaps. I'm not an embroiderer at all, but it just passes. The eye's are small buttons.

This is the beginning of the wings.

Trying the wings for size as I go.

And the finished wings.

The Kookaburra also has a feather tail which I made last and also sewed wire into for shaping.

I would like to thank laughingpurple for her advice on this project, she has a must see blog.