About Me

My photo
Been knitting on and off for about 50 years, sporadically trying to crochet, just bought a lucet. More details about my knitting, crochet and tunisian crochet can be seen at https://www.ravelry.com/people/Rosebark for which you need to be a member, but this is free.

Tuesday 26 June 2012

First crochet flower!

My posts are like buses - none for ages, then three at once!

I have been trying on and off for some time to find a flower pattern, knitted or crocheted, that I could make for various purposes, e.g. to be sewn onto a hair clip.  As has been mentioned before, I have had no success in following crochet patterns, except for the very straightforward crochet for beginners type book (can't remember the name at the moment, but may edit it in later).  However, I saw a pattern in this month's Simply Knitting for a bag with a flower on it.  I thought doing the bag may be a bit ambitious, although I now don't completely rule that out for some time in the future, but the button looked doable.  I already had the pink yarn, but felt a flower needs a yellow middle, so I "had" to buy some yellow yarn, which I got at the same shop and the same time as the flower for the BlackBerry cover.  This is the first purchase, other than the occasional very cheap purchase at a charity shop, I have made of yarn in a long while - and this particular shop's prices are very reasonable (and I used a tiny bit of it to sew the flower button on the BlackBerry cover - because flowers have yellow middles ;-) so it's already been used for two things).

I dug out a 3.5mm hook and sat down with it, the two yarns and the magazine and about an hour later, the result was as shown on the left. (For some reason I couldn't get both the centre and the 'petals' equally in focus).  I know other people knock out flowers 19 to the dozen in a variety of patterns, but this is a real achievement for me, so much so that I even told DH (and he's really not into knitting or crochet).  He duly made an impressed grunt, which was all I was after.

I suppose now I'll have to find or borrow some other flower patterns and give them a go.  Even if they are not successful, at least I know I can do this one!

BlackBerry cover

A friend asked on Facebook if anyone knew where she could get a cover for her new BlackBerry phone or would be willing to make one for her.  I thought, "I could do that", nearly chickened out, then offered anyway.  The criteria were that it should be purple and have a flower button on.  I started Tunisian crocheting it and even thought that the reverse side of simple Tunisian stitch looks kind of blackberryish, then realised that the ball of yarn I was using would not be anywhere near enough to make it that way, so I frogged that and started knitting it in stocking stitch.  Part way through doing that I found some more of the same yarn (grr!) but decided to stick with the second version.  The yarn was left over from a cardigan I made DD some years back and I lined it with some material I acquired from the (previously-mentioned) old lady's stash.  The only purchase was the button, which I bought for 25p at KPound Plus by Church Street tram stop.  The recipient insisted on paying, although I would have made it for the price of the button!  I have delivered it to her sister, who will be visiting her tomorrow.  I hope she likes it!  I have shown it here with my (not BlackBerry) phone inside to round it out a little.  I did think I had made the top flap a bit too short, but the sister bought her another cover which has two motifs on a dangle, one of which is going to be sewn onto this cover, so perhaps it is just as well I left a bit of space for that.

And now here's the other one, just like the other ones

Finally the local SCBU has one of the reverse-stocking-stitch-striped blue cardigans.  I've included both photos as it looks so different with and without flash.   I do accept of course, however, that in either case, it looks just like the preceding ones.  Nothing more to say about that!
without flash
with flash