Crocheting potholders/hotpads

A couple of these will be sacrificed to the

coffee gods...they will be used as 

cleanup cloths.

 But the large ruffled one will be spared.

I can't bring myself to use it.

I had such fun making it and love the 

colours in it.

It has a great vintage feel about it.

This picture shows the lacy base.

Here is a shot of the back

after the ruffles are added.

You can see how the rows are

made in zig zags.

I followed 

this great 2 part tutorial

on the Royal Sisters' blog.

The patterns for the purple and brown

ones came from

Beyond the Square Crochet Mofifs by Edie Eckman.

This is really a wonderful book with

lots of great, quick patterns.

I adapted 

this free pattern

to make the pink hexagon.

A garland of crochet flowers for my chandelier

There is still a lot of snow on the ground
on this lovely Valentine's Day.
So I brought some spring into the house
in the form of crochet flowers.

Here is the free pattern
on Ravelry.
When I made it
it was only in German here

free German pattern.
It took me a while to figure
it out since google translate
doesn't include translation for
crochet stitches.
But it was a fun challenge.

You can make this garland as long

or as short as you like.

The flowers are made first and then

added as you make the vines and leaves.

It's the type of project you really

don't have to concentrate a lot on.

I'm in love with my Barista

I'm also sleeping with him.

(okay....he is also my husband.)

We both love going to coffee houses so a few years back

he decided to buy an espresso machine for home.

It's a semi-automatic and produces

the most wonderful espressos

and cappuccinos.

So for Valentines Day I'm

making him some cloths to use

for clean up.

He doesn't care if they are cute

or not....they just need to be functional.

But that doesn't mean I can't have fun.

This first one was so easy to make.

It is basically an open mesh with

strips of crochet woven in.

I actually made it first with a white mesh

but changed my mind and made the grey version.

These next two are my favourites.

The are made in a lovely vintage cotton

that I found at the thrift store.

These I'm going to keep for myself.

I'm working on a few more so

will post those soon.

One glove syndrome? No way!

I'm determined to finish the pair.

 But I will take a wee break for a few days
to make some quick projects with heavier yarn.

This hasn't been blocked yet
so it's a bit wobbly.
I'll make the buttonhole later when

the second one is finished.

I must admit that I'm getting quicker

at jacquard crochet although

my tension is still uneven.

Practice hasn't made perfect

but it has made it easier.

Year of the Hare

I haven't been able to start 

making a bunny to celebrate 

the Chinese Year of the Hare.

I promised myself that I could

only work on 2 projects at a time.

Since the New Year has officially started

  I'll post my bunny projects

that I've made in the past for now.

A bunny rattle

 

A vintage-style bunny

An Ugly Bunny