One Piece Toadstool

This pattern is for a mushroom or toadstool with a ribbed underneath to represent the gills. They are made in one piece, starting at the base of the stem and working upwards with instructions for two different shapes of top (one shown as a mushroom and the other as a toadstool here). The only sewing involved is for the white spots on the toadstool.

What you will need:

*Red, brown and cream or white yarn and a suitable sized hook (I have used DK yarn with a 4mm hook making the finished toadstool ~10cm tall). Gauge is not important as the finished mushroom/toadstool will vary in size with type of yarn/size of hook and tightness of crocheting.

*Stuffing

*A stitch marker

*A yarn needle for sewing on the white toadstool spots

Techniques/stitches used:

Magic ring, slip stitch, double crochet, half treble, treble, changing colour.

Instructions are included for both left and right-handed crocheters.

Fully illustrated, detailed instructions for these are available for £1 (that’s about $1.61 at the time of writing). You can either buy now via paypal or purchase through Ravelry:

If you have any questions or want any help with this project you can email me at cultofcrochet@gmail.com and I’ll have plenty more free patterns soon so do keep checking back.

 

Filed under: amigurumi, crochet, instructions, crochet, crochet pattern, instructions, mushroom, one piece, pattern, pdf download, toadstool

He♥rt-Shaped Bag

I needed a bag quickly last week to match a dress I was wearing for a big night out. The result is the heart-shaped bag above – it was made in a rush so is not lined as I would have liked and it’s only big enough to hold the essentials but I still think it’s very cute. Here’s how I made it – there are no in progress photos so I hope my little diagrams will help to explain.

Crochet terms are English so have a look at the conversion chart if you prefer American terms (although the whole thing is worked only in English double crochet (American single crochet))

To help speed up the process I used 2 strands of DK/Worsted weight yarn together as one (I used two different shades of red for a mottled effect but you can use completely different colours or just two strands of the same colour for different effects) and a 5mm hook.

FRONT & BACK (make 2)

1. Chain 20

2. *chain 1, turn, skipping the turning chain dc each stitch of row (20 stitches)*

*repeat step 2 until you have 20 rows. Your work should now be square – if not then increase/decrease the number of rows to make your piece (vaguely) square.

3. complete 2 more rows as in step 2.

4. *turn (without a turning chain), skip the first stitch of the row and dc all the rest.*

*repeat step 4 for four rows. (ie. dc 4 rows, decreasing by 1 stitch at the beginning of each row)

5. *turn (without a turning chain), skip the first stitch of the row and dc the rest stopping 1 stitch from the end of the row.*

*repeat step 5 for four rows. (ie. dc 4 rows, decreasing by 1 stitch at the beginning and end of each row)

Fasten off.

CONSTRUCTION

Pin the 2 pieces together at right angles to create a heart shape as shown in the diagram below.

Starting at the position shown dc through both layers (1 stitch in each row) down to the point of the heart, continue up the other side crocheting through both layers still until you reach the position marked END. Now following the arrows on the diagram dc through just one layer to neaten the shape. Continue around until you again reach the position marked END and fasten off.

This is the basic bag and you can adjust the next steps to suit how you would like it to close/what you want it to look like etc.

OPENING

Using the same yarn I sewed just less than half way up each edge as shown in the photo above to narrow the opening and added a small press stud to the centre (a larger one would have been better but that is all I had.) You could instead add a small loop to the centre back and a button to the front.

STRAP

Attach the yarn to the centre of one side of the heart and follow the instructions as shown on the diagram below. If you would like a thicker strap then just keep repeating this process. Fasten off at one end and weave in loose ends.

DECORATION

I finished off this bag by adding a flower made using the cardboard cog flower loom from the same yarn as the bag and with a button in the centre.

I’m sure some of you lovely people can come up with better ways of closing this bag (a zip and a lining would be very nice) but I had limited time and resources - I’ll hopefully get around to making another, improved version sometime. If you would like any steps clarifying then please leave a message or send me an email. Enjoy!

UPDATE

Here is a quick sketch of my thoughts on how to improve this pattern (if anyone feels like giving it a go – i don’t know how long it’ll be before I get around to it!).

1. add a lining to the front and back pieces before they are crocheted together.

2. add tabs and rings between the lining and outer pieces to more securely attach the strap.

3. instead of sewing a little way up each side and having a press stud sew up the back edge completely and just have the opening all along the front edge closed with a few decorative buttons (or a zip if you prefer). this would make the usable section of the bag bigger and be more secure.

Filed under: crochet, instructions, other, bag, crochet, crochet pattern, flower, heart, instructions, pattern

Hugo the fluffy puppy

Hugo is my friend’s dog. I made a crochet version of him for her birthday and here he is. There’s no pattern though I’m afraid as I couldn’t tell what on earth I was doing most of the time. The fluffy yarn is called “Fancy that!” – it looks good and feels really silky and nice but was an absolute pain to crochet with. I just randomly increased and decreased into whatever stitches I could see and hoped for the best. His nose is embroidered in normal black yarn and his collar is a strip of felt. I didn’t manage to get all his black and white markings the same but I think he did turn out pretty cute in the end. Never again though!

Filed under: amigurumi, crochet, amigurumi, crochet, fancy yarn, fluffy, puppy

Fun and Free Flower Loom

Whilst browsing patterns on ravelry I keep coming across blankets made up of beautiful flowers. I excitedly click on the pattern only to learn that they’re not crocheted at all but are in fact made on something called a flower loom. It all sounds terribly complicated and so I would close the page with dismay and continue my pattern search. Well this kept happening and so I thought I should find out exactly what these flower loom things are and where I might get one. It turns out they’re very simple and I found quite a few different instructions on how to make your own. The simplest of these was just from a plastic ice-cream tub (which I didn’t have so used cardboard instead).

The one on the right is my attempt to make a two layered loom – it works but is a little flimsy in cardboard (a good excuse to eat more ice cream!)

Winding the yarn sends me straight back to the 80′s and the joy of spirograph :)

There are instructions for lots of different styles and ways to finish the centre and I haven’t had chance to try them all yet. But I’m sure I will!

Winding the yarn (twice around shown here)

Sewing the centre in purple (backstitch method)

Finished flower

Double layered flower with button centre

My first attempt - what a mess!

It only takes 5 minutes to cut out a cardboard cog loom so why not give it a try. My first flower was a bit of a mess (shown above!) but after that it was really easy.

Filed under: Not crochet, flower, flower loom, loom, wool