Verb: pootle
poo-t(u)l To move in a leisurely unhurried way,
with no real purpose


Monday 21 March 2016

Happy Easter



Whilst I absolutely love getting stuck in to making a big old soothing crochet blanket
 I have also found that I do love a little fiddly pootle every now and again 
and this has certainly been the case over the last couple of weeks with not one, 
but two projects on the go.



One by one lots of little Springy, Eastery things have been hooked up
and in no time at all I had accumulated a whole egg box full of ingredients
 to make a couple of Easter decorations.



For the first one I wanted to do something a little different to previous years
 so rather than hanging everything from branches in a vase as I have done before,
 I had a good old rummage around the bottom of the hedges in our garden 
and found the perfect shaped branch to create a hanging bough.



It has to be said that both dogs looked at me a little strangely when I brought 
it in, having been told many a time that sticks are to stay in the garden
 and are not for in the house, but thankfully once adorned with all its chickery it looks
 a lot less stick like and seems to have gone undetected by the doggy radar !


If you fancy having a go, my patterns for the eggs, chicks and blossom flowers
 are all available here at blog.lovecrochet.com or in the right hand side bar 
of this blog page, along with all my other Crochet Club patterns.


For the second decoration I made a few crocheted primroses and then popped in to the
 florist to buy three stems of the most beautiful Pussy Willow.


With a little gentle bending I carefully wound the three branches around each other 
and then in to a circle to make a wreath shape.

                

I joined them together at the top by wrapping some thin florists wire around the stems
 and then used some string to cover the wire and to make a hanging loop.

               

For the finishing touches I added a raffia bow and
 some imitation eggs to hang from the top and then,
using a needle and thread, I attached the little primroses
 to the stems with a few stitches.

And then there was just time for a quick photo before this 
one was delivered to my Mum !



Happy Easter.



Sunday 13 March 2016

A little eggstra something ....

If you're anything like me you'll have several drawers 
and several bags full of lots of yarny leftovers,
 so with Easter just around the corner I have the perfect stash buster for you !


It's quick, it's super easy and your hard boiled eggs
 will have never been so lovely and toasty.


Add to that the fact that your table will be full of the colours of Spring
and before you know it you'll be making them for everybody.


And if you're looking for an Easter gift what could be better than a pretty egg cup
 with a chocolate egg hidden under the egg cosy instead ?


The full pattern for the crochet egg cosies can be found either in the right hand
 side bar of this page , or by clicking here.


 If you prefer two needles to one hook there's also a pattern for these
 little knitted cosies too, either in the left hand side bar or just click here


And just before I go here's another quick and easy Easter project ...
some little woolly eggs.


I used a 4ply cotton and a 2.5mm hook and made each eggs as follows:

R1: Magic Ring, 6 DC in to the ring.
R2: DC in each st. 12 sts.
R3: 2DC in 1st stitch, 1 DC in next st .... repeat all the way round. 18 sts.
R4 and 5: DC. 18sts.
R6: 1 DC in to each of the next 2 sts, 2DC in the next st ... repeat all the way round. 24sts.
R7 and 8: DC. 24sts.
R9: 2DC in the next st, 1 DC in each of the next 7 sts .... repeat all the way around. 27sts.
R 10, 11 and 12: DC. 27sts.
R13: 1 DC, *decrease by working the next 2 DC together, 1 DC in each of the next 2 sts ... repeat from * all the way around. 20sts.
R14: DC. 20sts.
R15: *Decrease by working the next 2DC together, 1 DC .... repeat from * all the way around. 13 sts.
R16 and 17: DC. 13 sts.
Stuff firmly.
R18: 1 DC, decrease by working the next 2DC together ... repeat all the way around. 9 sts.
Add the final stuffing.
R19: Decrease 2 DC together all the way around. Finish off.
Attach a ribbon loop to the top of the egg.