Christmas is a coming.....

It is Remembrance day here - November the 11th, Lest We Forget. I had my minutes silence and remembered my grandfather and father in law who both served in the second World War. Both were men of substance, ANZACs who have now left us. I will never forget them.





The next big event down under is Christmas. When I was at the post office last week they had a sign up "52 days till Christmas". EEK I thought, that leaves me with about 50 days t make stuff!

Every year I try and make as many gifts as I can. I like things that I can include with the cooked goodies I bake. My favourite recipes are ginger bread men, rum balls, and chocolate brownies. Last year I did a heap of pot holders and kitchen towels so this year I thought I would try something new.

So here are my table toppers. A selection of Christmas themed coasters and napkin rings. They work up quick and are nice and festive.

I was thinking today that I might work some of the coasters in thread ans a smaller hook to make some appliques for the hand towels and serviettes.

When it comes to setting the Christmas Table I am a bit obsessional. I always like lots of decoration and bling! I reckon there is no such thing as too many Christmas Lights or too many ornaments.

So this is what the neighbours and friends are getting with their baked goodies this year: a set of Christmas Coasters. Because it is our summer we drink quite a lot at Christmas. There is always a bowl of punch, some chilled wine, beer and soft drinks. As a kid Christmas was the only time of the year we had soft drink. I remember the glass bottle of orange and lime and rasberry on my Nana's Christmas table. It is funny the things we remember that made us feel good as a kid.

I have written up the patterns for the Table Toppers including the coasters and napkin rings. These have been tested by some very kind people, and the patterns are available at my etsy store for anyone interested.

I am predicting a very home made Christmas this year with all the toy recalls. That is great for the crafters and should keep everyone busy!

(c) crochetroo - please do not take my ideas or images. Direct links are welcome, and I love reading the comments!

Daisy Chain Beanie - scrapbuster project (free crochet pattern)

I am a great hoarder of scraps, and seem to have a mountain of little bits and pieces of yarn from a multitude of projects. In a feeble attempt to reduce the yarn stock in my cupboards I have come up with a series of scrap buster projects.

This is called the Daisy Chain Beanie which uses up small bits of yarn for the flowers, joins them together and then creates a hat. They look good with a plain black or white background but I have experimented using different colours for the brim and edging.

Now the crochet enthusiasts will go wow, some might think this is destined for what not to crochet!

I personally like the colour and think they are great to donate to charities or to keep any little kids head warm.

So I post the pattern here for all the scrapaholics to enjoy. There are 2 sizes and you will have to experiment with the sizing. I suspect our yarn down here in Australia might be a bit lighter than the worsted stuff in the US.

I do ask that you respect my copyright. It has taken me a while to design this and write the instructions up so please don't copy, paste to the web, redistribute or sell my patterns. I also ask that in the spirit of paying it forward (PIF) if you do use this pattern for yourself, that you also make an extra hat for a charity.

Finished items are not to be sold.

......and it is nice to know who is doing what with my patterns so please leave a comment.

Daisy Chain Beanie

scrapbuster project

(c) crochetroo designs from Australia

This pretty beanie is made from scraps of 8ply, worsted weight yarn with a 4mm, J6 hook. Make each flower in a different colour, or use different colours for the flower centre. Approximate lengths of yarn for each round are given so you can estimate how to use up your scraps. Weave in your ends as you go. I use a steel hook to pull these into the work.

Australian/British instructions are first, American instructions are second in [square brackets]. I suggest you highlight the ones you need to follow.

While I have made a few of these, the pattern hasn't been tested by others. If you find any errors please let me know.

Sizing: this will depend on your tension and yarn the following is a guide only. My flowers measure 8cm/ 3inches across.

Small (Toddler) = 8 flowers, 44cm/17inches circumference, 17cm/6 ½ inches height,
Large (Child - Teen) = 8 flowers, 50cm/19½ inch circumference, 19cm/ 7 ½ inches height

Daisies

1. 4ch slst into a ring, 2ch 9htr [hdc] into ring, slst join = 10 (110 cm or 45 inches of yarn)

2. 1ch (1dc [sc] into next st, 4ch, miss 1) 5times slst join into first st. You should have 5 loops (90cm or 37inches of yarn)

3. Into each of the ch loops work (1dc[sc], 1htr[hdc], 1tr[dc], 2ch, 1tr[dc], 1htr[hdc], 1dc[sc]) slst finish off = 5 petals (250cm or 100inches of yarn)
For the large size replace the 2ch with 3ch for extra stretch.

Joining Daisies:

Make 1 start daisy and then join as you go with round 3. Work three petals, then work half of the fourth (1dc[sc], 1htr[hdc], 1tr[dc], 1ch) then insert hook into ch space of petal on first flower, join with 1ch, (make 1ch extra for the large size) then work the second half of the petal (1tr[dc], 1htr[hdc], 1dc[sc]). Join 2 petals in this way and then complete round three as above.

Flower 3: Join as for flowers 1 and 2 but check that placement matches the picture above. Every second daisy has a loose petal that points up or down.

You will need to join them in a circle when you work the last flower by catching 2 petals to flower 7 and 2 petals to flower 1.

Beanie Crown
Rounds 1 – 6 of the crown are worked with the stitches between the posts. Start each round with 3ch which counts a 1tr[dc], slst join at the end of each round.

1. Join main yarn to the ch space in any spare petal with a slst, 1dc[sc] into same sp, *3ch, 1dc[sc] between this petal and the next petal, 3ch, 1dc[sc] at petal join, 3ch, 1dc[sc] between next 2 petals, 3ch, 1dc[sc] tip of spare petal* repeat in this manner until you get back to the start dc[sc], slst join. You should have 24 of the 3ch loops.

2. 1ch space, *2dc[sc] into ch sp, 2htr[hdc] next ch sp, 2tr[dc] next ch sp, 2tr[dc] next ch sp, 2htr[hdc] next ch sp, 2dc[sc] next ch sp* work from * to * 4 times, slst join in start ch= 48

For the larger size work 1ch between each set of 2st.

3. 3ch start, 1tr[dc] same st, (this should be between 2 groups of 2dc[sc]), (miss 2st, 2tr[dc] in sp) around = 48st or 24 groups
.
4. For larger size only repeat round 3 = 48st

5. Slst to next sp, 3ch, (counts as 1tr[dc]) miss 2st, (2tr[dc] next sp, miss 2st, 1tr[dc] next sp) around, slst join = 36st

6. Slst to next sp, 3ch start, (miss 2st, 1tr[dc] in sp, miss 1, 1tr[dc] in sp) around. Slst join = 24st

7. You will work into the loops of the stitches from round 7 onwards.
3ch start, (2trtog [dctog], 1tr[dc] next st) around = 16st

8. 3ch, (2tr[dc] tog) around (you will finish with 1tr[dc]), slst finish off leaving 6inches/15cm of yarn. Weave loose end through the top of the loops and pull up tight, stitch in ends to secure.

Brim band

1. Working on opposite side of daisies repeat round 1 as for hat crown.

2. Slst to next ch space, *2dc[sc] into ch sp, 1ch, 2htr[hdc] next ch sp, 1ch, 2tr[dc] next ch sp, 1ch, 2tr[dc] next ch sp, 1ch, 2htr[htr] next ch sp, 1ch, 2dc[sc] next ch sp ,1ch* work from * to * 4 times , slst join in start dc.= 48 (this is the same as round 2 for the round but with 1ch worked between the groups of stitches)

3. Small size as for round 3 of crown, then work the edge

3 - 4 Large size repeat round 2 of band with the extra 1ch between the sets of 2. (You can do as many extra rows as you want to add length to your hat.)

Edge

1. 1dc[sc] between first pair of tr[dc], (3ch, miss 2tr[dc], 1dc[sc] in space) around. Slst join.

2. 3dc[sc] into each 3ch sp around, slst join and weave in ends.

This looks good in a contrast colour. For a larger hat you may need to work 2 rounds of round 3.

Daisy Chain Head Band

1. Make a daisy chain as for a hat.

2. Work both sides of daisies as for rounds 1 and 2 of the brim band

3. Work a final round of 1dc[sc] into each st and each ch space on both edges of your head band.

Using this technique you can also make a scarf.

Have fun and please send me pictures of your finished hats so I can show the world!