Afghans that boomerang

I'm Back!!

Hello! After a blog break I am back. Not sure where I went, but with floods, house renos, travel, kids and a full time job things have been busy. The good news is I have a huge back log of things to share with you all. I have decided that a number of my afghans have become "boomerangs". That being, they have come back to me! Some under sad cirmunstances and others under happy ones. When my Mum in Law passed on one of the things I realised when cleaning out her treasures was how many things I had crocheted her over the years. I have posted about this previoususly but I dont recall sharing the afghans with you that I had gifted her.

The circle one above I remember doing in the late 80s when the kids were tiny. Quite a simple pattern and on reflection I do like how the colours work. Grandma was always a cheery lady and she proudly displayed this on her couch. It is a wagon whell motif out of a very old book and I remember paying particular attention to the placement of the colours. I had forgotten how simple but effective this pattern is.

Our daughter has lived in the Southern States since she finished school and went to the Australian National University in Canberra and subsequently landed a job in Melbourne. Both are bitterly cold (when benchmarked against Gold Coast weather) which has enabled me to generously send her off with crochet woolies to keep her warm. She has now decided to take 6 months leave from her job and travel overseas. The time has never been better as the Aussie dollar is so strong I really think this is a terrific thing to do.




The sequalie to this is that she has to minimise her "stuff" and put the remainder into storage while she is away. I guess the benefit of her living a couple of thousand kilometres away is that her "stuff" wont be getting stored at our place. Lordie I have enough stuff (aka junk) of my own! Yet the afghans, she feels were bulky, and as she tactfully put it in "90s colours", so she has returned them to me.

Actually, I lugged them back from Melbourne in my suitcase when I visited her last weekend. That with an enviable collection of Myer bears, and of course
 my own Melbourne purchases, I just met the Qantas baggage limit.

The orange and brown number she requested to match her charity store bought orange and brown couch she had in her student digs. I noticed recently (on her fobidden facebook face) that this had been used as a decoration at a friends 80s parts. Truth is I made it in the 90s, and she chose the colours. It seems the perfect party discussion point and  soaks up the beer slops quite good as well! Good thing I used acrylic yarn so it washes quite well.






The photo to the right is a bit dodgy, but this square uses a front post treble to give it a bit of texture. This was quite a brainless crochet and travelled well. The two coloured effect also looks good. Not sure that I would ever do another one like this as there was a lot of dark brown to join which was pretty tough on the eyes.
There are a few more which I will post in the coming weeks. Now that winter is approaching it is perfect weather to bring them all out of the cupboard and appreciate them.

Take Care! Cheers Susan

Bonnet Babies crochet square (free pattern)

1. Koala, 2. Duck, 3. Kangaroo, 4. Penguin, 5. Red Eyed Frog, 6. Year of the Pig Square

Meet the Bonnet Babies. This is number 7 in my rugalugs series.

I designed this one as as quick novelty square to be used in charity blankets and rugs. My intention here that this one would be free on my blog. While the pattern is copyright and you cant sell it, you can make as many things as you can for charity. That is the goal!

Each square uses a minimum of yarn and I imagined they would look quite colourful in a variety of colours. The hardest part is finding a good skin coloured yarn; light apricot often works well, but is hard to find.

There are actually 2 squares - a bonnet baby girl, and a bonnet baby boy. The girl has a frilly bonnet, and the boy a plain bonnet. I like to add a dimensional component to my squares, and the bonnets, bow and nose all pop out. I suggest you mix these with a plain granny. While this square is about 11cm/4inches you can make it larger by adding extra rounds. I am sure they have multiple applications, and with Easter approaching bonnets are in season!

I hope you like it. If you do use it I would love to hear which charities you are supporting, and even see some photos of finished products. It is so easy to download something from the internet, without providing feedback.

As with all my patterns there are both Australian /British and American versions. So make sure you use the correct one or your babies might look a bit odd. Have fun!

Bonnet Baby Square (c) 2007crochetroo
Australian instructions

· 8 ply yarn, worsted weight, or double knit yarn - size 8 (4mm) hook
· Square measures approximately 11cm/ 4inches.
· The Baby is worked in anticlockwise rounds giving a right and wrong side. Some stitches are worked through the front or back loops only so look out for these.

Baby Face

Skin Colour
Round 1: 4ch into 4th ch from hook work 10tr, 4tr popcorn, slst into top of start ch to form a circle =12.

Round 2: 3ch, 1tr same place, (2tr next st) around, slst join finish off, weave in ends= 24

Bonnet colour
Round 3: Join bonnet colour in the first st of round 2. Work front loops only.
Girl: 1dc next 6, (3tr next st, 1dc next st) 5times, 1dc next 6st, bows – (1dc 8ch 1slst into dc) into next st twice, slst join and weave in ends.

Boy: 1dc next 6, 2htr next st, 2tr next 8st, 2htr next st, 1dc next 6st, bows – (1dc 8ch 1slst into dc) into next st twice, slst join and weave in ends.

Background

Round 1: This round is worked in back loops only. Each side consists of a corner, and 4 stitches along the side. Check that your baby is centred.
Fold the bonnet forward, join contrast in back loop behind 3rd dc to the left of the bow. (3ch 1tr 2ch 2tr) into this loop, *1dc next 4st along side of head, miss 1st, work corner (2tr 2ch 2tr) next st, repeat pattern from * finishing with a slst into top of starting ch.

Round 2: From here you will work between the stitches. All corners are 3tr 3ch 3tr.
Slst to 2ch sp, (3ch 2tr 3ch 3tr) start corner into this sp, * (miss 2, 2tr between stitches) 3times make corner of (3tr 3ch 3tr) in ch sp, repeat pattern from * finishing with a slst into top of starting ch.

Round 3: Start with a slst in a corner. Work (1dc 3ch 1dc) in corners; 3ch 1dc in spaces around. Slst finish off round.

Stitch 2 eyes either side of nose. I weave the yarn through the stitches to get a neat finish.
Stitch a rose bud mouth under nose.

Bonnet Baby Square (c) 2007 crochetroo
American instructions

· 8 ply yarn, worsted weight, or double knit yarn - size 8 (4mm) hook
· Square measures approximately 11cm/ 4inches.
· The Baby is worked in anticlockwise rounds giving a right and wrong side. Some stitches are worked through the front or back loops only so look out for these.

Baby Face

Skin Colour
Round 1: 4ch into 4th ch from hook work 10dc, 4dc popcorn, slst into top of start ch to form a circle =12.

Round 2: 3ch, 1dc same place, (2dc next st) around, slst join finish off, weave in ends= 24

Bonnet colour
Round 3: Join bonnet colour in the first st of round 2. Work front loops only.
Girl: 1sc next 6, (3dc next st, 1sc next st) 5times, 1sc next 6st, make bows – (1sc 8ch 1slst into c) into next st twice, slst join and weave in ends.

Boy: 1sc next 6, 2hdc next st, 2dc next 8st, 2hdc next st, 1sc next 6st, make bows – (1sc 8ch 1slst into sc) into next st twice, slst join and weave in ends.

Background

Round 1: This round is worked in back loops only. Each side consists of a corner, and 4 stitches along the side. Check that your baby is centred.
Fold the bonnet forward, join contrast in back loop behind 3rd dc to the left of the bow. (3ch 1dc 2ch 2dc) into this loop, *1sc next 4st along side of head, miss 1st, work corner (2dc 2ch 2dc) next st, repeat pattern from * finishing with a slst into top of starting ch.

Round 2: From here you will work between the stitches. All corners are 3dc 3ch 3dc.
Slst to 2ch sp, (3ch 2dc 3ch 3dc) start corner into this sp, * (miss 2, 2dc between stitches) 3times, make corner (3dc 3ch 3dc) in ch sp, repeat pattern from * finishing with a slst into top of starting ch.

Round 3: Start with a slst in a corner. Work (1sc 3ch 1sc) in corners; 3ch 1sc in spaces around. Slst finish off round.

Stitch 2 eyes either side of nose. I weave the yarn through the stitches to get a neat finish.
Stitch a rose bud mouth under nose.

Thanks for looking, and enjoy your babies.

(c) crochetroo Australia 2007

rugalugs: fun crochet motifs for kids rugs

This is the first of my Rugalugs (c) crochetroo 2007 series.


I have had a lot of fun with these. I designed the duckling a while back for a person who was mad about ducks.

After some tweeking, and some serious pattern writing I think I have it figured.


So then I embarked on working out what you could do with these. Obviously baby rugs, but also bibs and washers and motifs to add to purchased items.

I liked the idea of washers and bibs made in cotton. The range of cottons here is somewhere between pathetic and woeful and I had a mere 2 balls of sugar n spice to work with. These were raoked to me by some kind bods in the US. I looked at the web and couldn't find a mail order company to Australia, and even if I could I am far too impatient to wait. The blue and pink variegated looks cute, but I reckon some of them yummy colours I see on Bernat and the like would look really cool.

The ducky looks kinda cute in the thread, and I think these would be great to stitch onto purchased singlets and towels etc. I remember when my oldest 2 were little we went to England and I think we fed every duck in Great Britain. Ducks seem to inhabit most waterways in the world.

I had to put a little Australian black duck in there... or maybe it is a black swan signet. In Australia the swans are black, this is an interesting mutation and I guess us being so far away from the rest of the world our unusual genetic pools create some real wonders. The black swan is the symbol of Western Australia and they are most elegant creatures. Given most of Western Australia is a desert the swans are pretty amazing. I cant help but wonder how surprised the explorers were when they first saw these. But then I guess the wildlife here is all a bit odd!

So why the name "rugalugs"? This is a play on the word "bugalugs" and my son and I came up with this.

So I have a few more ridgy-didge rugalugs fun motifs for rugs on the burner. I am having a hoot making these and my hook can't keep up with by brain at the moment.

I will be listing these on etsy within the next few days.

Thanks for looking!

(please dont pinch my ideas or images which are protected by copyright)