Tag Archives: handmade

Little Leprechaun

Posted on July 12, 2013 | 3 comments

When a friend of mine contacted me about making a hat for a colleague’s soon to be born baby, but it had to be Irish, I immediately thought of a leprechaun. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? This friend of mine loved the idea, so I went hunting for patterns.

And hunting… And hunting.

I found a few, but nothing was quite what I had envisaged. So, I decided: “Time to design my own!” And here is the result:

I’m part way through writing a pattern, then I have to test it (testing should be a cinch as that’s what I’m doing for a living at the moment – software testing), and finally publish it.

Off topic, I spend the majority of my time hanging out on my Facebook page, and on Instagram. There’s something about Instagram that I can’t get enough of. Except the photos of feet. I’m not a fan of all these photos of feet. But, better than the zexy selfies I guess…

Anyway, come join me. I’d love to get to know you better.

3 Comments

Posted in Projects

Tagged craft, crochet, design, haken, handmade, Ireland, Irish, Leprechaun, projects

Rainbow Cozy

Posted on June 17, 2013 | 6 comments

Here’s something I whipped up the other evening on the couch. I’ve been so in love with this rainbow yarn from Hjertegarn since I stumbled across it in my local yarn store last year. But it was one of those yarns that looked beautiful as a ball, but terrible when made into anything. In the end I managed to make a woolly hat for myself, and some gorgeous ombre owls, and finally the yarn has found it’s place in my heart as this beautiful mug cozy.

The colours work wonderfully together, and it was just the right length that I could miss out the mustard section of the yarn.

If you’d like to make this one for yourself, you can find all the instructions (for free!) here.

6 Comments

Posted in Projects, Tutorials

Tagged alpaca, coffee, cosy, cozy, crochet, haken, handmade, mug, ombre, yarn

Minigurumi

Posted on June 4, 2013 | 7 comments

Increasingly, amigurumi is the crochet genre that I’m finding the most joy in.

Here are a couple of mini-projects I’ve undertaken of late:

I came across these awesome whales on Pinterest and when I clicked through to the original post, I was ecstatic to discover a free pattern!

I did make a couple of changes to the pattern, however. As I prefer to use as few joins as possible, instead of creating and attaching the fins and tail, I integrated them into the body of the whale.

Fins: Ch4 and join into the same stitch before continuing around.

Tail: Ch5, HDCin 2nd stitch from the hook, HDC, SC, slip stitch into the next stitch. Repeat, but SC into the same stitch, then fasten off and change colour.

This baby penguin was found on Craftsy, and is of course by A Morning Jup of Jo Creations . I keep meaning to make the larger penguins too, but as I say almost every day, time is not my friend!

Have you made mini amigurumis? Do you have any patterns you’d like to share?

7 Comments

Posted in Projects, Tutorials

Tagged amigurumi, animals, crochet, haken, handmade, minigurumi

Miss Amigurumi needs her own name…

Posted on May 13, 2013 | 11 comments

Meet…. Well, I’m not sure on her name actually. For that I need your help.

My mystery girl is made from a pattern I picked up from A Morning Cup of Jo Creations and have been desperately trying to find the time to make.

Time has not been my friend recently. With a few upheavals at work and some sort of developmental leap going on with my fifteen month old, crochet has been taking a back seat.

But finally I could finish this project, but she needs a name. What shall I call her?

Fancy one for yourself? Drop me a line here and I’ll be in touch!

I’ve added Miss Amigurumi to Hookin’ on Hump Day, head over and check out all the beautiful submissions.

11 Comments

Posted in Hookin On Hump Day, Projects

Tagged amigurumi, crochet, haken, handmade

Pinspiration #3

Posted on May 3, 2013 | 15 comments

I have an obsession with mug cozies at the moment. Odd, as we are finally heading towards some warmer weather. But, as my husband reminds me, this is a great idea as I never finish a cup of tea in one sitting. It’s nothing for me to microwave my forgotten tea three times before finally abandoning it.

What I would to do be able to sit and savour a cup of hot, milky sweet English breakfast tea….

This one rocks my world. I just love the sailor tattoo style. I’m part-way through making something similar, completely coincidentally!

I love the appliqué on this one:

I made one based slightly on this pattern. Quick and easy to work up and looks great when finished:

I just love the colour of this one, but it’s too high. The top is too close to the lip of the cup, so you’ll be sucking on yarn instead of tea:

And this one is just too cool. I love the tea bag attached:

What do you think of mug cozies? Would you use one? I know my dad would enjoy it, but I would have to make it to fit a beer can…

15 Comments

Posted in Pinterest

Tagged coffee, cozy, crochet, handmade, mug, pinspiration, pinterest, tea

Irresistible Owly Cat Toy – Tutorial

Posted on April 5, 2013 | 10 comments

Ive been dreaming about this really cool project for a few weeks. As you already know, I’m a huge fan of A Morning Cup of Jo Creations and I’ve been making dozens of her mini owls (want one? Leave a comment or message me via my Facebook and I’ll be in touch ASAP). But aside from looking cute, what can these owls be used for?

A bouncy cat toy, of course!

Let me explain how I made it. That’s right, it’s my first ever how-to!

First things first. Go to Craftsy and download Josephine’s Baby Owl Ornaments pattern. It’s free!

You can see from her pattern that the owls are indeed very mini, but it’s very easy to upsize the owls by using a heavier yarn. For my toy I used Katia Nevada #27 (purple) and a 6mm hook (US 9-10).

Once you’ve finished your owl, added eyes (I used 8mm safety eyes) stuffed him and sewn him up, don’t tie off. Instead, chain 8, single crochet into the other end of the top seam. Then slip stitch through 4 stitches of the chain that you just made so that you are now in the middle of the chain.

Now chain 35, or as long as you’d like to make your bouncy chord.

To make the handle you will need to use a foundation single crochet. If you don’t know how to do this stitch, Tamara from Moogly Blog has a great simple video tutorial to show you how. FSC the right length to be able to wrap around your handle. I created 35 stitches, then joined with a slip stitch at the top of my chain.

Continue back down your chain, with 4 single crochet per chain, creating a bouncy spiral. Once you reach the beginning of the chain, slip stitch down the last 4 stitches to the body of the owl. Finish off and hide the loose ends in the body of the owl.

To make the Owly Bouncy Cat Toy extra irresistible, add a bag if catnip and a small bell and you’re ready to play!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. And if you spot mistakes, please let me know!

Apologies that the photos aren’t the best. I plan to make this again very soon, so will add better photos.

10 Comments

Posted in Tutorials

Tagged Cat, catnip, crochet, Featured, free pattern, handmade, how to, kitty, toy, tutorial

Image

An itty bitty basket

On Easter Saturday I had much of the day to myself. Well, as much to myself as I can with a 13 month old child… We were invited to my in-laws for Easter dinner on Sunday (which was delicious, as always. Thanks Geerke!) and I decided that instead of the usual bottle of wine I would whip up a couple of Easter baskets and fill them with chocolate eggs and handmade salted caramels, courtesy of my gorgeous friend Lori of Southern Charm Cupcakes.

These caramels are to die for. The family was lucky that any made it to the baskets; I was sneaking the odd one here and there, absolutely irresistible!

I used recycled t-shirt yarn for this project and the basket is about 10 cm high – perfect for itty bitty girls itty bitty fingers.

What do you think of the basket? Should I turn it into a pattern?

1 Comment

Posted on April 3, 2013 in Projects

Tagged celebration, chocolate eggs, crochet, Easter, Easter basket, handmade, salted caramels, southern charm cupcakes, t-shirt yarn, zpagetti

Pinspiration #2

Posted on April 2, 2013 | 11 comments

Recently I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at crochet jewellery. I had the idea together with my friend Stephanie, who is a jewellery making expert to combine our talents and make items to sell and split the profits.

So far our big success has been with making Owly Charms and keychains:

Pinterest has been a fabulous source of inspiration, so I want to share my top five pins that we hope to be able to use for inspiration to design something in very much our own style.

This one has already inspired us, here’s an example of what we have done:

I just love this necklace. The colours are gorgeous and it makes me feel sunny.

I love the embellishments and this is just lovely. I would definitely love a key chain like this.

The combination of different materials used here just works.

We have also started on something similar to this, a really simple yet effective accessory.

The biggest challenge we are faced with in getting these projects off the ground is time. We are both very busy with work and study and children and husbands that finding five minutes to sit together and work has been just about impossible. We must work harder on finding the time, we have so many ideas and are chomping at the bit to get on with it!

What do you think of crochet jewellery? Would you wear it? Do you have any inspiration of your own you’d like to share with me?

11 Comments

Posted in Pinterest, Projects

Tagged bobby pin, crochet, etsy, hair pin, handmade, jewellery, jewelry, key chain, key ring, necklace, pinspiration, pinterest

Wow! MissNeriss Featured on Hookin On Hump Day

Posted on March 27, 2013 | Leave a comment

Imagine my surprise and delight upon waking this morning to discover that my Beautifully Stashed post from last Wednesday has been featured on Hookin On Hump Day by Moogly and My Merry Messy Life.

featured on hookin on hump day

Be sure to check out the other links:

#1 – Sarafan Dress by Quartered Heart Crochet
#2 – Crochet Easter Trio with Basket by Jamie of Huckleberry Love
#4 – Paintbrush Pillow Cover and Afghan Pattern by Susan of Felted Button
#5 – Stitch Me Up – The Ooh La La Edition by Amy of Sew Incredibly Crazy

Thanks so much for sharing the love ladies!

Now to think about what I should submit today….

Only the Best for babies

Posted on March 25, 2013 | 2 comments

Yesterday was a baby shower for a woman in my expat group. She’s due to have a baby girl in a couple of weeks, so she could go into labour at any time now…

Because I have been hideously ill for the last few days with a chest infection, I’ve had a bit of extra time on my hands so I made this Saturday as my gift: