Platypus ornament

Happy Friday crafters! 

This week I’ve been super busy (for a change!). I was on the beautiful Heron Island, south of the Great Barrier Reef. 

I was very inspired by the beautiful landscape there and I started working with the rainbow yarn I got from Salamanca, Tasmania, which I’ll show you next week 😊

But for now, I have finished my platypus ornament, it turned out so so cute! I backed it with black felt and it has a loop to hang it in a Christmas tree. 

I think I’ll be doing more of those in the near future, with Christmas in a few months only 😊

Have a great weekend!

X

Advertisement

August SAL with Helene

TGIF! 

I don’t know about you but my week has been super super busy! I did manage to finish the August stitch along hosted by the wonderful Helene though. 

I have good hope that I’ll manage to catch up with the SAL in October, as my husband will be away for a good part of the month, which means undistracted stitching time for me! 

Now for an even busier weekend!

X

Birthday shenanigans

Happy Wednesday! 

Today is a bit of a special Wednesday as it’s also my birthday!! I got so spoilt by my friends and family, and I’m currently in a bit of a food coma, as my husband treated me to laksa 🙂 yum!

I just wanted to share with you some crafty goodies I recently received. 

 

Yep, that’s a lot of threads! Most of them are DMC as well, which is so nice and they all came sorted in those 4 boxes. I did a bit of rearranging and also bought a fifth box to finish fitting all the extra threads. There are still 2 small food containers filled with threads, plus my own ‘collection’ that I need to add. I also got 2 huge crates filled with cross stitch and crochet books/magazines. 

I started to make this cute platypus Christmas ornament from one of the magazines I found in there. 

I also got gifted not one, but two books to knit socks from my husband and I can’t wait to make a start on those!

And finally I got some lovely flowers 💐

Aren’t birthdays just the best?

X

Snowflower diaries -February

Hello everyone! 

Here is my February month on my joyful world calendar from the snowflower diaries. I am going slowly but surely!

And here it is next to January. 

Next up is March and it has such a cute design, with a heron standing in a pond and a tiny chick 🙂 I’m very excited to stitch that one! 

X

Sewing achievement

Happy Friday! 

Today I want to share with you my very first handmade piece of clothing (other than costumes). Although I’ve had my sewing machine for almost a year now, I always felt too scared to actually make an everyday wearable garment. Silly I know!

Well, this week I took the leap and decided to make leggings. The pair I had was falling to pieces at the seams as well, so I was really in need of new ones. 

I read the instructions from two different tutorials to make leggings (you can find them here and here) and I think that, in the end, I got a bit of my own mix 🙂 

Like I said, I already had a pair of leggings that fit me pretty well, so I used them to draw my pattern pieces (I use baking paper for that, it works surprisingly well). 
Then I sewed along the sides of the legs, leaving the crotch area open. At that point I wanted to make sure it would fit me, so I tried the legs on and it was perfect!

After sewing the crotch, I had to add an elastic at the waist. That was a bit daunting but I managed pretty good. I first sewed the elastic on the inside of the pants and then hemmed the top of the pants over the elastic. Two more hems for the ankles and I was done!

 

Honestly I’m so glad I gave it a go, I absolutely love them, they are so comfy and I love the colour too. The good thing is that I still have enough fabric to make at least one more pair 😊

I wish you all a great weekend!

X

Snowflower diaries update

Happy Wednesday readers!

I’ve managed to make some progress on the snowflower diaries joyful world calendar. 

Here is where I was at last time 

And now

I’ve done most of it, I just need to finish this leaf I’m working on (right side) and add the two adorable geese. Then, I’ll be up to March! 

Have a good one!

😘

Slouchy beanie

Happy Monday readers!

I know that winter is over, here in Australia, but I still felt like I needed a new beanie. You know, for those cold, windy mornings or for when I actually make it to the pool for my aqua gym class 🙂

As always, I turned to Pinterest for ideas and I found this pattern for a puff stitch slouch beanie. I used Lion brand Canyon yarn and it worked out really quickly. I ended up doing puffs with 4 stitched instead of 3 and 20 rows of the puff stitch, and it was enough for my head size.

The beanie ended up really thick, which is great because it keeps my ears extra warm 🙂

I hope you all have a great week

X

A nice hiatus in Hobart

Hello readers! 

Did you miss me? I certainly did miss you! I was at a conference for work this week, and I got to visit the beautiful city of Hobart, in Tasmania. 

The conference was pretty great, and we even started the conversation about gender equity and women in STEM sciences, which is about time. 

Another very exciting point for me was that I got to buy some gorgeous 100% Tasmanian wool. And it’s also hand dyed! 

Before

After caking

The colour is “Salamanca”, which is the artsy area of Hobart, right next to the leisure harbour. That’s also where I got this wool from 😊

I think I’ll make a shawl/scarf with it, as I lost my scarf on the plane on the way there. 

I wish you all a great weekend 

X

Naiad the Nudibranch – free crochet pattern

Happy Friday readers!

What a week it has been, I am very glad that it’s over. Sometime during the madness of writing my mid-term document for my PhD, I found the time to crochet freestyle! And I thought I would make a nudibranch amigurumi. Why not?

So I picked up my hook and I carefully noted down what I did as I went, so that I could share it with you lovely bunch 🙂

Now, what’s a nudibranch, I hear you say? They are marine gastropods, and they look a lot like sea slugs. They come in a bunch of shapes and colours and I think they are the prettiest.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And now without further ado, the pattern. I did my best to make it understandable but it is my first time writing a pattern, so please let me know if it’s unclear, and I’ll try to clarify.

EDIT: if you want to download a free PDF of this pattern, which has been re-written with clearer instructions and more pictures, you can find it on my new website.

I used DK yarn and a 4mm hook (because I tend to crochet very tight, especially when making amigurumi). Tension is not important for this pattern though, using a smaller hook will just give you a smaller toy and vice versa. I used 3 different colours for my nudibranch, one main body colours (MC) and two contrast colours (CC1 and CC2).

Abbreviation list

ch – chain

Sc – simple crochet

Dc – double crochet

Sl st – slip stitch

Main body – worked from top to bottom in the round

With MC

Ch 26 (starting chain + turning ch)

Round 1: Sc in the second ch from the hook, sc 24 (you should now be in your first ch), sc 3 more in your first ch. Sc 24 on the other side of your starting chain, sc 2 more in your last ch. You should have 4 sc at each end ch of your starting chain and 23 sc either part of your starting chain (see photo) – 54 st

Round 2: sc all around – 54 st

Round 3-5: Repeat round 2 – 54 st

Round 6: sc 24,  *2 sc in next st* x 2, sc 25, 2sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, sc 1 – 58 st

Round 7-8: Repeat round 2 – 58 st

Round 9: sc 25, 2sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, sc 27, 2sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, sc 2 – 62 st

Join in CC1

Round 10: Ch3 (counts as the first dc), 2 dc more in the same st, 3dc in each st all around. sl st at the top of the first dc. Fasten off and weave in ends

Gills – at the back of the body

This part of the amigurumi is worked in the round. I used the MC but you can also use CC2 if you feel like it.

Using MC, pick-up 8 st in a circle at one end of the body. This will be the base for your gills.

Round 1-3: Sc around. This is the tube at the base of the gills – 8 st

The next step is working on the gills.

Ch 6, sl st in each ch down, sl st back into the ring (in the sc at the bottom of the 6 ch). Repeat 8 times all around the tube. You will now have 8 gills. Fasten off  and close up the tube using the long tail.

Rhinophores – antennae-like structures – make 2

This part of the amigurumi is worked in the round.

Using CC2, ch 2.

Round 1: Sc 4 in the second chain from the hook (or sc 4 in a magic circle)

Round 2-4: Sc in each st around. Fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing

Base of the body

The start of the base is exactly the same as the start of the body, except that you start with 21 ch rather than 26.

Using MC, ch 21 (main chain + turning chain)

Round 1: Sc in the second ch from the hook, sc 19 (you should now be in your first ch), sc 3 more in your first ch. Sc 19 on the other side of your starting chain, sc 2 more in your last ch – 44 st

Round 2: Sc 19, *2 sc in next st* x2, sc 20, *2 sc in next st* x2, sc 1 – 48 st

Round 3: Sc 19, *2 sc in next st* x4, sc 20, *2 sc in next st* x4, sc 1  – 56 st

Round 4: Sc 20, *2 sc in next st* x6, sc 22, *2 sc in next st* x6, sc 2  – 68 st

Fasten off, leaving a long tail to sew the base to the body.

Assembly

Sew the rhinophores on, at the opposite end from the gills. Then, sew the base on the body, joining to the MC of the body. When there is only a small opening left, stuff the body and finish sewing the base on. You’re done!

If you do try this pattern, please tell me what you think about it. I hope you enjoy it 🙂 You can find me on Instagram @emmacraftsdesign I look forward to seeing your nudibranchs!

Finished crochet hook case

Hello readers!

After having this on my list of things to do for months, I’ve finally finished my rainbow crochet hook case. 

I now has a total of 13 compartments (11 small and 2 big) and can be rolled for easy storage. I used a bit of ribbon I found in my craft stash to make sure it was securely closed and voila! 

All my hooks have a safe and cosy place to live now, no more randomly finding them under the couch (I hope anyway!). 

Have a lovely end of the week 🙂

X