Stool cover

I'm a big IKEA fan, but some things can use a bit of 'pimping'. Take, for example, this rather plain Marius stool (currently a bargain at £3). Add some t-shirt yarn and an old cushion that doesn't fit the decor.

I used a 10 mm hook and commercially bought t-shirt yarn, but it's very easy to substitute your own. The pattern I used is super easy; just double crochet in a circle. Here's an example tutorial. To accommodate for the legs of the stool, I added 4 sections, each consisting of 3 equal rows of double crochet.

Next, I weaved some yarn through each those 4 sections so it can be tightened like a drawstring. Add cushion, add cover, tighten & knot strings et voila.

Marius looks a bit more personalised now.

Neuro-geeky

Being a crocheting neuroscientist, this was all but inevitable... Drum roll, please! May I present: the crocheted neuron...

The cell body and axon are based on existing patterns here and here.

The dendrites (above) and axon terminals with synapses (below) are braided and then respectively 'fluffed' and knotted.

Hold on to your action potentials, this neuron is about to be fired off as a birthday present to, drum roll, another neuroscientist family... Happy neurotransmitting! :-)

Yarnbombed bin

Ever since I've seen yarnbombed objects (look at all the pretties!), I've secretly wanted to yarnbomb something myself. Recently, I discovered this lovely wave crochet stitch but had no quick project suitable for it (I have way too many scarves already...). Add the fact that our bathroom has gone (pleasantly, in my opinion) crazy already anyway with the addition of Nautilus (introduced in this previous blog post)... And the idea was born to yarnbomb the least interesting object in the room, a small bin.

Apologies for the poor artificial lighting conditions. Here's a close-up of the waves pattern, using all shades of blue in my stash.

The 'lace', created by braiding 3 strands of yarn, was weaved 'corset-style' to create a tubular piece, so it's easy to remove those lovely waves and install them somewhere else. Nautilus has been eyeing them quite keenly...

Monster basket!

When I saw the 'hanging monster basket' pattern, I simply couldn't resist! I had been looking for a hanging basket to crochet, and when I saw the added feature of the eyes, I was sold. It also turned out that the pattern itself was very easy and clearly described, unlike some free patterns I had tried to make sense of before.

For the basket itself, I used Sirdar Indie yarn in the shade Tahoe (5 skeins) crocheted around 4mm blue polyamide rope (about 25 m) using a 10 mm hook. The eyes were made with 2 strands of white DK yarn held together & a 6 mm hook. The pupils are black DK yarn (3.5 mm hook) with white DK yarn embroidery to make them come to live. Finally, the eye sockets were improvised using Sirdar Indie yarn (6 mm hook). The eyes are only tied on so we have the option to quickly remove them when respectable people are expected to visit ;-)

Putting eyes on a basket to turn it into a cute monster that eats clutter - the addition of a light sensor triggering a burping sound comes to mind... Brings back fond memories of the Hollebolle Gijs bin at the Efteling :-)

Remembrance poppy

It's almost Remembrance Day, and in the UK this means most people will start wearing poppies. Since it's the year of the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War, and being a quirky Flemish expat, I decided to replace the usually paper poppy by a crocheted exemplar. Using DK yarn, a 3.5 crochet hook and this pattern, it's quick and easy to whip up.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow...

Crochet flower lights

This project was inspired by the crocheted flower fairy lights over at http://crochetbytukta.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/bell-flower.html. I made some small changes to the original idea (crocheted a stem and gave the flowers different petals which glow in the dark - crazy, I know, but I love it!). In case you want to try some of this yourself, here's a quick overview.

I used a string of 20 LED fairy lights, glow in the dark (fabric compatible) paint and 3 different pale colours for the flower petals (off white, yellow & pink) and one grass green colour for stem/sepals, all DK yarn combined with a 3.5 mm hook.

I started by crocheting around the wire connecting the LEDs. The technique is the same as for crocheting around a rope etc, e.g. for a tutorials see http://stitchesnscraps.com/2013/07/29/asymmetrical-cowl-step-2-crocheting-around-the-rope/

Next, I followed Tukta's pattern for the sepals and created a variant on her flower (grey text is Tukta's original):

6 sc in magic ring (6 st)
inc x 6 (12 st)
sc, inc x 6, (18st)
sc around (18st) for 4 rows
6 times (sl st, [in same stitch: sc, hdc, dc, dc, tc, tc, dc, dc, hdc, sc], sl st) (18 st)

Or, less fiddly but also slightly less symmetrical, drop the sl st at the end and just skip that stitch (it should be hidden quite well under the newly formed petal). The flower on the right has been done using the first, symmetrical approach, the flower on the left (my preference) shows the quicker way skipping the stitch.

Once finished, I painted some glow in the dark paint on the rim of the petals. In the picture below, you can see the off white colour of the paint easiest on the pink flowers. In addition to the paint being less visible on pale colours, the glow also gets reflected more for the optimal effect(dark surfaces would absorb more).

Finally, assembly time!

Trying out the lights...

You'll have to take my word for the glow in the dark effect. My camera can't capture it but it's quite visible to the naked eye in a sufficiently dark room.

As the cold dark winter approaches rapidly, my little flower LEDs can serve as a reminder that spring and light are never far away...

Poppy the pony

Requested for a beautiful baby girl, this horse/pony was made using a free pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/paudie-the-kerry-bog-pony

Lots of mane equaled lots of fun! Poppy got nicknamed the Tina Turner of my amigurumi friends...

Upcycled pouf

What to do when you have 2 pillow cases, a kingsize sheet, 2 curtains and 2.5 duvet covers that are too nice to bin but just not needed anymore? One option is to turn them into upcycled yarn to crochet a ginormous pouf!

I've briefly mentioned how to turn fabric into 't-shirt yarn' in a previous post . There's a great & easy to follow tutorial to crochet a poof on YouTube here. I tried to have alternating rows of firmer/stronger curtain fabric and softer/more flexible duvet cover/sheet fabric. According to physics, it should be sturdier this way...

The above tutorial (and others) also suggests the use of of a 'lid' so the pouf can be used for easy reversible storage. The lid is slightly bigger than the open end of the pouf, neatly sealing everything inside.

I named the pouf itself Mei and the lid Yu. Don't ask, I'm weird this way...Mei and Yu comfortably hold 3 (three!) king size duvets.

I think the pouf looks good either way up. It took many, many hours and a few blisters but the end result is a lot more useful & aesthetically pleasing than a pile of redundant fabric/duvets :-)

Superquick tablet sweater

Take an old sweater...

Cut out a piece slightly larger than twice the tablet/phone you want to make a cover for...

Fold over, sew up the sides, turn right way out, sew on a button and loop...

All wrapped up...

Grumpy cat doorstop

Grumpy Cat is an internet phenomenon with her own wikipedia entry and merchandise. And several crochet patterns so you can make your own! A nice free pattern can be found on Ravelry here.

This pattern lends itself very well to turning Grumpy Cat into a doorstop, a role she fulfills with obvious pleasure. I just made her body slightly bigger and stuffed it with metal bits wrapped in a towel, so it's soft (for kicking in bare feet) yet heavy enough to hold the door.

How long can you stand all the grumpy looks before getting cheerful?

Ninja turtles

Looking for teenage mutant ninja turtles (TMNT) crochet patterns on the web, I found quite a few:

• http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.ca/2011/03/tmnt-michaelangelo.html
• http://knittedtoybox.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-tmnt.html
• http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=209461.0#axzz38zEvPrR0
• http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-crochet

However, I ended up paying for this pattern on Etsy, because it was just too cute. Baby mutant ninja turtles, yeay!

I received loads of help on this one with sewing them all up and creating their little weapons. The weapons were not in the pattern, nor was the belt and the elbow/knee bands, which come on handy to pose the turtles with their weapons.

Leo's katanas are made from an old saw blade spray painted silver and partially covered in yarn to simulate the hilt. Raph's sais are paperclips twisted into shape, again with yarn wrappings for hilts. Mikey's nunchuks are chunks of cocktail sticks joined by an old key chain part. And Donnie's staff used to be a twig found on the road that was whittled down and wrapped with yarn in the middle.

Beware, your pizzas are no longer safe with these around...

Kokeshi crochet

Kokeshi are Japanese dolls, traditionally made from wood. But you can make them from your favourite yarn too thanks to several free patterns out there!

We mainly based ours on an excellent video tutorial on youtube: part 1, part2. We weren't too fond of the big belt, so opted for a smaller version made by simply using chain stitch. Also, we added some extra embroidery to the neckline and front of the kimono.

Some more free patterns can be found here:

• http://www.craftymamasanchez.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/new-year-new-post.html
• http://lascosasdemisimisi.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/kokeshi-amigurumi-patron.html
• http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amigurumi-kokeshi-doll

I also found a nice free pattern for Japanese lanterns and since I had time to spare whilst travelling...

The character on the lantern is a nice way to personalize it. Mine is supposed to mean 'mindfulness', since crochet is one way to 'meditate' / be in the present moment :-)

Crocheted giraffe

One of my fondest early childhood memories, is my dad taking my toys & me on an adventure, guided by nothing except the music of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and my dad's imagination. I think one of the most important gifts you can receive as a child is the key to your own imagination. As Einstein put it: 'Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world.'

Cuddly toys are great sources of stories, and make excellent companions when journeying in fantasy worlds. This crocheted giraffe (my second attempt at crocheting amigurumi so low difficulty level) was a present for a newborn baby. I used a freely available pattern, with a few little tweaks to make it -hopefully- more baby friendly. Still, I would recommend this kind of toy to be used under supervision only, since it contains small parts that could become available for tiny mouths and nostrils if our sewing job fails.     

   

You can find the original free pattern here. I used a 4 mm crochet hook and dk yarn. I picked a sunny golden colour for the yellow yarn,  and a rich chocolate brown one; making it warm and bright and unisex.

My only deviations from the instructions were that I changed the yellow tufts of hairs at the end of the tail for brown ones, and added some more tufts of brown hair at the top of the neck. I used a fine crochet hook to tease apart the individual stands of yarn. See adding fringe & teasing the yarn in my pet scarves post for another use of this technique.

I used polyfill to stuff the giraffe, and added in a few small bells with the stuffing so the toy makes a gentle noise when being shaken. More specifically, I added bells to the head & main body, since the head can be shaken without the body (I attached it relatively loosely) for some added interest. To make sure the stuffing & bells wouldn't escape their crocheted cage, I first added some lining (reusing lining from an old jacket) before stuffing. I didn't bother attaching the lining to the crocheted shell; rather, I first pushed in the lining, then the polyfill & bells, and sewed the lining to itself to close it. Basically making a stuffed package that fits inside a given crocheted part:

At the moment of writing, Gigi is on her way to join her new friend, and hopefully the both of them will share many wonderful journeys...