Monday 12 January 2015

Crocheted cushion cover

My first attempt at crocheting a cushion cover. It was a present, specifically designed to replace an existing granny square cushion, which is why it's a weird size and I couldn't take a picture with the inner pad in place.

The front is a simple granny square and the back, in a matching colour scheme, features a new textured pattern I came up with (inspired by and probably similar to what's already out there). I'm calling it Andes, because it reminds me of mountains and those triangular South American designs.


I used 2 strands of DK yarn and a 6 mm crochet hook. The 2 strands will give the 'mountains' a bit more volume.

Andes requires a starting chain of a multiple of 6 plus 5 (I used 41 in the example shown here). Next chain (ch) 2 (turning chain) and double crochet (dc, American terms) in each stitch of the starting chain. Stitch count will always be your starting chain count (here 41).

row 1 (right side): 41 dc, chain 2 & turn
row 2 (wrong side): 41 dc, chain 2 & turn
row 3: 2 dc in back loop only, (ch 1, skip 1 stitch, 5 dc in back loop) 6 times, ch 1, skip 1 stitch, 2 dc in back loop, chain 2 & turn
This generates a slightly raised stitch, with regular 'holes' which will be covered by the big 'peaks' of the mountains
row 4: (5 dc, ch 1, skip 1 stitch) 6 times,  5 dc, chain 2 & turn
This creates the holes for the small mountain peaks.
row 5: 1 dc, (3 dc into the stitch underneath the hole created in row 3 (keep stitches loose), skip 3 stitches, 1 regular dc, 1 dc into the stitch underneath the hole created in row 4, 1 regular dc) 6 times, 3 dc into the stitch underneath the hole created in row 3, skip 3 stitches, 1regular dc, chain 2 & turn
This forms the large and small mountain peaks.
row 6: 41 dc, chain 2 & turn
row 7: (5 dc in back loop, ch 1, skip 1 stitch) 6 times, 5 dc in back loop, chain 2 & turn
Holes for the big peaks are now at the same location as previous holes for small peaks to offset the pattern.
row 8: 2 dc, (ch 1, skip 1 stitch, 5 dc) 6 times, ch 1, skip 1 stitch, 2 dc, chain 2 & turn
row 9: 1 regular dc, (1 regular dc, 1 dc into the stitch underneath the hole created in row 8, 1 regular dc, 3 dc into the stitch underneath the hole created in row 7, skip 3 stitches) 6 times, 1 regular dc, 1 dc into the stitch underneath the hole created in row 8, 2 regular dc, chain 2 & turn

repeat rows 2-9


I finished the cushion off by sewing the granny and Andes square together on 3 sides and adding some button holes on the fourth side in the Andes square, with the crocheted buttons (dark brown) attached to the granny square side.

Button holes/ending:
After row 2 equivalent row
row a: 41 single crochet (sc) in back loop, ch 1 & turn
row b: 4 sc, (ch3 & skip 3 stitches, 3 sc) 6 times, 1 sc, ch 1 & turn
row c: 41 sc
fasten off

Buttons (2 strands DK):
row 1: 6 sc in magic circle
row 2: 6 slip stitches, finish with slip stitch into first stitch of round and fasten off


This cushion cover was made with scrap yarn, all officially acrylic DK weight but different brands so it doesn't look as neat as it could be when using the same brand/type of yarn. But it has its own charm, I think :-)

Wednesday 7 January 2015

Happy Holidays!

December has been really busy, getting all the crocheted presents ready on time. Now the holiday is over, here's a quick line up of this year's presents.

First up are 2 variations on older projects: pet football scarves (now crocheted using single crochet and embroidered using this technique) and jellyfish amigurumi.


Next, I got crazy with golden glitter, painting pinecones as well as a crocheted butterfly for Christmas decorations. 99p makeover :-) The butterfly pattern can be found here.


I also tried my hand at crocheting some jewellery. I used regular old embroidery thread and glass beads (I think they were called Czech Fire Beads). These off-white earrings are a copy of this pattern with a bead added in the centre.


The earrings and necklace set were based on this pattern, making some small changes as I went along (which, of course, I forgot to write down...).


Last up is little Rudy the reindeer. He's mainly based on this pattern.


That was the end of 2014, already having lots of exciting projects lined up for the new year!