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 :-)

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!

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...