Toot - A 'lil' something on a Saturday morning

Oh look what I just made for a bunting to go with the vintage fan ripple baby blanket.

Crochet Elephant appliqué with bow 

Squeee.

What a cute little elephant girl... 

Pattern and bunting to come soon.

Stay juicy Planet Earth,

Superfruity 

Ripple me this... A coral and guava vintage fan ripple

When I first started on Pinterest I came across this picture and thought: "wow this is magnificently beautiful. I wish I could make that!"

That was when I first started to crochet again (after about 15 years), and would have never attempted such an intricate pattern- even if there was one... But there wasn't...

 Then, a couple of months later  I spotted this on Pinterest:

Someone deciphered the pattern. Here is the link to the pattern , if you want to have a try.

So now it was only my skills standing in my way...

And for the meantime I made only ripples... Not vintage fan ripples...

But I saw lots of others in the meantime.

For example here is Pip's version from meet me at mike's.

Meet Me At Mike's Vintage Fan Ripple 

Or here is another take on the pattern from chiaki creates:

Chiaki Creates Vintage Fan Ripple 

Another couple of months and about 4 ripple baby blankets later, I plucked up the courage and got to work...

A friend of mine picked theses gorgeous colours Coral and Guava from the Bendigo Woollen Mills classic range for her daughters blanket. A stunning combination that I fell in live with as soon as I held the wool in my hands... 

It was slow going at first trying to figure out the pattern. I found it hard to get the right tension in the fans. I frogged it twice and started again.

Very slowly...

Superfruity Crochet Vintage Fan Ripple Crochet Blanket in Coral and Guava

Row by row...

Superfruity Crochet Vintage Fan Ripple Crochet Blanket in Coral and Guava

Superfruity Crochet Vintage Fan Ripple Crochet Blanket in Coral and Guava

And as I saw the blanket growing in front of me I fell in love with it more and more. What a great pattern. What a beautiful look. And the nice soft feel of the wool. Oh my.

The finished object is just fantastic. 

Superfruity Crochet Vintage Fan Ripple Crochet Blanket in Coral and Guava

Superfruity Crochet Vintage Fan Ripple Crochet Blanket in Coral and Guava

Superfruity Crochet Vintage Fan Ripple Crochet Blanket in Coral and Guava

Superfruity Crochet Vintage Fan Ripple Crochet Blanket in Coral and Guava

I'm sad to send it off to its new home soon, but I know it will be treasured. 

Please contact me through my facebook page if you would like me to make your very own Vintage ripple blanket :)

Stay juicy Planet Earth,

Superfruity 

Hear Me Roar - The Lion Bunting

Hi everyone!

I know it has been way too long since I posted last but I really did want to share this lion bunting pattern with you.

I made this for the first birthday of a special little boy name Leo and love how it turned out!

Hear me roar - crochet lion bunting

The pattern

US terms

You  will need

• DK yarn in (off) white 
• Worsted weight yarn in yellow and pumpkin (I used Bernat Super Value)
• 4.00mm/G hook
• 5.00mm/H hook
• 5.5mm/I hook

Stitches:

sl st - Slip stitch
sc - single crochet
Hdc- half double crochet
Dc - double crochet
lp st - Loop stitch

The Bunting 

I got the bunting pattern from Lucy from Attic 24 . I use  4.00mm/G hook and DK yarn and work until I reach 32 stitches in the increase round plus an additional round without increases (so you don't increase on your last row and end with 32 stitches).

The Letters

The letters are from the lovely Moogly Alphabet. I have worked them with worsted weight yarn and a 3.00mm/ C or D hook.

The Lion Head

5.5mm/ I hook

Round 1: Start with a magic circle and ch 2 (does not count as a stitch) and hdc into circle 8 times, join to first ch2, ch 2 (8).

Round 2: 2Hdc in same stitch as ch, *2Hcd in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to 1st Hdc, ch 2 (16)

Round 3: 2Hdc in same stitch as ch, *Hdc in next stitch, 2Hdc in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to 1 st Hdc, ch 2 (24)

Round 4: 2 Hdc in same stitch as ch, *Hdc in 2next stitches, 2Hdc in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to 1st Hdc, ch2 (32)

Round 5: 2 Hdc in same stitch as ch, *Hdc in 3next stitches, 2Hdc in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to  st Hdc, ch 2 (40) 

This is the last round using Hdc the next 3 rounds will be worked using loop stitch.  Here is a good video tutorial for this who are unfamiliar with the loop stitch.

Loop stitch tutorial

Round 6: Turn ( you are now working the wrong side of the circle). change to Pumpkin colour.  2 lp st in same stitch as ch, *lp st in 4next stitches, 2 lp st in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to st lp st, ch 2 (48)

Row 7: 2 lp st in same stitch as ch, *lp st in 5next, 2lp st in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to  st lp st, ch 2  (56)

Row 8: 2 lp st in same stitch as ch, *lp st in 6next, 2lp st in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to  st lp st, ch 2  (64) fasten off.


The Nose

with Brown DK yarn 
with 4.00mm/G hook

Row 1 ch5, hdc2tog, hdc2tog, ch1 turn

Row 2 hdc2tog, bind off. 

Leave a long tail so you can use it to sew the nose the lion face later.

Sew nose onto the lion head and embroider the eyes with brown yarn. 

Little Lion Head - crochet appliqué or bunting

The Paws 

with Pumpkin yarn 
make 2
5.5mm/ I hook

Round 1: Start with a magic circle and ch 2 (does not count as a stitch) and hdc into circle 8 times, join to first ch2, ch 2 (8).

Round 2: 2Hdc in same stitch as ch, *2Hcd in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to 1st Hdc, ch 2 (16)

Round 3: 2Hdc in same stitch as ch, *Hdc in next stitch, 2Hdc in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to 1 st Hdc, ch 1 (24)

Next round will be worked with sc.

Round 4: 2 sc in same stitch as ch, *sc in 2next stitches, 2 sc in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to 1st sc, ch1 (32)

 Round 5: Repeat 3 times for three toes:  * sl st, 2 dc in sl st, 2 tr in next, 2 dc in next, ch2 sl st in same stitch as 2 dc* fasten off.

With Yellow yarn

With 4.00mm/H hook
Make 3

Round 1: Do magic circle with 6 sc join, fasten off.  Leave ends long enough to use for sewing

With 5.5mm/ I hook
Make 1

Round 1: Start with a magic circle and ch 2 (does not count as a stitch) and hdc into circle 8 times, join to first ch2, ch 2 (8).

Round 2: 2Hdc in same stitch as ch, *2Hcd in next stitch, *repeat all around, join to 1st Hdc, ch 2 (16), fasten off. Leave end long enough for sewing.

Sew the 3 yellow toes and the smaller paw on the bigger pumpkin-coloured paw.

Little lion paw - crochet appliqué or bunting

Assembly.

Start with the last bunting (here the one with the letter 'O").
I used slight green yarn and sc around the edges of each bunting flag starting at the upper right corner. When you reach the corner again chain 25, sc into the head, chain 4, sc into the head, chain 25 and then slip stitch in chains until you reach the upper right corner of the flag again. 
Slip stitch along the top of the 'O' flag. 
Chain 8, sc into paw, chain 8, and slip stitch back to the 'O' flag, fasten off.  
Get your next flag and join with a sc into the upper right corner. sc around again and add paws and head as described above.

Finished!

Lion crochet bunting in its natural habitat :)

Hope you enjoy this bunting! 

The lion head and paws can of course also be used as appliqués on blankets, sweaters or bags. Have fun with them!

You can sell finished items from this pattern but please include a link to this blog in any advertisement or listings. Thanks.

Stay juicy Planet Earth... 

Superfruity

Bunting love...

Even before welcoming my little Mr Pumpkinhead I have met this wonderful group of mothers online and am so glad to have found them as there is always someone there to vent, reassure you or just laugh and chat with :)

All our babies were due in the same month and for there birthday we decided to do a secret Santa kind of arrangement. And creativity was encouraged which made me even happier.

However there was a limit on the amount of money we could spend, so I couldn't make a blanket.

But I had always wanted to try a bunting...

Some sneaky detective work in our little group revealed that my swap partner did not have a theme for her son's room, but if she did it would be transport.

And away I went making little flags, letters and cars.

So much fun!

I hope little Dylan and his mom like it.

If you would like  your very own customised bunting, please make sure to visit my Facebook page and store. I have many more designs planned including skulls, hearts, pumpkins and woodland creatures :) or just contact me with your design ideas.

I can't decide which display setting I like best but I do want to remind people that buntings are shown hanging on the cot or near toys only for display purposes and may cause a danger to little people.

I recommend you simply hang your bunting high on a wall or window where little curious hands cannot reach them. If hanging them on a cot please ensure they are safely secured to the cot every 5-10 cm (2-4 inches).

Stay juicy planet Earth,

Superfruity.

Strawberries and cream

So a little while ago I really truly got back into crochet. I had learnt it as a child but apart from a few hats I never really made anything.

Let's say I never really knew the potential and ease that comes with crochet.

I tried knitting lots of different things; well honestly I knit(ted?!) mostly scarves and hats... I once did finish a sweater but it wasn't really fit to wear outside so it has since been unraveled.

And then... Well I can't remember for certain what brought me back to crochet. I would like to say it was falling pregnant. That would make a nice story and I did make my first little afghan for my son, but that's not what started it all.

It probably was something more trivial; like my husband needing a beanie for work.

But regardless of how I got started again I'm just so happy I finally got back into it and continue to create beautiful crochet treasures.

This post was actually not supposed to be about how I got back to crochet but about one of my favourite pieces. The strawberry and cream clamshell pram blanket I made for a friends baby girl.

Strawberry and cream clamshell blanket

This was the first time I spent serious money on real wool (well my friend actually paid). Until then I only worked with the acrylics you can get cheap at the dollar store. This time I used the lovely wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills. Even just looking at the scrumptious skeins make my fingers want to start a new work in progress :) 

Lovely wool from Bendigo

The lovely Sedef from Down Grapevine Lane told me about a crochet along (CAL) led by Sandra from Cherry Heart on ravelry she wanted to do and I just hopped onto the bandwagon.

You can find the clamshell tutorial by the lovely Cherry Heart here. 

After trying (and succeeding) to crochet the pattern in the round I managed to make a questionable and slightly dodgy looking beanie (or we could call it a Fez).

mmh... more Fez than beanie

And then I tried my luck with a small baby blanket. 

I knew how the pattern worked and was so glad when my friend, who originally just wanted a simple ripple, told me I could also do the clamshell. She had picked the delicious strawberry and cream colors. 

Gorgeous Strawberry and Cream

Just so beautiful in its simplicity.

And the patterns just works up like a treat :)

They do look like little hearts, don't you think?

Can you see the hearts?

For the border I decided to add some texture with little bobble cluster stitches and used simple shell stitches to mimic the clamshells of the blanket.

I have yet to make another clamshell blanket as I have been caught up with other vintage stitches and bunting makings (will post about these soon) but I will definitely revisit this colour combination and pattern.

Strawberry and Cream clamshell blanket

Stay juicy Planet Earth,

Superfruity 

That's fantastic, little Mr Fox

Just a little FYI at the start: 

I'm on holidays in tropical Cairns at the moment and only have blogger for the iPhone. I started drafting this post on my computer and hence some links are actually clickable hyperlinks but some aren't and I will fix this when I get home to make it nice and neat. 

Please continue with more interesting crochetery... 

This one has been a while in the making...

Remember the little teaser I posted a while back?

Well I had to change quite a bit because I wasn't happy with the look. 

But I got lots of help from the ladies in the crochet lounge on Facebook - and now I want to share the love and post the pattern for my Fantastic Mr fox inspired comforter or lovey (depending on which variety of English you speak.)

The pattern

There have been some quite heated debates about pattern and copyright. I did use part of other patterns to make this but I will happily give them credit but also think I turned them into something new and unique. 

The head

I found this through moogly whose blog I absolutely love. As part of her  awesome free pattern collections,  she put a selection of free basic shape patterns online...

Here is the link to a perfect sphere PDF. I have copied this here just for ease of having the pattern together in one place. This sphere pattern belongs entirely to ms premise. 

Use a 5.0mm hook (H hook).

18 Row Sphere

Row 1) Ch 2. 6 Sc in second Ch from hook. (6)

Row 2) inc in each stitch around. (12)

Row 3) 1, inc, 2, inc, 1, inc, 2, inc, 1, inc (17)

Row 4) 2, inc, 2, inc, 1, inc, 2, inc, 2, inc, 1, inc, 

1 (23)

Row 5) 3, inc, 5, inc, 5, inc, 5, inc, 1 (27)

Row 6) 4, inc, 6, inc, 6, inc, 6, inc, 1 (31)

Row 7) 8, inc, 9, inc, 9, inc, 2 (34)

Row 8) 10, inc, 16, inc, 6 (36)

Row 9) 17, inc, 18 (37)

Row 10) even (37)

Row 11) 18, dec, 17 (36)

Row 12) 6, dec, 16, dec, 10 (34)

Row 13) 2, dec, 9, dec, 9, dec, 8 (31)

Row 14) 1, dec, 6, dec, 6, dec, 6, dec, 4 (27)

Row 15) 1, dec, 5, dec, 5, dec, 5, dec, 3 (23)

Row 16) 1, dec, 1, dec, 2, dec, 2, dec, 1, dec, 2, dec, 2 (17)

Row 17) (dec, 1) repeat () around (12)

There is one more row to come but I stopped here briefly and used brown yarn to embroider the eyes. Then get your stuffing and fill the head. 

Row 18) 4 scdec. Fasten off. Weave loose end through each stitch in the opening. Pull tightly to close.

The Ears.

You will need to make 4 ears (the orange and black back x2 and the white and black front x2).

Use a 3.00 mm hook (F or G hook).

Row 1 with either orange or white ch 9, sc in 2nd stitch from hook, sc across, ch 1 turn (8)

Row 2-3 repeat row 1

Row 4 sc2tog, sc in next 4 stitches, sc2tog, ch1, turn. (6)

Row 5 sc across (6)

Row 6 sc2tog, sc in next 2 stitches, sc2tog, ch1, turn (4)

Row 7 sc across (4) 

Join brown yarn,

Row 8 ( with brown yarn) sc2tog, sc2tog, ch 1 turn (2)

Row 9 sc across (2)

Row 10 sc2tog, bind off, weave in ends.


After you made the 4 ears, place the white front on the orange back and join the orange yarn through the front and back ear. Sc all around to crochet both sides together. Repeat for the other ear.

The muzzle 

Use a 3.00 mm hook (F or G hook).

I got the pattern for the muzzle from nimeo. Just added a few rows to create an even better 3d effect.

Here is the link.

http://nimoe.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/fox-amigurumi-pattern/

Rnd 1 — With orange, 6 sc into magic ring (6 sts)
Rnd 2 — [2 sc in next st] three times, With white [2 sc in next st] three times (12 sts)
Rnd 3 — 1 sc, With orange sc 5, With white sc 6 (12 sts)
Rnd 4 — 1 sc, With orange sc 6, With white sc 5 (12 sts)

I added another two rows here repeating row 4 so that the muzzle would be longer and more like a about.

Row 5-6 repeat row 4, bind off. Leave long orange colored trail of yarn to sew muzzle to head.

Using black embroidery floss, embroider nose/mouth onto muzzle.

The granny square

Use a 5.0mm hook (H hook).

There are so many tutorials for granny squares out there on the Internet that it is very easy to search and then go with whatever you feel comfortable with.

Here is a link to Meladora's granny square tutorial video. (Sorry I can't link properly cause this nice blogger iPhone app doesn't support hyperlinks.)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXag_BTLuQI

For my lovey I alternated colours every row and did about 18 rows plus an edge.

For the edge: 

5 dc in gap, skip on st, sc in next stitch (the middle stitch of the stitch cluster) and repeat all around. 

Finish the head and sew onto the middle of the granny square. 

The tie

When I first posted the head on crochet lounge group on Facebook some one said it reminded her (or was it her husband?!) of Fantastic Mr Fox. 

Use a 3.00 mm hook (F or G hook).

I just whipped it up.

Row 1 Chain 5 sc in second stitch, sc across, ch 1, turn (4). 

Row 2 sc across, ch 1, turn (4)

Now you basically repeat row 2 until you get to desired length. 

Antepenultimate row sc2tog, sc2tog, ch 1, turn (2)

Penultimate  row sc across, ch 1, turn (2)

Last Row sc2tog, bind off, weave in ends.

Sew the finished tie to the fox's neck. 

Finished 

I think it would also look very nice with a unicolour granny square and a striped tie...

Well anything goes really :)

Enjoy and please let me know of any bugs in the pattern.

When Mr Fox met the Little Giant

Here is the Little Giant meeting Fantastic Mr Fox...

I think he liked it... 

You can sell finished items from this pattern but please include a link to this blog in any advertisement or listings. Thanks.

Stay juicy Planet Earth...

Superfruity

Oh what a find!

Last Saturday I made a great find while  with friends at Rozelle markets...

I was just strolling along trying to get the little giant to sleep in the baby carrier and what do I spot? 

Large pile of vintage blankets at Rozelle Markets

This granny stripe blanket with an absolutely gorgeous colour combination. 

You know when you aren't looking for something and it feels like the something finds you? That's how I felt. Look at how beautiful it is.

Gorgeous vintage Granny Stripe blanket

I must have it :)

I truly hoped for the first time in my life that the person selling them wouldn't know the true value of a fabulous piece of crochet like this one. The yarn alone would have been a fortune...

So a tentative question revealed the price... 

$20. 

I didn't even haggle like you are usually supposed to on these markets...

And now it's mine. I put it in my son's room next to his little upcycled book shelf. He loves books and now we can snuggle up under a beautiful blanket and discover  where that green sheep went...

Doesn't it just look like it belongs? 

Stay juicy Planet Earth... 

Superfruity