The Yarnival of the Animals

These cheeky little cherries don't really serve a functional purpose, but they are fun to make and look at. Perhaps as decorations on an Easter branch? For this pattern, I used a 2mm. hook and some SMC Catania yarn in red, brown and light green. The base cherry pattern is very simple.    Start a  magic ring in red.  1. sc 6 in the ring (6) 2. 2sc in every stitch (12) 3. 2sc in every 2nd stitch (18) 4-6. sc in every stitch (18) 7. sc2tog every 2nd and 3rd stitch (12) 8. sc2tog every 1st and 2nd stitch (6) Stuff the cherry and fasten off, weaving in the ends.    Use pink and black embroidery thread or thin yarn to embroider little faces.  For the single stalk with leave: 1. ch 15 in brown, fasten off.   1. ch 6 in green.  2. crochet back along the chain: ss in 1st stitch, sc in 2nd stitch, hdc in 3rd stitch, hdc in 4th stitch, sc in 5th stitch, ss in 6th stitch. Repeat along the other side as well.  For the double stalk: 1. ch 14 in brown....

Strawberry pattern: Start a magic ring in green. R1. sc 6 in the magic ring (6) R2. 2sc in every stitch (12) R3. 2sc in every 2nd stitch (18) R4. in BLO, 2sc in every 3rd stitch (24) R5. 2sc in every 4th stitch (30) R6. sc in every stitch (30) R7. 2sc in every 5th stitch (36) R8-10. sc in every stitch (36) R11. sc2tog every 5th and 6th stitch (30) R12. sc in every stitch (30) R13. sc2tog every 4th and 5th stitch (24) R14. sc in every stitch (24)   Start stuffing the body with fiberfill.   R15. sc2tog every 3rd and 4th stitch (18) R16. sc in every stitch (18) R17. sc2tog every 2nd and 3rd stitch (12) R18. sc2tog every 1st and 2nd stitch (6) Fasten off and weave the tail in the remaining 6 stitches. Pull tight to close the gap and weave in.   Stalk: Fasten on with green in the first remaining stitch of R3.    Repeat this pattern over 6 times: [sc and hdc in the 1st stitch;  dc, ch 2, dc in the 2nd stitch; hdc and sc in the 3rd stitch].   Then just use li...

    I had some yarn left over in a slightly more muted colour than usual, so I figured I'd use it for some less cartoony amigurumi/decorative objects. These two pieces of fruit were largely free-styled when on the train.The pear stands just under 10cm tall using Scheepjes Catona cotton with a 2.00mm hook. If I find the time and energy, I might turn this into a complete fruit bowl. Pear pattern: For the body of the pear, start a magic ring in green.  R1. sc 6 in the magic ring (6) R 2 . 2 sc in every stitch (12) R3. 2sc in every 2nd stitch (18) R4. 2sc in every 3rd stitch (24) R5. 2sc in every 4th stitch (30) R6. 2sc in every 5th stitch (36) R7. 2sc in every 6th stitch (42) R8. sc in every stitch (42) R9. 2sc in every 7th stitch (48) R10-13. sc in every stitch (48) R14. sc2tog every 7th and 8th stitch (42) R15. sc in every stitch (42) R16. sc2tog every 6th and 7th stitch (36) R17. sc in every stitch (36) R18. sc2tog every 5th and 6th stitc...

A friend from work re-kindled my love of gardening some years back and although I no longer live in a house with a garden, I've been cultivating my balcony and window sills enthusiastically. We also transformed the office, with everyone exchanging seedlings and produce. It was always great, especially during the pandemic, to come into the office and find an aubergine plant or two on my desk. So I thought it would be nice to make a little vegetable garden in crochet form. I'm not sure it's good enough to give as a gift, but for a first attempt it looks quite well.  The basket is a simple bread basket that you stuff with fiber fill. The yarn used is all cotton SMC Catania with a 2-2.5mm hook.  Patterns are below. Happy crocheting and gardening <3 Soil:  For the soil, ch as many stitches as you need to fill the size of your container. It doesn't matter if its an odd or even number, just include 2 ch stitches for turning.  R1. skipping the first 2 ch, dc in every stit...

Just a cute, evil-looking pumpkin as part of my annual Halloween decorations. The pattern used is by Tessa van Riet-Ernst ( https://woolytoons.com/ ).     If you want to go for a more grown-up look for your autumn decorations, I've written a pattern for some less cartoony pumpkin decorations here .     Text  

Ever since we first discovered John Finnemore's radio sitcom " Cabin Pressure " on BBC Radio 4, my husband and I have been playing the Travelling Lemon at home. The advantage of using a crocheted lemon is that it doesn't go off if either of us don't find it quickly enough.   The pattern used is by Martine de Regt , although I made some small adjustments to the leaves on top and to the face. Her original pattern also had the lemon open up at the back to accommodate a shopping bag, which I left out. The yarn used is SMC Catania in bright yellow (280), light green (205) and a bit of black (110) and pink (246) with 6mm black safety eyes and a 2.0mm hook.