Koala Accessories

A friend of ours had a baby boy recently and I wanted to make a little something.  I thought about making another little bunny cuddly, like I did here, but decided I wanted to do something new this time.

I've also made hats as presents and bags.  For a baby I decided that a hat made a lot more sense.  I umm and ahhed about whether to make an owl in more masculine colours for him, but I wanted something completely different. I've said before that I'm mad about owls, but my son is mad about koalas, so that was my inspiration.  

I used the same hat pattern as for the owl, but used grey yarn, changed the ears to pom poms and tried to create a koala looking face.  I did want to do bigger pom poms, but I was worried about whether they would be comfortable for a little head, so I went smaller.

Continuing on with the koala theme, I made a little coin wallet/purse for my son for Christmas.

I used the same method for this as I did with my stripy pencil cases, but used a 2 inch zip instead.  I think he looks cool and my son is very pleased with him.

Owl Bags

Did I mention that I liked owls?

I saw this little project a while ago and knew I would have to make it immediately!  I've made a couple of minor adjustments to the pattern, mainly because I can't be bothered to sew on the crocheted circles and beak when I can glue on felt equivalents.  I also have used an i-chord for the strap I found a fab video tutorial for this here and I was too lazy to add the little pigtails to the sides. 

Since I've made a lot of them, normally for my daughter's friends' birthday presents.  As always if I'm making them for presents the photos tend to be a bit rushed, especially if they were on my phone like these:

These were two I made for my nieces.  I like that you can make them so they all look completely different depending on the colours you use.

Recently I wanted to try and make a bigger owl bag, so I used the same pattern principle, but added a couple of extra rows.  To add extra rows on a circle you simply add one more Half Double Crochet  on its own before putting two in the same space.  So following on from the pattern, the next row would be 2 hdc in the first space, 1 hdc in the next 3 spaces all around.  The next row would be 2hdc in the first space and 1 hdc in the next 4 spaces all around.  I hope that makes sense.  I think I got to 1 hdc in the next 5 spaces for the owl bag below.  For my equivalent of Row 5 from the original pattern I did 1 hdc in the next 20 spaces as it needed a larger area because it was a larger bag.

I had also seen that you could create a chunky yarn by using two strands of a normal DK wool, so I tried that too, and I was very pleased with the results.  I did use a slightly bigger hook, but I can't remember which one exactly now (maybe a 6mm, or 6.5mm).

As I've made a few of these, I've started lining them with felt.  I roughly draw around the bag, and then cut 2 slightly smaller versions on felt and blanket stitch around them before slotted it into the completed bag and sewing around the top of both openings.

This time I didn't use an i-chord for the strap as I felt it needed something a bit wider.  I just did a long length of  5 single crochet.  I played around with the colours that made up the bag for a bit of interest, and not because I ran out of one colour, or two colours before I got to the length I wanted.  Honest!

Owl Hats

I love owls, I always have.  I used to have a whole collection of owls, collected from wherever we went on holiday or when I saw a particularly cute looking one.  That was until my Mum decided that I should be the one to dust my collection, then it reduced drastically very quickly!  

This means that I love making owl-y projects.  I am grateful that I am not alone in my love of owls and that other people seem to like them too. It means that there are a number of free owl-y projects out there to try.

One that I have made a lot is this owl hat.  It is such a lovely easy pattern to follow, and I've made it in a couple of the sizes and they have fit well.  The trickiest bit is the first row and making sure that you don't twist your foundation chain.  Once you've managed that, the rest is easy.  The only change I've made is being too lazy to crochet the beak, when I've got orange felt to hand (and when I first made the hat I didn't actually have any orange yarn).

Here is the starting chain, which this time I managed not to twist on my first attempt.  Hurrah!

It comes together quickly, especially if you're making it for a little head!

Here it is without the owl-y decoration, I have a few ideas on how to make different animals using the same pattern.

I love those ear flaps.

Finally adding the finishing touches.  I really like that the owls are sleeping.

And here is our phrenology head modelling the owl hat.  Which I have to remember is a pretty good size for a baby/toddler head!

I think that this hat would be a perfect project if you want to try a hat, but don't feel up to crocheting in the round yet.

Crochet Owl Chocolate Egg Cover

Yep, I seem to have got obsessed with Egg covers, those they could all be turn into cuddly toys/bean bags or....nope maybe that is it!

This is a slightly easier pattern (I think anyway) because you don't start off in the round, you start with a chain that joins up and then you continue to crochet around that.  I love owls and at the craft fair I went to recently I saw a couple of owl cuddly toys and figured I could make something similar.  Although I think the ones I saw were knitted, so I was never going to make something exactly the same.  Knitting and I don't mix!

I really love this little guy, and I'm so pleased how he turned out. I want to do a whole load and I wish I'd started a little earlier so I could have made enough for a little thank you for teachers this Easter.  I think he would look awesome in stripes or colour blocks too.

I used a 2.5mm hook with normal DK acrylic wool for this project.  The pattern is my own.  The terms are American terms

Body (Make one)

Row 1          Chain 20 and join in a circle.  Make sure you don't twist the chain otherwise you'll get                             frustrated (trust me on that one!)
Row 2 - 10   Chain 2 and then half double crochet into each stitch and sip stitch to Join at the end                                of the row.
Row 11        You should have a hollow cylinder now.  Fold this in half.  Single crochet the first 2                                stitches together.  Chain 3 and slip stitch into the first chain (this makes his little ears, so                          you are making a little picot ear).  Continue to single crochet along the top until the last                          stitch and then chain 3 and slip stitch into the first chain (this is the other ear) and then do                        one last single crochet before fastening off.

Eyes (Make two)
Row 1         Magic circle , chain 1 and 6 single crochet into the circle. Join with slip stitch to the chain
Row 2         Chain 1, 2 single crochet into each stitch.  Join with slip stitch to the chain and fasten off

Use embroidery thread to make the eyes.  I love the sleeping owl look, but you could quite easily have a wide awake owl if you wanted.  I would probably crochet up to the end of the first row of the eyes in black and then swap to the white yarn (or just do an extra black circle and sew it into place).

Alternatively you could use scraps of felt cut into circles

Attach these to the body.  I found this quite fiddly.


Wings (Make two)
Chain 6, 3 single crochet into the 2nd stitch from the hook and along the remaining chains.  5 single crochet into the end chain.  Single crochet on the other side of the chain (into the back loops).  In the last chain (the one you have already put 3 single crochet into at the beginning) complete 2 more single crochet.  Slip stitch to join.

Chain 1, single crochet around, but at the end where you did 5 single crochet before, on the 3rd single crochet chain 2 (this just makes a little point at the end of the wing, it isn't necessary, but I prefer it that way) , and continue to single crochet around.  Slip stitch into the chain and fasten off.  Attach these wings to the side of the body.

Finishing Off
I simply added a scrap of orange felt (with fabric glue - I'm lazy) to make a beak and you're done.

If you wanted to make it big enough to fit comfortably over a normal egg, I would simply up the hook size, I would imagine a 3.5mm hook would do it. Depends on the size of you eggs I suppose!

Crafts Fair Buys and Fun with Molds

My parents and I went to a craft fair recently.  I figured that this year I would write a list of the things I planned to buy.  Normally I'm a bit of a magpie - ooh I like that, or ooh I need that.  So the plan was to buy the following:

• Some big sharp scissors for cutting fabric.  I will turn that duvet cover I've kept for 3 years into a crochet rug;
• Ring blanks.  Both my daughter and I want to make some rings;
• Clip On Earring findings;
• Coloured paper.  I love finding pretty patterned paper, but when I come to make cards I struggle to figure out which patterns I can use with what, and besides I have a bit of a stockpile of patterned paper.  Oops.
• pretty flower beads like these.  I saw these bracelets and fell in love immediately,  I now need some similar beads!
• Good value yarn, lots of balls in the same colour.  I want to make something for me.
• Little gems - because you always need these;
• Double sided sticky tape;
• Black/dark coloured embroidery thread

I did manage to find everything on my list, well actually the flower beads I found weren't actually beads, but they were still pretty and perfect for adding to the ring blanks.

Oh, and the earring findings.

And I'm sure they'll look beautiful on cards too, if I can bear to part with them.  I made some cards for friends with my lovely new paper and some of the gems got a look in too.  The bird stamp set is also new.

The yarn and scissors were for more long term projects, so hopefully you'll get to read about the amazing crocheted rug from an old duvet cover sometime in the not too distant future.  I have a couple of projects I have to finish before I can find the patterns I want to use for the yarn.  And yes, I know I should probably find the pattern first and buy the yarn next, but I don't seem to work that way!

I did find something to buy that wasn't on my list at all, but I am so pleased I did!  I saw some molds like these and these.  I couldn't decide which ones to buy, I wanted them all!  I ended up with 3 different packs of molds, with a variety of shapes, flowers, butterflies, owls, birds, cupcakes,strawberries and bows.  I wanted to play straight away, but sadly the air drying clay in the house belongs to my daughter, so I had to wait until she came home from school.  Luckily she loved the idea as much as I did and we had already made a whole load of shapes before tea time!

I decided to have a go with the home made air drying clay I had used before and then my son wanted a go too, so I made another batch.  It definitely does work with the home made air drying clay, but it doesn't have such a pretty finish on it afterwards - it feels quite rough whereas the clay feels lovely and smooth.

For jewellery I think you'd need the bought clay although you might get away with it for ear rings.  I want to try it with hot glue and fimo too to see if I get different finishes.  So far it has been super easy to use these molds and I'm so pleased I bought them.