17th December: Handmade Gifts No.4 - Crochet Infinity Scarf - Free Crochet Pattern!

I'm usually very shy about showing off my creations, worrying about what others will think (worrying is my middle name!), but I'm so over the moon with how this crochet infinity scarf turned out that I want to show it off! I only taught myself how to crochet a few months ago and became a bit crochet-obsessed in the process. This was the second scarf I made having made myself a mesh-style scarf first. This scarf I've made for my best friend, Jess, as part of her Christmas present and I do hope she likes it.

 

I've made it in a lovely light pink colour with a soft aran & alpaca yarn. Jess loves this kind of colour so I think I've chosen well. I decided to do this scarf as an infinity scarf as they're my favourite and I didn't really follow a pattern for this but instead chose my favourite crochet stitches to put together to make a nice scarf with a pretty shell pattern in the middle. It took me a LONG time to make the scarf and at one stage I had to back track quite a lot as I changed my mind halfway through (as you do!). I'm hoping I'll get quicker at making this type of thing as time goes on and by the end I was speeding through the stitches. There's certainly something very therapeutic about sitting down with a crochet hook and yarn and creating something. Some might add that a cup of tea goes down well at the same time but I'm one of those strange people that doesn't like any hot drinks so I'll stick with a glass of water or lactose free milk (lactose intolerant too!).

 

Here are instructions on how to crochet this scarf. I've used abbreviations and I'm afraid there aren't any instructions on the different stitches but if anyone gets stuck please please ask me and I'll be happy to help. This is my first ever time at writing out my own crochet pattern and I've checked it numerous times! It was fun to be able to make up my own based on what I learned when making my last infinity crochet scarf and choosing an array of stitches (which was also good practice).

 

You Will Need:

7mm Crochet Hook

2x 100g balls of 4" Aran Yarn

Scissors

 

Abbreviations:

ss - Slip Stitch

dc - Double Crochet

tr - Treble Crochet

dtr - Double Treble Crochet

 

Important Notes:

I've used UK crochet terms, please see below for a conversion chart for reference. I've split my instructions into the three different sections of this scarf to make things easier. I also used 2 balls of yarn (as outline above) simultaneously to add extra thickness to this scarf.

 

 

 

Instructions:

 

Section 1:

• Chain 180. ss to first to create a ring, but make sure you check that the chain hasn't become twisted before doing the ss.
• Chain 1, then dc around and ss to first.
• Chain 3, then tr around and ss to first.
• Chain 4, then dtr around and ss to first.

 

Section 2:

• Row 1:
• Chain 1, 1 dc in 2nd chain from hook. *Chain 1, 1 dc in each of the next 4 stitches. Chain 2, 1 dc in each of the next 4 chains. Repeat from * until the last 2 chains. 1 dc in each of these last 2 stitches. Ss to first.
• Row 2:
• Chain 1, *1 tr, chain 2, 1 tr in 1-chain space (created in previous row). 2 tr, chain 1, 2 tr in 2-chain space (created in previous row). Repeat from * until round is finished. Chain 2 and then ss to first.
• Row 3:
• Chain 1, *2 tr, chain 1, 22 tr in the 2-chain space. 1 tr, chain 2, 1 tr in the 1-chain space (so kind of the opposite of what you were doing in row 2). Repeat from * until the round is finished, chain 2 and ss to first.

 

Section 3:

• Chain 4, dtr around and ss to first.
• Chain 3, tr around and ss to first.
• Chain 1, dc around and ss to first.
• Fasten off and thread in any loose ends.

 

Hopefully that all makes sense! I've done it nice and simple I think and the scarf was good fun to make. The trickiest part is making sure you don't get the ring twisted at the start. If anyone would like the pdf document of the crochet pattern to print then please let me know and I'll send it to you.

 

I'm really pleased at how the scarf turned out; it's quite weighty but lovely and soft so hopefully won't be scratchy around the neck. I really hope Jess likes it!

 

If anyone else would like me to make them one, for themselves or as a gift, please do let me know!

 

Here I am modelling said scarf, this one was too nice to model on the dog, not to mention too big!

 

And here it is all wrapped up, ready to give to Jess!

 

Em x

14th December: Handmade Gifts No.3 - Mini Fruit Loaves, Cushions and Ipad Cases!

Just a few more handmade gift ideas for anyone who may be struggling for ideas. All of these were easy to make/bake/sew.

Mini Fruit Loaves
Jack bought me a lovely mini loaf pan from Lakeland a few years ago and I love it! It's heavy and they usefully have loose-bottoms. So far I've only done simple mini fruit loaves using the tray but I think some mini lemon drizzle loaves would be very good, that's going on one of my lists for a rainy day!

Please let me know if you'd like the recipe I use for making my boozy fruit loaves

 

I used some cellophane and ribbon to keep my mini fruit loaves fresh

 

 

Cushions
I made some cushions for my parents' house in France a few years ago. I opted for feather-filled cushions from John Lewis, but Dunelm also have a great range with lots of different shapes and sizes. I bought some fabric from Ebay in two varying colours and I sewed a nice piping around the edge of the cushions too. This was a cheap gift idea and I loved spending the evenings doing some sewing - this year crochet has definitely replaced my sewing obsession, who knows what it will be next year!

 

 

Ipad Sleeve/Case

I made this for my Mum's friend and was so pleased with how it turned out that I also made myself one. It doesn't require a lot of fabric - I made this with a fat quarter, some wadding, a few beads and some ribbon for edging. Again, this was a very simple sewing project; I used my sewing machine to make the main sleeve and then everything else was hand-sewn. I used a bit of elastic and a button to stop the ipad sliding back out.

 

 

 

 

Have a good day!

 

Em x

11th December: Handmade Gifts No.2 - Candle Decorating

Next in my handmade gift blog posts is candles. I love candles! A couple of years ago I made these candles for friends. I'm afraid I didn't make the actual candles - something I want to have a go at one day. I just bought some plain pillar candles from Wilko and decorated them myself to make them look extra festive and just as a nice extra in the Christmas goody boxes I made for friends that was cheap and cheerful.

This post isn't so much instructions, but more to just share my creativities hopefully to provide a bit of inspiration. As I said above, they were just plain pillar candles that I decorated using some gems which I glued on, wrapped around some ribbon and then presented them in cellophane to keep them protected in the goody box.

 

I made it easy for my friends to remove the ribbon before lighting the candles and they all said they burned really well which is good. I even included a little gift tag and poem, just to make them a little more quirky, but you don't have to be as cheesy as me :-)

 

 

It shows just how easy it can be to jazz something up a little to give someone as a gift. It would be even better to say I made the candle too but sadly I'm not quite that clever! I was really pleased with my handmade gifts that year. For each of my close friends (the girls), I gave them a goody box containing the following; a handmade candle, homemade freshly baked fruit cake, handmade bracelets and a personal present for each of them. I had a lot of time that year which I don't seem to have this year so I'm really slacking on the handmade front. I have however made some handmade Christmas decorations, made a scarf for my best friend and done lots of baking so I suppose that's still good :-)

 

Have a good weekend!

5th December: Christmas Wrapping

I love wrapping presents, its quite possibly one of my favourite parts of Christmas - after eating of course! I seem to be like a magpie collecting lots of colourful shiny ribbons and bows in the run up to Christmas and then can't decide which to use on which present.

Our spare room has turned into the 'wrapping' room and the bed is covered with presents awaiting wrapping, empty cardboard boxes I've collected for posting presents, wrapping paper and accessories. I do hope no-one comes to stay soon as they won't be able to get into bed :-)

I've almost finished my Christmas shopping for this year, I've done a lot of online ordering to make things easier and there are some great deals too. I then try and wrap a few presents each evening while listening to Christmas songs! I've just got to sort out stocking presents for Jack (and for Barry!).

I'm having a sleepy evening having driven almost 6 hours in total today to Suffolk and back to see my best friend after her sad news. She's doing ok given the circumstances, it's still a big shock to everyone and we will all really miss her mum.

Jack's parents are visiting for the day tomorrow which will be nice; I think Jack has some more shed building on the agenda and we're going to go and buy some Christmas decorations too hopefully.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.

Em x

1st December: Lots To Do

The crazy month has arrived where there's lots to do, cook, make, wrap and most importantly EAT! You can keep all the sweet things, pass me the pickled onions and sausage rolls any day!

I've been busy making lists, I love list making and not a day goes by that I don't make yet another list. This time it's planning what I need to get done every day in the run up to Christmas, what Christmas presents I have left to buy, who I need to make Christmas card and tags for etc. etc.

I sent a little goody box to my brother and his girlfriend yesterday with an array of Christmas-themed items including tree decorations, chocolates, a winter-scented candle and cosy socks! It's their first Christmas living together which I think is very special, it certainly was for Jack and I a few years ago (just as they continue to be!) :-)

 

I need to put my creative 'knickers' on and get making because...

 

 

My wreath rings have arrived ready for me to have a go at some wreath making...

 

 

I need to make some more crochet Christmas trees to finish making my little garland...

My bargain card craft pack arrived - it's 'Folk Christmas' themed and I just loved all the colours. I've got no excuse but to get making more Christmas cards and tags!

 

Finally, I made a start on wrapping a few presents that will need to be posted to our friends in the coming weeks. My favourite part of Christmas is wrapping presents and I love using lots of tissue paper, wrapping paper, ribbons, bows and anything else to make them look pretty! Jack gets very frustrated when opening presents from me as he says they're an extra challenge - he especially likes it when I put Christmas confetti in his card hehehe! I think I'll have to give the confetti a miss this year; I can just imagine it exploding onto the floor from Jack's Christmas card and Barry gobbling them all up; Barry says "if it falls on the floor, it's mine". He shared a clementine with me last night!

 

 

 

We also had a very excited puppy (actually, I think I was more excited than Barry) this morning when we opened his advent calendar for him.

 

 

 

How are your Christmas plans going?

 

I'm very excited as our new sofa and armchair are being delivered tomorrow! This is our first ever sofa purchase, which we had to reluctantly made as the sofa we were kindly gifted by Jack's parents is falling apart. It's a very old sofa that's been in their family since Jack was small and it's very worn out now! I think it will stay with us for a while longer until we get around to taking it to the tip. I may do some more patchwork to it to see if I can jazz it up but the legs are falling off, springs have gone so it really is beyond much repair. Hopefully I'll have photos for you tomorrow of our new living room seating. The issue then is whether we let Barry join us on said new sofa for cuddles... it's going to be a tough decision..!

 

Em x