Tag: photo tutorial

panda baby hats

How to sew on crochet ears…the easy way!

Published on by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin4 Comments

Crochet has had to take a back seat for a little while.  July was and always is a crazy, busy month with end of school stuff!  This year though was particularly busy as my littlest robin left primary school and began getting ready for new adventures in high school.  I won’t regale you with the number of tears I cried…they will always be my babies I know…but I no longer have any babies in the nest.  I now have three secondary schoolers; that are at times  like teenage toddlers and at other times, shaping up to be lovely young men.  What has this got to do with sewing on ears I hear you ask…it hasn’t a thing to do with it, so I will stop waffling and get to the point of this post.  panda baby hats

Sewing on Ears has proved for me to be incredibly time consuming in the past.  Whether I am sewing ears onto a lovely squashy amigurumi or sewing bear ears onto baby hats, my ears…well not my actual ears, but the crochet ears, have ended up being wonky, not in the right position or have ended up looking unequal.  I have found this to be incredibly frustrating; as what I thought would take me 5 minutes has taken me much longer and has caused a number of expletives to fall from my mouth!  That was until I developed a method which has proved to be both accurate and speedy every time and since I don’t have much crochet to show you,  I thought now would be a good time to write this post.

crochet ears

My method is very simple…you just need a balloon, a glass and pins.  With these three items sewing ears onto hats and garments and amigurumi becomes much easier…every time!  Yes, I sew ears onto amigurumi before stuffing and sewing up, using this method and it seems to work really well.  The beauty of using a balloon is that you can blow it up to the exact size required.  You do need to be careful that you don’t prick the balloon with the pin though!

I told you it was simple.

how to sew crochet ears on...the easy way

So there you have it, I hope you find this post useful…do let me know.

xxxxx

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crochet v stitch blanket, rainbow blanket

Very V blanket tutorial

Published on by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin20 Comments

Thank you for your lovely comments about  my latest blanket off the hook…the ‘Very V’ blanket. 

It really is very simple to hook, so I thought I would put together a little tutorial, as I have not done one for a while and because I have some rare time off on my own.  The tutorial can be found below. You can also check out my latest free pattern The Angelece baby blanket by clicking on this link.

WP_20160811_20_01_00_ProSo, clearly this is not an original pattern.  I say that from the offset because of copyright and all of that.  Let’s be honest…the humble ‘v stitch’ has been around for years.  But this is my tutorial in case you want to have a crack for yourself and you have never done a ‘v stitch’ and you are a visual kinda gal or guy.

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Here we go!

Final measurements:  132cms x 120cms / 52″ x47″

I used Stylecraft special dk , for it’s durability, softness and price!  The colorway I used:

Lipstick x 1 ball

Meadow x1 ball 

Saffron x 1 ball 

Violet x 1 ball 

Spice x 1 ball 

Lobelia x 1 ball 

Storm blue x 1 ball 

Cream x 3 balls

You will also need a 4mm hook and a darning needle to weave in those ends! 

Of course if you are using different yarn then you may need to use the recommended hook size for your chosen yarn; and of course you can alter the finished size by hooking more or less chains to start. 

Your hooking tension (we are all different) may also mean you need more or less chains to start with. 

Lets start, are you ready? 

Abbreviations used are below and are English terminology.

Ch = chain stitch 

Chs = chains

Tr = treble stitch (double crochet in US terminology!)

St = stitch 

Slst = slip stitch

Sp = space

Pattern order I used:

Row 1:    Cream                 

Row 2: Lobelia                 

Row 3: Violet 

Row 4:   Cream                 

Row 5:  Storm blue        

Row 6: Meadow

Row 7:   Cream               

Row 8:  Saffron                 

Row 9:  Spice

Row 10: Cream                

Row 11: Lipstick               

Row 12: Indigo

Row 13: Cream                 

Row 14: Violet                   

Row 15: Storm blue 

Row 16: Cream                

Row 17: Meadow             

Row 18: Saffron

Row 19: Cream                

Row 20: Spice                     

Row 21: Lipstick

Row 22: Cream 

NB/   the first and last row form the edging for the top and bottom of the blanket so use the colour you wish to edge the blanket in, for row 1.

Chain 175 in cream

(This gave me about a 1m 15cm /42″ length of Ch.  But any odd number of Chs will work to suit the size blanket you are wishing to hook!).  

2tr in 5th ch from hook, 

WP_20160829_16_53_05_Pro miss a ch, 2tr in next ch

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miss a ch, 2tr in next ch

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 *miss a ch, 2tr in next ch*

Repeat *  –  * across the row. 

Finishing with 1tr in last ch.  Change colour. As shown below,  I change colour by completing half of the process for the last tr (ie/ leave two loops on the hook). Complete last part of tr in new colour as shown.

WP_20160829_16_57_03_Pro WP_20160829_16_58_00_ProI find this makes colour changes more secure.  These ends should be tied to secure further. Top tip! leave the ends long  (approx. 10cms) so that weaving in is easier.

Turn.  Ch3 (counts as 1tr)

WP_20160829_16_59_21_Pro 2tr in the middle of set of tr’s of previous row 

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Continue along the row.

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finishing with 1tr in top of 3rd ch on previous row.

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Change colour. Turn. 

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And that’s it! 

Top Tip!! Weave in the ends every few rows.

Repeat rows 1-22 x5 times.

Then repeat rows 1 – 13 to finish body of blanket. And if you did not adhere to the top tip above…now is the time to weave in those ends!

InstagramCapture_a30fea23-613a-4f2f-8788-4163b29b22dd

I’ve gone all minimalistic for the edging because the blanket itself is simply stunning in this colourway and I did not feel like it needed something fussy to detract from its beauty. 

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This is what I did. 

The first and last row (in cream if you have been following this colourway) form the edging for the top and bottom of this blanket. In cream / your chosen edging colour join in the space at the bottom right of your blanket as shown.

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Ch 3 and slst into the top st of the first tr/ch3 of 1st row.

WP_20160808_21_38_20_Pro

Ch1, 2tr in same sp

WP_20160808_21_39_16_Pro2tr in next sp (the sp is the gap between the side of the first sts of each row), 2tr in next sp.

WP_20160808_21_41_39_ProContinue along the edge until you come to the top corner. 2tr in last sp, ch 1, 1tr in same sp.

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Then slst into the top st of the first tr/ch3 of last row as shown. Fasten off.  Repeat for the other side of the blanket.

Finally, in Lobelia (or your chosen colour) join in any st of edge with a slst.

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Slst in each st around edge of blanket. Fasten off and weave in loose ends.  And that is it, you should now have one of these to snuggle under…or reluctantly gift.

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Well done if you got this far. 

I really hope you have found this tutorial easy to follow.  I welcome feedback, so let me know how you got on and if you want to share your picture of your finished make you can in the comment section below. 

I  would love to see what you have made.

xxxxx