Blue Moon quilt

Way, way back in 2010 I wrote a blog post bemoaning the hexagonal quilt I had started in 2007 and had never finished. This mother was the ultimate unfinished project for me. The knitted albatross around the crafters neck. I thought that had bitten off more than I could chew.

 Six months ago, I got this hexagonal monster out of my wardrobe, where it had been lurking, and pulled it, kicking and screaming out into the sunlight. It lay on my bedroom floor, taunting me everytime I looked in its direction. Day by day I forced myself to sew a little seam here, crochet a half-hexagon there.

A week ago, I realised that I was in the home straight and decided to finish this crocheted millstone for once and for all, before the Blue Moon on August 31st. I liked the idea of tying in this monumental craft effort with an appropriately rare astronomical phenomenon. It would be a Blue Moon before I would ever attempt to make anything as large again.

So, here it is. About half the size I had originally planned for, but it's finished - that's the main thing - and it looks really lovely draped over a chair or a bed.

It's very, very satisfying to put away the last oddments of brown yarn, crochet hook and needle and know that my ultimate unfinished project is now done. If you have a similar craft nightmare sitting in your wardrobe, take heart - it can be conquered.

Meet and Make at Mooeys

Knitters, sewers, crocheters and makers - meet up in Mooeys Mocha Shop, Worthing, every Tuesday morning (starting 7th Feb) and bring along your current projects for a spot of stitching and damn fine coffee. Procrastinators - bring along those shirts that have needed buttons sewing onto them for the past 6 months! You know you've got them.

I'll be there knitting my dolls, and so will crochet Queen Chi Chi Revolver so come along and say hello!

Drop in for as little or as long as you like on Tuesday morning, 10 - 12. Free event but please buy drinkies or cakies to support our legendary local coffee shop.

Tip-toppers hats

I couldn't resist these little spring hats from Needlework Illustrated magazine. Yes, I know it's the autumn, but at this time of year I think a pretty, colourful hat is just the job to lift the spirits. So here are "Tip-Toppers to knit and crochet with that May Morning air". No date on the magazine, but I think we're in the late 1940s or early 1950s here.

From the top right, working clockwise: "Sally the teenager wears a horse's tail of tambourine bright ribbons a-swish from the top of her knitted cap."

"Helen comes to town smartly hatted... in a fetching little model of crunchy knitting made with lustrous cotton thread."

"Joanne the sophisticate suits the set of a knitted Jelly Bag to occasion and mood - here formal, informal."

"Rosemary frames pretty head in curving crochet. Easy-to-make style in wool... Good in bright, decisive colours."

Is it just me, or was Needlework Illustrated's copywriter hitting the gin by the time she got to Joanne? Isn't that just random words?

1950s bottle cap crochet

Big thanks to Erin from Rocker Magazine who sent me this awesome Coats and Clarke's Modern Trends booklet from the 1950s. You know how sometimes you open up a craft book and you just want to make absolutely everything in it? This is one of those moments.

With an infinite amount of time, yarn, and patience on my hands, I would start by making the hairpin lace curtains shown on the front cover. (Note: infinite amount of yarn = 120 balls of Coats and Clarke's "Speed-Cro-Sheen" mercerized cotton in Canary Yellow). The curtains are made by working strips of hairpin lace in different widths and then joining them together to create a 15 feet wide drape of incredible 1950s fantasticness.


With an infinite amount of bottle tops at my disposal, I would love to make this pineapple-shaped table mat to "dress up my dinette". Or maybe the rectangular place mat and hot plate set. Both are made by covering metal bottle caps with tight rounds of crochet, gathered together under each bottle cap to create a motif. Now, I'll need 153 bottle caps to make this, so I'd better go and start drinking that fizzy pop...

Tank tops

From Patons Kingfisher, 4 ply crepe: cheeky 1970s ladies eyeing up each others bosoms, or rather, lack of bosoms.

"Clingy little crochet tops to suit your mood - one in a feminine lacy style with button-trim at waist, and the other in a slimline vest with a difference." The difference being a granny square worked into the front of the top.

I do like the matching hat, which is made out of five granny squares, and then worked round in double crochet (that's single crochet to those of you in the USA), decreasing as you go to make the top of the hat.

More disembodied heads

Yes, gentle reader, it's time for more disembodied heads. These two are probably the offspring of the two ladies who made their own Airlyne stair carpet. The girls have learnt to hover, ghost-like, above their knitted or crocheted ponchos worked up in ethereal cream. You'd certainly be in for a fright if one of these apparitions drifted through your wall, with no sound save for the gentle rustle of acrylic fibre.

Interested to see that this Twilley's pattern came from the Wool - Baa in Chadwell Heath, Essex. Was this a 1970s relative of Worthing's premier knitting shop, The Wool Bar? Or is it merely proof that there are only a certain number of wool-related puns in the world which we are destined to experience over and over again until we are released from this mortal coil and drift off to who-knows-where with a rustle of ponchos...

Friendly ghost

Love this little crochet amigurumi ghost from Lion Brand - the pattern is free if you sign up to their website.

1970s rainbow bedspread

Here's a gorgeously simple idea from Home Handicrafts (Mary Harding, Octopus Books, 1977). It's a rainbow bedspread, knitted in simple garter stitch - "Easy enough to knit without looking - although of course you can knit while watching television! Actually, the more exciting the story is, the faster your needles will click".

The bedspread is worked in strips and then joined together with a row of crochet. The bedspread in the book is worked in rainbow stripes and then joined with a black crochet border as a contrast. There's also this sophisticated version worked in shades of red:


What a brilliant stash-busting project!

The rainbow bedspread in the book is made of out 22 strips, each 16 stitches wide, and 140 cm long. You can work each strip to the length that you want, but make sure that each strip has the same number of rows, to make it easier to crochet together row by row.

Once you have worked the required number of strips, and crocheted them all together, work 3 rows of crochet round the edge of the bedspread, working 2 or 3 stitches in each corner stitch so that the corners will lie flat.

Slumber caps from the 1940s

Extremely glam ladies wearing crocheted slumber caps, from a 1940s copy of Needlewoman and Needlecraft magazine.

"Portraying charming slumber caps, perfect for keeping your curls or waves in order and admirably suited to wearing these days when you are never sure how often it will be necessary to get out of bed to go to your shelter. Easily laundered, they will give endless wear, and you can choose your favourite colour from large range of Coats' Mercer-Crochet".

I love the very British stiff-upper-lip expectation of still putting on a neat, well-groomed appearance, even when running in terror from Jerry.

Crochet bat wing headband

My daughter is crazy about the My Sims Wii games, especially her favourite character Violet, a very stylish goth girl, who sports a marvellous floor length-black dress and bat wing hair accessories. She wanted to dress up as Violet for her un-birthday party on Saturday, so I made her this Violet-inspired headband.


It's been the biggest craft hit of the year so far, even more so than her Severus Snape doll. She's worn it round the house every day for a week, so far.

The headband is based around an old pair of deely boppers. I removed the old antennae, leaving just springs, and then cut out large bat wings out of felt and glued these over the springs, sandwiching light card in the middle to give them more strength. The skull in the middle is crocheted, with black wool embroidery, and is attached to the headband using a glue gun.

The Crochet Set

She's young... she's beautiful... she's looking very smug... she's definitely part of The Crochet Set.

And her baby pink crochet dress (worked in Lister Bel Air 4 ply) can only be worked up to a 38 inch bust size. It's skinnies only in The Crochet Set, sorry.

Buy a copy of this vintage 1960s crochet pattern for £1.50. You'll receive a link to download a high quality PDF document of this pattern upon payment. Pattern is for 34 - 38 bust.

It's raining cute

Howie Woo creates gorgeous amigurumi works of art. Check out his latest public project in Vancouver: 14 different cat and dog raindrops, each named, all hanging from a trellis in the Davie Village Community Garden.

Howie says: "As all eyes focus on Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics, I hope these raindrops show that we Vancouverites can be proud of the rain that makes our streets shiny and our lush trees grow". Bless.

Many more photos on Howie's Flickr page.

Health and safety scarf

There's some dangerous crochet patterns being aired at Liza Smith's Fluffycloud Studios blog.

Liza has carried out a risk assessment on this airy 1970s crochet scarf and come to the correct conclusion that it is too dangerous to make, due to the excessive length. Our health and safety officers have cordoned off the offending item, and may be carrying out a controlled explosion in due course.

We should just be thankful that the tassels on that waistcoat don't dangle all the way down to the floor.

Crocheted zombie wedding cake

Why say it with boring red roses this Valentine's Day when you can say it with a crocheted zombie wedding cake?

This marvellous calorie-free confection is from Corinne and Jesse's Alice in Wonderland Zombie wedding, which you can read all about on Offbeat Bride.

I think that Corinne and Jesse's cake is adapted from this pattern at Berroco, so if you fancy a crocheted wedding cake of your own, with or without the living dead, give it a whirl.

Lucky stones

A stone with a hole in it is technically known as a "lucky stone" down here on the the South Coast. They're supposed to bring you luck and good fortune. I hope the same applies to oyster shells because I found three lovely holey ones on the beach, along with a chalk lucky stone, and I've crocheted them together with gold thread into this window hanging.

Berets for All

When I am Prime Minister, this will be my rallying cry to get this once-fine nation back on its feet again - Berets For All.

And some cake.

This is one of my very favourite knitting books from the late 1940s or early 1950s. Berets for all ages, and almost every hat is a classic. They are really hard to knit though, most are knitted in 4 ply or 3 ply (eek!) on tiny, tiny needles. I tried to make the bobble stitch white beret ("An Unusual Crochet Design Consisting of Pretty Clusters") but gave up after a couple of months, only a quarter of the way in.

My favourite beret is the gentleman's bicycle beret, "A Special for Sportsmen". It's described as "a Beret That Every Cycling Enthusiast Will Want" but this is a lie. I've offered to make this for a couple of gentlemen cycling friends but both politely declined. I think gentlemen are generally a bit scared of this hat. Tough luck, chaps. When I'm Prime Minister, it will be compulsory head wear and you'll run the risk of a spot fine if you go without.

Spring cardigan with crochet flowers

I have just finished knitting this spring cardigan for my little girl. It's adapted from a pattern in Candi Jensen's Knitting Loves Crochet book. The main body of the cardigan is knitted in a soft and bobbly blue acrylic and wool DK mix, and is decorated with a pretty crochet picot trim and crochet flowers.


Crochet flowers are so fun and quick to make, and they certainly made this cardigan look very special, for very little extra work. I'm now thinking about adding some to a charity-shop jumper or two - all the fun of making the flowers, without having to actually knit the jumper in the first place.

This cardigan is officially a Triumph of Thrift, as the main bobbly yarn was a bargain Ebay purchase (£3). The buttons came from my enormous stash of second-hand buttons. I was going to splash out on some delicious wool for the trim at Worthing's delectable Wool Bar but then visited a charity shop en route and snapped up 8 balls of various blues, pinks, and purple yarn for 10p a ball. Sorry, Wool Bar.

How to make doll's hair for a knitted doll

I have nearly finished the Severus Snape doll, and have just spent a pleasant morning making his hair.

To make doll hair for a knitted doll, you need to cut lengths of yarn that are twice as long as you want the finished hair to be, plus maybe an inch and a half more, to allow for the knot and a final trim - it's always better to make hair too long, so you can trim to the exact style you want, rather than hair too short, which doesn't look right.

Insert a crochet hook into the doll's head where you would like a strand of hair to be.

Fold one of your strands of yarn in half and put it on the crochet hook...

...then pull a loop through.


Take the two ends of the yarn and pull them through the loop you have just created...

Then pull gently to create a firm knot. Voila - your first two strands of hair. Repeat all over the doll's head. This method gives you great control over your doll's hairstyle! Try using a mixture of different yarns and different thickness.


And here is the finished result, enjoying a cup of tea with Lucius Malfoy - you can buy both dolls and patterns in my Etsy shop.

Distinctively Different crochet accessories

From Golden Hands magazine, 1972: "Distinctively Different: In this age of standardised clothes and mass production, it is easy enough to find your best friend wearing the same dress as your own. Accessories are the best way to add more individual touches of character, but any which are the least out of the ordinary can cost the earth - so why not try and make them yourself?"

Indeed. Every home-made craft project is a poke in the eye to mass production and conformity. By picking up that crochet hook, you are sticking it to the man, sister.

These co-ordinating 1970s accessories are worked in red, white and blue rows of double crochet (UK). This colour scheme gives our model a bit of a 1970s air hostess look - maybe she's about to serve you a crocheted gin and tonic from the crocheted drinks trolley.

All of these accessories are created iin the same way: you make a central band of main colour until you have the length you want, and then work double crochet around the sides of the band until you have the width you want. Simple, and easy to adapt to make a watch strap, belt, hat band, or tie.

I Started Something I Couldn't Finish

When it comes to crafting, people fall into two very definite camps: those who will see a project through to the bitter end before starting a new one, and those with several half-finished projects on the go at the same time. I fall into the second camp. I like to have different things to pick up and work on as the mood takes me: maybe a piece of easy crochet to work on while watching tv, and then something requiring more focus if I feel like a challenge, rather than relaxing.

At the moment I am working on a Severus Snape doll (a challenge: rather excitingly at the stuffing stage), a spring cardigan for my daughter (relaxing: just started knitting the back) and this never-ending albatross around my neck: the hexagonal crochet quilt.

I started this quilt three years ago, after peering through a window on a canal barge and seeing a similar quilt draped over a comfy arm chair in the corner. It's made up of hexagonal crochet motifs. They are quick and easy to whip up - perfect for taking on a train journey - but I just didn't appreciate the amount of time and dedication needed to complete a project this size. This quilt is around half the size I originally wanted it to be - I envisaged a generous-sized throw to snuggle into on the sofa, but I am starting to downsize my expectations to something smaller.

I do solemnly swear that one day I will finish this quilt, and on that day, I will throw a tea party, and buy everyone scones.