Amigurimi – Page 10 – PipsRainbow

2018 CAL - Year of the Stitches Blanket

Year of the Stitches – Week 23 Starburst Stitch

June 10, 2018 No Comments

The Starburst Stitch

Hmmm, my lovely blanket seems to be being used as a train track!!!! Little monkey!! Oh the joys of the little people. I’m pleased I’ve taken this picture, as I feel like it marks the week of our little man suddenly becoming utterly obsessed with his Brio train track. He just loves it. So pleased for him. He seems to be spending many a happy moment sitting in the middle of his track fiddling with bridges and moving the crossing barriers. I love how you can show him something new and his little face lights up in amazement at the simpliest of things. It’s so lovely to see and watch his abilities grow! Bless him. Hmm, I wonder if I could crochet something for his train track! Now there’s a thought. I’ve already had an idea for a car storage system, but will share that when I have put my idea into action. I reckon crocheting can be found in all areas of our lives. Haha, I do have a lovely friend who is new to the crocheting world and keeps calling it croqueting! Haha – they will remain nameless, but it does make me chuckle each time it’s said!!!

My daughter had a new little doll last weekend for being such a good girl. She was so excited. It was on her birthday list which isn’t for quite a while yet, so as soon as she entered the toy shop, she was on a mission to find it! So obviously her little doll, Snowbeam, needed a place to sleep. So out comes at breakfast, 2 balls of dk sublime and one ball of 4ply cotton. Nothing like a bit of speed crocheting at breakfast with a 7mm hook.

Quite chuffed with the end result!! Think it might need a little flower decoration though.

This week I was reminded of the feeling of living away from loved ones and setting off on new adventures. I think everyone deals with different situations in their own way. I was never any good at living away from home. I’m definitely a pack member! And pack members stick together!! My husband’s cousin has just started out in London and moved into her own little pad. She has a big new job in the big city and is loving every minute of it. So I decided a little mandala love was required! Couldn’t resist making this little one. Thought she might need a little crochet love in her life. I used my Beautiful England pattern, which you can find in the patterns catergory. This one in only up to round 9. Hopefully she’ll like it.

For the very first time ever, I have had a few fellow yarn chums over for a little woolly crocheting and knitting club. It was rather a surreal moment to have my conservatory sofa consumed by happy crocheters and knitters, while the little man was asleep upstairs. I usually run around like a lunatic at this time of the day, so I can tell you it was a welcomed change. I’m hoping to hold the group every week and obviously open it up to more fellow yarn lovers at some point. But I just need to check that it fits with the little man. Bless him – he would have an absolute ball with everyone’s yarn stash and hooks/needles! Next week I’m putting my teacher hat on and teaching my two knitters how to crochet. Fingers crossed it will go well. I’ve just ordered a stash of 4mm Clover crochet hooks. They are my favourite kind of hook, so thought it was best to teach with them. Ekk. Wish me luck…

Hope you are all enjoying the start of the summer. We are loving spending time in the garden. My little man is utterly obsessed with watering the plants. Our tomatoes have never grown so well!! I love crocheting in the garden – doesn’t happen very often, but I managed some crocheted bunting for my daughter’s fairy world in the evening. My feet were getting rather cold though – where’s a blanket when you need one!!

This is her fairy world. There’s still a few bits to add to it, but it’s nearly there. I keep adding little extras for her to find. My friend reckoned that if I kept the garden fairies happy, the kitchen and house fairies would come in and help clean! Haha, if only! I’m still waiting for the day they arrive!

I did manage a little moment of fun with my wool winder this week. I wanted to make a little yarn cake for my dear friend’s daughter. She has just started out in the crocheting world, so I thought a cotton yarn cake would be a nice birthday pressie for her. Thought she could make a continuous Grannie Square blanket with it or a stripy bag. Will be great to see what she makes with it.

Hmm, I think we had better get on to this weeks blanket stitch. Now it’s a bit of a tricky one this week, but totally worth it as I am sure you will agree. It’s called the Starburst Stitch. It’s very similar to a fan stitch, but it creates full circles, thus it’s called a Starburst. Hope you like it and can follow my instructions.

Supplies –

So this week I have used a lovely fresh calm cream yarn from the wonderful Rowan baby merino silk range. It’s 66% wool and 34% silk. So rather nice and lovely to work with.

So once again you will need about 40g of double knit yarn and not forgetting your 4mm crochet hook, scissors and blunt ended tapestry needle to sew in the ends.

Stitches –

Chain (ch) – To make a chain, place the yarn over the hook then pull it through the loop on your hook.

Double Crochet (dc) – Insert the hook through the stitch, front to back, then yarn over hook and pull back through stitch. You will have two loops on your hook. Then yarn over your hook and pull through both loops.

Treble (tr) – To make a treble crochet, firstly yarn over your hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over your hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should now be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through the first two loops, yarn over hook and pull through the last two loops.

Treble 4 together (tr4tog) – *Yarn over your hook, insert into the stitch, yarn over your hook and pull through. Yarn over your hook and pull through the 2 loops.* Repeat ** 4 times. (5 loops) Now yarn over your hook and pull through all the loops.

Treble 9 together (tr9tog) – *Yarn over your hook, insert into the stitch, yarn over your hook and pull through. Yarn over your hook and pull through 2 loops.* Repeat ** 9 times. (10 loops) Now yarn over your hook and pull through all the loops.

Ok so here we go …

Right, so the Starburst Stitch. Now it’s rather a complicated stitch, as it has quite a few elements to it, but once you get the hang of it, you will be well away. It’s such a stunning stitch it just had to be added to the blanket!!

1 – So start off on the wrong side and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the same stitch and 1dc in the next stitch. Now *work 1dc in the chain 1 space and 1dc in the next stitch.* Continue ** across the row and then work 1dc in the top of the chain 3 from the row below. (200)

2 – Right so turn your work and then in this row chain 1, then work 1dc in the same stitch. Now miss 3 stitches. We are now going to start our first starburst, so *work 9tr stitches in the next stitch. (So all in the same stitch!) Then miss 3 stitches and work 1dc in the next.

Once again miss 3 stitches.* Now repeat ** across the row.

After the last fan miss 2 stitches and then work 1dc in the last stitch. (25 half starbursts)

3 – Turn your work and chain 3. Miss the first stitch and then work a tr4tog over the next 4tr stitches. To do this place your *yarn over your hook, insert into the treble stitch, then yarn over your hook and pull through. Yarn over your hook and pull through the 2 loops.* Repeat ** 4 times. (5 loops)

Now yarn over your hook and pull through all 5 loops.

Now chain 4 stitches and then work 1dc in the next tr stitch. (This is the 5th of the 9 tr stitches from the row below.)

Now chain 3 and then work tr9tog over the next 9 stitches (these stitches are 4tr, 1dc, 4tr) So to do this place your *yarn over your hook, insert into the stitch, yarn over your hook and pull through. Yarn over your hook and pull through 2 loops.* Repeat ** 9 times. (10 loops)

Now yarn over your hook and pull through all the loops. This completes your 9trtog stitch.

So now it’s time to repeat the process across the row. *So chain 4, 1dc in the 5th of the 9th tr stitches from below, chain 3 and then work 9trtog over the next 4tr, 1dc, 4tr stitches from below.* Repeat this across the whole row.

For the last starburst in the row, chain 4, work 1dc in the next stitch, chain 3 then work a tr4tog over the next 4tr stitches and then 1tr in the last stitch. (24 half starburst and 2 quarter starbursts)

4 – Phew – so we are now on the last row of this new stitch. I hope you are all still with me. I promise it will be a simple stitch next week!! ☺ Right so after you have turned your blanket start by chaining 4. Then work 4tr in the top of the tr5tog stitch – this is at the base of the chain.

*Now miss 3 chains. And work 1dc in the next dc stitch where the arrow is.

Then miss 4 chain stitches and now work 9tr stitches in the top stitch of the tr9tog stitch from the row below.*

Right so repeat ** this across the row. After the last 9tr stitches, miss 3 chain stitches, then work 1dc in the next 1dc stitch. Ok so now work 5tr in the top of the tr4tog stitch from below. You can see where the arrow is in the picture below where the 5tr stitch needs to go.

Once you have worked the 5tr stitches, fasten off your yarn and sew in your ends. (24 half starbursts and 2 quarter starbursts.)

Right now that wasn’t so bad was it!?!?! Hope you all enjoyed it. Originally I had crocheted a fifth row, but I realised that to give the full effect of the stitch, it was best to leave it here. The change of colour will definitely help the Starburst stitch to stand out. I do think it’s worth the fiddliness. Such a pretty stitch. Please ask for help if you need any help.

Anyways, just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for following me and having a go with this years PipsRainbow CAL. I am loving how the blanket is coming along and feel that by the end of the year, we will all have a mega blanket that can also be used as a reference guide for all the new stitches you have all learnt! Yey!! There’s still so many to have a go at, but scarily we are nearly half way – meaning we are nearly half the way through the year!!! Bonkers!!! I promised myself I would start crocheting early for Christmas this year!! Maybe I should be thinking about that soon!!! Ekk!!!

Hope you all have a super week.

Happy hooking everyone!!

🌈Xx

Blogs, Patterns

🎄Super Sprout Pattern🎄

December 30, 2017 No Comments

Well hello all. Hoping you have all had a wonderful Christmas day, filled with love, fun & magicalness!! Can’t quite believe it’s already over!! It’s amazing how long we spend building up to the big day and then it’s over in the blink of an eye. It’s all worth it though to see the magic and wonder in our children’s faces and the happy smiles when you give your homemade gifts!!

But I can imagine that many of you are feeling a little low, as if you’ve just run a marathon and now you’re not sure what you should be doing!! You may also be feeling a bit down that Christmas is all over for another year!! Well if anyone is feeling a little sad by it all, then I may have the solution. You can crochet your very own little Super Sprout, to remind you of your happy Christmas Day with that yummy Christmas dinner. And it may also remind you of the conversation about who does and doesn’t like sprouts!! Haha!! I swear every Christmas table must discuss it!! That and what do you put in your Boxing Day sandwich! Now, I may have lost a few of you there, as some people will be like ‘what on earth?!?’ But there will be a few of you that could receit exactly what they have in that once a year special sandwich & to the point of what goes in which layer!! Love it!! (I know I could!!)

Anyways, my little Super Sprout is here to help. He will definitely brighten up your day and be all ready for next year’s Christmas!! I’m sure you are wondering why I even came round to crocheting a Sprout, well here’s how.

The other day we were in the supermarket, getting our big Christmas shop and we spotted a lowly little Sprout all by itself on the floor. It was nowhere near its little friends! My daughter immediately said it must have been a Super Sprout, that spends its evenings keeping the naughty peas in check in the supermarket. “It’s just like in the book!” She squealed!! She was referring to the Supertato book that they had read in Reception as a class.

The super potato basically saves the vegetables from a naughty pea that escapes from the freezer and causes havoc!!! She then insisted that I must crochet one and that I could put it on my blog! So without further a do. May I present Super Sprout. (You have to admit, he’s rather sweet!) He’s been snuggled up in my daughter’s bed since Christmas morning!! Anywho, back to crocheting. Right usual information on stitches here and supplies and then the pattern. Photos are on the go, so hope they all make sense. I only had a day to make him. So it was a bit of a quick one this one. She definitely loved finding him under the Christmas tree.

Stitches –

Slip stitch (ss) – This is where there is no height to the stitch. It’s usually used to join rounds. So insert the hook into the front of the stitch you are joining to. This is usually the first stitch you made in that round/row. So yarn over hook and pull through that first stitch then also through the loop on your hook.

Double Crochet Decrease (2dctog) – This is where you crochet two stitches together to decrease the amount of stitches in the round. So insert the hook through the front of the first stitch only (the front V) and then insert again through the front of the second stitch (the front V). Now yarn over your hook and pull it back through both stitches, so you will then have 2 loops on your hook. Yarn over your hook again and pull through both loops. And there is your 2dctog. (Basically 2 double crochet stitches crocheted together.)

Half treble (htr) – A half treble crochet is basically one less movement than a treble. So yarn over hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through all 3 loops.

Double treble (dtr) – A double treble is quite a tall stitch. So yarn over hook twice, insert hook through the stitch/space and then yarn over hook again. Now pull the yarn through the stitch. There will now be 4 loops on the hook. Now place the yarn over the hook and pull through the first 2 loops. Then yarn over the hook again and pull through the next two loops. Haha, now place the yarn over the hook again and pull through the last 2 loops. Phew! It’s a bit of a long process, but a lovely stitch with the height that it gives.

Supplies –

So for Mr Super Sprout you will need some green yarn, I have used stylecraft cotton, but you can use wool or any green yarn really. Some scissors, a blunt ended tapestry needle, some toy stuffing and little bit of black yarn for the face. Oh and I nearly forgot a 3mm and a 4mm hook. The 3mm hook is for the body and the 4mm hook is for the leaves.

So here we go…

Body – use a 3mm hook with your green yarn. You are working in the round for the body.

1 – Make a magic ring, chain 1, then dc6 into the ring. Then pull the tail tight to create the first round. (6)

2 – *2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (12)

3 – *1dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (18)

4 – *2dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (24)

5 – *3dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (30)

6 – *4dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (36)

7 – *5dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (42)

8 – 13 For each round, 1dc in each stitch. (42)

14 – *5dc, then 2dctog*. Work ** 6 times. (See stitches explanation above if you are unsure of 2dctog.) (36)

15 – *4dc, then 2dctog* Work ** 6 times. (30)

16 – *3dc, then 2dctog. Work ** 6 times. (24)

17 – *2dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times.(18)

18 – *1dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times.(12)

Now it’s time to stuff your body with toy stuffing,

19 – Work 2dctog 6 times (6)

Now sew up and fasten off your body using a blunt ended tapestry needle. You will notice that it gives a little bit of a point. This is where you can attach the base of your 4 leaves to.

Leaves – use a 4mm hook with your green yarn. Make two of each size. (Two small and two large.) For all of the leaves you are now working in rows and not rounds.

For both leaves –

1 – Make a slip knot on your hook and chain 4.

2 – Now work a htr into the third stitch from the hook and another htr into the next stitch from the hook. Turn your work now, so that you can crochet back along the row. (2)

3 – In this row, chain 2 and work 2htr stitches into each stitch and turn your work. (4)

4 – Then chain 2 and *work 1htr into the same stitch, then 2htr into the next stitch.* Repeat ** twice and then turn your work. (6)

5 – Then chain 2 and *work 2htr, then 2htr into the next stitch* Repeat ** twice and turn your work. (8)

6 – Now chain 2 then *work 3htr, then 2htr into the next stitch.* Repeat ** twice and turn. (10)

7 – Now chain 2 and then work *4htr, then 2htr in the next stitch.* Repeat ** twice and turn your work. (12)

Now make two small leaves:

8 – 9 For each row, chain 2 then work 1htr into each stitch and turn. (12)

Now make two large stitches:

8 – 11 For each row, chain 2 then work 1htr into each stitch and turn. (12)

Now the next two rows are the same for both the small and the large leaves. So you are either on round 10 for the small leaf or round 12 for your large leaf.

– Slip stitch into the first stitch, dc, htr, tr, tr, dtr, dtr, tr, tr, htr, dc then lastly a slip stitch. Then turn your work. (12)

– For the last row, miss the first stitch then slip stitch into the next stitch, then dc, htr, tr, dtr, dtr, tr, htr, dc, then miss a stitch and slip stitch into the last stitch and fasten off. (10)

Right so this is what you should now have in front of you. One round ball, two large leaves and two small sprout leaves.

Now it’s time to sew the Sprout leaves in place. So start off by using the tail from the base of the leaf. So find the tip of the Sprout ball (its slightly raised) and using a blunt ended needle, sew on the first leaf base and fasten off. You will only be able to sew on the base as your tail of yarn is quite short.

Now move to the top of your sprout and using the top tail sew on the sides on the leaf but not the top.

Leaving the top part free, allows the leaf to have some movement.

Then carry on adding the other 3 leaves in the same way.

And now for the fun part. The eyes, eyebrows and smile. You need your black yarn, needle and scissors. (Don’t forget you can make the expression anyway you like.)

For the eyes. Attach by knotting one end and threading it through a gap in between a stitch at the back of the body. This will hide the end. Now pull the needle through where you would like the eye to be. I tend to sew over one stitch to make the eye and sew over this stitch about 5 times. You can add eyebrows in the same way but with one stitch. I love the simpleness of the eyebrows. They can make such a difference to a face!!

For the mouth. Pull the yarn through where you would like the mouth to start then thread back through where you want the mouth to finish. Now here’s the tricky part. You now need to anchor the mouth in the middle to make it a smile. So simply push the yarn back up in the middle of the mouth by one stitch lower, go over the top of the mouth, then back through the same stitch. This will give you the smile. Again simple, but effective.

And there you have it – one little Super Sprout to keep you feeling that little bit Christmassy. I was thinking today, you could make a whole family of sprouts or even crochet them some Santa hats!! Proper cute.

Well I hope you have enjoyed my post. As always, if you have any questions or queries at all, please don’t hesitate to ask!! Looking forward to seeing all other little sprouts made – don’t forget to share your little fellas on here or on instagram/facebook by linking it to #pipsrainbow

Happy hooking everyone!!

🌈 Xx

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