Something different : a water dispenser cover (or cosy?) !!!!

A friend of mine asked me to crochet her a cover for her terracotta water dispenser ....
I never did that before ....
I checked on Pinterest to find some inspiration ... almost nothing ...

I asked my friend to take some measures (circumference, diameter and height) and knowing that she loves the blue&green combo, I started to crochet a circle for the top ...

I've been using some turquoise yarn from my stash and a 4mm hook and my design involved some filet crochet !!!

As the subject was "water" (and because of the colour selection), I decided to consider some fish to crochet on the cover ...

The fish pattern was taken from Betty Barnden's FILET CROCHET and I adapted it (on a piece of paper with small squares) accordingly with my needs (number of stitches, groups and spaces) ...

... and after some rounds, I started to see the fish ...

The thing is that, because starting to crochet from the top to the bottom, you have to read the chart upside down !

To check properly the design, I put the cover on a lamp that I have on my computer desk, that is next an Egyptian panel with ... fish! ...

After the trio of fish was completed, I decided to add some waves (pattern taken from the same book as for the fish) ...

To break the sameness of the work, I began to decorate the top of the cover with some neon green and slip stitches ..

... and the waves were getting more and more ..

I like when you are approaching the end of your work and you realize "It makes sense!" ...

I added some extra designs to the cover (another kind of fish and some seaweed) and fringes to complete it

as you notice, at a certain point my turquoise yarn ended and I had to replace it with some other yarn... I was disappointed, but then I thought that the abyss are darker than the surface water, so .... it was not completely wrong and I patted my shoulder to cheer me up !!!

These are all the designs I used in the cover (the seaweed is mine!) ....

the cover in all its length .....

I gave the cover to my friend last Friday (she was so excited!) and later she sent a picture of her terracotta water dispenser all covered up for the occasion ...

.... and the picture arrived with a caption "Happy water filter" !!

She rolled it a bit (I think we had some problems with the conversion of the measures from inches to cm !!!!), but she loves it and she said the colours are fantastic!!!

I like to notice that in the back of the pic there is a cat bowl with fish on .... !!!!

I'm curious to know your opinion on it!!!!!

xxxx Alessandra

A Scandinavian motif and something else …..

When in Italy for the Summer Holiday, I bought some (!!!!) books and one of them was 150 Scandinavian Knitting Designs by Mary Jane Mucklestone …
Well, maybe one day I will KNIT something from this book, but at the moment I just CROCHETED a single motif (on page 114) ….

I was still in the second-last apartment and my yarn stash was very limited, so that's why the colours combo…. you know, I'm not a great fun of yellow, but I used it for this scandinavian pixelated experiment …

While thinking about a proper border for the Scandinavian lady, I was distracted by another project, simple and really decorative for the home (they are all hanging now from the closets knobs in our new flat!) …

…. our  actual closets are white, but in both cases (on black/on white), the decoration really pops out

some more colourful versions …

…. a group picture with the Scandinavian lady …

Eventually, I decided for a simple scalloped edging and the lady is now a panel that hangs in the entrance hall of our apartment …

I think she is in good company, with the granny squares !!!
I really love the ethnic feeling of the whole panel, that I decided, purposely, not to block : perfection is not for me !!!! ;oD

xxxx Alessandra

Today Links : September Link Party part 4, Craft Schooling Sunday and Link Your Stuff!

Make it ! My Granny Patchwork Blanket !!!

Hi my Dears !!!!!
I'm here for a quick "Hello!" and just to say I'm fine and that last week we moved in the temporary flat…
I had to put away most of my yarns, but in the meantime I crocheted a little bit …. 2 mini blankets are right now off my hooks and a new little project is on the way…
I found some variegated yarns in my boxes and drawers and I decided to use them in a granny project…

… and this is what I came up with …

The yarns used were all bought in Jakarta, little by little, just after I learnt how to crochet…
I'm not a huge fan of variegated yarns, but sometimes is really good to try something different…
What I liked about working with this yarns was that I didn't have to change colours after each round of a granny : the yarn itself did this job for me !!!! Less ends to cut and trim : so relaxing!!! ;oD

The project was really quick to complete, as I was working with a 6mm hook and I decided to crochet just a lap blanket, to keep on the sofas …. we are in "winter" in this part of the world, right now!

WHAT YOU NEED :

• a hook (6mm)
• some variegated yarns to achieve a nice patchwork effect : I was using a selection of Robin Chunky variegated (100% good acrylic ….. so soft!), some Katia Azteca and Inca multicolours and a ball of Click Chunky from Sirdar (for the fringes)
• a pair of scissors
• a yarn needle
• a ruler (or a tape measure) for the fringes

…. Margot was very useful as a tester of the blanket to be !!!!

THE BASIC GRANNY SQUARE PATTERN (4 rounds)

I worked 64 grannies (8x8) for this lap blanket (but I don't remember the dimensions of it, as all the notes are away in one of the boxes put in storage … sorry !) and I joined them with the join as you go method : you can find the one you prefer via Pinterest ( join as you go method or how to join granny squares ) or YouTube ( how to join granny squares or the join as you go method ).

Please note that I follow the US crochet terminology in my works.

Collect the hook and the chosen colour for the granny square : make a slip knot on your hook and chain 4 stitches, slip stitch in the first chain to form a ring.

round 1 : chain 1

repeat [ 3 double crochets + chain 3 ] 4 times

make a slip stitch in the top of the first DC (=double crochet) to complete the first round

(**)make 2 more slip stitches in the tops of the following DCs of the same shell and another slip stitch in the first corner you meet : now you are ready to start

round 2 : chain 1

repeat [ 3 DCs + chain 3 + 3 DCs and chain 1 ] 4 times

slip stitch in the top of the first DC to end the round

repeat (**) as in the first round : you can start, then

round 3 : chain 1

repeat [ 3 DCs + chain 3 + 3 DCs and chain 1,  3 DCs in chain-1 space, chain 1 ] 4 times

slip stitch in the top of the first DC to complete this round

repeat (**) as in the previous round, so you can crochet the last round

round 4 : chain 1

repeat [ 3 DCs + chain 3 + 3 DCs and chain 1, 3 DCs in chain-1 space + chain 1, 3 DCs in 2nd chain-1 space and chain 1] 4 times

slip stitch in the top of the first DC to close the round

make 2 slip stitches in the following DCs

cut yarn and fasten off; trim in the ends

THE BORDER and THE FRINGES

After all the ends were trimmed and cut, I decided to keep my blanket very simple.

In fact, I just made a simple border all around : 1 round of single crochets !!! Easy peasy !!

To give some personality to the blanket I decided to add some fringes …

In the picture above you can have a glimpse of the thin border ( in dark grey ) and of the first fringes …

Each fringe is made of 6 strands of yarn, each measuring 15 cm, and they are positioned only in the chain-1 spaces ( none in the corners ) along the whole blanket, as you can see …

… and here it is , in all its beauty …

…. and some extras …

xxxx Alessandra

… btw, I really missed you all a lot and this little place of mine, too !!! ;oD

Today links : Link your Stuff !, Busy Fingers Showing Off and Craft Schooling Sunday !!!