Hygge Nook

Freebie download: Cable knit hot water bottle pattern

 
Judging from the amount of hits my freebie knitted hot water bottle pattern has received, a lot of you have really enjoyed making it. (I hope.)

I took a few minutes today to turn it into a PDF pattern so you can download it and print it out.

Download HyggeNook Cable knit hot water bottle cover

****NOTE: If you emailed me to let me know row 5 was wrong, I've just checked it and this is the correct line (Aug 26th 2011) This has been updated on the download too: 5th [RS]: K2, P2, [C8B, P4] x2, [C8F, P4] x1, [C8F, P2] x1, K2 *****

Perhaps it's time I designed a new one for this year?

Crochet floor pillow using a recycled Ikea mattress

A lifetime ago I showed some sneak peeks of my next project and hallelujah, it's finished.

I. Love. It.

 

Here's what I started with - many balls of yarn and a lump of mattress (top pic) that was once part of a child's extendable bed mattress from Ikea. The main part of the mattress has long since gone to the recycling plant but I hung on to the two end pieces thinking they might come in handy one day. The only thing was, they were pretty darn ugly uncovered. Being somewhat short in the sewing skills department, I turned to my trusty hook and came up with a plan to create a no-sew box sleeve that I could use to cover the mattress.

Here's what happened:

1. I had to make 70 squares, each finished with lilac yarn. All the yarn used is Rico Cotton, purchased from First4Yarns. It's very cheap at £1.50 for 50g and though a little splitty it comes in a wide range of gloriously saturated colours.

 

2. Add on the lilac square border and start crocheting together. I roughly measured that each panel would need 24 squares while the sides would be 1 square width. Here's the panels as they start to take shape...

 

3. Here's the panels ready to be put together. I realised just as I was doing this that I would need some way to remove the cover for inevitable laundering so I decided to put the back together in two portions:

 

4. The cover was crocheted together to make a box shape like this (on the left) and the back was joined together with some coordinating lilac ribbon

 

And there you have it, that's how you make a super cute crochet cover from a redundant bit of foam mattress and a pile of yarn. And you know what? I have three more pieces of mattress *glee*. I have enough yarn left over to make another one, but probably with a different finishing colour. (I think this took around 13/14 50g balls.)

A final shot? Go on then.

 

Crochet basket

 

One of the best things about going on holiday is finding pretty things to bring home. Whilst I didn't go shopping mad, I did pick up this pretty basket en route for home and it's just the thing for storing my granny squares and half-made granny blanket. I whipped up a crocheting storm over the weekend so I've definitely tipped the half way mark (phew!) but as you can see from the basket's contents, my yarn stash is much depleted so it's time to order some more... (and I can hardly wait for the day when I can post a finished pic).

Crochet cushion - finished!

At last! It seems like I have been making this cushion forever (though not as long as the never ending granny blanket) though really it was the lack of cushion cover on which to stitch it that delayed me the most. But finally I got my act together and picked up a linen cover from Ikea and spent an afternoon sewing in ends then stitching the panel to one side. Jolly pleased with it too.

It was once like this:

 

Did you spot the error? Fixed it! And now it's this...

You can find links to the each circle/square and the joining method in this post.

I hope beginner crocheters will attempt it. It really is very simple and you only need to know how to join a chain, chain small amounts and do a treble stitch.

The yarn is particularly gorgeous and was a Christmas gift. It's Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo in a purple, navy blue, pale blue and white and while the yarn seems on the thin side, it has a very tactile silky feel to it and the crocheting gives it thickness.

My next project

My second circles cushion project is nearly completed and I'll hopefully show you the finished version next week once I have a cushion pad.

For now though, I have a new project. It's a simple, but unique, Ikea hack and I've been excited about it ever since the idea popped into my head and I'll tell you why. My two youngest children have extendable Ikea beds (similar to this one) which come with mattresses in three parts, so you can make the whole thing small when your child is little and then add pieces in to make it longer as your child grows. As it happens, I have some spare pieces of the smaller bits of mattress, and, as children do, they tend to drag them round the house and use them for floor seating or, more often than not, for building living room forts.

 

These mattress pieces are ugly though and I was thinking of taking them to the recycling depot, when it hit me that, actually yes, they would make great floor cushions if only they looked better. Only my sewing skills aren't awesome and I no longer have a sewing machine (I might change that soon) so what's the next best, quickest way of covering them?

 

Crochet, of course. You were way ahead of me there, weren't you?

The cotton yarn I've been using is pretty expensive, so I was really thrilled to find Rico cotton (on advice from Attic24 who is quite a splendid crafter) which is a third of the price at £1.50 per 50g ball and has some great colours. I ordered 16 balls of Rico from First4Yarns and got it in the post a couple of weeks ago. The colours are divine. Heavily saturated, but thankfully not neon, with a great choice available and the resulting circles just look like so much fun. Some of the colours cused in blankets little old fashioned but I think the lilac square edges keeps them looking contemporary.

 

The circles are so quick and easy to make that I already have a whole front panel and two side panels. I just love them. This is the top panel. Although it looks too small at the moment, there is some stretch to the squares and once the side panels are added, it should take shape fairly quickly and I'm really glad that I got to recycle the foam pieces too.

35 squares left to go!

Crochet circles project

Wasn't the past weekend glorious? I'm really lucky to have a large garden in London and even luckier that I got to sit outside all weekend (including in the fab new hammock), sunning myself and getting stuck in to a new crochet project while the children whizzed around on their scooters and played on the grass. We ate every meal outside, listened to the birds sing and admired all the flowers that are blooming. Pretty heavenly.

 

So, this is the start of the new project. It's the same circles pattern that I made my first cushion cover out of. However, this time I stuck to a palette of three colours - pale blue, royal blue and lilac in a bamboo/wool mix which is great to the touch - and gave the overall pattern more structure. I plan on finishing it off with cream bamboo (as soon as the yarn arrives) squares before stitching it up into a cover. So more on that soon (also, much as I hate to say it, I've spotted an error and might have to redo three circles. Ugh!)

New Amy Butler yarn

Amy Butler is one of those go-to sources of fabric for anyone who wants something vibrant and exciting. Now, though Butler has turned her hand to new ranges of yarn and wallpaper which should excite crafters and decoraters alike. There's even a bunch of free downloadable patterns to get you started here - I love the sexy hexy patchwork quilt, love and peace wall art, Amy's Mid Mod quilt, Nigella silhouettes and the yoga bag.

Seeing as my sewing skills are pretty basic, let's look at the yarn instead. Amy has collaborated with top yarn company Rowan to create Belle Organic, a range of - you guessed it - organic yarns in DK and Aran in both cotton and wool.

 
There's also a pattern book called Midwest Modern knits with some stylish modern knits that are really a cut above the often so old-fashioned knitted garments that are still touted by other yarn companies and publishers. I think this scarf and gloves will be popular items but there are some nice blankets and cushions to make too. The 50g balls will cost around £5 each so it is pricey but not much different to other quality yarns.

Will you be trying out this new range of yarn? What will you make?

My new crochet cushion

In between crocheting the never ending blanket, I'm taking on a few smaller crochet pieces. After all, there's a lot of satisfaction in seeing something get finished while the bigger jobs plod on.

 

The squares take around 20 minutes to make and they're very good for finishing off scraps as each round doesn't require much yarn. How many squares you'll need depends on the size and shape of your cushion. I've taken pictures of the various stages of the process...

 

I've laid the squares out here to show what they looks like before they're stitched together. In the lower right corner, I've left the last three squares in stages so you can see how they build up from the first round (far right), to two rounds in blue then three rounds with the pink centre. The rest of the squares are finished in black. As I said already, a lot of these can be made from scraps but you'll need around 100g of your finishing colour for the square. 

In total, there is 25 squares using a variety of colours in Rowan handknit cotton which is the same yarn I'm using for my blanket. It's a really nice yarn, soft to touch with mellow colours and a few brights and costs around £3.75 a ball.

 

One of the most fiddly bits of the whole process was sewing in all the loose ends to make it neat. This might seem pointless but I didn't want any ends poking through and spoiling the finish. So, on the left is what the back initally looked like and on the right is when it's all tidied up. As you can see from the edges, it needs some help to get a more uniform straight edge.

I joined them together using Attic24's granny squares join method and then stitched the whole piece on to a readymade Ikea cushion cover which has enabled me to manoevre the crochet piece into neat edges. I very simply tacked the piece into place - it's easy but fiddly and I stabbed myself with the needle so many times that had I been Sleeping Beauty, I would have been a gonna.

 

Something this project really taught me is about colour. I wanted to try and make each square different but didn't have a huge palette of colours to choose from. It was fun to mix and match shades to see what really worked together. I'm really enchanted by the hot pink, navy blue and that vibrant orange together and yellow, sugary pink and the soft sage green really appealed to me too plus the black edging has a really nice patina. (I may come back and list the colourways for each square.)

 

As you can see from the finished cushion, I've purposefully given it quite a patchwork look with a very loose structure - the orange of the central square is reflected in each corner square (if you're really eagle eyed, you'll notice in the picture of the back that I mixed up the panels; I had to unpick one section to  make sure the orange squares where in the corners as planned. So not fun). I think if you wanted more structure you could plan out repeats of squares and use them to give it a more planned look. Of course, you don't have to just settle with a cushion, you could make a ton of squares and have a very pretty blanket instead.

The design for each square can be found at Yvestown (thank you!)

Have a happy weekend!

I'm going to sign off for the weekend now, but not before I leave you with this very tasty picture of the Millionaire's shortbread I made last night. If you've never tried it before, it's a very sweet treat with a shortbread base, a toffee or caramel sauce filling and hard chocolate topping. It's very easy to make, with hardly any cooking except to heat up the butter, sauce and chocolate so it's easy for everyone. I think it will go perfectly with a cup of tea and a book later. I won't be able to eat all of it, of course, but I think I will have some very willing children to sample some at home time.

Have you all plans for the Bank Holiday long weekend? I haven't yet so maybe I'll do something spontaneously...

Ikea Bekvam stool makeover

 
This is something that has been on my to do list for quite some time now. I bought this Ikea Bekvam stool some time last year and it's been super useful, helping me reach all those hard to reach areas, not to mention it makes a very cute seat/table combi for my toddler, Gabe, or a side table for my cup of tea. It's even been used as an impromptu laptop table from time to time.

I've seen plenty of makeovers using this little stool, so, of course, I wanted to have a little go to, especially as by now the top of the stool had some scruffy little doodles on it (thanks kids!). I knew I wanted an oilcloth/ paint combi and managed to snag a fat quarter of Cath Kidston 'blue stencils' oilcloth on ebay for around £3. Using that as the basis for my colour scheme, I opted for a white matte paint that would bring out the white in the oilcloth.

First up, I had to clean it with sugar soap and leave it to dry...

prime it...

 

I bought a very small tin of primer and used less than a quarter of the tin to give two coats,

Following that was two coats of white paint in Dulux Pure Brilliant White.

Finally, it was ready for the oilcloth to be stretched taut across the top and stapled underneath using a staple gun (note: get a heavy duty staple gun for this job).

And, lo, it was done!

 

Cost:
Bekvam stool: £10.99, Ikea
Paintbrush: 49p, Homebase
Sugarsoap: Already had
Dulux Primer, 250ml: £7.99 (but used less than a 1/4 tin), Homebase
Dulux Brilliant White wood and metal paint, 750ml: £11-ish, Homebase
Cath Kidston oilcloth: £3, eBay.
Stapler: £10, John Lewis

I won't put a total on because the paint, primer and stapler squewed things by being expensive though very little was actually used, so you may well have some leftovers that you can use instead, and the stapler can be used time and again.

I'm pretty pleased with it and now it can go back to use as being a step/ spare chair/ occasional table/ my toddler's bench and lunch table. I may have caught the painting bug as I'm already casting longing looks at a phenomenally (but very useful) ugly toy storage unit that could do with a lick of paint and a pretty top (watch this space).