Elmo Hat

I made this hat for a girl at work who really loves Elmo. It was a fast easy project. I whipped up the beanie while watching TV the other evening. Then I made the eyes and nose and attached them the following day at work.

The hat is made from some red 10? or 12? ply wool from Wangaratta Mill (at least, that's what I think it is as I received it in a swap). Then the eyes and nose were made with acrylic (as I didn't have any wool in the appropriate colours).

Bigger Than I Thought

Wow, the R2D2 blanket is going to be a bit bigger than I thought. My calculations, based on 2 inch squares, had the blanket at approximately 3.5 feet wide by 5.3 feet tall - and that's before adding the border.

Well, my squares all must be a smidge bigger than 2 inches as the blanket is currently 6' 8" tall - zoinks! That'll bring it to over 7 feet by the time the border is added on. I guess there's no need for me to worry about him growing out of it :)

R2D2 update... 180 squares made, of which 160 have been assembled. 418 squares left to go.

R2D2 Star Wars Blanket

I must be crazy. I've decided to make an R2D2 blanket for one of my nephews. Shhh, it's a suprise!

I'm going off a knitting graph I found at angelfire.com. But instead of using it as a knitting graph, I'm making a 2 round granny square for each "square" of the graph. That's a whopping total of 608 granny squares - yikes! (Special thanks to Shilo from Ravelry from whom I stole borrowed the concept).

I received the wool in the post five days ago, and I've been deligently working on making squares, weaving in ends and assembling some of the squares. To date I've made 129 squares, of which I've put 103 together. Not that I'm counting or anything. ;-)

Here's a looksy at how R2 is coming together.



It's so nice to actually be able to see him taking shape and coming together! It's a great motivator to keep me going.

I'm making this blanket out of Bendigo Woollen Mills 10 ply Luxury and a 5.0 mm hook. This is my first time working with the Luxury and it is divine. It is very soft and squishy and I really love it. I'm using shade 332 Lake for the blue, 342 Ghost for the white/light silver, 353 Koala for the gray/dark silver, and 304 black for the background. I used a bit of some 12 ply Wangaratta Mills red that I received in a karma swap for the lone red square.

Twin Pink Doll Cardigans & Berets

When speaking to Niece10 on the phone a few weeks back, I asked her if she had any special requests in the way of doll clothes/items. She said that she would love a set of something matching so that she and her friend could dress their dolls alike. Here are the results...

These were made with Carnival 8ply acrylic in a variegated pink colourway with a 4mm hook. It took about 150 grams to complete the two sets (1.5 balls). The berets are just improvised and the cardigans are from the pattern Premie Angel Shell Sweater by Beth Parson.

Berries in the Garden - Microwave Dyeing

Through the Aussie Swappers Group on http://www.ravelry.com/ I got 3 cream balls of Panda Woolbale. They'd been sitting on the desk in the office since their arrival, and I screaming out "dye me! dye me!"

After using my trusty office chair to wind them into hanks, and then soaking them in a tepid vinegar bath for about 45 minutes, it was time to let the mad scientist get to work.

Once again, using Queen's food colouring and my plastic mustard and ketchup squirt bottles, I began the fun (if a bit messy and stinky) process. All went smoothly until a completely full bottle of blue food colouring slipped out of my hand, bounced off the kitchen counter top and fell on the floor.!

It got on the sink, on the counter, down the front of the dishwasher, down some of the cabinets, splashes on my feet and legs, on the kitchen floor and into the grout, and some of it started creeping under the dishwasher.

Long story short I spent the next hour+ trying to get all of it up, but there just seemed to be more and more blue everywhere I looked. And note to self for the future... do NOT try and spray cleaning products on the food colour to clean it. It just dilutes and SPREADS it. Ergh.

Well in the end, it was worth it because I am very happy with the results. It also came out almost EXACTLY how I'd planned.

I've named this colourway "Berries in the Garden" as the green is very "grass green" with bits of blueberrys, raspberries, and one other kind of berry I can't think of the name of at the moment.

I've Been Nominated for a Bobby Award

How exciting... my "Barbie's Toilet, Toilet Roll Cover" has been nominated for a Bobby Award for "Most Unusual Project" at Ravelry.com! I'm thrilled!

As the old cliche goes, it is an honour just to be nominated. And I actually mean that in all honesty. Okay, sure, I'd definitely like to win, of course, but I'm really excited just about the nomination.

To view the entries, you can visit www.ravelry.com/bobbys. Lots of great creative stuff to see. And if you'd like to vote for me, I won't stop you. :) No pressure...

Odyssey 12 inch Square - Free Crochet Pattern

Copyright 2010 by Letitia Sherriff


Materials Used

• Carnival 8ply Acrylic in Turquoise (Colour A)
• Spotlight Marvel 8ply Acrylic in Hot Pink (Colour B)
• 4mm crochet hook

Pattern written using US crochet terminology

Stitch Guide

Treble Cross (Trx) = Yo twice, insert hook in next st, yo and pull up a lp (4 lps on hook), yo, draw through 2 lps (3 lps on hook), sk next st, yo, insert hook in next st, yo and pull up a lp (5 lps on hook), [yo, draw through 2 lps] 4 times (1 lp on hook), ch-1, yo, insert hook halfway down st just made in space where lower legs join, yo and pull up a lp, [yo, draw through 2 lps] twice.

Odyssey 12 inch Square
Ch-4, join with a sl-st to first chain to form ring.

Round 1: With Colour A... ch-3 (counts as first dc), 11 dc into ring. Join with sl-st to beg ch-3. (12 dc)

Round 2: Ch-3, dc into first st, 2 dc into each remaining st. Join with sl-st to beg ch-3. (24 dc)

Round 3: Skip first st of round 2, *5 dc into next st (shell made), skip on st, sl-st in next st, skip st,* repeat from * to * 5 times, sl-st to beg of round (6 shells). Finish off Colour A.

Round 4: Attach Colour B in the middle (3rd) stitch of any shell. Ch-1, *sc in same st, hdc, dc, tc, dc, hdc.* Repeat from * to * 5 times. Sl-st to first sc. (36 sts)

Round 5: Ch-1, *sc in first sc, sc in second st, 2 sc in the next stitch*. Repeat from * to * all the way around. Join with a sl-st to first sc. (48 sc). Finish off Colour B.

Round 6: Attach Colour A with a sl-st in first sc of round 5. Skip first sc of round 5, *5 dc into next st (shell made), skip one st, sl-st in next st, skip st.* Repeat from * to * 11 times, sl-st to beg of round (12 shells). Finish off Colour A.

Round 7: Attach Colour B in the middle (3rd) stitch of any shell. Ch-1, *sc in the same st, hdc, dc, tc, dc, hdc*. Repeat from * to * 11 times. Sl-st to first sc. (72 sts)

Round 8: Ch-1, *one sc in each of the first 4 sts, 2 sc in the next st.* Repeat from * to * all the way around (13 times). Finish off the round with one sc in each of the last two sts. Join with sl-st to first sc. (86 sc). Finish off Colour B.

Round 9: Join Colour A in any sc of round 8. Ch-4, Trx in next st (see special stitches). Repeat with Trx's around. In second to last stitch... yo twice, insert hook in second to last st, you and pull up a lp (4 lps on hook), yo, draw through 2 lps (3 lps on hook), yo, insert hook in 2nd chain of beg ch-4, yo and pull up loop (5 lps on hook), [yo draw through 2 lps] 4 times (1 lp on hook), ch-1, sl-st to 4th chain of beg ch-4. (29 Trx).

Round 10: Ch-1, sc once in each st. Join with sl-st to first sc. (86 sc). (Hint: each Trx of previous round receives three sc - one in the top of the right leg, one in the middle of the two legs, and one in the top of the left leg). Finish off Colour A.

Round 11: Attach Colour B in any sc of round 10. Ch-1, *sc in each of the first four sts, 2 sc in next st.* Repeat from * to * all the way around. Finish off the round with one additional sc, then join with a sl-st to first sc. (103 sc). Finish off Colour B.

Round 12: Join Colour A in a sc that is in line with the centre of one of the six shells from round 3 (this will ensure that your centre motif is straight inside your finished square). Ch-3, one dc in each of the next 12 sts, *tc, tc, (2tc, ch-2, 2tc) in the next st, tc, tc, one dc in each of the next 21 sts*. Repeat from * to * 3 times (ending with 9 dc in the last repeat). Sl-st to top of beg ch-3. Finish off colour A.

Round 13: Join Colour B in any dc of round 12. Ch-1, one sc in each st all the way around, and (2 dc, ch-2, 2 dc] in each corner ch-2 space. Join with sl-st to beg sc. Finish off Colour B. (Special note: no, that is not a typo. This round is all sc, except the corners which are dc).

Round 14: Join Colour A in any sc of round 13. Ch-3, dc in each st, and [2 dc, ch-2, 2 dc] in each corner ch-2 space. Join with sl-st to top of beg ch-3. Finish off Colour A.

Round 15: Join Colour B in any dc of round 14. Ch-1, sc in each st, and [2 dc, ch-2, 2 dc] in each corner ch-2 space. Join with sl-st to beg sc. Finish off Colour B.

Weave in all ends and you're done!

*(21 January 2010). Special thanks to HappyPeacock and Margate of Ravelry for pointing out a few typos on my original!