Just for the frill of it

There are times when I get a little carried away, this little tea cosy is a prime example! It is simply frilling! I wanted to learn several fringing techniques as well as creating gathers, so I thought this little project was a way of playing with the stitches and having something to show for all that hooking! 

 These lovely little loops make a nice fringe – yet are very simple to do. 

There are two layers of frills at the top, made with different lengths of stitch, double crochet and treble crochet. The white edge is a scallop shell stitch.

The second frill is a treble crochet, it creates a fan like effect, edged with another colour it separates the stitches even further. 

A little drawstring bow gathers the frills around the pot lid – a ribbon of crochet is made with a simple chain – threaded through treble crochet loops. 

There really is a tea pot under there! 

I know that it is totally OTT but there are times when a little frivolity doesn’t do any one any harm! 

….

Pattern is available free of charge if you fancy a frill of your own! 

just pop a comment on the blog. 

Roses and tea

I find that wool shops can be like stepping into an artists palette, the colours and hues really do excite me. There seems to be an endless variety of textures as well as colours and after years of seeing haberdasheries and wool shops disappearing, the new wave of knitters and hookers has seen an upsurge in new wool varieties, merino and alpaca as well as denim, but I have a liking for cotton type wool and this is called baby bamboo.

Choosing colour is difficult for some people they are daunted by the sheer magnitude but I find if you look at a range you will find that the shades and colours have a harmony. Such was the case with this, there were a beautiful palette of the baby colours, blues, yellows as well as greens. The pink has come out in this picture a lot brighter than it is naturally it is lovely. Very soft to work with and gentle on the hands.

I have a sweet little tea pot, from Whittards, its lovely blue and white but was being swamped under tea cosies made for stouter pots! I felt it was small enough to practise on!

I wanted to learn to crochet but I have a terrible problem understanding practical things from books,  I wish I had let my Nan show me when she wanted to, she made the most wonderful bed covers using the granny square!

Since she could not show me, I did the next best thing and I took myself off to a local WI where a lovely lady kindly showed me the basics. I was then able to decipher the books and learn new stitches, but I still struggle to follow patterns!

So this is my little journey into playing with various stitches, made from two straight easy pieces of plain crochet and some practice frills. The roses were great fun, as usual I went off the pattern to create my own rose  but I was pleased with the results.

Crochet is so much more free form than knitting, you can make holes, add frills or simply pull and it will all come undone and you can start again. It really is the most forgiving wonderful craft.