Wednesday 30 December 2015

'Animal Design' Plastic Carrier Bag Holders - Free Crochet Pattern

As a follow on to the little plastic bag holders I made yesterday - see here if you missed them: Plastic Carrier Bag Holder Pattern

I have now made some animal versions, so far just a pig and a rabbit - or it could be a lamb :)


I did these in double crochet to give a tighter finish and to make adding the features a little easier than on treble crochet.

They make a crochet plastic bag holder which can fit neatly into your pocket or handbag or fit a keychain to fit to your handbag or keys,  keeping the plastic bag tightly packed until needed.

Basic pattern which makes all animals or bag, just change colours accordingly, you will need:

One elastic hair band - try to match to colour of yarn if possible
Oddment of yarn - I used double knit
Crochet hook - I used 4 mm
A plastic carrier bag
If you don't have any elastic hair ties you could use some plain elastic and tie or sew it into a circle.

You simply roll up your bag and stuff it into the holder. The elastic band will stretch to allow it to pass through but then close up to keep it inside.

Note: for larger bags just increase size either by adding more groups of 2dc 2ch, or by doing more rows/rounds or by using a larger hook and thicker yarn. You will also need a larger hair tie or use elastic made into a ring.




To begin you need to crochet around the elastic band - if you need to know how to do this you can follow my instructions in this short video here:



Note that I use UK crochet terms:

First round: You will be crocheting around the hair tie -  Crochet 2 double crochet followed by two chain - repeat 6 times more and join with a slip stitch into the first double crochet. (28 stitches) - The reason for adding the chains is to allow the elastic to stretch more easily, if you did all double crochet it might be too tight.

2nd round: 2 chain, one dc in every stitch (e.g: on this round one double crochet in each double crochet of previous round and one double crochet in each chain of previous round) - join with a slip stitch when you get back to the first 2 chain.

3rd round: 2 chain, one dc in every stitch
4 - 8th round: Repeat round three 5 times more

9th round: 2 chain, decrease by working one double crochet into two stitches, repeat to end and join round with a slip stitch

10th and 11th Round: Repeat round 9.

Fasten off, cut yarn leaving a large enough tail to thread through end to close any remaining hole, sew in end. Also sew in end of starting thread.






Features:


Pig: 

Snout: make 15 chain cut yarn leaving a long tail, thread the yarn back through the chain stitches and draw up - this creates a blob which you can pull into shape and sew on for the snout.




Ears:


Leave a long tail as you begin as this will make sewing them on easier.

Make 6 chain, work 1 double crochet in 2nd chain from hook and then 1 double crochet in next 4 chain. Turn
Slip stitch into next double crochet, then slip stitch into the next.
Fasten off and weave in end.

Sew in place with pointed end upwards as the top of the ear





Then embroider features. See my blog post here for adding french knot eyes French Knot Features


Rabbit (or lamb!)


Ears:



Using contrast colour (I used pink) make 7 chain and work 1 double crochet in 2nd chain from hook, 1 double crochet in next 5 chains. Fasten off.

Join main colour (I used white) Working in back loops of double crochet only, start at one end and work 5 double crochet up one side, two in the top to make a point and 5 down the other side in the starting chain edges. (Hope this makes sense!)




Fasten off and sew in ends, sew in place.
Add features.

Now simply stuff your plastic bag into the animal head and you are ready to go, add a keychain fixed to the hair tie if you wish, then you can then carry your little holder on your handbag.


I must say that the piggy looks a bit more like a pink Shrek! :)

You could experiment with features adding your own ideas and using other colours to create different animals.


Happy crocheting!

Terms of use:
The pattern is free to use for personal use only. You may not copy, reproduce, sell, distribute physically or digitally or put the pattern on your own blog/website - instead please provide a link back to my blog or Ravelry pattern link. Please do not claim the pattern as your own. Please credit Pookie Doodle Crafts www.pookiedoodlecrafts.co.uk as the designer and provide a link where possible. If you make something similar using my idea please add "inspired by Pookie Doodle Crafts" and if you let me know I will promote yours too - I think we should all work together to share ideas :)
The items you make: You may do what you like with the items you make from the pattern but please give me credit for the design where possible. I would love to see your creations please do share them. If you sell them and make a reasonable profit please consider making a little donation to a charity from it - I would really appreciate that and thank you in advance :)

 



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Tuesday 29 December 2015

Plastic carrier bag holder - free pattern

I'm feeling inventive today!

Are you like me and still getting used to carrying a plastic bag with you when you go shopping? - Here in the UK we now pay 5p for plastic carrier bags in the shops.

I've always been used to taking large bags for supermarket shopping but I seem to forget that I now need one for all items, including clothes!

I don't mind paying 5p for one if I have to but it seems better to recycle where we can and I've found my pockets now bulge with bags or things get tangled in them in my handbag, keys get caught up and I pull things out when trying to get the bag out.

Maybe it's just me and you've all found a way to stop your plastic bag from unfolding in your handbag! Oh you clever lot. But not me, no I needed a solution so today I came up with this little invention, a crochet plastic bag holder which can fit neatly into your pocket or handbag keeping the plastic bag tightly packed until needed.



All you need is:

One elastic hair band
Oddment of yarn - I used double knit
Crochet hook - I used 4 mm
A plastic carrier bag

If you don't have any elastic hair ties you could use some plain elastic and tie or sew it into a circle.


To begin you need to crochet around the elastic - if you need to know how to do this you can follow my instructions for crocheting around hoops and rings in this video here, the technique is the same:

Note that I use UK crochet terms:

First round: You will be crocheting around the hair tie -  Crochet 2 double crochet followed by two chain - repeat 4 times more and join with a slip stitch into the first double crochet. (20 stitches) - The reason for adding the chains is to allow the elastic to stretch more easily, if you did all double crochet it might be too tight.

2nd round: 3 chain, one treble in every stitch (e.g: one treble in each double crochet and one treble in each chain) - join with a slip stitch when you get back to the first 3 chain.

3rd - 6th round: Repeat 2nd round 4 times more

7th round: 3 chain, decrease by working one treble into two stitches, repeat to end and join round with a slip stitch

8th Round: Repeat round 7

Fasten off, cut yarn leaving a large enough tail to thread through end to close any remaining hole, sew in end. Also sew in end of starting thread.


You can now roll up your bag and stuff it into the holder. The elastic band will stretch to allow it to pass through but then close up to keep it inside.

Note: for larger bags just increase size either by doing more rows/rounds or by using a larger hook and thicker yarn. You will also need a larger hair tie or use elastic made into a ring.

You could also add a key chain so that you can fasten your bag holder to your handbag so you always have it with you.


  The possibilities are endless and you could make all sorts of designs, I put this together in a matter of minutes, but you can spend some time with colours and design - have fun!

Happy crocheting!

Terms of use:
The pattern is free to use for personal use only. You may not copy, reproduce, sell, distribute physically or digitally or put the pattern on your own blog/website - instead please provide a link back to my blog or Ravelry pattern link. Please do not claim the pattern as your own. Please credit Pookie Doodle Crafts www.pookiedoodlecrafts.co.uk as the designer and provide a link where possible. If you make something similar using my idea please add "inspired by Pookie Doodle Crafts" and if you let me know I will promote yours too - I think we should all work together to share ideas :)
The items you make: You may do what you like with the items you make from the pattern but please give me credit for the design where possible. I would love to see your creations please do share them. If you sell them and make a reasonable profit please consider making a little donation to a charity from it - I would really appreciate that and thank you in advance :)

 



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Monday 28 December 2015

Butterfly stitch crochet shawl

After the success of my Summer Sprigs scarf I felt like getting into some more fine lace type work so have begun another but larger project.

This is more a shawl that a scarf and as it begins at the neck you can make it as long as you wish.

The design is by njSharon and DebiAdams and can be found as a free download on Ravlery: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/butterfly-stitch-prayer-shawl

I am doing it in the 100% mercerised crochet cotton again which I used for the Summer Sprigs Scarf. This time I am using Ecru, which has a nice shiny gold look to it. I am using a 2.00 mm crochet hook.

I'm tempted to try some bead work on the edging, something I've never done before but will see how it looks when finished. You can add a choice of edging, or your own if you wish so I might find something that would work well with a bead on each point, I am thinking that it would give a bit of edge weight to the shawl too.

As you can see the design makes little butterfly shapes which are staggered on alternate rows, they are easy to do using chain stitch and a long double treble which draws up the chains by being placed in one of the rows below.

Each pattern repeat (4 rows) adds another butterfly at each end so the shawl grows very quickly. I only started this yesterday and is just a few hours of work so far.

It is worth noting that the pattern is written in US crochet terms so you will have to convert them to English terms. However, it only uses basic stitches so it was really easy to go through the pattern to change them. There is also a drawn chart of the stitches included in the pattern.


I will post updates when the shawl has grown a little more.

The shawl is now finished and you can see more details and photos here:

http://www.pookiedoodlecrafts.co.uk/2016/04/butterfly-stitch-crochet-shawl.html

Happy crocheting!




Find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts and 
Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle
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Saturday 12 December 2015

Summer Sprigs Lace Scarf Crochet Pattern Review

If you saw my post from last month you would have read that I was looking for a project that was light and easy to carry. I wanted something to make while I was away on a winter holiday and this pattern really fit the bill. It fitted easily into a small bag to carry around with me and crochet when the fancy took me.

It took 2 weeks to complete and the pattern is easy to follow with drawn diagrams too to help describe the stitches and where they go on the pattern.
It is a free pattern by Esther at Make My Day Creative and it certainly did make my day and the finished scarf is beautiful and it cost me just £3.20 (Nov 2015) using 100% mercerised crochet cotton from 'Boyes' the high street store.
The nearest yarn I can find online to what I used is this crochet cotton on Amazon:
http://tiny.cc/a5t96x 
I used a 2.00 mm needle and used all but a few yards of the ball. (I began to wonder if I was going to run out at one point!)


You could use many other yarns such as light lace ones, alpaca, cottons and wool. You might need to block some of the other yarns but I didn't find it necessary with the cotton I used.

Below is a link to a video so you can see just what my finished scarf looks like.


I would like to thank Esther at www.makemydaycreative.com for making and sharing for FREE such a beautiful pattern.

Happy crocheting!



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