Kumihimo Braiding

Can’t believe how long it’s been since I last posted! Been too busy crafting 🙂

I tried my hand at Kumihimo braiding last year which I found really easy to do. It’s something you can easily carry around and do anywhere.

There are lots of free online tutorials my favourite was https://www.pacificpatina.com/braid-structures

I bought the disk as a kit on Amazon, it came with a good selection of cords in different colours.

Link to Amazon kit

Made a black and white one for grandson in his team colours - he loved it.

Experimenting with different colours and ways to tie, this green and yellow one is tied with a sliding knot so you can adjust to fit.

I used a fishing weight from hubby’s fishing kit, this really helped keep the tension right.

A raised spiral in purple and yellow was an interesting combination 

A tip to keep threads from tangling is to wind them on to ice lolly sticks, there was no shortage of those during the hot weather!

The one below is one of my favourite makes, I did it from a book called A Beginner’s Guide to Kuminhimo by Donna McKean-Smith (Buy it here on Amazon)  and I used end caps with lobster claw fasteners which I bought on eBay for a few pounds and 2mm cord in pink and purple also from eBay. 

I feel it looks really professional, there are 12 patterns in the book, some using beads with easy step by step photo tutorials. 

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Lacy Feather and Fan Shawl

I made this lovely lacy fan shawl for my daughter in law for a cruise she was going on.

Designed by A. Westbrook the pattern is a free download on Ravelry. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lacy-feather-and-fan-wrap

It was an easy pattern and I didn't particularly follow any gauge, I used a very fine cotton thread yarn that I had in my stash and used a 4.00 mm hook. It came out fine on the width and I just kept crocheting until it was the length I wanted. If you did need a wider shawl it would be easy to just add in another pattern repeat.

The pattern consists of two rows which you soon remember so you don't need to keep looking at the pattern sheet.

It looked beautiful when worn.

I also added some beads to the edges just to give a bit of weight. 

Although it was an easy pattern to follow I still made mistakes, I kept losing the stitch count and finding I couldn't fit in the required number of stitches so had to undo it sometimes. I think there are still mistakes in it, but you can't tell :)

I would certainly recommend the pattern. Thank you A. Westbrook for sharing it for free :)

Happy crocheting!

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Simple Crochet Butterflies

I've been making these beautiful little crochet butterflies. They are so lovely and can be used for applique, embellishments or simply as decorations.

The first pattern is called Dainty Butterflies and is designed by Jo Ann Maxwell

They were really easy to make and I did lots in one evening using different yarns, crochet thread and embroidery silks.

I did make a few changes to how I did the antenna, rather than make them from a separate piece of yarn I used the starting and ending threads and slip stitched them to the head and then chained a few stitches. It saved having to weave in the starting thread :)

I also added beads to some of the butterflies on the ends of the larger wings, I thought it added another dimension to them. 

Once finished I made a wash of 40% PVA glue and 60% water, pinned them out and painted them with the stiffening wash, left them to dry and was really pleased with the finished butterflies.

See my video for some close ups of the butterflies: https://youtu.be/5mBdsKelKto

You can find the link to the free pattern here: http://www.crochetmagazine.com/printer.php?mode=article&article_id=3322  

The other pattern is for a butterfly made from 5 hearts

Again this was an easy to follow pattern, you make three hearts for the body and two larger hearts for the wings, adding little antenna to one of the body hearts for the head.

So simple but really effective.

You can find the free pattern here: http://www.goldenlucycrafts.com/free-patterns/crochet-heart-animals-butterfly

The original pattern is in US terms, I had to change it to UK terms.

Happy crocheting!

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Tutorial - Adding beads to a crochet edge

Having finished my butterfly shawl (See my blog post for details of the pattern etc. http://www.pookiedoodlecrafts.co.uk/2016/04/butterfly-stitch-crochet-shawl.html)

I decided to add some beads to the final edging, both to give a bit of weight when wearing it and also to give it a nice decorative finish.
Adding beads is very easy, although to begin with it can be a bit fiddly to get hold of the beads and crochet at the same time, but it is well worth persevering and having a go.

I've made a video tutorial to show you how it is done if you want to have a go :)

Happy crocheting!

Find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts Twitter: www.twitter.com/Pookie_Doodle

and Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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