Waikiki Scarf

It was Mother's Day last weekend, so I was finally able to give the scarf to my Mum. And as she has worn it since that day, then I consider it a success.

Made out of Stylecraft Life DK in Rose, with 5mm hook. It needed about a skein and a half, I think, though I didn't start with a full skein so I can't be sure. It was however, the first time I had finished a skein, so got to practise joining strands without knots.

I didn't quite understand the pattern to begin with, which meant that the first line is in the wrong place. But once I had worked it out, then pattern was easy to follow and the strawberry design has come out well.

Am now working on the cardigan, whose gauge square I made earlier. Bought 10 skeins of Wendy Mode DK in Teal (and one in blue) so am wondering how many I will actually get through!

Photos:

Overview of repeating designs

The tassels. Which took quite a long time and refuse to lie flat.
Close up of one of the strawberries.
Close up of tassels.

The whole scarf. 

Alice II

A little update on how Alice is getting on. Mum came to visit a few weeks ago, and so we visited the sewing/knitting show in town and I purchased some buttons. Thus Alice no longer has scary scraps as eyes! I then made a knob of the cream wool as a nose, and used some burgundy for a mouth. I'm still not sure about the burgundy, but I tried the pink (same as hat) and that seemed to be worse, so burgundy it is!

After having the head sitting on my desk for a few weeks, I finally attached it to the body and styled the hair. I've decided, now that I can double crochet, to make the dress 

but that now seems like a long term plan. I'm fairly happy with the way that Alice is now!

Alice looking pensive:

Close up of the face, especially the button eyes. They don't quite match the clothing, but I fell in love with the colour.

Back of the hair, as an Alice I did consider putting her hair in an Alice band before settling on a double ponytail thing. Totally escapist - I always wanted a doll with whom I could fiddle with the hair in this way as a child. 

Hat & Gauge Square

Starting with the hat, this was the Cranium pattern from Crochet Me. While the picture on the site seems to show the both loop band well, I used Life by Stylecraft in Rose, which is an acrylic/wool blend, meaning that it wasn't the nylon as shown on the pattern. This doesn't show the both loop band very well at all. I added the flower so that it matches well with the scarf. Not entirely sure where I got the flower pattern from as I tried so many different designs that all ended up looking the same. The flower is Hayfield Bonus DK in purple, as used on the scarf. I found the hat to be a fairly boring, repetitive project and do wish that I had tried something a little more adventurous.

On the adventurous note, I have decided to have a go at making a cardigan, following the instructions for Top Down Yoke Cardigan on Without Seams.  As it is likely to be a long project, I've decided to use my favourite yarn so far -Wendy Mode DK Merino in Teal Green. I used what I had left from making Alice to make the gauge square, and intend to buy some more when I return home in a week, or order it off the internet. I am aware that crocheted fabrics tend to make heavier garments than knits, but all my favourite jumpers are chunky knits anyway so I don't think it will be too disappointing in terms of thickness.

To tide me over until then I am making my Mum a scarf for Mother's Day. Will post about it later, but am a little excited because I finished my first ever skein on this project, and had to go and buy more! Also am using double and treble crochet extensively, which is also exciting and makes me think that I have progressed beyond amigurumi. 

Sleepy Sarah Updated & A Photo

So I had a brain wave about an hour before I was going to give 'Sleepy Sarah' away. I gave the doll to an English student, and I suddenly thought it would be great if the doll had a tiny book in its hands. Thus:

A book! Quite badly crocheted with 3mm hooks, but it looks fine and is detachable if she wants to get rid of it.

My friend and I also went off being tourists round college and town yesterday, along with many bad photos I took this:

Now I have to wait for springtime proper when I can take that photo with plants that are actually alive!