Thursday 5 December 2013

Bloomin’ CAL: Strawberry season


We’ve had a very cold, blustery day here in the south of England, with a biting wind and icy frost. Certainly no weather for strawberries...or is it?


Off my hook this week is a new winter hat for Little Flower. I made her a little strawberry hat last year, and when she realized she had outgrown it, she asked if I could crochet another one.


Of course I couldn’t track down the original pattern, which I had sorta mashed together from various sources last year, so I decided to improvise again. A baby earflap hat pattern was increased until it fit Little Flower’s head, the strawberry stem was spotted on Pinterest, but I didn’t like the leaves that accompanied it, so I made my own. Pale yellow yarn stitched on for the seeds. (I will happily cobble together all the elements into one coherent pattern upon request – just send me an email!)


She is very pleased and wears it with pizzazz – and gets many a smile from passers-by on the street!

In other crochet news, I finished the first ball of yarn for the Manly Scarf:


I am loving the shades of this yarn! But I must tuck it away so it is not discovered...

And like so many of us, there are a few other makes in the works that must stay secret until Christmas...so I will entertain you with a funny item I found in the latest Graham & Greene catalogue:


My, my, what gorgeous pom poms used decoratively on the wall! Remind you of something


Oh, I am just so on trend...but wait, let’s look a wee bit closer...


Good grief! Do you see the price tag on those posh balls of tissue paper? Three for £19.95?!?  I have £40 worth of pom poms on my wall from the Rainbow Birthday Party! And heck, mine are multi-coloured, which Graham & Greene would no doubt value at £29.95 for three!

Don’t you just love love love being a *maker*? I am sure most of you have experienced a similar crafty smugness, yes? Tell me about it and revel in it here!

And don’t forget to link up your hooky projects below!

Chrissie x

28 comments:

  1. Hi Chrissie
    That is such a cute hat ! Hope the manly scarf goes down well at Christmas
    Kate x

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  2. the strawberry hat made me smile too......what is the yarn you are using for the scarf.....it is lovely
    maybe you should go into tissue paper pompom production and make a fortune

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    1. It's King Cole Riot Chunky, this shade is Domino, but it comes in many colours - I've bought two other colours for some gifts, I'll share them in a future post...Cx

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  3. In love with that hat Chrissie. I found a strawberry popcorn type pattern last week on pinterest. It is on my crochet board, go and see. Honestly £20 for some tissue, we are lucky ladies are we not? Jo x

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  4. I adore your strawberry hat!! So cute!! Would you ever consider making a tutorial for it? I am a beginner crocheter and starting to discover all of the fun things that you can make by crocheting!

    Susie

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  5. Sure thing Susie, it's an easy hat to make - the hat is just half-treble (UK half-double) crochet all round, just takes a while to build up the rounds depending on the head size of the wearer...drop me an email so I can write it up for the size you need, and hopefully I'll be able to post a tutorial soon! Cx

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  6. Aww what a cutie love the hat so sweet, and wow pom poms are pricey... The scarf look great I love the metallic colours too
    Clare x

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  7. HOW MUCH.....for paper pom poms! I'd better get learning how to make them! The strawberry hat is just delicious! :) x

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  8. LOVE the strawberry hat! It's adorable. I am very partial to anything strawberry-related and I'm a little jealous of your daughter right now. :) The scarf is looking great, that yarn is beautiful. And the pompoms - pfft! What kind of LOSER would buy them when they can be made so easily? Haha. That's the kind of thing I tell myself when I see something around that I have made or could easily make. That happened with my oilcloth placemats; I wanted to buy some and they were at least $12 apiece! I made a set of four for about $20 instead!

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  9. I definitely love it when you discover something that you can make for cheaper and usually with better quality =) It is why I love making hats and scarves, they are all so pretty and cost little to make!! I love the man scarf, such a lovely gradient to it! I love the strawberry hat, its extremely cute and very well improvised!x

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  10. Love the strawberry hat! I've seen tea cosies like that but never a hat before. If only I wasn't too old to wear it! x

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  11. Well, your £40 - or probably £60 as you say - worth of pom poms look far nicer than the catalogue ones! Love the crochet too - of course!! xx

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  12. Your little ones hat is gorgeous. I love the colour with the pips and the green stalk just finish it off.For some reason It reminds me of some little doll characters that were about when my lot were teeny tiny . I think she was called Strawberry shortcake, I don't know why but that's what I thought of when seeing your super cute hat.
    Manly scarf looks great too :)
    Sally xxx

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  13. Anonymous7:40 am GMT

    I LOVE the strawberry hat - it makes me wish I knew a little girl I could make it for; but I'm liking Julie's suggestion for a tea cosy - yes please to the pattern
    This week I saw a key fob by Radley for £29, we could make it so easily from our scraps for pence!

    ukcitycrafter@live.co.uk

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  14. Oh that is just the sweetest little hat ever! And I also do so love a wee bit of crafty smugness when I see something that's ridiculously expensive that I could make :-)
    Have a happy weekend,
    Hugs xx

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  15. A gorgeous hat and well fine for
    Improvising!! I'm sure she looks the part in it. Loving those oversized p poms, they're simply fab!! Fortunately we could have a go at making them, now there's a thought !! Xo

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  16. Oh my gosh, the hat is so cute, my niece would love it!!!!!! Have a great weekend. Deb x

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  17. Gorgeous hat. It's always time for strawberries! Julie x

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  18. Love the strawberry hat, you are so on trend with your decorations, and by the way yours look much nicer.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  19. What a gorgeous little strawberry crochet hat, just adorable xox Oh and hooray for handmade too x Penny

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  20. Hi Chrissie what a wonderful hat, no wonder she wanted another one this year, it looks so cute on her - well done you. I do love that scarf and cannot wait to hear more about it, the colour is stunning and I have someone here not far from me now who would love one like that! I cannot believe the price of the decorations but there must be people who are willing to pay for them - yes it is lovely when you know you can make something even better for pounds less. A fabulous post as always Chrissie, always love your blog as it is so entertaining. Big hugs to you Chrissie
    Lots of love
    Dorothy
    :-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  21. That hat is so cute.

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  22. Cute and quirky hat - love it! Yep I agree with everyone... your pom poms are much nicer. Have a great weekend X

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  23. Such a cute hat must make one for my daughter very sweet. Perhaps you should sell your pom poms I'm hoping to make some for my wedding xx

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  24. The hat is so adorable!!! It must be so fun for your girl to wear. How crazy that so much is being charged for paper pom poms when they cost next to nothing to actually make!

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  25. Such a gorgeous wee hat...you are very clever! It is just adorable. I'm sorry I had to miss the Cal post last week, I just didn't have time before we went away but will definitely be back this week!
    Marianne xx

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  26. So many lovely, lovely things here, Chrissie. The strawberry hat is adorable and I am really loving the scarf. Just right for a man, very muted but still full of interest. It's going to be very nice. x

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  27. Oh, that's an adorable hat! I love it! I am constantly combining patterns to get exactly what I want -- so glad that I'm not the only one! ;-)

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