Showing posts with label crochet hearts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crochet hearts. Show all posts

Wednesday, 24 March 2010

Teeny Tiny Crochet Heart Bunting

The Teeny Tiny Heart Bunting is finished! And it's now hanging in my Little Daughter's bedroom, much to her delight!

As there was a bit of interest in this bunting from some of you, I thought I would attempt a step by step pattern for you to follow. I hope I've done it as simple as possible for you. Each heart doesn't take that long to do either, so its one of those smashing projects that you could probably complete in less than an afternoon.


I used Rowan Hand Knit Cotton DK for my hearts, and a 4mm hook, but feel free to use any other wool/hook size that you might prefer. I like Hand Knit Cotton as it tends to be a bit stiffer than some other wools, and holds its shape well (the colours in this range are also very bright and scrumptious!)

OK, lets begin! You're going to need to know how to do a slip stitch (SS), a chain (Ch), a single crochet (SC), a double crochet (DC) and a treble crochet (TR) (*Ive added a little 'How To' for the TR for those of you who aren't sure)


The Pattern

Round 1: Make 4 Chain stitches and join into first chain with a SS.

Next, SC 10 times into the middle of the ring as shown below:

Join with a SS into the top of the first SC stitch to finish the round.

Make sure you have 10 stitches to work into for the next round:

Round 2: Next, you are going to do 5 DC into the first stitch, this is going to be the first top curve of your heart and it will look something like this:

In the following 3 stitches, you need to do 1 DC into each.

This is followed by a TR, the bit that will form the pointy part of the heart. For those of you not sure how to do a Treble Crochet, here is a little explanation:

Wrap your yarn around your hook twice and push your hook under the stitch.
Wrap your yarn around your hook and pull back through (4 loops on the hook).
Wrap your yarn around your hook and pull through 2 loops (3 loops left on hook)
Wrap your yarn around your hook again and pull through the remaining 3 loops ~ Voila!! A Treble Crochet Stitch!! :D

By now, your heart should be looking a bit like this:

Into the next 3 stitches, you need to do 1 DC into each.
Then work 5 DC together into the following stitch. This makes the second curvy top of the heart.

You will see a stitch space (as shown below, where I'm pointing the tip of the hook)...you need to do a SS into this to finish off the heart before securing with a knot.

Round 3: Join your second colour by knotting your new yarn onto the first colour neatly.
Start by making 1 CH into the last SS of the previous round.
To continue with your edging, do 1 Sc into the next stitch.
The next 3 stitches all need 2 SC into EACH stitch.
Into the next 4 stitches make 1 SC into each.
Then do 3 SC into the following stitch which is the tip of the heart, the 3 SC's will help to make it more pointy shaped.
Working up the opposite side, its a case of reversing the stitch pattern that we've just done. So after doing the 3 SC into the tip of the heart, we need to do do 1SC into the next 4 stitches.
Then do 2SC into each of the next 3 stitches.
Into the next to last stitch, do 1 SC.
The last stitch just requires a little SS to finish, and a wee knot to secure.

Be sure to weave in any loose ends at the back!

Here is a brief run down of the stitches for you:

Round 1:
Ch 4,
SS to join into 1st chain stitch.
10 SC into centre of ring
SS to join into 1st SC stitch.

Round 2:
5 DC into first stitch
1 DC into next 3 stitches
1 TR
1 DC into next 3 stitches
5 DC into next stitch
SS to finish into last stitch

Round 3:
1 CH into cleavage of heart
1 SC into next stitch
2 SC into each of the next 3 stitches
1 SC into next 4 stitches
3SC into bottom point of heart stitch
1 SC into next 4 stitches
2 SC into each of the next 3 stitches
1 SC into next stitch.
Finish by SS into next stitch and secure with a knot.


Making your hearts into Bunting

This is really quite easy, and of course the exciting bit that turns all your colourful hearts into actual bunting. All you need to do is know how to chain stitch and slip stitch, and Im guessing if you have got this far with me, then yes, of course you can!! :D
I started my chain off with 15 CH stitches, this is the part you can use to tie or attach your bunting to something with.
Find the topmost stitch on your heart, and simply SS into it. You might find it a little bit fiddly at first, but you'll soon get the hang of joining the heart to the hanging chain.
Here's what it looks like:

Next, CH 4 across and work a SS into the next topmost stitch of the opposite heart top.

I then went on to crochet 7 CH stitches between each heart, but of course you could do more or less depending on the look you want for your bunting.

And here it is, all finished!

I hope you enjoyed the pattern, and found it straightforward enough. I've spent a while tweaking it, and re-writing bits so I hope I've explained it clearly for you - if there are any parts you aren't sure on though, please let me know and I'll do my best to help!

Oh, before I go, a good tip is to spray the backs of the hearts with a little spray starch and then iron gently - I found it helps the hearts to hold their shape even better and you can tweak them into shape if they're looking a bit too rounded on the bottom.

Much love
Julia x x x

Thursday, 18 March 2010

Daffodils and Bunting

Daffodils and Bunting
Acrylic on box canvas 20x20cm

Hello people!

I hope this warm March day finds you well! Im pleased to be able to share the finished painting 'Daffodils and Bunting' with you! After being inspired by Surfer Rosa, I painted in some cotton reels as the thought of the blackbird coming to find a spare strand of thread to line his nest was very appealing. Of course, I then sat wondering what the cotton reels might be sitting there for, all very well to have a couple of reels on the window sill and why not - but I felt a bit more visual interest was necessary and the idea of bunting popped into my head, and it seemed to bring the picture together! Do you agree? Im going to start putting some of my originals into my Folksy shop ~ 'Little Blue Bird' ~ so you will be able to find this, and other paintings and prints available to buy there too!


This morning I awoke at 6am - I lay under the warmth of the duvet for a few minutes but realised that the light coming from behind the curtains was tempting me to get up. Im not usually up this early, and generally Im the sort that will turn over and go back to sleep for another hour until the soft thudding of Little Girl's footsteps on the landing awaken us. But this morning, I felt compelled to be up before anyone else. I tiptoed downstairs, put on a pot of coffee and opened the backdoor...and thats when I realised what had happened.

Spring had arrived.

It's that wonderful moment that you get when the season is on the cusp of changing. A warm breeze was blowing (yes, at 6am - a warm wind) and I stood on the doorstep in my jammies breathing in this feeling of delight. It was here!! At last!! It's nothing actually noticeable, in fact, all looked the same outside as it did yesterday, but there was a very perceptible feeling of something in the air having shifted and changed. Oh isn't it delicious when Spring lands on your doorstep?!


The picture above, is another view of our lovely 'tops' looking out again over to Derbyshire. It was slightly hazy at 8:30 this morning as we drove over to Mum's to dispatch the Little One for a day of adventuring. Im very fond of that view, it's one of my favourites and sometimes feels as if the whole, beautiful world is spread out before me.


You can see that Spring has arrived, Im waxing lyrical and Im all over the place in a skippy happy sort of fashion today! Which leads me to more skippy happy stuff, of the crochet kind.

Ive made some hearts!

I was inspired a few weeks back by a post on Attic 24's blog, where she had designed and made the sweetest little hearts you ever did see. Now, I was quite smitten with them and searched the internet high and low for a pattern. But you know what its like, once you see something you like, you want that one - and none of the other patterns I found really did it for me. So, last night I spent a couple of hours working out my own pattern - Im nothing if not determined folks - and eventually, with a whole lot of tweaking and unravelling, came up with these, which I think look a bit like what I was after!


Im going to try and make a little chain of heart bunting, as I feel that our home is very much in need of some heart bunting! However, for now that will have to wait, as a new painting is about to be started! I was halfway through Daffodils and Bunting when an idea struck. Now, for me, this is not always a good thing, as it means that I get so excited by the new idea I become bored of what Im currently doing and discard it in order to get on with the new stuff. However, Im practising being disciplined, and did a few sketches to quench the excitement so that I could finish 'D&B' properly.


The next painting will feature a cat, and I hope to be able to share it with you soon.

I can't say Goodbye this week without saying 'Thank You' to everyone who has visited my blog to take part in the Sunny Spring Giveaway! Ive been delighted to find wonderful comments from old friends and new ones, and because of this Im discovering some wonderful new blogs, so thanks to all of you for stopping by! There is still chance to enter the giveaway, as it doesn't close until the 21st March - so if you would like to enter and haven't already, then please leave a comment on this post to guarantee a place in the draw, which takes place on Monday the 22nd.

I'm looking forward to catching up with your blogs, its been a busy old week here one way or another so apologies for not being able to get to as many blogs as I would like (and believe me, I like nothing more than a good hour of peaceful blog browsing, with cup of tea and something sweet and nice alongside!).

Have a warm, sunny weekend - I'll be posting again sometime on Monday so "Good Luck" to you, if you're in the draw!

Mucho love
Julia x x x

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