Katielee.co.uk

Screenwriter and crafty type

Crochet Dress in Topshop

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I’m not fully convinced that I actually like crocheted clothes – there’s always a danger that you’ll get carried away and end up wearing something like this. Nevertheless, having seen Gemma’s knitted shrug, I thought I should at least give it a crack before dismissing it. I bought this pattern from Diane Langan and am already well on my way – although I’m not sure it’s going to turn out right first time thanks to my (typical) decision to fiddle with the pattern (more of that on another post soon).

Anyway, I’ve spotted some crochet stuff in shops recently. It’s amazing how obsessed you become with peering at knitwear when you can knit and crochet. So, I thought I should probably indulge my obsession by posting up a few of my finds. This dress from Topshop was on Catwalk Queen. Next time I’m in Topshop I’ll see if I can find it to take some closer snaps.

Trendy Tea Cosy

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Milway bought me Erika Knight’s Simple Crochet book for Christmas. Until that point I’d been labouring under the illusion that the only way to crochet was with tongue firmly in cheek, but suddenly here was a design book with tasteful patterns in that wouldn’t look out of place in a some City-type’s po-faced loft apartment. Maybe I too could be tasteful!

Alas, the taste-gods have so far rejected me. This trendy tea cosy (or cozy to US citizens) was my verson of the cafetiere cosy (!). Possibly my first mistake was foolishly believing the I have it in me to work out my own designs. My second was ignoring the requests for posh black cotton yarn and using cheapo black acrylic, of which I have an abundant supply. My third was attempting to make something for myself (I’ve proved time and time again that I can’t make something for myself with any hope of success) The gods were already displeased.

I was in a posh hotel making this (a birthday present from Al – I sure know how to make the most of a romantic weekend away, eh?!) so really the surroundings should have been perfect. However, the fatal flaw in all that was that I guessed how big it needed to be to fit my teapot. Sure enough, it turned out to be too small.

I was going to bodge a bit of extra crochet onto the side, but the very thought of giving up my aspirational tea cosy for a half-arsed black cover made me too depressed for words, and the miserable thing has been consigned to my wool box until the day I spot some hapless soul with a correctly proportioned unclothed pot.

Crochet Mobile Phone Cover

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Time for another bit of Louisa Calder-inspired creativity. This time it was Al’s mother who benefitted from my crochet skillz, with this mobile (cell) phone case. I finally twigged about using trebles for the row that the pull cord goes through, and this was probably the first time I actually made a bag that didn’t have any mistakes in it.

Similar stuff:
Crochet laptop cover
Crochet Bag

Crochet Tea Cosy

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I made this tea cosy for Al’s Gran who wanted something bright and yellow to put on her pot. It was fun to make and easy, but was unlike anything I’d made before thanks to the almost semi-circular style. You start with an oblong and keep going back and forth round it, creating a nice ridged effect. The bottom was unusual as well, using a repeating triangle of double crochet, half treble, treble and double treble to create a band. It uses US names so you’ll need to keep that in mind if you’re a Brit. [Click for bigger pics]

Free Tea Cosy Crochet Pattern

Flower Hat: Failed Hat for me #2

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This hat took me absolutely bloody ages to make. Since I’m very far from gaining my black belt in crochet, this advanced pattern took an age for me to understand. I think a lot of my trouble is, I try too hard to follow the pattern, rather than just being sensible and thinking “what is it actually supposed to look like at the end of this?” I always have this dumb-headed belief that if I stick with it it will magically turn out OK in the end.

However, once I’d understood the pattern (after unravelling it a good 400 times), it was actually pretty quick and easy to make. Just one problem.

It was teeny tiny. So I made it again with a bigger hook.

Still teeny tiny. Tried an extra flower.

No dice.

Photographed it and sent it to the big ball of wool in the sky. Cried a little.

Free Pattern from Crochet By The Hook
[The ever-helpful Dot has now added a detailed tutorial for the killer Row 6 so you shouldn’t have to unravel it quite as many times as I did. I’m still not sure quite why mine ended up being so small though.]

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