Happy Easter......

An Easter Bunny for Easter Sunday:

The original pattern can be found here:

http://www.crochetville.com/community/topic/137254-emma-bunny-rabbit-amigurumi/

An Easter Bag full of eggs......

A last minute dash to the shops on Saturday for Easter Eggs was unsuccessful, with a few bags of miniatures the only things to be found. There is only one thing to do in these situations - pick up a crochet hook and make a pretty bag to hold the mini eggs:

The pattern can be found here:
http://www.petalstopicots.com/2013/03/easter-egg-treat-bag-pattern.html

Scrap busting.....

Friday's square was perfect for using up all those little bits of yarn you can't bring yourself to throw away:

Each little circle uses only a tiny bit of yarn, and although there are a lot of ends to weave in the joining method is very clever so you work each row at a time and I think the overall effect is great.
The pattern is found here:
http://www.yarncrazy.com/simple-yo-yo-square

Surely spring isn't far away??

Thursday's square also involved use of the twisted stitch, in the green round - it is clearly going to become a favourite effect! The other effect I liked in this square is the alternating double crochet, double treble crochet found in the second yellow round which has created the bobbles:

The pattern for this square can be found here:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/twisted-garden-ii

A 'Twist' on the basic granny......

Wednesday's square is a basic granny square with a twist! After each set of three treble crochets a fourth stitch (a double treble crochet) is worked which creates the 'twisted' effect in this square:

The twist stitch is worked as follows - start the dtrc as usual with yo hook twice, then insert the hook back to front into the same space as the 3 tc but just before the first of the three tc. The dtc crosses in FRONT of the 3 tc. Finish the dtc as normal. 
I finished the square with a round of dc to tidy up the edge.

No idea......

After a few days exploring Seville I find myself behind with my posts again!
Tuesday's square was made following a chart:

I had no idea what it was actually going to look like when I started, I think it is one of those squares that would have looked better in more than one colour - the pattern I have linked to below (one I hadn't found before I started!) does this....
http://www.petalstopicots.com/2012/08/special-surprise-free-motif-pattern.html

Buttons and bows.......

Today's square involves the use of chain stitches to create the bows in this pattern:

The pattern is found here:
http://promotions.drgnetwork.com/newsletters/talkingcrochet/pages/TCNL2207_patt1.html#

Flower burst......

I really like the chunky cream flower burst section in this square. I never cease to be amazed by all the different effects that can be created by a few simple knots!

There is a link to the PDF pattern on this blog page:
http://www.yarncrazy.com/flower-burst

Gloves....

Just when I thought spring had sprung the weather has thrown a curve ball and we've had about 6 inches of snow overnight! These gloves are really easy to make and work up quickly if a chunky wool is used:

The original pattern can be found here:
http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/easy-crochet-wristers

Up to date.......

This is Friday's square - and I'm now up to date with my missed posts!

The pattern is in a foreign language but there is a useful and easy to follow chart:
http://www.digu.com/pin/tnypjjbwtwypa

A frilly granny.....

I'm still trying to catch up on the posts missed when in Wales. This is the square I made on Thursday:

A frilly granny square, the picture on the pattern I followed was more defined - the wool obviously has an impact on the overall effect. The pattern I followed can be found here:
http://hooksandyarns.blogspot.ie/2013/02/simply-pretty.html

Making up for lost time....

I've been away in Brecon, Wales for the past three days and with access to the Internet being very limited I have not managed to complete my blog posts. I did however take my crochet hook and a variety of yarns and during the down time I have managed to complete my squares (much to the amusement of the teenage boys I was away with - most of whom have never seen crochet being done before!). I will get up to date with my posts over the next couple of days.
Wednesday's square:

This square involved a degree of improvisation...... Here is the pattern as I remember it:

Work 12 double crochets into a magic ring.
Work 2 double crochets into each stitch from the previous round.
5 chains, skip 2 dc, dc into next dc, repeat 8 times.
Slip stitch into chain space, 2 ch, 5 tc, 1dc. Repeat in each 5 chain space around. Flower complete.
Now to make it square:
tc round dc from round 3, chain 4, dc round next dc from round 3, chain 4. Repeat 3 more times - square made.
Chain 3, work 2 tc in chain space, chain 1, work 1 tc in same chain space, tc in dc from previous round, 1 tc in next chain space, chain 1, 3 tc in same chain space, chain 2, this is one edge finished. Work 3 lots of 3 tc in the same manner in other 3 edges.
Complete 2 more rounds of a standard granny square.
Work one final round of treble crochets, working a treble crochet in each stitch from the previous round - to avoid a gap in the corner work 2tc in the first chain of the corner, then one treble treble crochet into the chain space followed by 2tc in the final chain of the corner.

And daisies....

Following on from yesterday's daffodil I thought I would try a daisy today:

This one was created using some of my huge stash of embroidery thread from a pattern in the book '75 birds, butterflies and beautiful beasties to knit & crochet' - it is the ox-eye daisy.

Spring daffodils.....

In a change from the norm I thought a few flowers to go in the garden might be nice (for those times when there is nothing in bloom):

Today's daffodil pattern can be found here:
http://www.crochetme.com/media/p/94557.aspx

An Irish Rose......

As today is St Patrick's Day I thought I would make an Irish Rose:

I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. This pattern is Afghan Square number 6 from the free e-book Priscilla's Crochet - An Irish Rose.

A yellow square.....

A pretty yellow square using front post treble crochets to create the petals:

The pattern for this square can be found here:
http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/refreshing-throw

Definitely not square!

This elephant is a gift for a friend's two year old:

It was fun to make and useful for using up bits and pieces of left over wool. The original pattern can be found here:
http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/colorful-elephant

A three coloured square....

Today's square is the second one I have taken from the book "handbook of crochet stitches":

It's a simple combination of double treble stitches worked in rounds.

Another variation.....

This is another variation on a standard granny square, it uses treble crochets and chain spaces to give a really nice effect. It was great to learn a new way to use treble crochets to give a twisted texture in the penultimate round:

The pattern is found here:
http://www.yarninyarnout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/free-pattern-diamond-windowpane.html

Crocheted moss stitch....

After yesterday's very quick square today's took significantly longer - using much finer wool and a 3.5mm hook. The effect is much neater, I could see a jumper made out of this stitch!

The original pattern can be found here:
http://www.allfreecrochetafghanpatterns.com/Individual-Squares/Moss-Stitch-Afghan-Square/ml/1

Super chunky rib.....

Today's square has to be the quickest to make so far! Using a super chunky wool and a 12mm hook, 10 stitches and only 6 rows. Starting with a row of treble crochets I then worked alternating front post and back post treble crochets along the row, starting each row with two chains and end with a double crochet in the second chain from the previous row.

A diagonal granny square....

Today's square is just like a basic granny square with sets of 3 triple crochets but is worked diagonally from the corner, and using a chunky wool it took no time at all:

The original pattern can be found here:
http://www.crochetville.com/community/topic/110263-corner-startdiagonal-granny-square/

Random flowers......

This square is easy to work using triple crochet rows and I really like the fact that the flowers can be placed wherever you like within the pattern:

The original pattern is found here:
http://www.digu.com/pin/t6wdslbrt2wda
It looks like it is going to be in a foreign language but the actual pattern is in English.

Cool stripes.......

Another variation on the square from day 8, with two rows worked in each colour. This has given a cool zigzag striped pattern:

The general pattern involves double crochets and chain stitches worked in the previous row. I would like to be able to do this but alternating the colour each row, however having tried it the end of each row was rather untidy - I will persevere with this!

A variation on a theme.....

Today's square is a variation on one of my favourite simple stitches - the alternating double crochet and chain stitch used on days 8 and 39. Instead of going backwards and forwards it goes round and round with a new colour started on each round:

This creates a lot of ends so it is useful to weave them in as you go!

A square from a book.....

Today's square is another fairly traditional one:

The pattern came from a book I've had on the shelf for a while - 'Handbook of Crochet Stitches', this book contains a wide range of stitches including squares, patterns and edges.

A simple(!?!) square......

I wanted something simple for today's square as I didn't have much time, I found a pattern that seemed to fit the bill and was described as 'easy'. However it wasn't as straight forward as I anticipated, mainly because I didn't see the bit at the bottom of the pattern explaining how to start each round until I'd completed 5 rounds - by which point I wasn't going to go back and unpick it!

This is not the easiest of patterns to follow, and I found my square didn't sit flat initially, nothing that a bit a stretching into shape didn't cure though.....
http://www.crochetpatty.com/patterns/squares/plutosq.html

It really is the perfect sphere.....

I'm really pleased to have found this pattern, the sphere I have made uses a 3.5mm hook, standard double knit wool and the 10 round pattern. This has created a 4cm sphere:

As a chemistry teacher I can see me making a large number of these to form into various molecules - the question is whether I am brave enough to try a Bucky Ball? This would involve 60 spheres in a football arrangement!! It might have to wait until the long summer break....
The original pattern can be found here:
http://mspremiseconclusion.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/the-ideal-crochet-sphere/

Another twist on the basic granny square.....

Today's square is very similar to the basic granny squares I completed at the beginning of this project, however instead of working groups of 3 triple crochets a pineapple stitch is worked in each space. This gives a puffier effect:

The original pattern can be found here:
http://yarnchic40.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/crochet-hawaiian-granny-square-pattern/

And another circular square.....

This is another square that uses to front post treble crochet to good effect:

The original pattern can be found here:
http://www.coatsandclark.com/NR/rdonlyres/73826811-2FA1-4DF8-B9C7-57373C9635E8/123469/CTFeb0869.pdf
I have added and extra round of double crochets to make it the same size as my other squares.

A twist on the African flower.....

This started off as an African flower square, but for some reason it wouldn't sit flat so when I added the white round making it square I missed the middle 3 stitches on every other 'petal', this has given it a ruffled effect:

A pattern for an 8 petaled African flower can be found here:
http://www.crochettoday.com/how-to/how-make-african-flower
Maybe this pattern would give a flat flower!!