HOW TO: Make a child's t-shirt into a peg bag

There are a very few things more satisfying than hanging all your laundry out on the line on a warm summer's day...Your clothes smell fresh, and you save the environment (just a bit!) by not running five loads through the tumble dryer!

Uh, however, if you're like me, you need about a million clothes pegs, hence the "peg bag". You're welcome to buy one from Cath Kidston for a tenner, if you so desire, but an easier and more fun thing to do is to convert an old child's tee (one of your children's own, or a neighbour's!)...It costs next to nothing and can be sorted in about an hour.What you'll need:

1. A child's t-shirt. Any size from about 2 to 4 will be right.
2. A small hanger. This may have come with the t-shirt, or something else...I find that the ones that come with adult swimsuit tops are quite good!
   
3. Some stuff you have lying around the house.

I have to be intentionally vague on the third one, because there are a number of different ways to accomplish the same thing!

There are two parts to creating a peg bag from a t-shirt:

1. You have to close up the bottom of the tee.
2. You have to create a hole to put the pegs in.

That's really it...And how you get there is up to you.

The first time I made one, all I did was to run the bottom of the shirt through the sewing machine and make a slice across the chest.

The peg bag you see in the picture is crocheted shut with a very small-gauge hook and some crochet thread, and detailed with a picot stitch! I did the same on the hole for the pegs, partially to match the bottom, and partially to prevent the opening from fraying.

The final part is to hang the t-shirt up on the hanger, et voila! You've got a nifty, cheap peg bag, and you also find a use for those old t-shirts you love, can't throw away, but just can't justify keeping around :)

noisypitta.etsy.com

What I've been up to...For the last couple months!

Oooooh, I'm a baaad blogger. I hope I haven't let any of you down by not posting in so long!

The truth is, I've gone a little ADHD, craftily speaking. Over the last several months, I've crocheted a jumper, learned to knit (well, learned to stocking stitch!) and, most recently, made a peg bag out of one of my son's old t-shirts!

Unfortunately, I've been having camera, uh, issues. Ones that culminated in my hubby finally getting fed up and going out to buy a new one, which will arrive this week. And then it'll be piccies galore, you just wait :)

noisypitta.etsy.com

Why Corporate Meetings Are, Yes Kids, A GOOD Thing

I would like to tell you kids a story.

I woke up this morning at the proverbial butt-crack of dawn, half past five, to arrive at work at half past six and drive three hours to an all-day training course that was completely irrelevant to my job.

But guess what? I got two new designs for plushies out of it!

Now, if only I could figure out a way to actually generate and store TIME while I'm sitting in these meetings, that would be great.

noisypitta.etsy.com

New Customised Amazon Store

Hi y'all! Don't know if you've noticed, but I have a new banner at the top of the page here...I hope that it hasn't ruined your enjoyment of my little corner of t'Internet, but I couldn't manage to find a widget that looked right in the sidebar and blah-de-blah, I'll stop boring you with the geeky stuff. Anyway, Amazon offers a service where I can create my own little mini-store with all the books I recommend, so I've done that. I've included some books on amigurumi, some crochet technique books, and some other books with different kinds of patterns, mostly garments. I've completed at least one pattern in most of them, or had them highly recommended to me. So have a quick browse if you like, and I hope it helps you sort the wheat from the chaff, as it were, since there are so many crochet books out there to choose from!

noisypitta.etsy.com

Even the Experienced Ones Screw It Up Sometimes, Don't They?

I would just like to confess that I've been diligently crocheting granny squares for a few days now...I have five lovely, identical (except for the yarn) pieces. As I said below, they were all in the standard double crochet open pattern...

...but...

I have just, right this second, realised that I've actually been doing an extended double crochet. So now that I've realised, I have to do the rest of them the same, AND, it's going to continually bug me that I've screwed it up from the beginning.

From now till I'm finished, you can picture me crocheting granny squares, with a quiet snarl under my breath. Grr.

noisypitta.etsy.com

Crochet Ain't Just For Yarn, Ya Know!

I spent the Christmas break this year with my husband's family, in Warwickshire. As per usual, we spent Christmas Day at my in-laws' house, and on Boxing Day we made the hour-or-so long journey to Northamptonshire to visit Auntie Val and Uncle Trevor's house and see the extended fam. Amongst the revelers was my cousin-in-law Julia, with whom I proceeded to TOTALLY GEEK OUT over crochet! Julia does a lot of her crochet in natural alpaca, which she gets sent from Stick Chick's Etsy site in America. However, the most interesting of her crocheting endeavours is what she does with various types of wire.

"What's that you say? WIRE?!?! Why, I've never heard of such a thing!"

You better believe it, buddy. Actually, I have seen wire crochet around several places, but I've never met anyone who does it. Until now, obviously. Anyway, she does lovely jewellery pieces that are unique and stylish, for example, the bronze wire and satin ribbon cuff below:

Ooh, or this butterfly hair clip:

Have a look at her other creations in her Etsy shop, juliaemily.etsy.com.

I know what you're going to say next: okay, NP, so when are you going to start crocheting crazy metal stuffed robot things?! Uh, probably not soon, especially as I'm still grannying. But I will definitely have to keep it in mind...Hm...

noisypitta.etsy.com

Ooh, Aah! First Look Granny Squares

Since I KNOW y'all have been DYING for this...Have a look at my first granny squares!

I'm totally geeking out over these babies! They're so fun! Okay, sorry about that...Moving on.

I gave into my OCD self and decided to make all the squares exactly the same, in the "basic" granny square pattern, e.g. three dc in each cluster, one ch between clusters, two ch to turn a corner...You get my drift.

Till next time...

noisypitta.etsy.com

...And the Clearout Begins!

Well, okay, so it's a little early for Spring Cleaning, but I figure it's about time for my yarn collection to have a little "detox". In other words, it's time to get rid of all the crap lying around that I haven't ever used! I still find myself wanting to go out and buy new wool, but I literally have NO space in my house for more yarn...

So, a detox it is.

I have spent rather a long time trying to figure out how on EARTH I was going to manage to get rid of all my yarn, given that it's all different gauges, colours, lengths...GRR. I have finally settled on making a patchwork granny square quilt, with monochrome granny squares in all different colours. I will make each square as big as I can/need to with the amount of whatever yarn I have, and then work on stitching them together. No pics yet, as I haven't started, but if y'all have any suggestions as to where I can get some interesting granny square motifs, lemme know. I'd like to NOT do them all exactly the same!

Wish me luck, and keep your fingers crossed it doesn't look like complete crap.

^_^

noisypitta.etsy.com

My Top 5

I was inspired today by a curious shopper (you know who you are!) to list some of my favourite crochet books, and how to find them. To that end, please see the new box to the right, sandwiched between "Inspiration" and "Resources", entitled, "My Top 5 Crochet Books". They are all currently available from Amazon.co.uk (and probably other Amazons as well!), and I own all of them, and have worked through more than one pattern in each. If you're an experienced crafter, or a complete newbie, I'd recommend them all, regardless!

Also, although it didn't fit on the sidebar, I cannot heartily enough recommend Saucylouise's Etsy Shop (and her main shop), as a resource for fantastic Japanese crochet books. I have a slipper pattern book from her, and it's one of my favourites, and I even went through a *serious* slipper-making phase because of it! Japanese patterns are my favourite because they're cute, dainty, and contemporary (I don't know what the trouble is with us Westerners, but it seems like so much out there is just an elaborate tea-cosy!). If you have some experience crocheting, you won't find it difficult to follow these books, because they are filled with brilliant, easy-to-read diagrams. However, like I said, you will need some experience beforehand to understand the context of the stitches, and how to do basic things like finishing, increasing, decreasing, the like!

Finally, I would just like to warn the wary internet shopper...There are several peeps out there on Etsy (and other places) who are in the business of copying Japanese patterns and reselling them, translated into English. I don't care who you are, that's stealing, and I'm not having any of it.

If it doesn't say it's an original pattern, don't buy it!

If you want to buy a Japanese pattern but you're afraid you won't be able to understand it, you can most likely ask the seller. Also, there are great forums at Craftster.org, where you can get loads of free help.

Okay, that's enough of me ranting for now...Happy hooking!

UPDATED 18th January 2009: I've re-jigged the layout of the site, so my favourite books are now in a carousel right at the top. I hope you'll be able to use this a little better than just the links!

noisypitta.etsy.com

FINALLYOMIGODFINALLY

Well, kids, I finally did it. I finally posted my VERY FIRST pattern on Etsy. Wooooooo...That means that TLOPTIWMODWIGATI(IS) -- The List Of Patterns That I Will Make One Day When I Get Around To It (I Swear) -- is one item shorter!

Anyway, have a look at it: PATTERN Amigurumi Kitten Finger Puppet

It's a cute little kitten pattern, quite simple and quick, but fun. I hope you like :)

noisypitta.etsy.com

He's going to Aus-tra-li-a!!!

Ah, my latest project is kind of a sad one...I am losing a good friend because he's emigrating to Oz in a couple weeks, so I wanted to give him something special as a leaving gift. And yes, I considered THAT, but it's hardly appropriate...Moving on.

Anyway, I was hit by a wave of Aussie inspiration (and quite a lot of Home and Away), so I came up with a little koala! I think he's quite precious, and actually quite simple to make, so I'm adding him to The List Of Patterns That I Will Make One Day When I Get Around To It (I Swear).

Here he is!

Oh, and I just have to show this pic as well...Look at his little nose!!!


I hope you like :) Oh, and for Brian: good luck with everything and don't worry..."it'll be fine."

noisypitta.etsy.com

New bunny, and frilly tips

I finally finished the little "thing" I started when I went crocheting with shinykatie. I took with me some lovely lilac-coloured organic wool and had intended to make a little bunny, but then I got sidetracked by THE DRESS (which I have now abandoned, for reasons I will explain in a bit)...Anyway, I finally went back to it, and have come out with this:
I'm quite pleased with it, actually, and the frilly bits took a bit of tenacity, let me tell you! It's fairly straightforward, but very easy to pick up and lose stitches quite easily.

To make the frilly part of the 'gurumi, you alternate working in the front and back loops of your stitches: in the front loops, do a sc, 5 ch, then sc in next front loop, all the way around. Then go back to the back loops, and do a sc in each loop around. If you do any shaping (e.g. increases/decreases), do them in the sc stitches in the back loops.

For this particular project, the frills started out with 1 ch between every sc in the front loop, then on the next round, it was 3 ch between each sc, then 5 ch between. Doing this gives it kind of a graduated look.

Anyway, yes, the only reason I was able to finish this dude was because I have finally abandoned my dress, after I assembled the bodice and I had one HUGE armhole and one tiny one. Then I tried to fix it with the sleeves, but I used the wrong hook, and basically I haven't got the concentration to carry it on for now! I am holding out hope that I will eventually want to go back to it, but I was just missing my 'gurumis too much!

noisypitta.etsy.com

Testing, testing...

You may have noticed me complaining in the past that one of the hindrances to me progressing with my craft (ooh, does that sound pretentious, or what?) is that I have no permanent setup for taking decent photos...

Well, folks, that is about to change! I got myself a photo tent off eBay from Next-Gadgets Ltd, for about £10, and so far, it's a serious step up. Here's the first shot I took in it:
I still have some tweaking to do on the setup, such as the colour balance (as you'll notice, the white is, like, SUPER bright!), and I need to do some test shots at night, since that's when most of my work gets done. READ: that's when the toddler is asleep...

However, it's still a great little thing. I love the velvety backgrounds because they're non-reflective, and it all being in a tent means a lot less shadow. My next step is to get some kawaii Japanese fabric to make some backdrops with, just to jazz it up a bit!

Oooh, I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself!

Now, if I can just finish that DAMN DRESS and move onto some more fun things...

noisypitta.etsy.com

Yes, I'm probably crazy

For those of you who haven't yet witnessed my insane witterings on about having been to London last weekend (and which I referred to briefly in my last post): I went to London last week to crochet with shinykatie!

It's a funny story this: see, a couple weeks ago, I was out getting schnockered (read: drunk) with some friends, prior to going to see the new Indiana Jones film (which wasn't great, by the way). Just before departing my friend Claire's house, and just after downing more cider than I probably should have, I received a tweet from shinykatie, with the following text: *text will be inserted here once Twitter sorts itself out...For the meantime, the gist of it was inviting me to do some crochet thing in Crystal Palace*.

The response to this, of course, was me squealing. And immediately replying that I thought it would be fun. To which shinykatie responded that she thought I was loopy. Which is probably true.

Anyway, long story short, I trucked my butt all the way from Swindon to London (2 hours in the car) to sit on a table outside on the street in Crystal Palace, chat with Katie, and teach people to crochet. It was one of the best times I've had in a long time. I was surprised, actually, how many people came by who were willing to just sit down at our table and have a go. I taught two lefties and a little right-handed girl (uh, and myself at the same time, since I've never crocheted right-handed!). I'd never taught anyone to crochet before, so it was nerve-wracking at first, but in the end it was really great fun. Plus, around lunch time, someone brought us lovely strawberry parfaits, which were highly appreciated.

I feel that I should mention that the whole thing was organised by the ladies at It's a Green Thing, a superb little eco shop on Church Road. If you want to see a picture of me crocheting at our little booth, check out shinykatie's moblog, and if you just wanna read another great crochet blog, check out Good Hooking.

noisypitta.etsy.com

Works in progress, or, why I've not made anything FUN lately

I've figured out WITHOUT A DOUBT why I don't make garments: they take too frickin' long!!! The problem is, I realise this, then spend ages not making garments, forget why I don't make garments, and then give it a go again. Stupid garments! This is what I'm currently doing, and why I haven't made any progress making all the cute little dudes I doodle in my notebook:
I have been working on this project for the better part of, oh, four weeks? Okay, granted, I made a custom order of two aliens in the meantime, but COME ON! I have the attention span of a flea, so this is torturing me. But I bought 10 balls of yarn for this project and I will not have them just sitting around! I've finally made the decision to put some welly into it and actually work on finishing it so I can get on with other things that I've been brainstorming, such as:

• A little screaming devil dude, complete with pointy tail and horns. Red, of course.
• A stripey French monster with a beret, using my two-colour stripes with no joins technique.
• A lop-eared bunny out of lilac-coloured organic wool, which I started at the crochet booth in Crystal Palace with Katie from Good Hooking (I'll have to post about this shortly).

Ah, well, excuses, excuses, right?!

noisypitta.etsy.com

That bunny

...And here's that bunny that I made in Seattle:
noisypitta.etsy.com

I'm back!

Hi everyone! I'm back from a week in Seattle for my Grandpa's memorial, and then a week of struggling to survive through Horti peak season and 8-hour jet lag.

Oooooh, I spent WAY too much money on yarn and crochet accoutrements while I was there! (And yes, I know that's not strictly a correct use of the word "accoutrements", but I don't care...It sounds niiiiiice.) I think I spent about £30 in Seattle, on yarn and books, and another £25 when I got back, on more yarn to use on a pattern in one of the aforementioned books...Yikes. I justify it by saying that I'll probably end up making the money back in sales! I don't know if that will end up being true, but again, it sounds niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

While out in Seattle, I did quite a lot of crocheting...I was surprised that I managed to get so much done, but I guess it's different when you haven't got to do any housework or run around after a two-year-old! I made a kitten for my aunt Lynita, and a strange little bunny-type creature for my cousin Marina, which I will post here once I figure out how to get it off my phone...

Now that I'm back, I have made some little sachets for my neighbour, which will eventually be filled with lavender and hung in her closet, and I've started on a little devil 'gurumi...But my big project at the moment is the babydoll dress pattern from Crochet Me. It's a gorgeous little pattern, and I hope I don't mess it up! I purposely don't do garments because they're hard! I'm far too impatient to be diligent with gauge, etc. So we'll see.

Anyway, to wrap up this post, I feel as though I need to publicise the great places I saw when out in Seattle...

• Village Yarn and Tea: My aunt Lynita took me to Village Yarn and Tea to meet her friend Anna, on the first day I was there. We browsed the shop for AGES, and then sat down to, omigod, the NICEST cuppa I have ever had. I was boring and went for a Scottish breakfast variety, but I also got a coconut tea scone (made with chopped up tea leaves that looked a little like poppy seeds) and clotted cream. Plus, the tea was served in gorgeous little tea sets, each one different...Mine was a sort of sea green colour with gold trim and a scalloped shape. Loooovvvveeeeellllly. Anyway, they have a fantastic selection of yarns and haberdashery, and the whole place smelled faintly of fudge brownies. Absolute heaven!
• Jo-Ann Fabrics: It's a big chain, and everyone knows it, but I still wish I had one next door. It kicks Hobbycraft's butt up and down the block!!!
• And one that I went to last time, but didn't get a chance to go on this trip: Main Street Yarn. It's got a great selection of lovely yarns to fondle. (Tee-hee!)

Happy hooking :)

noisypitta.etsy.com

Another little green man...Another!

I've done it AGAIN! And this time I've learnt that I'm starting to lose patience with not having a "studio" in my house...I've finished another green dude, and I want to post him on Etsy, but it's so much effort to get the pictures all set up...

Bah, I'm just being lazy, I know. But it's starting to get my back up because I'm trying to do this kitten pattern as well, and every time I want to take a picture of what I'm doing, I have to set up the whole photo studio and it's a pain. I can see you thinking, now, why don't you just leave it set up? Well, I'll give you a hint: it's two years old, and its name is Jim. (My son, if you didn't get that hint.)

Anyway, moving on...Here's a taster of my latest little green man:
What do you think?

By the way...(Tip and trick coming!)...A tip that I learned from browsing some crocheting vids on YouTube: you can work a large pony bead into your fabric for an eye, and it will make it child-safe! Overall, this doll is as child-safe a doll as I have ever made: no PVC beads, only polyester filling; only embroidered features (e.g. smile) and an eye that won't come out unless you unravel the whole thing! The arms are whipstitched onto the body, but even if they come off, they're completely sealed before stitching on (using the tab technique like on my baby bird pattern, when I attached the wings).

I'm eager to get all of my things child-safe, not only because I have a child, but because I believe that these toys should be TOYS, and therefore made to be played with!

noisypitta.etsy.com

Cute Cherries

I discovered yesterday that inspiration can come from anywhere, at any time.

Picture the setting: you're sitting on your bum after a hard day's work, waiting for the chicken to boil down into stock, and you're watching a bit of "The Bionic Woman" from a couple weeks ago. Your hands start to itch, then twitch, and then you realise: you are a crocheter, you MUST crochet. Well, it's about 10:30 at night, and you know that if you stay up past 11, you won't get enough sleep, plus there's every chance that your gorgeous two-year-old son will want you to get up and play with him at 6 am. So what do you do? Start crocheting, knowing that it will keep you up late, or do you ignore the urges and try to take your mind off it with a Coke float and more "Bionic Woman"?

Well, I can tell you what I did...

Both! I poured myself a lovely Coke float, grabbed the new skein of red Pure Gold DK that I've had lying around, and I decided to make some little cherries with smiley faces because they're just so DARNED cute. And here's how they turned out:
And they only took me 1/2 hour. Pretty simple pattern, too:

Materials/Supplies
A small amount of red yarn
A small amount of green yarn
A small amount of black yarn
Crochet hook, the smallest size you can use that won't split your yarn when you work with it
Tapestry needle

Abbreviations used
sc: single crochet
st: stitch
inc: increase
invdec: invisible decrease

If there is anything you don't understand in this pattern, please comment below and I'll respond to you personally.

Gauge
Gauge is not used in this pattern; it will vary depending on the yarn and hook you use.

Cherries
The cherries are worked in spiral rounds. You should use a stitch marker to mark the beginning of each round, so you don't lose your place.

With red yarn, make a ring, work 6 sc into ring. (6 st)

Rnd 1: 2 sc in each st around. (12)
Rnds 2-3: inc 3, evenly spaced. (18 st at the end of rnd 3)
Rnd 4: work even. (18)
Rnd 5: invdec 6, evenly spaced. (12)

Now embroider a face onto the cherry using black yarn, using the photo as a guide. I used French knots for the eyes and back-stitching for the mouth.

Leaves
Make two leaves per cherry.

With green yarn, ch 5. Now work into the back loops of the ch: sc into 2nd ch from hook, then hdc in the next st, dc in the next st. 5 sc in the last stitch and turn to work in the front "v" loops of the foundation chain: dc in the next st, hdc in the next st, sc in the final st. Sl st into the last ch of the foundation chain (the one immediately before you made your first sc). Finish off and weave in ends.

Stems
For each stem, cut a length of green yarn about 4 times the length you want your stems to end up. To be safe, I used lengths about 2 feet long and cut them down as necessary once I was finished assembling!

To make the stem, thread the yarn onto a tapestry needle and through the "fat" end of one leaf, then through the top of the cherry (outside to inside). Then thread the yarn back out the top of the cherry and through the fat end of the other leaf. Tie a square knot in the yarn; this will make the leaves be securely attached. Finally, use the two halves of your length of yarn to make a twisted cord, and tie off.

Final assembly
To finish your cherries, stuff each one firmly, and close the holes by finishing off your red yarn, then threading the end onto a tapestry needle. Thread the yarn through the front loop only of each stitch around the hole, and pull tight; the hole will close naturally. Weave in the ends.

Oh, yeah, and don't forget to grin stupidly when examining your final product :)

noisypitta.etsy.com

Auuuggghh! What is it with green aliens?

Okay, I know, I KNOW. I think it might be a cardinal sin to post twice, once right after the other...But I didn't want these two thing to be in the same post, but I'm kind of on a blogging ROLL, ifyaknowhaddimean.

Look at this cute little green guy!!!
I appear to have an obsession with little green aliens.

Anyway, if you'll recall, this is the guy I'd sketched in my notebook a while back. It's actually turned out quite close to what I had envisioned, which is kind of a first for me. Usually, the way things look just kind of HAPPEN. So yeah, I'm proud of it.

I swear I'm going to go to the H-word for all this pride. (One of the seven deadly sins, isn't it?)

noisypitta.etsy.com