Monday Mayhem - 2019, The Year That Was.

Since we're coming to the end of the year I thought it was time to do a wrap up of what I have achieved this year. I will start with the projects that I have finished.

These are the objects that I have completed this year.

52 Comfort Bears
9 Sheep
4 Ducks of various colours
A Blue Horse
A Purple Cat
A White Dog
A Gold Fish
A Brown Bear
3 Blankets
6 Shopping Bags with Pouch
5 Shopping Bags without Pouch

That is a total of 84 finished objects.

Looking back at the blog it seems that I was more productive in the first month of the year and in the last couple of months than in the middle of the year. The only projects I managed to finish in the middle of the year were comfort bears.

My to-do list looks like this :-

Things to make to replace stock for my market stall:

Matinee Jackets in pink and purple
Tiny Dogs
Heather Hippo
Large Witch
Large Penguin
Small Rabbit
Panda
Frog Keepsake Pouch
Ankylosaurus
Bottle Cosies in more team colours (Bulldogs, Geelong, Essendon and West Coast)
Medium Bunny
Tiny Duck
Large Bunny
Small Turtles
Platypus x 2
Koala x 2
Tommy Tortoise
Towel Toppers (Tea Towels)
Small Jug Covers
Large Jug Covers
Simple Owls
Animals from "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?" which include:-
A red bird (made one)
A yellow duck (made one)
A Blue horse
A green frog
A Purple cat
A white dog
A black sheep and
A gold fish

Current Work In Progress:

Comfort Bears
Yarn Eater (Hungarian Crochet) Blanket
Story Time Blanket
Double Knit Butterfly Blanket
Corner to Corner Picture Blanket
Sunhat and Bootees in white & pink
Short rows knitted scarf
Sheep of all colours
Shopping Bags with Pouch
Lounge Chair Cover

Things I'm itching to get started on:

Crochenit Knee Rug (same as Cot Blanket and will also use up some of my stash of 8ply)
Table Runners for each Australian state and territory (currently trying to design the ACT one).
Tunisian Crochet Intarsia Table Runner
Picture Blanket (need samples so people can see what they might be getting)
Article in Broomstick Lace
Article in Hairpin Lace
More dinosaurs

On a different note, my weight loss hasn't gone to plan. At 127.9kg I think I have actually gained weight this year. 

The only other thing of note that has happened this year is my change of status and income. The government, in its infinite wisdom, decided that I wasn't doing enough for my ex-wife to qualify as her carer. This has meant that I have taken a pay cut and have had to adjust my spending accordingly. 

I'm not sure what the new year has in store for me but I do hope things improve. I don't make New Years Resolutions as they are too hard to keep. I do have plans for the year which mainly involve crochet and losing weight but I will try and take one day at a time. I wish all my readers a happy and prosperous new year. 

Richard. 

Friday FOs - 27.12.2019

I managed to get a bit of crochet done this week in spite of the Christmas festivities. I even managed to finish a few objects, and here they are.

Shopping Bag with Pouch

Shopping Bag in Pouch

Another Shopping Bag ready for use. I think I need about a dozen of these before the next market. I would like to have some for my own use as well.

Orange Sheep No. 1

Orange Sheep No. 2

Two new sheep to add to the collection, just 8 more to go, unless I sell some.

That's all from me for this week. I think I will be spending the weekend preparing my usual "The year that was" post so there may be one more post this year. In the mean time, have a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 20.12.2019

I have had a veery busy week this week. Apart from getting a short term job which has seen me out working for the last three days I have managed to finish five items, and here they are in order of completion.

Shopping Bag with Pouch

Shopping Bag in Pouch

My first finished objec is a shopping bag with a pouch.

Another Shopping Bag with Pouch

The second Shopping Bag in its Pouch

My second finished object is another shopping bag with pouch. If you want to buy any of my shopping bags you will have to wait as I have sold them all.

Comfort Bear No. 52 for this year

Since I normally start making these on a Wednesday afternoon and finish them on Thursday and next Wednesday is Christmas day, this will be my last bear for this year.

A White Sheep

A Second White Sheep

My fourth and fifth finished objects for this week are two white sheep. I plan on making all my sheep in pairs so expect two of each colour appear some time in the future.

That's all from me for this week. I would like to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 13.12.2019

I have managed to finish another couple of objects this week. Here they are.

Comfort Bear No. 51 for this year

My first finished object for this week is another comfort bear. I have just realised that Christmas Day is on the day of the week that I normally be crocheting one of these. Since I'm ahead of my target for this year I think I will take that day off and not crochet a bear that week.

Shopping Bag with Pouch

Shopping Bag in Pouch

My other finished object is another Shopping Bag. These are proving quite popular at the moment. So popular that I don't actually have any in stock and am trying to fill orders. I may have to increase my price on these.

That's all I have for you for this week. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 06-12-2019

Another week comes to an end with a couple of finished objects to show off. Here they are.

A Green Sheep

My sister ordered another Green Sheep (must have another grandchild on the way) so here it is.

Comfort Bear No. 50 for this year

Another Comfort Bear ready for service. A few weeks ago I made two of these in one week so I am one ahead. I need to decide if I am going to make an extra one this year or take a week off and finish with 52 for the year.

That's it from me for this week. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 29.11.2019

I have had another productive week with four finished object to show off. Here they are in order of completion.

A Shopping Bag with Drawstring

Another bag for the Community Centre where I got the cotton.

Comfort Bear No. 49 for this year

There are now 4 weeks left of this year so I guess I can have a week off and still get 52 done for the year.

Two Green Sheep

Since I sold my last sheep a couple of weeks ago I thought I should make some more. The plan is to have two of every colour but my sister has asked for another green sheep so I will need to make another of these before I work on the other colours.

That's it from me for this week. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 22.11.2019

I had had another reasonably productive week with three finished objects to show you. Here they are in order of completion.

A Red String Bag with Pouch

The Bag in its Pouch

I have sold a few of these recently so you can expect to see a few more of these over the next few weeks.

Comfort Bear No. 48 for this year

One more bear for a child to hug.

A Brown Bear

The first of the animals that go with the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?" I will be making all the animals for that book eventually but I also need to make some sheep because I have sold out of them. Which should I do first?

That's it from me for this week. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

How I make my Shopping Bags

I have been asked for a pattern for my shopping bags but I thought it would be better to just do a picture tutorial and show you how it is done.

I start by making a  disk.

The Starting Disk

The pattern for the disk is as follows.

ch 5, sl st to form a ring
ch 1, 12 sc into ring
ch 3 (counts as dc), dc into first sc, 2 dc into each sc around, sl st to join (24 stitches)
ch 4 (counts as dc, ch), dc + ch into each dc around, sl st into 3rd ch of starting ch (48)
ch 3, dc into next ch sp, dc into next dc, continue all the way around, sl st into starting ch. (48 dc)
ch 3, dc into each dc around, sl st into starting ch (48 dc)
ch 1, sc into same place as sl st, sc into each dc, sl st intp 1st sc (48 sc)

For bags with a pouch I make 2 disks.

Two disks that will form a pouch

I then join the two disks with scs making sure to leave a 12 stitch opening.

Two Disks Joined

I then work approximately 30 loops around by doing sc into 1st sc, ch 5, sk next sc, sc in next sc, ch 5, sc in next sc, until the last loop. The last loop is formed by doing ch 2, dc into 1st sc.

Single disk with first row of loops

Pouch with first round of loops

Continue each round with ch, sc into loop, ch 5, sc into next loop, finishing with ch 2, dc into 1st sc for a total of 30 rounds.

Bag with 30 rounds of loops

The finishing depends on whether I am making handles or a drawstring. If handles, I do 3 dc in each loop starting with ch 3, dc in 1st loop, finishing with 1 dc in the 1st loop, sl st into 3rd ch of starting ch. co. If drawstring, replace 1 dc in each loop with a ch.

Bag read for drawstring

Drawstring for drawstring Bag

Finished Bag

To finish the bag with pouch I make a pair of handles and add a button and button hole to the pouch to hole the bag in the pouch.

Finished Bag with pouch and handles

Finished Bag in its pouch

I haven't described how I make the handles bcause I use a farely complex method that is hard to describe but I'm sure experienced crocheters cand figure out how to make handles.

Hope this helps you make your own bags.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 15.11.2019

I have managed to finish a few objects this week which makes it look like I have been very productive but I have been working on two of these for a few weeks. Here are my finished objects for this week.

Shopping Bag with Pouch

Shopping Bag in its Pouch

I was working on this last Saturday while at the Art & Craft Fair and sold it before it was even finished.

Pram Blanket

After consulting several size charts it seems that my previous blanket was too small for a pram and was suitable for a child's comforter. This one is somewhat larger.

Comfort Bear No. 47 for this year

Another Comfort Bear, ready for service.

That's all from me for this week. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 08.11.2019

I have been quite busy this week and have managed to finish three items, and here they are.

The first item that I finished this week was another string bag.

A Rainbow coloured String Bag with a drawstring clossure

The Rainbow coloured String Bag drawn closed

This is another made for the community centre where I volunteer.

The other two finished items came about because of a request from my paster. She wants to give three bears to officers that are leaving the area for other posts. Unfortunately, I pnly had one and she wanted them this week, so I needed to make two more, and here they are.

Comfort Bear No. 45 for this year

Comfort Bear No. 46 for this year

I made these in Salvation Army colours because I thought it would be appropriate for the people that they are going to be given to.

That's all I have for you this week. I am still working on the tutorial for how I make the string bags so expect to see that shortly (for some definition of "shortly"). Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

How I Make My Comfort Bears

I have had several people ask me for a pattern for these, but I have never had one. I made my first bear after seeing a knitted version, worked out how to make it in crochet and made adjustments until I was happy with the final result.

The end product

I could have used better colours to show this but I hope you can see enough to be able to follow.

Because the tutorial for some of the stitches I use are only in US stitches I will be using US terminology for these instructions. Fro those that are used to English terminology, US sc = Eng dc.

I start with 20 foundation sc stitches but you couls start with 21 ch and 20 sc into the chain. Make sure to leave a long (10-15cm) tail at the start to help with sewing up the legs.

20 x fsc

I then continue with 1 sc in the base of each fsc (or unused part of ch st),

First round complete

I then continue with 1 sc in the front loop only of each sc for 19 rounds. Working in the front loop only makes the stitches stand up straighter than using both loops or back loop only.

The change of colour is acheived using a method that I learned online. It is called a jogless colour change. While this doesn't produce a jog free colour change, the jog is reduced significantly. It is achieved by starting the stitch with the first colour, completing it with the second and then a slip stitch into the next stitch.

The first 19 row with the first colour change

I then do 10 rounds with the second colour before changing to the third colour.

The front of the main body

Back of main body

As you can see, the jog is still visible.

Make sure to leave a long tail at the end for sewing up the ears and top.

To make the arms, start with colour 3, 2 ch, 6sc into the first ch, 2sc in each sc, 1 sc in each sc for 2 rounds, change to colour 2 and do 9 more rounds, leaving a long tail at the end. Make 2.

Body and arms

Using the tail left at the start, sew up the middle of the bottom section to separate the legs.

Body with leg stitching

Stuff the body and arms with appropriate material. With the body stuffed, using the end tail, sew across the top for 5 stitches, sew down at 45 deg toward side to create the first ear, continue sewing across the top to last 5 stitches, sew down at 45 deg toward other side to create the second ear, sew remaining stitches across top and hide the end.

Body stuffed with ears and top sewn up

Body complete, arms stuffed ready to be sewn on.

Sew on arms.

All ready for the facial features to be embroidered

 Finsh by embroidering the facial features.

The Finished item.

The dark colours make it difficult to see the facial features so here is last week's bear.

Last week's bear

I hope this helps those that want to make these.