Category: Yarn

12 Days of Christmas Charity Hats

This year was my third year of taking part in the annual 12 days of Christmas charity hat challenge – making 12 premature baby hats in 12 days to donate to charity.

We were given lots of different patterns to choose from to make our hats, but one in particular appealed to me, so I used the same pattern for all my hats.

I chose a range of colours to make my hats in. Each one should fit a baby weighing around 3-5lb.

They are being sent to a local charity who will send them to hospital baby units where they are needed.

Frankenstein Hat

I haven’t done much crafting lately at all. I did, however, make this Frankenstein crochet hat for Halloween.

I hadn’t planned to make it at all. But on the Monday lunchtime I was accepted into a private Facebook group for the baby group I attend on a Tuesday afternoon, and the top post in the group was to inform us that the following day was a Halloween party and fancy dress was encouraged.

Panic stations! We don’t have Halloween fancy dress at home. We don’t really celebrate Halloween usually. So what could I come up with in 24 hours that didn’t require a trip into town?

My first thought was a pumpkin. Orange sleepsuit, simple orange crochet hat. Easy! Until I discover that I don’t in fact own any orange yarn. Pretty much any other colour you like, but not orange!

So I trawled Halloween hat patterns on the internet and came up with this:

The pattern is from Simply 2 Irresistible on etsy. It was quite easy to follow and make, and I think I finished with about an hour to spare on Tuesday! I could probably have done with making a size larger though, as it’s quite a snug fit.

And just for the ‘ahhh’ factor, here are some photos of the hat in action.

My little monster:

Halloween parties are such hard work!

Pascha Bear

This is Pascha bear. He’s made from a free pattern by Crafty is Cool, who also sent me the eyes and nose to make him.

I used Rico Design Creative Cotton Aran yarn to make Pascha, which is the same as I used to make Upsy Daisy, nice and sturdy for a toy.

He has made his way to Ireland with lots of other Pascha bears that people have made to the charity ‘To Russia With Love’ who help and support abandoned children.

Upsy Daisy

My youngest niece turns 1 today!

I wanted to make her a toy for her birthday, and after thinking about which characters she might recognise decided on Upsy Daisy from In The Night Garden.

I looked at several patterns for making her on the internet, but only came across one that I thought really looked like her, from a etsy shop based in Finland called Fjukten.

The yarn I used was Rico Design Creative Cotton Aran which comes in lots of bright colours, which is perfect for Upsy Daisy, and should stand up to more cuddling than acrylic yarn!

Each part of Upsy Daisy is made separately and then put together. Her head has lots of parts, as each bit of hair is separate, as well as the hair base, the eyes, nose and eyelids.

I really liked the pattern because it was very detailed and specific about what to do at each step. It also had a lot more detail than any of the other patterns I’d seen, including the white petal pattern on her skirt and the handle she uses to make it inflate.

Here is my finished Upsy Daisy:

I’m really pleased with her, and hope my niece likes her too 🙂