Strawberry Hooker's Helper Necklace

My dear friend, the uber-talented Embroiderer Extraordinaire kittykill is learning to crochet.  Since I was already crafting her some strawberry goodies, I couldn't help but want to send her some fun tools to use as she learns to hook, so I whipped up a Hooker's Helper necklace for her.  The pendant at the bottom is a thread/yarn cutter.  The charms are stitch markers that can be removed to use in a project, and stored back on the necklace when done.  There are 4 little enamel strawberries, 2 green enamel stars, and 4 beads to help her keep track of her work. 

Strawberry Blossom Bracelet

After making the strawberry kitchen items, I moved away from crochet.  I knew I wanted to find a way to use some of the beautiful lampwork glass strawberry beads in my stash.  As I searched the web for inspiration pictures of strawberries, I decided I'd like to add some blossoms too, so I found some lucite flowers and bright green lucite leaves.

The bracelet chain is sterling, and the findings are sterling-filled.  The beads are a mix of handmade lampwork berries, Czech glass, and Swarovski crystal.  The whole piece was a joy to make. 

Strawberry Kitchen Accessories

I recently organized a "Life is Berry Sweet" Swap, themed around cheerful little strawberries.  I had the good fortune to be crafting for the lovely kittykill.  I know she has a red & yellow kitchen, and an overall 'Granny-Chic' design concept, so I decided to make her some granny inspired goodies.

I fell in love with an adorable potholder I saw on Ravelry, but the pattern was only available in a book that's out of print, so I decided to try to figure it out myself.

I started by looking on Youtube for a video showing how to make a mitered corner square.  For mine I started with a chain of 52, then followed the video instructions, alternating colors every 2 rows.  I made two of these squares, and then used the red yarn to hook them together along the edges to make it two layers thick.  I added a basic shell border in red, along with a loop at the top, and found a pattern for a strawberry applique. 

I liked the alternating stripes of white and green potholder so much that even though I planned to make some strawberry dishcloths (below), I decided to make a striped one too.  I was partially afraid that kittykill might want to display her goodies, rather than use them, so I figured a spare dishcloth to actually use wouldn't go amiss.  The pattern is one of my all time favorites, as it makes nice sturdy, but still pretty, dishcloths.  It's available as a free Ravelry download.  Fire Blossom Dishcloth.

I knew I would be making at least a few of these Granny Strawberry Dishcloths, before I started on the potholder.  I made them earlier this summer for some friends, and just loved how they came out.  The Granny triangle is a quick & easy pattern, but the stems can be a little confusing as you read the written pattern.  I just used a pen & paper to sketch out what the directions were saying badly, and then winged it. 

Finally I wanted to add a few more bits and bobs to the kitchen set.  I thought a set of coasters might be fun, so I tried starting with a set based on a variation on a granny square, but I disliked how it was coming out.  It didn't seem like it would make a good size coaster, and the bubble stitch used made it too bumpy to hold a drink on top of. 

 

So I ended up taking the coaster I started and turned it into a trivet instead.  I figured with a larger item like a pan, the slightly lumpy center wouldn't be as much of a problem as it would with a narrower glass.  I just added a few granny rows and a border with some picot stitches in the corners.

 

Since the square coaster idea didn't work, I decided to try a round variation on the Granny theme, and went with this pattern, intended for Christmas ornaments, and added a round of slip stitching on the backside, to give it a slightly raised edge.

Strawberry Dishcloths

When I saw this adorable pattern, I knew I had to make it!  It's the Granny Strawberry Dishcloth pattern, free from Yarnspirations.  The granny triangles were a breeze, but the leaves and stem were a bit more confusing.  In the end I mostly followed the pattern and just winged the last row by sight.

The yarn is Red Heart Scrubby Smoothie in Cherry & Sugar'n Cream Scents in Aloe Vera.  I hadn't realized it was scented yarn when I bought it; I simply liked that shade of green best.  The smell is so subtle that I didn't notice it when I was working with it, and will be curious to see how it smells while doing dishes.  I actually had so much green left that I ended up doing a few solid green cloths.  The round is the Fire Blossom pattern on Ravelry, and the square one is something I made up for a friend, that I call Amber Ridge.  I ended up sending one of each to friends from the Crochet Shawl-Along in mini care packages.