Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Hot Pad

This little hot pad/trivet was made as an extra for PerfectlyBohemian in the Great British Bake Off Swap.  I saw a version of it, and decided I just had to make one.  I mean, come on, how cute is a little pie made of yarn?  I used a free pattern from Yarnspirations for the overall look and the lattices, but I wasn't thrilled with their 'pie filling', so instead I used a Youtube tutorial by One Dog Woof about how to crochet the bobble stitch in the round. 

When I had what I felt was a big enough filling, I just crocheted a plain circle for the back, making sure I had enough increases to end my final row with the same number of stitches I had in the pie filling.  (Mine came to 80.) Then I went back to following the Yarnspirations pattern, reducing the number of lattices per side to 6, sewing the lattice pieces in place, and then crocheting both layers together and adding the fluted border.  It came out adorable, but I'll warn you, don't make it unless you like weaving in ends!  So many ends!

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.

Magenta Sun & Phoenix Mats

After finishing my Charming Mat I decided to use up some more of the sari yarn in my stash by making a few more mats/trivets/doilies.  I started off with the large sized trivet from the Aunt Aggie's Trivets pattern, made from a magenta sari silk.  I didn't have enough yarn to do it exactly as written, so I did Rounds 1-6 as written, then a row of 8 single crochets per chain space.  I like how it looks like a primitive sunburst.  It measures 13" across, and I think it would be nice under a plant or under a decorative bowl on a table.

Finally I had a few balls of a red-orange silk that had some breaks in it when I balled it, so I decided to try some of the smaller trivets in the pattern. I started the size small, but it looked awful in such a busy yarn, so I frogged it and went with two of the medium sized trivets instead.  They are each 9.5" across.  Due to the thick & thin nature of the yarn, the final round of the pattern was a bit too bulky, causing a wavy edge to them that I didn't like, so I ended up skipping two of the single crochets per petal in the final round.  (Specifically in the first and last sc of the previous rounds.) 

Not exactly sure what I'm going to do with all of these, but they will either go into my shop, or into my stash of handmade holiday gifts.