Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Flower Hairclip Tutorial




My head is packed full of so many creative ideas and I'm keen to start sharing them with you via my blog so here goes with my first attempt at a tutorial....

This tutorial will show you how to make these cute little hair clips, perfect for a special little girl though due to their small size I would advise they are not suitable for under 3s. Their super easy to make even if you've got very little crochet experience. 

NB: This pattern uses British crochet terms. All crochet terms are written out in full to assist beginners.


Equipment/Materials

. 4mm crochet hook 
. A small amount of double knit yarn in yellow and one other contrasting colour. I used King Cole Bamboo Cotton but any double knit yarn should work.
. Hair clip with cross hole or 2 holes at end - available at craft shops or on ebay - see picutre on right
. Yarn needle for sewing in ends/attaching to clip





Part 1 - Making the Centre of the Flower


 








1. Using yellow, start by making a slip knot.  
 Tip: I leave a long tail approximately 25cm long, this can then be used to attach the flower to the hair clip.

















 2. Chain 5.










 







3. Slip stitch the last chain to the first one to form a circle.
Tip: If you prefer you can use a magic circle instead.











4. double crochet x 10 into the circle made by the chain stitches; slip stitch the last double crochet to the first.








5. Chain 1 then double crochet into the same space as you joined the double crochets from the last round.








6. Chain 3.












 





 7. Counting round the double crochets from the previous round skip one then double crochet into the next double crochet. This will allow the chain 3 from step 6 to create a loop round the edge of your circle.







8. Chain 3, skip one double crochet, double crochet into the next double crochet 3 more times. Then chain 3 again and slip stitch to the first double crochet from step 5.


9. Fasten off the yellow.









You should now have something that looks like this - a circle of double crochets surrounded by 5 chain 3 loops into which you will now work your petals. 





Part 2 - Putting on the Petals

 

The next part of the pattern involves using a different coloured yarn to create the petals that are worked into each of the chain 3 loops around the centre of the flower.







1.  Work a double crochet 'sideways' around one of the double crochets between the chain 3 spaces of the previous round.

Tip: It doesn't matter which double of the 5 double crochets from the previous round you start from. 









It should look something like this.







2. Chain 1, then work 5 treble crochets into the chain 3 space from the previous round, then chain 1.


Tip: Note in this picture I have also begun working the treble crochets over the top of the tale of the purple yarn, this means that once the flower is finished I can just cut of the end of the yarn and don't have to worry about sewing it in.







3. Now repeat steps 1 and 2 a further 4 times as follows:
. Double crochet round the double crochet post from the previous round
. Chain 1
. Work 5 treble crochets into the chain 3 space
. Chain 1














You should be left with something that looks like this. 











4. Now you need to join the end back to the beginning. To do this slip stitch the end to the first double crochet of the round. Finish by fastening off your yarn.


Tip: Sometimes it's a little tricky to slip stitch to the right point at the end of the round as the double crochet is worked sideways and is sometimes twisted, if it doesn't look quite right you can undo the slip stitch and try again but usually when the yarn is fastened off and the end sew in the join looks much neater. 







The end result should look something like this. 


5. Sew in any loose ends and trim the yarn except the long yellow piece from the start of the centre of the flower.










You will then need a hair clip like this one or one with 2 holes at the end, these can be brought quite cheaply on ebay or at craft shops. 

Use the long piece of yellow yarn from the centre to attach the flower to the cross at the top of the clip sewing round in a circle so that the hair clip is evenly attached to all sides of the cross on the clip.






Your hair clip is now complete, the perfect cute accessory for any little girl.  I would advise however that due to their small size these clips would be unsuitable for under 3s. 

I hope you enjoyed my first tutorial, any feedback would be much appreciated and if anything is not clear please do not hesitate to contact me for advice.

Happy crocheting! 

 

Wednesday, 13 August 2014

Apricot and Blueberry Crumble Cake


Feeling a bit sorry for myself the last few days after a car accident last week, though I say just a bit sorry for myself because you only have to watch the news for about 30 seconds at the moment to put your own problems in perspective. I've been confined to the house on some fairly hefty painkillers and resting most of the time but I've been trying to keep myself moving and I've been pottering about a bit so decided I'd try out a new recipe today.  

I happened to have lots of blueberries that needed using up and trying to avoid wastage I found this recipe http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7037/apricot-and-blueberry-crumble-cake

My first discovery from the recipe is that it tells you to line the baking tray - occasionally I find you can get away without doing this and just grease the tin but it's essential in this recipe and make sure you leave an overhang of paper at either end of the tin as this is the only way I could see to get the cake out of the tin without it crumbling to bits!
This is one of those recipes where it just says "Beat the butter, sugar, four, baking powder, eggs and milk together until creamy," however this always makes me a little nervous shoving everything in together so I went for :
. Cream the butter and sugar until pale
. Beat in the eggs with a little of the flour
. Beat in the rest of the flour and the baking powder
. Add the milk




As soon as I started baking of course my little pup arrived, she insists on sitting right on top of my feet while I'm baking just so she can get to any dropages before I can clear them up! 






The recipe says to half the apricots but I found that cutting them into smaller pieces - about 6ths - enabled them to be spread more evenly across the top of the cake. 

Adding lots of fruit and using a light yogurt makes the cake healthy right...








With the yogurt, fruit and crumble added before baking again.









Once baked I was able to use the excess baking parchment at the sides to lift the cake out to cool, if I hadn't had that I have no idea how I would have got it out of the tin without it falling apart!






The verdict is....   An excellent, easy to make, super yummy recipe perfect enjoyed with a good cup of tea but would also work really well as a dessert served warm with some cream.  I might have to experiment with some different fruit toppings in the future.