Back To School Pattern Roundup

I know, i know, theyve only just finished school for the holidays, and already im on back to school kit, but there is a very good reason, you only have 6, yes, 6 weeks to ensure theyve got everything they need for the new term.   Back to school essentials can be really expensive, the average UK household will spend a mega £330 on back to school essentials, and those of you in the US will top us by nearly double with the average household spending almost $800. So why go money mad, when chances are you have spare yarn lying around screaming at you 'use me save money'! Now all of the patterns below arent necessarily essentials, but they are things youre most likely (bar uniforms) to spend the most money on. So save a few quid (to spend on holiday perhaps 😁) and hook up a storm this summer. Lets get to it shall we 1. Back to school rucksack from Yarnplaza 

This is soooo cute. I love the design and colourway, and how it looks super suave, but actually its lots of granny squares very well constructed to make a fab rucksack. Simple enough, and with a well writen pattern to boot. This bag can be made in any colour you like, and is great for little munchkins and trendy teens alike. Get the kids involved picking their own colour and they're much more likely to love it. The average backpack costs around £20 if you hooked this from Paintbox cotton yarn currently on offer at just £1.92 per ball, and used the amount the pattern requires youd save £10.40 win win to me 👍🏻   2. Mini bow hairclips from hello yellow yarn

Now i know hair accessories arent going to be at the top of the list, in fact if youre anything like me youll send them with any old clips in! But this year we had a set of uniform rules, and i quote "hair fashions are not encouraged in school" (bye bye jojo bows!) "hair accessories in school colours are permitted for functional usage" in lamens terms for our school, blue and yellow clips are ok. Hence why making your own is a money saver, and you know youll always be able to replicate them should they go astray, get misplaced etc, during the year. 3. Rainbow Lanyard from the Moogly blog

This ones more for the older kids. Not sure if youve noticed but at college or uni nowadays everyone needs id. Great, it keeps our kids safe, and also its more functional (id card opens 100 doors type functional!). Saying this the plain black lanyards they get issued are booooring, and this is where Moogly comes in. Functional, stylish, customisable, super easy. What more can you want in a pattern. 4. Crocodile pencil case from lets knit

Isnt this just the cutest?! Okay its more for younger kids, but youre sure to be a hit if you work up this for your kiddo. You do have to register with the site to get this pattern, however you wont be dissapointed, the site has huge amounts of free knitting and crochet patterns, all of different skill levels and tastes. This pattern does require a bit of skill to complete, but is worth mastering as its super cute, and can be worked i a variety of colours, im thinking purple and pink 😁👍🏻  5. Octopus pencil topper from topcrochetpatterns.com

Ok so not at the top of the list again, (and probably doesnt feature on many lists!) but this is one of those cute things you can use to jazz up otherwise boring pencils, and then be able to get away with buying a pack of 10 for 50p from b and m as opposed to a £2 pack that look pretty! Again you have to register with the site to download this pattern, but this is another site its totally worth doing for. Made in traditional amigurumi method, the pattern also includes an angelfish and whale in the download too.  6. Rainbow pencil case from the diaper mum

A schoolbag staple, and extremely easy to whip up. This pencil case has very basic instructions, easy to put together and easy to customise. The pattern also shows you how to line the bag and add a zipper. Personally i wouldnt line the case as its only for school, but i suppose that all depends on the maker. Use any stitch or colour you like for this case with loads of possibilities.  7. Chic rucksack from Kate Eastwood

Now, i know ive included 2 backpack patterns, my intentions here were that this pattern is perhaps more suited to an older girl than a younger one, and i didnt like to leave out those of you with older kits. This backpack is super stylish, comes with comprehensive, well detailed instructions and pictures in the tutorial, and appears simple enough to make, with a simple method of construction. Again for those of you with a few skills up your sleeve you could omit the edging, or even add a pattern or colourwork into the design. I have to say i just love the style of the backpack. Its very cute. 8. Rillakuma phone sleeve from sweetorials 

Again this is more for the teens in your life, a great way to keep their phone safe. This is soooo easy. The tutorial is on youtube and the video is only 6 minutes long so you can imagine how quickly this will work up. The video has good writen instructions alongside the video and is good quality and easy to follow. A super simple but very cute way to keep those phones safe, and kawaii is very on trend right now. 9. Coin purse / pouch from zipitzippers.com

Ok so this has a multitude of uses. This is great for the smaller kids to take into school with money for trips, dinners, or a morning snack in. Some schools here in the uk let you take in a purse for the week with money in and leave it in school, this is perfect for that. For the older kids its a cool purse, great for keeping headphones, usb drives etc in. For the girlies its a great way to conceal those products they may only use once a month if you get my drift! 10.  Mini granny square tech case by sugarbeans

Oh i do love granny squares. Theyre so versatile, and can be made in all the colours of the rainbow. I love this pattern for many reasons, its super cute, useful, and mixes the kitsch granny with girly detailing in the shell stitch border. Its practical and can be adapted for laptops, phones, ipods, ipads you name it 😁. A super easy make, with great pictures detailing the construction of the case. Great for beginners too and can be styled to suit.   There you have it. 10 super patterns for all the family members that could save you a few quid if nothing else. If youd like to see more im constantly adding to my pinterest boards here. Happy hooking from down the rabbit hole x

Yarn Review - Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK

Hello beautiful people and welcome to my Stylecraft classique cotton DK yarn review.

Now for a long time I've struggled to work with cotton yarn, I mean I have used it but always felt like it was so stiff, hard, the strands split, it was stiff to push my hook through etc. It just wasn't living up to the hype!

I've tried drops yarn, lily sugar and cream, and Rico creative cotton in the past, but I just, for want of a better phrase, can't get down with them.

When I first ventured into cotton yarn the promises from other patterns and websites were softness, natural cool fibres for summer, and many people said it was a joy to work with. So imagine my disappointment when these yarns just didn't live up to the hype. Don't get me wrong I'm not 'dissing' any of the yarns above, I love the colours sugar n cream offer, and the drops price tag is fab, but they jut aren't my cup of tea. 

So this year I made it my mission to find a cotton yarn I love.

Now in my posts you'll no doubt have heard me harp on about how much I love Stylecraft yarn. It's no lie, I do, most of the yarn I buy is Stylecraft, so it was only natural I tried a Stylecraft cotton yarn next. Would my faithful trusty yarn brand let me down? Well let's find out shall we.

Composition 

Ok let's start with the obvious, it's a 100% cotton yarn, in a 50g ball. 92 meters or 100 yards of DK cottony goodness. The packaging leaves a bit to be desired (yes I'm fickle I want my yarn labels to be as pretty as the yarn!) but it's not the worst out there by any means, and it's simple, and let's face it fancy packaging means bigger cost so I'll let it slide! This yarn is as I've said double knit cotton, so requires a 4mm hook to work up. 

Look and feel

Looks wise (its like yarn dating!) the yarn has a bit of a sheen to it, not in a ghastly way, more in a polished, I'll make your project look radiant kind of way, and the colours of the strands is very consistent and vibrant. Once worked up the stitches are very vibrant, and clear, the work looks very neat and uniformed and each individual stitch shines. I can see this being great used in a pattern with more intricate detailing. The colour is bold and eye catching, even in the darker shade, and this is consistent both as a ball and once worked up. 

There's no doubt this yarn is soft. When the package arrived and I pulled the balls from the bag, I was expecting a hard feeling rough ball, you can imagine my surprise when I picked up this silky, soft ball instead. As a ball it's soft and super squidgy (like a yarn stress ball!) in a yarn store I would definitely buy it on feel alone. Once worked up the piece is still very soft and not at all stiff. It has a slight elasticity to it and I can imagine it would feel great against the skin made up into a garment.

Ease of use

Now I said before, my bad experiences of cotton partially come from the splitting yarn or stiffness when crocheting, but there was none of this with good old Stylecraft. Don't get me wrong, when pulling my stitches tight (I crochet tightly, I'm not sure why it's just my style) I could feel that familiar stiffness I'd found with other yarns, so I was apprehensive. However the my hook just slid through the stitches with ease, gliding in and out like they were a match made in heaven! No splitting yarn here either, I hooked up my whole piece (yes it's not ginormous but still!) without encountering one split in the yarn, and no snagging on splitting yarn when pulling through stitches, what a joy.

The yarn also didn't fluff to much with handling. This is particularly important for me as I'm using it to make teething products, and fluff is rough when you're chewing on it.

Another plus, no stretching strands. Again this is due to my style, I'm forever pulling the strands to keep my work tight, and occasionally you get the yarn that stretches so the strand is 5 times thinner than when you started. Not here though. Here it seems consistency is key.

Colour choice

As you can see the brightness of the colours is not a problem at all. There are however only 28 shades to choose from, which isn't many if you consider paintbox yarns 56 shades or DMC's 73. This as the case may be there is in my opinion one of every colour, and the colours are bright and consistent throughout the ball, you just don't get as much choice when it comes to shade.

Price

Finally we come to the price. I bought my yarn here as at the time if you spent £30 on yarn you got 30% off! Which is a whopping great discount. The yarn is currently retailing on the site for £2.45 which when you shop around is the average price. It's not the cheapest on the market by all means, but equally it's not the most expensive either (some cottons retail at £4+!) and yes I'm stingy when it comes to spending! It's a good mid range price, and in my opinion well worth paying for. 

If you look below you'll find a handy pros and cons list.

As you can see I made up a super cute baby teether (bunny ears are adorable!) to test out the yarn. I was particularly drawn to cotton this year as I do want to expand to sell baby items in particular, so I thought what better tester to make than a mini bunny teether.

I have to say worked up id be happy to give this to my own child (if she wasn't 5 going on 15!) its very soft to touch, yet feels durable, and no doubt will soak up all that gorgeously gooey baby saliva!!!

Happy hooking from down the rabbit hole X

Literary Yarns by Cindy Wang - Crochet Book Club

Hello my beauties, and welcome to the crochet book club!

Each month I will be reading and reviewing a crochet book, and inviting you to join along the way, (this also gives me an excuse to buy a new book 😉).

So this months book is (drum roll please)....................................Literary Yarns by Cindy Wang.

So as you all know I love Amigurumi, if you follow me on instagram you'll know I especially love little cuties, and this is what this book brings in abundance.

I got my copy from Amazon I love Amazon (no shameless plugs here as im not an affiliate), I just love their service, range of products, and that if you spend just £10 on books they will deliver for free! Yes you heard correct free!

So anyway about the author. Cindy Wang hosts a well known blog called the Geeky Hooker, and crochets amigurumi characters in abundance (I especially love her Harley Quinn character). I love the fact that this lady has stayed true to her crafter spirit. Her blog is simple yet packed to the brim with great pictures of her lovely characters. She's all about the 'using what you got', in fact on her blog FAQ in answer to the question what yarn do you use she states 'whatever's cheap and in the right colour' so proving you can crochet successfully on a budget.

Cindy also does a 'critter drop' where she leaves her crochet buddies around cities for people to find and give her a shout if they do. Not only a crafter but sharing her craft too.

So lets get onto the book.

I believe every good crochet book needs a good cover, as a crocheter im all about being drawn in by great images of things that I didn't know up until that point but im desperate to make (yes im fickle!), but I also believe a great image can draw you in, and once you're in the pages the content should allow you to inform your decision. The cover makes you pick the book up, for a writer that's half the battle, its the content that sells the book.

This cover shows off some of the great cute lil characters you will get to crochet if you buy this book, and a good range of them too, everything from Alice in wonderlands white rabbit, too Frankenstein.

There's a fabulous array of character patterns to crochet here. Dorothy, the tin man, the lion and the scarecrow from the wizard of Oz, the white rabbit from Alice in wonderland, and Quasimodo and Esmeralda from the hunchback of Notre Dame to name just a few.

The patterns each have a great photography full page set up to show of the characters and show you what you could potentially end up with. There's also a page dedicated to materials, and tips on how best to work up the piece.

The instructions in the book are well written, and easy to follow. Each character and body part is clearly sectioned, and labelled, and for the really tricky techniques not only has Cindy added a comprehensive picture tutorial at the front of the book, she also adds in a photo tutorial when patterns have tricky pieces.

I especially love the hair tutorials. When I first started making amigurumi dolls I struggled so much with different types of hair. The images here and step by step instructions are great, easy to follow and very informative, with a broad range of ideas.

As you can see from one of my images I've already made a character from the book, Moby Dick, from the book Moby Dick. I kinda took the easy route here, in the respect im so used to making amigurumi animals and not people. But I also didn't have any of the colours required for the people (needless to say I completed a nice order of yarn with lovecrochet.com shortly after ordering the book!).

Moby Dick was super easy to work up, and not just from my point of view as an experienced hooker, but from a beginners view, it came with ease and simplicity. Basic stitches that a beginner could use and practise whilst working up Moby Dick, or in fact any of the characters.

If you love amigurumi, books, and little plush characters this book is definitely for you. If you're just starting out and want to enhance your amigurumi skills this book is for you too! In fact its a great book for both the seasoned crocheter and dabbling crafter alike. It oozes cuteness, the patterns are well explained and easy to follow, and the images are a delight to look at. It gets a big thumbs up from me each time I turn the pages. Well done Cindy Wang!

Thank you all for reading, and join me for the next crochet book club next month.

Happy Hooking from down the rabbit hole x