Little Crochet Apple Pattern

Continuing in the theme of learning crochet by winging it....

In the middle of my Floppy Crochet Hat project, my daughter's birthday comes up. In two days I have to provide twenty small "goodie bag" style gifts for her birthday celebration at school. Great. It's a mundane public school in a posh neighborhood. Some of the goodie bags that have come home from other kids bdays have me a bit scared. Scared of the influx of random, soulless toys entering my house unfiltered. Scared of the money I'd have to spend to mimic what the other kids give out. 

Shall I compromise my values just to fit in? Nah. 

Morally firm, but with some trepidation, I embark on making handcrafted toys to give out to her classmates. With us doing (or at least attempting to do) the natural living, Waldorf-inspired, eco-responsible thing... I cringe at what the other kids, accustomed as they are to disposable plastic imports of little value but much cost, will think of our handmade treasures. 

I must have a positive attitude. I will be spending probably 20 hours this weekend making them. I WILL be optimistic about how they will be received. 

Now, what to make? Something I can make fast and with materials I already have on hand. Which Craft to choose?

I'm a wiz with needle felting wool... but even a being good at it, I don't have enough time to make 20 small animals or gnomes or fairies. Not with the baby on one hip, the girls running rampant, the cooking and cleaning I still need to keep on top of, and the other craft work I should be doing. It's especially hard for me to needle felt when the baby is awake and wanting my attention. (Sharp felting needles and babies don't mix!)

My other "go to" gift idea is my Waldorf dolls, but even the little pocket bunting babies would take too long and cost too much.

My daughter vetoes the idea of giving out camellia blossoms like we did at her Waldorf kindergarten last year. Been there, done that. (No matter that these are completely different kids! Sigh.)

How about crochet? I just made my first successful crochet flower in my Crochet Wrist Cuff / Hand Flower project. The flower only took twenty minutes or so to crochet. I could whip out a bunch of those in two days. 

Tragedy averted! Or almost. 

I am informed by my daughter that the boys will "freak out" if they get flowers as their gifts. Okaaaaay. Flowers are just flowers, they don't have gender connotations in my book. Whatever. Moving on. 

"Okay dear, then what kind of thing do the boys at school like?"

"Guns," she says.

Oh my Lord and Lady. I just can't wait for another few years when she'll be dating these boys. Not. 

"Well dear, I'm not going to be able to crochet a gun, it would turn out all floppy." She nods sagely and considers the problem. "What else do they like? Besides guns." I ask. 

"Balls," she says. 

THAT, I can do. 

I think.

I assume you can crochet a ball. If you can do hats, which are just half a ball, after all, why not a full ball? I'm game to try it. 

Now for the pattern. I use a worsted weight wool yarn in red. You'll be working "in the round."

Foundation - Row 1

Make a magic ring. Work 11 single crochets onto the magic ring. Work the last one into the V of the first stitch. You now have a circle of stitches with loops covering the magic ring. Pull the magic ring tight, leaving a small hole. 

Build the Ball - Rows 2, 3 & 4

To start the second row, make three slip stitches. You will now be making a row of double crochets. Increase every other stitch. (That is, make one double crochet onto one stitch, then make two double crochets onto the next stitch, then one, then two, and so on.) When you've finished the row, connect your last stitch to the top of the first stitch of the row with a slip stitch. It should now look like a cup or very small beanie. 

Third row, make three slip stitches, then work in double crochets, one stitch into each V, no increasing. Again, join the last stitch to the first stitch with a slip stitch. 

Fourth row. This gets a bit tricky if you've never done decreases before (as I hadn't at the time). Make three slip stitches, then work a row of double crochet stitches, alternating between normal and decrease stitches. Adjust how many normal double crochet stitches you do, to form the ball shape, leaving some out along the way in favor of more double crochet decrease stitches. Remember... wing it! Just do what looks right. When that row is complete, join it with a slip stitch as with the others. 

Close the Ball - Row 5

For the fifth and last row, make single crochet decrease stitches, as many as will fit. Then pause and dig some wool batting or roving out of your supply closet. Natural colored is fine. Pull the beginning tail to the inside of the ball and tie it off. Stuff the ball, not too full, just enough to give it form. Cut the ending yarn, leaving a six inch tail. Work a few slip stitches to draw the hole together. Set aside your hook and thread the tail onto a yarn needle. Thread the needle through the tops of the last row of crochets and pull the ball all the way closed. Finish off. 

Done.... Or So I Thought

A ball! It worked! It's great! It's done! It's..... just a ball. Hmmm. You know what? It looks like a tomato. If I add a few leaves and stem in green, it will look like a piece of fruit, not just a random ball. Less like a baby toy, more like a big kid toy. Yes, better. 

I use a light green organic cotton yarn because that's what I have on hand.

First Leaf

Leaves can't be any harder than flower petals, right? Let's use the same technique. Cast a slip knot onto your hook. Make six slip stitches. Work a single crochet stitch into the back loop of the 4th stitch on the chain. Work a double crochet stitch into the back loop of the 3rd stitch of the chain. Make another single crochet stitch into the back loop of the 2nd stitch of the chain. Work a slip stitch into the back loop of the 1st stitch of the chain.

Second Leaf

Make three slip stitches. Repeat the procedure as for the first leaf. 

Stem

Work a slip stitch into any of the loops at the center top of where the two leaves meet. Now make three slip stitches. Turn and make slip stitches into the back of the chain. Work one more slip stitch onto any loop at the base of the leaves. 

Finishing

Set aside your hook. Cut the green yarn leaving a 6 inch tail. Thread the tail onto a yarn needle. Thread the needle through the last loop, then sew the leaves and stem onto the "top" (end point) of the ball. Finish off.

"bottom""top"

Well, not a tomato. It looks just like an apple! Even better. All kids like apples, right?

That whole procedure took me an hour and a half. Although that does include the looking up in my crochet book how to do decreases, fetching wool and yarn from the craft room, nursing the baby and making a snack (and stopping to watch the climax scene of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). 

Working from a now established pattern and without interruption, it would take maybe 30 minutes. Twenty of these little apples in two days? That, I think, is doable. 

(Oh, and I did actually get tired of making apples. So I made some flowers, butterflies, acorns, snakes and other fruit also.)

Strawberry Fields Are Not Forever - Straw Bail Solution

After four years in the same spot, the strawberry patch in my back yard has become a popular hot spot in the slug and snail community. There are around 100 plants in the patch and I think we got maybe one or two berries for human consumption last year. Earwigs and ants also find this a great place to hang out. What used to be a delight to the girls, is now a disappointing yuck-fest as they search fruitlessly for a red berry that does not have a chew hole in it. Winter debris abounds, spreading tuffs of bermuda grass from the neighboring lawn crowd the strawberry plants, and the mounds they were originally planted in have sunk to uselessness. I have read that strawberries are such heavy feeders, taking a big toll on soil fertility, that they can only be successfully harvested in the same spot for 3-5 years in a row. I found that harvests drop off after two years, but also, I am a lackluster fertilizer, so I may have had better results if I'd kept adding food to the soil. By now the spot is probably in desperate need of rotation.

Time to move the strawberry plants!

With shovel in hand we embark on our quest to find a more protected, and therefore fruitful location for these strawberries. Choices, options, decisions.

In a previous house I grew strawberries in a raised bed. For several years that bed was productive and fairly pest free. Which can probably be attributed to the tall redwood plank walls of the bed, the surrounding moat of deep gravel, the copper strips nailed around the perimeter... oh, and the bird netting (which really worked well to foil the snails btw). The strawberry patch at this house is not nearly so grand. At the time I put it in I was feeling "thrifty", i.e. cheap, and just wanted to get the plants in before the rains ended. So I dug up the sod, mixed in some compost, built up some mounds, planted and threw a wire edging around the whole thing. Strangely, although the little mini fence did keep my kids from stomping over the new plants, it did absolutely nothing to deter the slugs and snails once they finally found the patch. 

I am still feeling rather thrifty, so a new raised bed is not going to happen. How about using some of these containers laying about? Good plan, oh lord!  There's a half barrel with a meadow sage in the center which last year was surrounded by calendula. This year, strawberries! (And if some of the seed from the old calendulas sprout, well those should make a fine companion to the berries.) There's also a large tin wash basin which in previous years has housed potatoes, beans and basil. Pulled over to a sunny spot and a fresh bag of potting soil will make that a fine home for more of the strawberries. 

Okay, that's only a third of the strawberry plants relocated. Hmmm. There's some fallow space in the butterfly garden where the perennials I planted didn't really take off. Hopefully butterflies like strawberries, because they have some now! Mara, 3 years old, planted these ones. The girls really groove on the idea of the butterfly garden and I can almost always convince them to help plant or weed if it's "for the butterflies." 

That's half of the plants taken care of. Where else? The herb garden in the front is already too crowded. The rest of the front yard is reserved for native plants. I don't tend or water in the back over by the redwoods and I'd really rather see that area go native also. The rest of the vegetable beds are spoken for.

Wait! There is that half a straw bail left over from last year's vegetable garden mulching. They are called straw-berries after all.

The idea with using straw bails as a planting medium is to hollow out a section of the top of the bail, fill it with soil (a mix of garden dirt and compost should do), then plant in the soil. Let's try it!

I dig out the middle of the bail, about six inches deep, leaving a several inch rim of undisturbed straw around the edge. Wow, this is not hard at all. The straw bail is soft and squishy, and chunks can be dug out very easily. I guess this is why you're supposed to soak new bails for several days before planting. I would definitely recommend the leaving the bail out in the rain over the winter method before using it as a planter. I bet this wouldn't work nearly as well with fresh, undecomposed bails.

Fill with soil, add some kelp meal, then plant the strawberries. The question of how close to plant them comes up. I've heard of the mat method and the mound method. There's not room here to do rows of mounds, and the bail itself is a mound after all. I'll plant them in mat formation, in staggered rows, about  six inches between plants.

Tuck a bit of fresh hay around the plants as mulch.... Tah dah! A delightful new straw bail home for the strawberries.

But there are still some strawberry plants left over! I could go buy a few more straw bails... Nah, my vacuum has some mysterious problem that the repair guy hasn't figured out yet and I don't want my SUV to smell like hay indefinitely. Looks like my gardener friends will be getting strawberry plants in little pots for Ostara presents.

By next year this straw bail will probably be too soggy and decomposed to use, but will make lovely compost fodder. And I bet the strawberry plants will pull right out no trouble, and no bending and digging. I'm liking this method! I'll have to plan for four straw bails just for strawberries next year, bought and sighted in the fall. Here's hoping for a luscious harvest!

Crochet Nursing Necklace / Scarf

What is this you ask? A scarf? A necklace? A nursing what? Well, let me explain... This is my first stab at the art and craft of crochet. So if it looks a bit wonky and weird (or even quirky), that's why.

When you go into a yarn store there is just this panorama of beautiful textures and hues. I love buying yarn. There are several fantastic yarn store in my area which specialize in natural fibers. Wool, mohair & organic cotton are my favorites. I use it for doll hair, but that only uses up a small portion of a skein and then I end up selling the dolls, and bye bye beautiful yarn. I wanted a use for all this extra yarn and a way to actually keep some of the things I make with with it. 

Most crafty gals I know, if they don't knit or crochet, have at least made one of those crochet cords. It's just a double chain of slip stiches. (I use them for ties on my Renaissance costumes instead of ribbon.) I've made those without much enthusiasm. This time I wanted to learn crochet for real, but I can't bear to sit and make sampler squares. Most times what we need to get us off our asses to learn something new is inspiration.

Enter Esty... I was browsing and saw this gal doing really cool scarves. They look like vines, with trailing tendrils and leaves, and gorgeous wet felted flower brooches attached. Very neat. Also, very expensive. I zoom the photo and squint. Hmm, that looks like crochet. Uh oh, we've discovered WHICH CRAFT we'll be doing today!

For years I've been wanting to make some sort of necklace to wear while nursing. Something to keep my little darlings from grabbing and pinching and scratching my breast while they feed. A nursing necklace must be safe for a baby to mouth, because they will mouth it. A sort of narrow scarf with dangly leaf bits for baby to grasp. It can even double as a bare minimum modesty drape. Crocheted in soft organic cotton yarn. Yes, perfect. Now to make it. 

I purchase a lovely variegated green yarn in organic cotton from Blue Sky Alpaca for the project. (Q: Hey, what about the whole using up the yarn you already have thing? A: You can never have enough yarn.) A quick look at the old crochet pamphlet from my bookshelf about how to cast on and do a slip stitch, and I'm off!

Okay, now here's the pattern part.

Foundation Chain

Tie a slip knot onto your crochet hook. Then start making slip stitches. Keep going. Yes, some more. No, don't stop, just go. An actual measurement? Well, okay. Drape it behind your neck and along your arms. It should be long enough to extend about 6 inches past your fingertips on each side. When it's that long, stop. 

First Vine

Turn around and make more slip stitches, this time inserting your hook into the back ridge of the chain for each stitch. Do this for about 6 inches. You now have the beginnings of your first vine. It looks cool, huh? You should be varying the size of your stitches slightly, this will give it a twisty, viney look. 

Leaves

Now to make the first leaf. Leave the chain and make some more slip stitches. 8 to 12 should do, depending on how big you want your leaf to be. Then turn and go back, stitching along that back side of that chain, just like with the vine end you completed previously. Now, before you rejoin the vine, turn back again, this time inserting your hook into one of the loops of the top V of the chain before making each slip stitch. Just before the end of the "leaf", turn around and go back, You should now have a sort of leaf-shaped segment of  4 lines of slip stitches. Continue working in slip stitches along the back edge of the leaf, then rejoin the original chain. Continue working your slip stitches into the back ridge of the chain. Add a leaf every 6 inches or so or whenever you feel like it. 

Determine Vine Length

Time to decide how long the vines should be. Drape the chain over your shoulders again. Keep your arms down. See where your elbows are? Put a marker (a safety pin or actual crochet ring) on the chain on each side level with your elbows. 

Build Scarf Body

Keep working slip stitches onto the chain, pass the marker, keep going until you reach the second marker. Turn and go back, working your stitches into half of the top V of the main chain. Keep going until you return to the marker on the other side. 

Next Vine

Now for a tricky bit. Leave the old chain and continue making (guess what?) slip stitches, only this time separate from the old chain. You are making the next vine off the body of the main scarf. Continue until this new vine is the length you want, then turn and go back, working your slip stitches into the back ridge of the chain, just like before. Stop to make leaves as you go. When you've reached the first marker again, you're done with the second vine. 

Build More Scarf Body

Continue working slip stitches onto the body of the scarf until you reach the second marker. Then, as before, turn around and go back. 

Rinse & Repeat 

You will do this whole procedure over and over again until you've completed four vines on one end of the scarf and returned to the marker on the other end. 

Just For Flair

Add a branch to your vines occasionally, just a short chain with a leaf or two will suffice, then return to the main vine.

Vines on Other Side

You should now have a thick, narrow "scarf" with a fringe of long, leafy vines at one end and one lonely chain of slip stitches at the other end. Next we make the vines for the other side. 

Starting from level with the second marker, make a chain of slip stitches apart from the main body. You are starting the first vine on the second side. Make the vines as before, only when you rejoin the body of the scarf, attach one slip stitch to the body, then turn and make another vine. Make three vines. 

Last Vine

For the fourth and last vine, work your slip stitches into the back ridge of the original chain. (Knew that was there for a reason, eh?) Make a few leaves along the way. When you come to the beginning point of the original chain, tie off and you're done!

And here it is in use. Awww! Isn't he cute!