Pink Square Doily Rug

A couple years back I brought some really nice recycled cotton material back home from Finland. I have made some rugs from it before, see this off white rectangular one. And I've also make a light blue one for my son's nursery. I'll have to post some photos of it soon too.

This rug is a simple square pattern. I made it about 36 inches wide. This pattern could be used for any sized rug. I've made this rug available for sale at my booth at The Shoppes at Homespun here in Knoxville Tennessee.

Here's a view from my booth. I've added my baby hats on the wall as well as some nursery garlands. 

Bunny Nursery Mobile

Here's some photos of the next nursery mobile I've created. This one contains 3 bunny sisters: cream, pink and poppy. My son was so excited about this mobile as well as the owl mobile I've made before.

This mobile is available at my booth at Shoppes at Homespun here in Knoxville, TN. I will make more and add them to my online etsy shop in the near future.

I'm planning on some more mobiles. I've got some monkeys, pandas, frogs and mouse waiting. More on those later.

 

Winter Sale at Henna's Boutique!

Coasters, baskets, placemats and doily rugs are on Winter Sale at Henna's Boutique.




Coasters are now only $10.00 a set (regularly $13.00 - $15.00). There are several designs and colors available. Please ask for custom colors and set sizes too.

Crochet baskets are reduced to $18.00 a basket. Regularly they are $22.00. Custom colors and sizes are also very welcome!

Crochet placemat sets are also on sale. This white set is now only $40.00 (regularly $50.00). I would also love to make these in any color possible.

My doily rugs can no be purchased at the price of $89.00 or $120.00 a rug depending on the size and style. See available styles and ask for custom colors and sizes, I would love to give you a quote.

Hat Stand Tutorial and Crochet Baby Hats

Hat mania has started. As the weather gets cooler here in Tennessee, I went on a yarn shopping spree and bought some soft yarn for baby hats. I crocheted 8 animal inspired hats with ear flaps and got addicted. I just want to make more, but luckily I have some custom rug orders waiting and my addiction has a much needed break.

I wanted to take my hats to my booth at a local craft and antique mall and needed a way to display them. I didn't have time to look for a ready hat stand so I hurried to a local craft store and bought some supplies.

I ended up creating these 3 stands. 

Here's what I used for my hat stand:
1 smoothfoam ball (4" in diameter, but any size you want would work)
1 stick
Floral foam
Tin bucket
Burlap
Cotton yarn
Glue gun

Here's a step-by-step tutorial to create your own hat stand. 

Step 1:
Cut the foam ball in half using a regular wood saw. I tried different tools, such as a bread knife, but the big wood saw worked the fastest.

Step 2:
Make a hole for the stick by using a knitting needle. Puncture the foam ball half from the top. A little piece of a foam might come loose while doing this and you will want it to not show, so make sure the top stays nice and round.

Step 3:
Crochet around the foam ball half. I used a medium weight cotton yarn and a 5mm hook. To cover the 4" ball half follow this pattern:

Abbreviations: 
ch - chain
sl st - slip stitch
SC - single crochet
DC - double crochet
DC2tog -  double crochet 2 stitches together

Round 1: Magic ring, ch 2, 9 DC in the ring, sl st to the second chain (10 stitches)
Round 2: ch 2, DC to the same stitch as your chain 2, 2 DC in every stitch around, sl st to the second chain to join (20 stitches)
Round 3: ch 2,  (2DC, DC) repeat 8 times, 2DC in the next stitch, sl st to the second chain to join (30 stitches)
Round 4: ch 2, DC in next 4 stitches, (2DC, DC in next 5 stitches) repeat 3 times, 2DC in the next stitch, sl st to the second chain to join (35 stitches)
Round 5: ch 2, DC in next 5 stitches, (2DC, DC in next 6 stitches) repeat 3 times, 2DC in the next stitch, sl st to the second chain to join (40 stitches)
Round 6: ch 2, DC in every stitch around, sl st to the second chain to join (40 stitches)

At this point, wrap the work around the foam ball half and continue crocheting with the foam ball half inside your work.

Round 7: ch 2, work this round by crocheting only to the back stitch of the previous round, DC in next 2 stitches, (DC2tog, DC in next 3 stitches) repeat 6 times, DC2tog, sl st to the second chain to join (32 stitches)
Round 8: ch 2, DC in next stitch, (DC2tog, DC in next 2 stitches) repeat 6 times, DC2tog, sl st to the second chain to join (24 stitches)
Round 9: ch 2, DC2tog 11 times, DC in next stitch, sl st to the first DC (12 stitches)
Fasten off leaving a long tail. Using a needle, thread the tail yarn through the stitches of round 9 and tighten. Leave the hole big enough for the stick to fit through.

Step 4: Cut a stick to the desired length and fit the end to the hole in the foam ball half. Press stick tightly to the ball and take it out. Use glue gun to add some glue to the tip of the stick and press it back to the existing hole.

Step 5: Cut a piece of floral foam to fit inside your tin bucket. Cut a big enough piece of burlap and wrap it around the floral foam. Press the wrapped floral foam firmly into the tin bucket. Separate some threads in the burlap in the middle for the stick to go through. Press the stick to the floral foam through the hole in burlap.

Step 6: Cut a 2 inch wide strip of burlap and tie it onto the stick to make a little bow. Trim excess burlap.

And done.

I used the stands to display the crochet hats I made. These tan and pink owl hats are 0-3 months, 3-6 months and 6-12 months in size.

Magic Ring, Chain 2, 9 DC in magic ring, join to first DC, ch 2
Round 2: 2 DC in each around, join to first DC, ch 2 (18 DC)
Round 3: 2 DC, DC in next, repeat around, join, ch 2 (27 DC)

Round 4: 2 DC, DC in next 2, repeat around, join, ch 2 (36 DC)
Round 5: 2 DC, DC in next 3, repeat around, join, ch 2 (45 DC)

- See more at: http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2012/09/crochet-owl-hat-pattern-in-newborn.html#sthash.V4WjnSII.dpuf

Abbreviations:

ch - chain
sl st- slip stitch
SC - Single Crochet
DC - Double Crochet - See more at: http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2012/09/crochet-owl-hat-pattern-in-newborn.html#sthash.V4WjnSII.dpuf

I also crocheted these hats with flowers. I used 3 complementary colors and buttons.

Here are my mouse hats. The ears on the 6-12 months size are double sided. The smaller hat 0-3 months in size has single layer ears.

The last one is my little monkey hat. I will need to make one of these for my little son :)

Flying Little Owls

I have recently taken an interest in making all sorts of little crochet animals and making mobiles out of them. Here's the first one I've ever made. It's all crochet except the metal ring inside the rim. I had so much fun making these little owls and my son enjoys them too.

The owls are crocheted using 100% cotton yarn and filled with poly-fil. The eyes I made with felt and black safety eyes. I attached the owls a little below the top of the head so that the owls will be looking to the baby below.

I'm planning on making the mobiles available at my Etsy shop soon. This first mobile is now hanging in my booth at the local craft and antiques mall. Hopefully it gets a good home :)

Emily Mega Doily Rug is Here... and Gone Again

Here's some photos of my latest custom rug creation. This 60" 150cm Emily rug will find it's home at a young couple's new house. I'm really wishing they will love it. It was a little tricky to get this rug sized up from it's original size, but I got it done on Monday and yesterday it started it's journey to it's new address. I must say it looks even better than the smaller standard size. I'm wishing I would have time to make one for my own home too.

Now it's again time to get back to crocheting. I've got some custom placemats in works and a tangerine colored basket waiting to be started.

Thanks for visiting :)

Nest of Nesting Baskets

POST UPDATE: 
The pattern for these nesting baskets is now available for purchase. You can find it in all my pattern shops (click on the Etsy, Craftsy or Ravelry tabs on top) or on my blog by clicking the Buy Patterns Here tab on top.

Happy creating!

Love,
Henna

ORIGINAL POST:

Recently I made some nesting scallop edge baskets for a customer of mine. They look so deliciously colorful together. The baskets are 11" x 6" (country red and hot pink), 9" x 5.5" (country pink and robin egg), 7.5" x 5" (pale yellow and grass green) and the smallest 5" x 4.5" (tangerine and teal blue). These were such a nice project and I had fun photographing them as well :)

Henna's Boutique at The Shoppes at Homespun in Knoxville, TN

On September 1st I got my own booth at a crafts and antique mall called The Shoppes at Homespun in Knoxville Tennessee. I'm so very excited to get there to set up the booth the way I had planned and my plans will have to wait. I head to my booth at the mall and find that the previous booth owner hadn't cleared out her wall shelving unit. Luckily I had my friend helping me and we got the wall unscrewed and down and could start covering the ugly light blue pegboard walls with yards and yards of burlap. Our weapons of choice were a staple gun, a hammer and a glue gun. All didn't go smoothly, apparently staples do not want to go into the hard pegboard but we got the walls done with some aggression powered hammering. I covered the less than pretty staples with a burlap ribbon and some upholstering tacks.

Next we fixed the white curtain rod to the back wall of the booth and hung my white curtains to create an illusion of an actual room. I brought in a stand for my rug that I had made previously but for this purpose and hung some wooden crates to the wall. I had chosen to cover the walls with burlap so that I could still have the use of the pegboard holes to hang hooks to without it being obvious.

I brought in some bookshelves from home and started placing my items out. I still need to distribute the lights that I have at the back of the booth so that all the crates in the wall are illuminated. I'll have to tackle that next weekend.

Below are a couple of photos from the booth as it is now.

I made this sign for my booth from a picture frame. I iron transferred the logo to an off white cotton fabric and attached it to the burlap board with a couple of stitches. A little of burlap ribbon and some tacks and a felt flower finished the piece.

At home I had tried different layouts for the booth and I used the opportunity to take some photos of the items at the same time.

I made quite a few different sizes and colors of baskets and a couple sets of placemats.

I crocheted these lovely candle holders from leftover yarns. Inside is a recycled glass jar. A tea lights fits into the jar perfectly and the glass keeps the crochet cover from heating up. They looks really lovely with the light coming through the holes. 

Here's a stack of some of the coasters now at my booth. 

I also crocheted some flowers and attached a pin to the back. These are great when attached to a basket or to a jacket. 

I offer two new designs of placemats, Camille (off white) and Ivy (white). I will make these designs available in my etsy shop soon also.

This colorful crate is full of hanging plush hearts. 

Below are photos of some of the doily rugs available at my booth.

This is 33" Alicia rug in plum.

25" Camille rug in off white

34" Ivy rug in country pink

35" Sara rug in pale yellow

Now I have to get back to making some more stock for my booth and etsy shop. :)

Henna's Boutique Book of Products

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

I just ordered this little book with photos of my crochet items. I plan to display it in my little space at a local craft mall. I'm so excited to start selling there on September 1st. I will post photos of the booth once I have it set up and fully stocked. I can't wait to get started. I have been making a lot of items and have actually built up a nicely sized stock. There's still 10 days to go and that stock will grow some more. Now back to work!