Monthly Archives: July 2012

Size Matters…

Tension, yarn weight and hook size, making it all match up

…or does it? I’m talking about crochet hooks here, I don’t think that qualifies as any sort of discrimination!

I’ve been having the occasional email from people about the size of hook I use to make up the Rainbow Mouse patterns so I thought a short blog post about hooks and yarn was in order.

Any one who knits and crochets and has made garments knows that there is a stress on making your tension squares initially just to check that your style of working produces the correct number of stitches and rows to the inch/cm. Obviously size is crucial when it’s something has to fit and look good, but it’s not as desperate when you are making little toys and Amigurumi creatures. What is important then is getting the correct hook for the yarn you are using.

The Planet Penny Cotton Colours yarn is supplied to me as double knitting weight, but it is quite fine for DK, although still thicker than 4 ply. If I’m using it to make something which requires a little drape or movement, such as a throw or cushion cover, then I use a 3.5mm hook. However, if I’m making a mouse which requires stuffing then I need a denser fabric so the stuffing doesn’t show and then I use a 3mm hook.

But the Rainbow Mouse Pattern, and the Mini mice patterns are just that, patterns to tell you which stitch comes next. If you are not using the PP cotton yarn, you can be adventurous as you like with the yarn you use as long as the hook suits the yarn. You will usually find the recommended hook size printed on the yarn binder, just go down a size to make sure the fabric is has no little holes in it.

With this in mind I have been experimenting with size and differing yarns.

This is the Rainbow Mouse Pattern made up in Planet Penny Cotton, using a 3mm hook. He’s about 3 and a half inches/9cm long excluding the tail… Rainbow_crochet_MouseNoText

The Mini Mouse Pattern made up the same way is 2 inches/5 cm long…

Mini_Crochet_Mouse

However, when I use cotton embroidery thread and a 2mm hook, the mini mouse gets a teeny tiny brother, who is only an inch long…

and conversely, making up the Rainbow Mouse pattern in Aran yarn using a 5mm hook results in a fat cuddly friend who is 5 and a half inches/14cm long and perfect for a baby’s first toy (no beads for that though!)

So be adventurous, and you’ll be amazed by the possibilities. I’m going to put a brooch back on the teeny tiny fellow, but he could equally well go on a hair clip or head band for a little girl, or decorate a pencil case.

Meanwhile, because I know it’s not always easy to get the correct size of hook to make up the Rainbow Mouse and Mini Mice patterns, the pack now include a 3mm hook so you can get going straight away!

The Planet Penny Cotton Colours yarn and patterns are all available through the Planet Penny Etsy shop, there’s a link here, and at the top of the page.

If you’ve made your own mice, do share them on the Planet Penny Facebook page, or just come along to ‘like’ it and see what else is going on!

Back soon…x

Hearts and Flowers and a Nurses Hat for Handmade Monday

It’s been touch and go whether I would actually get this post written today. Wearing TWO nurses hats has been rather time consuming, so this post is going to be light on text, but I hope the pretty, colourful photos of hearts and flowers make up for it.

Thank you all so much for your good wishes sent in Clovis the cat’s direction. It’s been a little dicey over the last couple of days, but I’ll leave an update until I have concrete news to report. Please keep up the positive vibes for our trip to the vet on Monday morning!

I’ve been working on a new pattern and although I said I wasn’t going to post pictures until the pattern was ready to publish, well, what the heck! Just bear with me, and it will be ready in a week or two.

I can think of lots of pretty ways of using this pattern of hearts and flowers. Strung across a dresser, used as curtain tie backs, interwoven with fairy lights (thank you, (Marigold the Goat!) and individually as a key ring, bag or phone charm.

Anyone with any other ideas? I love to know what you think!

I’m leaving you with the usual link to Handmade Harbour and all the creative people who take part in Handmade Monday. My message to them is to send apologies if I don’t have a chance to visit anyone this week, but I hope all my other lovely readers will make up for my absence!

See you soon…x

Silent Sunday

Life is What Happens To You…

…while you’re busy making other plans, as John Lennon famously said. This week life has not turned out as planned.

If you’ve been visiting Planet Penny for a while you’ll know about Clovis, the French Cat. He belongs to my son Thomas, and has staying with my mum while his own family have been settling after transferring from France.

Clovis is quite a character, and has led an eventful life. As a tiny kitten he chose his family by climbing into the car in a remote place where no unattended kitten should have been, and after unsuccessful attempts to locate the owner, he was welcomed into the family. I’ve always been a bit of favourite of his, as the only person mad enough to arrive to stay with a large and exciting bag, full of balls of wool and knitting. On one visit it took less than 10 minutes with an unattended knitting bag for him to create a wonderful art installation. Yarn was wrapped round the legs of every chair in the room and up a flight of stairs where there were more chairs, and out of the cat flap and all around the garden furniture!

He’s madly affectionate, but won’t be held or picked up, just trampling madly over your lap purring furiously. He’s frightened of everything in the garden, hurling himself through the catflap to avoid marauding butterflies and vicious baby rabbits.

He lived for a while in Rouen, France, pretty near the city centre and close to one of the main arterial route through the city and came though unscathed. So why was it that now, living in a sleepy little cul-de-sac in rural Norfolk, he gets hit by a car? Well, not hit exactly, one back leg run over, and horribly broken.

So the last few days have been all about visiting the vet, and xrays and a big operation.

He is now back with my mum, in a large crate…

and wearing a fetching blue bandage.

I’ve been my mother’s carer for a while, but now I’m Clovis’s too, spending a lot of time sitting on the floor with my arm through the door of the crate tickling his ears and making soothing noises. Fortunately so far he hasn’t been too frustrated by his incarceration, but he must be very bored. I’ve suggested a film this afternoon. He does watch television a lot when it’s something he’s interested in, ‘Kung-Fu Panda’ being a particular favourite! (I just hope he’s not taking notes!)

So that’s why this hasn’t been the week I’d planned, or the blog post I’d intended, but I hope you’ll bear with me.

I’ll be back soon x