I have heard it called POPCORN stitch....
I have heard it called POPCORN stitch....
Ta-Ta for now!
HerMajesty
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I've caught up with other things and thought I would start the Fairy House cosy... I thought I would share some thoughts at this point in case meebo or anyone else is thinking of making it.
This lady makes her cosies from the top down, I normally make mine from the bottom up. There is quite a difference in the end result. Working down makes for a very good, excellent fit for a particular pot with a button loop fastener under the handle - which is brilliant if making this for one's own pot. If making it to sell then I would rather have a more flexible fit to allow for slight differences in shapes of pot.
Fortunately, I had chosen a sort of elasticated yarn (petrol blue) for the body so no button fastener is needed.... but it meant that the bottom piping (puff/popcorn stitch) needs to be elasticated too - and I only had the one type of yarn so mine is all the same colour. It would have been nicer in a contrasting colour I think.
The roof I have done I'm not 100% happy with. I have some red, sparkly "hairy" (not eyelash) yarn which I thought would be fuzzy and sparkly "fairy" suitable. It is, in a sense, but detracts from the ridged spiral effect somewhat. I wish now I had used a plainer yarn. I preferred my own roof edging (a sort of blanket stitch effect but crocheted) to the pattern one.... quite nice.
Onward and upward! Just about ready to calculate for the door......
also, I don't have a kettle to hang from the roof so I'm thinking of making a miniature basket of flowers..... that should be a challenge! "miniature" being the key word!
I look forward to seeing the finished cosy
So do I ! Door is made - just about to start the awning..... tip: trace the door onto paper when it is made - then split into the 3 sections of SC, 1/2 DC, DC so the number of each stitches can be evenly worked out for each side.
Amigurumi is one animal - my basket of flowers idea has gone out of the window - but got a rather nice alternative - a moon and stars half orb hanging from there instead. Half my house has been turned upside down (are all crafters as bad with stuff stuffed all over the place?) but I it was worth it - I found the miniature key I was looking for and it is hanging under the eaves.....
back to the door awning (no padlock for the door, sadly, but a rather nice gold handle to match its hinges.....)
and so on....
ps crab stitch to finish the awnings looks nice I think...
The tea cosy is wonderful. And the skills you're all discussing are mind boggling (all I ever achieved in this department was knitting a 4" square for some charity effort, when I was a teenager).
But rather than copy someone else's design, why not brainstorm new ideas for original tea cosies? Perhaps related to a hobby of someone you know. Or even an eBid Towers tea cosy?
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Oh this is always done too - but it's nice to embrace the ideas of others and overcome the challenges !
Here's one of my originals....
I have no idea why the Irish Flag and a Leprechaun hat came to mind but it did so there was only one thing left to do and that was make it!
ps Fairy house door and windows are made and installed - mushrooms next & some flowers, leaves, etc
Snail can wait for another day!
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In case anyone is still interested and fancies doing this Fairy House cosy -
more thoughts -
I chose a globe shaped teapot. One with a ridged, clearly-defined top would have made the sizing and fitting of the roof easier.
Decorating the roof with the leaf, flower and snail would have been easier done once the basic roof shape was completed and before the body was started...
Doing rounds (eg mushrooms and windows) are best done in perfect rounds rather than spirals - the joints would have been concealed when mushrooms were stitched on and the window frames were attached. The white markings on the mushrooms would also have been easier and more pleasing if done on straight rounds rather than spiral.
Window frames - I did choose 4 ply (the main cosy is in DK) - but I should have chosen a finer 4 ply for the frames than the one I did. It's a bit coarse I'm thinking. Using a ruler to make perfect quadrants would also have been better.
Scale - the original was made to fit a 6 cup pot I think. I have made mine to fit a 4 cup. My door is a little wider than I would like, mushrooms maybe a tad oversized..... more care needed if repeating the exercise. I don't have as much free space for leaves and flowers due to pot size also.
As a 1st attempt, it is a great project - but I am already looking forward to doing one with all the lessons learned. (I am my own worst critic).
One more thing, I must remember to better engage brain before I embrace another new project!
That is excellent
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