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Friday 22 July 2016

Crochet Mandrake Tablet Case | Harry Potter DIY


For some reason the Harry Potter series is like a crafting muse for me. I have a notepad filled with all sorts of ideas that I'm regularly adding to. Last week, when I booked tickets to go to Harry Potter Studio Tour, my brain went into crochet overdrive and I had to make something to get my crafting energy to calm down. The trip will be my second, but I'm beyond excited as it will be at Christmas and with my sister, who loves the wizarding world as much as me.

I decided I needed a case for my tablet as it will be travelling with me and I don't have one.
When my brain is full of ideas I like to use an A4 pad to map everything out and it helps me come to a decision. With this project I had a couple of Ravenclaw themed ideas first and then I just saw a baby mandrake plant fully formed in my head.

I knew it would be a crocheted case and as soon as I had my design sketched out I went searching for the right yarns.




I decided on Sirdar Wash 'n' Wear Double Crepe DK in brown and duck egg for the main body of the case as I wanted something fairly durable. For the Mandrake itself, well they're a bit magical so I needed something a more special than 'normal' yarn. I decided to go with Sirdar Softspun Luxury Soft DK in goldie and green as it has a beautiful shimmer to it and it makes the Mandrake jump out of the background. I'm terrible at taking photos, so you'll have to trust me!

For the eyes I used a black sparkly Jomil Starmist crochet thread. I bought mine from a sale bin at my local yarn shop for £1, so have a look around, as the when I searched for it online so I could give you links it was selling for £7 which is frankly ridiculous!

Anyway, what do you think of the finished product? I'm really happy with how it turned out

For the crochet lovers who want a bit more detail about what I did:

The body of the case is entirely single crochet (US) using a 4.00mm hook. I made a foundation chain the length of my tablet as the bottom and then for one round worked in the front loop only all the way around to make a 'corner' so that bottom and sides had a better shape. Then it was just plain old single crochet until it was big enough to entirely cover my tablet.

The Mandrake itself I made in seven pieces with a 3mm hook. (Head, body, 4 limbs and 2 leaves) I made each part free form, but using mostly single crochet, with the odd half-double, and double to make it look a bit gnarly and root-like. The body and head were made as off circles with random increases, decreases and missed stitched to alter the shape. I basically just eye-balled it.

The leaves I based loosely off the Fern leaf pattern from 100 Flowers to knit and Crochet. (If you haven't had a look through it before, I can't recommend it enough)

The eyes were little knots made with a darning needle.

The features were made with a 2.5mm hook in a chain on top of the face. I did a little down-turned mouth shape and frowning eyebrows, although it's fairly hard to see. If I did it again, I'd probably use a bigger hook for that part. Or perhaps a slightly darker shade of yarn.

When I had crocheted all the body parts together, I loosely pinned it on the case and sewed it into place with a large darning needle. I actually remembered to a few photos here and there in case anyone fancies having a go themselves and finds them helpful.

 

 

Tuesday 12 July 2016

I Want to Collect All of the Things!

I want to start by saying, I'm 31 year old Mother of two, which makes me an official grown up now, okay? So it's a given that I'm way too old to be collecting toys, but look! Would you just look at the tiny, adorable, Potter characters!



Funko are releasing Harry Potter Mystery Minis! I never collected things as a child and their Pop Vinyl figures never tempted me, but I really want a tiny little Minerva! Forbidden Planet put's their UK release date as 4th August, but I found some available on Amazon now and I'm so tempted to buy a whole box. Is it considered bad parenting to feed my children only beans on toast so I can buy myself toys?






Sunday 10 July 2016

2 Crochet Hooks - Tea for Two

Hi everyone! This is just a quick little post to let you all know that 2crochethooks.com have had me as their guest this week, on their Tea for Two feature. If you haven't come across their site before, it's a great place to find free patterns, inspiration and new blogs to binge on.

Pop on over and find yourself another project to add to your list, perhaps something festive, July 'tis the season for Christmas Crochet after all.