Cheshire Cat Crochet Purse

Completely hooked...

I am a step nearer my 2011 crafty goals as I started to learn to crochet this weekend. On Saturday, I attended a beginners course at Purl City Yarns in Manchester, about an hour's drive from where I live. The course cost £54.99 for five hours of tuition and included two balls of yarn and a crochet hook.

There were just three of us on the course, which meant we got plenty of attention. All of us were knitters but I had the least experience with crochet and was definitely the remedial pupil. Our instructor for the course was the delightful Katy Bromberg. Katy showed us how to make a slip knot, hold our yarn, make the foundation chain and complete double and treble crochet stitches as the basics. We then started to complete a sampler of stitches.

Katy also took us through how to read a crochet pattern and discussed finishing techniques, including blocking and joining two pieces of crochet together. We were also able to ask our own questions like how to increase and decrease and how to crochet in the round. Katy also teaches pilates and showed us some stretches and exercises to avoid getting too stiff when knitting and crocheting.

I have to confess that I was struggling a bit with my crochet, but things improved after lunch when I swapped my 4mm hook and double knit for a 6mm hook and some chunky yarn. I found it particularly difficult to get the right number of double crochets into the foundation chain. Katy showed me a great technique where you can create the foundation chain and the first row of double crochet in one go, which I found much easier to do.

I really enjoyed the class despite being a bit hamfisted and came away loaded with goodies from the shop, having put my 10% discount voucher from the course to good use.

I knew from learning to knit last year that the key to success was practise, practise, practise. So, despite my longish day on the course, I crocheted a couple more samples on Saturday evening. On Sunday, I decided to start my first project as I tend to get a bit bored just doing samplers and wanted to get on and  make something. I decided to attempt a simplified version of Jackie Ebdon's Bag Puss project from April 2011's Let's Knit magazine.

The purse should be made with 4 ply cotton yarn on a 2.5mm hook. I made mine using a 5.5mm hook and King Cole Merino Blend Chunky Superwash Wool. I reduced the number of stitches from 28 to 12 to get roughly the right dimensions, but otherwise the pattern was the same - just double crochet and then a turning chain on each row until I had a rectangle long enough to make a purse with a flap. I had to be careful to ensure that I kept my 12 stitches in tact, but I think it looks broadly ok.

On this occasion, I decided just to oversew the the sides of the purse together rather than attempt a joining stitch. I then made the cat's tail using the combined foundation chain/first row of double crochet that Katy had taught me.

I used the template from the magazine to make the cat's face from two pieces of blue felt. I embroidered the facial features and then sewed the two sides of the face together and gently stuffed. I attached the face to the flap of the purse with a few stitches at each of four points on the cat's face. I sewed a press stud to the underside of the flap for actual closure.

To decorate, I opted to use a felt flower embellishment from The Bead Shop Scotland, which I think is rather cute. For a slightly more professional finish (to make up for the dodgy crochet), I made a lining from a cotton floral fabric from my stash. I cut two pieces of fabric and then sewed three sides together on my sewing machine. I folded the top of the lining pouch over and pressed and then hand sewed it into place in the purse using a slip stitch.

Not bad for a first attempt if I do say so myself. I am now avidly studying patterns to work out what I can try next. I'm not sure whether I'll like crochet more than knitting but I'm looking forward to expanding my horizons....

Melx