Holiday Hot Water Bottle Cozy

It's not perfect, but it's done. I'm reminding myself that I can knit another one, and having this gift checked off my list is more important right now! Weaving in all the ends and washing this tonight, then getting it wrapped up for Mom.

Ravelry Project: Holiday Hot Water Bottle
Pattern: Rachael's ISBN Hot Water Bottle Cozy by Rachael Herron, modified to use stranded colorwork instead of the cable panel and with a shorter neck. The heart band at the bottom is from the chart in the Hearty-stripy sock pattern by Patty McEldowney.
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn, Galway, color 16 (red) and color 127 (light green)

More Rock Doilies

More crochet lace rock doilies:


...and what the undersides look like:


These are fun and a good, healthy way for me to relieve stress. These are all freehanded - I don't work from a pattern, just improvise motifs and then close the doily around the rocks with crocheted loops and decreases, using triple crochet, double crochet, and single crochet stitches. Margaret Oomen's crochet covered sea stones have been a huge inspiration for these; you can find a free pattern for Little Urchin Crochet Covered Sea Stones on the Purl Bee blog and photos of Margaret's work on her blog, Resurrection Fern. She also sells some through her Etsy shop (knitalatte, scheduled to re-open in early 2012).

I also have some plans to sell pieces from the Kokua Market Yarnstorming and other similar pieces (rock doilies and crochet jellyfish, primarily) to help raise funds for future yarnstorms. Now that I've told you, I should get on that!