granny egg tutorial

easter has snuck up on me with the stealth of a ninja and i figured i should get out a few decorations, but when i went through what i already had, i thought 'meh, i'm not really into so much pastel anymore'. so what to do, what to do... 

well, i had to go to hobby lobby for a few things for my son's school project and thought i would take a look to see what they had in their easter aisles. i came across ceramic eggs in a cream color and immediately thought 'i will grannify you eggs!' [yeah, i doubt grannify is a real word too]. i walked out with as eight eggs, paper grass and pipe cleaner chicks and ended up with these:

i made the up the granny eggs as i went and am excited to share the process with you guys. i know easter is less than one week away but these hook up really fast! you could even do this over plastic eggs you have laying around the house...

Supplies [chick not required]:

*i used creme de la creme yarn and an 'F' hook OR cotton crochet thread and a 'D' hook, but this can vary depending on the size of your egg

Stitches [US terms]:
magic ring= great tutorial here [use through step 3]
sl st = slip stitch
sp = space
ch = chain
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
granny stitch = 3dc, ch1 [i doubt this stitch is in any book, it's just what i call it :) ]
granny increase = ch3, 1dc in same space, ch1, 2dc in same space, ch1


Pattern:
Round 1: in magic ring, ch3, 2dc, ch1, 4 granny stitches, sl st in top of ch3; before pulling yarn end tight to close the hole, feed it through hole to the right side


Round 2: sl st in next 2dc and ch1 sp, granny increase, *granny stitch in next ch1 sp* four times, sl st in top of ch3


Round 3: sl st in next dc and ch1 sp, ch3, 2dc in same sp, ch1, *granny in next ch1 sp* five times, sl st in top of ch3

Round 4: sl st in next 2dc and ch1 sp, ch3, 2dc in same sp, ch1, *granny in next ch1 sp* five times, sl st in top of ch3

Round 5: sl st in next 2dc and ch1 sp, ch3, 2dc in same sp, *3dc in next ch1 sp* five times, insert egg into cup you've created, sl st in top of ch3; from this point you are working in the round with the egg inserted

Round 6: repeat Round 5, minus the egg insertion

Round 7: sl st in next 2dc and ch1 sp, ch3, 1dc in same sp, ch1, *2dc, ch1 in next ch1 sp* five times, sl st in top of ch3

Round 8: sl st in next dc and ch1 space, ch1, sc in same space, sc in next ch1 sp 5 times pulling yarn tight around the small end of the egg, sl st in first sc of round; fasten off; weave in ends

the pattern as written above is for the thicker yarn and bigger hook [fuschia and yellow eggs in picture above]. the white, red and pink eggs made with the crochet thread required an extra granny increase row in the beginning and an extra row of 3dc w/o ch1 in between [like Round 5 above]. the pattern is truly customizable to your egg, yarn and personal preferences. 

another feature you could add would be a chain loop to hang your egg with, like this one:

please let me know if you have any questions or find any errors... enjoy!

weekend wrap-up: happy easter and button love...

... I hope your Easter weekend was wonderful! 

The weather here was in the 60's and our flowers are starting to really bloom.

We had a very nice dinner with hubby's side of the family with the usual Easter fare... ham, green bean casserole, twice-baked potatoes, rolls and fruit.

The second part of this post is to send out a huge THANK YOU! for all of the blog love I have been getting for my embroidered buttons I created for the FS Swap!

The full set was included on yesterday's Flickr Friend Roundup @ One Pretty Thing (if you have not seen Rachel's daily postings of some of the greatest tutorials and DIY projects on the internet, you really need to check out her blog!)

The rain cloud with lightning has been tumbling around on Tumblr, with it all starting with adaiha's Tumblr page, Neat Stuff. (To be perfectly honest, I hadn't even heard of Tumblr prior to this... I'm really out of touch!)

And finally, the robin's egg nest was included in a post on Feeling Stitchy about some of the many beautiful buttons sent and received through the swap.




I really appreciate everyone's kinds comments and adding my buttons as favorites on the blogs mentioned above and on Flickr!! It's very humbling, exciting and a boost to my crafting confidence to have my work enjoyed by others!


Have a wonderful week everybody!!