Monday, April 18, 2011

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!