Bee with Blanket

This is my final bee project, for now at least. I promised I'd make a second bee. You can find that free pattern here. The blanket is part of the Beehive playset I posted about earlier. I wanted to include it in this final post with the bee so I waited to make it until I started the bee. You can purchase the Beehive playset here.

The bee is made with Omega Sinfonia sport cotton and a B hook. The flower is made with worsted weight acrylic and a G hook.

Beehive Pincushion

Before I found Laura Sutcliffe's Beehive Play set I had been looking for bee themed patterns specifically trying to find a hive. When I showed the honey maker the pin cushion pattern she liked that one better than some of the other hive patterns I'd found. It just goes to show you don't need to make an item for its intended purpose for it to be useful. This is a free pattern from Maggie's crochet found here.

You do need to watch the holes on this pattern while stuffing as if you don't crochet this tight you will create gaps and the stuffing will show. I used the suggested g hook for this project. I think I'd try a smaller hook the next time around and perhaps add rows if I found it was too small too keep the stitches tight. It's crochet if you are going to use this as a pin cushion crochet naturally creates holes. However, you don't want the stuffing coming out. You could also consider lining it with something to avoid that as well.

You may recognize the bee on the top of the hive it is the same bee from the Beehive play set I posted about yesterday. I liked the bee better than the one from this pattern so I just made an extra while making the bees for that set and added one to the flower from this set.

Bee

I had a request from a honey maker for some decorations for a farmer's market table. This is the first of the bees. As I went hunting for bee patterns I was pleasantly suprised to discover one of my favorite Ami designers Aradiya Toys not only had a pattern but it was free and you can find it here.

I've been on a quest to use up yarn on hand where ever possible. The pattern calls for Ariadna KAJA yarn and a .85mm steel crochet thread hook and creates about a 5cm bee. I'd didn't know much about this yarn but in looking it up online it looks to be a crochet thread, based on the hook size that makes sense.

I wanted a slightly larger bee and where possible I've been trying to use yarn on hand. I had two choices of sports cotton but loooking at my colors on hand I went with Omega Sinfonia yellow and black. Having used this yarn and worked with patterns from this designer before I chose a b hook and I liked the look of the finished bee.