If you read my February newsletter, you will know that I have embarked on a new adventure:  column-writing (I think that’s a word)! Inside Crochet have asked me to write a column for their magazine and I said yes because YAY!  Apart from being a huge honour (HUGE), this gives me the opportunity to focus on my writing, which is something I have been meaning to do for a while.

I have written two columns so far, each accompanied by a pattern.  The theme of my column is ‘Colourful Home’, so I will be focussing on practical, colourful projects you can use around the house.  For the first two projects, we focussed on patterns for the hallway, using variations of the same (simple) stitch and Stonewashed XL yarn.

Storage Doorstop

My first pattern was a storage doorstop, featured in Issue 87 of Inside Crochet.  The doorstop is basically a bag with a weight in the bottom.  I suggest using one of those rice heating bags that everyone has and no-one can ever find.  That way you will always know where to find it on those rare occasions when you actually need it.

Photo Credit Kirsten Mavric and Inside Crochet

The doorstop is closed in such a way that you can drop small pieces of debris (Lego, marbles, crayons, bouncy balls) into it on your way past without having to open it.  I find this SO helpful because it means I only have to sort the contents of the doorstop once a month, instead of having to put the relevant toys in the relevant containers each time I step on or trip over them.  When you want to retrieve anything from the black hole doorstop, it is a matter of seconds to unfasten the closure.

Photo Credit Kirsten Mavric and Inside Crochet

You can find the pattern for the storage doorstop in Issue 87 of Inside Crochet (digital copy available HERE) and you can add it to your Ravelry Queue HERE.  You can see the rest of the patterns in Issue 87 HERE on Ravelry.

Rainbow Draught Excluder

The second pattern was a rainbow draught excluder.  I get so mixed up with the British/American spelling of words and draft/draught always confuses me.  I am going to stick with draught in this post because even though my crochet-term-of-choice is US, my ‘normal’ writing has always been British.

The draught excluder is made up of 8 colourful squares and it fits perfectly in front of our front door.  I was originally going to use 9 squares, but when I stuffed the excluder, I realized that I had made a maths booboo, so the orange square you see in the photos below will now become something else.

I just love how the colours play together and the fact that the excluder has a gentle wavy appearance.  And spot the debris I was talking about above?  THAT’s what I made the doorstop for!!

Technically, Spring isn’t the best time to start using a draught excluder, but the boys have found another use for the excluder while not needed at the front door:  they bash each other over the head with it…repeatedly.  And Xander has taken to cuddling it when he goes to bed at night.  He calls it wormy, which makes me smile a happy-sad smile.  One of these days he’ll be too big to cuddle random crochet items and make up little names for them…

You can find the pattern for the draught excluder in Issue 88 of Inside Crochet (digital copy available HERE) and you can add it to your Ravelry Queue HERE.  You can see the rest of the patterns in Issue 88 HERE on Ravelry.

If you make either of these two projects, I would love it if you would share your photos using #insidecrochet #insidecrochetmagazine #rainbowstoragedoorstop and/or #rainbowdraughtexcluder.

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