Tried and Tested Tip Number 31 [Origami Heart]

Well, it's only been two years since the last T&T, that's not too bad, is it?! Hopefully the next one won't take quite so long...

I have needed to make quite a few wedding and anniversary cards recently, and I wanted to continue my adventures into origami! I came across this Simple Decorative Origami Heart on Instructables, which was just what I needed.

[Notice the little gems again, I'm using them everywhere at the moment!]

My folding bone was a real help with this tutorial, especially when opening points up and flattening them down, as well as the standard clean edges. The pattern flowed naturally and they were quick and easy to make. I *think* I used 20cm x 10cm rectangle to create these hearts, which are a nice size on an A6 card.

Because of the details on the heart, I would recommend a lighter paper rather than card, and I would recommend double sided paper - even if the other side is a contrast colour! They're great as gift tags to finish off a present too.

I really recommend this tutorial, and I think it is just flat enough to fit through on the smallest Royal Mail slot, which is always helpful!

Crochet Cross

I innocently thought that a lacy style cross, in a thin wool and with a small hook, would be quick and easy to crochet. Erm, not the way I went about it!

I started with this pattern. I proceeded to get very confused, so moved up to a larger hook and DK to work it out. I *did* work it out, but it was very time consuming, and I didn't have the patience for it! So I looked into some more crochet cross patterns, and came across this. Was this my first attempt at this pattern? Nuh-uh. My original attempt at this pattern came out much bigger than I had hoped for (bearing in mind I was hoping the cross could be used as a bookmark), so after some fiddling I adjusted the pattern slightly. I based this on the Pattern 2 (and don't do what I did and start reading one pattern in one translation and then suddenly find you've scrolled and are now following a different pattern half way through!) Anyway, in the end I did fewer repeats on each arm, and also used double crochet throughout (yarn over once, whichever country that is!) I then used the second new edging as the basis, but on a smaller basis, maybe sc, dc, sc repeat? I just kept scaling stitches down, basically.

And so ends a useless ramble. I loosely stitched it to some card and packaged it up in some clear wrap, lovely little gift :)