Finally, in an unfruitful mess of aborted projects over the last few months, here are some useful and happy pieces of crochet.

I needed small containers and I certainly did not invent the crochet bowl, but here's my version of it. You can find loads of free patterns on Ravelry, of course. I especially liked this one: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/felted-bowl-4 (felted ones are awesome).

The birdies come from here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/110394909/felted-bowl-cream-white-wool-bowl-with. She has fabulous bowls and I love the appliques (!!!), but you can leave yours blank or embroider or sew or crochet anything you like on them.

They're made of bulky yarn and size 3 hook, this gives them a bit of stability and shape, and the diameters are 8 cm at the bottom and 7 cm at the top.

So here's the pattern:

R1:: ch 3 (ch 2 and 3 count as the first hdc), 11 hdc in first ch, sl st to top of ch-3 (12 hdc)
R2:: ch 2 (always counts as first hdc), hdc in same st as ch-2, 2 hdc in each hdc around, sl st to top of ch-2 (24 hdc)
R3:: ch 2, hdc in same st as ch-2,  1 hdc in next st, *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next st* around, sl st to top of ch-2  (36 hdc)
R4:: ch2, hdc in same st as ch-2, 1 hdc in each of the next 2 sts, *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in each of the next 2 sts* around, sl st to top of ch-2  (48 hdc)
R5-10:: hdc in each stitch around (48 hdc)
R11:: ch 1, sl st around, ending with a sl st in that first ch-1 (48 sts)

All done in an hour or less! :)
Happy crocheting!:D