The Crafty Swap

You may remember that once upon a time I mentioned a craft swap I'm doing with Maddy of From Twelve to Two Fifteen... well the time is almost upon us to complete the task and swap creations. Tomorrow is the day, I'll venture over to see her whilst she is back in the UK and present her with what has been a mammoth project over the last few months... the giant granny square blanket.
Firstly I was building up piles and piles of brightly coloured granny squares made from lovely yarn - Mostly Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran with some RICO Essentials Soft Merino Aran thrown in to complete the colour palette.
This...

Became this...

which have eventually become this...

I have to admit I love it, and this picture doesn't really do it justice at all. There are 100 granny squares (made using Attic 24's Summer Garden Granny Square pattern) and they are all joined in one continuous motion using this method  by Babylove Brand which I found very easy to follow! It actually all joined together quicker than I thought, and I will definitely be joining future granny square blankets in this way. Revelation. I have really enjoyed this project, and will miss it somewhat. I've had endless evenings of crocheting random colour squares and then the privilege of combining them to make a blanket which I hope will be greatly received. I have already had a preview of the quilt made for Little P, as Maddy finished a while back and posted about it here... I have 'borrowed' a pic off her blog to show it off, but will no doubt take more photos when we receive it tomorrow!

Isn't it super lovely? Sewing is really not a craft I know a lot about, so I can't even imagine the work that went into this, but I know it will be huge amounts since it has been dubbed 'the forever quilt'! I know Little Lady will love it and spend many hours using it in her games and snuggling under it... as will I.

Here's a few more pics of the blanket, before I part with it... I think it deserved a montage...

and another full-body shot...

and a little look at it all packaged up...

and a close-up of that super little detail...

Yep, personalised wooden buttons bought for me by my trusty friend Curly Girl Coop... the perfect detailing to finish it off!

So there was an enormous cavern left where the blanket once filled my evenings... but not for long. It seems it's baby time again... it always seems to come in gluts, 3 babies due close together, then none for months! So I'll be back on baby crafting for a bit, and see what else takes my fancy. I also still have the 'As We Go Stripy Blanket' which I started work on months ago but it went on the back-burner when the BIG granny blanket came along. I did find time last weekend to figure out and type up a pattern for a square I created last year (or maybe actually the year before that) as I have been asked a couple of times recently for a pattern for it. I have titled it 'The Popcorn Flower Square' and it can be found from a link at the top of the page or by simply clicking here.

I've also been enjoying the glorious sunshine over the last week, and have had lots of lovely days with my Little P, including trips to the park and beach. We took a day trip to Southwold earlier this week, which was great fun. Always such a lovely place to visit. I particularly love the shot of Little Lady wandering along the pier...

I've had great fun also playing with my camera, and trying to snap some nice shots of the nature around me. There are plenty of flowers in the garden to practice on, since I went overboard on my daylily collection a few years back! They are great plants, the flowers may only last a day but there are so many of them, staggered throughout the summer months. Here are a few of my faves...

I also found myself a teeny weeny baby cactus from a local exotic plant nursey, and look forward to watching him grow!

My cacti and succulent collection is coming along nicely... Now I realise I do have a few collections going on... ooops.

I also made it out into the countryside again with the Little One and spotted a few more of those Six-Spotted Burnet moths I took a photo of before. I managed to get close up this time and I am pretty proud of the photo I got...

Look at him drinking! I love it!

Right, got to go, I'm continuing on a new project and having a well deserved cup of tea. I shall update you all on the craft swap in due course! So until next time...

Have Yourself a Handmade Little Christmas

Yep, it's all about Christmas crafting this year. Last year I felt I left it a bit late (the Christmas tree skirt was finished in time for the tree to come down!) so I have started in good time this year. It's not just crochet either - it's a multi-discipline crafting bonanza! I'm making my own cards - simple ones, but pretty ones I think. I also have 'stuff' for Little P to make her own too. That will involve heaps of glue and glitter and sequins and stickers - but she will have great fun (and so will I cleaning up after her!)
The last 3 weeks have been ridden with ailments - first me and the Little Lady were under the weather. Little P took quite some time to get over it, and is still not fully there, although she is becoming more her usual self now. The cheeky streak is back! It was hard getting out of the house at times as Little P wanted to stay in (most unlike her) but I needed a break too, so I suggested we drive to the City to the Hobbycraft store. We will just pick up a 'couple of bits' for Christmas crafting... needless to say I bought more than I anticipated, but it will definitely all get used and enjoyed. The trip did also cheer up Little P, who was very excited about making Christmas cards and picking the bits and bobs she wanted - within reason.
I have also been trying my hand at hand-sewn felt decorations. I have seen them in shops and refuse to buy them as the quality of the stitching doesn't often look great, and they aren't cheap either. It would be much more satisfying to make some - all you need is felt, stuffing, thread and buttons, and a little bit of practice at blanket stitching. So I acquired some Christmassy colours of felt and thread, and some pearl buttons and got to work.

Not bad for a first attempt hey? I found blanket stitching around the points a little tricky, but in my later creations, I've ironed it out a bit and they look a little smarter! So simple, yet so sweet, and a lot cheaper and more pleasing than shop-bought ones. I also really enjoyed hand stitching these, and it reminded me of sewing lessons at Middle School - the ones I used to hate and had no interest in, how I wish I'd listened and learned more now!

I have other 'big' ideas for Christmas crafting too... I saved the 5 'cone bobbins' that my Hoopayarn came on, and plan to turn them into nativity characters, safe ones that Little P can play with. Amongst my Hobbycraft purchases were some polystyrene balls for their heads, and a small polystyrene figure, which will become baby Jesus if all goes to plan. He has already had one accident - when reviewing my purchases, Little P managed to snap his head off! Nothing a bit of glue won't sort! 
My Mum asked if I would crochet some Christmas bunting to hang up in the lounge, so I have to figure out my plan for that too. I have made a small crochet star garland to hang on the fireplace. I needed a small, repetitive project whilst I sat and watched 'Inception' one evening, so picked some festive colours and made 12 little stars. I improvised the stars a bit after looking at various patterns, but they are pretty simple...

Round 1 - 15dc in magic ring, slip stitch to close.
Round 2 - the points, chain 6, sc in 3rd chain from hook, hdc in next, dc in next, tr in next. Skip 2 stitches from Round 1 and slip stitch into next. Do this 5 times to make 5 points.

Easy peasy little stars... I then strung them together by making a simple chain and slip stitching through the top of one of the points of the star. I think I had 30 chain stitches at each end, and 20 between stars. I used Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo and a 3.5mm hook.

Amongst all this festivity, I have made a couple of much needed beanie hats. The weather has most definitely turned for the worse, and I was searching around for a suitable slouchy hat pattern. Then right on cue my friend Curly Girl Coop alerted me to the wonderful world of MyBoshi. If you like beanies and colour, you'll love this stuff. It's a company who specialise in making customisable beanies and hats and other woolly goodness, using their own brand yarn, which is a mix of 70% acrylic and 30% merino. It's surprisingly soft, and not at all 'fluffy' or 'itchy' - two things I can't stand for a hat! It has an amazing range of colours and gives a lovely 'polished' and professional look to the hats. The only negative is that a lot of the information is in German and there are only a few 'do-it-yourself' patterns available, unlike the enormous range available to buy as ready made boshis.
The basic pattern is very simple however, and I think it could be easily adapted to create different effects. It just so happens that my local yarn store is selling this... Luckily my friend Curly Girl Coop had left me a few colours to choose from after she had raided the stand, so I bought a few to take home and try.

My first effort, the one on the left, worked up so quickly and easily. I had to add a couple of rounds to make it a bit longer so it covered my ears, but the pattern was very easy to follow. I was hooked. I had to make more. Little P picked her colours out (the brightest pink in the world and violet) so I whipped her one up too. It was a little tricky as she wouldn't let me measure her head, so it was a bit of guesstimation, but I got there in the end. The last one, bottom left, is a slouchy hat. I love the colours of this one, and can see me wearing it a lot. Also very quick to work up, I finished it in an evening - this included colour planning which takes up the most time!

I just love how the yarn looks... so polished...

My advice? If you need a winter hat and you can crochet - it's MyBoshi all the way!

I could quite happily buy loads more colours and make loads more hats! I just need more heads to wear them!

I also managed to type up a little pattern for my Father Christmas amigurumi, which can either be a toy or a hanging ornament. Find it here. I think he will look good next to Ronald the Fat Little Reindeer too...

 

Must be off, so until next time, happy Christmas crafting!



Normality

If there is such thing, we are back to it. It's been a nice Summer - some bits didn't work out as planned, but things got done, fun was had, and the weather for once played ball - we've had amazing long sunny spells since July (this is not usually the case here in the UK I can tell you!)

Now, September has set in and the weather has instantly become more autumnal. Schools are back and Christmas chocolates are already in the shops. Boo hoo! I love Summer - the sun, heat, nature - and not having to wear jumpers and coats, I hate those things! I really should move somewhere a bit warmer...

But, with all the change as we lose our Summer once again, a sense of relief also comes into play, as normality is restored. It's just me and the Little Lady pootling about our business through the week, doing jobs, shopping and plenty of things to keep her entertained! The Summer was lovely, but it's nice to be settled back into our familiar routine.

This means less crochet time however, but it's OK as that time is transferred to full-time Mummy, which is a job I love! I've managed to sneak in some most evenings through the week, which is just enough to keep me sane/happy. This week's project has been the FreshStitches Tiny-A-Long - a crochet-a-long where you can make any of her patterns, but the twist is they have to be tiny (or at least smaller than worsted weight yarn!) I consider FreshStitches animals to be large. If you make them out of the suggested worsted weight yarn, they can be a foot or more tall! Whilst I like the odd larger creation, storage is not practical! Previously I have made her patterns with DK weight yarn, meaning they came out smaller than intended, but for me they were still plenty big enough. For the tiny-a-long, I decided to go one smaller, into unchartered territory - 4ply yarn and a 2.5mm hook! Arghhh! I had none of this, so of course I had to shop. I wanted to use cotton, as usual, and remembered the DMC Natura Cotton my friend once used. It comes it loads of yummy bright colours, so I went and picked out a few I liked.
I still didn't know what I was actually making, so I browsed FreshStitches patterns and tried to figure out what would look good in the colours I had bought. I probably did this the wrong way round, as I usually know what I am making before I go colour hunting, but it actually worked out rather well!
So now I will introduce Jacques, le Hermit Crab!

Friendly little chap isn't he?! I added the smile as I thought he needed it - and Little P likes to pretend to feed these things, and we need a mouth for that!
Even with the 4ply yarn and 2.5mm hook, he still turned out about 9 inches long, imagine if you made him full size?! I striped the shell too, to make him a bit more interesting and bright, and I'm pleased with how that turned out, even if it was a bit of a faff changing colour every row!
My main gripe with the construction of Jacques, was the 5 rows in the middle of his 'body'. They comprised of single crochets, slip stitches and half-double crochets. I understand that this is a necessary technique in order to get his body shape, but working with such small yarn, it slowed the process right down!
In fact, the whole thing took a lot longer than I expected as the yarn was infuriating! It may look and feel lovely, but it was very, very splitty, and working with a small hook, you really noticed it. I was dead chuffed it I managed to complete a stitch without stray loops appeared from where the yarn had split. I won't be using this for amigurumi again in a hurry... or ever!

I was not looking forward to assembling him (I often find sewing on bits can be tricky!) but this was actually plain sailing compared to the rest of him! I don't blame the pattern at all, that's great - it's that yarn! And I won't write the yarn off entirely either - it's just not made for amigurumi! I think he was worth the blood, sweat and tears though, and I've rather fallen in love with him since his completion last night. Little P found him this morning and had to get her other toy crab so they could say 'hello' to each other. Ah sweet child!

I also had another one of those exciting yarn deliveries on Friday. All the way from the States. You guessed it - more Lily Sugar 'n Cream! I've had a few people ask where I get it from, so here is the link to the Bernat shop. It's relatively cheap, comes in great colours and variations (even smells?!) and works up lovely too. I love it. Not for everything - I'm not sure I'd ever use it for toys or blankets, but for decorative stuff it's top notch. Obviously, being as it's from over the pond, shipping is relatively large ($16 to the UK). But I figure, if you order enough (meaning loads) it balances out quite well! Also, I have only been charged shipping once out of 3 orders - I'm not sure how that works? But I was charged this last order, which ruined my idea that if I ordered enough they scrapped the shipping! However, it still works out a good price per skein (mine was about £2.20 per 71g, and works out about the same price per gram as Rico Creative Cotton), and I'm quite happy to pay for the luxury of this stuff!

I ordered a couple of super-size balls this time, and will do so in the future if they have the colours I want available. I also tried a super-sized striped ball of 'Creamsicle', yummy isn't it?

Which leads me nicely on to the other thing I've been getting on with this week - the Little Sunshine Hat pattern is written up, and ready to download as a PDF file (via Google Drive)!

Now the Summer is over, I've finally pulled my finger out and got it written up, good timing eh? Better late than never! I used the Lily Sugar 'n Cream yarn to make these hats, as it has enough strength to it to hold it's shape, but is soft and floppy enough to make a nice hat too. Go take a look! I hope to be writing up another pattern sometime soon, when time allows, but until next time...