That Festive Feeling

Well, it's official, it's December so that festive feeling is allowed to take control over the next month... or more!
And what does the 1st of December signal? Opening of the first door of an advent calendar usually. But no such luck for me, as I am calendar-less this year (if anybody wants to send me one feel free!) Little P was lucky enough to get one, but as she is allergic to dairy products (poor girl) she had to settle for a picture one. Which, in fairness is all I ever had as a child as I wasn't allergic to chocolate! She was ecstatic to open the first door, only problem was, she didn't want to stop... so up on the mantlepiece that went, out of reach of little hands!
But, alas do not fear, I did not go without a treat as, right on cue as usual, my package from Deramore's arrived, bursting open with colourful yarn! And it was totally fair to treat myself and stock up, as they had a good offer of 15% off aran weight yarn.... time to stock up Rico Creative Cotton!

In the package was Rico Essentials Cotton DK in Chocolate, much needed to finish my second reindeer. I wrote up my pattern after I finished the first prototype design, and began on another run-through to check it over. And the little guy had already found himself a home before I even made the first stitch, winner!

I ran out of the brown yarn frustratingly near to the end, but ordered some more and it was here the next day (great quick service from Deramore's!) So this afternoon, I sat down to finish him off. I made a couple of tweaks to the original pattern but it worked fine and I was pleased with the result. I also added so plastic pellets to the stuffing in the body to help him stand better. And as I'm feeling utterly festive, I also added a bell around his neck. Ding dong.
So the pattern is now typed up, looking pretty as a shiny PDF to download, please see top-right corner for a link to the page!
It is the first pattern I have properly written up, so please feel free to let me know if anything is a miss!

A frosty looking Ronald complete with bell...

Yes, that is the white stuff. Just a dusting this morning, but enough to get the little lady excited! It was the first time she's really seen it as she was far too young last year. All she kept saying was 'snoooo woooow'. Now I am actually looking forward to proper snow so I can take her out to play, but we never seem to get too much here, which is probably a good thing as it just causes chaos!

So now, back to the mystery Archer crochet-along by FreshStitches.... it has got me baffled. I'm nearly finished clue 3, and I literally have no idea what it can be. Thursday signals the release of the final clue, which we have been informed, contains no crochet, just assembly.... so I have all the pieces now, just got to figure out how to put them together. FreshStitches has done an amazing job with this, you would think it would be easy to tell what you are making when you have all the bits, but far from it. And I'm not alone... those in the Ravelry group seem to be in the same boat. I've seen some good interpretations but nothing that says 'yep, that's what it is!'

So I'm off to maybe squeeze in a bit of hooking before bed. Poor little P is under the weather again (I hate these winter germs!) and she has only just settled down, so I won't be far behind her tonight!

Until next time...

Round and Round....

I've been fully back on the crochet again lately... the Little lady is back to full health and sleeping better so I again have a little more 'me' time. This primarily consists of crochet these days, occasionally I have to do real-world type chores too, but I try to minimise these! 

It's been mainly amigurumi this last week... The first clue of the FreshStitches Archer Mystery Crochet-A-Long was released last Thursday. For those of you who don't know, you need to. This is a great fun and exciting way to make a project. The pattern is split into 4 'clues', and one is released every Thursday for 4 weeks. What makes this totally different from any other pattern is you don't know what you are making until you put it all together at the end.

I waited eagerly for the first clue to be released, only to remember the author FreshStitches is American... time delay! I had to wait until at least lunch time for her to get up! Luckily the little P slept that afternoon so I got a bit of hooky time with the new project. I wanted to use King Cole Bamboo Cotton as I love the colours and it's nice to work with. I recently got a new colour, Plum, the other day so wanted to use it. The pattern says to use 2 different colours, so I picked 'Fuchsia' as a complimentary colour. I took my 3.5mm Clover soft touch hook and began straight away. I really like how it's made by crocheting into the back-loop only. I've done this before, but not for a whole project, but I really like the texture it gives the pieces. 

Back-loop only effect...

A few of the pieces...

After an evening with a fellow crochet-addict working on our Archer CALs and eating lots of strange kebab meat, I had completed the first clue. I had a different shaped pieces which I tried to gain inspiration from as to what animal I could be making. No idea. My pre-clue guesses were beaver or duck-billed platypus and after Clue 1, I saw nothing to discount these.

Earlier today Clue 2 arrived. I had been waiting all week for it and then this morning I had totally forgotten about it! Luckily, again, the Little P had her afternoon sleep (hope she keeps these Thursday afternoon sleeps up!) and I picked up the hook again. Clue 2 had another 3 parts to make. So far I've made 2 of them... but now I really don't know what on earth this could be! We have be assured it is a real animal and not a fictional creature. I suppose the whole idea is that nobody guesses until the very end, meaning no obvious shapes are made this early on! Clue 2 looks like it produces a pair of legs... but the shapes seem to be discounting the beaver and platypus guesses. I honestly have no idea yet!

In between mystery CAL clues, I have carried on with THE rainbow blanket. It is getting quite large, but I have lost a bit of enthusiasm for it as it is taking soooo long. But that's because I have had a whole load of other projects on the go at the same time, and that is the last hook I pick up! There are only 5 and a bit colours to go, but at the rate I'm doing it, it may take a while!

I also decided the other day I wanted to get in the festive spirit and crochet a reindeer. I couldn't find any patterns I loved so I just started making it up as I went along. I wanted him to be quite fat and short, with an oversized red nose and nice antlers. So far I've made the body with legs included, and the head, sans ears and antlers at the moment. I'm quite happy with him considering I didn't plan much, just made up as I went along. I guess it's kind of like sculpting with wool (or cotton if you're snobby like me!). 

Reindeer so far...

I also managed to finish the little P's bobble hat.... maybe a little on the large side as it falls over her eyes, but she does look super-cute! 

Right, I better go, much to be done... until next time...

Back on Track!

Well it's been a while since I've had the chance to write on here, what with technical issues and a poorly little P, but I finally have the chance to sit down and type at my new workstation - iPad and wireless keyboard - thanks brother for sorting me out!
The little lady had a horrible cold which seemed to last forever, so she just wanted her Mummy all the time. It was lovely to get cuddles as I don't usually get too many, but it did mean crochet time was reduced! Only the little P could get away with that! I do have a few creations to show for myself over the last 3 or 4 weeks however, as I have made the most of what crochet time I did have.
The change in temperature has sparked a new line of crocheting for me... hats and gloves and scarves! I refuse to buy little P woolly items, as I can easily make them myself, but they kept getting relegated down my 'to make' list. Eventually it got to the point when I felt terrible that the little monkey had no woolly hat and gloves in the cold weather we have had... so I halted other productions and got to work on protecting my daughter from the cold!
I scoured the internet for quite some time to find the 'right' hat for the little P. I wanted a beanie, but a pretty one, not just a boring round and round hat. I also wanted to use King Cole Bamboo Cotton as it's nice and soft on her little head, so I needed a pattern for DK weight yarn. Eventually I came across one on Ravelry as a free download. It is called 'Perenni' and it's by Deanne Ramsay. It was a very easy pattern to follow, although it took me 3 attempts to get the size right for the little P! I'm chuffed with how it turned out, and she looks super sweet in it! I also tried to make some mittens for her too... I wanted ones with thumbs, but a lot of the patterns for her tiny hands don't have thumbs, so I had to improvise a tad. They turned out not too bad for complete guess-work, and they fit OK, but will she wear them? NO! Maybe when it gets a bit colder.... here's hoping!

and the detail of the pretty stitching...

I then decided to make myself a snood/cowl type thing as I saw pattern I liked on Annaboo's House. She recommends super-chunky yarn with a 15mm hook so I ordered some Sirdar Indie in Apache. I have fallen in love with this yarn, it's super soft, maybe a little bit itchy, but the colours are amazing that you forget all about that! I got straight to it the day the yarn arrived, and finished it that same evening. Super-quick and easy to follow pattern with great results! A cosy snood for cold weather! No more silly scarf ends poking out of my coat!

As I loved the yarn so much, I had a look at some of the other colours and decided I needed a bit more. I thought I could make little P another hat... this time a chunky earflap hat with a bobble on top. So I visited a local shop where I knew they stocked it, and bought a couple more colours.... Madison and Crazy Horse. I used the lovely Madison for the Little P's hat and I plan to use the Crazy Horse to make another cowl type-thing for myself. 

The Crazy Horse...

and the beginnings of a hat in Madison...

I have also been back on the amigurumi. I had an order for 2 rabbits, which I've been slowly assembling over the last month, but they are finally finished and will be off to their new home soon! 
And I finally finished the hair on the amigurumi doll, now named Polly Dolly. It's plaited and tied up with bows and finishes her off nicely. Little P seems to like her, she gets dragged around by the hair a fair amount, which I'm sure is a sign of affection!

Meet Polly Dolly...

and a couple of sweet bunnies...

Also, my kind brother went on a trip to Barcelona for a few days, and brought me back a present, a cactus pin cushion! It's really nice, too nice to stick pins in maybe! They were for sale on a stand on Las Ramblas, all handmade and loads of different designs and colours. 

There are also a few exciting things coming up for me... Fresh Stitches Mystery Crochet-Along starts in just 2 days, so looking forward to receiving the first bit of the pattern for that! And some more exciting things in the New Year if all goes to plan (all crochet related obviously!) which I won't talk about just yet but am very much looking forward to them!
Now I must go, bed is calling, and me and little P have to be out early to a Music class! Until next time...