a brown valentine

I decided to make Ben a little crochet banner for Valentine's day this year, in his favourite colour: brown!

I didn't have a pattern so just sort of made it up as I went. It turned out to be a fairly quick project, which was lucky as I had to make the whole thing in secret one Saturday while Ben was at work.

I used some nice speckled brown wool which I'd originally bought as an alternative option for the bobble hat I made last summer and added a corded edge in cream. Once I'd finished I crocheted around a stick along the top edge to hang the banner.

It ended up looking just as expected, which was a nice surprise.



I debated whether to embroider or add a felted design, but in the end opted to crochet on a heart shape using a series of slip stitches. The end result looked nicely wonky I think.



And Ben said it was lovely so I was very pleased.
In return he made me probably the best card ever. So good!

colourful crochet

I've made a bunch more crochet squares for my stitch library. Every time I think I've run out of different colours of wool I manage to dig out a couple more balls from my yarn basket.

A couple of these were made from the wool I received in my recent Fibreshare package. It was lovely to make use of them so quickly! 

Of these ones I think the embossed circles is the most interesting (and surprisingly easy to crochet too!) although the colour I used for the crossbill stitch also make that one a firm favourite.

I actually spread all my squares out on the floor on Saturday and I think I do have enough for a medium sized blanket. I'm tempted to go large and try out some more stitches though. 

We'll see!

a work in progress

I've recently been finding myself with a lot of projects on the go that I've started and am yet to finish. So I thought I'd make a conscious effort to encourage myself to crack on by sharing some of my projects in progress here, with an aim to finish them off one-by-one over the coming months.

1.  I have a huge pile of these crochet sample squares which I've been building up since way back in 2011. I've got a few other colours and stitch patterns I'd like to try out but I'm almost there I think. I'd better be anyway...

2.  I started making these crochet flowers even longer ago than the squares. The plan was to make a flower garland to decorate my bedroom, inspired by one made by my friend Yumi. Well, I've moved house about 3 times since then and still no garland. The good new is I think I have enough flowers made - I just need to chain them all together.

3.  Thankfully this project hasn't been in the making pile for as long as the previous two. More crochet, but this time on a large scale. I'm working on a rug for our living room. It's nearly finished...I just need to complete a few more rounds. This one is top of my to do list - I figure once one thing is ticked off the others will follow.

4.  This sweet monkey embroidery is from a kit I bought from Kirikí Press - so cute. I actually bought two, with this being the easier of the two to make. I only started this project about a month ago and I've been doing a bit of stitching every week or so, so it should be finished soon.

5.  This is a small part of a larger knitted piece. I'm knitting a new cardigan and this is the beginning of the first sleeve. The back and front panels are already off the needles and I'm hoping to have the finished cardigan completed for Christmas at the very latest. Hopefully much sooner.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 

Phew, I feel a bit better now I've shared my work in progress and set myself some vague goals.

Watch this space for some finished projects coming soon...

crochet like crazy

Here are some more crochet squares that have been added to the stitch library over the last couple of months.

I should probably put them all together and see if I've got anywhere near enough for a blanket, especially as I'm running out of different shades of wool to use.



I like the blackberry salad stitch the most here. Bobbly!

And I'm really not sure why 'cat's eyes' has that name - any ideas?

crochet compendium

I've finished some more crochet squares for the collection.



The project was put on hold for a while because my wool was all packed away but now I'm getting back in the swing of things.

The fruit punch pattern is my favourite here.



One I'll definitely use again!

a bunny for a baby

Here's a little rabbit comforter I made last month for a little one called Saul.

It was based on this pattern from Lion Brand yarns, and is hopefully a nice thing for little hands to hold onto.

I just realised I also made a bunny themed present for his big brother a few years ago. I hope they are a family of rabbit lovers!
   

a growing collection

One of my vague new years resolutions was to resurrect (and possibly finish off) some old craft projects. I started this crochet stitch library way back in 2011, and while it hasn't been totally abandoned, I have neglected it a little over the last couple of years.

So I've decided to make a more specific resolution to try and crochet a new square each week until I have a big enough pile to bring them all together in a blanket.

It's going well so far. I've added a few more to the collection using some of the leftover colours from Ben's winter scarf.



I especially like the basketweave stitch. In fact, I might use it to make some cushions in some chunky wool over the coming months.

I think winter brings out my productivity with wool crafts.

A bear for a baby

Here's a crochet rattle I finished off last week for a little fella named Rory.

I went on a shopping trip and bought lots of different noisemakers for putting inside toys. I couldn't decided between a squeak, a rattle, a bell or a sort of shaky bouncy noise, but I settled on the rattle as I thought it would be least annoying on repeat. I'm well equipped for future toy making now though!

Here's the pattern from Ravelry if you want to make one too. There are also more animals to choose from (although I think the bear is best).

Look at him go!

a year in the making

These socks are finally finished.
I'm not convinced crochet is the best option for socks as they aren't very stretchy, but my toes are nice and snug.

covert crochet

I made this blanket for Ben for Christmas. It was 6 months in the making but I managed to keep it under the radar - I think he was quite surprised on Christmas day.

I was quite surprised myself, as for a short while it was touch and go as to whether I would finish it in time - I was still crocheting the border on the evening of the 23rd.

All done though! And it has kept us both cosy through these cold January nights. Can you believe that he didn't own a blanket before this one? (I have about 5 - I can't get enough!)

Snug.

toe up socks

I found this part-finished crochet project in my room this week.
I think I started it when I flew to Australia last year, and then promptly forgot about it on my return.

It'll make a nice project to start the year though, especially as these old favourites now have big holes in them.

a sweet pouch

I crocheted this acorn pouch as part of a sweet pouch swap I took part in a couple of months ago.
In return I received some nice treats in the post all the way from Texas. I like Hot Tamales.

a is for apple

I haven't spent much time making things recently, but here's an apple I made for a new arrival who said hello while I was in Australia.

It has a rattle inside so it's a treat for many senses.
Probably not taste though.

black + white

A birthday present for Yumi.
Thanks to Stephanie for the pattern.

not quite narnia

Photos from a winter weekend: Lots of walking in the snow in wellington boots, a trip to the Booth museum and some under-blanket crochet.

stitches

Some more stitches to add to the collection. I like the colour palette here.

waistcoat

I forgot I had made this waistcoat until I discovered it in my room last night.

The majority of it was made on my trip to Japan - there was quite a lot of time for crochet with two long flights and two 24 hour ferry rides.

I'd like to add a button or two, but as that's one of my least favourite chores I thought I'd start wearing it instead.

Oh, and my other big crochet project is coming on nicely too...

pattern swatches

My stitch library is growing - my favourite here is the boxed block stitch.

I've found myself doing a lot of crochet recently, but I started a knitting project last saturday so the crochet squares are on hold for the time being. I'm making a jumper to wear in spring time by the sea.

Maybe I'll take a crochet project on the plane to Japan though....

stitch library

A while ago I started trying out new crochet stitches by making small sample squares of different patterns (the beginnings of a blanket). I found a bit of spare time this week so created a few more squares to add to the collection:

I like the corded ridge stitch the best. Although it is quite heavyweight and managed to take up a lot of wool. It's good to use up some of my huge stash though....



The aim for the next year is to get it down to one basket!

crochet collars

I bought a nice jumper with a peter pan collar a couple of weeks ago, and then decided that a lot of my jumpers would look nice with the addition of a collar, so have been making these crochet collars to liven up my wardrobe.

The pattern is by Shara Lambeth and was very straight-forward and easy to follow. I tried making the collar in a few different weights of yarn and I think the most successful was the double knit collar (as the pattern recommends) - although I think the aran weight one (in cream) would lend itself well to a thick winter jumper.




A nice addition to any jumper...