All posts tagged: crochet

Tea and Roses

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An order for an 80th birthday present. “Could you make a tea cosy for my mum please? I need it to be pretty with lilacs and blues.  I said “Of course and thank you for the order.” I thought… got to get this right. Ta dah! There were some challenges along the way, namely finding lilacs and blues that blended together nicely, but I definitely enjoyed the whole creative process of bringing this little tea cosy together. No pompoms this time, it was decided that roses would be the decoration of choice. It took a while to settle on what colour to use for the flowers, but in the end I went for peach, as I thought it complimented the lilacs and blues well and was not only pretty, but delicate looking too. I wanted to get every detail perfect. I thought it would be more interesting to use three tones of peach in the roses and by varying the amounts I used in each rose I managed to make them all slightly different from one another. The leaves …

Garden Doorstop

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Well, the sun is still out! Hurray! The kids and I are now back from supporting hubby in his cycling club’s time trial and I have decided to ignore the indoor mess and go out into the garden. I have some new grasses to get in the ground. If the weather does fail me however, I always have my garden doorstop to bring a little of the outdoors inside. I love a cute toadstool. And I’m sure the ladybird moves when I’m not looking! x

Easter Projects Part 2

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  Well, it is Easter Monday (only just I know!) and time for Easter Projects Part 2! It has been a lovely long weekend with hubby and the boys. We have really indulged ourselves doing nothing much in particular, just spending and enjoying time at home with each other and family. We were lucky enough to have a visit from the Easter Bunny and the children, who I must say got up rather too early, enjoyed searching for the foil covered treasures left by him in our garden.  In general though these bank holiday weekend mornings have been easy and everything has just be able to slow down a bit. There’s been lots of lounging too long in pjs, playing with lego, watching films as well as seeing family, making coffee in the machine and Cioccolata Caldo. Yay! With things moving at this more relaxed pace I even managed to do the below in a moment of inspiration. Yes, I rearranged our book shelf by colour! Maybe its not that practical, but ever since first seeing it …

Easter Projects part 1

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Inspired by this Pinterest image I decided to create my own version with a little willow wreath I brought from Hobbycraft ages ago and lots of mini chicks I found in Sainsburys Supermarket for a pound. I was going to stick the chicks in place but found that they could be fixed just by poking their little feet under the willow branches, leaving me to update or change the wreath should I wish after Easter. I do like a quick fix project! Crochet projects can be very satisfying to work, but they can take time to complete. Saying that , this morning I did manage to complete not one, but two crochet projects! A friend of mine had asked for two Easter toys, one for each of her children, as alternatives to chocolate eggs. She asked me only last week and needed them by today so I was busy, busy, busy. Here are the results… one tiny mouse with his egg, inspired by this Pinterest image, and … one hatching cutie of a chick, worked from this free …

Exploring the Midnight Zone!

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Generally speaking it tends to be quite easy to find crochet patterns for toys of animals that are cute. An animal only need to have big adorable eyes, be perhaps fluffy and appear to mimic certain endearing human traits or emotions, and Pinterest is awash with awesome inspiration and patterns. So, what do you do when your child asks for a deep sea Angler Fish!!! My son loves all things to do with the sea and ocean. The Blue Planet DVDs have been played on a loop in our house. I love that he is so into it, but have you seen these guys?! (He also likes dinosaurs, but Nanny’s already knitted up a whole bucketful of these prehistoric fellas!) I searched and searched for a pattern online but with little success and then, when visiting my local library, I discovered ‘75 Shells, Coral & Colourful Creatures of the Sea to Knit & Crochet‘ by Jessica Polka. Boy, was I happy because there, on one of the last pages, was a pattern for none other than my elusive Angler Fish! Hurrah! …

It’s been a while…

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Well, what can I say, I start my blog, get posting enthusiastically and then life happens and over a week goes by! I have definitely missed posting. How have you been?  All well I hope. Well, although I have been absent from the digital world I have managed to do a little crocheting and I am really happy to be able to show you the finished items. As you may know, I am a crochet tutor at a local adult education college and a few weeks ago I was teaching a class on openwork and lacy patterns. At the end of all my lessons I like to offer a pattern or two for the students to try back home and I always try and  include something a bit unusual. If I have the time I also like to work up an example for them to see. Hence these… Stones covered in crochet! I know there might be an small cry of ‘why?’ and ‘for what purpose?’, but I have LOVED crocheting these little beauties! And actually, just …

The Chain

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What to do with some gorgeous wool given to me by my lovely sister-in-law….. A chunky cream yarn studded with flecks of gold. It was crying out for a project, but what? The trouble was, that whatever I crocheted didn’t seem to work, normally because I kept loosing the gold details in the twists of the stitches. Pompoms (!!!) worked pretty well, but after experimenting with a few, I redundantly put the yarn to one side hoping that inspiration would strike sometime in the future. …..It took a while! But when I was looking for ideas for my crochet class’ first project I came across the chain stitch scarf. I teach crochet part-time at an adults education college and for each new stitch or technique mastered, I try to find a project/pattern to give the students. During the very first class I have to keep the projects simple because after housekeeping, student paperwork and learning how to hold the yarn and hook we generally only get to chain stitch. Usually we work a simple necklace made up of a long …

Pompoms!

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I love a pompom! Small ones, large ones and multi-coloured ones. I have even purchased a pompom maker or two. I know you can make them using the traditional cardboard cut-out rings, with the end of a fork or even your fingers but these wonderful little gadgets just make the whole process so simple. I really, really want to make a pompom garland. I saw this one  by Anthropologie this Christmas and it was really inspiring. I looked at it and thought ‘I could make that’ but have I managed to? No, not yet, but watch this space! It’s on my radar and I will definitely let you know of any developments! For now, I couldn’t resist showing you a few more pictures of my tea cosies with their glorious, oversized pompoms. These cosies were nothing before their fluffy, fun adornments and now they just make me smile.   So…..to pompom or to not pompom? If that is the question. Well surely the answer is to always pompom! …….Or is it? I have found that sometimes……… …

Air show!

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The Red Arrows I think not!!! But these little jet planes sure know a few moves! (especially when flying with Superman!) Once again I have this book to thank.   Amigurumi Two by Ana Paula Rimoli was one of the first books I brought when I started getting interested in crochet again and having two boys the plane pattern was a perfect place to start. As you can see from the cover though, there are lots of different projects to be tempted by. x