Christmas Decorations

Last month's Little Box of Crochet was for some Christmas Decorations using pink yarn.  Now pink just isn't a colour I use unless I have to and it certainly doesn't fit in with my Christmas Tree décor!

For one reason or another I put the box to one side but the last few days before Christmas I had nothing to do and not being one who can sit and do nothing I got the box out to have a look.  I'd also been inspired by my daughter who also get's the Box each month and although she had the same reaction to me, she made them and enjoyed doing so.

I only got two of the three patterns done but I did enjoy doing them so I have promised myself I will make more but maybe in a colour more suitable for my tree!

A Different Granny Square

I've indulged myself recently by making something purely because I wanted to!

Having only come across overlay crochet this year I have found just how much I love it and although the challenge is sometimes more difficult than I thought, I've persevered, and with lots of frogging (unravelling for the non-crocheters and knitters) and counting each row/round I've had some success.

This latest project was called A Different Granny Square and was designed by Tatsiana Kupryianchyk, otherwise known as LillaBjörnCrochet Design.   I worked it in a grey mix cotton/acrylic from Hobbycraft which I think has worked well.

I will attach it to a ready made cushion - not sure how but will somehow manage it!

Christmas is over!

And now that Christmas is over I can share a present I made for my Grandson.

You may recall back in October I made a blanket which my Granddaughter requested for her birthday.  (see here)    Her brother very quickly requested a Star Wars pillow for Christmas and after several internet searches I settled on using a cross stitch chart of a Stormtrooper's face, working the stitches in a bobble stitch.

I shared this teaser at the early stages of making which shows that range of colours I used.  It was a labour of love and if I made it again I don't think I'd use the bobble stitch, trying corner to corner instead.

I had a rough idea of the size it would come out at as I'd done a tension sample before I started but it ended up a little bigger (story of my crochet life!) so I ended up having to get a 22" pillow which was probably a bit of the big size but it did come out nice a plump.

And Harry loved it so that's the most important thing!

Completed Crochet Projects

I have a couple of crochet project that have been finished for a few weeks but seem to have slipped through the blog net!

The first is a Lazy Waves Shawlette that I made for myself.  The pattern was from Dedri Uys who you can find at Look What I Made where you can see a great range of crochet patterns to tempt you. The yarn was bought from RiverKnitsYarn, a independent yarn dyer who lives and work on a narrowboat.  You can check her out on Etsy and Instagram.

The wool I chose was  Superwash Blue Faced Leicester 4 Ply in a colour called  Impressionist which is definitely an accurate name as I felt like I was living in a Monet lily-pad while I was making it.

I love it have worn it so much since I finished it.

Another crochet make was a couple of Frozen Snowflakes which are now hanging in our Christmas Tree.   This pattern is by LillaBjorn Crochet Design and again it is worth checking out her website as she is another wonderful crochet designer.   Many of her patterns involve overlay crochet techniques which I love for a challenge. I used cotton yarn left from other projects.   

I had intended to make more but that will have to wait until next Christmas.

December Journal Quilt

I mentioned last month that I was struggling with ideas for the final quilt of this year but fortunately the light bulb moment came and I managed to get the remaining idea into fabric.

The inspiration came from a tree we frequently passed which seemed to have hessian type fibres where the leaves had been trimmed off.

I think it was the fibres that I liked and where the leaves had been cut off, I thought the shapes would relate well in to patchwork.

It did take me a time to get my head around it, mainly because time was short and I wanted something that was not too complicated and took too long.

I settle in the end on using zig-zag strips on which I turned the hems.  The zig-zag meant I could quilt diamond shapes to reflect the cut edges on the tree.  I used some dyed fabric I had in my stash -I can't remember where I got it from but it is not one of my own.   The hessian that I laid in between the rows is a bit more uniform than I wanted but yet again, I love the messy, uneven look of things but somehow when I recreate them, I have to go to the neat and tide option!

I've really enjoyed creating this year's collection of quilts as it has made me take an idea and use a variety of ways of interpreting the source.    Some have proved more successful than others.  Some I love and some I don't.

I'm looking forward to next year's challenge and already have ideas mulling around in my head.

What happened to November?

November was a bit of a mad month for us with lots going on but not much achieved!

We had a 'family event', for want of a better phrase, which we expected to take up a chunk of the month so I have been busy making sure I had as much preparation done for Christmas in case events overtook us.

To explain, our grandson Samuel, who has just had his 8th birthday, was due to have heart surgery. This is something we've known would need to be done since he was born but it still took us by surprise and although we've known for the past year that it was likely to happen this year it wasn't any easier when the time arrived.

My husband and I went up to Northampton so we could look after his sister and keep life as normal as possible for her while Samuel went to London with his Mum and Dad.   In the middle of the month they went off and we settled in Northampton armed with timetables and maps of places to go that our daughter had prepared for us.   Sadly, the next day Samuel's operation was cancelled due to an emergency operation which took longer than expected.   His operation was rebooked for two weeks later and yet again, having done all the travelling as before, it was yet again cancelled because of lack of staff.   We still wait to hear the next date.

As you can imagine, all this is more than upsetting for all the family.  Samuel seems to take it all in his stride but as time goes on he is affected more by the condition and is tired most of the time.   The rest of us rant and rage with very little effect and feel very distrusting of the system that can let this happen.

As a result of this, I felt I have not had a particularly productive month but when I came to do a round up for Instagram at the end of November, I was surprised at just how much I had done so I do some update post over the next few days.

Another quilt for Project Linus

Here is another quilt I've made for Project Linus.  This one uses black and white fabric with touches of red.   Earlier this year I read on the Project Linus website that they wanted black and white quilts for the Festival of Quilts this year so when I saw this fabric I knew I had to have it.  Sadly, it was not complete in time for FOQ but better late than never.

I used a simple rail fence pattern and then backed and bound it with red fabric.

I've just seen on their website that the theme for next year's FOQ is railfence so I guess I will be able to make one or two quilts using up my stash!

November Journal Quilt

This month's Journal Quilt was inspired yet again by cactus.

I started by curved piecing the background using my own dyed fabric.   Yellow spines were then bonded in rows and these were machine quilted, again in rows.

Sounds simple but there were many trials getting the size of the spines right!

The next and final quilt for the year is still undecided.   I have used up all the ideas I had in January with the exception of one that I just can't seem to get from my brain to fabric.  I'm trying to come up with an idea that combines all the designs and colours of the other eleven quilts but again nothing has so far come to fruition.

Virus Shawl

The virus shawl I mentioned a few days ago is  blocked and dried and photographed.

The pattern I used was one from Ravelry and was designed by Julia Marquardt.  It has been very popular with over 4,000 projects recorded on Ravelry. It only made a small one, just one ball of wool, as I intend to wear it just as a neck shawl, secured with a pin.

I bought the wool at The Slipped Stitch in Sherborne and it is 80% Blue Faced Leicester and 20% nylon and was hand dyed.  The colour is called Olive Groves and it's only when you are working it that you can see just how mane shades of green there are in it.

Little Box Slippers

September's project for Little Box of Crochet was a pair of cosy slippers made in Yarns and Colors Charming which is a cotton and acrylic blend.

Now I haven't got a very good track record when it comes to tension which is why, apart from shawls, I tend not to make garments for myself or anyone else.  But as I always look upon my monthly Box as my monthly challenge, I set to to make this snuggly pair of slippers, ignoring the voice beside me on the sofa saying "what are you going to do with those!"

The first one, true to form, came up so big it was even too big for the voice beside me on the sofa!  I have made the one that fitted a size 7 (my shoe size) so I undid it and made the smallest size - size 4.  This was a good fit and I felt once the trim was worked around the edge, they would fit fine.   The second one was made in exactly the same way but ended up bigger than the first!  Not to be deterred, I made the decorations as instructed but as this did not make any difference to the size, the finished slippers will now be put away, never to be worn.

They look go though!  To give them their full name, they are Bohemian Dreams Slippers designed by Cecile Balladino.

One funny story to finish .... the finished slippers were on my desk when I was wrapping Hope's Blanket ready for her birthday.  However, after  wrapping there was only one slipper left!  I searched all around where I had been but there was no sign of it.   Well you can guess what had happened, and as I wasn't going to unwrap the present, I waited to retrieve it when Hope opened it on her birthday!

Now she's received her blanket, this is what the whole thing looks like.  She loved it!

New Projects

Yet again, I have a few projects on the go that I will share just in case you think I'm doing nothing!

The first is a virus shawl - so called because each row increases as you work - made in a skein of hand dyed wool I bought in Sherborne at The Slipped Stitch.

The shawl I'd actually finished but has been blocked out and is drying so I will share the finished photos in a few days.   Here's a preview.

Another project is a Christmas present for my youngest grandson, Harry.  I made the blanket for his sister, Hope so he requested a Star Wars pillow!

It's a bit of a 'make it up as I go' project, starting with a chart of the design I wanted - a storm trooper - and then adapting it to crochet using a bobble stitch.  Again a quick preview...

Hope has had her birthday this week so has received her blanket so here is a photo of the completed blanket.

Blue and grey Mandala

As I mentioned last month when I shared the Mandala from Little Box of Crochet that I had made, I have finally made a second one, this time in colours to suit suit decor.

Stash Buster for Project Linus

One of my aims for this year was to use up fabric from my stash and make some quilts for Project Linus.  It's been a while since I've done one so I had to put it right.

I had a pack of nautical themed fat quarters which I thought would make a change as I don't make many quilts for little boys.   I got some blue fabric for the backing and binding which went well with the front.

Very pleased with the result.  Now must get round to phoning our local contact for Project Linus to pass on the quilts.

Temperature Blanket - September update

This is a bit later for September but I ran out of the yarn I needed and it took a while to get to a new supply.  Thankfully I have now caught up, finished September and go up to date with October.

Beach Huts quilted panel

For my next quilted squares panel I turned to beach huts for inspiration as they are something I've become rather fond of since our move to the coast and see on many of our walks.

One particular place is along Avon Beach where there are many huts in a variety of blue shades so they inspired this panel.

My original plan was to use photographs of the huts but I just couldn't seem to get the colour right.  I really must work with Photoshop more so I can really make the most of it!  I also felt that the photos didn't add enough to the overall look to spend too much time on so I went for using fabric.

Luckily I had a good stash of blue fabric in the shades that I wanted.  As before, I used fabric that I had dyed myself.

Once the fabric was all pieced I quilted around the beach huts as well as lines to show the wooden panelling the doors are made from. 

 I wanted to quilt the lower part of the panel and as I'd noticed that many of the beach huts had names, on one of our walks I recorded all the names that I thought were fitting. These were machine quilted in wave-like lines using white thread to represent white waves. To emphasised the shape I machine quilted in blue variegated thread. 

The quilted fabric was then stretched over a canvas frame.

October Journal Quilt

Cactus has once again inspired this month's Journal Quilt.

The finished quilt looks very simple and may look like a bit of a cop-out to some but it probably took just as much time and trouble as all the others.

It started with a piece of fabric I had which I think I bought some time ago.  It had been hand dyed and had the appearance of green and yellow stripes and as soon as I saw it in my stash it reminded of a particular cactus we had seen in Gran Canaria - my theme for the year's quilts.

However, the fabric was completely the wrong shape and try as I might I couldn't get it to the 11" square I wanted as the joins needed meant the stripes did not match up.  The downside of hand dyed fabric.   The only way out was to dye my own but of course my result just wasn't as good as the original!

I tried out several ideas for how to create the spikes and settled in the end for free machine quilting them.

The inspirational cactus ....

The November quilt is already to go but I've had a mind block for the final one so let's hope I have some inspiration soon.

WIPs? What WIPs?

Following on from my last post, I am pleased to say that I stuck to my plans to do a bit of each of my Works in Progress each day resulting in three finished crochet projects!

I'm really pleased with the Maid of Honour Shawl because of the way the colours have blended together.   I did have to fiddle a bit at the end as I wanted to make sure I got to the solid colour for the edge and I didn't want to chance not having enough yarn.

So pleased that I worked out how much to do each day for Hope's Blanket as it means I finished it well before her birthday later this month.

I don't want to post to much about it in case she sees it so here's a sneak preview....

My work on the Temperature Blanket has ground to a halt with seven more rows to finish September off.  I have run out of wool in the required colour so as soon as I have caught up I will post the usual monthly update.

And as everything was up to date or finished I managed a couple of extras!

I finally got a chance to start on the August Little Box of Crochet but I must confess I wasn't happy with my efforts.   It was a pattern for a little crochet purse worked in two halves and then joined and sewn in to a frame.  I worked the first side and felt I was struggling so put it to one side.   Once I had time I watched some lovely help videos that went with it and found that my initial attempt was actually okay so I did the second side and finished it last night.

I think this is going to fall into the category of "nice to do but I won't be rushing to do more just yet".

A little extra in the box was some cross-stitch which I did enjoy doing - always find cross stitch calming as it satisfies the mathematical part of my brain.

So, as I've caught up I have been able to add so projects to my list!

Works in Progress

In previous posts I have mentioned that I have several WIPs and I have to do a bit of each every day so that I get them all finished.  I thought I'd let you see just what is on the go at the moment.....

Temperature Blanket

I keep this up to date, usually once a week so I don't get behind.  This photo shows it up to the end of August.   I didn't realise how obsessive it can become watching the daily temperature and then remembering just what we did on this hot day or that cold day!   This is definitely going to be a blanket of memories.

Blanket for Hope

My granddaughter Hope requested a blanket for her 10th birthday in October so I started it last month while she was staying with us.   She wanted it in shades of blue and went through the Stylecraft colour chart choosing the colours she liked.   I had several blues left from the Last Dance blanket, picked up some off balls on my travels and them ordered some from Wool Warehouse to hopefully give me enough.

Hope then had a look at all the blankets on Attic24 and chose the Hydrangea blanket which I was pleased with as it is straightforward and works up quickly.  I've worked out that to get it finished in plenty of time I must do six rows each day and so far I have stuck to it.

The photo was taken at the beginning so it is much longer now.

Maid of Honour Shawl

I decided I wanted something for myself so I'm making a shawl.  It's called Maid of Honour and was designed by Natasha of Buttonnose Crochet.

I'm using Scheepjes Whirl in the Salted Caramel Matcha colour which is blue, through green to caramel and I'm just loving the way the colours blend through the changes.  I haven't got far at the moment as this has been number three on my schedule and only gets done if I have completed the others on the day's schedule.

Little Box of Crochet

Although technically, this is not a WIP as all I've done so far is open the box have a peek and quickly close it again so I don't get sucked in.   I know what's in there - a lovely crochet purse project and a cross stitch project so I have to call on all my often not very strong willpower and wait until I can do it with a clear conscience.   Trouble is another Little Box will be coming soon so I can't leave it too long!

Mandala

I have long been a fan of Mandalas, mainly through colouring them in one of the many books on sale for adults or drawing them as part of Zentangles - two things I do to relax and keep my fingers busy on the very rare occasions that I have nothing to do!

When Little Box of Crochet included a mandala in their May box I just had to do one, loved every minute of making it and am very thrilled with the finished result.

 It measures about 15" across so I will mount it and frame it so it can hang somewhere in the house. 

I have already bought some more yarn - Scheepjes Catona - to make another one to match the colours in our bedroom.

Last Dance on the Beach Blanket finished

Very pleased to say my Last Dance on the Beach blanket is all finished.   This is the first blanket I have made and I have really enjoyed it and learnt a lot on the way.

My main reason for making it was to learn new stitches and techniques as I felt I was very stuck in only basic doubles and trebles in my crochet projects but I now know there is another crochet world out there and although stitches are generally based on doubles and trebles, it is how you use them that counts.

I even got through the piecing together and the border - not my favourite part of any project whether it's patchwork, quilting or crochet.   I think what helped was that I have far too many crochet projects on the go at the moment with several more waiting in the wings so each day I set myself goals with the WIPs so that I can get them all finished and once the target was met I could move on to the next one.  This always works for me as I do love ticking things off on a list!

I now want to use this new knowledge to experiment with some freeform crochet, but not until I've finished a few more WIPs.