What have I been doing with my time?!

I *have* been knitting, in amongst the working, driving and toddler-wrangling! I'm writing this in a precious, free moment while Small is at nursery. This is my latest project:

I usually avoid any yarn that is variegated or flecked, but this is just gorgeous-it's a tight cotton and the colours go so well together. I had worried that this kind of mercerised cotton would be too shiny for knitting a garment, but the shop where I bought it had a top knitted up in the 4-ply version and it was beautiful and not too shiny at all. This is going to be a tunic dress for Small, the "Rosina" tunic dress from Ravelry by Libby Summers. I've already put some notes on Ravelry in case anyone is thinking of knitting this.

I also managed a quick Easter basket which I finished on, er, Easter Saturday!

This is from a free pattern from the Let's Knit website and it was a quick crochet project in double crochet and DK yarn.

It's been so hard to find time for blogging, though I've kept up with reading other people's blogs! Still, I'm hoping that now I've got a bit more time to myself, I'll feel like it's a 'current' blog. So, thank you for reading, and more very soon!

 

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Smug summer crochet

Now, I'm rather pleased with this. I wanted to make something in cotton, but I'm not a huge fan of garments in cotton yarn. Then I had a browse through Susan Cropper's book, Vintage Crochet, and saw patterns for those crochet pot covers with little bead things on them which keep insects from falling into your cup of tea... or wine glass! The pattern is by Emma Seddon and she edges them with vintage buttons, rather than beads, which I really like the look of. Mine has buttons from a charity shop so they're not at all expensive to make.

I used DK Sublime Egyptian Cotton, which comes in a 50g ball (115 yards). I should think I've used about half of it - there's quite a lot of crochet in there! Two possible problems: one is that the buttons don't move as easily as beads would long the yarn. This matters because you thread all of your buttons onto the yarn before you start the crochet, so you have to shunt them along rather a lot before you get to the final row when you actually incorporate them into the stitches. This is just a bit of a pain - the end result is worth it, but I did spend rather a long time moving buttons along. The other problem is that, although I religiously counted the buttons onto the yarn, and followed the pattern as closely as I could, I still ended up with two too few buttons for the number of scallops I had when it got to the last row. So, somewhere along the way, it's grown.... I counted the spokes in the first couple of rounds ... then felt a bit lazy and just left two scallops without buttons hanging from them, one on each side. And, for this, I'm fine with that!

I'm now beginning another one in blue. My first one was the "Tumbler Cover" and the blue one will be slightly larger, I think, and is called the "Milk Pitcher Cover". But really, both fit rather nicely over a wineglass:

So, should it ever be nice enough to sit outside, sipping wine - I'll be ready!

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Another novel and some crochet plans...

I've just finished the fantastic novel in this picture, Ann Patchett's State of Wonder. I was given this by a friend for my birthday and I've been really looking forward to reading it. I've read Run and Bel Canto (her best known novel) already on the advice of the same friend, so I knew this would be a vivid read. Patchett has a gift for observation but also, here, for invention. The central character, Marina Singh, goes to the wilds of the Amazon to find out how a colleague, working for the same drug company, died. Patchett is always excellent at describing gestures and how they communicate feeling and mental state, as well as characters' own interior worlds. She does all that here, with the most incredible portrait of the Amazon and the tribe among which Singh finds herself. Patchett describes their appearance, customs and etiquette down to the most obscure and intimate details. Alongside this, the work of the researchers, doctors and scientists in the drug company in America and in the Amazon is convincingly described and thought-provoking too as Patchett considers women's fertility. This is a remarkable book. I did wonder if, being a non-scientist and, shamefully, pretty much a non-traveller, I'd enjoy this but I certainly did!

The other book is Jan Eaton's Ripple Stitch Patterns, one I'm browsing through because I want to crochet an outdoor, summer blanket. Having browsed some fab ones online, I'm thinking of using this book to make my own pattern. Has anyone got any tips for sites which show lovely crochet blankets? Always glad of inspiration!

 

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A Pot of Bulbs can only be improved with Crochet

Spring is here! Well, it is if you're in my kitchen next to the radiator:

These snowdrops are in a shallow, 7" diameter bowl, with compost and some bits of moss on the top. I crocheted the edging for the pot as follows:

Materials: a size 3mm hook and about a third of a ball of Sublime Egyptian Cotton DK in Shade 322.

To make: measure the circumference of your pot. Mine is 55cm. For this size pot, make 96 chain. Check your sizing by putting the chain, quite tightly, round the pot until it only just meets. Err on the tight side, because with crochet, it's relatively easy to add a bit on at the end if need be!

Then, do two rows of double crochet (dc) missing the first stitch each time. Then, for row 3, do one DC in second stitch from hook, then 3 chain (ch). After the 3ch, miss one stitch and do one dc into next stitch along. Continue this to the end of the row, ending units a couple of dcs next to each other if need be. Your 3chs will make the little loops and your dcs will be joining the loops to your rows of dc.

Turn so that you are working across the short end of the strip to make the button loop: make 3 chain then make a dc into the other corner to make a button loop like a bracket across the end of the strip. (If your strip is too short st this stage, you could do a quick row of dc across the short end first).

Sew button onto the other end to match button hole (If your strip is a little long, just sew the button a bit further up the end).

Enjoy!

 

 

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Heading Towards Christmas with Mistletoe, Books and Charity Knitting...

I love mistletoe. This year I'm going to leave this sprig on our apple tree and hope it grows! Meanwhile, I've positioned it prominently in our kitchen...

Isn't this cup the best present? My girlfriend brought it back from Germany for me. I've drunk out of it pretty obsessively since! Nothing like an early Christmas present!

These are the charity mug-huggers in situ, at The Coffee House on Moreton Hall. They're selling for £3, with £1 of that going straight to our local hospice - an indisputable good cause!

Last charity knit of the year: these mugs with their own crochet warmers are on sale at Workwise on Hatter Street with a portion of the money going to Workwise itself. Having finished these, I had no project on the go - but friends gave had a baby girl surprisingly early, so I've got an excuse to get knitting again!

Final picture of this week: I'm reading a superb novel called The Professor of Poetry by Geraldine McCleen. It is lyrically written with an unusual - 50s, single, academic female - protagonist. I've read about a third of it and am loving every sentence. More when it's finished!

Hope everyone's had a good week and is getting ready for a lovely Christmas!

 

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Reading, Knitting and Someone Else's Crochet: what could be better?

Ta-dah! I finished these last night, to the entertaining accompaniment of several episodes of Big Love. The pattern is from Mollie Makes, Issue 33, and they've worked up pretty well. They're made in 4-ply, on DPNs, and as I don't often use wool that fine, I found they took quite a while to knit up. The instructions are clear, though, with really good photos so that you can check how your pattern is going! The snowflakes are crochet and I cheated a bit on them by using DK and a size 14 hook, so they don't look as fine as the ones in the magazine. I realised, once I'd sewn the snowflakes on, that the gloves can be worn with the snowflakes on the palm or back of the hand - lovely. There will be more on my Ravelry page soon about little changes I made to the pattern. I was going to give these away as a Christmas present - but I might keep them for myself instead!

This week, I also finished a brilliant novel: Charlotte Mendelson's Almost English:

I expected to enjoy this as I've read all of her novels; she has a gift for articulating precisely what a character thinks or feels. Her choice, for this novel, to alternate between writing about a teenage girl and her mother (as well as their brilliantly-drawn troupe of Hungarian female relatives and friends) means that the novel also demonstrates how a mother's and a daughter's experience of an event can be. Marina's experiences at her new boarding school are particularly entertaining and Mendelson effortlessly recreates the mix of mortification and exploration that characterises teenagers. Laura's anxieties about her absent daughter as well as her own romantic life show a loving but cautious and reserved kind of motherhood which, I think, is rarely the subject of films or books. Mendelson's novel is beautifully written, right down to the level of the wit and clarity of individual sentences. Possibly, if you want a thrilling plot, this might not be the novel for you. But if you enjoy superb observation, convincing characters and pitch-perfect writing, then it most certainly is.

Finally, I saw this fabulous crochet bike basket. Is this yours?! Get in touch, if so! I love it!

 

 

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I've read a brilliant book & made some crochet bunting

Yes, these are my two main achievements this week! I'm not completely convinced about the bunting; I've made it from a pattern in a motif book. It looks ok when flat, but it does curl a bit .... so I'm not posting a revised pattern just yet! It's squeaky, acrylic wool, too, so perhaps that's not helping!

Now, to the book: I haven't blogged about books that often, because I sometimes review them for www.whensallymetsally.co.uk. But as I don't think I'll review this one for them, I wanted to just note here how very brilliant this is! Susie Steiner sets Homecoming in Yorkshire and the action begins in 2005. The story covers the fortunes of the Hartles, a farming family and the people whose lives intersect with theirs. It's written entirely in the present tense and this gives the story a bleak immediacy. The observation of the minutiae of life is superb; although some parts of the novel are bleak, as I've said, much of it is gently humorous and the relationships between the various Hartle family members are beautifully drawn. The Yorkshire landscape, too, is carefully and atmospherically drawn, taking the place of an almost-character in the story. This was a library book and I'm very reluctant to give it back - a fantastic, unusual, memorable story.

 

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#Handmade Monday - easy knitted wrist warmers make it to New York!

These aren't actually for me! I was just having a cheeky wear of them here before I sent them to @copperspiral in New York. She's already got them - so now I can publish this picture of them! They were super easy to make and I was rather sad to let them go. The pattern is from Bronwyn Lowenthal's Love To Knit book. They're made of Louisa Harding 'Thistle' yarn bought from @CafeKnit - and I made both gloves rather surprisingly out of one ball. The yarn is really lovely and soft and they were quick to knit on four 6mm needles. They were, er, even quicker than the pattern suggested because I made them a lot shorter in the arm. The ones modelled in the book came nearly to the model's elbow and were all bunched up - but I did about 23 rows then did the thumbs. For the thumbs, I used the 'live stitches' method rather than the method described in the pattern. It may well have worked fine, but I couldn't figure out how - so I stuck to a method I know works!

These are a really good gift for a friend - though I do have enough wool to make myself some now...

In other news: teaching crochet @cafeknit on Saturday was really good fun. I had really lovely students and everyone got to make at least part of a granny square, and tried chains, double crochet and trebles! It was interesting teaching crochet to knitters - it reminded me how different the skills are in some ways. I think a good time was had by all!

 

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#WIP Wednesday and a review of 'Simple Crochet'

How nice to find a new crochet book in our local library!

I spent a very happy hour this afternoon reading Sara Sinaguglia's Simple Crochet. The tag line, 'With more than 35 vintage-vibe projects for your handmade life' was rather off-putting because I find the possessive 'your' as well as the ubiquitous word, vintage, rather irritating, but I'm really glad I persevered. The book has a lovely, informal tone and is peppered with details about the author's life and why she first made some of the projects in the book. As always in crochet books, there's a little too much in the How To section - this sometimes puts me off buying crochet books as it's rather repetitive. There is quite a lot, though, on something i really want to try: crochet edging on linen or cotton, so that part of the How To is quite eye-opening. Anyway, the book is themed around different rooms in the house and I was pleased to see that I'd make at least two things from each section. What I also enjoyed about this was that quite a lot of the projects involve sewing as well as crochet - the iPad cosy, for example, is made of fabric with crochet motifs sewn onto it - and these projects look really good. This book even had me contemplating crochet washcloths - and that is no mean feat! The photography is gorgeous, too. So - definitely worth a read.
And now for the WIP: so far, my preparation for teaching my first crochet course for Cafe Knit has only stretched to deciding what the wear. But then I thought I'd better write my pattern for crochet bracelets, which I hope will be easy for beginners to make in under three hours! Here they are so far:

I hope my crochet classes go well - it's hard to gauge how much a random group of people will be able to make in three hours! Still, at least crochet is east to unravel and quick once you've got the hang of it. Wish me - and my students - luck!

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#WIP Wednesday - little, easy crochet trim...

I'd been trying to think of a nice, easy crochet item to make which I could use when I start my crochet classes later this month. Although I've rummaged in Pinterest a bit, I've ended up making my own pattern for this, which I'll post up on here once it's done.

I'm trying, trying, trying not to just cover our house in crochet ... but this edging would look lovely round a jam jar which you could then put flowers in. I've used cotton 4 ply but you could easily adjust it to use up DK if you have more of that left over. Possibly I'll only be allowed to make one of these for our house, but they'd look great round jars in a row, in different heights - anyway, this is what I have so far:

 

More to come, when I've finished ... What's everyone else making today?

 

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Nothing like a last minute #crochet WIP!

I had a brilliant day yesterday, interviewing Lois from Jenny Wren Yarns in Ipswich and having a chat and a cappuccino made by Abbie at Snobs pop-up coffee shop in the Ipswich Town Hall Galleries.  More on both of these fab Suffolk places to come...

This post is rather short because I'm trying to post via the Blogger app on my iPad - so we'll see how we get on! I was very frustrated yesterday as I couldn't work out how to get photos from the iPad onto the blog - but with a little help from Twitter, I think I've managed it!

So, here goes:

I was very pleased to see a 6-minute crochet heart pattern on the blog of Mollie
Makes magazine.  It took me more like an hour, because I had to look up the American crochet abbreviations half way through and start again .... but I think she'll love it:

Simple Crochet Baby Blanket Pattern

I have dispatched the latest baby blanket to its recipient and here is the pattern! It's really simple if you are happy with chains, trebles and double crochet. It is a great present and looks so nice when it's done. Lots of photos, too, to help you if need be! Blogger is playing up, however, so there are some rather large gaps under pictures - I can't work out how to get rid of these. Still, I'm pleased with the blanket; enjoy!

You will need:

2 balls of double knitting, one of each colour.

A 4mm crochet hook

A darning needle

Finished measurements: 58 cm wide and 78 cm long (but you do not need to be too precise about this!)

Using Colour A, make a chain of 93 stitches (90 to crochet the pattern into, 3 for the turning chain).

Row 1:  still using Colour A, miss 3 chain. 3 trebles (tr) into next chain, 1 chain (ch), miss three chain, 3 tr in next chain. Repeat til end of row; 1 tr into last stitch of row (you need this to give a firm, even edge).

Row 2: still using A, 3 chain. 1 tr in first chain from hook, 1 ch, miss 3 chain, 3 tr in space between previous row’s groups of trebles. Work 3 tr into these spaces until end of row; 1 tr in last stitch.

Row 3: join Colour B to do 3 chain. Do not cut Colour A free, but just leave it at the end of the row. Work the same pattern along the row.

Row 4: using B, work the same pattern back along the row.

Repeat the pattern. Between rows, at the edge of the work, twist the colours together once or twice, close to the edge. This will keep the edge flexible and make sure you don’t have huge loops of wool where you have swapped colours. The edges will look like this:

  

 

 

 

 

Border:

You need to use your judgement here, to make sure, according to your own tension, that the blanket will lie flat and not curl up.

Using Colour B, do a row of DC along the short edge of the blanket, one DC in each chain. At the corner, do 1 DC into end stitch, then 2ch, then 1 DC (all into end stitch).

Along the long side, continue to DC in Colour B. Try to space the DC so that their spacing mimics the spacing on the short edge. If they are too far apart or too close, the edging will start to curl up. Don’t do the DC too tightly. Do one row of DC all the way round, then do the same, 1 DC in each st, in Colour A.

Then, all you have to do is to darn in the ends!

Close-up of the corner, and border, is below, as well as a shot of the completed blanket! Happy crocheting!


 

 

 

Ta-Dah! A Friday #FO - one simple crochet baby blanket

 

 

Better pictures to follow soon, hopefully - these were under the kitchen light on my phone! Such was my excitement at having a Friday Finished Object! The blanket is done!! The pattern is to follow as I'll be writing it up this weekend. I'm really pleased with it, though it took longer than I thought. I'll be posting it next week to my very-pregnant friend!

 

Now, back to the Louisa Harding bobble hat - the next WIP!

#WIP Wednesday - simple crochet blanket - & a knitted mug

 

This is a treat for myself - like I need one, after Christmas! - a Fair Isle mug, from Blacks. Not my usual shop of choice, but I spyed it from afar. In the sale, too! Hurrah! It's actually huge - I had to peer down into it to see my coffee - but I love it.

 

Today's WIP: a simple crochet baby blanket, for a friend whose baby is due on, er, 25th January! I am making this up, so pattern will follow. I had a yarn emergency at the weekend, as I left my other WIP (a Louisa Harding Himalayan hiking hat) at my parents' house and only realised when I got home - tragedy! Still, I popped out to a trusty charity shop and bought two crochet hooks (which I bleached throughly - should I admit to that?!) and then bought the yarn for the blanket and got going.

 

 

Finally - it's always good to see a knitting-themed display - and this one is in Holt Library, North Norfolk, to launch their Monday Knit & Natter (clearly a more sedate occurrence than our Stitch & Bitch!) I really want to read Rachael Herron's A Life in Stitches (left hand side of the display) as I've made one of her patterns for a friend and I read her blog, about her writing, knitting and life with her girlfriend. In the corner of this picture is a book I actually got for Christmas - Claire Montgomerie's Knitting Vintage. I'm sure I will write more about this last, once I get the blanket...and hat... done!

 

So, that's how my 2013 has begun. Hope yours has got off to a similarly good start.

 

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

Handmade Monday: Crochet Christmas Snowflake Pattern - Surely It's Not Too Early?

 

So, as promised on my earlier post: here is how to make a crochet snowflake, like the one shown above.

 

Crochet snowflake pattern

Easy-peasy .... really!

 

I used DMC Natura Just Cotton, in Colour Ibiza and a 2.5 mm crochet hook.

 

 

Base chain: 6 chain, join with a slip stitch.

Round  1: 1 chain  [1 double crochet into ring, 3 chain]12 times. Slip stitch to join end to first double crochet (dc) stitch. You are making a row of DC plus 3 chain. This will be quite a tight fit. See picture below.

 

 

 

Round 2: Slip stitch into top of the two chain from previous round, then 1 ch, 1 dc into 3 chain arch from previous row [3 ch, 1 dc into next 3 chain arch] 11 times, then 1 ch then 1 half treble into top of first double crochet. In this row, you are making arches all the way round the star. See the picture below.

 

 

Row 3: [6 chain, 1 dc into next 3 chain arch, 3 chain, 1 dc into next 3 chain arch] 4 times, then 6 chain and 1 dc into next 3 chain arch. 1 chain, I treble into half treble from previous round to close. Essentially, you alternate making arches of 6 chain and 3 chain round the star, into the 3 chain arches you made in row 2. Picture below of star with rows 1-3 complete.

 

 

Row 4: 1 half treble, 4 trebles, 2 chain, 4 trebles, 1 half treble into 6 chain arch, 1 dc into 3 chain arch. Repeat around the star and close row with a slip stitch. The groups of trebles and half trebles fill out the points of the star, while the double crochets anchor the points. See the picture of this last row in progress below.

 

 

Ta-dah! Now hand it proudly on your tree - or make lots, and tie them into bunting. Please don't make commerically - please don't sell the pattern or the snowflakes.

 

More Vintage Pattern Goodness!

 

Another quick installment as I have another charity shop success story! Now, I'm probably *not* going to make the 'sweaters' on the cover - but some of the ones inside are good, and could be tweaked a little to resemble some in shops at the moment. I want to develop a crochet jumper pattern so I'm hoping this book will help me out. I should be delivering snowflakes... but am just too tired! Somehow this week has been exhausting. Still, am making a stiff cup of coffee and preparing to continue knitting my sister's birthday present!